Multimodal Funds of Knowledge in Literacy

Applying an asset-based approach, Multimodal Funds of Knowledge in Literacy prepares educators to teach and support diverse students and their families as they negotiate multimodal aspects of literacy learning. Framed by sociocultural theory, multiliteracies, multimodality, and posthumanism, the text combats deficit narratives by providing concrete alternatives that push educators to rethink their practices and support students' and families' cultural and linguistic strengths. Chapters include case studies, vignettes, prompts, and learning samples that will leave readers with valuable insights and new understandings of multimodal funds of knowledge. Comprehensive and instructive, this book is a key text in literacy education, family literacy, and community engagement.

Sally Brown is a Professor of Literacy Education at Georgia Southern University, where she teaches preservice and in-service educators about multimodal literacies. She is interested in how young, culturally and linguistically diverse children develop literacies across school, home, and community environments and in contact with the material world. Rong Zhang is an Assistant Professor of Literacy Education at Appalachian State University. Her research focuses on emergent bilingual families' language and literacy practices in home settings. She also studies young children's emergent literacy skills developed during reading wordless picturebooks and culturally related picturebooks, and their multimodal meaning-making.

Chapter 1: Exploring Family Literacies: Shifting Perspectives from Deficits to Assets Chapter 2: Synchronizing Perspectives to Break the Theory-Practice Divide Chapter 3: Multilingual Mindsets: Exploring Family Ideologies about Language Use Chapter 4: Pages of Connections: Families Fostering Love, Fun, and Literacy with Young Children Chapter 5: Holding a Pen and Becoming a Writer Chapter 6: Exploring Creativity: Encouraging Conversation and Play with Physical Materials Chapter 7: Touch, Swipe, and Point: Technology and Multiliteracies Chapter 8: Let's Go Outside: Outdoor Experiential Learning with Family Chapter 9: Connecting with Diverse Families: Voices of Teachers and Teacher Educators Chapter 10: Charting New Territories through Counternarratives: Nonlinear Diffractive Spaces