Let's Learn from Them: Using the Integrative Multimodal Literacy Assessment Tool to Support Instruction for Young Children

Abstract

Many children bring rich multimodal literacy practices into their classrooms, with experience weaving between paper and digital texts. In order to support children's multimodal meaning making, teachers need first to understand the multimodal practices that children bring into the classroom in order to then develop instruction that builds on, and extends, children's existing literacy practices. This article presents a tool to assess young children's multimodal literacies. The Integrative Multimodal Literacy Assessment (IMLA) evaluates children's multimodal meaning making through a questionnaire and performance activity. In this article, we first describe the tool and explain how to administer it in diverse classroom contexts. We then share findings from a pilot study, using the IMLA, conducted in two urban preschools as an example of how teachers might use the tool in their own classrooms.