Benefits of Multimodal Learning Approach in the Classroom
Multi modal learning is an ‘approach in which learning is delivered in more than one sensory mode (visual, auditory, kinaesthetic). (N. A, n. d. ) However, children’s literature, particularly, picture books, focus mainly on print and visual modes meaning that their books are words combined with pictures. Emphasis is put on the idea that every student learns in their own different way, and with multi modal learning the lesson can be designed to suit preferences and learning styles. Multimodal texts are actually beneficial to both the student and the teacher. It allows the teacher to make their classroom learning more interesting for young learners. Studies found that visual learning through picture books can be very important for children as many students learn by what they see. It also helps to promote language, literacy and brain development at a young age.
Multimodal learning through stories and picture books are a fun way to introduce a child to new ideas and words. It is usually the first mode of learning that children are introduced to in the steps to being able to read. It helps them to understand concepts such as shape, size, colours, space, numbers, names and objects. Teacher/child or parent/child can spend time discussing the story, pictures and words. The visual thinking allows the child to analyse the story while building language skills. We’re Going on a Bear Hunt by Michael Rosen demonstrates all aspects of multi modal learning, which is why it is the ideal book for children. We’re Going on a Bear Hunt by Michael Rosen and illustrated by Helen Oxenbury sweeps up children in the adventures of the family from the minute the story begins. Its memorable and captivating story engages the children in the lesson. The picture book is cover-to-cover and alternates from a colour spread sheet to a black-and-white spread up until the very end- when the family reaches the bear. The whole journey from finding the bear and running away from the bear, the father is leading- this is a metaphor for the type of relationship that parents have with their parents when it be both or just one. The story is engaging and has many elements of suspense which makes for a dramatic affect during a read aloud with the class.
The illustrations are simple throughout the book which catch the eye of a young learner making them want to read on. The size of this picture book is ideal for classroom reading as it allows for the children to see what obstacles the family faces. The design of the oversized volume alternates from black and white drawings to beautiful colour-filled paintings. A quick summary of the book sees a father and his four children- a toddler, a young boy and two older girls go on a bear hunt through many fields. It is based on the old camp song “We’re going to catch a big one. / what a beautiful day! / We’re not scared. / Oh-oh! Long, wavy grass. / We can’t go over it. / We can’t go under it. / Oh, no! / we’ve got to go through it!” At this point the family slides down a grassy hill, swishes across a river, sludges through mud and, of course, gets to finally see the bear, who was threatened by them and chased them the whole way home. Some may question, is this story was imaginary or real? Image taken from We’re Going on a Bear Hunt illustrates Oxenburys used of watercolour paintings. Strengths Rhythm- The book originally came from a distinct song with rhythm by the author. During a read aloud with the children, the teacher can model how to read with such rhythm which will support the phonological awareness and reading fluency. The story is perfect for reading aloud as the sudden change in temp which breaks the tension often leads to a comic effect that the learners will find funny before the tension arises again right at the end. Reading it actively by acting each obstacle out, moving your hands or even pretending to swim allows the children to imagine what the experience was like. Moving your arms around to the phrase like ‘We can’t go over it. We can’t go under it. Oh no! we’ve got to go through it. ’ gets everyone in the room active. Predictable text- A repetitive aspect is seen throughout the book that changes somewhat with each new problem that the family faces. This repetition allows the child to often read the book from memory. They can follow along with their finger and be able to read some challenging words. ‘We're going on a bear hunt. We're going to catch a big one. What a beautiful day! We're not scared. Uh-uh! Grass! Long wavy grass. We can't go over it. We can't go under it. Oh no! We've got to go through it!’Onomatopoeia- The author puts some importance on the use of this tool to describes the family’s journey through the hunt. The use of onomatopoeia offers up a great opportunity for a teacher to introduce this concept and encourage the use of it among the class by giving somewhat easier examples. ‘Swishy swashy! Swishy swashy! Swishy swashy!’Illustrations. The illustrations throughout the book are very pleasing and appear to be pencil sketched and painted with watercolour in black and white and colour. The images often let the readers know of what is about to happen next. The black and white pages contain the repeating lines in the book, showing and telling the reader what is approaching but not giving it all away until the next page. Descriptive language is used throughout the story to describe the sounds and movements of the family through their hunt. The colours used are light and airy, at first. Using these colours almost gives a carefree feel to the story but as the colours get deeper, the story progresses which lets the children know that something is about to happen such as getting close to the bear in this cave. Image taken from the picture book shows the family facing one of their hurdles.
As seen above, the images are full, double page spreads. This gives the feeling of the characters travelling through their journey. The characters are always in a row so that you can see all of them and what they are doing. Their facial expressions often add to the mood of the story, either making the setting feel exciting or worried. Children pick up on the expressions which is then copied. Their gestures also help the reader imagine what it would be like to be in the story and experience what is happening. For example, the adventure going through the “swirling, whirling, snowstorm” as the family hold themselves with their arms close to their chest implies that they were cold which is to be expected. When they are travelling through the long, wavy grass their arms are held out so that they touch the long blades almost playing around in it. In the same way towards the end of the hunt, when they are approaching the cave, they all hold hands while being wrapped around each other, letting readers know that they are frightened and scared about what might approach them. Variety of punctuation- Periods, exclamations marks, question marks, hyphens and apostrophes are all included in this story. However, the young learners will not fully understand what all these are until they are slightly older, but it allows the reader to show how our reading voices changes for different punctuation.
For example, we pause for period, our voices tend for rise for question marks and we get a more excited tone in our voices when we see an exclamation mark. ‘Tiptoe! Tiptoe! Tiptoe! WHAT’S THAT!’Challenges- Text format changes- A repetitive format is consistent throughout the story, however these change towards the end. Once the family discovers the bear cave the format changes on each new spread. Also, the words no longer follow the original pattern for children to follow easily. This will cause a challenge for young learners who were originally relying on their memory to help predict the words. The black and white pages with the main chant always have the text positioned in the top left and right corners, with the phrase, “Oh, no! We’ve got to go through it!” in the bottom right hand corner.
However, on the pages with the descriptive language, the words are set in a text box, with the text growing larger as the lines repeat (as seen in the page illustrated with the words, “Stumble trip!”. This pattern continues until the family discover the bear on their hunt. The illustrator then does a great job presenting the family running away from the bear as they revisit all the scenes that they had just come through. This is where we see each of the scenes in their own boxes on the pages. When they reach their own house, the story is back to the full spread images across the two pages that the illustrator originally started with. He words ‘’We’re not going on a bear hunt again’’ are presented in a very large font at the end, putting emphasis on this stage. Finally, on the last sheet we see the bear going back into the cave, with this head down, after failing to capture the family who interrupted him from his home. This offers relief for many young learners as they understand that the bear did not harm the family. (debrasantorini, 2014)‘One shiny wet nose! Two big furry ears! Two big goggly eyes! IT’S A BEAR! Quick! Back through the cave!’Another big change that occurs near the end of the story is how the illustrations and text are presented. Throughout most of the book one illustration is spread over two pages. However, once the characters discover the bear a chase sequence occurs. At this point the illustrations and text are presented in strips. They come in either strips of 4 or 6. Young children may get confused trying to read all the strips together from left to right. This is when it is very important for the teacher to model how to follow text throughout the whole story. Vocabulary- The story contains quite a few words that young children might find challenging such as through, swirling, whirling, oozy, narrow, gloomy and goggly. Also, most of the onomatopoeia words are made up words which students will find unfamiliar: swishy, swashy, squelch, squerch, splosh. The large variety of words may be hard for a student to work through so vocabulary support should be provided for them from the teach to allow them to read the story independently.
To conclude, a multimodal learning approach in a classroom is a source of creativity for students and teachers. It allows for audio, visual and kinaesthetic modes to be used. Using the Aistear book and getting the children active and supporting play can help the young learners share their feelings, ideas and thoughts. Getting the kids to bring in props and join in as you read, even provide some dramatic play props for the children. This allows for everyone to be involved as some children can narrate it and others can dramatize the story. Having a classroom bear hunt with children’s music in the background introduces another type of play such as games with rules. From reading Aistear rules are often an important ‘part of pretend play where children negotiate rules about what can and can’t be done’ in a classroom.
