Tapping Multi-platform Reading for Social Justice - A Review of Khaled Hosseni‘s latest work, Sea Prayer

By Dr. Rose Reissman

Behold, an example of a powerful, new print book for all ages, bestselling author, Khaled Hosseni’s (2018) Sea Prayer.  

Great,  he's a bestselling author and the fact that this slim work  in picture book format with evocative Dan William water colors, is being marketed as for all ages, is testament to his storytelling style, a powerful one for  elementary students.

Teachers can use this traditional format print book  to effectively engage today’s youngsters the way teachers have successfully engaged students for ages; old school; decoding text and enjoying the message it carries.

Yes, this is traditional text to be read aloud or silently, a book whose pages can be turned.  There are many traditional text books, but this work can be taught in tandem with free multimedia items at grade and age appropriate levels to emotionally engage the students in Hosseini’s mission in writing this work.  That mission was to maintain global citizens’ focus on the deaths of refugees- adults and children, as they flee oppressive governments for safety in democratic countries. That’s a challenging reality for young students to absorb and comprehend and the addition of digital media to the text-based experience offers them help to do so.

Unlike most text with illustrations books intended for all ages, this one is not the first iteration of this fiction story. Rather, it’s a follow up to reach younger family audience.  He wanted to broaden his audience this way, but many families even refugee ones do not want children to focus on this

This version is  presented as a father’s prayer for his son, thinking about refugees and the  ongoing Syrian war.   Khaled Hosseni mentions as an afterword to his work that he was inspired by the story of Alan Kurdi, the three year old Syrian refugee who was among the many children and adults who drowned in the Mediterranean Sea trying to reach safety in Europe in 2015.  During 2016, 4,176 others died as well trying to flee.


Multimedia “Platforming”: Strategy 1 (grades 8 to 12)

Teachers grades 8 to 12, can include as part of the reading viewing the actual photo image taken by? Alan Kurdi https://g.co./kgs/9zonRg video news coverage that lingered in many global citizens’ hearts.  Looking at that image, reacting to it, what 20^th century literary critic Louise Rosenblatt in Literature as Exploration  (https://www.amazon.com/Literature-as-Exploration-Louise--Rosenblatt/dp/08732525671) called the transactional experience of reader receivership occurs as the reader experiences the photo slideshow and the video online.

Multimedia “Platforming”:  Strategy 2 (grades 8 to 12)

Indeed, the teen reader in the classroom can also learn how that experience inspired and affected Hosseini by watching the animated video “Sea Prayer: a 360-degree illustrated film by award-winning novelist Khaled Hosseini.”   ( https://youtu.be/LKBNEEY-c3s ) which predates this print book.

Also of worth is the article “Khaled Hosseini: Refugees are still dying.  How do we get over our news fatigue?”  https://www.theguardian.com/books/2018/aug/17/khaled-hosseini-refugees-migrants-stories

First, though, a brief discussion of the phenomenon of News Fatigue will heighten students’ awareness and understanding of this feeling of overwhelming loss and helplessness that a barrage of these stories fosters in the readers. Older teen readers can argue or critique Hosseini’s comments and expand the  their view to include other frequently occurring tragic events such as shootings or homicides which eventually result in news fatigue and how literature can lessen that fatigue to heighten emotional reactions.

Young readers grades 6 to 12 can watch and read online how the writer reacts to this as a father and as a storyteller.http://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/sep/01/sea-prayera-360-story-inspired-by-refugee-alan-kurdi-khalid-hosseini.

Multimedia “Platforming” Strategy 3  (grades 3 to 12)

 For All students, the many varieties of free, digital media resources available online represent possibilities for ways the students may extend the body of content already available online to share and celebrate Hosseini’s work. They might storyboard the book, or use animation programs, such as scratch, to react to it or prequel or sequel it or the 360 animation (mentioned above) or comment online on it. 

They can also suggest other  music that would be appropriate for the animation beyond the one used. Younger elementary students might discuss the author’s perspective and how the images, music and narration communicate the story.

Additional Strategies  

Older students can look up the geographic and Syrian civil war references on maps. 

Adult readers and teens can learn more about the Hosseini Foundation’s work/ www.khaledhosseinifoundation.org and learn about the work of United Nation Refugee Agency: www.unhcr.org/khled-hosseini.  They can also listen to Khaled talk about “Stories Remain Our Best Teachers of Empathy” at: http://amp.timeinc.net/time/5407899/khaled-hosseini.    Students in  these grades might argue whether they feel stories as opposed to factual informational documents teach empathy or not.

All of these sites and formats also allow direct reader response in blogs or comments plus the potential of authentic feedback if appropriate for the particular school protocol.

Multimedia “Platforming” Strategy – Strategy 4 -
(A range of comparative print to digital text prompts which can be asked on various grade levels.)

But what about the actual page turning print book Hosseini published in 2018?  How does it compare and contrast with these photographic, video, commentary and animated story responses to the incident that Hosseini wrote about? 

Here are some examples of guiding questions for discussions. Did Hosseini really need to also develop a print book for all ages?  In what ways are the book illustrator’s, Dan William’s artistic watercolor responses different than the animator’s?  How do the illustrations in the book complement the text?   Is this slim not numbered work really suitable for young children or for families to read together or only for teens and adults?   Is the story only about the Syrian refugees or might it be a story about any family of refugees fleeing to safety?

All of these questions have no single answer and multimedia responses such videos, music, animations, hand illustrated or crafted art or spoken words or music can be given by readers of various ages.

But wait, these discussions and all these ways for the reader to respond are they actually focused on “reading” since only the single print Sea Prayer published by Riverhead Books, in 2018 can be considered a book in the traditional sense. As defined by the Common Core Strand 10 standard of reading, Reading happens across a range of texts, including digital ones.

So, as author Khalid Hosseini has so brilliantly shown the public and educators and readers of all ages, 21^st century reading is alive using in addition to the print text multimedia platforms accessible to all.    Readers of all ages can still read print texts and perhaps also explore online platforms

Even better, every style of reader, including those with musical, intrapersonal. visual , auditory, print, and media mix preferences can be part of the live stream of story as there are available now so many easily accessible digital resources to support their expression

Mark Twain reacted after the media falsely reported his death, giving us that great quote “The reports of my death are greatly exaggerated.”  One need only look up from reading, the pollsters’ laments about the dying out of “reading” to see a world alive with children and teens reading print books like Sea Prayer and complimenting their print reading experience with videos, digital news, and digital music , reacting by developing their own digital products in response Rather than diminish reading, allowing the reader to go across print and digital formats to experience the story, enhances and amplifies the reader’s engagement

Bana Alebed’s tweets to Stand with Aleppo prefigured her Dear World book as did Malala’s  broadcasts about Pakistani education.  Their calls for social justice were then followed by print works and further media products… Offering today’s content consumer a richer and more meaningful literacy experience.

Want to engage a new generation of print readers and writers?  Just school them in multimedia platforming and find an already differentiated reader menu of options that will bring increasing numbers of reluctant print readers to the circle of enthused, active readers. .

Dr. Rose Reissman is the founder of the Writing Institute, now replicated in 200 schools including PS 205 in The Bronx, New York City.  She is a featured author in New York State Union Teachers Educators Voice 2016 and was filmed discussing ESL student leadership literary strategies developed at Ditmas IS 62, a Brooklyn public intermediate school. roshchaya@gmail.com




Also by Dr. Rose Reissman

Wednesday, November 28, 2018
The ad said “Download the eBook NOW!” - Struggling with important insights about Teaching and Learning Literacy in the Digital Age
https://literacyspecialinterest.blogspot.com/2018/11/the-ad-said-download-ebook-now.html

Tuesday, August 14, 2018
From Mandated STEM to Joyful STEAM – Inspiring Projects Can Transform Instructional Culture
https://literacyspecialinterest.blogspot.com/2018/08/from-mandated-stem-to-joyful-steam.html

Tuesday, June 12, 2018
Using the Writing of Child Leaders to Inspire Today's Youth https://literacyspecialinterest.blogspot.com/2018/06/using-writing-of-child-leaders-to.html

Saturday, May 19, 2018
Reading with Music at Full Blast: Using music references and digital media to draw students into reading YA books
https://literacyspecialinterest.blogspot.com/2018/05/reading-with-music-at-full-blast.html

Thursday, April 12, 2018
Dear World: How Twitter Brought a Syrian Girl’s Pleas for Peace to the World https://literacyspecialinterest.blogspot.com/2018/04/dear-world-how-twitter-brought-syrian.html

Friday, November 3, 2017
Youth Court: Judging Historical Figure Controversies Reality TV Style https://literacyspecialinterest.blogspot.com/2017/11/youth-court-judging-historical-figure.html

Tuesday, October 10, 2017
Digital Text Mindfulness: Developing a New Literacy Skill for Study of Contemporary Novels and Life
https://literacyspecialinterest.blogspot.com/2017/10/digital-text-mindfulness-developing-new.html

Monday, July 24, 2017
Book Review: Hello Ruby-Adventures in Coding
https://literacyspecialinterest.blogspot.com/2017/07/book-review-hello-ruby-adventures-in.html

The ad said “Download the eBook NOW!” - Struggling with important insights about Teaching and Learning Literacy in the Digital Age

By Mark Gura and Dr. Rose Reissman


"Download the eBook NOW!"

Perusing the old In Box, my usually jaded eyes came to rest on yet another email from SmartBrief.  I was hooked from reading just its subject field  shouting the question “How has literacy changed in the digital age?”

With anticipation I clicked and opened it!

After the obligatory “This is a paid advertisement… does not necessarily reflect the view of…” in hyperlinked text “Find out today with an eBook from literacy experts.” A bit further down…  “Technology has transformed the classroom extensively in the past few years. With these changes come new questions: How can we incorporate education technology in literacy lessons? What does literacy mean in this age of new media? Explore these questions with literacy experts in the eBook Teaching K–12 Literacy in a Digital World… Discover new strategies for teaching literacy in this digital era.” And finally… “Download the eBook NOW!” And, well, who am I to argue with such a sensible, straightforward suggestion? So I did. What follows here are my reactions, as well as those of a respected colleague. By the way,  I’m considered by many to be an expert in the use of digital resources for instruction, in fact I’m the editor/contributing writer of the ISTE Book “Teaching Literacy in the Digital Age” And my colleague, Dr. Rose is a former President of the NCTE NYC affiliate, a licensed NYS literacy educator and prolific author/coauthor in the literacy field (Teaching with Author Websites, Corwin and Project Based Literacy, Information Age). By the way, we both fully appreciate the gutsy ambition of the producer of this publication, who has assumed the difficult posture of posing a few of the most far reaching questions in contemporary education: How does technology impact learning literacy? And, What should literacy educators know and understand to take full advantage of technology’s very profound capabilities? We, however, see additional facets to this crucial variety of understanding. For one thing, the need to make technology part of literacy education in order simply to keep it relevant to the ways people are literate NOW. In fact, we see the powerful impacts of technology as having transformed Literacy itself, something that must be accounted for in this new understanding of the world in which today’s students learn to be literate. Distractions or Assets? At the foot of the book’s introduction is the statement “Literacy in our digital world involves videos, sounds, ads, blogs, and much more. It’s up to us to show students how to navigate through endless distractions to arrive at the trove of infinite information, stories, and resources available to them.” But, we ask, is it accurate and insightful to consider these new developments in communication as “distractions?” We think not and feel that it’s up to us to establish these for students, as media that partner with text, offering a way to consume and access content through a broad package of means as one navigates toward that ultimate destination: Meaning and understanding! Early in to this read we are quickly offered a segment on Reading: Teaching K-12 Literacy in a Digital World and already our brows furrowed a bit. Does Reading perfectly equate with Literacy? We see it as a component, an essential dimension yes, but not the absolute definer of Literacy. And if the evolution of Literacy in a digital world has changed anything, it’s that Media Rich content provides students with alternate and additional ways to access and understand content. More ways than just the traditional, narrow field of possibility of accessing content via text alone.  Our disagreement with the book deepened as we read Why and How Reading Is in Crisis. That jumps off the page, true, but we see today’s Literacy Learning Landscape as revealing that Literacy is alive and well, and more accessible for students than ever. However to see this one must make the essential shift to understanding Literacy through the lens of its contemporary incarnation and not falling into the appealing trap of comparing the ways that today’s young people are literate to the goals of Literacy Instruction of years gone by;  before the advent of Information Technology. We see the act of  accessing and comprehending content as, of course, involving its most salient element, Reading, but not being exclusively defined by Reading in an age in which other elements have emerged and been embraced strongly. The Oxford Cambridge Dictionary defines “Reading” as “the skill or activity of getting information from written words.” This, however, comes from a time in which written words were the only way of recording and disseminating thoughts, feelings, and reportage of developments and events.  We now have other ways to accomplish these things (e.g. recorded audio, video, a variety of ways of presenting still photography, and others). To favor the traditional, original way of consuming content (Reading) and consider it the exclusive method, everything else ancillary or supplementary, makes little sense as it is out of step with the world in which we live. For an example of the way content is currently consumed, visit the New York Times, which by the way has been a bastion of Literacy for adults since 1851. Yes, the paper is produced in print for those who, for a variety of reasons want it that way, but the online version is the format of choice. Back in 2011, Business Insider ran the article “A Print Reader Is Worth 228-Times As Much As An Online Reader -- And Other Fun Facts About The New York Times.” What does the “reader” find on visiting the day’s Times? Text, yes, tons of it alongside photos (singleton photos, animated photos and drawings, and slide shows of photos); video and audio players; hyperlinks galore, inviting readers to click them to find and explore more content than is displayed immediately; links that take the reader out of the Times to ancillary publications that support the Times’ own content; interactive info graphics, and more… This is the way the 21st Century readers consume content. And importantly, it is an additive experience in which the various forms of content consumption support one another. Does it not follow that this sort of text rich, but not text exclusive, media enhanced content represents a powerful opportunity for students to consume content and find its meaning. And, germane to this discussion, students may learn to decode and comprehend text especially well when confronted with this sort of mixed content? Thus, by imagining the “either/or” proposition that children either learn to decode text and comprehend printed passages of it – or they learn to access content in digital media format, and extract the ideas and feelings communicated by it, we are setting up an artificial duality that in effect takes students away from real world literacy. Teaching K-12 Literacy in a Digital World The Publication is titled “Teaching K-12 Literacy in a Digital World” a perfectly framed focus for educators to try on and wear for a while in order to get a good understanding of the current state of Education, as well as an important indication of where it will be going next as of its evolution continues to unfold influenced by the increasing availability of technology. Unfortunately, from the ‘get go’ this eBook seems to be hampered by an appreciable amount of ‘Old Think.’ Just one sentence into the introduction we are presented with the question (alluding to technology integration) “How do we adapt lesson plans to keep up with the newest developments?” This seems to us to be somewhat akin to asking “how do we steer our new fangled motor car on the old horse path?” The point is that technology enables students and their teachers in new ways, opening up possibilities for new types of learning.  Searching for ways to “Adapt” traditional teaching in order to find a place for technology is a very short sighted view of a very broad horizon looming ahead. However, a bit further in, the publication asks “How will literacy evolve in this digital landscape?” We applaud that question, an important one that is right on target. We agree, too, that in a technology saturated environment students will read and write differently and that we will have to guide them as they develop their Literacy in it. Again, we cheered when we read: Could it be that focusing on what students should know and be able to do has caused us to lose sight of what we want students to be—readers and writers who can and do read and write?.. The tail, however, has begun to wag the dog. Instead of providing a map of the skills required for literacy, standards have themselves become the goal… Everyone would agree that the goal is to help children become confident learners who can read and write and choose to do so. Too often, practicing discrete skills in isolation consumes instructional time better spent reading. We fully agree with that, of course. Our concern is that it doesn’t go far enough in expressing an understanding of how literacy has evolved under the influence of the new, technology-borne possibilities in human communication. It’s been said many times in recent years that our schools are irrelevant because they seek to prepare students for a world that no longer exists and don’t prepare them for a newer one that is increasingly coming into sharper focus. And so we ask “Which era’s literacy are we teaching currently?” Included in the publication are some supporting statistics. We won’t argue with their accuracy, but feel that their very inclusion is an indication of a disconnect with actual, current literacy learning needs. Below, our reactions: “NAEP Survey Data Eighth-graders who read for pleasure almost every day scored higher than those who read for fun less frequently. Twelfth-graders who read for pleasure almost every day scored higher than students who never or hardly ever read for fun.” Scored higher than? OK, but how well prepared are students to function in the real world? If the understanding of Literacy itself, on the part of those who formulate standards and tests, is not yet fully reflective of the ways that it has evolved over the past few decades, embracing and reflecting the emergence and deep impact of digital media, then isn’t the pursuit of scores that show standards-based learning, accepting the tail, as evidence of success, instead of the dog that wags it? HMH Into Reading | 6 The implications of these NAEP findings are clear. If we hope to see improvement in reading achievement, students will need to read significantly more in many different contexts for a variety of purposes including their own pleasure. We should be every bit as concerned about the large number of students who don’t read as we are about those who can’t. Volume matters. The above is well said, but needs to be tempered, however, with the further question of “what is it that will bring students to reading in volume? “ And, as we are asking this, let’s keep in mind all of those talk show appearances captured and revisited over and over again on YouTube, of today’s top authors – the websites that their publishers put up to tease and please their readers into engaging with them – those sites the authors themselves put up to deepen their relationships with their audience by providing ancillary information about their lives and works.. and on and on… If educators are to teach Real World Literacy, then it follows they must observe how current Literacy shows up in the real world, acknowledge its current ways of being, and shape their practice to reflect those truths. ........................................................ Mark Gura - a native of New York City, Mark Gura taught in public schools in East Harlem for two decades. Afterwards, he spent 5 years as a staff and curriculum developer for the central office of the New York City Department of Education. Eventually, he was tapped to establish the Department’s Office of Instructional Technology, where he held the position of Director for 7 years, supervising professional development in the use of technology, citywide. After retiring, Mark joined Fordham University’s Regional Educational Technology Center, organizing citywide education conferences and events. He has taught Instructional Technology courses for both Fordham and Touro College. Mark has written books and created  materials for ISTE (International Society for Technology in Education), Information Age Books, Scarecrow Books, Corwin, and Teacher Created Materials. He has been an education writer for the New York Daily News and contributed numerous articles to Converge, T.H.E. Journal, and EdTech magazines. He was the co-producer of the popular podcasts The Teachers Podcast, Talking Financial Literacy Podcast, and host/producer of Literacy Special Interest Podcast. Mark has spoken on the subject of Instructional Technology throughout the U.S.  Visit: http://www.markgura.blogspot.com/ Write to: markgura@verizon.net

Dr. Rose Reissman is the founder of the Writing Institute, now replicated in 200 schools including the Manchester Charter Middle School in Pittsburgh. She is a featured author in New York State Union Teachers Educators Voice 2016 and was filmed discussing ESL student leadership literary strategies developed at Ditmas IS 62, a Brooklyn public intermediate school. roshchaya@gmail.com