Emoji Lesson Plan for MultiModal Revision

by Leah Beth Johnston

Emoji Revision Lesson Plan

Leah Beth Johnston

Tools:

-Strips of paper with movie titles typed on them

-Electronic Devices (cell phones/tablets/laptops)

-Internet access

-Projector

Introduction:

This in-class assignment can function as a way to introduce/further expand upon multimodal revision techniques and incorporate the pedagogical stance of multiple Englishes into First-Year Composition. This assignment is not something that I introduce until I am certain that all students have access to electronic devices, whether their own or via university services.

Goal:

After completing this assignment, students will have preliminary literacy in emoji code and digital discourse. Students will be able to conduct basic internet research, and apply this research to summarizing texts. Students will also be able to understand the concept of a multimodal text, and will be able to connect the activity to their own revision processes. Students will also have increased knowledge of the central ideas of texts. Additionally, this activity serves to introduce or expand upon the concept of codes and code switching.

Preparation:

To prepare for this activity, I type the titles of movies onto slips of paper. I select film titles mindfully; both for inclusivity and also so that we have a mix of old and new films (for example, each year that I use this lesson, I incorporate current films from that year). This activity is scheduled for a class after we have already defined terms such as revision, multimodal, and literacy. My best practice is to also review the rhetorical triangle of rhetor, audience, subject, and purpose in the class meeting before we do this activity.

Practice:

I open the activity by reviewing what emoji is and making sure everyone has a working understanding of how to access emoji on their device. Depending on class size, I pass out the title slips individually or into groups of 2-4. Next, I ask students to revise not the movie title, but the movie plot, into emoji language. This may require some research if they are not familiar with the movie. I then remind students that even if they have seen the movie, they may want to review the main themes before revising the plot into emoji.

As each student/group finishes their revision, they will take a screen shot of the ‘sentence’ and email it to me. Once all revisions have been sent, I project them and the entire class discusses them one by one to guess which movie they are referring to.

Application:

After the projection part of the activity is complete, I provide further application of the lesson by reminding students of the rhetorical triangle referenced earlier, and ask them what levels of comfort they felt with emoji code. Next, I present the idea that emoji is one way to get a message across to an audience, and there are many other valid ways as well. Reinforcing the concepts of multiple Englishes and rhetorical considerations that determine which codes we use is part of my theoretical framework for the praxis of this lesson, though the activity itself could be adapted to various pedagogical stances. I conclude by discussing the students’ own multimodal revision project; it can be effective at this point for students to spend the last 5-10 minutes of class freewriting about their projects and what multimodal concepts and rhetorical strategies appeal to them.