What are 21st Century Literacies?

We have all seen and heard about the importance of 21st century skills.  Here is a recap.

According to NCTE, a student should:

1. Develop proficiency with the tools of technology
2. Build relationships with others to pose and solve problems collaboratively and cross-culturally
3. Design and share information for global communities that have a variety of purposes
4. Manage, analyze, and synthesize multiple streams of simultaneously presented information
5. Create, critique, analyze, and evaluate multimedia texts
6. Attend to the ethical responsibilities required by these complex environments

And, according to the Partnership for 21st Century Skills, they are:

1. Core Subjects and 21st Century Themes

2. Learning and Innovation Skills

Creativity and Innovation

Critical Thinking and Problem Solving

Communication and Collaboration

3. Information, Media and Technology Skills

Information Literacy

Media Literacy

Literacy with Information and Communications Technology

4. Life and Career Skills

Sample 21st Century Literacies Activities

Activities include:

General Assignments

• ·Class Wikis
• ·Class Blogs
• ·Blog Subscriptions
• ·Snapshot and Tableaux Dramas
• ·Sketch to Stretch
• ·Internet Scavenger Hunts/WebQuests
• ·Multigenre Paper and Multigenre Group Presentation
• ·Abstract Representation
• ·Myspace Page
• ·Using Murals
• ·Vocabulary Image Journals

English Assignments

• ·Hypertext Writing (Annotate a Text)
• ·Make an Online Anticipation Guide
• ·The Album Cover Project
• ·Julius Caesar, the musical
• ·Theme Song Essay
• ·Writing in Email English
• ·AuthorQuest
• ·Clothing Catalog
• ·Site-Specific Audio Walk
• ·Listening Centers
• ·Writing a Movie
• ·Sound Movie
• ·Fan Fiction
• ·Antique Photos
• ·Evaluate a Web Page or Document a Search
• ·School Commercialism Scavenger Hunt
• ·Gender Bias
• ·Critical Literacy Discussion Prompts
• ·Cultural Memoirs (Multigenre Autobiography)
• ·Character Mandala
• ·Revision in the Computer Lab
• ·Short Fiction Write-Around