Shelbie Witte

author and editor of "Literacy Engagement through Peritextual Analysis," "Toward a More Visual Literacy: Shifting the Paradigm with Digital Tools and Young Adult Literature" and "Young Adult Literature and the Digital World"

December 11, 2018

Shelbie Witte is a professor of Adolescent Literacy and English Education and the Chuck and Kim Watson Endowed Chair in Education at Oklahoma State University. She also serves as the director of the Oklahoma State University Writing Project and is the founding director of the Initiative for 21st Century Literacies Research.

She studies 21st century literacies and multi-modal approaches to adolescent literacy learning, particularly the intersection of these literacies and literacy pedagogy. She continues to actively serve as a member of various committees and projects of the National Council of Teachers of English, where she serves as co-editor along with Sara Kajder, of Voices from the Middle.

She also holds National Board Certification in Early Adolescence/English Language Arts, having taught 12 years in Oklahoma and Kansas. She holds a doctorate degree in Curriculum and Instruction with an emphasis on English Education and Technology from Kansas State University, a master’s degree in English Education from Kansas State University, and a bachelor’s degree in Instructional Leadership and Academic Curriculum with an emphasis in English Education from the University of Oklahoma.

“Literacy Engagement through Peritextual Analysis” discusses why paying attention to subtext is a crucial component of literacy. However, the concept of peritextual analysis takes such examination much further, teaching readers how to evaluate information and sources using elements that precede or follow the body of the text. A work’s preface, afterword, index, dust jacket, promotional blurbs and bibliography are only some of the elements that can be used to help readers connect with and understand the main text.

Speaking directly to librarians and educators working with K-16 students, this important book outlines the peritextual literacy framework and explains its unique utility as a teaching and thinking tool. It defines components such as production elements, promotional elements, navigational elements, intratextual elements, supplemental elements, and documentary elements, offering examples drawn from both print and non-print texts.

The book presents several case studies showing peritextual analysis in action, ranging from young adult nonfiction in the classroom to strengthening students’ visual literacy skills by critically comparing and contrasting two graphic novel covers; and examines how the functions of peritext and the peritextual literacy framework exist within online news articles, film and media packaging, and other non-print texts.

The creative and engaging approaches to providing, highlighting and teaching the peritext of a text showcased in this collection will help students learn how to judge a book by its cover… and everything else.

“Toward a More Visual Literacy: Shifting the Paradigm with Digital Tools and Young Adult Literature” discusses how technology and multimodal texts must be included as part of the literacies we teach in 21st century schools. Implementing multiple modes of literacy requires that teachers shift their focus toward multiple genres and modes of text. This shift to the visual requires that teachers consider how students read images in the classroom, address visual literacy and engage students in constructing visual texts.

Students already live and communicate in a virtual world connected by expansive networks and many also read young adult literature. Given this, researchers and practitioners in the field examine ways texts written for students can be combined with digital tools to craft more critical conversations around literary response and digital media consumption and production. This book explores ways adolescents read, engage, and construct meaning within the world around them and examines how teachers can leverage the use of young adult literature with digital practices within their classrooms.

“Young Adult Literature and the Digital World: Textual Engagement Through Visual Literacy” explores digital literacies to engage students in responding to young adult literature, including digital literacies to engage students beyond the classroom and with the world in which they live. Practical classroom strategies to implement in classrooms are offered.

URL: https://library-dep.okstate.edu/news/celebratingbooks/2019-honorees/shelbie-witte

Last Updated: 11 December 2018