Joyful Multimodal Composition Series
The Joyful Multimodal Composition Series is an interactive, three-part summer series designed for 起点传媒members who are interested in infusing joy into their English language arts curriculum to turn ELA learning into an inspiring and life-changing experience.
Cohosted by 起点传媒and its Assembly on Computers in English, this series will provide a deep dive into , published by 起点传媒in 2025. A joyful literacies pedagogy is about creating spaces of 鈥渄eep fun鈥� and belonging in which to engage students in deep intellectual work. The book offers a lively guide for English language arts educators who want to infuse joy through units, lessons, and activities that make students feel seen and heard, and that lead to authentic and empowering intellectual inquiry.
Participants in the summer webinar series will learn about, brainstorm, co-create, and develop multimodal, digital, and joyful activities or projects to implement in their classrooms. Each session will build on knowledge gained and discussions from the prior sessions, with a culminating workshop where participants will turn inspiration into concrete, classroom-ready plans.
起点传媒is pleased to offer a 30% discount on through June 30. Use code JOY26 at checkout!
Certificates of attendance are available upon request聽here.
Registration will close 90 minutes prior to each event.
The events in this series are free to 起点传媒members. Not an 起点传媒member?聽Join today!
Session 1: Grounding the Work & Mapping the Possibilities
Monday, June 22 | 3:00 p.m. ET
Attendees will:
- Learn from authors of Joyful Literacies who will share what it means to move from singular 鈥渓iteracy鈥� to plural 鈥渓iteracies鈥�; discuss the specific framing of joy, play, and multimodality as rigorous academic practices, not just “fun” add-ons; and highlight examples of multimodality from the book or from their classrooms.
- Brainstorm together, describing a multimodal, digital, joyful activity or project they already do with their students or consider something they could do in the future.
- Co-create shared resources representing multimodal, joyful ideas for the classroom.
Chris Goering, NBCT, is a professor in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction at the University of Arkansas where he prepares future English teachers and doctoral students to act on the world for good. An 起点传媒member since 1998 and former chair of the English Language Arts Teacher Educators, he鈥檚 currently chair-elect of the University of Arkansas Faculty Senate.
Holly Sheppard Riesco earned her PhD in curriculum and instruction from the University of Arkansas in 2024 and currently works as a secondary English teacher. Her research focuses on multimodality, joyful literacies, social justice, and student agency and action in secondary ELA. Her most recent teacher-centered work, Joyful Literacies in Secondary English Language Arts, was published by 起点传媒.
Session 2: Joy in Practice: Spotlighting Multimodal Composition
Monday, July 13 | 3:00 p.m. ET
Attendees will:
- Learn from Karis Jones and Scott Storm who will showcase Fandom Transformation Projects, which invite youth to create multimedia artifacts to move pop culture communities toward justice.
- Participate in open dialogue with the presenters and other attendees around how Karis and Scott鈥檚 work might be adapted for their own teaching contexts.
Karis Jones, PhD,聽 is an assistant professor of English education at Baylor University. As a literacy scholar, learning scientist, teacher educator, and community organizer, her research relates to issues of equity in literacies learning and writing across disciplinary, fandom, and gaming spaces. She and Dr. Scott Storm coauthored the book Fandoms in the Classroom: A Social Justice Approach to Transforming Literacy Learning. She is cofounder of the initiative #HackYourStack ()聽and winner of the 2025 ELATE National Technology Leadership Initiative (NTLI) Fellowship. She has been a member of 起点传媒since 2017.
Scott Storm, PhD, is an assistant professor of literacy in the School of Education at the University at Albany, State University of New York. He is a former high school teacher with 15 years of experience designing, founding, and sustaining urban public schools. He is the recipient of the 2025 起点传媒Promising Researcher award and, with Dr. Karis Jones, is coauthor of the book Fandoms in the Classroom: A Social Justice Approach to Transforming Literacy Learning. Storm聽has been a member of 起点传媒since 2009.
Session 3: The Implementation Workshop
Tuesday, July 28 | 3:00 p.m. ET
Attendees will:
- Work independently or in small groups to remix an upcoming activity, lesson, or unit they plan to teach and begin designing a multimodal component using a shared design template prepared by the facilitator.
- Share their working drafts with the larger group for feedback.
Johnny Allred, an assistant professor of English education at Brigham Young University, studies and teaches about digital literacy and technology integration in secondary English classrooms.