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vocabulary. By developing these skills, students will be able to transition between print and online texts, while being able to think through complex questions and search vocabulary, all certain requirements for the 21st century worker. Ending UpWhereWe Need to Be: Text Features andWebpage Navigation Our knowledge about text features helps us understand how to read and navigate websites, a fact we do not often consider when reading or perhaps when helping students read online. Much of web design focuses on navigation and making it simple, and ‘simple’ typically means minimal scrolling for navigational tools and clear, consistent design (Gaffney, 2005). Readers are conditioned to look for a search bar at the top left corner of a web page, and we recognize a magnifying glass icon to mean search. Often in secondary classes, teachers expect students to know this, but there are not clear objectives in the standards that state when or how students should have learned how to navigate websites (NGACBP/CCSSO, 2010). In early elementary grades, students are explicitly taught how to use text features such as table of contents, headings, captions, and photos. Students use these text features to navigate informational texts. Primary students become accustomed to looking for bolded or italicized words, which typically indicate important vocabulary. Similarly, online readers should look for underlined words as hyperlinked to another part of a website or another website altogether. Students should also be able to locate a website navigation bar to understand the layout of the website. By the secondary grades, these skills are likely automated, but explicitly modeling for students how to use the text features of websites and making comparisons of sites will help students become stronger and more effective researchers. Finding the Right Words: Vocabulary Development andWeb Searches Starting in the early grades when students are reading informational texts, they develop an intentional vocabulary about a myriad of topics: weather, planets, and books. Once students have background knowledge to tap into, they are able to converse with people using appropriate vocabulary that continues to build. Moving on to secondary content classes, students learn higher-level vocabulary: meteorology, astronomy, and literature. A strong vocabulary helps students in many scenarios, but especially in those wherein they have to draw upon their background knowledge to answer new questions. Educators need to find ways to help students activate their current knowledge in order think about how to answer complex questions. What information does someone have to know or do to be able to answer a specific question or solve a problem? These problem solving skills will be invaluable in the 21st century workplace where workers will be employed in multiple potential fields and solving multi-faceted problems.

students may ask about the population. A simple search for population in Houston will reveal its population, but we want to teach students to ask complex questions, like how has the population in Houston been affected by the weather patterns? Answering this question means that students will need to find information about several concepts, which mirrors the layered questions we want 21st century learners to be thinking about and asking. Getting students to the point where they are able to ask discriminating questions takes much practice. Conclusion Acquiring the reading skills needed in a multimodal world can prove to be a daunting task for students. Since students have to read and learn from printed text and online text, educators can help make stronger connections between the skills needed to read effectively off and online. Understanding that the foundational skills needed for what Rueda (2013) deems the 21st century worker are developed in the primary grades, can help educators continue to build upon the knowledge students bring to upper and secondary grades. Modeling reading strategies to readers in multiple formats and for multiple purposes is one approach to help students hone their reading skills and create lifelong learners off and online. References Duke, N.K. (2000). 3.6 minutes per day: The scarcity of informational texts in first grade. Reading Research Quarterly, 35 (2), 202–224.

Reading Matters Technology Matters

Gaffney, G. (2005). Why consistency is critical . Retrieved May 30, 2015, retrieved from http://www.sitepoint.com/why-consistency-is-critical/

Gee, J.P. (2007) What Videogames Have to Teach Us about Learning and Literacy . St. Martins: New York.

Goodwin, B. & Miller, K. (2012) Reasearch says/nonfiction reading promote student success. Educational Leadership, 70 (4), 80-82.

Huddleston, A.P.& Lowe, T.N.“I skim and find the answers”: Addressing search and destroy in reading. Reading Teacher, 68 (1), 71-79.

Kress, G. (2005) Gains and losses: New forms of texts, knowledge, and learning. Computers and Composition, 22 , 5–22

National Governors Association Center for Best Practices & Council of Chief State School Officers. (2010). Common Core State Standards for English language arts and literacy in history/social studies, science, and technical subjects . Washington, DC: Authors.

Miners, Z. & Pascopella, A. (2007). The New Literacies. District Administrator , October, 2007.

Rueda, R. (2013). 21st-century skills: Cultural, linguistic, and motivational perspectives. In D. E. Alvermann,, R. B. Ruddell, & N. J. Unrau (Eds.), Theoretical models and processes of reading (6th ed., pp. 1015-1068). Newark, DE: International Reading Association.

There are moments in the classroom where searching for information is authentic: during a lesson about Houston, Texas,

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