Becoming entangled: An analysis of 5^th grade students’ collaborative multimodal composing practices

This qualitative study explores the ways in which artifacts, spaces, and structures became entangled as two fifth-grade students collaboratively composed multimodal responses to literature (e.g., videos and PowerPoints). Data sources included video and audio recordings of classroom interactions, students’ multimodal compositions, artifacts from the composing process, screen recordings, in-process and final student interviews, surveys, and instructional artifacts. Through an integrated analysis of students’ collaborative composing processes and products, this study traces the material, personal, and interactional resources that students navigate as they compose—and presents a description of how students take on a variety of interactional roles in the creation of their joint work. The findings of this study can be used to shape our understanding of young adolescents’ collaborative multimodal composing practices for academic purposes.