Flipping the Script: The Impact of a Blended Literacy Learning Intervention on Comprehension

Abstract

This qualitative action research case study explored how a blended literacy learning intervention combining the flipped classroom model with youth-selected multimodal texts influenced sixth-grade Academic Intervention Services (AIS) students’ comprehension of figurative language. The study was conducted over four months in a New York State middle school and involved seven students identified as at-risk readers. Initially, students engaged with teacher-created instructional videos outside of class and completed analytical activities during class time. However, due to low engagement and limited comprehension gains, the intervention was revised to incorporate student autonomy through the selection of multimodal texts such as graphic novels, song lyrics, and YouTube videos. Data was collected through semi-structured interviews, journal entries, surveys, and classroom artifacts, and then analyzed using inductive coding and member checking. Findings indicate that students demonstrated increased the comprehension of figurative language when given choice in both texts and instructional videos. Participants reported increased motivation, deeper engagement, and enhanced meaning-making, particularly when reading texts that reflected their personal interests and experiences. The study concludes that a blended literacy model emphasizing autonomy and multimodality can support comprehension and bridge the gap between in-school and out-of-school literacy practices.

1. Introduction

“Everybody listen up,” I shouted over the murmur of students entering the classroom. “We need to talk. How do you think the past few weeks have gone?” I asked.

“Not good,” Peter said.

“Our class is your worst nightmare, isn’t it?” Tom asked.

In that moment, my heart broke wide-open. How could I let them think that? I thought back to my early days as a teacher, and I thought about what drove me to this profession in the first place. It wasn’t to make anyone miserable. I chose it because I wanted to inspire and empower others. I wasn’t under any grand delusions that teaching would be a dream, or that my students would be living one, but, at the very least, I wanted my class to be something we all looked forward to. Somehow, over the course of the last few months, I had lost sight of that.

“No, it’s not my worst nightmare,” I said. “But I think we can all agree that things haven’t been going well, or at least as well as we would have liked. And that’s okay. That’s how life goes. Recognizing that is half the battle.” I looked around the room and noticed some shocked faces. Did I just make a mistake? I ask myself. Was I wrong to address the elephant in the room?

“Now, we find ourselves at a crossroads, friends. I have charted a path for us that I think we all will like better, but I need to ask you to renew your faith in me. I know that I may have steered us astray recently, but I’ve learned from my mistakes, and I can see the way forward as clear as day. Will you follow me there?” I held my breath in anticipation. No one said a word.

“Where are we going?” Peter asked. “I’m confused.”

“As you know, AIS ELA isn’t your typical ELA class. Above all else, this class is meant to be designed with each of you in mind. It’s supposed to help you all with whatever it is that you need help with. That’s why we spent so much time learning about figurative language. But, there’s no reason why this class can’t be fun. In fact, I would argue that it should be.”

I began to see the excitement in my students’ eyes.

“Over the past few months, I think I’ve gotten to know you all pretty well. Elaine, I know that you love music and enjoy doing the school musical. Peter, I know that you love graphic novels and reading manga. Tom, I know that you’re not a big reader, but you love video games. Do you think that things like that are valued in school?”

“No,” they echoed in unison.

“Now, what if I told you that they could be? What if I told you that from this day on, you would be allowed to listen to music and play games in my class, and that not only would it be fun, but it would also involve learning?”

I saw some brows furrow. Many students, in my experience, aren’t used to hearing fun and learning in the same sentence, let alone in school.

“Believe it or not, examples of figurative language are all around us, and literary analysis goes beyond the books you read in ELA class or the short stories you read in my class.” I surveyed the room and I saw that I’ve got them hooked.

“Elaine, did you realize that Taylor Swift is a master at infusing her song lyrics with figurative language? Have you ever really read her lyrics before? And you, Tom, did you know that the cutscenes in video games before the action start often have subtitles, and that the dialogue that takes place is often laden with idioms and hyperbole?”

I saw the gears turning behind their eyes.

“So, here is what I would like for us to do. I want you to find a text that excites you. It can be a video game, a young adult novel, a comic book, a manga, a graphic novel, song lyrics, a YouTube video, it can be just about anything. There are only two rules: 1) You have to like it, and 2) You have to record examples of figurative language you learned in the instructional videos when you find them. What do we think?”

“YES!” they shouted, and I finally felt that spark I felt the first time I stepped into a classroom.

(Hockwater, 2024).

In an effort to increase Academic Intervention Services (AIS) students’ literacy learning in AIS English language arts (ELA) class, I implemented the flipped classroom model over a ten-week instructional period from November 2023 to February 2024. The intention was to evaluate the impact of a flipped classroom model unit on figurative language and literary analysis as it related to students’ comprehension. However, as Kincaid (1988/2017) writes, “The space between the idea of something and its reality is always wide and deep and dark” (p. 37). At the beginning of my action research study, I thought I had a good idea; I imagined students excitedly watching my videos and working together in class to apply what they learned and having meaningful discussions about literary analysis. However, I soon realized that the space between my idea and the reality of the situation was indeed very wide and deep. The flipped classroom model was not working, plain and simple. Rather than increase my students’ engagement as I had hoped it would, the flipped classroom decreased it.

As originally conceived by Bergmann and Sams (2012), the flipped classroom is an innovative instructional approach that flips the traditional paradigm of classroom instruction on its head. Rather than delivering explicit, direct instruction in the classroom, students view high-quality, teacher-created instructional videos at home and then spend class time applying their new learning from the videos with their peers.

To provide some context, my student Brittany described how she had come to hate my class during one of her semi-structured interviews. “I just don’t feel like doing anything,” she said. “It’s so boring and you’re not even teaching us anything, so what’s the point?” Jay echoed this sentiment in one of his journal entries where he wrote, “What do I have to do to get out of this class? I’m wasting my time. I just want to be able to do what I want, or at least something that will actually help me.” Chandler agreed, writing, “Last time, I asked to go to the nurse even though I wasn’t sick just because it was better than being in this class.”

Listening to my students and reflecting on their frustrations, I realized that I needed to change the intervention. This ultimately led to a much more successful approach and trajectory that better engaged my students: a blended learning model involving student-selected independent reading.

Despite the unsuccessful attempt at engaging my students and increasing their comprehension of figurative language using a flipped classroom model, my students were willing to forgive me and give me another chance. Being honest about my failure, but also my hopes and intentions, had garnered me their support. In my research journal, I described this feeling by writing “We’re all in this together. I don’t quite understand it, especially after how blunt and critical they were of me for the past six weeks, but it’s like we’re on the same team, now.” At this point in my study, my students and I were all ready for a change, and they trusted me to lead the way. As I will describe throughout this article, implementing a modified flipped classroom intervention alongside a multimodal, student-selected independent reading unit on figurative language led to my sixth-grade AIS ELA students increasing their engagement and literacy learning in class, including their comprehension of figurative language in texts.

1.1. Purpose of Study

The purpose of this qualitative case study was to examine and evaluate the impact of a blended literacy learning intervention on increasing my sixth-grade AIS ELA students’ comprehension of authors’ use of figurative language in multimodal texts. The following research question guided my inquiry: How did the integration of the flipped classroom model and student autonomy in selecting multimodal texts facilitate construction of meaning and comprehension of the texts read? Data was gathered from a variety of qualitative sources to help me investigate this research question, such as student semi-structured interviews, reflective journal entries, surveys, and other student-created artifacts.

This study fits into the landscape of research studies on multimodal literacies, flipped classroom, and blended learning as it relates to reading comprehension. As originally described by the New London Group (1996), multimodality and multiliteracies refer to the notion that meaning is constructed through multiple means and modes of communication, not just through the written word on the page. Therefore, multimodal texts are understood to be those that integrate different modes or mediums to make meaning, such as comic books, graphic novels, music videos, and more.

According to Mills (2010), there has long been a discrepancy between the kinds of texts and literacies that students engage with in and out of school. At home, many students opt for multimodal texts and participate in new literacies (Lankshear & Knobel, 2011) and multiliteracies (New London Group, 1996). In school, however, students are often restricted and relegated to reading traditional, print texts. In my action research study, I sought to bridge this gap by encouraging students to read multimodal texts during class that they selected and often engaged with outside of school. For instance, students opted to read song lyrics from their favorite artists and watch YouTube videos from popular streamers.

These kinds of multimodal texts that students are engaging with outside of the classroom are seldom integrated into typical classroom instruction as school-worthy texts (Serafini, 2011). As such, students are missing out on opportunities to develop critical literacy skills that challenge them to construct meaning from a variety of modalities so that they can deeply comprehend and fully engage with texts that they are expected to expertly read in society, such as advertisements. For example, integrating multimodal texts, such as graphic novels, into instruction has been found to improve students’ critical thinking skills and comprehension abilities (Jimenez et al., 2017).

Additionally, the flipped classroom model has been found to be an effective instructional methodology that teachers can use to facilitate multimodal and multiliteracy learning and instruction (M. Fahmi et al., 2020). Further, the flipped classroom is known to engage students in active-learning through a constructivist approach, where students must analyze and synthesize information from a variety of multimodal sources to make meaning and allow for deep meaning and comprehension (Reflianto et al., 2021). In my study, students worked to improve their literacy learning and comprehension of figurative language by participating in the flipped classroom; they viewed relevant instructional videos and then applied their learning by analyzing authors’ use of figurative language in multimodal texts, including song lyrics, YouTube videos, and graphic novels.

1.2. Theoretical Framework

The theoretical framework is one of the most important components of any action research study as it forms the foundation for the entire study and defines how the researcher philosophically, epistemologically, methodologically, and analytically approached the study (Grant & Osanloo, 2014). This study is grounded in Inhelder and Piaget’s (1958) learning and development theory, Vygotsky’s (1978) sociocultural constructivist theory, including the Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD) theory, and Deci and Ryan’s (2018) self-determination theory. Deci and Ryan’s (2018) self-determination theory is also used to structure the deductive data analysis approach.

1.2.1. Inhelder & Piaget’s Developmental Learning Theory

Inhelder and Piaget (1958) posited that students learn developmentally; there are predetermined phases of growth and development through which each student progresses. As individuals pass through each phase, they are able to learn more. Throughout these developmental phases, students assimilate (directly integrate new learning into their prior knowledge) or accommodate (modify new learning) information into their particular schema, or their set of prior knowledge and past experiences. My initial flipped classroom approach stemmed from Piagetian theory; I theorized that the flipped classroom model to help students reach state standards and objectives that NYS deemed developmentally appropriate for children at that age and grade. What I failed to account for at the time was that not all students were able and ready to engage with those high standards. Realizing this, I pivoted to student-selected independent reading, a more democratic and appropriate intervention aligned with Vygotsky’s (1978) theory as well as Deci and Ryan’s self-determination theory (2018).

1.2.2. Vygotsky’s Socioculturalism

For much of American education history, Inhelder and Piaget’s (1958) view of learning and development has persisted. Teachers believed that students were only able and ready to learn certain material once they reached a certain age or grade. However, Vygotsky’s (1978) research on socio-culturalism has changed the face of American education and had a significant impact on student learning. In this action research qualitative case study, I experienced a shift in mindset and pedagogy, transitioning from a more Inhelder and Piaget (1958) philosophy of learning under the flipped classroom model to a more Vygotsky (1978) view of learning under youth-selected independent learning. I surmised that my students learned better and were more engaged when taking a Vygotsky (1978) approach.

Vygotsky (1978) argued for a sociocultural constructivist view of learning and development where children learn and develop by watching and participating in dialogue and experiences with others. Thus, social interactions amongst others are paramount to learning. Further, Vygotsky (1978) stated that, “learning is more than the acquisition of the ability to think; it is the acquisition of many specialized abilities for thinking about a variety of things” (p. 83). In other words, there is more to the science of learning than physical and psychological development. Learning is not just thinking; it is specialized thinking about different ideas. This process begins before children even attend school (Vygotsky, 1978). In fact, “any learning a child encounters in school always has a previous history” (Vygotsky, 1978, p. 83). Children’s first teachers are not those in the classroom, but rather the parents, family, and friends that populate their lives.

There are three main tenets of Vygotsky’s (1978) sociocultural constructivist theory for learning: social interaction, the more knowledgeable other, and the ZPD. Vygotsky (1978) wrote that, “human learning presupposes a specific social nature and a process by which children grow into the intellectual life of those around them” (p. 88). In other words, individuals learn from observing and interacting with the community around them. In short, the best learning does not occur from reading a textbook or listening to a lecture; it happens from learning and collaborating with others.

Within these social contexts for learning is where the second tenet of Vygotsky’s (1978) theory comes into play. In order for students to truly learn from others, the others they learn from must be more knowledgeable others. Therefore, students at the same learning and developmental levels with similar amounts of knowledge are unable to advance as no new learning occurs. At least one of the participants in the learning partnership must be just above the level of the others. As a result, this more knowledgeable other can lift up, so to speak, the other learners. However, in order for learning to occur, students must be in what Vygotsky (1978) coined the ZPD.

The ZPD is the place where learning activates a variety of processes that can only function when an individual is interacting with others (Vygotsky, 1978). It is the place where students have the potential to construct new meaning by working collaboratively with more knowledgeable others and peers. Under the theory of ZPD, students participate in learning experiences that are challenging yet within each student’s grasp. Vygotsky (1978) states, “What is in the zone of proximal development today will be the actual developmental level tomorrow” (p. 87). Therefore, what a student learns from and with others today, will be able to be independently performed tomorrow, and then be able to be taught to others after. The learning experience that happens within the ZPD pushes students to become more knowledgeable.

1.2.3. Self-Determination Theory

Deci and Ryan’s (2018) self-determination theory established a framework for understanding engagement: competence, relatedness, and autonomy. As Deci and Ryan (2018) discuss, in order for students to be fully and actively engaged, they must feel that they are competent at what they are doing, able to relate their new learning to prior learning or others, and have a significant say in what they are experiencing (autonomy). The student-selected independent reading portion of the blended learning intervention created this triad for engagement as indicated by self-determination theory. Students were able to master the material presented in the instructional videos while also independently honing their skills independently to build competence while selecting their own interesting, multimedia texts to read and analyze.

1.2.4. Putting It All Together

Considering these three theoretical perspectives together can be reflected in the diagram below (Figure 1). Each circle on the diagram represents a core, contrasting educational theory that characterized my study. I used Inhelder and Piaget’s (1958) theory to justify my decision in implementing the flipped classroom model. Vygotsky’s (1978) theory was used to explain why students were more or less likely to engage at different stages of my study. As illustrated in the diagram, Deci and Ryan’s (2018) self-determination theory is applicable and fits with both contrasting learning theories flanked on either side.

1.2.5. A Multimodal Lens

In order to fully understand the implications of this research study, it is important to view the data through a multimodal lens. As Mills (2010) states, it is important for students to participate in and engage with multimodalities and multiliteracies inside of the classroom. Students live in an increasingly digital world and it is important that they learn how to navigate it. By integrating the flipped classroom model into my intervention and allowing for youth-selected multimodal texts, I worked to incorporate multimodality and new literacies into my classroom in order to engage and prepare students for life in the 21st century. Specifically, I considered “texts” to be multimodal in nature, including song lyrics, graphic novels, YouTube videos, and more.

1.2.6. Theories of Modal Affordances and Semiotic Layering

In line with a multimodal lens, it is important to integrate the theory of modal affordances (Jewitt, 2008). This theory posits that each modality has unique affordances or benefits. The affordance of each mode is shaped by its inherent characteristics. For instance, speech unfolds sequentially over time, while images are organized spatially. This theory was especially useful when analyzing students’ experiences reading graphic novels, as the spatiality and other features of the images were integral in supporting their comprehension.

Similarly to modal affordances theory, semiotic layering theory (Cowan & Albers, 2011) posits that readers construct meaning from multimodal texts by examining the interplay between different modes. For instance, a reader might engage with a multimodal slides presentation and use video, images, and written text to construct meaning and scaffold their learning. In other words, the potential for deep, meaningful, and multifaceted construction of meaning would not be possible without integrating and analyzing multiple modalities together.

1.3. Literature Review

In order to better understand the combined potential impact on students of my administered intervention of a modified flipped classroom approach with student-selected independent reading, a review of existing literature about reading comprehension and the flipped classroom model, youth-selected texts and motivation to read, as well as multimodal texts follows.

1.3.1. Flipped Classroom Model

The flipped classroom, as originally conceived by Bergmann and Sams (2012), argues for transformative potential in the way teachers deliver instruction. Bishop and Verleger (2013) conceptualize the flipped classroom as a two-pronged approach to learning that consists of the following parts: individualized computerized instruction occurring outside of the classroom and active and collaborative learning activities occurring inside the classroom. It flips the traditional instructional paradigm around, allowing students the opportunity to practice new learning in the classroom where the teacher is able to support them. Students of the flipped classroom have found it to be particularly successful at increasing students’ achievement and engagement (Ramnanan & Pound, 2017; Seery, 2015).

Creating engaging, high-quality instructional videos is key to success in the flipped classroom. Elmaadaway (2018) shows that students’ attention span for traditional lectures maxes out at ten minutes. Further, students only retain about 20% of the information. Thus, Elmaadaway (2018) argues that the flipped classroom model’s component of short, recorded lectures should increase student engagement and achievement. In Elmaadaway’s (2018) study, students having the ability to watch and rewatch instructional videos at home led to more students achieving mastery and generating insightful questions to bring to class the next day for collaborative discussion.

Betrancourt and Benetos (2018) discuss three different approaches to designing and creating instructional videos: representational, cognitive and perceptual, and instructional. Each of these approaches has unique affordances and limitations that can impact student learning. For instance, the representational approach places increased importance upon the visual appeal of the video, favoring videos that are dynamic and integrate multimedia. The cognitive and perceptual approach argues that multimedia, targeted cues, and the viewer’s ability to control the playback of the video all lead to students better understanding instruction. The instructional approach is centered around the actual content presented within the videos, and posits that using video to teach content is highly effective and engaging (Betrancourt & Benetos, 2018). Zhang et al. (2005) found that interactive videos had the greatest impact on student learning. These interactive videos require active learning on behalf of the learner, including embedded questions or quizzes. They help to keep learners engaged and metacognitively thinking.

Lin and Yu (2023) provides evidence-based practices for creating instructional videos. It was determined that having the instructor be visually present on screen helped students feel comfortable and the social and attentional cues provided were found to foster increased learning. Students who viewed videos without instructors visually apparent and without targeted cues did not achieve as much academically as their peers. In another study, Mayer et al. (2020) found that the following five components of instructional videos can increase student learning: annotating on the screen, making eye contact with the camera, providing interactive prompts, containing first-person perspective for demonstrations, and also having subtitles in the viewer’s second language. However, this area constitutes a gap in the flipped classroom model literature and further research on this topic is needed.

According to Reflianto et al. (2021), implementing the flipped classroom model can facilitate student learning independence, which often leads students to being more active in their construction of knowledge, thus improving their comprehension. In their quasi-experimental study, Reflianto et al. (2021) found that students who participated in the flipped classroom model significantly increased their reading comprehension, compared to students who did not partake in the flipped classroom. M. Fahmi et al. (2020) echo this notion, claiming that the flipped classroom model has been found to increase higher-order thinking in students, which in-turn has helped students to increase their literacy competency and reading skills. Suryana et al. (2021) concur, writing, “… The process of teaching reading comprehension through [the] flipped classroom model approach can be an effective solution…” (p. 23). Importantly, A. Fahmi et al. (2024) argues that the flipped classroom has been found to improve reading outcomes for students with reading difficulties. The ease of access to instructional and learning materials, as well as the ability to work at their own pace, are credited for this increase in comprehension.

1.3.2. Youth-Selected Texts

Student choice, regarded as autonomy and one of the three key components to engagement in Deci and Ryan’s (2018) self-determination theory, has been linked to establishing a strong sense of agency to reading (Ivey & Johnston, 2013). In fact, Ivey and Johnston (2013) found that increased motivation had arisen out of students being engaged and excited about the texts they were reading and chose to read. According to their research and survey results, 42% of young adolescents surveyed indicated that they were motivated by having a good selection of and choice in deciding what to read in school. Further, they found that student talk about the books they chose to read in class was not solely contained to the ELA classroom, but also expanded into many of their other classes. In turn, this resulted in students making new connections and forging new friendships with peers over reading that would not have normally otherwise have happened. Perhaps most notable, students experienced a sense of happiness, with students reporting that reading their chosen texts resulted in personal satisfaction. However, as Ivey and Broaddus (2001) write, “…Young adolescents may not be able to reconcile school reading and writing with their out-of-school reading and writing” (p. 354).

1.3.3. Multimodal Texts and Comprehension

According to Januarty and Nima (2018), “Multimodal literacy is about understanding the different ways of knowledge representations and meaning-making” (p. 14). By reading and analyzing multimodal texts, students can understand how different modalities work together to construct a coherent message. This complex meaning-making process has been found to facilitate deep reading comprehension in students (Jimenez et al., 2017).

Students in the 21st century are living in an increasingly multimodal world. In fact, according to Serafini (2011), multimodal texts dominate what secondary school students read outside of the classroom. As such, more traditional means of reading and comprehending are no longer sufficient. Instead, reading must be understood as a meaning-making process where students can think critically about literature, history, and culture. As part of this reading process, students must read text in different ways that do not follow the traditional ways of left-to-right, top-to-bottom format of print texts. Rather, reading multimodal texts facilitates deep comprehension of words, images, open space, and other multimodal elements to make inferences (Jimenez et al., 2017).

2. Materials and Methods

This action research qualitative case study took place in my sixth-grade AIS ELA classroom at Wyndemere Middle School (pseudonym) in Western New York. This study took place over the span of four months, from November 2023 to February 2024. It sought to evaluate the impact of a blended literacy learning intervention integrating aspects of the flipped classroom model and student-selected independent reading on increasing my sixth-grade AIS ELA students’ engagement and literacy learning in class.

Wyndemere Middle School (WMS) has approximately 825 students across grades 6 through 8. In terms of race, 90% of students are White, 4% are Latino, 4% are two or more races, and 2% are Black. In terms of gender, 52% of students identify as male and 48% identify as female. 40% of students come from families experiencing low socioeconomic status and 8% of students are students with disabilities. The current, average student-to-teacher ratio at WMS is 13:1, which is higher than the state average ratio of 12:1. Approximately 34% of students demonstrate proficiency on NYS English assessments, which is 10% below the approximate state average of 44%. All demographic data is based on publicly available school data. The school is overcrowded, with many teachers having to share classrooms and travel from room to room with all of their materials on repurposed projection carts.

2.1. Participants

This qualitative case study included data from seven student participants, as shown in

Table 1. Participants.

Pseudonym	Age	Gender	Race	Grade
Brittany	11	Female	White	6
Elaine	11	Female	White	6
Peter	11	Male	White	6
Chandler	11	Male	White	6
Tom	12	Male	White	6
Jay	12	Male	White	6
Shadi	11	Male	Biracial	6

. below. Each of these participants were in the sixth grade and placed into my AIS ELA class due to low MAP ELA and NYS ELA assessment results. Students met for class every other day for forty minutes. Five students identified as male and two as female. Six of the seven students were White. Most of these students came from families with low socioeconomic status. Although data was collected from all seven students, the data of three students in particular, Tom, Peter, and Elaine, are highlighted in this article.

2.2. Intervention

For this action research study, I implemented a blended learning approach that combined the flipped classroom model with opportunities for student-chosen independent reading based on my students’ feedback about their learning. As defined by the National Education Association (2021), blended learning merges online and in-person instructional environments, offering a mix of student autonomy and direct teacher guidance. While not essential to all blended learning formats, the flipped classroom model is often used within it to shift direct instruction to asynchronous, virtual formats. This approach allows classroom time to focus more on collaborative practice and hands-on projects.

Prior to receiving my students’ feedback, I opted to use the flipped classroom strategy in my blended learning model because I believed it would make content delivery more engaging than traditional lectures. The unit I designed centered on figurative language, so I developed twelve instructional videos covering various literary devices, including similes, metaphors, and hyperbole. When students arrived in class, they began with a short entrance activity related to the videos they had watched, revisited videos as needed, and then worked in groups to apply what they had learned by analyzing teacher-selected texts.

At the six-week mark, I noticed minimal change in student engagement and received feedback from my students about their learning and frustration, which prompted me to enhance the model by incorporating student-selected independent reading. During this phase, students chose materials that sparked their interest—such as young adult fiction, graphic novels, song lyrics, and YouTube content—without being restricted by text difficulty, format, or genre. Their choices came from a range of sources, including classroom and school libraries, personal collections, and digital resources. During class time, students logged examples of figurative language from their readings and participated in individual conferences with me, during which I provided targeted support through minilessons and reteaching. Students were also invited to share their discoveries in group discussions. While no new instructional videos were introduced during this phase, students had the option to rewatch earlier content to deepen their understanding in relation to their chosen texts.

The table below (

Table 2. Instructional videos.

	Video Topic	Video Length	Multimodal Components	Examples Referenced	# of Times Watched
Elaine	Symbolism Allusion Plot	9 min. 8 min. 6 min.	Text, Audio, Images	“The Pedestrian” “The Gift of the Magi” “The Most Dangerous Game”	2× 1× 1×
Peter	Conflict Characterization	10 min. 9 min.	Text, Audio, Images	“Cask of Amontillado” “The Tell-Tale Heart”	3× 2×
Tom	Hyperbole Idioms Onomatopoeia	6 min. 7 min. 5 min.	Text, Audio, Images	“Thank You Ma’am” “Rikki Tikki Tavi” “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty”	2× 2× 1×

) illustrates the instructional videos I created that my three case-study students autonomously selected to watch and learn from. As discussed in the literature review, these videos adhered to the design principles posited by Elmaadaway’s (2018) and Betrancourt and Benetos (2018). Each video was no longer than ten minutes long, included several stop and think prompts, and incorporated many different multimodal elements. Further, students were encouraged to rewatch these videos and slow down the playback speed to increase comprehension.

These instructional videos that I created supported my students in their analysis of multimodal texts. Although, in hindsight, the videos might have been even more impactful if the texts I referenced in examples were multimodal and more commonly read than the classic, canonical texts I used. However, I created all of these videos before I began conducting my study, and therefore was unable to make any changes to them. Regardless, as the data will show in the Section 3, students were able to transfer their learning from the instructional videos and apply it to their reading of their own selected multimodal texts.

In addition, it is important to note that the videos represented in the table above do not include all of the instructional videos that I recorded and made available to students. I also made videos on imagery, simile, metaphor, irony, and several other kinds of figurative language. However, the three case study students did not watch all of those videos, so I did not include them in the table. Likewise, although specific videos from my video library were originally assigned to students to watch each night in the beginning of my study (no more than one per night), I quickly pivoted to in-person blended learning where students were encouraged to watch videos during class time instead of for homework, since many students did not complete their homework.

In terms of video creation, it is important to note that I adhered to researched-based best practices from the literature on the flipped classroom conducted within the past five years. These design principles and best practices that form the backbone of effective flipped classroom application and instruction align with the latest research on how students learn best (Shen et al., 2025). According to Poulain et al. (2023), best practices of flipped classroom design and application include three phases: preparation, implementation, and follow-up. In my administration of the flipped classroom, I began my carefully planning and preparing each video. This included consulting reference materials, creating examples, crafting learning objectives, and writing a script. It also involved creating a slideshow presentation. The implementation stage included recording disseminating the video to students. Videos were posted to Google Classroom and then assigned to students for homework/classwork. The follow-up stage included meeting, conferencing, and interviewing with individual students to assess their knowledge of content taught in the videos, as well as solicit their feedback on them, including what could be improved.

Baig and Yadegaridehkordi (2023) discuss the importance of intentionality when selecting tools to use to implement the flipped classroom model, as well as active-processing activities that promote learning. In my study, I carefully selected which tools to use to create, record, and share instructional videos. I chose to use Google Slides to create an interactive, multimodal slide show presentation to share in my video, and then used Screencastify to record. Screencatify allowed me to record audio and visual content, such as inserting a video of my face as I delivered instructions. This is in line with what Jewitt (2008) defines as modal affordances. Modal affordances refer to potential benefits of certain modalities in communication and expression. For instance, by deciding to use Google Slides to create a presentation, I was able to leverage its capability of integrating multimodal content, a modal affordance of that particular instructional tool. Baig and Yadegaridehkordi (2023) also advocate for the inclusion of structured activities that alow students to apply their new learning from videos. In my study, I asked students to work together to closely read and analyze texts for figurative language.

Lastly, I followed Shen et al.’s (2025) suggestion of integrating self-regulated learning into the flipped classroom Self-regulated learning has been found to increase student learning (Adler et al., 2025). Often times, self-regulated learning cycles, as described by Shen et al. (2025), include goal setting, strategic planning, and reflection. In my implementation of the flipped classroom, I encouraged students to take notes while watching videos, which included a template with spaces for restating learning objectives and identifying their self-reported proficiency and mastery of them. In addition, I integrated strategic planning by requiring students to complete entrance tickets on each instructional video to assess their understanding and comprehension of figurative language that was taught in the videos. Lastly, I engaged students in a reflective dialog about their use and comprehension of the videos during 1:1 conferencing and semistructured interviews.

2.3. Data Collection

In order to assess and evaluate students’ reading comprehension and literary analysis skills, I collected data during the length of the intervention from November 2023–February 2024, from a variety of different sources, including informal check-ins and conferences with each student, listening to them read and discuss the text they were reading, asking probing questions, collecting graphic organizers with students’ figurative language analysis, and other classroom artifacts. In addition, I also collected data on students’ perception of the implemented intervention. These data sources included semistructured, qualitative interviews, student surveys, reflective student journal entries, and a pre-test and post-test on their knowledge of figurative language.

2.4. Data Analysis

A variety of strategies were employed to analyze the data collected in this study. To begin, all semi-structured interviews were audio recorded and then transcribed for analysis. Following this, data from interviews, surveys, and reflective journal entries were systematically inductively coded (Miles & Huberman, 1994) to identify recurring themes and insights related to comprehension and student perception of the intervention (e.g., using background knowledge to support learning, using multimodal text features to increase comprehension, using conferencing to scaffold construction of meaning, etc.). To enhance the trustworthiness of the findings, member checking was conducted (Birt et al., 2016), allowing participants to review and confirm the accuracy of how their experiences were represented.

2.5. Researcher Role

Herr and Anderson (2015) point out a distinctive challenge that action researchers face: navigating their dual roles within the research environment, or “their relationship to their setting and participants” (p. 37). To uphold the integrity and trustworthiness of this study, I made a conscious effort to clearly articulate my dual role as both the researcher and the classroom teacher. Acknowledging this positionality is essential. As Herr and Anderson (2015) emphasize, failing to disclose one’s insider status not only misrepresents the research context but also undermines the reflective process that defines strong practitioner research (p. 58).

Throughout my study, I constantly reminded students that they were my willing subjects in my research study. I thanked them for their help and reminded them that they could withdraw their consent at any time without any fear of it impacting them negatively in my class or at school. I made it clear that I was their teacher first, and a researcher second.

During the 2023–2024 academic year, I was in my seventh year of teaching, and my sixth year working specifically in Academic Intervention Services (AIS). This also marked my third consecutive year at Wyndemere Middle School (a pseudonym), which serves students in grades six through eight. The participants in this action research project were my current sixth-grade AIS English Language Arts students, specifically those enrolled in my seventh-period class. Teaching this group comes with unique challenges, as the class is ungraded and consists of students who have historically struggled academically, which can affect classroom dynamics and motivation levels.

In addition to my instructional role, my demographic and social identity also played a part in shaping classroom relationships. As the only male teacher at the sixth-grade level and one of the younger staff members at twenty-nine years old, I found that many students related to me and expressed appreciation for our shared interests in things like video games, sports, and popular media. While this helped build strong rapport, it also occasionally led to students becoming overly relaxed in the classroom setting, sometimes resulting in disruptive behaviors such as excessive chatting.

Furthermore, it is crucial to consider my identity as a white, middle-class male conducting research with students from a wide range of racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic backgrounds. My socioeconomic status supported access to educational support and enrichment thanks to consistent access to material wealth, which contrasts with the experiences of many of my students. A significant portion come from families experiencing economic hardship with limited support for homework and learning outside of school. As a result, I took great care not to interpret students’ disengagement or academic struggles as a lack of interest or motivation.

3. Results

The following section contains all of the findings from this study as they pertain to my research question.

3.1. Finding #1: Bridging the Literacy Gap with Multimodal Texts

Throughout this qualitative case study, students repeatedly remarked how meaningful, helpful, and enjoyable it was to be able to read and analyze the kinds of multimodal texts that they regularly engaged with at home inside of the classroom during the school day. Specific students in my AIS ELA classroom exemplified this bridging of in-school and out-of-school literacy practices.

3.1.1. Elaine

Perhaps the student most excited by this opportunity to bridge the gap between at-home and at-school literacies was Elaine. Elaine, a lover of music and fan of Taylor Swift, remarked in several interviews how she enjoyed listening to Swift’s music in the car and in her bedroom. She specifically remarked how she would carefully listen to and parse over song lyrics. Swift is known to leave coded messages in her music (Whiteside, 2025), and Elaine takes deep pride in being able to decipher them.

During one of her semi-structured interviews, Elaine stated, “I never thought that you could learn from reading song lyrics, before.” To Elaine, learning was reserved for school and the classroom; she was yet to establish the connection between learning at-school and at-home. During one of our conferences, Elaine came to me with a concern. “I don’t know what to do… I’ve only listened to and read the lyrics for one Taylor Swift song, and I’ve run out of room in the box to write examples of figurative language.” I tried to suppress a chuckle before I told her, “It’s okay, Elaine. Just write it on the back. Isn’t it amazing how figurative language is all around us?” In later interviews and conversations, Elaine would reveal how she began to look for deeper meaning in the music she listened to on the way to soccer practice. “I was listening to ‘Anti-Hero’ yesterday, and I never got before how she [Swift] uses a graveyard to symbolize her sadness. It’s like the song means something else now.” Elaine’s reading comprehension deepened and she was able to construct a more nuanced understanding of one of the songs she had listened to many times before through the use of literary elements like symbolism.

3.1.2. Peter

In a similar vein, Peter expressed his satisfaction at the merging of at-home and at-school literacy practices. During one interview, he commented, “I know that this is a class, but it doesn’t feel like a class.” Peter, who loved reading graphic novels, was often criticized in school for reading this genre of books. When I encouraged him to read these kinds of books in my class, Peter became overjoyed. He devoured more graphic novels than I had in my classroom library and instead pivoted to reading eBooks from the school library online resources. During one-on-one conferences with Peter, he illustrated good comprehension. One of the graphic novels that he read in class was “The Lightning Thief.” Peter had previously read the novel-version of the story in his core English class, and he was interested in the ways the author and illustrator decided to adapt the text. Although certain illustrator choices were in conflict with his initial understanding of the story (“Annabelle looked different in my head.”), Peter praised the depiction of action scenes in the graphic novel. “It’s better to read fight scenes in the graphic novel because it’s more exciting and shows things that the book really didn’t.” In this way, Peter’s comprehension of the action in “The Lightning Thief” was improved by reading the graphic novel compared to the print-only text.

3.1.3. Tom

Just like Elaine and Peter, Tom expressed increased enjoyment and comprehension when he was able to read what he normally read at home in the classroom. Prior to having the liberty to select texts to read in class, Tom expressed his boredom and frustration with being forced to read canonical, curricular texts. “These stories are so boring,” he said in one interview. “Why can’t I just go on YouTube?” However, once Tom was able to choose what texts to read, he became much more engaged in class while watching videos and reading transcripts from his favorite videogame streamers. “Now that I only read what I’m interested in,” he said, “I never feel bored or like I’m wasting time.” In addition, Tom expressed that his comprehension of these texts was increasing. During one of his viewings, he saw that the streamer was using different kinds of figurative language in his videos. “I can’t believe he used hyperbole,” Tom said. “I thought only people in school did that.”

3.2. Finding #2: The (Super)Power of Graphic Novels

Many students in my study self-selected graphic novels, manga, and comic books to independently read and analyze. Doing so allowed them to make powerful connections and better understand authors’ use of figurative language.

3.2.1. Elaine

In addition to songs and music videos, Elaine enjoyed reading graphic novels. In class, she read excerpts from Raina Telgemeier’s series of graphic novels. As a middle school girl, Elaine expressed that she was able to establish text-self connections while reading her books. “It’s like I went through something similar in my life,” she said while reading “Drama.” “It’s one thing to read about it, but it’s different to like actually see it in the pictures.” During interviews, Elaine discussed how the images showed the drama happening in the book and helped her to gauge its intensity. “Like those girls aren’t even standing by her,” she pointed to one panel. In this way, the images from the graphic novel helped Elaine draw from multimodal resources to better understand the story. As a result, her comprehension of the text and author’s use of figurative language was deepened.

3.2.2. Peter

As he is an avid fan of anime, I suggested to Peter that he try reading manga (i.e., a kind of comic-book style graphic novel originating in Japan). He was spending too much time finding something to read one day, so I lent him my copy of My Hero Academia, a manga series about an unlikely hero who became a superhero despite being born without any superpowers. Another famous superhero, All Might, gave them to him. Peter was instantly hooked. In particular, he really connected to the protagonist of the series, Midoriya, and talked about the qualities they have in common during one of his conferences. I asked Peter if he remembered watching the video on characterization, and suddenly it was like a lightbulb went on in his head. “All Might!” he said excitedly. “Like the direct characterization is how the author tells us how powerful he is, but then his actions show us that he can be, like, humble, I think that’s the word, when he gives up his powers to Midoriya.”

In a journal entry, Peter discussed his realizations more and wrote “I started watching the newest season of the anime and it’s crazy to think about how much some characters changed.” From his perspective, Peter was simply writing about a series that he came to enjoy. From my perspective, however, Peter had come to love ELA; he had learned how to analyze characters and construct meaning from this manga.

3.2.3. Tom

One of the greatest epiphanies that Tom experienced after reading the graphic novel version of “The Lightning Thief” was that there is a lot more to reading than he knows. In one of his last journal entries, Tom wrote, “I thought that I knew everything, before, but now I realize that there’s so much to learn. Like with allusions and “The Lightning Thief,” there is so much going on in stories that most people probably don’t even realize.” In his last interview, Tom told me, “That’s why we’re learning about figurative language, isn’t it? It’s like the closer you look, the more you can know.” Tom’s epiphany should not be understated. In that moment, he effectively crossed the bridge between at-home and at-school literacies, applying his knowledge of figurative language that he learned at school to an authentic context at home.

3.3. Finding #3: Instructional Videos, Autonomy, and Reading Comprehension

One of the greatest reported affordances of this blended learning intervention was the autonomy students were able to exercise when selecting not only texts, but also instructional videos. When reviewing the data, it became apparent that there was a link between students’ ability to select relevant instructional videos and their comprehension of figurative language.

3.3.1. Elaine

By her own admission in an interview at the midpoint of the study, “I just don’t really like the flipped classroom and the videos and stories that we have to work on.” Even though Elaine did state that she watched the instructional videos the night before class, she admitted that she did not really pay them much attention and watched them during the noisy, chaotic ride to soccer practice. As a result, Elaine would often come to class and be confused. She did not understand figurative language and struggled to find examples in the texts I assigned my students to read. In one of her journal entries, Elaine wrote about how “I always have to rewatch videos in class and it gets annoying. The videos are boring and make me space out, even when I’m in class watching them with my headphones on.” Elaine finished her critique by stating, “I don’t really like watching them because they’re boring and I have to. I don’t like being forced to do things I don’t want to do. But, if I didn’t watch them, I know my mom would yell at me, so I just do the least amount I have to and don’t spend my free time watching them if I don’t have to.”

In contrast, Elaine found the videos to be much more useful when she was given autonomy over selecting which ones to watch. When Elaine was presented with a library of videos to choose from, she freely picked the ones that she wanted to watch or saw value in watching. For instance, Elaine knew that a lot of singers used similes and metaphors in their songs, so she watched the instructional videos on those topics. In an interview, she stated, “These ones actually helped me because there were a lot

3.3.2. Peter

In the beginning of the study, Peter was overwhelmed by the many different videos that students were assigned to watch. As Peter wrote in a journal entry, “There were so many videos and not enough time. I had other work and stuff to do, and every day it felt like there was a new video to watch and new part of figurative language to learn.” In an interview, Peter stated, “How come we have to do this? I feel like the videos don’t even connect to what we’re reading in those stories.” Peter expanded upon this thought later, where he wrote, “I watched the video on hyperbole but I didn’t see any hyperbole in the story I read the other day. But, I also didn’t really pay attention to it [the story] that much so I guess I wouldn’t know.”

After shifting the intervention to be more student-directed and Peter was permitted to watch the videos that he felt only applied to him and his own learning, he became much more positive. “I’m not wasting time anymore,” he said. “I feel like whenever I do watch a video, I’m actually learning something new because I didn’t know it before.” In the instances where I guided him towards specific videos to watch during one-on-one conferences, Peter would not get frustrated in the way he once did, because he knew that there was a purpose behind it. Often, after watching videos, Peter described how they helped to improve his comprehension of the text that he was engaging with. For instance, after watching a video on onomatopoeia, Peter exclaimed, “I use [onomatopoeia] a million times a day when I’m gaming with my friends online.”

3.3.3. Tom

Under the initial flipped classroom design without student autonomy, there were times when Tom expressed that he was not learning as much because he felt he already mastered the content covered in the instructional videos. For instance, Tom felt that he was already competent at identifying and explaining metaphors in literary texts and that having to watch a video on metaphor was a waste of his time. “I don’t want to do it,” he commented several times in class. “I already know this, so why do I have to do it?” During an interview, Tom commented that he did watch the video, but that he did it while he was watching television. When asked if he thought that was wrong or a bad idea, Tom responded, “No. I already knew it so I didn’t need to pay attention.”

Once we moved towards a more student-directed model, in the instances when Tom was struggling to find examples of figurative language or found an example but did not know what it was, I encouraged him to rewatch specific instructional videos on the parts of figurative language that he did not understand. In one of his last interviews, Tom said that “only rewatching the videos that confused me helped me to learn better than having to watch all of them again. Also, since I only worked on what I need to learn, I never really felt bored or anything.” In a journal entry, Tom wrote about how “The videos were better now because they meant something to me.” Therefore, it can be said that the introduction of autonomy and the ability to select which videos to watch led to increased comprehension for students.

3.4. A Cross Case Analysis: Semiotic Layering

According to Cowan and Albers (2011), semiotic layering refers to the shifting interplay between modalities. When examining multimodal texts, semiotic layering includes the way multiple modes of meaning are integrated or layered together to create multifaceted, meaningful literacy experiences for readers. In my study, students engaged in this work by constructing meaning across, within, and between different modalities. For instance, both Elaine and Peter applied semiotic layering when reading and analyzing graphic novels and manga. As Elaine described in an interview, she used both the words on the page and the images accompanying them to construct meaning and comprehension. Specifically, she analyzed the spacing and positionality of characters in the scene to understand that the characters were not friends or friendly with each other. Likewise, Peter analyzed the words and images on the page to better understand conflict. He expressed how the images in fight scenes, including the ways that different characters were positioned, allowed him to feel more a part of the action and see how conflicts or fights between characters evolved in the story.

This semiotic layering included more than just images and words. It also included music and lyrics and multimedia videos. For example, Elaine described how she listened to the song “Antihero” while reading its lyrics. In doing so, she was able to notice things about the song that she never did before and construct deeper meaning. For instance, she analyzed the song and realized that Swift uses a cemetery to symbolize the depression she was feeling. Despite listening to this song many times before, Elaine never constructed this deeper meaning until she combined the modes of text and music. Likewise, Tom viewed and analyzed multimodal texts, such as videos with captions or subtitles. In doing so, he was able to construct more meaning and better understand the texts. For example, Tom heard the Youtube streamer he was watching say something that made him wonder. As he went back and read the subtitles, Tom realized that the streamer was using an example of hyperbole. Tom had watched this streamer’s videos many times and never noticed that he used figurative language.

4. Discussion

The silence was deafening. The cacophony of chaos was gone. I surveyed the room and observed, for the first time this year, a class full of students who were engaged.

I was awakened from my stupor by the sound of a roaring base drum. “Sorry, Mr. Hockwater. My headphones got disconnected.”

“It’s okay. What are you watching?”

“The lyric video for one of my favorite songs. I’ve listened to it a million times and I never knew it had so many similes.”

For the first time in a while, I smiled. “See? Isn’t it cool when you see that what you learn here connects to what’s out there?”

Elaine rolled her eyes but couldn’t hide the trace of a smile. She plugged in her headphones and resumed watching the video.

I flashbacked to the beginning of my action research study, reflected about the struggles that ensued, and felt gratitude for how far we’ve come. Shakespeare’s Prospero was right; “We are such stuff as dreams are made on.”

(Hockwater, 2024)

The findings of this study suggest that integrating a blended learning model with youth-selected multimodal texts may increase students’ comprehension of figurative language. When provided with the opportunity to select which instructional videos to view and learn from, as well as which multimodal texts to read and engage with, students reported increased comprehension of authors’ use of figurative language. Their semistructured interviews, surveys, journal entries, and other classroom artifacts and observational data indicate that they comprehended more than they did when they were not provided with the autonomy to select which videos or texts to engage with, and were instead assigned specific videos and canonical, curricular texts.

In my qualitative, action research case study, I sought to bridge the gap between in- and out-of-school reading experiences for my students. Rather than limiting what they can read in class, I opted to open the floodgates and let students read whatever they wanted. This included a wide range of genres and multimedia texts, including young adult literature, graphic novels, song lyrics, video games, and YouTube videos. Doing so allowed students to see that they could apply the literary analysis skills that they learned in school to the texts that they typically engage with and read for fun at home. This yielded some promising results as discussed in detail later in this study. Overall, they confirm what Ivey and Broaddus (2001) found in their own research: students’ worst experiences in school were related to teacher-assigned reading.

In order to fully grasp the wide scope and variety of multimodal texts selected, read, and analyzed by each of three spotlighted students in this case study, I have created a table (

Table 3. Multimodal texts.

	Title & Author	Modalities	Figurative Language Analyzed
Elaine	“Anti-Hero” by Taylor Swift “Love Story” by Taylor Swift Drama by Raina Telgemeier	Song (lyrics and music) Music Video (words, images, and audio) Graphic novel (words and images)	Symbolism-Graveyard symbolizes sadness Allusion-Shakespeare play Plot-Made text-self connections and used images to understand events that occurred in the story
Peter	The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan, Robert Venditti, Attila Futaki, Jose Villarrubia My Hero Academia by Kohei Horikoshi	Graphic novel (words and images) Manga (words and images) and Anime (words, images, and audio)	Conflict-Action was easier to understand when visually illustrated Characterization-How main characters evolved-Midoryia went from weak to strong
Tom	Mr. Beast Videos “May Contain Action” by Trevor May	Multimedia video (text, audio, and images) Podcast (audio and text)	Hyperbole-He frequently uses hyperbole when streaming videogames Idioms-Finding a needle in a haystack

) that illustrates this range:

As illustrated in the table above, Elaine, Peter, and Tom selected a wide-range of multimodal texts to read and analyze, from Taylor Swift song lyrics to Mr. Beast YouTube videos. Although each student definitely had their favorite authors and modalities, they each did dip their toes into other, less familiar modalities. For instance, Tom tried listening to a podcast, something he had never done before. However, a self-proclaimed auditory learner, he thought that he would enjoy and learn from them. He was right. Likewise, Elaine transitioned from reading song lyrics and music videos to reading graphic novels. The constant throughout her text choices was themes of love and friendship. Regardless of the author or modality chosen, however, all students were able to identify and explain multiple different examples of figurative language and how they increased their comprehension of the texts they were reading. This suggests that the multimodal elements of these texts were able to enhance and support students’ literary analysis. For instance, as Peter noted, the main character of My Hero Academia underwent significant character changes in the manga and anime that were heightened and made clearer by the combination of text and images.

One significant finding on multimodal texts and comprehension that resulted from this study is that multimodal texts that combine words and images, such as graphic novels and manga or videos with captions, better supported students in meaning construction than texts that did not integrate the combination of word and image, such as short stories. This harkens back to the work of Jewitt (2008) on modal affordances, which argued that each modality presents unique potential benefits for different purposes. For instance, as demonstrated in my study, Peter reflected on how his comprehension of figurative language increased while reading the graphic-novel version of Riordan’s The Lightning Thief. Specifically, he remarked on how the images of action scenes in the graphic novel helped him to better understand conflict in the story.

4.1. Giving Some Perspective

Vygotsky’s (1978) sociocultural theories of learning provide a rationale for what occurred during my study. As an AIS teacher implementing the flipped classroom, I facilitated Vygotsky’s (1978) social learning by providing students with the opportunity to work with others in small groups to apply and practice what they learned in the instructional videos watched the night before for homework. In these groups, students had the opportunity to learn from one another and participate in dialogues where new learning can take place. However, a breakdown occurred the night before when students failed to independently “do school” by viewing and engaging with my instructional videos. Ultimately, the videos that I created were outside of my students’ ZPD and they were not yet ready to engage with this learning on their own at home.

In addition, it was crucial that students remain within their ZPD. However, many of my students were not ready and able to access grade-level content as directed by state standards. Thus, the instructional videos I created as part of the flipped classroom model, as well-intentioned and carefully crafted as they were, were not within my students’ ZPD. Reflecting on this, I decided to stop creating and requiring students to view all of my instructional videos. Instead, I only asked students to watch or rewatch the videos that they felt were relevant to their reading. My other instructional moves also aligned with and supported Vygotsky’s (1978) theory of ZPD. For instance, I used The Northwest Evaluation Association’s Measure of Academic Progress Growth assessment data to help determine parts of figurative language students needed more instruction on. Lastly, by allowing students to select their own independent reading texts to apply their knowledge of figurative language learned under the flipped classroom model, I was able to ensure that students only read texts that were accessible to them within their ZPD.

If I were to reteach this unit by taking a similar blended learning approach, there are a few key things I would do differently. First, I would create specific instructional videos based on assessment data and students’ background knowledge. This would eliminate the issue I ran into of some videos not being meaningful or relevant for my students. Second, I would swap out the examples I used in each video and replace them with multimodal text examples that my students would be familiar with. Third, I would allow my students complete autonomy in selecting texts and instructional videos right from the beginning. I posit that making these critical changes and improvements would lead to even more promising results.

4.2. Future Research

This qualitative action research case study yielded two major suggestions for future study: independent reading and self-paced learning.

4.2.1. Independent Reading vs. Whole-Class Novels

At WMS, core ELA classes typically revolve around whole-class novel studies where all students read and discuss a single novel with their classmates and teacher. Oftentimes, the texts selected for novel studies are canonical in nature and do not seem to be interesting or exciting for students to read. The independent reading that students are required to complete outside of their core ELA classes is equally as disinteresting, given the stringent guidelines of which students must read within.

When given the opportunity to select their own multimedia texts to read during AIS ELA class, all students exhibited increased engagement and expressed increased enjoyment. They remarked how much fun they were having reading stories they liked, and how good it felt when they were able to apply their learning to these engaging texts. However, more research is needed on unrestricted free, independent reading in the classroom as integrated with modern ELA curricula and the potential benefits and drawbacks. For instance, from a management standpoint, how can a teacher support students’ comprehension and analysis of their chosen text when many secondary school teachers have well over one hundred students on their caseload? It is not feasible for teachers to read all of these different texts to provide targeted support in the way typically expected of ELA teachers and curricula. Further, if students are consistently selecting texts that are too challenging or too easy based on their reading abilities, will they be able to grow as readers and writers?

4.2.2. Self-Paced Learning

One of the components of the choice-based FCM that students expressed great satisfaction with was the freedom and flexibility it gave them to learn at their own pace with the videos. For instance, students could rewatch videos as many times as they needed, speed up or slow down the playback speed, and only move on once they felt they understood the key concepts. This was feasible in the more flexible AIS ELA setting.

However, in a whole-class setting, it may be less feasible to have students learn at their own pace in that same way and with that same level of support within the AIS ELA classroom. With state assessments and other federal, state, or district mandates, there may not be enough freedom and flexibility in whole-class ELA classrooms to do this. This research study suggests that self-paced learning is integral to student success, yet the ramifications of this on school general education curriculum remain to be seen.

4.3. Limitations

Despite being a comprehensive action research qualitative case study, there are certain limitations that need to be considered before generalizing the results of my study, such as small sample size and scheduling.

4.3.1. Sample Size

The sample size for my qualitative case study were the seven students enrolled in my seventh period AIS ELA class. AIS ELA classes are typically smaller than core ELA classes due to district caps on class enrollment and the fact that Tier 2 interventions under RTI are limited to small groups of students (Orosco & Klingner, 2010). However, the seven students who were a part of this qualitative case study were only a small fraction of the fifty-five students in sixth grade who received AIS ELA via co-teaching or other models, such as specialized reading classes. Despite the seven students in this qualitative case study sharing many characteristics with other sixth-grade AIS students, including low socioeconomic status and having special needs, there are other contrasting factors that the remaining forty-seven AIS ELA students exhibit that these students do not, such as different academic grades, strengths, and areas in need of improvement. Thus, it is difficult to say that what worked for the seven sixth-grade AIS students in my case study will work for other AIS ELA students in sixth grade, let alone other AIS students in different grades at my school or schools across the country.

4.3.2. Schedule

Another limitation of this study is the school and class schedule, and the frequency of which my sixth-grade AIS ELA students in this case study received services. For the past few years, my school has operated on an A/B schedule where students receive special services such as AIS, resource room, specialized reading, counseling, and physical or occupational therapies. The downside of this structured schedule is that it cuts the amount of time that students receive these integral services. As a result of decreased intervention time, AIS students at WMS typically do not make significant gains and are dismissed from the program. Further, in regard to this specific research study, many AIS ELA classes were lost to scheduled school breaks and snow days. Further, some AIS students also take private band lessons and thus miss AIS ELA class once per month. If scheduling of support services were structured differently, then there may be increased potential for AIS ELA students to have greater successes in their literacy learning.

5. Conclusions

The findings of this study indicate that fruitful support may be provided for reading comprehension by implementing a modified flipped classroom model that integrates aspects of Deci and Ryan’s (2018) self-determination theory and multimodal, youth-selected texts and increased reading comprehension. By facilitating and supporting students’ learning and comprehension while they construct the meaning of multimodal texts with the assistance of an instructional video library and teacher conferences, teachers may not only improve comprehension but also increase students’ joy for reading and learning.

In conclusion, this study offers qualitative evidence supporting the integration of self-determination theory (Deci & Ryan, 2018) and youth-selected multimodal texts into blended learning environments to foster comprehension. It reinforces the growing body of research that underscores the value of autonomy and multimodal instruction in the classroom. By highlighting the benefits of student choice and flexible learning structures, this research contributes to ongoing conversations about how to make learning more meaningful and personalized in today’s schools.