This Is Next Level

Abstract

This chapter features instructional approaches positioning video games and literature as text sets that can promote reading and writing engagement in English language arts. Smartphone-accessible games were recently combined with middle school literary assignments in an after-school esports club in which students who identify as English language learners expressed an increased interest in academic tasks that prioritized smartphone usage. Grounded in digital literacies and text-based gameplay, this chapter showcases how a text set framework can offer literacy instructors multiple pathways for student engagement that leverage diverse learners sociocultural meaning-making toward success in school. Recommendations are offered for teachers, including a series of pedagogical moves that can be implemented in secondary language arts classrooms, as well as affordances and challenges to smartphone-driven teaching.