This chapter explores the ways sixth grade students from a linguistically and culturally diverse classroom used Diigo, an online social bookmarking site, to engage in annotation writing focused on the discussion of science ideas within a text. While the use of apps has rapidly increased in schools, there remains little research on the ways annotation writing can be used to support scientific argumentation. Findings from this study indicate that students used the annotation app to pose questions, formulate claims, and request evidence from peers to answer questions or support claims. These results suggest that the process of collaborative annotation encourages students' documentation, critique, and refinement of ideas, which can aid learners in close reading of science texts.

This study explores patterns emerging from 7th grade students’ digital multimodal compositions created in response to a service-learning project focused on safe driving. Through a descriptive content analysis of three case-study groups’ digital products, this chapter presents educators with tangible ideas of what the digital composition process can yield when students are offered multimodal tools for self-expression. Three themes, collaboration, experimentation, and choice, describe the classroom contexts that are supportive of students’ creation of digital screencasts. Findings suggest that collaboration engages students in a participatory culture that invites those students who may be less proficient with alphabetic writing but who have unique perspectives to share and rich ideas to communicate. This study stands as a useful starting point for guiding teachers toward ways to incorporate an expanded set of writing practices, including digital multimodal composition, that engage all students in finding their voice.