Working in mixed ability groups is a feature of destreamed classrooms. Image: AdobeStock by Syda Productions
<h2>If you are reading this on a screen right now, you will have read a listicle before.</h2>
<p>They are a popular style of blog content, having risen to the mainstream in the late 00s via digital media outlet <em>Buzzfeed. </em>Not to be dismissed as a vehicle for meme-sharing, listicles provide a good example of how new genres surface in a digital writing landscape.</p>
<p><a href="https://sites.dwrl.utexas.edu/rhetoric-of-food/2017/03/29/emilys-blog-post-on-genre-conventions-of-listicles/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Listicles are rigidly structured pieces of writing with formal elements to follow.</a></p>
<p><a href="https://www.schoolnews.co.nz/latest-print-issue/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><strong>Read the latest print edition of <em>School News</em> HERE</strong></a></p>
<figure id="attachment_15453" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-15453" style="width: 300px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img class="size-medium wp-image-15453" src="https://www.schoolnews.co.nz/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/AdobeStock_43267240-1-300x200.jpeg" alt="literacy" width="300" height="200" /><figcaption id="caption-attachment-15453" class="wp-caption-text">Listicles can be adapted for any year-year level. Image: AdobeStock by goodluz</figcaption></figure>
<h3><strong>So, what are they and why should teachers consider them for classroom use?</strong></h3>
<p>The term listicle is a mashup of <em>list</em> and <em>article</em>: listicles are punchy, concise ways to digest lots of information, with plenty of scope for the classroom. </p>
<p>The title of a listicle always tells you exactly what you’re about to read and the listicle itself curates a descriptive list designed to inform, entertain, or explore a topic. Listicles have a simple, linear structure that requires the writer to break complex ideas down into easy-to-read chunks.</p>
<p>Significantly, listicles are also lots of fun to write! This is primarily why teachers should consider using them in the classroom, but here are some other reasons:</p>
<ol>
<li><strong>Listicles can be used for almost any subject. </strong>From ‘Top 7 Reasons a World War Broke out in 1939’ to ’12 Reasons Why We Have Less Than Ten Years to Fix Climate Change’, or ‘9 Reasons Why Shakespeare is Better Than Harry Potter’, a listicle can be used across almost any subjects and adapted to all year levels.</li>
<li><strong>Listicles are novel and fun. </strong>So much more fun than writing an essay, they are a good way to encourage students to structure their ideas and to research evidence in support of a hypothesis or for a larger project.</li>
<li><strong>Listicles don’t depend solely on writing skills. </strong>This is one exercise where ideas and comprehension are more important than writing skills. No need to structure perfectly formed sentences.</li>
<li><strong>Listicles are an effective way of demonstrating knowledge. </strong>Getting students to write listicles is a great way of getting students to condense their big ideas into a single sentence, and curate their ideas to a particular topic. If you leave the number of items open, students can easily demonstrate the breadth of their knowledge of a subject. If you limit the number of items they can include in their list, students can learn the value of scope. This is a useful exercise for students who find keeping to a word limit difficult.</li>
<li><strong>Listicles are also an effective way of seeing student interests and opinions. </strong>On more abstract or personal topics, or if they choose their own, it will immediately be obvious where a student’s interest lies. As a reflective exercise, students can gather listicles on a topic and engage with them critically by analysing omissions and inclusions, then do the same with their own listicle.</li>
<li><strong>Listicles force students to analyse their ideas. </strong>By limiting students to a certain number of points, they will be forced to analyse the quality of each of their ideas and determine their value for inclusion.</li>
<li><strong>Listicles incorporate digital literacy. </strong>Whether they’re researching online, searching for accompanying images or turning it into a digital presentation, writing a listicle ticks plenty of boxes. Listicles are also a publishable form of writing across mainstream media platforms as well as corporate websites and social media blogs, so students will enjoy learning a style of writing they are likely to use in an industry setting.</li>
<li><strong>Listicles don’t seem like hard work. </strong>Get your kids to write a listicle about all they know for an upcoming test or exam, and they will be studying without even realising it. Learning about the formal elements of a style of writing they associate with popular culture may give them new appreciation for genre that carries over into more traditional genre study.</li>
</ol>
<h5> </h5>

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