Taking Action On Adolescent Literacy

Learn the 5 steps that school leaders can take to improve student literacy in all content areas, with targeted interventions for students who are struggling the most.

Directly linked with overall student achievement, graduation rates, and success in higher education, literacy is essential for reaching academic goals in a school or county. Adolescent literacy has become the focus of many school improvement efforts to meet the needs of secondary and high school students. Without the requisite expertise in literacy, administrators and other school leaders charged with literacy improvement initiatives need a systemic and sustained approach for improving student literacy and learning. Taking the Lead on Adolescent Literacy presents a concrete, user-friendly, and practical guide to developing, implementing, and monitoring a schoolwide or county-wide literacy action plan. Readers will find rubrics, tools, and processes developed and field-tested by the authors over more than 10 years of close work with schools across the country.

Adolescent Literacy discusses issues such as including English language learners, struggling readers, technology in the classroom, multimodal literacy, compelling writing instruction, teaching in a "flat world," engagement, and young adult literature. In addition Adolescent Literacy's assessment rubrics for teachers, administrators, and staff developers make it a resource for schoolwide and districtwide professional development, while its accompanying study guide is designed for small-group discussions. --From publisher's description.

Deborah Appleman dismantles the traditional divide between secondary teachers of literature and teachers of reading and offers a variety of practical ways to teach reading within the context of literature classrooms. --from publisher description.

This book presents an evidence-based framework for understanding the literacy needs of adolescents. The premise is that educators and other critical stakeholders need to understand evidence-based principles in order to develop effective curriculum to meet the needs of diverse learners. Recommendations are provided for middle and secondary education, professional development, teacher education research and policy. At the center of the book are Eight Guiding Principles developed by the authors through a process that included an extensive review of research and policy literature in literacy and related fields, a comparison of National Standards documents, and visits to the classrooms of 28 middle and high school teachers across the United States. The Principles are broad enough to encompass a variety of contexts and student needs, yet specific enough to offer real support to those involved in program development or policy decisions. They provide an overarching structure that districts and teachers can use to develop site-specific curriculum that is both research-based and designed to meet the needs of the learners for whom they are responsible. Important Text Features: Organized to help readers understand empirically supported principles of practice that can be used to address literacy concerns in today's schools, each chapter that addresses one of the eight Principles follows a similar format: * The Principle is presented along with a brief explanation of the research base and a sample of national standards that support it. * One or more case examples spanning a wide variety of disciplines, grade levels, and local conditions - provide an in-depth look at the Principle in action. * A well-known adolescent literacy expert offers a response to each case example, giving readers an informed view of the importance of the Principle, how it is enacted in the cases, and examples of other work related to the Principle. Discussion questions are provided that can be used for individual reflection or group discussion. Principled Practices for Adolescent Literacy is intended as a text for pre-service and in-service upper-elementary, middle and high school literacy methods courses and graduate courses related to adolescent literacy, and as a resource for school district personnel, policymakers and parents.

"From leading authorities in both adolescent literacy and content-area teaching, this book addresses the particular challenges of literacy learning in each of the major academic disciplines. Chapters focus on how to help students successfully engage withtexts and ideas in English/literature, science, math, history, and arts classrooms. The book shows that while general strategies for reading informational texts are essential, they are not enough--students also need to learn processing strategies that are quite specific to each subject and its typical tasks or problems. Vignettes from exemplary classrooms illustrate research-based ways to build content-area knowledge while targeting essential reading and writing skills"-- Provided by publisher.

Fast-paced, practical, and innovative, this text for pre-service and in-service teachers features clear, easily accessible lessons and professional development activities to improve the delivery of academic language/literacy education across the content areas in junior/middle school and high school classrooms. Numerous hands-on tools and techniques demonstrate the effectiveness of content-area instruction for students in a wide variety of school settings, particularly English language learners, struggling readers, and other special populations of students. Based on a strong professional development model the authors have been instrumental in designing, Academic Language/Literacy Strategies for Adolescents addresses: motivation attributes of academic language vocabulary: theory and practice reading skills development grammar and writing. A wealth of charts, graphs, and lesson plans give clear examples of academic language/literacy strategies in action. The appendices – a key component of the practical applications developed in the text – include a glossary, exemplary lessons that address key content areas, and a Grammar Handbook. In this era of increased accountability, coupled with rapid demographic change and challenges to traditional curricula and pedagogical methods, educators will find this book to be a great resource.

This is the eBook of the printed book and may not include any media, website access codes, or print supplements that may come packaged with the bound book. Improving Adolescent Literacy: Content Area Strategies at Work, Third Edition, gives teachers and teacher candidates the tools they need to help all students work toward mastery of literacy and comprehension of content area texts. Practical, straightforward, and affordable, this guide is packed with real classroom examples of specific teaching strategies in action and features a focus on working with English language learners and struggling readers, ideas for using different technologies to enhance teaching, an up-to-date research base of current sources of support and additional reading, and an excellent assessment chapter showing how various formal and informal assessments can be used in the classroom.

"Quite simply, I would love to have had Adolescent Literacy and Differentiated Instruction as a secondary language arts teacher.... The book makes me itch to go back to my secondary classroom to see how I could use contemporary technologies as vehicles for differentiation." Carol Ann Tomlinson As a secondary teacher, Adolescent Literacy and Differentiated Instruction shows you how to effectively respond to the growing crisis in adolescent literacy. It's the first book that shows how to base lessons on students' strengths and target back-up instruction to their needs so they can improve in literacy, master content, and meet the demands of higher-level learning. In Adolescent Literacy and Differentiated Instruction, Barbara King-Shaver and Alyce Hunter summon the latest research and share effective, essential differentiation practices. With more than 30 replicable models and practical ideas for managing differentiated classrooms, King-Shaver and Hunter help you: assess students' individual needs, interests, and learning styles turn assessment into doable plans for targeted instruction implement dynamic differentiation strategies such as stations, flexible grouping, choice, and anchor activities. Drawing on NCTE's guidelines for promoting adolescent literacy, King-Shaver and Hunter offer suggestions for teaching not only reading, writing, listening, and speaking but also viewing multimedia texts and engaging with digital literacy. Read Adolescent Literacy and Differentiated Instruction, use its study guide with colleagues, and discover that with adolescent literacy, the best way to make a difference is by embracing difference.

With 50% new material reflecting current research and pedagogical perspectives, this indispensable course text and teacher resource is now in a thoroughly revised third edition. Leading educators provide a comprehensive picture of reading, writing, and oral language instruction in grades 5–12. Chapters present effective practices for motivating adolescent learners, fostering comprehension of multiple types of texts, developing disciplinary literacies, engaging and celebrating students' sociocultural assets, and supporting English learners and struggling readers. Case examples, lesson-planning ideas, and end-of-chapter discussion questions and activities enhance the utility of the volume. New to This Edition *Chapters on new topics: building multicultural classrooms, Black girls’ digital literacies, issues of equity and access, and creating inclusive writing communities. *New chapters on core topics: academic language, learning from multiple texts, and reading interventions. *Increased attention to issues of diversity, equity, and inclusion. *The latest knowledge about adolescents' in- and out-of-school literacies.