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The Academic Word List (AWL) consists of 70 word families that are not in the most freqent 2,000 words in the English language, but which occur frequently over a wide range of academic texts. Knowledge of these academic words can significantly boost students' comprehension of school-based reading material. There are tools available to assist in the teaching of these words in context.
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Would your students have trouble with these tasks:
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Read a chapater in a science book;
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Learn the critical vocabulary in the health chapter;
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Write a summary of a social studies chapter;
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Study for a content area test?
In this workshop, Dr. Anita Archer presented a variety of evidence-based instructional strategies and student strategies to enhance student comprehension and assignment completion. She focused on interventions that could be completed:
- BEFORE text reading (teaching the pronunciation of difficult words, introducing the meaning of academic vocabulary, enhancing background knowledge and previewing the text),
- DURING passage reading (asking comprehension questions, having students generate questions on content and using narrative and expository strategies), and
- AFTER passage reading (summarizing using graphic organizers and completing common tasks such as answering questions, writing a summary, writing a report and studying for a test).
Dr. Archer presented information on each of these strategies, demonstrated their use, and led participants in a variety of activities to illustrate the application and modification of these strategies for use in inclusive settings.
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On April 28th, 2011, members of the New York Comprehensive Center, in collaboration with Eastern Suffolk BOCES and the New York State Education Department presented a follow-up series of workshops on the following topics in Adolescent Literacy. The materials and handouts for the workshops are available by clicking on the links below each title.
Engaging Diverse Learners in Comprehension Instruction - Stephen Bongiovi
This workshop was designed to provide samples of specific strategies that support student comprehension of complex content area text in diverse classrooms. Workshop goals included:
- review of the challenges posed by content area reading for adolescents
- investigation of activities that support comprehension strategy instruction
- exploration of research-based instructional practices for scaffolding content area comprehension
Materials and Handouts:
Implementing Comprehensive Vocabulary Instruction in Content Classrooms - Jacqueline Bourassa
Participants explored and reviewed the link between vocabulary instruction research and its classroom application. The workshop provided models of explicit, systematic, and scaffolded vocabulary instruction. Teachers learned how to implement the following research-based instructional strategies:
- Triple-Entry Vocabulary Journal
- Frayer Model
- Semantic Feature Analysis
Materials and Handouts:
Using Text Discussion to Engage and Motivate Students
Participants gained an understanding of classroom activities and strategies that built and expanded their knowledge of student motivation. The workshop was designed to provide media items, lesson plans and other material based on research-based practices that illustrate how to use text discussion in any content classroom to motivate students. Workshop goals included:
- Understanding the influence of motivation by indentifying the factors that influence motivation and its effect upon student engagement
- Learning the teacher's role is critical in cultivating a classroom environment for extended discussion, asking follow-up questions and providing task structures for students to talk with one another about text
- Viewing and then discussing how a teacher prepares students to participate in student-led discussions
Materials and Handouts
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On March 23rd, 2011, the New York Comprehensive Center, in collaboration with Eastern Suffolk BOCES and the New York State Education Department, presented a series of workshops on Adolescent Literacy, focusing on building literacy in the content areas, with some presentations highlighting the particular needs of English Language Learners. Materials from the conference are available below.
The Keynote Address was presented by Dr. Mabel Rivera, Deputy Director, English Language Learners for the Center on Instruction and Research Faculty member at the University of Houston.
Workshops were presented by Dr. Rivera and members of the New York Comprehensive Center's Literacy Team.
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Supporting Diverse Learners through Comprehension Instruction - presented by Stephen Bongiovi
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Using Comprehensive Vocabulary Instruction to Build Academic Language - presented by Jacqueline Bourassa
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Building Academic Literacy Through Writing - presented by Janice Imundi
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Characteristics of Effective Instructional Programs for English Language Learners - presented by Dr. Mabel Rivera
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Dr. Anita Archer
educational consultant to school
districts on effective instruction, classroom management, reading
and writing instruction, and design of effective literacy programs has taught elementary and middle school students and is the
recipient of ten outstanding Educator awards. She is nationally
known for her presentations and publications on instructional
procedures and literacy instruction.
In November 2010 she presented an overview of her work with the NYC Striving Readers program and the use of the REWARDS and REWARDS Plus (Reading Excellence: Word attack and Rate Development Strategies) programs she co-authored with Dr. Mary Gleason. The presentation features the underlying, evidence-based principles that can be implemented in any intervnetion program. Strategies that can assist all students are emphasized.
NY Striving Readers Project - The REWARDS Suite
Dr. Timothy Shanahan, member of the National Reading Panel and author of The National Reading Panel Report: Practical Advice for Teachers, is a Professor of Urban Education at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) and Director of the UIC Center for Literacy. He is Past-President of the International Reading Association and is a nationally-recognized leader in the field of adolescent literacy research and practice.
In November 2010, he presented a day of workshops on Improving Disciplinary Literacy for Adolescents, providing specific guidance for middle and high school teachers and administrators as to how much time should be allotted to literacy, what the literacy curriculum should include, and how the teachers need to adjust literacy teaching as students move up the grades. His presentation materials are available here:
Follow-Up Materials from the CTL's 2009 "Moving Research Into Classrooms" Conference
In this section you will find a summary of each conference presentation within the Adolescent Literacy strand. Also included are:
- Presentations from all strand speakers (PowerPoint handouts)
- A summary of key points from each presentation
- Short audio clips of important points made by each speaker
The PowerPoint presentations, strand highlights, and presenter audio clips can be used to extend the knowledge gained from the IES Practice Guide and assist in applying the recommendations within classrooms. These materials can be used for individual learning as well as study and discussion within small group formats such as grade level teams, department level teams, and professional learning communities. In addition, the materials in this section could be used for professional development activities related to school improvement goals for an entire staff.
Workshop: K-3 and Adolescent Literacy
On February 14 and 15, 2006, the Center on Instruction hosted a two-day workshop on the topic K-12 literacy. The training presented strategies for supporting literacy problems for average and struggling readers, and research-based strategies for literacy instruction and content enhancement. Presenters included Dr. Joe Torgesen and Dr. Marcia Kosanovich of the Florida Center for Reading Research, Dr. Nell Duke of Michigan State University and the Literacy Achievement Research Center, Dr. John Guthrie of the University of Maryland, and Dr. Keith Lenz of the University of Kansas Center for Research on Learning. Their PowerPoint presentations are available at the link above.
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Bringing Literacy Strategies to Content Instruction
The center on Instruction provided an interactive webinar on July 22, 2010, to introduce the newly released report, Bringing Literacy Strategies to Content Instruction. This document provides research-based guidance on academic literacy instruction in the content areas, specifically focusing on the effective use of text in content areas. It reviews the research evidence about content-area literacy instruction for adolescents and suggests ways teachers can use content-area texts to enable students to understand the vocabulary and concepts they contain.
PowerPoint Presentation
WebEx Recording (when the new page appears, click on the word "here," which is highlighted in blue)
Academic Literacy Instruction for Adolescents: A Guidance Document from the Center on Instruction
In a video conference held April 30, 2007, Dr. Joseph Torgesen of COI's Reading Strand provided an overview of the newly released "Academic Literacy Instruction for Adolescents: A Guidance Document from the Center on Instruction." To view the archived video, go to http://www.wfsu.org/fcrr/ and click on "Overview of Academic Literacy Instruction for Adolescents" in either RealTime or Windows Media.
To access the accompanying PowerPoint presentation, click here. (In order to view the PowerPoint presentation in "speaker notes" format, you must "save" the file to your computer.)
Adolescent Literacy Walk-Through for Principals: A Guide for Instructional Leaders – Grades 4-12
The Center on Instruction provided an orientation to the recently released Adolescent Literacy Walk-through for Principals: A Guide for Instructional Leaders - Grades 4-12 on August 10, 2009. This interactive webinar hosted by Reading Strand Deputy Director Debby Houston-Miller, offered a brief overview of the product's development and research base as well as how the document and an adolescent literacy principal walk-through process can be used to support state and district literacy plans and to support academic literacy instruction in school sites.
To access the accompanying PowerPoint presentation, click here.
To access the Guide, click here.
The Content Literacy Continuum: A Tiered Framework for Secondary Schools
This webinar addresses the application of Response to Intervention (RTI) models in secondary school settings. The presenter discussed the Content Literacy Continuum (CLC), a tiered framework of academic supports designed to address the academically diverse needs of adolescent learners in subject matter classes in middle and high school settings. This session also described the CLC framework and the accompanying support structures that should be in place in secondary schools to effectively provide differentiated instruction to all students as well as the implications for professional development, structural change, and instruction. To access the PowerPoint presentation, click here.
What Social Studies Teachers Can Do to Help All Students Understand (and Like) History
This webinar presents what students need to know about history reading to fully engage in learning it. Cynthia Shanahan, Professor of Literacy, Language, and Culture at the University of Illinois at Chicago, discussed the research she and colleagues have done with expert historians regarding their reading strategies and practices, and she shared strategies that have evolved from that and other research. To acces the PowerPoint presentation, click here.
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Time to Act: An Agenda for Advancing Adolescent Literacy for College and Career Success
Final Report from Carnegie Corporation of New York's Council on Advancing Adolescent Literacy
This report paints a detailed picture of what literacy instruction in an ideal secondary school should look like. It goes in-depth on two vital, but often ignored, keys to making that image a reality: teacher preparation, support and professional development, and the collection and careful use of data. The report also highlights concerns that can be addressed at the school, district, state and federal levels to realize the goal “literacy for all.”
Reading in the Disciplines: The Challenges of Adolescent Literacy
Final Report from Carnegie Corporation of New York’s Council on Advancing Adolescent Literacy
In this report, the following are addressed:
- define and illustrate what is entailed in comprehending texts within and across academic disciplines;
- examine what the empirical research base says about reading comprehension generally and reading in the disciplines specifically; and
- briefly discuss the implications of this research base for teaching and assessments.
It concludes with some recommendations for improving policy and practice in the area of disciplinary literacy.
Measure for Measure: A Critical Consumer’s Guide to Reading Comprehension Assessments for Adolescents
Final Report from Carnegie Corporation of New York's Council on Advancing Adolescent Literacy
Commissioned by the Carnegie Council on Advancing Adolescent Literacy, this report is designed to be a critical consumers’ guide to several of the most commonly used commercially available assessments. A selection of assessments that educators in middle and high schools would be most likely to encounter were critically reviewed for their utility for the purposes of screening and diagnosis. In so doing, objective data about each assessment was collected and judgments were made about how to characterize the assessments relative to each other.
Adolescent Literacy Institute
The Center on Instruction hosted an Adolescent Literacy Institute October 15-17, 2008, in New Orleans to encourage deeper understanding and effective use of two adolescent literacy products. The meeting included presentations from national experts Joe Torgesen, Barbara Foorman, Greg Roberts, Colleen Reutebuch, and Jade Wexler, as well as small and large group discussion, orientation to the soon-to-be-released “Assessments to Guide Adolescent Literacy Instruction” and a training of trainers session for “Effective Instruction for Adolescent Struggling Readers” professional development.
Dr. Doug Fisher Interview
The FOR-PD (Florida Online Reading-Professional Development) Project actively seeks interviews with literacy experts across the country. Each interview is then posted to their web site as a means of literacy support for teachers. Interviews are provided in both text and audio formats. In this interview, Dr. Doug Fisher provides a very specific explanation of adolescent literacy, as well as some techniques content teachers can use to improve their students' content comprehension.
Adolescent Literacy - Key to Raising Student Achievement in the Content Areas
Students cannot meet standards in the content areas without strong literacy skills. Yet, content area educators traditionally have not been trained to teach literacy. A number of schools have found success in meeting this challenge. In this recorded webinar provided by the Education Alliance at Brown University, hear about what’s working, why, and resources available to you. Includes information about the Adolescent Literacy Collaboratory, developed by The Education Alliance, where content teachers engage in technology-enhanced, job-embedded professional learning supported by coaches. As they learn how to implement research-based instructional strategies, participants become "literacy ambassadors" in their own schools—building capacity to sustain this important effort.
Literacy at the Middle School Level - Using the Content Literacy Continuum to Guide RtI Decisions
Joan Miller, of Mt. St. Mary's College, presented this content at the 2009 New York State Response to Intervention conference. The presentation identifies the 5 levels of the Content Literacy Continuum and specific teaching strategies for each.
Adolescent Literacy Intervention Programs: Chart and Program Review Guide
Cynthia Shanahan, Ed. D., University of Illinois at Chicago; Learning Point Associates
It is increasingly clear that targeting beginning readers is not enough to ensure that students will have access to advanced education and will become economically successful citizens who fulfill their obligations for social and civic participation. In this paper, the author describes characteristics of programs developed for adolescents who are struggling with literacy. It references both a chart the author developed to compare and contrast those characteristics and a review guide she created to help schools make principled decisions when choosing programs for use with their students.
What Content-Area Teachers Should Know About Adolescent Literacy
The National Institute for Literacy, an agency in the Federal government, is authorized to help strengthen literacy across the lifespan. The Institute provides national leadership on literacy issues, including the improvement of reading instruction for children, youth, and adults by dissemination of information on scientifically based research and the application of those findings to instructional practice.
The goal of this report is to help address middle and high school classroom teachers’, administrators’, and parents’ immediate need for basic information about how to build adolescents’ reading and writing skills. It summarizes some of the current literature on adolescent literacy research and practice and suggests some methods of building adolescent reading and writing skills in the classroom.
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