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The Adolescent Literacy KnowledgeBase
The Adolescent Literacy KnowledgeBase provides ways to integrate literacy and content area instruction across grades 4 through 12. The KnowledgeBase supports content teachers with resources to make their teaching more effective.
Element 1: Nature of Adolescence
Purpose: Understanding the nature of adolescence lays the foundation for developing effective instructional strategies for adolescent literacy. Possessing such awareness will be helpful to middle and high school level teachers to enhance their teaching methods. Element 1 provides resources about the adolescent learner and the culture of adolescence.
Activity 1: The Nature of the Adolescent Learner
- Task 1: Understand How the Teenage Brain Functions
- Task 2: Understand Adolescent Motivational Structure
Activity 2: Be Aware of the Culture of Adolescence
Element 2: Adolescent Literacy Concepts
Purpose: Understanding adolescent literacy lays the foundation for developing effective instructional strategies. Possessing such awareness may be helpful to middle and high school teachers. Element 2 provides resources about adolescent literacy concepts and the role district and school staff members have in improving adolescent literacy.
Activity 1: The State of Adolescent Literacy Instruction
- Task 1: Explore Literacy in Grades 4-5
- Task 2: Explore Literacy in Middle and High School
- Task 3: Explore Integration of Literacy and Content Area Instruction
Activity 2: Roles for District and School Staff Members
Element 3: School and Community Context
Purpose: Understanding the state of adolescent literacy at the district, school and community levels is necessary to improve adolescent academic achievement. Element 3 provides resources to assist educators in deepening their understanding of adolescent literacy issues, developing a school and community profile, involving parents and community members and interacting with policy makers.
Activity 1: Literacy Instruction Context
Activity 2: School and Community Literacy Profile
- Task 1: Prepare for Data Collection
- Task 2: Examine Student Performance Data
- Task 3: Gather Information about Student Populations and Local Community
Activity 3: Parents and Community Involvement
- Task 1: Communicate with and Involve Parents
- Task 2: Work with Local Cultural Groups and Community Organizations
Activity 4: Policy Makers Interaction
Element 4: Literacy and Content Area Instruction Integration
Purpose: Research demonstrates blending literacy instruction with content area instruction is an effective approach to addressing adolescent literacy. Content area teachers play an important role in adolescent literacy development. Element 4 provides resources to assist content area teachers to integrate literacy instruction in their content area.
Activity 1: Literacy and Content Area Instruction Integration for Grades 4-5
- Task 1: Incorporate Assessments and Curriculum Mapping to Guide Instruction
- Task 2: Apply to Literature
- Task 3: Instill Through Writing
- Task 4: Integrate with Mathematics
- Task 5: Integrate with Science
- Task 6: Integrate with Social Sciences
- Task 7: Integrate Culturally Responsive Teaching Methodologies
- Task 8: Support Special Needs Students
Activity 2: Literacy and Content Area Instruction Integration for Grades 6-12
- Task 1: Incorporate Assessments and Curriculum Mapping to Guide Instruction
- Task 2: Apply to Literature
- Task 3: Instill Through Writing
- Task 4: Integrate with Mathematics
- Task 5: Integrate with Science
- Task 6: Integrate with Social Sciences
- Task 7: Integrate Culturally Responsive Teaching Methodologies
- Task 8: Support Special Needs Students
Activity 3: Impact of Transitions
The contents of this website were developed under a grant from the U.S. Department of Education and are intended for general reference purposes only. However, those contents do not necessarily represent the policy of the U.S. Department of Education or the Center, and you should not assume endorsement by the Federal Government. Some resources on this site require Adobe Acrobat Reader. This website archive includes content and external links that were accurate and relevant as of September 30, 2019.