ERIC Number: ED500289
Record Type: Non-Journal
Publication Date: 2007
Pages: 72
Abstractor: ERIC
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: N/A
What Content-Area Teachers Should Know about Adolescent Literacy
National Institute for Literacy
A growing research base on adolescent literacy supports an emphasis on direct instruction in the reading and writing skills needed to perform these more complex literacy tasks. However, many middle and high school teachers have little or no preparation for teaching these skills within their content-area disciplines and have few resources upon which to draw when they are faced with students whose academic reading and writing skills do not match their expectations. This document provides more general information for content-area teachers so that they will gain a deeper understanding of the underlying skills their students will need and the kind of instruction needed to develop these skills. This report is divided into two main sections. The first section describes five key components that are critical to the development of reading proficiency: decoding/phonemic awareness and phonics, morphology, vocabulary, fluency, and text comprehension. The second section discusses four other areas that are fundamental in helping adolescents achieve advanced levels of literacy: assessment, writing, motivation, and the needs of diverse learners. The following are appended: (1) Think Alouds; (2) Graphic and Semantic Organizers; (3) Explicit Comprehension Strategy Instruction; (4) Reciprocal Teaching; (5) Word Map; (6) The PLAN and WRITE Strategy; and (7) Summarization Strategy.
Descriptors: Semantics, Phonemic Awareness, Writing Skills, Reciprocal Teaching, Reading Instruction, Adolescents, Literacy, Reading Skills, Middle School Teachers, Secondary School Teachers, Decoding (Reading), Phonics, Morphology (Languages), Vocabulary Development, Reading Fluency, Reading Comprehension, Student Motivation, Student Evaluation, Student Diversity, Student Needs, Learning Strategies, Content Area Reading, Content Area Writing
National Institute for Literacy. 1775 I Street NW Suite 730, Washington, DC 20006-2401. Tel: 800-228-8813; Tel: 202-233-2025; Fax: 301-470-1244; e-mail: edpubs@inet.ed.gov; Web site: http://www.nifl.gov/nifl/publications.html
Publication Type: Reports - Descriptive
Education Level: High Schools; Middle Schools
Audience: Teachers
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: National Inst. for Literacy, Washington, DC.; National Inst. of Child Health and Human Development (NIH), Bethesda, MD.
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A