Every school should do an initial screening to check on student reading skills at the beginning of each semester or school year. And every teacher should continue to check on students’ progress throughout the year, in order to see whether those kids need more ongoing support.
Here you can find diverse fiction and nonfiction books, meet some of your favorite middle-grade and YA authors, dig into our book discussion guides, or explore our step-by-step author study toolkit.
We’ve added three new book reviewers for the summer — Nick (10th grade), Graham (7th), and Breece (4th), are sharing their summer reading choices each week and telling us exactly what they think.
To close the gap between what is expected of a high school graduate and what the world beyond high school demands, state leaders will need to develop coherent policies that equate earning a high school diploma with being prepared for the demands of college and the workplace.
Stay up-to-date with the AdLit’s professional development webcast series — for staff workshops, professional learning communities, or to watch on your own.
Teachers are often asked to modify instruction to accommodate special needs students. In fact, all students will benefit from the following good teaching practices. The following article takes the mystery out of adapting materials and strategies for curriculum areas.
A Brown Bag Exam uses found objects and images to help students activate prior knowledge and creates a framework for students to express their understanding. Students work individually and in collaboration to create concrete connections between the reading and the Brown Bag items. Unlike traditional assessment, the Brown Bag Exam is an exam filled with conversation, idea exchange, and learning.
“Solution Shop” is a counseling and study skills program designed to address the academic needs of struggling middle school students. In this program, the school counselor serves the critical role of developing and providing appropriate interventions, which range from individual and group counseling, study skills instruction, parent consultation, behavioral contracts, math and reading tutoring, and teacher meetings.
Writing is a complex operation requiring knowledge of text structure, syntax, vocabulary, and topic, and sensitivity to audience needs; so it is not surprising that many teens find writing challenging. This article identifies the qualities of strong writing instruction, and offers advice to teachers for incorporating writing instruction into their practice, using tools like notebooks and journals, and sharing strategies that reinforce the importance of pre-writing and revision.
Being able to speak English fluently does not guarantee that a student will be able to use language effectively in academic settings. Fluency must be combined with higher order thinking skills to create an “academic language,” which allows students to effectively present their ideas in a way that others will take seriously. The author, an ELL teacher, describes her use of “protocols” (a cheat sheet of sentence starters) to build students’ cognitive academic language proficiency.
Kids need diverse books — places where they can find themselves, see reflections of themselves, and see worlds different from their own. Browse our collection of books and resources for families and schools.
Engaged, accountable reading requires students to interpret, and respond, often creatively. This article suggests several personalized ways to hold students accountable for their reading.
Literacy practices interviews are informal assessments that elicit information on students’ reading and writing activities, including their free-time reading habits, their access to books, and their attitudes toward reading and writing. Use the interviews in one-on-one or small, focus group-like settings.
This research brief from the Center for Comprehensive School Reform and Improvement examines the research on teacher leadership and what it says about drawing on the skills of experienced teachers to facilitate school improvement.
You know that reading is important and you want to make sure that your teenager grows into adulthood with all the skills he or she needs to succeed. The following list offers suggestions for encouraging your teens to read.
College readiness is a multi-faceted concept that includes factors both internal and external to the school environment. The model presented here emerges from a review of the literature and includes the skills and knowledge that can be most directly influenced by schools.
Students may be struggling with word study, fluency, vocabulary, comprehension — or even motivation. It’s key to figure out where students are with their literacy skills, what kinds of support they need, and to see them as individuals.
Jack’s best friends decide that the best way to get him a prom date is to put an ad in the paper. Now Jack has to evaluate all the prospects. If there were a “Romance for Guys” genre, this would be included! But the humor and male perspective make it an intriguing read for male readers and their female counterparts!
Social support strategies that sustain the preparation and success of all students are critical to improving academic achievement, raising expectations, and increasing the college-going rates of underserved students.
The adolescent literacy research reports gathered here are among the most important and frequently referenced. We hope this material is especially useful for policymakers, researchers, graduate students, curriculum developers, and school administrators.
