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Adolescent Literacy Strategies

In an increasingly fast-paced, globally-focused world, today’s adolescents have greater literacy demands placed upon them than ever before, and bridging the gap in student knowledge is the responsibility of teachers. This course aims to teach and discuss research-based instructional practices that will help scaffold adolescents’ literacy development in the areas of motivation, engagement, vocabulary, comprehension, and more. The techniques covered in this course will help students achieve their goals and retain more of what they learn. Participants will also address strategies to better monitor students’ progress.

Carlow University ED 661 • Madonna University EDU 5830.04 • Mercy University EDUT 507

This class is cross listed with Mercy course EDUC 643 - Read/Write Cntnt Area Grd 5-12

The required text for this course is Improving Adolescent Literacy; Content Area Strategies at Work, 5th Edition, by Douglas Fisher and Nancy Frey. ISBN 9780135180877.

Graduate participants earn 3 semester hours of graduate credit and will receive a transcript from one of our partner institutions below. Professional development participants will receive a certificate of completion for 45 hours of professional developments credit for face-to-face classes and 60 hours of professional development credit for online classes.

Professional
Development

Course Schedule

1/14/25 - 4/8/25
3/11/25 - 6/10/25
5/13/25 - 8/12/25
7/8/25 - 10/14/25
9/9/25 - 12/9/25
11/11/25 - 2/10/26

Course Schedule

Zoom

3/7-9 & 3/21-23

Ingrid Melhus

Textbook List FAQs

Outline
Objectives
Partner Universities
Important Information
Student Academic Integrity

Print Online Course Outline Print Face To Face Course Outline

Outline

Session 1: Ensuring All Students Read, Write, Think and Learn

Reflect upon current standards related to adolescent literacy.
Evaluate local and national impact of current legislation regarding adolescent literacy.
Discover why literacy development is a shared responsibility
K-W-L

Session 2: Building and Activating Background Knowledge

The Role of Prior Knowledge in the Reading Process
Strategies to Assess Struggling Adolescent Readers’ Prior Knowledge
Strategies to Build Struggling Adolescent Readers’ Prior Knowledge
Strategies to Activate Struggling Adolescent Readers’ Prior Knowledge
Strategies to Organize Struggling Adolescent Readers’ Prior Knowledge
Reflection Assignment
Talking Point

Session 3: Vocabulary Development Across the Curriculum

The Importance of Vocabulary in Reading Comprehension
Vocabulary Instruction Designed to Increase Struggling Adolescent Readers’ Comprehension
Reflection Assignment

Session 4: Promoting Comprehension

Factors that Impact Adolescent Readers’ Comprehension
Comprehension Strategies Used by Proficient Readers
Instructional Strategies to Increase Adolescents’ Reading Comprehension
Reflection Assignment
Talking Point

Session 5: Literacy and the Adolescent Learner / Questioning Strategies

Adolescents as Literacy Learners
Reflection Assignment
Talking Point

Session 6: Collaborative Conversations

What Factors Motivate Adolescents to Read?
Instructional Strategies that Motivate Adolescent Readers
Instructional Strategies that Scaffold the Literacy Growth of Struggling Adolescent Readers
Reflection Assignment
Talking Point

Session 7: Graphic Organizers in the Classroom

Struggling Adolescent Readers and Informational Text
Selecting Appropriate Instructional Materials
Expository Text Strategies
Reflection Assignment

Session 8: Making and Taking Notes Across the Curriculum

Evaluate the skills needed for adolescents to study and learn.
Incorporate strategies to assist struggling adolescent readers in developing and using effective study and learning strategies.
Describe several tools that can be used to teach students to make and take notes.
Reflection Assignment
Talking Point

Session 9: Writing to Learn Content

Struggling Adolescent Writers
Effective Writing Instruction
Content Area Writing
Reflection Assignment

Session 10: Formative and Summative Assessments

Characteristics and Functions of High-Quality Assessments
Implementing Effective Assessment Tools and Techniques
The Cyclical Nature of Assessment and Instruction
Reflection Assignment
Complete Course Evaluation
Complete Final Project

Objectives

Synthesize current issues related to adolescent literacy.
Evaluate local and national impact of current legislation regarding adolescent literacy.
Analyze school-wide approaches to improving adolescent literacy.
Examine the characteristics of adolescents who struggle with literacy.
Compare and contrast theoretical frameworks and research regarding adolescents' literacy learning.
Differentiate the factors that contribute to adolescent readers' interactions with text.
Examine elements of successful literacy environments for adolescent learners.
Integrate strategies that motivate struggling adolescent readers.
Implement lessons to scaffold the skills of adolescents who struggle with literacy.
Determine common reasons why students struggle to comprehend textbooks and other expository texts.
Evaluate instructional materials that are appropriate for your adolescent students who struggle with literacy.
Integrate strategies to improve the expository text reading skills of your struggling adolescent readers.
Distinguish the powerful role of prior knowledge in the reading process.
Implement strategies and create materials to assess, build, activate, and organize struggling adolescent readers' prior knowledge.
Interpret why vocabulary knowledge is essential for reading comprehension.

Assess the factors associated with effective vocabulary instruction and learning.
Integrate strategies to enhance the vocabulary skills of struggling adolescent readers.
Incorporate strategies to build vocabulary skills in the content area classroom.
Appraise factors that impact reading comprehension.
Determine comprehension strategies used by proficient readers.
Integrate strategies that scaffold the comprehension skills of struggling adolescent readers.
Incorporate strategies to support comprehension in the content area classroom.
Analyze reasons why adolescents struggle with writing.
Incorporate strategies to scaffold the skills of struggling writers.
Integrate strategies to incorporate writing into the content area classroom.
Evaluate the skills needed for adolescents to study and learn.
Incorporate strategies to assist struggling adolescent readers in developing and using effective study and learning strategies.
Distinguish the characteristics and functions of high-quality assessments.
Create and implement high-quality tools and techniques to assess struggling adolescent readers.
Synthesize assessment results in order to plan effective instruction.

Partner Universities

Our Partners are well-established regionally and nationally accredited colleges and universities, recognized for academic excellence and their commitment to teachers.

Important Information

Online 3-graduate credit courses are 13 weeks in length.

On-site weekend courses are held Friday evening from 6:00pm-9:00pm and Saturday/Sunday, 8:30am-5:30pm.

Weekday courses are Monday-Friday from 8:00am- 6:00pm.

It is the responsibility of the student to check with their state, county, district, or school to ensure that all requirements are being met by the course you're taking.

Check the Partner Universities page for specific university information as well as course numbers which are specific to the university partner.

Students are required to purchase their own textbook, the information for which can be found here. If no book is required it will be specified on the list. We have copies of many of the textbooks should you wish to purchase directly from TEI.

Professional development (PD) participants receive a certificate of completion from TEI for 45 hours of PD credit for face to face classes and 60 hours of PD credit for online classes. These certificates are mailed within one week of the end of the class and reflect the course title, dates of attendance, and credit hour information.

Student Academic Integrity

Participants guarantee that all academic class work is original. Any academic dishonesty or plagiarism (to take ideas, writings, etc. from another and offer them as one's own), is a violation of student academic behavior standards as outlined by our partnering colleges and universities and is subject to academic disciplinary action.