Adolescent Literacy: Rethinking our Thinking

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Adolescent Literacy Rethinking our Thinking
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• Reading furnishes the mind
• only with materials of
• knowledge it is thinking
• that makes what we read ours.
• -John Locke

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Connection
Language
Reading
Thinking
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Reading IS Thinking The purpose of reading is
understanding.
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• Literacy is all about making
• meaning by using thinking strategies.

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Smart Readers Use
Thinking Strategies
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Lets try out our thinking about the following
piece of text!
What am I reading? What does this mean? What am I
thinking now?
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Please read the following text silently

• The Batsmen were merciless against the Bowlers.
  The Bowlers placed their men in slips and covers.
  But to no avail. The Batsmen hit one four after
  another along with an occasional six. Not once
  did their balls hit their stumps or get caught.

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Thinking Strategies of Effective Readers

• Building/activating background knowledge to make
  connections to new learning
• Question the text
• Draw inferences
• Determine importance
• Monitor comprehension
• Visualize and use sensory images
• Self-monitor comprehension
• Analyze and synthesize

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So, how critical is this for adolescents?

• Example of data from 2006 ACT
• reading test

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READINGReadiness for College Social Sciences
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Measuring College Readiness
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• What have literacy practices looked like for
  adolescents?

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• THREE STAGES
• INTO
• Activate Thinking
• Retrieve Prior Knowledge
• Organize the Mind
• THROUGH
• Extend Learning
• Comprehend
• BEYOND
• Extend Beyond
• Adjust Prior Knowledge
• Reorganize the Mind
• Real Life Application

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• Guiding Question
• How do we help students understand what it is to
  make meaning of and to think strategically in our
  content areas?

Disciplinary Literacy
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In what ways are these students thinking
strategically in this content area?
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• How can we have classrooms where the kids are not
  coming to watch teachers work???
• What is needed?
• What would that look like?

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Create a new paradigm

• The classroom where teachers are coming to watch
  students thinking more deeply and working harder!

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So, lets talk about engagement and improving
students as thinkers. . .

• Are we providing students with opportunities to
  connect to materials that are readable,
  interesting, multifaceted, and challenging and
  that engage them in thinking and understanding
  content areas?

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Consider this

• Increased performance is measured by students
  engagement in thoughtful reading, writing and
  discussion and by their use of knowledge and
  skills in new situations (Langer 2002).

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How can each secondary school promote adolescent
literacy?
Affirm multiple literacies
Demystify content-specific literacy practices
Research-based Practices to promote Adolescent
literacy
Motivate through meaningful choice
Support learner-centered classroom environments
Foster social responsibility through
multicultural literacy
Engage students with real- world literacy
practices
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