21 Supporting Struggling Readers and Writers [excerpt]: Chapter 1, "Learners and Contexts" Resource Type: Professional Resource Discipline: English Language Arts Ohio Standards Alignment: Grades 3–6 Professional Commentary: This introductory chapter, available online in PDF/Adobe Acrobat format, provides an overview of what it means to be literate in the twenty-first century. Focusing on the needs of children at risk for failure, the authors describe instructional models and practices needed to meet the needs of struggling readers.... 22 What Is After-School Worth? Developing Literacy and Identity Out of School Resource Type: Professional Resource Discipline: English Language Arts Ohio Standards Alignment: Grades 8–12 Professional Commentary: This professional development article examines the history and use of after-school programs in order to determine the value of such programs. The question is raised, then answered, regarding these programs' worth, especially as spaces in which we might foster powerful literacy practices among young people.... Projects: Writing 6-12 23 Adolescents and Literacy: Reading for the 21st Century Resource Type: Professional Resource Discipline: English Language Arts Ohio Standards Alignment: Grades 7–Postsecondary Professional Commentary: This professional resource by the Alliance for Excellent Education is the 2002, full-text pdf report on adolescents and literacy and reading for the 21st century. Based on research that demonstrates we do know enough about adolescent literacy to make positive changes today, this professional article makes clear that policymakers should use such research as a foundation for change in secondary schools.... Career Fields: General Career Skills Projects: Writing 6-12, Standards First 24 "At-Risk" Adolescents: Redefining Competence Through the Multiliteracies of Intermediality, Visual Arts, and Representation Resource Type: Professional Resource Discipline: English Language Arts Ohio Standards Alignment: Grades 9–12 Professional Commentary: In this professional development article, author David O'Brien posits a literacy where a variety of socially and culturally appropriate literacies (media and visual arts, amongst others) enables students to construct meaning. And by allowing students to employ a literacy beyond the traditional definition of print literacy where a singular skill or process is applied predominately in school-based settings and tasks, O'Brien concludes that we might help the "at-risk" learner, the struggling reader, to achieve success in literacy.This work on exploring multiliteracies as a way to reposition at-risk adolescents is the result of a 4-year study with high school students and two school-based colleagues at Jefferson High School in Lafayette, Indiana.... Career Fields: General Career Skills Projects: Standards First 25 "You Don't Read a Science Book, You Study It": An Exploration of Cultural Concepts of Reading Resource Type: Professional Resource Discipline: English Language Arts Ohio Standards Alignment: Grades 9–12 Professional Commentary: In an effort to increase our understanding of what immigrants feel about reading, Jim Anderson and Lee Gunderson describe in this article what they have learned from their work with immigrant students and their parents. The authors conducted their research in culturally diverse classrooms in Vancouver, drawing conclusions and implications for the nonimmigrant as well as the immigrant parent population.... 26 A Survey of Sustained Silent Reading Practices in Seventh-Grade Classrooms Resource Type: Professional Resource Discipline: English Language Arts Ohio Standards Alignment: Grade 7 Professional Commentary: This professional resource is grounded in research that indicates the practice of sustained silent reading (SSR) is based on the belief that motivation, interest, self-selection, modeling, and time spent reading contribute to student reading achievement. This detailed article describes a study designed to ascertain the prevalence of SSR in classrooms in a particular geographic area, and describes the degree to which the program's original goals are being met.... 27 Blues You Can Use: Teaching the Faust Theme Through Music, Literature, and Film Resource Type: Professional Resource Discipline: English Language Arts Ohio Standards Alignment: Grades 9–12 Professional Commentary: This professional article cites current research in adolescent literacy to demonstrate the value of the authors' idea for a lesson based on popular culture. The authors reference a lesson plan incorporating the story of Faust and the legend of a blues musician found on the website of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum.... Career Fields: Arts & Communication, General Career Skills Projects: Writing 6-12, Standards First 28 Literature Study Circles in a Multicultural Classroom [excerpt]: Chapter 1, "I Gotta Read It! Literature Study Circles in Action" Resource Type: Professional Resource Discipline: English Language Arts Ohio Standards Alignment: Grades 6–7 Professional Commentary: In this professional resource, Katharine Davies Samway and Gail Whang offer ideas for engaging students in reading. These authors use Whang's fifth/sixth grade classroom to explore alternatives to traditional methods and to implement literature study circles (LSCs) to engage students, and help them develop their abilities to think and talk about issues in their lives.... 29 Culturally Responsive Teaching Resource Type: Professional Resource Discipline: English Language Arts Ohio Standards Alignment: Grades 6–12 Professional Commentary: This professional resource documents case studies of culturally responsive practice. It makes explicit the work of teachers who use and respect their students' languages, cultures, and life experiences through the following principles: communication of high expectations, active teaching methods, teacher as facilitator, positive perspectives on families of diverse students, cultural sensitivity, reshaping the curriculum, culturally-mediated instruction,... Career Fields: Education & Training, General Career Skills Projects: Writing 6-12, Standards First 30 Time to Prepare a Face: The Role of Masking in Selected Multicultural Literature Resource Type: Professional Resource Discipline: English Language Arts Ohio Standards Alignment: Grades 11–Postsecondary Professional Commentary: This professional resource is a highly detailed and descriptive article that examines the role masking takes in selected multicultural literature. A large portion of the article is devoted to defining the many elements involved with understanding and teaching masking.... Projects: Writing 6-12 |