An ASCD Study Guide for Creating Literacy-Rich Schools for Adolescents

Using the anticipation guide above, how could this type of tool help students who struggle with learning? Would it be useful for advanced students? What about teachers? How could they use the information gathered on an anticipation guide?

Talk about your responses with colleagues. Find out what they think about each of these issues. After you have read the book, return to this page and reconsider your answers. Have you changed your opinions and ideas as a result?

Introduction: Adolescent Literacy in Perspective

1. What does it mean to be literate?
2. Is every teacher really a teacher of reading?
3. Choose one of the areas of adolescent literacy identified by the International Reading Association (IRA) and describe how you have addressed the issue in your classroom or school.
   • Access to a wide variety of reading material that appeals to students' reading interests
   • Instruction that builds students' skills and desire to read increasingly complex materials
   • Assessment that shows students' strengths as well as their needs
   • Expert teachers who model and provide explicit instruction across the curriculum
   • Reading specialists who assist students having difficulty learning how to read
   • Teachers who understand the complexities of individual adolescent readers
   • Homes and communities that support the needs of adolescent learners
4. Read the position statements from the National Council of Teachers of English (Appendix A) and International Reading Association (Appendix B). Which do you agree with? Which trouble you? If you were to create an inventory of these practices in your classroom or school, which would be most important to you?

Chapter 1: Reading and Writing in English Classes

1. Using the Quality Indicators for Secondary Literacy (QISL) on page viii, evaluate your school. How well is your school implementing factor?
2. When you read the question, “Are students reading and writing development and relevant life experiences used to explore literary concepts?” what do you think? Talk with someone who teaches English about literary concepts. What are they and why are they important?
3. Explore the English content standards for your state. Are specific texts mandated? If not, what are students expected to learn in the English classroom?
4. How do literary devices and reading comprehension strategies relate to text difficulty? What can the English teacher do to ensure that students develop a strong sense of these components of the English curriculum?
5. What criteria do you use to select instructional materials and readings for the English classroom?
6. What implications does the “gradual release of responsibility” model have for you as a teacher? How might you explain this instructional philosophy to your colleagues?

Chapter 2: Transportable and Transparent Strategies for Content Literacy Instruction

1. Using the QISL on page ix, evaluate your school. How well is your school implementing each factor?
2. When you read the question, “Do all courses throughout a students' day capitalize on students' literacy and language as a way to learn new information?” what do you think?
3. Explore the science, social studies, math, or visual and performing arts content standards for your state. Are specific texts mandated? If not, what are students expected to learn in these classrooms?
4. What does it mean for strategies to become transportable and transparent for students? How can you help?
5. What criteria do you use to select instructional materials and readings for content area classrooms?
6. Which of the instructional strategies used at Hoover High School might be of interest at your school?

Chapter 3: Time Spent “Just Reading”: A Nonnegotiable

1. Using the QISL on page x, evaluate your school. How well is your school implementing each factor?
2. When you read the question, “Are all students provided an opportunity to read for learning and pleasure during the school day?” what do you think? Do you read daily? Do your students read daily?
3. Consider the eight factors that Janice Pilgreen identified for the successful implementation of Silent Sustained Reading. Using the scale below, rate your school on each of the factors.
   What can you do about this information? If you had to choose one area to improve upon, what would it be?
4. What is the role of independent reading across the school day? How can independent reading increase students' academic achievement, motivation, and engagement?

Chapter 4: Interventions and Support for Struggling Adolescents

1. Using the QISL on page xi, evaluate your school. How well is your school implementing each factor?
2. When you read the question, “Do the intervention initiatives cause students to read more and to read better?” what do you think?
3. Consider a specific struggling reader in your class or school. What interventions are being provided for this student? What could be provided to ensure that he or she reads better and more?
4. Consider your current intervention efforts. What is the role of the teacher? How does the teacher provide instruction and guide student's learning?
5. What is a comprehensive approach to reading and writing instruction and why should this matter?
6. What is the role of engagement and motivation when considering struggling readers and writers?

Chapter 5: Leadership and Schoolwide Support for Literacy

1. Using the QISL on page xii, evaluate your school. How well is your school implementing each factor?
2. When you read the question, “Is there a schoolwide emphasis on literacy and does this focus develop teacher expertise?” what do you think? Why would a schoolwide emphasis be important?
3. Investigate how much your school or district spends on instructional materials in an average year. As a result, are there things that students want to read in every classroom? If not, what would it take to ensure that students had increased access to such instructional materials?
4. Who is responsible for improving academic achievement in your school or district? What does this person know and think about adolescent literacy? Is there someone designated at the building level to serve as the literacy leader?
5. What is the role of the principal in terms of schoolwide literacy plans?
6. Conduct an inventory of the professional development opportunities provided to teachers during the past six months in your school or district. Is there a significant focus on adolescent literacy? Is there a focus on creating a schoolwide literacy initiative? Do topics change like the wind or is there consistency in terms of focus and depth? Do these professional development opportunities reflect teacher knowledge and skill? Are these opportunities respectful of the teacher as a professional?
7. Is there a system in place for teachers in similar groups to regularly examine student work and plan subsequent instruction? Are there common assessments used to guide teachers' understanding of the course content and student performance?

After Reading

1. Return to the anticipation guide that you completed before you read the book. Have your responses changed? If so, how? Talk about your perspectives with your colleagues.
2. Using the action planning tool below, identify areas of concern from the QISL. With your colleagues, develop a plan to address some of the areas of concern. Start with a specific goal or objective and then identify target dates, specific actions, necessary resources, people to involve, and expected outcomes. As you achieve success, return to the action planning tool and identify additional areas to improve upon.

Creating Literacy-Rich Schools for Adolescents was written by Gay Ivey and Douglas Fisher. This 160-page, 7″ x 9″ book (Stock # 105142; ISBN-13: 978-1-4166-0321-4; ISBN-10: 1-4166-0321-2) is available from ASCD for $18.95 (ASCD member) or $23.95 (nonmember). Copyright © 2006 by ASCD. To order a copy, call ASCD at 1-800-933-2723 (in Virginia 1-703-578-9600) and press 2 for the Service Center. Or buy the book from the ASCD Online Store.