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Adolescent Literacy Strategies Online


Course Outline


Course Description


Literacy skills are essential in order to participate in today’s increasingly global society and economy that demand the ability to effectively use literacy in multiple contexts for multiple purposes. Today’s adolescents have greater literacy demands placed upon them than ever before as they prepare to enter an adult world that requires their ability to read, write, and speak successfully. Today’s teachers face greater challenges than ever before in meeting the increasingly diverse literacy needs of their students in order to prepare them for success in the adult world. This course will prepare you to assist your adolescent students who struggle with literacy to achieve literacy success by providing strategies and techniques that you can incorporate into your secondary classroom in order to scaffold your students’ literacy development. In this course, you will learn to implement research-based instructional practices that scaffold adolescents’ literacy development in the areas of motivation, engagement, reading expository text, using prior knowledge, vocabulary, comprehension, writing, and studying. Additionally, you will learn to implement research-based assessment techniques that will allow you to monitor your students’ growth and adjust your instructional practices to foster their continued progress.

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.

Curriculum Design & Time Requirements


There are multiple instructional techniques utilized throughout the course that serve as a scaffold to support your learning of effective instructional techniques. Students will collaborate with their classmates and instructor utilizing the Forum and e-mail. This is an online sixty-hour, three credit graduate level course that is completed over a thirteen-week period.

Hardware & Computer Skills Requirements


Students may use either a Macintosh computer or a PC with Windows 2000 or higher. Students should possess basic word processing skills and have internet access with an active e-mail account. Students also are expected to have a basic knowledge of how to use a Web browser, such as Microsoft Internet Explorer, Safari, Mozilla Firefox etc.

Course Materials


The required textbook for this course is, Reading and the High School Student: Strategies to Enhance Literacy (2nd ed.). Boston: Pearson and Allyn Bacon. Irvin, J. L., Buehl, D. R., & Klemp, R. M. (2007). Students will also visit Must See websites within each module.

Session Outline

Session 1: Introduction to Adolescent Literacy
Contents:
  1. Introduction in the Forum
  2. Review: Introduction Materials, Course Registration Procedures, Syllabus, Schedule, Textbook, Course Website, Forum
  3. Adolescent Literacy: Today's Challenges
  4. Reflection Assignment

Session 2: Literacy and the Adolescent Learner
Contents:
  1. Adolescents as Literacy Learners
  2. Reflection Assignment
  3. Forum Posting

Session 3: Learning Environments and Instructional Practices that Support Adolescent Literacy
Contents:
  1. What Factors Motivate Adolescents to Read?
  2. Instructional Strategies that Motivate Adolescent Readers
  3. Instructional Strategies that Scaffold the Literacy Growth of Struggling Adolescent Readers
  4. Reflection Assignment
  5. Forum Posting

Session 4: Expository Text Challenges for Struggling Adolescent Readers
Contents:
  1. Struggling Adolescent Readers and Informational Text
  2. Selecting Appropriate Instructional Materials
  3. Expository Text Strategies
  4. Reflection Assignment

Session 5: The Importance of Prior Knowledge in the Reading Process
Contents:
  1. The Role of Prior Knowledge in the Reading Process
  2. Strategies to Assess Struggling Adolescent Readers’ Prior Knowledge
  3. Strategies to Build Struggling Adolescent Readers’ Prior Knowledge
  4. Strategies to Activate Struggling Adolescent Readers’ Prior Knowledge
  5. Strategies to Organize Struggling Adolescent Readers’ Prior Knowledge
  6. Reflection Assignment
  7. Forum Posting

Session 6: Enhancing the Vocabulary Skills of Struggling Adolescent Readers
Contents:
  1. The Importance of Vocabulary in Reading Comprehension
  2. Vocabulary Instruction Designed to Increase Struggling Adolescent Readers’ Comprehension
  3. Reflection Assignment

Session 7: Enhancing the Comprehension Skills of Struggling Adolescent Readers
Contents:
  1. Factors that Impact Adolescent Readers’ Comprehension
  2. Comprehension Strategies Used by Proficient Readers
  3. Instructional Strategies to Increase Adolescents’ Reading Comprehension
  4. Reflection Assignment
  5. Forum Posting

Session 8: Supporting Struggling Adolescent Writers
Contents:
  1. Struggling Adolescent Writers
  2. Effective Writing Instruction
  3. Content Area Writing
  4. Reflection Assignment

Session 9: Study and Learning Strategies for Adolescents Who Struggle with Literacy
Contents:
  1. Skills Needed for Adolescents to Study and Learn
  2. Strategies to Increase Adolescents’ Studying and Learning Skills
  3. Reflection Assignment
  4. Forum Posting

Session 10: Assessment Techniques for Teachers of Adolescents Who Struggle with Literacy
Contents:
  1. Characteristics and Functions of High-Quality Assessments
  2. Implementing Effective Assessment Tools and Techniques
  3. The Cyclical Nature of Assessment and Instruction
  4. Reflection Assignment
  5. Complete Course Evaluation
  6. Complete Final Project

Grading


    Assignment Points   Grading Scale  
  Forum Discussions   20      100 – 93 A
  Module Assignments   50       92 – 85 B
  Final Project:KWLSD Reflection   30       84 – 77 C
  Total Points 100    

Student Requirements


  1. Participation: Actively participate in all Forum discussions (your post and replies to at least two classmates’ posts).
  2. Reading assignments: Complete assigned readings (textbook and Must See) for each module.
  3. Reflection assignments:  Complete reflection assignments for each module.
  4. Complete the KWLSD chart throughout the course in preparation for your Final Project (KWLSD Reflection Paper).

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.

Register


To register to take TEI's Adolescent Literacy Strategies Online course, go to the Course Registration page.