March 2008 Word Up! Newsletter
AdLit.org is just getting started, but we look forward to bringing you highlights from our website and features from our partner organizations and others at work in the field of adolescent literacy.
March Highlights: Writing Instruction
Writing is a complex operation requiring knowledge of text structure, syntax, vocabulary, and topic, as well as sensitivity to audience needs; so it is not surprising that many teens find writing challenging. Here are some resources for helping teens improve their writing skills.
See our Writing and Technology sections for more ideas.
Writing Next
Writing is sometimes overlooked in discussions of adolescent literacy, but Writing Next argues that the ability to write well is just as essential as reading comprehension to academic and career success. Writing Next offers writing strategies and recommends eleven elements of effective adolescent writing instruction, including sentence combining, collaborative writing, and inquiry activities.
Read the article >
Computer-Assisted Writing Instruction
Computer programs for writing can help students develop ideas, organize, outline, and brainstorm. Interactivity provides students with instant feedback and allows them to proceed at their own pace.
Read the article >
Teaching Writing to Diverse Populations
This article identifies the qualities of strong writing instruction, and offers advice to teachers for incorporating writing instruction into their practice, for using tools like notebooks and journals, and for sharing strategies that reinforce the importance of pre-writing and revision.
Read the article >
Using Assistive Technology to Support Writing
Many technology tools are available to support writing instruction for students with disabilities. For example, multimedia software facilitates spell and grammar checking, graphic organizers help students build relationships among concepts, and text-to-speech engines help students with difficulty reading to revise their texts.
Read the article >
Activities
Poe the Writer
A series of lessons from Maryland Public Television uses Edgar Allan Poe's work to examine point of view, the rhythm of verse, the revision process, and literary criticism.
Go to website >
Six-Word Memoirs
Smith Magazine recently published a compilation of six-word memoirs. Try summing up your life or world view in just six words and you develop an appreciation for the editorial process.
Go to website >
Classroom Activities
A Love of Words: AdLit.org's video interview with Lois Lowry
Lois Lowry is the highly acclaimed author of more than 30 books for young people. Over the years, she has received numerous awards, including two Newbery Medals. Her best-known novel, The Giver, is set in a future dystopia where sameness and conformity rule.
In our exclusive interview, Lowry talks about an early poetry recitation, the childhood tragedy that formed the basis of A Summer to Die, and readers' strong reactions to The Giver.
Watch the interview >
Featured Strategy
RAFT is a writing approach that asks students to write in order to learn. Students learn to respond to writing prompts that require them to think about various perspectives:
- Role of the Writer: Who are you as the writer? A pilgrim? A soldier? The President?
- Audience: To whom are you writing? A political rally? A potential employer?
- Format: In what format are you writing? A letter? An advertisement? A speech?
- Topic: What are you writing about?
Book List of the Month
Multicultural Stories
As the number of young adult literature books has grown, so has the number of quality titles featuring characters of diverse ethnicity, religion, and nationality, and compelling story lines about identity, prejudice, and understanding.
Go to the list >
Research
The Enhanced Reading Opportunities Study
This report examines the impact of two supplemental literacy programs — Reading Apprenticeship Academic Literacy and Xtreme Reading — that target the reading skills of struggling ninth graders. Despite some difficulty with program implementation, the two programs did have a statistically significant impact on student reading comprehension scores.
Executive summary >
Full report >
Closing the Expectations Gap 2008
Achieve, Inc.'s annual survey of all 50 states' efforts to align high school policies with postsecondary expectations shows states making progress aligning academic standards and graduation requirements with college and career demands but less progress on assessments, data, and accountability systems.
Survey >
Avoidable Losses: High Stakes Accountability and the Dropout Crisis
A new study of Texas public schools by researchers at Rice University and the University of Texas-Austin finds that the high stakes, test-based accountability system that provided the model for the No Child Left Behind law rather than helping to close the achievement gap among minority students actually contributes to the loss of these students prior to graduation.
Executive summary >
Full report >
Still at Risk: What Students Don't Know, Even Now
Common Core's new report reveals some damning statistics about U.S. teens' lack of knowledge of history and culture. For example, one-third do not know that the Bill of Rights guarantees the freedom of speech and religion and forty-four percent think The Scarlet Letter was either about a witch trial or a piece of correspondence.
The authors' attribute much of this ignorance to a curriculum focused on basic reading and math skills and preparation for high-stakes testing, but parental educational also has an impact on student knowledge — students with a college-educated parent scored significantly better than those without.
Full report >
Other News
Simon and Schuster Pulse BlogFest
From March 14 to March 27, Simon & Schuster will launch its first annual Pulse Blogfest at PulseBlogfest.com — a two-week event where more than 100 top teen authors and their fans can come together to share ideas on one single blog.
Go to website >
Simon & Schuster is looking for questions from teens for the authors to answer, so submit a question on the Blogfest MySpace page.
Go to MySpace >
The 3rd Annual Teaching & Learning Celebration
March 7-8, 2008, Friday/Saturday, New York, NY
Public Television honors educators with an exciting professional development experience for teachers, administrators, and everyone who cares about providing dynamic education for all!
Brought to you by New York's local public television stations Thirteen/WNET and WLIW21, the Celebration has quickly become one of the nation's premier professional development events. With a focus on science and global awareness, the 2008 Celebration boasts a sterling lineup of speakers, including legendary primatologist Dr. Jane Goodall, DBE; Jean-Michel Cousteau of PBS's Ocean Adventures; educational media pioneer Milton Chen; and many others.
Please visit thirteencelebration.org for registration information, videos and biographies of our featured speakers, a list of exhibitors, and other highlights.
Featured Partner
The Newspaper Association of America Foundation
The Newspaper Association of America Foundation strives to develop engaged and literate citizens in our diverse society through investment in and support of programs designed to enhance student achievement through newspaper readership and appreciation of the First Amendment. The Foundation's programs and products emphasize the use of newspapers and other media by young people. Foundation support is concentrated in three primary focus areas: Newspaper in Education (NIE), youth content, and student newspapers.
Go to website >
Memorable Quote
"The reason Weetzie Bat hated high school was because no one understood." — Weetzie Bat by Francesca Lia Block
About AdLit.org
AdLit.org is a national educational service of WETA, the flagship public television and radio station in the nation's capital. The goal of the project is to provide literacy resources to parents and educators of students in grades 4-12. Learn about easy ways you can link to us to let others know about the many free resources available from AdLit.org. AdLit.org is funded by Carnegie Corporation of New York and by the Ann B. and Thomas L. Friedman Family Foundation. The statements made and views expressed are solely the responsibility of the author(s).
All the best from AdLit.org
- Noel Gunther, Executive Director
- Katie Chase, Associate Editor
- Kelly Deckert, Web Producer
- Susannah Harris, Manager, AdLit.org
- Sun Kim, Web Coordinator
- Alan Lundy-Ponce, Director, Learning Media Websites
- Joanne Meier, Ph.D., Research Consultant
- Rachael Walker, Outreach Consultant
Newsletter editors: Joanne Meier and Susannah Harris
