Supported Literacy for Adolescents: Transforming Teaching and Content Learning for the 21st Century (Jossey-Bass Teacher)

232 Pages·2008·1.32 MB·English

by  Catherine Cobb Morocco

SUPPORTED
LITERACY FOR
ADOLESCENTS
Transforming Teaching
and Content Learning for
the Twenty-First Century
CATHERINE COBB MOROCCO
CYNTHIA MATA AGUILAR
CAROL BERSHAD
ANDREA WINOKUR KOTULA
ALISA HINDIN
CO-PUBLISHED WITH THE
EDUCATION DEVELOPMENT

CENTER, INC.
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JOSSEY-BASS TEACHER
Jossey-Bass Teacher provides educators with practical knowledge and tools to create
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SUPPORTED
LITERACY FOR
ADOLESCENTS
Transforming Teaching
and Content Learning for
the Twenty-First Century
CATHERINE COBB MOROCCO
CYNTHIA MATA AGUILAR
CAROL BERSHAD
ANDREA WINOKUR KOTULA
ALISA HINDIN
CO-PUBLISHED WITH THE
EDUCATION DEVELOPMENT

CENTER, INC.
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Copyright © 2008 by Education Development Center All rights reserved.
Published by Jossey-Bass
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Limit of Liability/Disclaimer of Warranty: While the publisher and author have used their best e fforts
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data.
Supported literacy for adolescents : transforming teaching and content learning for the
twenty-fi rst century / Catherine Cobb Morocco . . . [et al.].
p. cm. — (Jossey-Bass teacher)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-470-22269-0 (pbk.)
1. Literacy—United States. 2. Teenagers—Education—United States. 3. Curriculum
planning—United States. I. Morocco, Catherine Cobb.
LC151.S86 2008
302.2'244—dc22
2008018497
Printed in the United States of America
FIRST EDITION
PB Printing 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
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CONTENTS
Preface vii
The Authors ix
The Contributors xi
Acknowledgments xiii
Education Development Center xv
Chapter One: A New Vision of Adolescent Literacy 1
Chapter Two: Inside the Supported Literacy Framework 23
Chapter Three: Using the Framework to Teach Content:
A Science Unit 48
Chapter Four: Teaching Writing to Understand Text:
A Fiction Unit 87
Chapter Five: Meaning Making with Special Education
Students 116
Alisa Hindin
Chapter Six: Responding to Adolescent Reading Diffi culties 131
Andrea Winokur Kotula
Chapter Seven: Engaging the Whole School in Supported
Literacy 152
Key Terms 179
Appendix A: Lesson Unit for “Understanding Climate Change” 181
Appendix B: Lesson Unit for “How Far Would You Go to Fit In?” 185
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vi
Contents
Appendix C: Reading Assessment: Sample Diagnostic Tests 191
Appendix D: A Schoolwide Approach to Reading Diffi culties 193
Appendix E: Digital and Multimedia Tools for Content Inquiry 199
References 202
Index 209
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PREFACE
I n writing this book, our author group held many conversations about what the future
holds for the adolescents of today and how we can best prepare them to live and
work in a global society. Our young people are using ‘phones, computers, and iPods
to network across the country with each other; they link to sports, music, and infor-
mation in ways that we could not have imagined for ourselves as adolescents. They
understand that a tsunami thousands of miles away may show up as waves lapping
our own shores.
W e asked ourselves, “ What does a fi fteen - or eighteen -y ear- o ld need to know and
be able to do in a volatile and changing world? What does it mean to be a ‘ literate ’
young person? What ways of using literacy are important for these times?”
This book is our attempt to answer these questions. The fi rst two chapters pres-
ent a teaching framework that identifi es the competencies that all adolescents need
in a global world and the specifi c literacy tools that adolescents can use to develop
those competencies. Many twenty- fi rst - century learning reports have outlined the
competencies that a global society requires of students. These reports emphasize
that the ability to manage information and understand complex issues will be prized
in the workplace. They argue that inquiry is rigorous when students are engaging in
competencies that include conceptual understanding, critical thinking, creative think-
ing, and collaboration and communication with culturally diverse peers. In most
of the rest of the chapters, the book brings these competencies into the classroom
and links them with a set of “ multiliteracy tools ” that students need to develop and
engage in these competencies. Reading to understand, writing to think, accountable
talk, and digital and media fl uency provide the students the means by which to hone
their twenty - fi rst - century competencies in all the content areas they encounter.
T he book brings together the content area competencies and literacy tools in les-
sons and curriculum units organized around some of the most compelling questions
of our times. In the science classroom, students use digital and multimedia images to
ask “What is the evidence of climate change in our country and across the world?”
They use writing, drawing, and peer discussion to investigate what our human role
is in global warming. In history and literature class, they engage in peer discussion
of historical texts and a memoir of a Japanese family after World War II, asking what
impact war has on families and what countries and families themselves do to sur-
vive war. In their English class, they follow the development of a character who is
struggling to fi t into her peer group and also hold on to her self - respect. They write
and support their interpretations about the characters in persuasive essays. And in
the social studies class, they read articles, pose questions, and create podcasts about
vii
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