Equipping Adolescent
Readers:
Instructional Strategies That
Boost Student Achievement
Nebraska ASCD Conference
Facilitated by Jenn Utecht
November 8, 2010
The Scoop on Adolescent
Readers
Each partner group needs a research card.
Read your card and think together:
– Restate the card’s message. What does it mean?
– What are the implications to the student? On educators?
Society?
– How can schools begin to target the need and improve this
issue?
Only about one-third of 8th- and 12th- graders read at
or above the proficient level as measured by NAEP,
which means approximately 70 percent of adolescents
struggle to read.
Only about one-third of 8th- and 12th- graders read at
or above the proficient level as measured by NAEP,
which means approximately 70 percent of adolescents
struggle to read.
Only 13 percent of African American, 16 percent of
Latino, and 17 percent of Native Americans are
reading at or above proficient level compared to 41
percent of white 8th-graders.
Only 13 percent of African American, 16 percent of
Latino, and 17 percent of Native Americans are
reading at or above proficient level compared to 41
percent of white 8th-graders.
A 2004 report from RAND Education identifies major
concerns in meeting the No Child Left Behind (NCLB)
goal of 100 percent proficiency of all students. The
report states that fewer than half of all students reach
proficiency standards for reading on either state
assessments or on the NAEP.
A 2004 report from RAND Education identifies major
concerns in meeting the No Child Left Behind (NCLB)
goal of 100 percent proficiency of all students. The
report states that fewer than half of all students reach
proficiency standards for reading on either state
assessments or on the NAEP.
In the face of stiff competition for jobs and markets,
more than 80 percent of American businesses
complain that high school graduates lack adequate
reading and writing skills and spend more than $60
billion per year to bolster employees’ basic
competencies.
In the face of stiff competition for jobs and markets,
more than 80 percent of American businesses
complain that high school graduates lack adequate
reading and writing skills and spend more than $60
billion per year to bolster employees’ basic
competencies.
Only about 32 percent of high school graduates are
adequately prepared for college, and of those who
matriculate, more than half must take remedial
courses.
Only about 32 percent of high school graduates are
adequately prepared for college, and of those who
matriculate, more than half must take remedial
courses.
U.S. 11th graders have placed close to the bottom,
behind students from the Philippines, Indonesia, Brazil,
and other developing nations, on international
comparisons of performance on reading assessments.
U.S. 11th graders have placed close to the bottom,
behind students from the Philippines, Indonesia, Brazil,
and other developing nations, on international
comparisons of performance on reading assessments.
About 1.3 million students nationwide drop out of
school between 8th and 12th grades. Only 68% of 9thgrade students complete high school on time with a
regular diploma.
About 1.3 million students nationwide drop out of
school between 8th and 12th grades. Only 68% of 9thgrade students complete high school on time with a
regular diploma.
High school dropouts are 3.5 times more likely to be
arrested in their lifetime. One-third of all juvenile
offenders read below the 4th-grade level and twothirds of prison inmates are high school dropouts.
High school dropouts are 3.5 times more likely to be
arrested in their lifetime. One-third of all juvenile
offenders read below the 4th-grade level and twothirds of prison inmates are high school dropouts.
Seventy percent of unemployed Americans, aged 25 to
64, read at the two lowest literacy levels. These adults
cannot read a bus schedule or write a letter explaining
an error on a credit card bill.
Seventy percent of unemployed Americans, aged 25 to
64, read at the two lowest literacy levels. These adults
cannot read a bus schedule or write a letter explaining
an error on a credit card bill.
Challenges Adolescents Face with
Content Area Reading
Reading ability level of the student
Limited vocabulary or background knowledge of topic
Understanding of text features and organization of
the text
Students who don’t have strategies or tools when
they get stuck
Low motivation or interest in the content
Difficulty of text and textbooks
The “Big Five” for Secondary
Readers
For elementary
readers:
– Phonological
awareness
– Phonics
– Fluency
– Vocabulary
– Comprehension
For secondary
readers:
– Word Study
– Fluency
– Vocabulary
– Comprehension
– Motivation
The Big Five: #5 - Motivation
Reading comprehension requires not only knowledge
and skills, but also cognitive EFFORT.
The goals, values, and beliefs regarding the topics,
processes, and outcomes of reading affect students’
motivations for reading.
Motivation also involves self-efficacy (confidence) –
the belief that one is capable of success.
What are the reasons adolescent readers lack
motivation with assigned school reading?
Adolescent struggling readers often lack
motivation to read. This impairs their
comprehension and limits their ability to
develop effective reading strategies or
to learn from what they read, thus
limiting their exposure to important
content-area information, world
knowledge, and vocabulary.
Teaching Tools for Increasing
Motivation in Adolescent Readers
1. Set clear goals and outcomes for each reading task.
Make sure students understand what information
they’re reading for!
2. Invite variety and student-choice in reading
materials.
3. Provide opportunities for students to interact
through reading (discussions, writing, projects).
Do students know WHAT to read,
Motivating Adolescent Readers:
1. Set Clear Goals & Reading
Outcomes
Be explicit on what students will gain from reading
the text provided or assigned
Use questioning strategies as a guide to students’
reading.
Activate prior knowledge to build interest in text.
Model behaviors of a curious reader who is rewarded
with new knowledge about an interesting topic!
Purposeful Reading
Knowing a purpose for reading allows the
reader to:
– Determine what’s important in the text
– Determines what the reader will remember (retain)
– Know what comprehension strategies are needed
to comprehend the text
– Increases motivation and engagement in reading.
Without a purpose, students say:
I don’t care about the topic
I can’t relate to the topic
I daydream and my mind wanders
I can’t stay focused
I just say the words so I can be done
I get bored
Sue Beers, 2010
Motivating Adolescent Readers:
2. Provide Student Autonomy
Motivation increases when ...
– we provide opportunities for students to choose texts they
read and groups they’ll work with.
– students have control over some aspects of the task
(product, subject, presentation style)
– we allow students to choose a partner, group, or to work
alone
Providing CHOICE for Students’
Reading and Writing
Independent reading selections
Topics for writing
Outcomes for projects
Reading goals per semester (duration, genres,
quantities, authors, eras)
Providing a Variety of Texts
Motivation increases when we choose
interesting texts for students to read!
– Interesting to diverse students
– Based on topics of which students have background knowledge
or experience
– Visually compelling: is the reading ‘doable’? Are there graphics,
pictures, illustrations? Is the text “old”?
– Appropriate readability levels
Motivating Adolescent Readers:
3. Interactive Classrooms
Adolescents are
motivated in their
reading by having
interactive classrooms!
Power of Collaborative Learning for
Building Motivation (and Comprehension!)
Discussions:
– should focus on the construction of meaning and analysis of
text.
– They questions or issues are often student-generated, but
teacher facilitated.
Technology Use for Instruction & Student
Response
– Class blogs for text-based, critical literacy-based
discussions, record keeping at Goodreads.com
Save the The Last Word for Me
Students will read carefully and purposefully, think
critically about the text, and use evidence from the
text to support thinking.
Engages ALL students in reading and engaging with
the content and the text.
Provides a cooperative learning format, and uses
small groups instead of large class discussion.
Works best with material that elicits differing opinions
or multiple interpretations.
See handout in packet.
Inside – Outside Circles:
A Cooperative Learning Strategy
Create a group of 6 with participants in the room NOT
at your table.
– Split this group in 2 forming two circles (an inside circle and
an outside circle), facing one another.
Using the questions you wrote down regarding
Adolescent Literacy earlier this morning, the inside
circle participant asks the question while the outside
circle participant responds.
Other resources from the National Center on
Instruction (all available free at
www.centeroninstruction.org)
Assessments to Guide Adolescent Literacy Instruction
Improving literacy instruction in middle and high schools: A
guide for Principals
Academic literacy instruction for adolescents: A guidance
document from the Center on Instruction
Language and Reading Interventions for English Language
learners and English Language learners with Disabilities (K- 12)
Effective instruction for adolescent struggling readers
Adolescent literacy walkthrough for principals: A guide for
instructional leaders