Reading Next Online Activity

Reading Next discusses how at first the major concern in literacy was getting students up to the proper reading level.  Somehow along the way, comprehension and literacy of adolescents was pushed to the side.  This belief is also displayed in Adolescent literacy: A position statement, where it is stated, “No one is giving adolescent literacy much press.  It is certainly not a hot topic in educational policy or a priority in schools.” There is a focus on making sure our students can read by grade 3, but once in middle school and high school, there is no emphasis on continuing to develop students’ reading.  There is more to reading than just being able to read and recognize words.  The component that is being missed is comprehension. Reading Next also presents fifteen elements for an effective adolescent reading program.  These fifteen elements are the same or similar to the principles for supporting adolescents’ literacy growth presented in Adolescent literacy: A position statement. For example, two of the principles are having access to a wide range of materials and expert teachers who model reading comprehension strategies and provide explicit instructions of comprehension strategies and two of the elements are diverse text and direct, explicit comprehension instruction.  Reading Next also mentions an important point of evaluating the elements on the same scale to see which elements work and for what students to use the elements with.

When I first began thinking about teaching young adults, I only thought about focusing on teaching my content area.  I now see that I’m not only teaching a content, but incorporating reading and writing within my classroom.  One way that I can help improve my students’ literacy is by incorporating the first element of the fifteen presented in Reading Next into my classroom, which is direct, explicit comprehension instruction.  This will be done when we are reviewing a scientific article.  I will demonstrate strategies to use when reading and interpreting the journal article.  This will help them when encountering informational text.

Also, I will allow the students to use the textbook for the class within the classroom.  For instance, when teaching chemical families, the students can work in groups to learn about the different chemical families using the textbook.  In addition, I want to have weekly article reviews.  That is where a group of students will get an article to read and critique, and then share the article with the class.  This way, the students will get experience reading different materials.  The articles will discuss different topics and come from different sources.  They will not only come from journals, but from newspapers, magazines, and etc.  While using the three elements, direct, explicit comprehension instruction, text-based collaborative learning, and diverse texts they not only build comprehension, but increase understanding of content and builds connections.

Moore,D.,Bean,T.,Birdyshaw, D., & Rycik, J. (n.d.). Adolescent literacy:A position statement,


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