Inspiring Lifelong Readers by Solution Tree

students in becoming engaged and motivated readers. Filled with practical strategies and reproducible tools to implement inquiry-based literacy learning, this book offers insights and expertise for planning lessons, establishing classroom structures and routines, and creating the environment for choice, voice, and engagement. It is the kind of book teachers will come back to again and again. ” — B E T H P E A R S O N , D I S T R I C T L I T E R AC Y S P E C I A L I S T, O R O N O S C H O O L S , L O N G L A K E , M I N N E S OTA

“ Inspiring Lifelong Readers blends personal experience, research-based practices, and

practical tools to enrich the literacy lives of students. Both district leaders and classroom teachers will benefit from Plucker’s expertise. She guides readers in how the inquiry approach can deepen a student’s thinking with complex, thought-provoking questions, and shares resources that teachers can immediately implement in their classrooms. ” — D O U G F R A N K , R E A D I N G L A N G UAG E A R T S M A N AG E R , DA L L A S I N D E P E N D E N T S C H O O L D I S T R I C T, T E X A S

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“ Inspiring Lifelong Readers is a how-to for teachers who want to support adolescent

It’s never too late to advance students’ literacy skills.

RE A DE R S W IL L : •

Curate a classroom library of diverse, inclusive texts that pique students’ interests

•

Employ the inquiry approach to instruction and the workshop framework to effectively target the needs of striving readers

•

Access practical prompts and reproducible tools to support literacy instruction

•

Create a classroom community that fosters sharing, confidence, and motivation

•

Celebrate student accomplishments by rewarding met goals and continued progress

SolutionTree.com

Visit go.SolutionTree.com/literacy to download the free reproducibles in this book.

ISBN 978-1-949539-87-5 90000

9 781949 539875

JEN NIFER McCARTY PLUCK ER

Author Jennifer McCarty Plucker experienced this firsthand when she and her educator colleagues developed a successful, research-based intervention program for their adolescent students. In Inspiring Lifelong Readers: Using Inquiry to Engage Learners in Grades 6–12, Plucker equips secondary educators with intervention strategies that will help them achieve lasting student achievement results in reading, writing, and communicating. Grounded in practices that promote adolescent literacy, complex literacy learning, inquiry, motivation, and engagement, this book provides grades 6–12 teachers with tried-and-true, evidence-based interventions to bolster striving students to become competent, confident, and engaged readers.

Jennifer McCarty Plucker

555 North Morton Street Bloomington, IN 47404 800.733.6786 (toll free) / 812.336.7700 FAX: 812.336.7790 email: info@SolutionTree.com SolutionTree.com Visit go.SolutionTree.com/literacy to download the free reproducibles in this book. Printed in the United States of America

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Names: McCarty Plucker, Jennifer, author. Title: Inspiring lifelong readers : using inquiry to engage learners in grades 6-12 / Jennifer McCarty Plucker. Description: Bloomington, IN : Solution Tree Press, [2024] | Includes bibliographical references and index. Identifiers: LCCN 2023022827 (print) | LCCN 2023022828 (ebook) | ISBN 9781949539875 (paperback) | ISBN 9781949539882 (ebook) Subjects: LCSH: Inquiry-based learning. | Reading (Secondary) | Reading (Middle school) | Book selection. | Motivation in education. Classification: LCC LB1027.23 .M38 2024 (print) | LCC LB1027.23 (ebook) | DDC 371.3--dc23/eng/20230721 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2023022827 LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2023022828 Solution Tree Jeffrey C. Jones, CEO Edmund M. Ackerman, President Solution Tree Press President and Publisher: Douglas M. Rife Associate Publishers: Todd Brakke and Kendra Slayton Editorial Director: Laurel Hecker Art Director: Rian Anderson Copy Chief: Jessi Finn Senior Production Editor: Christine Hood Proofreader: Charlotte Jones Cover and Text Designer: Julie Csizmadia Acquisitions Editor: Hilary Goff Assistant Acquisitions Editor: Elijah Oates Content Development Specialist: Amy Rubenstein Associate Editor: Sarah Ludwig Editorial Assistant: Anne Marie Watkins

Materials appearing here are copyrighted. With one exception, all rights are reserved. Readers may reproduce only those pages marked “Reproducible.” Otherwise, no part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means (electronic, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without prior written permission of the publisher.

Acknowledgments I am a woman of faith—one who does her level best to listen and follow what the Lord wants me to do. Writing this book has been an act of rebellion. I fought Him throughout the whole process. But today, as I write this acknowledgment, I know He is the one I most need to thank. Thank you, God, for pushing me to share my heart and the instructional practices we know empower the identities of readers. Literacy opens doors, and all young people deserve to have those doors open for them. Thank you to my number-one supporter, my husband Carl. Your encouragement and willingness to pick up all the slack on the home front so I could write is what ensured this book’s completion. I love you. Thank you to my children, Andrew and Ainsley, for sharing me with other people’s children and also for allowing me to be your teacher. I love you to the moon and back. Keep reading! Thank you to my mom, who read to me nightly before tucking me in, showing me the joy that comes from immersing oneself in a story. Thank you, Dad, for modeling reading my whole life. It still astonishes me thinking about all those Louis L’Amour books you found time to read when I was a child, during what I now know must have been the busiest time of your life. Thank you to the many, many teachers, colleagues, and coaches who shaped my identity as a reader, learner, and educator. I especially want to thank two of my colleagues, Jessica Crooker and Sarah Papineau, who were my teammates when most iii

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of the strategies discussed in this book were proven successful for advancing adolescent readers. Jess and Sarah, you showed me that the most transformative learning occurs when done together.

Thank you to the team at Mackin, who insisted I see this book to the finish line. Finally, thank you to the team at Solution Tree, especially Amy Rubenstein, who patiently nudged me through the entire process, and Christine Hood, whose editorial notes were like a conversation over coffee coaching me to take the manuscript to a higher level. Solution Tree Press would like to thank the following reviewers: Kerry Bollman Instructional Services Coordinator St. Croix River Education District Rush City, Minnesota Jed Kees Principal Onalaska Middle School Onalaska, Wisconsin Ian Landy District Principal of Technology School District 47 Powell River, British Columbia, Canada

Jennifer Rasmussen Literacy Specialist and Instructional Service Director CESA 4 West Salem, Wisconsin Jose “JoJo” Reyes Chief Administration Officer Parlier Unified School District Parlier, California Ashley Richey Mathematics Instructional Coach East Pointe Elementary School Greenwood, Arkansas

Kathy Perez Professor Emerita Saint Mary’s College of California Moraga, California

Kayleigh Steinmetz English Teacher Stanley-Boyd High School Stanley, Wisconsin

Rosalind Poon Vice Principal Hugh Boyd Secondary School Richmond, British Columbia, Canada

Emily Terry English Teacher Kinard Middle School Fort Collins, Colorado

Visit go.SolutionTree.com/literacy to download the free reproducibles in this book.

Thank you to all my former students and young people I have coached, tutored, and mentored. I learned more from you than you from me!

Table of Contents Reproducibles are in italics.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ix INTRODUCTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Launching Academic Literacy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Facing Challenges in Literacy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Increasing Demands for Readers’ Attention . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 About This Book . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

Chapter 1: BUILDING A COMMUNITY OF READERS, WRITERS, COMMUNICATORS, AND THINKERS . . . . . . . .

Investing in Student Relationships and Community Building . . . . . .

Using the Inquiry Approach to Instruction . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Building a Structured Classroom Community . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 Involving Students in Building the Classroom Library . . . . . . . . .

Honoring Student Voice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 Creating Scarcity for the Hottest Reads . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Offering Authentic Literacy Activities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Exploring Community Engagement Opportunities . . . . . . . . . . . 33 Getting Started . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 v

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Class Engagement Chart . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36 Someday Reads! Log . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Legacy Book Template . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39

Motivating Adolescent Readers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42 Redefining Literacy and Text . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43 Cultivating Lifelong Readers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44 Getting Started . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58 Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59 Comprehending a Tutorial . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60 My Book Stack Chart . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Chapter 3: USING INQUIRY FOR ENGLISH LANGUAGE ARTS AND LITERACY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65 Considering the Inquiry Approach . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67 Embracing the Shift From Traditional to Inquiry-Based Instruction . . . . 69 Implementing the Inquiry Approach in ELA Units . . . . . . . . . . .

Assessing Students in Inquiry Units . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88 Supporting Students During Inquiry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92 Getting Started . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94 Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95 ELA Inquiry Unit of Study Template . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96 My Text Set Chart . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101 Questions to Guide Quantity Decisions for Inquiry Text Sets . . . . . . 105

Chapter 4: STRUCTURING CLASS TIME FOR AUTHENTIC LITERACY ENGAGEMENT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109 Defining the Workshop Framework . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110 Implementing the Workshop Framework for a Unit on Community . . . . 131 Getting Started . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

139

Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140 Inquiry in ELA and Literacy Lesson‑Plan Template . . . . . . . . . . . 141 Student Conference Template . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144 Small-Group Instruction Guide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145

Chapter 2: IMMERSING ADOLESCENTS IN RICH, DIVERSE TEXT . . . . . 41

Table of Contents

Chapter 5: CREATING CONDITIONS FOR STUDENT ENGAGEMENT . . .

vii

147

Structuring the Physical Environment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149 Getting Started . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

159

Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

159

Chapter 6: CELEBRATING LITERACY ACHIEVEMENTS . . . . . . . . .

161

Offering Rewards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

162

Setting Goals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

163

Reflecting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169 Getting Started . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171 Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

172

Setting, Reflecting on, and Achieving Learning Goals . . . . . . . . .

173

EPILOGUE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

175

REFERENCES AND RESOURCES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

177

INDEX . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

187

Structuring the Social-Emotional Learning Environment . . . . . . . . 152

About the Author

Jennifer McCarty Plucker, EdD, is the director of learning and development and a literacy consultant at Mackin Educational Resources in Burnsville, Minnesota. Dr. Plucker has spent more than twenty years in public education as an English teacher, reading specialist, speech coach, teaching and learning specialist, and district administrator. Her doctoral research focused on student engagement and motivation in literacy. Her current work with educators is grounded in an inquiry approach that puts students in the driver’s seat of their learning. She supports educators in implementing inquiry in the classroom, redesigning the English language arts (ELA) curriculum to support student ownership, implementing practices to motivate and engage readers, developing secondary literacy intervention programs, and supporting school communities in developing a culture of literacy. Dr. Plucker has served as an adjunct instructor for Hamline University in Saint Paul; Augsburg College in Minneapolis; and Saint Mary’s University in Winona, Minnesota. Dr. Plucker also currently serves on the Eastview Community Foundation Board and supports young people as a leadership development manager for Chick-fil-A Apple Valley. ix

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Dr. Plucker holds a bachelor’s degree in secondary English and speech and theater education from Minnesota State University, Moorhead; a master’s degree in educational leadership from Saint Mary’s University; a K–12 reading license from Hamline University; and a K–12 administrative license from Saint Thomas University. She received her doctorate in educational leadership with a focus on adolescent literacy from Argosy University, Twin Cities. To learn more about Dr. Plucker’s work, visit www.mackinlearning.com or follow her @jenplucker on X (formerly Twitter). To book Jennifer McCarty Plucker for professional development, contact pd@SolutionTree.com.

Dr. Plucker is a past president of the Minnesota Reading Association, where she was recognized as a celebrated literacy leader. The literacy intervention program Dr. Plucker implemented for ninth graders at Eastview High School in Apple Valley, Minnesota, was recognized by the International Literacy Association. Dr. Plucker was also awarded an Alumni Success Award from Argosy University for her doctoral research and leadership in literacy. Dr. Plucker highlighted her literacy intervention for adolescents in an article in the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development’s Educational Leadership called “Baiting the Reading Hook” (October, 2010).

Introduction

In 2007, I was working on a project for a quantitative research class I was taking for my doctoral degree. I was convinced there were students in my on-level, tenth-grade English class who not only were not reading at grade level but might be reading far below grade level. In addition, they were not receiving any other services through special education, tutoring, or English learner programming. My hunch turned out to be correct. When a student attends a high school where the mean percentile on a norm-referenced standardized reading test is the 70th percentile, and that student is barely hanging on in the 10th–20th percentile, they find sophisticated ways to cope. I discovered that some of the students had strong support at home to help them slog through the whole-class novels, history, science, and wellness textbooks, all of which were written at college levels. Others had given up on being a “scholar” and found nonacademic ways to identify themselves as successful, whether it was through being the captain of a sports team, a supervisor at an area quick-service restaurant, or a nationally recognized traveling soccer player. The informal study I did for my class was an affirmation of my decision to pursue a K–12 reading license, and eventually a doctorate, in educational leadership with an

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emphasis in adolescent literacy. I realized that my students’ needs were not being met, and I had a moral responsibility to help them. The K–12 reading license provided me with the knowledge and skills to support students who hadn’t yet mastered emergent reading skills.

It was early in my teaching career. I felt like I had great activities to bring books to life. I shared all sorts of insights I had gleaned from the many times I had read the book I was teaching at the time. I would offer to have a paraprofessional read the class novel aloud for any interested students, nudging some of those with individualized education programs (IEPs) to take her up on it. But I hadn’t even considered what my role was in helping tenth graders comprehend. Didn’t they learn that in elementary school? I am not a reading teacher. I teach literature, rhetoric, writing, public speaking, and interpersonal communication. So, I responded to Brady’s mother, “I’m not sure, but I am going to try to figure it out.” I wish I could say Brady and I figured it out. But the truth is, I just discovered that I really didn’t have the tools to help him. I certainly did all I could with what I knew; but ultimately, I was going to need to go back to school and learn. I started noticing my colleagues refer to students who were struggling to make their way through the tough texts as “lazy,” “unmotivated,” or even “low IQ” students. I don’t think they meant it as judgmental or realized how derogatory such sentiments were. I think they wanted a reason why these students were not finding success in their classes. The cringe in the pit of my stomach motivated me to embark on a journey to advance adolescent readers in my classes. I realized that my colleagues and I could no longer excuse students’ lack of reading success and engagement. We needed to do something. It’s never too late to support students in their literacy growth.

The catalyst for this decision, however, was a parent-teacher conference forever burned into my memory. (Throughout this book, I will share stories about teachers and students I have worked with. To protect their privacy, I use pseudonyms.) In this conference, I was telling a parent that her son, Brady, was struggling in my class because I did not think he was comprehending the book Of Mice and Men (Steinbeck, 1937). Brady told me he read the book but just didn’t get it. I saw Brady attempting to read during class; he was trying. I just did not think he understood the material. Brady’s mother’s response to what I thought was insightful feedback was not what I expected. Thinking back, I am not sure what I expected her to say. Maybe, “OK, we’ll work together on it at home more,” or “Do you think he should be tested for special education?” or “Yes, reading just isn’t a strength for Brady.” Instead, she responded with the most perfect, appropriate response. She said, “What are you going to do about that?” And with that one sentence, I was rendered speechless.

Introduction

It is the week before school starts, and we are gathered for freshman orientation, that exciting evening when energy flows throughout the building. Upperclassmen abound to guide new students through the hallways, recruit them into their activities, and show them school spirit. We start with an assembly in the gym. The band plays, the step team performs, and the cheerleaders teach all the cheers ninth graders need to know to be ready for the pep fest on the first day of school. After our principal releases students and families, they walk their schedule and briefly meet each of their teachers. I race up to my room to beat the students there and await my new crew. It is the same every year, and I am ready. Students arrive at a class on their schedule called Academic Literacy, having not signed up for it and dreading it. This course is for students identified as needing an extra dose of literacy instruction. These students have struggled with reading, standardized exams, and often school in general for years. Many students’ hoods are up, heads are down, and greetings are inaudible. I get it. If I didn’t swim well, didn’t like to swim, and now have swimming on my schedule every day, I wouldn’t go bounding in to meet my teacher. So, I gently nudge them by saying, “Take a look around the room. Find a place where you might want to cozy up with a book next week.” The room is filled with comfy places to sit, bookshelves are packed with engaging young adult books, and walls are painted in a warm and inviting color. This room does look different from the stark white, industrial classrooms students will visit the rest of the day. I smile. I ask nonthreatening questions to begin to get to know them. I assure them we are going to have fun in this class. I ask them to trust me; I tell them that they will also grow as readers, writers, and communicators along the way.

Stories From the Field

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Launching Academic Literacy

Eventually, the district saw great success in the literacy intervention program a few of the teachers on the committee, including myself, developed—called Academic Literacy. Academic Literacy began as a class for ninth graders at my high school; after a few successful years, I got the opportunity to lead the program across all the middle and high schools in our district. We saw gains for all students in literacy, whether in reading support courses, on-level English classes, or advanced programming. At the beginning of the process, I set out to discover which ninth graders were reading below and far below their peers. In my school, that meant these students, if average according to national norms (50th percentile), would still be below their peers (70th percentile). Once I was able to see clearly, from a triangulation of reading data, that our high school had a substantial number of students reading below grade level and a group (15 percent of the ninth-grade class) in the 1st–25th percentile, I knew I needed to do something. Our high school did triage for one year while a team of reading specialists, English teachers, administrators, and special education teachers from our high school began a more comprehensive review of the literature on what works for adolescents. While we didn’t want to wait a whole school year, we knew that budgeting for the following school year would begin in October, so we needed to have a strong vision for intervention programming that science was telling us would really work. When practices are grounded in the principles of adolescent literacy, complex literacy learning, motivation, and engagement, students’ literacy skills can advance rapidly. A visionary team of educators who are willing to home-grow a custom intervention program steeped in evidence and research, and designed with their students in mind, can see students’ literacy lives flourish. While we were excited to pilot Academic Literacy, the students were a bit reluctant. This intervention program was developed based on the research for engaging and advancing readers, and it proved successful, showing reading growth at three or four times the rate of students’ on-level peers (Plucker, 2010).

Fortunately, at the same time I was making my own personal discoveries and setting a new resolve, my school district was embarking on its study of secondary literacy. The district initiative shined a spotlight on many areas we could improve for adolescent literacy, including leadership, core instruction, literacy intervention, data analysis, and resources used to advance readers. This focus allowed for collective resolve, leadership, and funding, which all contributed to my learning.

Introduction

Before exploring specific literacy strategies, let’s examine the literacy challenges and demands facing students, which compete with the attention we know must be placed on their reading, writing, and speaking skills.

Facing Challenges in Literacy Challenges abound for educators and learners when it comes to advancing literacy skills. Several assessments confirm the fact that high school students are not graduating high school with the literacy skills necessary for college and careers. Elizabeth Birr Moje, Rhonda L. Richetta, Sonja B. Santelises, and David M. Steiner (2017) tell us, “Despite the increased focus on early literacy instruction sparked by No Child Left Behind, millions of adolescents still struggle with low literacy skills.” The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP; The Nation’s Report Card, 2023) results showed persistent declines in reading for both fourth and eighth graders. While the reading scores have remained flat for years, in 2020 they dropped pretty much across the board. According to NAEP (The Nation’s Report Card, 2023): The 2023 average scores in reading declined compared to 2020 for many student groups reported by NAEP; for example, scores were lower for both male and female 13-year-olds, for students eligible and not eligible for the National School Lunch Program (NSLP), and for students attending schools in the Northeast and the Midwest regions.

The reality of these statistics is likely apparent for literacy educators and students everywhere. Students need a sense of urgency to create conditions to advance their skills. University of Maryland literacy expert Peter Afflerbach attributes this decline to the pervasive belief that students learn to read in grades kindergarten through three and

Beyond the readers for whom we built an intentional intervention program, we discovered we had many more skilled readers who were not reading. We had students who were reluctant, avoidant, or resistant. We also had students who were ravenous readers but didn’t necessarily see themselves as readers. A team of educators across the district took what it learned from the Academic Literacy program and tried out the program in many of our middle school and high school English language arts (ELA) classes, middle school science and social studies classes, and even in an advanced placement (AP) class. We found the principles and practices used in the Academic Literacy program, and shared throughout this book, work for all kinds of learners.

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The need for critical thinking and deep comprehension skills is further highlighted in the World Economic Forum’s (2023) Future of Jobs Report 2023. This report explains that the demand for skills in the 2023 job force will move well beyond the basics of reading and writing and call for analytical thinking, creative thinking, resilience, flexibility, agility, motivation, curiosity, life-long literacy, and more (World Economic Forum, 2023). If students are struggling to meet basic proficiency on the NAEP reading assessment, how might we tackle the challenge of preparing our students for future jobs? Harvard literacy expert Catherine Snow advises that educators integrate foundational literacy skills into inquiry lessons that excite students. Intrinsically motivating tasks revolving around students’ interests drive them back to more texts for information (as cited in Green & Goldstein, 2019). As educators, we need to position reading and writing as tools for learning and inquiry if we want to address these challenges with proficiency. To do that effectively, we also need to understand the demands for students’ attention and use that information to inform planning and instruction.

Stories From the Field Teaching sophomores at a large comprehensive high school meant I would have upward of thirty-six students per class and often four sections. Getting to know more than 140 students on a personal level so I could individualize instruction meant I needed to invest in activities in which students’ reflections revealed not only who they are but also their understanding of instructional goals. I had little time for icebreakers and gimmicky games. Instead, I relied on fun ways to engage students in ELA content while also building relationships, rapport, and connections.

then “read to learn” from fourth grade forward (as cited in Green & Goldstein, 2019). This view has led to elementary students spending their time reading short passages rather than being challenged with longer, thematically rich books. Afflerbach asserts the eighth-grade results emphasize that adolescents do not have the comprehension skills necessary to tackle complex texts (as cited in Green & Goldstein, 2019).

Introduction

On the first day of tenth-grade English, I presented my students with the following text from Kelly Gallagher’s Teaching Adolescent Writers (2006): You’re standing in a large field minding your own business when you you hear approaching. Because it’s a beautiful cloudless day, you dismiss this notion. . . . Instantly, you become panicked because at that exact moment it dawns on you that the rumbling you’re hearing is the sound of hundreds of wild bulls stampeding over the ridge. . . . They are clearly faster than you, and there is no time to escape. What should you do? Survival experts recommend only one of the following actions: A.

Lying down and curling up, covering your head with your arms

Running directly at the bulls, screaming wildly and flailing your arms in an attempt to scare them in another direction

Turning and running like heck in the same direction the bulls are running (even though you know you can’t outrun them)

Standing completely still; they will see you and run around you

Screaming bad words at your parent(s) for insisting on a back-to-nature vacation in Wyoming (pp. 1–2)

Students first reflect on this scenario and write why they chose their response. We have fun exploring each person’s answer. I like to use the four corners (and the middle of the room) method to get a quick visual of what each student chose. I direct them, “Go to the back right corner of the room if you chose A, go to the back left if you chose B,” and so on. I let students talk and defend their choices. They have a chance to change their mind before the final answer is revealed. (If you are curious about the final answer, be sure to check out Gallagher’s 2006 book Teaching Adolescent Writers.) Students find their way back to their seats, and I share the literacy data to show that they are living in the information age, and literacy is stampeding upon them at a relentless speed. The goal of the activity is to help students see their role in being prepared for and engaging in the flood of text that surrounds them. We reflect on how we will engage in class to be best prepared to navigate this stampede.

hear rumbling sounds in the distance . . . you wonder if it is thunder

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Let’s also not forget that the inundation of information for adolescents is overwhelming. Students (well, really most of us) spend hours every day staring at a screen. Some of that time is spent doing meaningful reading, but much of it is scrolling, often mindlessly, through social media. Though our students are digital natives, they often live as “tech comfy,” not “tech savvy” (Maiers, 2012). They plan and relax with technology, but they don’t always know how to work with it. It is the responsibility of schools and parents to help students become sophisticated “info-sumers, critical thinkers, and savvy participants in digital space” (Maiers, 2012). This means we need to intentionally teach students all the great digital tools available within their eReader or available to them when they are reading articles, PDFs, and more online.

Increasing Demands for Readers’ Attention Gaining students’ attention is particularly challenging for a variety of reasons. Teens are actively pursuing friendships, engaging with technology many hours a day, completing academic work, and participating in co-curricular, employment, or other after-school activities. Additionally, adolescents are dealing with increased levels of stress and anxiety (Warren, 2023). As educators, we need to understand the variables that compete with getting students interested in reading. Whether we choose to assign reading with print or digital texts, we do need to acknowledge the challenges for readers’ attention so we can be intentional about supporting them in actually engaging with and comprehending the reading they are doing each day. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, a 2018 American Psychological Association (APA) survey revealed that teens reported higher levels of anxiety and depression than all other age groups (as cited in Divecha, 2019). During the pandemic, the news remained grim. A Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) report published in 2022 revealed that “more than a third (37%) of high school students reported they experienced poor mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic, and 44% reported they persistently felt sad or hopeless.” And data from the annual State of Pediatric Mental Health in America 2023 report show that youth are still suffering (Warren, 2023). It’s no surprise that when students are experiencing stress, it can be especially difficult to engage with reading.

The scientific benefits of reading books in print include deeper comprehension, especially with expository texts, and greater efficiency because readers can maintain attention longer due to fewer distractions than when reading on screens (Clinton‑Lisell, 2019). Students are expected to engage with an increased volume of text online, as well. Therefore, educators must consider supporting student skills in navigating digital texts.

Introduction

When I interviewed some ninth graders for my doctoral research, one of the questions I would ask is “Do you consider yourself a reader?” Almost all my students said no. When I pressed, they often replied by saying things like, “I am a snowboarder,” “I am a football player,” or “I dance.” I realized that my students saw reading as a hobby. Of course they did. Don’t most people often refer to it as a hobby? Many students thought of readers as those who frequented the library or used free time in class, at lunch, or while waiting for their ride with their nose in a book. Yes, of course, these are readers. But many more readers don’t fit this stereotype. So, I set out to redefine literacy in the hopes of shifting students’ views. I wanted them to embrace the identity of reader and scholar in addition to all their other passions. And I wanted them to see that literacy lived within their passions. The ninth graders in the Academic Literacy program, the tenth graders in my on-level English and Speech 10 course, and the seniors in my advanced public speaking class all went on a journey with me to transform our learning environments into one where we had a community of readers. Since that time of experimentation, action research, and innovation, I have had the opportunity to come alongside many passionate educators as they embarked on their own quests for student acceleration and engagement in literacy. This book aims to share the ways you, too, can join us on this journey.

About This Book While this book is primarily written for middle and high school reading and ELA teachers, the strategies presented can be beneficial across grades K–12 and into other content areas as well. In my current literacy consulting, I also have seen success with the strategies used in high school career and technical education courses, middle school science classes, secondary social studies, and even with a group of kindergartners in Pennsylvania, showing that the principles have broad application.

So, if educators want to support stressed-out students, one easy way to do that is to provide time for students to read during school hours. The data are clear that students are not reading enough, so to reverse the damage, we have a responsibility to ensure students begin to devote time to reading again. Between 1984 and 2020, the percentage of fourth graders reading for fun almost every day declined from 54 percent to 42 percent. Declines are evident for thirteen- and seventeen-year-olds as well. The percentage of students who never or hardly ever read rose from 9 percent to 16 percent for U.S. nine-year-olds, and from under 10 percent to almost 30 percent for both thirteen- and seventeen-year-olds (Schaeffer, 2021).

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Students persist in difficult learning when they feel like they belong to a community (Bowen, 2021). The first three chapters of this book focus primarily on building a culture where students are poised for progress. Chapter 1 explores the importance of building a community of readers, writers, communicators, and thinkers. This community ensures that students know their value and their role and that their presence is critical to the growth of each individual. Students learn how high expectations and high support lead to confidence and achievement. Chapter 2 discusses how to create a “book flood” and support students in embracing this flood and using it for their enjoyment and achievement (Gallagher, 2009). Students deserve to see themselves in the text; therefore, we must prioritize an inclusive classroom library. Students are most engaged and motivated to persevere with challenging tasks when they feel they are in the driver’s seat. Chapter 3 explores how inquiry is a vehicle for both literacy growth as well as engagement. While building a supportive culture is essential, structure also is necessary. For a literacy or ELA program not guided by a computer program or a script to work, it is critical that educators and learners structure class time proactively to preserve and utilize every instructional minute. Therefore, chapter 4 examines the workshop framework—a brilliant structure for individualized and collaborative learning— and the adjustments necessary for secondary students. As students get older, the gap widens, and the time educators have available to help students catch up to their peers diminishes. Therefore, every action and decision must be tied to accelerated growth. Chapter 5 offers both the research and practical strategies for applying intentional instruction to achieve the goal of getting students as far as possible as fast as possible on their literacy journey. So often, students who struggle with reading feel defeated, dependent, and discouraged. These students need to be celebrated authentically and frequently to stay engaged so they can experience feeling energized, equipped, and encouraged. Chapter 6 differentiates celebration from prizes and other extrinsic rewards, so it can be a tool for the development of intrinsic motivation. When reviewing the growing body of research around adolescents, the themes of literacy, motivation, engagement, and accelerated learning emerge. These themes are

This introduction sets the stage by exploring the catalyst for change in one high school, which resulted in accelerated literacy growth and improved student ownership of learning. We examined the realities for our adolescent readers, including the demands for their attention, their challenges with deep comprehension, and their misconceptions about defining a reader and text.

Introduction

Conclusion As you read this text, know that you can read it from start to finish or begin in the chapters that speak to the needs you are experiencing right now. There is no step-bystep manual that will work to transform your classroom. In my experience coaching teams of educators to use an inquiry approach to develop life-long readers, teachers were already implementing many of the principles you will see in this book. What they needed was affirmation and guidance. I hope this book serves as that for you— affirmation that you already bring passion, brilliance, and energy to your craft, and guidance for how you might make some adjustments to your instruction to achieve the goal of getting young people to love reading (again)!

woven throughout the book and include examples and opportunities for practical application. I also feature Stories From the Field (anecdotes and narratives from my own classroom experiences), reproducible resources and templates you can use or remix to implement activities and strategies, and ideas to get you started.

CHAPTER 2

Immersing Adolescents in Rich, Diverse Text

When I first started teaching the ninth-grade reading intervention class in 2009, I wanted to be sure my room was filled with books students would want to read. I had visions of bookshelves filled with a variety of young adult (YA) books and decorated with browsing baskets, themed displays, and neat section labels. I envied the classroom librarians of my elementary colleagues, but I needed money to be able to purchase books and bookshelves. With this vision in mind, I sat down at my computer to first write a grant. While I waited to hear if I was going to get any funding, I started searching on websites like Amazon and Barnes and Noble to find the greatest collection of books students would race to my room to check out. In mere seconds, I started to panic. So many choices! So many genres! And then I realized I had absolutely no idea how to build an engaging classroom library for reluctant, resistant, and striving readers. I didn’t even know how to build one for ravenous readers. I had been teaching the same canon of novels for several years, and my own reading was consumed with beach reads, memoirs, and historical fiction—my favorites, but likely not what teens would want to read. So, I visited my friend, a school librarian, and asked for help. While I know the librarian could have created a great list for me, she actually encouraged me to call Mackin, an education company she worked with who had a team of teachers who 41

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knew the best and newest tried-and-true titles for my student population. I was quick to tell her I didn’t have any money yet, and when I did get some, I didn’t want to spend it on hiring someone to build me a list. She reassured me that the service was free.

But what will you do with a great classroom library if students aren’t motivated to read? This chapter explores various ways you can get students excited about reading, redefines the meaning of literacy and text for students, and finally, offers ideas for helping students develop a lifelong love of reading. It also discusses how to motivate adolescent readers, the complexity of literacy, and the importance and impact of immersing students in rich, diverse texts.

Motivating Adolescent Readers Motivational supports are necessary for student engagement in reading. Students need to feel competent and confident to reduce perceived difficulty and prevent resistance to or avoidance of reading. Following these principles can help students become more motivated to read. •

Seek mastery: Students engage in tasks and are motivated to keep going when they are working toward mastering a skill. I employed an “ABC, do it over” policy for all major assessments. This means that if students are not at least proficient (translated to a grade of C) on the rubric for the assessment, they receive an incomplete in the gradebook and additional opportunities to master the literacy skill (Plucker, 2022a).

With relief, I sent off an email to the Mackin Classroom team describing my dilemma, and in a week’s time, I had a list of the most beautiful, engaging books, most of which I had never heard of. (Mackin’s team of former teachers still provide this free service. You can fill out a resource development form and they will get to work curating a list from their catalog of over 4.2 million print and digital books [Mackin, 2021]). The list included a variety of nonfiction books, fiction books in various genres and forms (graphic novels, novels in verse, large print, illustrated novels, collections of short stories), hi/lo books, and more. As I looked through the list, I noticed the variety of backgrounds, settings, cultures, and experiences the protagonists represented and thought to myself, “I just know my students will be able to see themselves somewhere in this collection of stories.” Long story short, the grant money was awarded, bookshelves were purchased, a collection ordered, and my library was ready for readers by the first day of school.

Immersing Adolescents in Rich, Diverse Text

Pursue meaning: Readers will persist through any text if they are able to make sense of what they are reading. This is why it is so helpful to ask students to record their thinking while they read.

•

Offer choice: One way to increase student motivation to read is to provide choices. When students receive even just two options, their motivation for completing the task increases.

•

Transfer control: When students take a passive approach to learning, it may seem easier because you are leading and students are doing what you ask. The reality is that when teachers are in control, students may disengage and learning is stifled (Plucker, 2022a). One way to let go of control is to embrace questioning in the classroom. Each time you feel like giving students an answer, turn it back to them by saying, “What are you thinking? What in the text is making you think that?” “What are you wondering about now?”

•

Make reading a social activity: Educator Amy Lamatina (2023) advises: “We are social learners! Having a safe space to talk about books and express opinions can help students develop a deeper understanding of their own reading preferences.”

When you help students see the value in reading, emphasizing the importance of time spent reading, students’ motivation levels increase. Since adolescents are social beings, you can capitalize on that desire by arranging for students to collaborate with one another, which also increases motivation for reading (Guthrie & Klouda, 2014). This means moving desks out of rows and creating groups of desks for natural proximity and group work. You also can intentionally plan for lessons in which students are required to work with one another. When you lean into these motivations—and students feel more confident, can make choices, understand why reading is essential and enjoyable, and share learning with peers—you have a greater chance of fostering lifelong readers.

Redefining Literacy and Text While a dictionary may define literacy simply as the ability to read and write, it is necessary to broaden the definition for students, or you may limit their opportunities to practice the critical literacy skills needed to compete globally. Teachers need to understand the complexity of literacy so they are better able to offer opportunities

•

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for students to advance their reading, writing, and speaking skills. According to the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO; 2017), literacy is:

compute, using printed and written materials associated with varying contexts. Literacy involves a continuum of learning in enabling individuals to achieve their goals, to develop their knowledge and potential, and to participate fully in their community and wider society.

In other words, literacy is thinking. Literacy is learning how to learn. Broadly defining literacy helps to simplify how students are already engaging in literacy activities through their passions. Watching and re-watching the YouTube videos of snowboarder Shawn White so his moves can be emulated on the slopes is literacy. Studying the playbook for Friday’s football game is literacy. Learning the vocabulary words arabesque, cambré, and entrechat allows the dancer to more efficiently respond to the directions of the ballet choreographer, which also is literacy. Not only must you know and understand this, you must be sure that your students do as well. As with the definition of literacy, you should also redefine text for students. When students tackle the complex analysis of visual and digital texts, such as advertisements, satirical cartoons, and video clips, they can affirm the comprehension skills they have already mastered. When you ask students to translate those thinking skills to print, this is one way to build their confidence. Therefore, as educators, we have a responsibility to discover the literacy lives of students in order to bridge the skills they are applying to written text. To help students see this transfer, I asked them to record their thinking while watching a YouTube tutorial or other how-to video of their choice. Figure 2.1 illustrates this activity. (See page 60 for a blank reproducible version of this figure.)

Cultivating Lifelong Readers When thinking about the goal of creating lifelong readers, it is important to remind yourself of the revised definitions of literacy and text. As educators, we want students to understand that being a lifelong reader means being dedicated to reading, learning, thinking, discussing, critiquing, and examining multiple perspectives, as well as reading for pleasure and as an escape. Students can step outside the notion that lifelong readers

The ability to identify, understand, interpret, create, communicate and

Immersing Adolescents in Rich, Diverse Text

Tutorial video title: How to Make a Notebook in Canva Creator: Rhonda Denise (2021)

Video URL: www.youtube.com/watch?v=WUkY9-D5qkw

Rhonda tells us why she is making the video. She isn’t afraid to make mistakes and keep going. I predict . . .

I am going to have to pause several times as I work on my own Canva desig n. I predict this will take me a lot longer to create than the ten minutes it took her. I am confused by . . .

How she is tog g ling back and forth between two desig ns How she copied the logo I learned. . . or I’m wondering . . .

How to pull the color code and copy it to a new desig n The thinking behind the desig n process How the journal gets printed; Rhonda shows how to create it and discusses the size of the paper, but then what? I think the creator wants me to . . .

Rhonda wants me to know that she coaches others in creating desig ns. She wants me to know I can take her Canva course for only $25. I mig ht have to do that!

Figure 2.1: Comprehending a tutorial.

are only the individuals who always have a book in hand. For students to see themselves as readers, they need to have positive and enjoyable experiences with books. Educators have a responsibility to match students with books that incite that kind of enjoyment and excitement. Following are eight strategies for helping you cultivate lifelong readers. 1.

Flood the environment with books.

Ensure the classroom collection is inclusive.

Ask students what they want to read.

I notice . . .

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Make time for reading in school.

Collaborate with your school librarian.

Be your students’ coach.

Balance print and digital texts.

Talk books . . . all the time.

Flood the Environment With Books In order to find that one significant book, the one that students who haven’t had positive experiences with books get lost in, the one for which students come bounding up to you and say, “I finished. I didn’t want it to end! Now what do I read?” you must surround students with lots of books. In Kelly Gallagher’s (2009) Readicide, Gallagher states, “Let me be clear: if we are to have any chance of developing a reading habit in our students, they must be immersed in a K–12 ‘book flood’—a term coined by researcher Warwick Elley (1991)” (p. 43). This book flood provides a tsunami of choice, making it nearly impossible for a student to say, “I don’t have anything to read.” As author and educator Debbie Miller (2008) writes, “When children are surrounded by books, we’re showing them that reading is important throughout the day; reading is infused into almost everything we do” (p. 34). Students’ home libraries have a direct impact on their literacy as well. According to a study completed at the University of Nevada, Reno (2010): Being raised in a bookless home compared to being raised in a home with a 500-book library has as great an effect on the level of education a child will attain as having parents who are barely literate (3 years of education) compared to having parents who have a university education (15 or 16 years of education).

As much as you may be aware of this, it can be difficult to control how many books students have at home. This is why it is imperative that you send books home with students and not allow the fear of not getting them back to hinder that practice. Ebooks are a great option if students have access to a suitable digital device and you want them reading the same book both at home and in the classroom. Most ebooks are available for offline reading on a device and make it nearly impossible for students to say, “I left my book at home,” since they almost always have their device with them. You might encourage some students to have a book in the classroom and a separate book at home. Students, even striving readers, can have more than one book going at one time.

Immersing Adolescents in Rich, Diverse Text

By the time we start nearing breaks (my school has a fall break in October, another for Thanksgiving, and then a long break for winter), my colleagues and I start gearing up to send books home with students. We want them to have several—for choice, for when they finish one and will need to begin another, or for when they need to abandon a book. Leading up to the first break, we spend time brainstorming how students can “steal” minutes for reading during the day. I find that students enjoy brainstorming ways to sneak in extra time. They say things like, “While I am waiting for my mom to pick me up after school” or “If I am reading before supper, sometimes I won’t be interrupted to do my chore of setting the table.” One student facetiously suggests putting the book in a large plastic zipper bag and reading while showering. A few days before break, we spend time making a list of books to have at home and a plan for when we will dedicate time to read. Students all write specifically about how they will try to steal extra minutes. When students return from break, we reflect. During fall break, it seems fewer students are meeting their goal, but by the return from winter break, most students have developed a habit of reading at home. As summer approached, my colleagues and I were worried about how reading habits would last over the summer for our first year of academic literacy students. So, we developed a plan to send students home with a stack of books. Of course, we were nervous. What if we didn’t get them back? What if the books stayed in students’ backpacks all summer long? We decided we would host a Books and BBQ gathering midsummer as a time to come back together as a community and for an opportunity to swap out read or abandoned books with a new set. This would give us a reason to send fewer books home and risk fewer not returned. To our surprise, more than half our students attended the Books and BBQ event and brought books to exchange. We enjoyed the community, a little kickball, some good old-fashioned hotdogs, chips, and soda, and authentic conversation about books. And if you are wondering if we got our books back the following fall—mostly, yes. However, we did bribe students to get them. We visited sophomore English classes and asked students to check their rooms, under their beds, in their backpacks, and in their cars, and to return any books with continued 

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our school’s name stamped on it. We got so many books and more. We ended up taking back public library books and returning books to students’ middle schools. What did it cost us? A lollipop per book. Worth it!

As you build your classroom library, it is essential to offer a diverse book collection for students. All students deserve to see themselves in books. Students from majority groups experience this frequently, sometimes without even noticing it. But when students do not feel like they can find books that represent their stories, they definitely notice. Inclusive classroom libraries include a variety of stories with characters of varying race, ethnicity, culture, social class, LGBTQ identities, neurological and physical differences, citizenship status, religions, and other social statuses. When individuals can see their stories positively in books, it helps them to develop positive self-identities (Braga, 2022). Diverse characters also provide new perspectives for young people to learn about other groups in a positive way. This is why “own voices” texts are recognized as so valuable. These are stories told by authors who come from the cultures and have the experiences they are writing about versus books written by people without those lived experiences. When searching for books to add to your inclusive classroom library, look to School Library Journal and Scholastic 2020 School Librarian of the Year, Cicely Lewis, who started a movement to inspire more inclusive reading practices. She and her followers have amazing recommendations. Following the hashtags #ownvoices and #weneeddiversebooks also provides helpful direction in creating inclusive collections. As you examine texts, be careful that you are not choosing books that perpetuate stereotypes. Ask yourself, “Does this hi/lo book perpetuate a potentially dangerous narrative that students striving to read also struggle with drugs or get involved with gangs?” Be intentional in vetting books for your collection. Ask questions such as, “Are all types of people represented?” “Am I making sure that all the books about people of color are not just historical?” “Do I have books about Indigenous people living in the present?” If a book features a marginalized group, is it also focused on

Ensure the Classroom Collection Is Inclusive

Immersing Adolescents in Rich, Diverse Text

trauma? Certainly, historical books and books with characters overcoming trauma can be extremely valuable. But do you also include books in which students get to read about young people of all kinds with normal, everyday childhood experiences?

Ask Students What They Want to Read When you include students in refreshing the classroom library, they feel like it is theirs. If possible, reserve some funds for adding to your library throughout the year. Students can keep a running wish list. Parents and parent organizations are often looking to spend money in a way that supports students; and when literacy is the goal, the funding is often approved. One strategy is to seek out students’ requested books from the school library or public library and bring them (on loan) to the classroom. Eventually, students will want to take their own field trip to their school media center or local library, but until then, don’t be afraid to bring the requests to students. They will feel special because you intentionally took the time to find that requested book just for them. Students can be involved in a myriad of ways that do not require additional purchases. For example, students can set up displays of their favorite reads. They can write short reviews that hang from the shelf next to the book like you might see at a bookstore. When students’ opinions about books are valued, students’ identities as readers grow.

Make Time for Reading in School We know that to become a better reader, one needs to read. Unfortunately, the time students receive for reading during the school day diminishes as they get older. Independent reading programs, like silent sustained reading (SSR) and drop everything and read (DEAR), get mixed results on their effectiveness in promoting student growth in literacy (Regional Educational Laboratory Program, 2017). This is partly due to how the programs are implemented (Willingham, 2015). Simply providing time without content-rich and conversation-rich environments may not result in students actually reading during the dedicated time. Regardless, Daniel Willingham (2015) states, “If we really want students to be leisure readers, we must find ways to inspire a desire to read

The goal is not only to have positive representations but to have a variety of representations, particularly those that express joy. As my colleague and sociologist, Kia Heise said, “Majority groups get to be represented in all their wonderful and flawed humanity and minority groups deserve the same” (K. Heise, personal communication, September 14, 2020).

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in students who do not get such inspiration at home.” Students who read just fifteen minutes more each day will see accelerated literacy growth (Renaissance, 2016).

Author’s Purpose or Message •

The author’s purpose for writing is . . .

•

The reason the author wrote this passage is . . .

•

The author is writing this section to . . .

•

The big idea in the writing is . . .

•

The author is showing me that

•

The author’s message is . . .

because . . .

Point of View •

When I read

•

The author feels that

, I can see the author feels . . .

•

This passage suggests that the author’s opinion about . . .

•

The author is clearly suggesting . . .

, because . . .

Tone or Bias •

The tone of this passage seems to be

•

The author’s feelings about

because . . .

•

I notice the author uses the word or phrase they feel . . .

•

It is clear that the author wants . . .

•

The writer is taking the stance that . . .

•

This writer believes that . . .

•

I know the writer feels

can best be described as . . . , which makes me think

, because they . . .

Power or Motivation •

The character holding the power in this section is . . .

•

If the power shifted, I believe

•

The character uses their power to . . .

could happen.

Author Credibility •

The author provides support by . . .

•

The author is best qualified to say . . .

•

The writer is making the assumption that . . .

•

The author used

to support their ideas about . . .

In a fifty-minute class period, my colleagues and I would hold sacred twenty minutes for students to read. After students spent twenty minutes in their zone, ideally at a 1–5 rating scale score of 4 or 5 on the class engagement chart (see figure 1.2, page 21), we would have them write for five minutes using the reader-response journal prompts (see figure 1.5, page 29). Sometimes students would be ready to think more critically, or the book they were reading would call for critical thinking. When this was necessary, we would have students choose from critical-reading prompts (see figure 2.2), which we would have them attach to the back of their readerresponse journals.

Immersing Adolescents in Rich, Diverse Text

Author Craft •

Writers of nonfiction help readers by . . .

•

When the writer

•

When the writer uses words like . . .

•

Authors use . . .

•

Writers always . . .

•

This is powerful because the author . . .

•

I notice that authors or writers will

, it helps make a strong point because . . .

•

When I see

•

When the author did

, it makes me think . . .

•

The writer says

•

I will use this information to . . .

•

This information seems . . .

•

The writer’s opinion about

, I thought . . . , but I think . . .

is . . .

Perspective •

I can describe this character’s perspective as . . .

•

The other side would say . . .

•

To play devil’s advocate, I would tell the character to . . .

•

My advice to the character is to . . .

Figure 2.2: Critical-reading prompts. Visit go.SolutionTree.com/literacy for a free reproducible version of this figure.

Readers’ responses to these prompts can be valuable tools for assessment and coaching. When reading these responses, we can see student thinking, which can be helpful in identifying areas with which they might need support with comprehension. This tool is especially helpful in planning for guided reading groups and one-on-one conferences with readers.

Collaborate With Your School Librarian The library is the heart of the school, and the media specialist can serve as everyone’s teacher. Deb Svec, the librarian at Palm Beach Gardens High School in Florida, runs a program in which students volunteer to eat their lunches in the library and talk about books. She calls it “Lit at Lunch” (2020). It is inspiring how she is able to bring together students who don’t necessarily run in the same social circles and get them excited about books and conversation. The librarian can, and usually wants to, partner with teachers to engage and advance readers. As experts in current titles, curation of resources on timely topics, and research techniques to rival Google, they are invaluable to the pursuit of literacy growth.

, which helps me because . . .

General Critical Thinking

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Be Your Students’ Coach

One way to shift from managing students to engaging them is to focus on being their coach. On the field or in a music room, students get better at their craft when instructors coach them in small and incremental improvements. In a voice lesson, a teacher might ask the student to sing a few measures. The voice teacher listens first. At some point, the teacher might ask the singer to stop and reflect, receive some instruction, and possibly hear some modeling before singing those measures again. Similarly, on the soccer field, athletes practice a play, and the coach watches various players, sometimes just one, intently. The coach studies the playbook and reflects on the decisions made. The coach blows a whistle and gives discrete instruction for small changes that need to be made. The athletes listen, reflect, and when the coach blows the whistle again, they try again. Both the singer and athlete may need several opportunities to get it just right. The instruction, encouragement, and opportunities to try and fail as many times as possible before game day or a recital are what engage and motivate learners. This ultimately leads to better performances as well. We need to be our students’ coach in the classroom as they strive to become better readers, writers, and communicators. A helpful tool to accomplish this by using the class-engagement chart (see figure 1.2, page 21). When kept conveniently on an iPad or clipboard, this chart provides an easy access point for recording data to use later in a coaching situation.

Often, in the pursuit to use every minute of class time to its fullest, educators can fall into managing student behavior instead of engaging and inviting them into the process of owning their learning. A quick search of Merriam-Webster’s (n.d.b) definitions for manage includes “to handle or direct” and “to make and keep compliant.” Adolescents do not want to be handled or directed. They definitely don’t want anyone to force them to be compliant. Do you? Educators can sometimes find themselves falling into managing student behaviors with quick commands like, “Please put your makeup away; it’s our reading time” or “Do you really have to go to the nurse right now?” It is easy to end up in a whack-a-mole game with students, and nobody will win. If you instead switch to engaging students, which Merriam-Webster (n.d.a) defines as “to give attention to, to induce to participate, or to bring together,” students will work with you, not against you.

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It’s early in the school year, and we are working hard to hold sacred twenty minutes of independent reading every day. We know that this is one of the primary strategies we must use to advance the literacy skills for each student in the class. I am collecting data on the class engagement chart during zone reading time. I am interested in the book each student is reading, the page number they are on when I come around to check, and a perception of how “in the zone” they are based on a rating scale we developed together—5 meaning they are locked in, and 1 meaning they are not really reading and very easily distracted or perhaps distracting to others. Today is Wednesday, and I am most concerned about Carlos. He has been reading a book called Black Boy White School by Brian F. Walker (2012). According to my data (see figure 2.3, page 54), Carlos has been consistently reading the book all week and seems to be progressing through from page 6 to 114, but my perception of his ability to stay in his zone is low: 1s and 2s. It’s time for a conference. During the conference, I learn that Carlos is reading his book. He can tell me all about Anthony “Ant” and his decision to leave his East Cleveland school and attend Belton Academy on scholarship. Carlos has a lot to say about the interactions Ant encounters in a “rich White school.” So, I ask Carlos if he is enjoying the book and when he is finding time to read. He assures me that he really likes the book and that he reads during study hall later in the day when he isn’t so tired. We come up with a plan together for him to still get his reading time in during our class as well. Carlos chooses to bring a snack to class on Thursday and see if it helps him stay awake. From the data in figure 2.3, it seems to have helped. He was in his reading zone at a rating scale score of 4. Choosing to coach Carlos not only improved his reading zone, but also our relationship, especially since I didn’t penalize him for struggling to maintain his reading stamina earlier in the week.

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People magazine

Cirque du Freak #1 by Darren Shan (2002), p. 8

Ana’s Story by Jenna Bush (2007), p. 12

Juice by Eric Walters (2005), p. 10

The Notebook by Nicholas Spark (2014), p. 7

Twilight by Stephenie Meyer (2005), p. 7

Tyler

Aimee

Brandi

Mohammed

Kiera

Alissa

Twilight, p. 21

The Notebook, p. 20

Ana’s Story, p. 28

Twilight, p. 41

The Notebook, p. 40

Juice, p. 40

Ana’s Story, p. 96

Cirque du Freak #1, p. 47

People magazine

Black Boy White School, p. 114

Twilight, p. 90

The Notebook, p. 50

Juice, p. 61

Ana’s Story, p. 140

Absent

Crackback, p. 19

Black Boy White School, p. 175

Friday

Notes

Mohammed, Kiera, and Alissa together . . . distracting!

Twilight, p. 71

People magazine

Juice, p. 51

Ana’s Story, p. 121

Cirque du Freak #1, p. 63

Crackback by John Coy (2010), p 10

Black Boy White School, p. 141

Thursday

Figure 2.3: Class-engagement chart example.

Cirque du Freak #1, p. 28

Wednesday

LIFELONG

Scholastic Book of World Records by Jenifer Corr Morse (2011)

Black Boy White School, p. 67

Tuesday

INSPIRING

Black Boy White School by Brian Walker (2012), p. 6

Carlos 1

Monday

Student Name

Week: 1 For each student, record the book title, page number, and rating scale score (1-5).

54 READERS

Immersing Adolescents in Rich, Diverse Text

Balance Print and Digital Texts

Ebooks; audiobooks; digital texts with professional narration, sometimes referred to as read-alongs; text-to-speech options; and interactive texts can be important tools for engaging readers. Most ebook digital platforms provide students with tools to enhance their reading experience. Readers can personalize their experience by switching the page spread from two to one, customize the background and font color, enlarge the text, use text-to-speech or narration features, and change the font. These choices allow students to create the digital environment that is most comfortable for them, much like they choose a comfortable physical environment to settle into a good book. Many ebooks also provide tools for interacting with the text, such as highlighting, note-taking, bookmarks, embedded dictionaries, and opportunities to organize and export notes for use later. Educators have a responsibility to familiarize students with these tools and create opportunities for practice so they can truly engage and learn with digital texts.

Talk Books . . . All the Time When people hear about books, television shows, and movie recommendations, they are much more likely to check them out. Many students are not naturally drawn to books in the same way they are to other media, so it is essential to talk about books to encourage reading. You don’t necessarily have time to read all the books in your classroom library yourself, but you can talk about books, even if you haven’t read them yet. I often pull a stack of books, open to the first page, and read aloud an initial passage to students. Students then add to the My Book Stack chart (see figure 2.4, page 56) in their reader’s notebook any book that sounds interesting. (See page 62 for a blank reproducible version of this figure.)

In her book, Reader, Come Home, Maryanne Wolf (2018) cautions that because engagement with digital texts have altered people’s reading brains in a way that may be causing a decline in learners’ critical thinking, teachers should keep print texts a priority for developing readers. Wolf goes on to warn that digital reading may be negatively affecting deep engagement with text and people’s ability to show empathy. When people engage in digital texts, they tend to skim, read in short bursts, and seek to synthesize an overload of information. The reality is, digital reading is prominent in our culture, so teachers need to help students find balance.

INSPIRING

LIFELONG

READERS

My Book Stack Chart Author

Recommended By

Brief Summary

Why I Might Like It

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone

J. K. Rowling

My sister

Harry heads to Hogwarts School for Wizards to escape his mean aunt and uncle.

I have watched the movie, and my sister keeps telling me the book is way better.

Mind Gym

Gary Mack

My football coach

This book is about how our minds are more powerful than our bodies. Apparently, I can think my way to better football playing.

I want to eventually make the varsity team.

Catching Fire

Suzanne Collins

Me! I liked The Hunger Games, and this is the next one in the series.

Follows Katniss and Peeta after they won Hunger Games.

The Hunger Games was really good. I think this one will be, too.

Mocking jay

Suzanne Collins

Me! If I like Catching Fire, I will want to keep reading the series.

Not sure. Don’t want to know anything yet until I read Catching Fire.

Unless Catching Fire isn’t good, I will want to read this one, too.

Divergent

Veronica Roth

Dr. McCarty

It’s dystopia. Reminded me of The Hunger Games, which I read and liked.

Dr. McCarty read an excerpt, and it sounds interesting. Lot of pages, thoug h.

Figure 2.4: My book stack chart.

You can engage students in talking about books, too. I love Steven L. Layne’s (2009) “Book Buzz” idea from Igniting a Passion for Reading. He provides openended prompts for students to discuss in small groups (Layne, 2009). Following are a few adaptations. •

What is the major problem in this book so far? How do you think it will be solved?

Title

Immersing Adolescents in Rich, Diverse Text

Select a character in this book, and explain why you think the author created the character. How would the story change if the character was removed?

•

Read aloud for your group the inside jacket flap or back cover. Discuss whether you feel the publisher has done an effective job of convincing people to read the book based on this information. What do your group members think?

What’s great about this activity is that students don’t have to be reading the same book to answer a question like, “Which character are you most connecting with, and why?” These discussions always lead to students getting new ideas about what book they want to be sure to read during the current semester. Inviting influential adults into the classroom to talk about what they are reading not only “sells” potential next reads, but also demonstrates that reading is valuable, even cool. When the football coach talks about Mind Gym: An Athlete’s Guide to Inner Excellence by Gary Mack (2001), students who are involved in any passion where they can sharpen their mind to affect performance will be motivated to pick up the book. Additionally, students see that reading has benefits outside the classroom and beyond high school graduation. Support your colleagues and students in putting a book talk together. A book talk is a brief (one or two minutes) and often informal presentation with the goal of enticing others to read a book. When giving a book talk, your audience is going to be most interested in hearing about a book you found enjoyable or valuable to read. They also may be interested in: •

The title and author

•

The genre

•

A short introduction to the characters and setting

•

A setup to the primary conflict in the text that creates intrigue

•

Any challenges you faced with comprehension and how you overcame them

•

Your opinion on who might like the book

Engaging book talks often include a very brief reading from the book. Find a portion of the text that doesn’t spoil anything for the audience, but creates curiosity.

•

INSPIRING

LIFELONG

READERS

Getting Started 1.

Ask students how they define literacy and text: Start here! Then bridge their literacies with the academic literacy in your class. For example, ask students to storyboard the clever TikTok video they created over the weekend. Develop ways to shift their thinking and reflect on the literacy practices they engage in daily without even realizing it.

Consider how your thinking has changed regarding the adolescent reader: How has your thinking changed regarding the definitions of literacy and text? Consider sharing your “ahas” with students. Whenever you share a discovery or misconception you clarified, it shows students that you think while you read.

Brainstorm nontraditional texts, such as paintings, artifacts, photographs, short films, or podcasts relevant to students, that you can use in instruction: Consider giving students an opportunity to talk or write about their passion and point out the literacy skills they use to grow in their expertise of that passion. This could be a sport, activity, hobby, or academic subject. Engage in conversations with your content area colleagues about the texts they use in their classes, and encourage them to bridge students from nontraditional texts to academic texts.

Get active on social media: Are you using social media to bridge students’ literacies? Open an X (formerly Twitter) account. Start a class Instagram account. If students like creating videos on TikTok, have them share with you what is trending, how they create their content, or how they think the platform could positively affect learning. There are many hashtags, organizations, authors, teacher librarians, and book sellers to follow. Even better, get students to follow their favorite authors and hashtags like #ownvoices and #weneeddiversebooks. You can try other social media platforms like Blue Sky, Clubhouse, Counter Social, Discord, Linked In, Mastodon, Threads, Reddit, Tumblr, or WT.Social. However, be sure to check out each site first to gauge its appropriateness for your grade level and age group.

Clean out and update your classroom library: What books are hanging out on your shelves that students haven’t touched in years?

Consider the following suggestions as you immerse students in engaging, rich, and diverse texts.

Immersing Adolescents in Rich, Diverse Text

What books do you have that might misrepresent a population of students or perpetuate stereotypes? Weed them out! Find ways to use old books: Do you have some old books that need to go? Keep some of these old books for black-out poetry—a great way to get students to look carefully at the written word and create something new. Students can create black-out poetry by taking a page or two from a book and then blacking out all the text except for the words they want to keep to create a poem or message. If you don’t have any old books, ask your librarian.

Find creative ways to “sell” books to future classes: Do you need some help talking about and selling books to students? Have students create book trailers or advertisements for their favorite reads. This helps sell books to current and future students. Be sure to share when you’ve been “sold” a book. There is nothing better than when students see a teacher pick up a book because of their recommendation.

Conclusion Surrounding students with texts isn’t an easy task, but it is important if you want students to be motivated to read and persist through the productive struggle inevitable to the learning process. Not only should you bring texts into the classroom so they are near students, but you should also be intentional getting students to interact with and think about what they are reading. The next chapter explores the inquiry approach to learning more deeply. In the process, I will discuss how to intentionally develop text sets to support that learning. Prioritizing texts in the classroom require you to advocate for funding and lean on the librarians in your community, teammates, and book vendors for support in curating the highest quality resources.

REPRODUCIBLE

60 |

Comprehending a Tutorial Tutorial video title:

Creator: Video URL:

I notice . . .

I predict . . .

REPRODUCIBLE

| 61

I am confused by . . .

I learned . . . , or I’m wondering . . .

I think the creator wants me to . . .

REPRODUCIBLE

Brief Summary

My Book Stack Chart

Recommended by Author Title

Why I Might Like It

62 |

“ Inspiring Lifelong Readers blends personal experience, research-based practices, and

INSPIRING LIFELONG READERS

“ Inspiring Lifelong Readers is a how-to for teachers who want to support adolescent

It’s never too late to advance students’ literacy skills.

RE A DE R S W IL L : •

Curate a classroom library of diverse, inclusive texts that pique students’ interests

•

Employ the inquiry approach to instruction and the workshop framework to effectively target the needs of striving readers

•

Access practical prompts and reproducible tools to support literacy instruction

•

Create a classroom community that fosters sharing, confidence, and motivation

•

Celebrate student accomplishments by rewarding met goals and continued progress

SolutionTree.com

Visit go.SolutionTree.com/literacy to download the free reproducibles in this book.

ISBN 978-1-949539-87-5 90000

9 781949 539875

JEN NIFER McCARTY PLUCK ER