Critical Reading and Writing in Support of Learning, 5-12

Secondary teachers are involved in the constant process of increasing students’ active reading and writing abilities using a variety of texts within the high-pressure environment of state accountability.

There is a growing philosophy that every teacher is a literacy teacher--a view that is becoming increasingly important as schools prepare for standards-based learning which places an emphasis on content literacy. Throughout this course, participants learn and share a variety of practical strategies and evidenced-based frameworks for integrating PLN into their schools to encourage student engagement with rich reading, writing, talking and listening best practices. This is not an add-on approach to teaching and learning. It is a set of theoretical frameworks for guiding best practice and decision-making using whatever curriculum is in place. The course provides opportunities for hands-on learning, reflection and the development of common language about literacy, particularly in the areas of reading and writing to learn. Participants are active readers, writers, talkers and listeners in this course. The course provides a paradigm for classroom engagement that is best learned through experience. We are a community of learners and we all contribute to one another’s professional growth.