Joan Sedita

Lykillinn að læsi: Lestur og ritun frá miðstigi upp í framhaldsskóla

“In an ever-evolving world, literacy stands as a cornerstone of personal and academic success, particularly during the critical adolescent years. It is critical that we continue to address literacy as a high priority issue, even as students reach the secondary grades.”

— Joan Sedita

Um fyrirlesturinn

Læsisfræðin takmarkast ekki bara við yngstu börnin heldur eiga þau jafn mikið erindi við nemendur á mið- og unglingastigi, sem og í framhaldsskóla. Joan Sedita sýnir kennurum á þessum skólastigum hvernig hægt er að flétta markvissa læsiskennslu inn í allar námsgreinar með því að brúa bilið á milli almenns innihaldslæsis, sérhæfðs námsgreinalæsis og nauðsynlegra inngripa fyrir þá sem vantar grunnfærni. Með því að tengja saman lestur og ritun sem tvær hliðar á sama peningi, varpar Joan ljósi á hvers vegna nemendur eiga stundum erfitt með að takast á við flóknari texta þegar líður á skólagönguna. Nálgun hennar er hagnýt og lausnamiðuð, þar sem kennarar fá verkfæri til að opna heim textans fyrir öllum unglingum og tryggja að þeir búi yfir þeim kjarna sem þarf til að ná árangri í námi og starfi.

Hver er Joan Sedita

Joan Sedita er stofnandi Keys to Literacy, leiðandi samtaka á sviði starfsþróunar í læsiskennslu í Bandaríkjunum. Með yfir 45 ára starfsferil sem kennari, stjórnandi og þjálfari, hefur hún haft djúptæk áhrif á lestrarkennslu. Hún er höfundur fjölda bóka, þar á meðal The Writing Rope, og hefur þróað víðtæk læsisúrræði á borð við Key Comprehension Routine. Joan starfaði í tvo áratugi við Landmark School, brautryðjandaskóla fyrir nemendur með lesblindu, og er með meistaragráðu í læsi frá Harvard. Hún er í dag einn virtasti og eftirsóttasti sérfræðingur Norður-Ameríku á sviði læsis og ritaðs máls.

Spurningar og svör frá Sli.Do

How can we get teachers in every subject to take responsibility for reading and writing without them feeling that yet another job is being piled on top of their own subject?

A: Begin by letting  them know that you are not expecting them to become reading/writing  teachers or to know everything about how students learn to read and write. Then explain that part of their role as a content teacher is to not just pass along information, but also to teach students how to read, writing, think and discuss in their subject, like a scientist, mathematician, historian, etc. Teaching student skills to be able to learn content on their own ensures that they will be able to continue learning independently. In this way, content teachers are giving them the tools to learn. Here’s a metaphor to consider: instead of just giving students fish (the content) you are teaching them how to fish so they can “catch” the content on their own. Many strategies that support the development of reading comprehension include writing tasks such as note taking and summarizing. If content teachers explicitly show students how to do this using the texts and content they are already teaching, they can integrate literacy instruction into their classroom teaching, and the students will be more likely to remember the content. 

How do we ensure continuity in literacy teaching as students move from upper primary to lower secondary and on to upper secondary, so that work started at one stage is not lost at the next?

A: This is why a strong school building leaders who are dedicated to supporting literacy achievement are essential. The leader, along with a literacy leadership team that represents stakeholders in the school, can make sure that teachers within and across grades receive similar professional development for teaching literacy and use the same terminology and instructional practices and routines. This enables students to see the same approaches as they move from grade to grade and subject to subject. Here are some examples of things all the teachers in the same school should use: 

  • Vocabulary: 

    • Use the same templates for teaching key words in depth (click here to see examples)

    • Use the same activity for helping students make connections among words (click here to see an example)

    • Use similar activities to preview unfamiliar words before students read (click here for examples)

  • Comprehension Strategies:

    • Teach students the same format for taking notes (click here for a video about two-column notes)

    • Teach students the same process for writing summaries of what they are learning (click here for a video)

  • Teach students a routine for decoding unfamiliar multisyllabic words, such as the example below. 

    • Identify the word parts and vowels.

      • Circle the prefixes and suffixes.

      • Underline the vowels that represent syllables in the remaining parts of the word.

    • Say the different parts of the word.

      • Say each part of the word by pronouncing prefixes, each syllable in the root, and suffixes.

      • Blend the parts together and say them again faster to make a whole word.

      • Flex the vowel sound(s) if necessary to make the word sound like a word you know.

    • Repeat the full sentence in which the word appears to make sure it makes sense.

What is the best way to build up subject teachers' knowledge of literacy — not just that of the mother-tongue teachers — so that teaching literacy becomes a shared responsibility across all subjects?

  1. The answer is providing professional development that provides them practical, specific instructional suggestions for integrating reading, writing, and discussion skills into content instruction. This might include formal teacher training workshops delivered by literacy specialists, participation in book studies, watching professional learning webinars, etc. I have put together a large collection of free resources for this purpose at the Keys to Literacy website, including: free  recorded webinars, videos, and templates (click here); a monthly blog post (click here); and book study questions for my Essentials of Adolescent Literacy book (click here) and Writing Rope book (click here). 

How can we make sure that students whose first language is not the language of instruction, and students with specific reading difficulties, get just as good access to literacy work as everyone else?

A: This is another area where strong school leadership plays an important role. While individual teachers can support these students in their classrooms by differentiating their instruction and providing scaffolds, the main way that these students’ needs are served is through schoolwide systems and structures, such as a Multi-tiered System of Support model (click here to learn more) and the development of a schoolwide literacy plan (click here for details). Students who are having difficulty for any reason benefit from systems that address assessment and data analysis, strong core instruction, intervention instruction based on individual students’ needs, professional learning plans designed to support these systems, literacy leadership to oversee it all. Also, as these student move into upper grades, it is important that content teachers provide access to the content besides texts that are too difficult for the students to read. Click here to learn more about modifications and accommodations for students with reading disabilities; click here to learn about intervention for students in grades 4-9; click here for a collection of resources for English-learner resources. 

Is it better to work on shorter writing tasks, one at a time, so that students can be given feedback more frequently, rather than setting longer assignments?

  1. Yes, shorter writing tasks, including quick writes, are a good way to get students writing more and to give them specific feedback about their writing. This is especially true for students who struggle with writing, which often breaks down at the sentence and paragraph levels. Click here for more about quick writes; click here to learn more about assessing and giving feedback to students about writing.