Publications & Downloads
Inexperienced Readers
Reimagining Our Inexperienced Adolescent Readers
From Struggling, Striving, Marginalized, and Reluctant to Thriving
In this article, Greenleaf and Hinchman provide an energizing vision of high quality literacy instruction in a 9th grade Reading Apprenticeship Academic Literacy class for struggling adolescent readers. They describe key classroom features that help students thrive: high academic challenge with explicit support to develop reading strategies; asset-oriented teaching that begins with students’ existing knowledge; an emphasis on student choice and interest-driven reading; and an inquiry-oriented learning environment to engage students actively in reading and learning.
The teacher whose classroom is featured in this article can be seen working with students in the video linked below and in an interview about Reading Apprenticeship at Dreher High School.
Grade 9 Academic Literacy
Students in Cindy Ryan’s academic literacy class practice Thinking Aloud in a whole class metacognitive conversation. These students have shed self-consciousness about being confused, and may instead ask each other, “How did you figure that out?”
Read related success story > Hanging the Moon on South Carolina Exit Exams
Cynthia L. Greenleaf, Kathleen Hinchman
International Reading Association, Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 2009
