Literacy Instruction for Adolescents

Laying the foundation for effective middle and secondary school literacy programs, this is the most comprehensive treatment of adolescent literacy that I’ve seen to date. Wood and Blanton are highly regarded experts in this critical field, and, together with their outstanding contributors, they provide a thorough examination of theory and instructional practice.--Gary Moorman, PhD, Department of Language, Reading and Exceptionalities, Appalachian State University

The list of authors in this unique volume reads like a 'who's who' of adolescent literacy. They offer a comprehensive overview of the field, combining relevant research with practical classroom applications in every chapter. This is an excellent text for classroom teachers, preservice teachers, and teacher educators.--Dixie Massey, PhD, Department of Curriculum and Instruction, University of Washington


Leaders in the field of adolescent literacy have created an essential volume that distills and clarifies the most important messages about helping our youth grow as literate people. The book is well organized and its messages are accessible for teacher educators, literacy coaches, and practicing teachers. This work is current and fresh, expanding traditional views of literacy and making them useful in a world of interdependent languages, technologies, and educational milieus.--Douglas Kaufman, PhD, Neag School of Education, University of Connecticut



This book is important in that it paints a new landscape of goals, learners, and instructional practices for adolescent literacy. It not only reimagines essential topics in literacy for all learners, but also addresses some new wrinkles, including fluency, online comprehension, and increased awareness of the needs of English language learners. This book will be much appreciated by educators who seek new directions for promoting adolescent literacy achievement.--Mark W. Conley, PhD, Department of Instruction and Curriculum Leadership, University of Memphis
- The text makes a significant contribution to the field, because the range of articles represents a synthesis of the most current research-based methods for promoting the literacy of adolescent learners in all content areas....The text is also designed to expose the reader to the issues that apply to the acquisition and improvement of adolescent literacy through reading, thinking, interacting, and teacher's instruction of subject matter, and appropriately addresses many audiences, such as teacher educators, graduate students, and teachers both in the field and entering the profession....As a professor teaching courses in a literacy master's program, I have found the design of this book to be particularly useful. The material is easily conveyed in a meaningful, teacher-friendly mode. Each chapter begins with a set of guiding questions that frame the purpose of the chapter's contents. Woven throughout each chapter are descriptions of the principles and goals of effective literacy instruction along with classroom examples. Each chapter concludes with another set of questions designed to ask readers to consider and apply the information, and elicit effective class discussions....The chapters in this volume, while representing various theoretical frameworks and methodological principles, all contribute an appeal to the need for educators to continue to provide thoughtful, ongoing, research-based subject matter instruction to adolescent literacy learners. This appeal is multifaceted and reflected through the literacy practices of adolescents in the classroom, the home, and contexts outside the school setting....An important text. --Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy, 3/15/2009