“…a project that enabled professional learning facilitators to work one-on-one with educators and students to implement literacy strategies.”

Adolescent Literacy Guide: A Professional Learning Resource for Literacy, Grades 7-12

This professional learning resource developed by Adolescent Literacy Learning (2016) serves as a guide for subject-specific and interdisciplinary collaborative inquiry teams, school improvement planning teams, and coaches working with teachers. The guide focuses on adolescent development, fostering active participation and critical literacy, thinking metacognition, encouraging thinking through questioning, developing students’ learning strategies, and developing classroom communities where students’ voices and identities are welcomed. View guide

Make Room for Thinking Metacognitively

Adolescent Literacy Learning (ALL, 2016) discusses the importance of adolescents using metacognition, how metacognitive practices can be fostered in the classroom, and the process of analyzing samples of student works. ALL (2016) also provides a series of prompts students can use to develop their metacognitive voice. View information article

Adolescent Literacy support via EduGains

This interactive web image by Adolescent Literacy Learning, allows individuals to click on different parts of the diagram to load a new page with information specific to that section (metacognition, critical literacy, questioning, strategy, and voice and identity; Ontario Ministry of Education, n.d.). View interactive web image

Make Room for Supporting Student Collaboration

Literacy Gains (2015) explores the importance of supporting student collaboration, outlines how student collaboration can be fostered in the classroom, and lists five conversation skills required during academic conversations. There are notes and sample prompts students can use to work on developing these skills and evidence teachers can use to support their assessment and feedback on conversation skills. View information article

Assessing Text Difficulty

Murphy (2013) explores three main considerations in assessing text difficulty to help educators determine a text’s readability for a child, and notes ten steps that can be used to foster defensible pedagogical practices. View research monograph

Supporting Student Success in Literacy (Grades 7-12): Effective Practices of Ontario School Boards

This booklet provides educators with strategies that utilize data during cross-panel planning, cross-curricular instruction, information technology integration, and for enhancing literacy learning. View booklet

Paying Attention to Literacy: K-12. ​​Six Foundational Principles for Improvement in Literacy, K–12

This document provides a six foundational principles framework for improving learning and teaching literacy within schools across Ontario (Ontario Ministry of Education,  2013). The six principles outlined in the guide include: (1) a focus on literacy, (2) understanding effective literacy instruction, (3) designing responsive literacy learning environments, (4) supporting student learning, (5) coordinating and strengthening literacy leadership, and (6) supporting collaborative professional learning in literacy.  More details on each of these principles can be found within the document. View guide

Student Achievement: Literacy Planning Resource: Grades 7-12. Knowing and Responding to Learners who need Additional Support in Literacy

This literacy planning resource for grades seven through twelve focuses on the importance of literacy leadership within schools, collaborative professional learning among educators, and supporting students in literacy. These three effective literacy practices are presented through immediate actions aimed at “providing… students with targeted supports and interventions” and “building educator capacity in assess[ing] and respond[ing] to… students’ specific needs” (Ontario Ministry of Education, 2016, p. 9). View guide