Adolescent Literacy Project 2019

In late July, 21 local teachers gathered at Caudill Middle School for four days of learning centered around adolescent literacy. The Adolescent Literacy Project, led by Co-Directors Dr. Dorie Combs and Dr. Eileen Shanahan, is sponsored by the Collaborative Center for Literacy Development (CCLD). Participants included middle and high school English, social studies, and math teachers, who were all focused on furthering their understanding of the intersections between the various strands of literacy--reading, writing, speaking, listening, viewing, and representing. Presenters included EKU Curriculum and Instruction professors Dr. Dorie Combs, Dr. Eileen Shanahan, and Dr. Diana Porter, as well as Madison County teachers Kevin Presnell, Devan Stone, Jimmi Lynn Watson, and Brandi Saylor. Sessions focused on using mentor texts to teach writing craft and structure, utilizing award-winning nonfiction across the disciplines, teaching students how to have academic conversations, and more. Teachers made action plans for incorporating tenets of the ALP into their curriculum and instruction, and the EKU professors aim to continue working with the teachers and schools on seeing these plans through this school year. Plans are already being made for ALP 2020 to continue collaborations between the Department of Curriculum and Instruction and local teachers and schools.

Published on October 29, 2019