Suppose "that struggling adolescent readers are notbeginning readers in need of remedial instruction in phonics or decoding skills." Rather suppose "they are inexperienced readers who need help acquiring and extending the complex comprehension processes that underlie skilled reading in the subject areas." Suppose, too, that an apprenticeship model can be used "to model, direct, support, and shape the [student's] developing reading practices," and demystify what proficient readers do. These are the assumptions of current work with high school students, including ninth graders who gain two years of proficiency in seven months, and continue to grow at this accelerated rate into and through their tenth-grade studies, as described in these links and articles. (Apprenticing Adolescents to Academic Literacy, Executive Summary: link 7 below) Cathleen Kral, instructional leader for literacy and director of literacy coaches for Boston Public Schools, credits the West Ed Strategic Literacy Initiave with having "the smartest stuff out there for secondary literacy: it's realistic, it's authentic it's research based, and it works."
Mosaic ListServ Tools -- Numerous links for helpful strategies and handouts based on Mosaic of Thought: Teaching Comprehension in a Reader's Workshop by Susan Zimmermann & Ellin Oliver Keene
