How do you get kids to read—and actually understand —hard texts? Teachers know it’s important for students to read historical primary sources, scientific research studies, or literary texts with unfamiliar language, like Shakespeare or the Odyssey . Research also shows that adolescents need high...

Dr. Lakeya Afolalu is an Assistant Professor at the University of Washington in the College of Education. As a scholar of Language, Literacy, and Culture, she specializes in the intersections of immigration, race, and identity. Raised between her Nigerian and African American cultures, her hybrid...

Annie Moses, Ph.D., is the Director of Periodicals / Editor in Chief at the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC). Previously, she served as an associate professor and program coordinator of early childhood, and her research focuses on early literacy, media, and early...

We are anointed, and everybody in the building is better precisely because we are in there, molding and shaping hearts and minds, even as we are molded and remolded in the image of our Lord. Overwhelm your school community with your awesome. . My favorite moment in Star Wars is when Luke Skywalker...

I left Catholic Education two years ago, but the purpose-driven undercurrent of this career we chose is almost impossible to shake. The principles of Catholic Social Teaching arrested me; the need for people who call on the name of God for the ministry of teaching is great, and I would like to use...

In the last blog post, we focused on the essential content for literacy instruction: phonics and phonemic awareness, fluency, vocabulary, comprehension, and high level talk and writing about text. This week, we will discuss structures that support the ongoing teaching of these areas, culturally...

In the last post , we focused on five areas to consider in developing a school-wide vision for literacy: establishing literacy as a priority, creating a sense of collective responsibility for all children, ensuring evidence-based, high quality literacy instruction, establishing a balanced system of...

Leading Literacy - Developing a School-Wide Literacy Vision We hope you enjoy the first of a four part series on Literacy Leaders The first question I ask when I work with teachers and leaders around literacy practices is what is your school-wide vision for literacy instruction? I typically receive...

Mini-Series: Honoring and Leveraging Students’ Home Languages in the Classroom This is the third blog in the mini-series “Honoring and Leveraging Students’ Home Languages in the Classroom.” In this post, I consider why it matters for students to encounter books that represent their lived experiences...

This is the second blog in the mini-series “Honoring and Leveraging Students’ Home Languages in the Classroom.” In this blog, I introduce language and culture portraits as a method for learning about and affirming students’ diverse linguistic and cultural identities. Language and Culture Portraits...

This is the first blog in the mini-series “Honoring and Leveraging Students’ Home Languages in the Classroom.” In this blog, I introduce some core concepts underscoring the importance of cultivating multilingual classroom spaces. I Am My Language "So, if you really want to hurt me, talk badly about...

In my post series about text sets , I’ve outlined research on text sets from cognitive , disciplinary , and critical perspectives. Each of these perspectives offers specific aims for what a literacy unit’s texts might look like. But how might a teacher bring them together? How can a teacher aim for...

Just what is a text set , anyways? Turns out, a teacher’s text set depends a lot on their perspective on literacy. In this blog post series, I’ve described the QTS text set from the cognitive perspective and the Project READI text set from the disciplinary literacy perspective . To complement those...

In my last two posts, I sketched the popularity and emergence of research on text sets , and outlined the Quad Text Set (QTS) framework aimed at helping students reading more complex texts . In this post, I’ll discuss text set framework called Project READI , whose goal is to scaffold students’ use...

Text sets are popular for many teachers and researchers, but the definition of a text set —any thematically-linked collection of texts—can often be quite vague. In this post, I’ll explore a specific approach to designing text sets: a cognitive approach with the goal of building students’ ability to...

Text sets are increasingly popular resources for teachers. Sites like NewsELA , CommonLit , the Library of Congress and ReadWorks offer teachers pre-made text sets targeted at various grade levels. State departments of education, such as Louisiana , Iowa , and Connecticut offer step-by-step...

When COVID-19 arrived, many of us had to quickly adapt to teaching online. As the requirements for social distancing continued through 2020 and into 2021, teachers adjusted to working with and through digital platforms as the new normal: meeting synchronously with kids and classrooms over Zoom...

How does collaboration promote critical inquiry and engagement in literacies for educators and students? This is the common question introduced in my first blog post of this series , which connects three practitioner spotlights (parts 2 thru 4 of the series). The spotlights read like an interview...

Picture this: You are attending one of your school or district’s professional development (PD) days (likely virtual at some point this past year with the COVID-19 pandemic). A guest speaker has joined you, just for the day, to talk to you about a topic unrelated to your everyday teaching and...

A reading from St. Paul’s letter to Hogwarts: Harry, the boy who lived, is spending Christmas vacation with his friend, Ron, and the Weasley family. They don’t have much, but when all you’ve got is nothing, there’s a lot to go around. Harry’s sitting at dinner, feeling all the love he never had from...

A reading from the gospel of Luke: Luke Skywalker looked to the heavens. He visualized his future, but he needed somebody to be his champion. That champion is you, the teacher reading this blog. Luke is sitting in your classroom. He’s in the back, in the corner, ostracized, the new kid, playing with...

In my last post on poetry, “ Poetry Matters // The Case for Teaching Poetry in Every ELA Classroom ,” I argued that poetry is an essential part of an English Language Arts education. I said that “poetry illuminates experience”—it can be the light within a microscope that helps us pause and...

As English Language Arts educators, we have high expectations for our students when it comes to the reading and writing skills they are meant to develop in our classrooms. While we expect that students can achieve reading and writing greatness while they are with us, we would never assume, at any...

Whole-class discussion tends to be a popular go-to strategy for middle and high school English teachers. On a simple level, it’s the easiest way to understand students’ thinking and to check for their understanding. Whole-class discussion can offer much more than this, however, and it can be...

"Education is the process of learning to create ourselves, and it is what the arts, both as a process and as the fruits of the process, promote. Work in the arts is not only a way of creating performances and products; it is a way of creating our lives by expanding our consciousness, shaping our...

The English as a New Language Program (ENL) equips educators to meet the unique needs of English Language Learners in Catholic schools. ENL has a threefold approach to helping Catholic schools ensure that their English language learners thrive. ENL helps schools and teachers develop a deep...

“The world changes according to the way people see it, and if you alter, even but a millimeter the way people look at reality, then you can change it.” ~James Baldwin I can recall encountering this quote from the late James Baldwin in my earliest years as a teacher and feeling as though I had...

Darby Evans works as the associate program director at the Center for Literacy Education. Darby taught English and literature to grades 6–8 in Fort Worth, Texas as a member of the ACE Teaching Fellows, and went on to teach middle school ELA in Harlem, New York. She especially enjoys teaching poetry...

The main purpose of guided reading is to provide instruction specific to a child’s literacy level. Scholastic defines guided reading as “an instructional approach that involves a teacher working with a small group of students who demonstrate similar reading behaviors and can read similar levels of...

Patrick is a second-year graduate student in Cognitive Psychology. He graduated from the University of Notre Dame in 2010 with a BBA in Finance and Political Science. He then earned his M.Ed. through the Alliance for Catholic Education (ACE) Teaching Fellows Program, while concurrently teaching...

For this installment of the Lessons in Literacy series, the CLE is pleased to spotlight an incredible educator, Dana Deradoorian. Ms. Deradoorian is a member of AmeriCorps and teaches English Language Arts at St. Augustine Catholic High School in Tucson, AZ. She graduated from the University of...

Francesca Varga is the Associate Program Director of Blended Learning for the Higher-Powered Learning team at the Alliance for Catholic Education. Francesca came to ACE after nine years in public schools, where she served as an English teacher, instructional coach, and team leader. She focused her...

Elizabeth Anthony serves as the Associate Director of Higher-Powered Learning , a professional development program for schools implementing blended learning. In this role, Elizabeth leads the Higher-Powered Learning Program (housed under the Alliance for Catholic Education), teaches a course on...