Office of Curriculum, Technology, & Assessment

Description: This course constructs a framework, creates a culture, and shares strategies and practices for how students can learn to develop 21st century literacy skills while learning across curricular areas. Reading and writing nonfiction or “real world” text competently is the major learning outcome.

This course is designed to enable you to:

• understand how literacy is evolving in the 21st century
• identify 21st century literacy and learning skills
• strive to continually develop your own 21st century literacy and learning skills
• integrate the learning and teaching of 21st century literacy and learning skills in your curriculum

10 modules to this online self-paces course

Each of the modules contains the these components:

• Pre-Self-Assessment  
• Engagement  
• Viewing Guide and Resources
• Media
• Webfolio Report

Module #1: Constructing Our L2L Learning and Teaching Framework
We consider the 21st Century literacy skills and how we can construct a conceptual framework for teaching them.

Module #2: Creating a Real-World Literacy Classroom Culture
This module focuses on the importance of making real-world connections to teach 21st century literacy skills.

Module #3: Developing Independent Learners
We explore important principles of learning and practical strategies for helping students become independent learners.

Module #4: Bringing Learners and Texts Together
We share a vision of how content area learning, specifically science, and the literacy curriculum can be seamlessly merged. Toward this vision, we focus on how we can help learners connect with both fiction and nonfiction texts.

Module #5: Thinking Through Text Together
We share three big ideas in this module: 1) the value of using story to teach content information, concepts, and vocabulary; 2) the need to teach text structure beyond story or narrative; and 3) new ways that we as teachers can share what we’ve learned as expert readers of fiction and nonfiction.

Module #6: Talking About Text
We explore how we can create the conditions in our classrooms for young readers to become knowledgeable and enthusiastic in their conversations about text.

Module #7: Writing About Text
We explore how we can integrate reading and writing seamlessly to create fully literate thinkers and communicators.

Module #8: Learning Through Real-World Inquiry
We conduct an inquiry into the role of 21st century literacy in real-world inquiry

Module #9: Making Thinking Visible Through the Arts
We explore how teaching about, with, and through the arts can enhance literacy development and content learning.

Module #10: Inviting Active Literacy Through Book Clubs
We carefully consider how we can create the conditions in our classrooms and schools that encourage students to read actively for knowledge and pleasure.

Standards: 

NSDC Standards for Staff Development

Context Standards

Staff development that improves the learning of all students:

• Organizes adults into learning communities whose goals are aligned with those of the school and district. (Learning Communities)
• Requires skillful school and district leaders who guide continuous instructional improvement. (Leadership)
• Requires resources to support adult learning and collaboration. (Resources)

rocess Standards

Staff development that improves the learning of all students:

• Uses disaggregated student data to determine adult learning priorities, monitor progress, and help sustain continuous improvement. (Data-Driven)
• Uses multiple sources of information to guide improvement and demonstrate its impact. (Evaluation)
•  Prepares educators to apply research to decision making. (Research-Based)
• Uses learning strategies appropriate to the intended goal. (Design)
• Applies knowledge about human learning and change. (Learning)
• Provides educators with the knowledge and skills to collaborate. (Collaboration)

Content Standards

Staff development that improves the learning of all students:

• Prepares educators to understand and appreciate all students, create safe, orderly and supportive learning environments, and hold high expectations for their academic achievement. (Equity)
• Deepens educators' content knowledge, provides them with research-based instructional strategies to assist students in meeting rigorous academic standards, and prepares them to use various types of classroom assessments appropriately. (Quality Teaching)
• Provides educators with knowledge and skills to involve families and other stakeholders appropriately. (Family Involvement)

Back to Top