We welcome you to cross the border into a land of learning- we are glad you stopped by!
We have enjoyed collecting information and resources that support best practices in content area literacy. We invite you to read true tales from the classroom, and to view our collection of photos,videos, and resources that link work across academic domains.
Content Literacy Defined
We join the leagues of teachers searching and and hoping to find the best resources to support learning in our classrooms. What we have found is that learning does not occur in a vacuum, and that all content can benefit from literacy strategies. In our collective work we have found ourselves asking, "What is reading?", "What does it mean to read?", and "How are students communicating their needs and understanding throughout each day?". As Paulo Freire maintains, we must "Read the World" (1968), so our work must transcend the simple tasks of breaking down phonemes and decoding text to comprehend rigorous passages. Instead we must provide opportunities for our children, our students, to view, read, listen to, work with, and discuss images, charts, data, literature, music, hypertext, body language, poetry, and informational text (among a list too long to start with here). So, simply put, content literacy is the ability to use reading and writing strategies to access other content. It has been our mission to collect, create, and share resources that we can all use to make us all better at bringing more engaging and accessible lessons to students in our schools.
Updates and Events
10th Literacy Essentials Conference at Central Connecticut State University on April 2nd. Come explore this year's theme: "Unlocking Every Students Potential Through Literacy".
2016 Nutmeg Nominee Voting Begins this April! Official ballots will be available in March 2016 from the Nutmeg Selection Website. Check out the elementary, intermediate, teen, and high school nominees on the site and encourage your students and children to read and vote at schools, libraries, and town halls with ballot boxes.
Magnet Schools of America Conference May 3-7. Join magnet school teachers, coaches, administrators, and parents for the 34th annual MSA conference held in Miami, FL. The conference sponsored by Miami-Dade County Public Schools promises a variety of learning sessions that support all content areas and themes.
International Reading Association is now the International Literacy Association. The ILA conference will be in Boston, Massachusetts from July 9-11, 2016.