What can afterschool programs offer that the regular school day can't? To build literacy skills and school achievement, think outside the classroom.

Learn about assistive technology tools - from audiobooks to variable-speed tape recorders - that help students with reading.

An Anticipation Guide is a strategy that is used before reading to activate students' prior knowledge and build curiosity about a new topic. Before reading a selection, students respond to several statements that challenge or support their preconceived ideas about key concepts in the text. Using this strategy stimulates students' interest in a topic and sets a purpose for reading. Anticipation guides can be revisited after reading to evaluate how well students understood the material and to correct any misconceptions.

The Double-Entry Journal strategy enables students to record their responses to text as they read. Students write down phrases or sentences from their assigned reading and then write their own reaction to that passage. The purpose of this strategy is to give students the opportunity to express their thoughts and become actively involved with the material they read.

Research-based information and advice for sizing up reading programs and finding the right one for your child with a learning disability.

This article describes some of the thought processes that can help students perform well on standardized tests of reading comprehension. It includes two reading passages along with sample test questions that call on skills that eighth grade students should master to be on track for college readiness. Also included are explanations for the correct answer choices.

Literacy practices interviews are informal assessments that elicit information on students' reading and writing activities, including their free-time reading habits, their access to books, and their attitudes toward reading and writing. Use the interviews in one-on-one or small, focus group-like settings.

The developmental nature of reading means that diagnosing the reading comprehension ability of adolescents is more challenging than diagnosing reading comprehension among third graders. In particular, assessments should not only capture the increased sophistication of the reading task in the middle and high school years, but should also capture the specialization of the many tasks that comprise reading comprehension for older readers. Educators must think carefully not only about what the assessments they use consider "grade-level" text, but also how those assessments capture or fail to capture the processes involved in reading in different content-area classes.

Learn from an expert why some kids with learning disabilities struggle with writing and how some instructional approaches can help.

Bring PBS' American Portrait, a national storytelling project, into your classroom this school-year! Through the use of weekly prompts, and exemplar submissions from across the nation, you and your students will be able to partake in a series of classroom discussions and journaling activities, that will aid in fostering a strong classroom community. [5:25]

Bring PBS' American Portrait, a national storytelling project, into your classroom this school-year! Through the use of weekly prompts, and exemplar submissions from across the nation, you and your students will be able to partake in a series of classroom discussions and journaling activities, that will aid in fostering a strong classroom community.

Bring PBS' American Portrait, a national storytelling project, into your classroom this school-year! Through the use of weekly prompts, and exemplar submissions from across the nation, you and your students will be able to partake in a series of classroom discussions and journaling activities, that will aid in fostering a strong classroom community.

Bring PBS' American Portrait, a national storytelling project, into your classroom this school-year! Through the use of weekly prompts, and exemplar submissions from across the nation, you and your students will be able to partake in a series of classroom discussions and journaling activities, that will aid in fostering a strong classroom community.

Are we addicted to our devices, and, if so, are companies to blame? The word "addiction" packs a heavy punch, and the research is inconclusive on whether it's truly accurate when it comes to digital device use. What's certain, however, is that as people use devices and apps more, profits increase for the companies who make them. Help your students recognize how most of the technology they use is designed to keep them hooked, and help them use this as an opportunity to find more balance in their digital lives. Approximately 60 mins.

LESSON OBJECTIVES: Analyze and draw conclusions about a series of photos depicting device use. Use online resources to track arguments for and against whether we are addicted to our devices. Complete a short writing assignment analyzing one or more aspects related to the device addiction debate.

How can we challenge our own confirmation bias? Our brains are great at using past experiences to make quick decisions on the fly, but these shortcuts can also lead to bias. "Confirmation bias" is our brain's tendency to seek out information that confirms things we already think we know. Help your students learn to recognize this when they encounter news online, as a way to examine competing opinions and ideas and to avoid drawing questionable conclusions. Approximately 45 mins.

LESSON OBJECTIVES: Define confirmation bias and identify why it occurs. Explore examples of confirmation bias, particularly related to news and online information. Identify strategies for challenging their own confirmation biases.

Use the links on the right to get a better understanding of purpose in writing including the types of purposes and how audience affects purpose. Click on Purpose and Audience and Purpose and Strategies. W.9-10.4 Write/Audience/Purpose; CCSS.ELA-Literacy.WHST.6-8.5 Develop and strengthen writing

How can we counter online hate speech and xenophobia? As humans, we thrive on social connections and group associations. But this tendency can also lead us to be suspicious of people outside our group. This fear -- xenophobia -- can be overcome by more exposure to people who are different from us. However, the internet can often make this more difficult. Help students recognize this challenge and find strategies for navigating content online. Approximately 50 mins.

LESSON OBJECTIVES: Describe the relationship between hate speech and xenophobia. Analyze how the internet has contributed to an increase in hate speech and extremist views. Describe one way to use the internet to combat one type of hate speech.

How can I create a social media presence that represents the real me? Social media gives us a chance to choose how we present ourselves to the world. We can snap and share a pic in the moment or carefully stage photos and select only the ones we think are best. When students reflect on these choices, they can better understand the self they are presenting and the self they aim to be. Approximately 50 mins.

LESSON OBJECTIVES: Describe how their curated self may or may not represent their real self. Analyze the benefits and drawbacks of representing different parts of their real self online. Create an avatar that represents both their real and curated selves.

How can you avoid being fooled by fake videos and other information online? We know not to believe everything we hear, but what about what we see? Advancements in computer-generated graphics, facial recognition, and video production have led to a world of viral videos that are often difficult to identify as fake. Help your students learn to read what they see on the web "laterally" by showing them how to get off the page, check credibility, and find corroboration. Approximately 50 mins.

LESSON OBJECTIVES: Define "misinformation" and explore the consequences of spreading misinformation online. Learn how to use lateral reading as a strategy to verify the accuracy of information online. Apply lateral reading to examples of questionable videos to determine their accuracy.

Discussion of providing students with a purpose for reading from a college class site entitled "Advanced Study of the Teaching of Secondary School Reading." Along with discussion and background on the topic, some specific strategies are presented including Anticipation Guides, DRA, DR-TA, KWL, Semantic-Feature Analysis, SQ3R, and Think Alongs.