Keys to Adolescent Literacy online course is available, which is organized into 11 modules. This course covers the same content as the live training and is aligned with the Keys to Adolescent Literacy book. The course takes approximately 40 hours to complete. Because it is asynchronous, participants may log in and out at their convenience and complete assignments at their own pace. Individual educators can register, or schools can enroll groups.

Written by Joan Sedita—author of the Keys to Adolescent Literacy professional development course and the bestselling book The Writing Rope: A Framework for Explicit Writing Instruction in All Subjects—the chapters in The Essentials of Adolescent Literacy are aligned with the training course modules. The book serves as a companion resource for both online and live training.

Through this book, readers gain an insight into the unique needs of adolescent learners and learn evidence-based practices for teaching all aspects of literacy in grades 5-12. It also provides  essential information about effective literacy interventions supported by assessment data.

The book "The Essentials of Adolescent Literacy" is now available for presale.

Shipping is scheduled for the month of November.

Asynchronous Learning: Online Course Individual Module

This module provides an overview of the Science of Reading and establishes foundational knowledge about literacy instruction across all grade levels.

• The Science of Reading and Writing (Simple View, Reading Rope, Writing Rope, stages of reading development, how the brain learns to read)
• Five Components of Reading
• Language Components (Orthography, Morphology, Semantics, Syntax, Discourse, Pragmatics)
• Principles of Effective Teaching (including explicit instruction, gradual release of responsibility, culturally responsive literacy instruction) 
• Integrating Reading and Writing Instruction (using writing to learn, comparing the ropes, models of subject-area text)
• Considerations for English Learners

Estimated time: 3 hours

Asynchronous Learning: Online Course Individual Module

This module defines adolescent literacy and introduces the background knowledge educators need to support content, disciplinary, and intervention-focused reading and writing instruction.

• Overview: Adolescent Literacy (defined, levels of instruction: intervention, content, disciplinary)
• Research: Evidence-Based Secondary Reading & Writing Instruction
• Core Literacy Instruction Grades 5-12
• Content & Disciplinary Literacy (defined, differences, needs of struggling adolescents)
• Teaching Content & Disciplinary Literacy (role of content teachers, instructional suggestions, challenges)
• Adolescent Motivation and Engagement in Literacy

Estimated time: 2 hours

Asynchronous Learning: Online Course Individual Module

This module provides an overview of effective vocabulary instruction that can be applied across multiple grades and subjects.

• Why teach vocabulary? (including the vocabulary-comprehension connection)
• Academic Vocabulary
• Effective Vocabulary Instruction (direct and indirect, breadth and depth)
• Vocabulary Instruction for English Learners
• Previewing Vocabulary Prior to Reading (including instructional suggestions)
• Selecting Words to Teach In-Depth (including three-tier model)
• Teaching Targeted Words In-Depth (including instructional suggestions)
• Word-Learning Templates (Frayer/Four Square, Two-Column) 
• Making Connections Among Words (schema, three activities: categorizing, semantic mapping, semantic feature analysis) 
• Teaching Use of Context
• Teaching Use of Word Parts (structural analysis using morphemes, word families)
• Fostering Word Consciousness

Estimated time: 6 hours

Asynchronous Learning: Online Course Individual Module

This module provides an overview of effective comprehension instruction that can be applied across multiple grades and subjects.

• Comprehension Overview (RAND reading comprehension model, factors affecting comprehension, considerations for English learners, and dialect differences)
• Vocabulary, Background Knowledge, and Comprehension
• Access to High-Quality Grade-Level Text
• Analyze Text, Teach Close Reading
• Making Inferences
• Metacognition, Comprehension Monitoring
• Comprehension Strategies:
  • Graphic organizers, top-down topic webs
  • Main ideas
  • Note taking
  • Summarizing
  • Answering and generating questions

Estimated time: 6 hours

Asynchronous Learning: Online Course Individual Module

This module offers strategies for teaching multiple levels of text structure to support both reading and writing.  

• Understanding Text Structure in Reading and Writing (multiple levels of text structure)
• Three Types of Text (Narrative, Informational, Argument)
• Patterns of Organization and Transitions
• Paragraph Structure
• Sentence Structure
• Instructional Suggestions

Estimated time: 2.5 hours

Asynchronous Learning: Online Course Individual Module

This module provides an overview of effective writing instruction that can be applied across grades and subjects. 

• What do we know about writing? (teaching principles, research overview, AI, and writing instruction)
• Writing Frameworks: The Writing Rope, The Not-So-Simple-View of Writing
• Writing in the Content Areas (using writing to learn, role of content teachers)
• Types of writing assignments – quick writes, responding to text, teacher-generated prompts
• Mentor Text as Models for Writing
• Stages of the Writing Process (think, plan, write, revise; awareness of task, audience, purpose)
• Strategy Instruction and Scaffolds:
  • Think Stage: gathering information and ideas into notes
  • Plan Stage: graphic organizer to plan structure
  • Write Stage: writing templates
  • Revise Stage: revising for content and conventions
• Revision: Teacher and Peer Feedback
• Using a Writing Assignment Guide (WAG)

Estimated time: 4 hours

Asynchronous Learning: Online Course Individual Module

This module offers strategies for planning and facilitating discussions that support learning in any subject. 

• Discussion to Support Learning (including discussion formats)
• Planning for Discussion (preparing questions, discussion norms)
• Academically Productive Talk
• Facilitating Discussion (including teachers and student talk moves)
• Discussion Activities (common activities, Socratic Seminar)

Estimated time: 2.5 hours

Asynchronous Learning: Online Course Individual Module

This module explains the role of advanced phonics, morphology, and fluency in reading comprehension, along with instructional suggestions to help students decode and spell multisyllabic words. 

• Teaching Advanced Phonics and Word Study in Grades 5-12 (progression across grades, students with word reading difficulties)
• Introduction to Phonics, Advanced Word Study, and Fluency
• Multisyllabic Words (including a routine for reading and spelling longer words, emphasizing morphemes over syllables)
• Teaching Morphemes (instructional suggestions for prefixes, suffixes, roots)
• A Closer Look at Syllables, Syllable Division, and the Schwa Vowel Sound
• Spelling Instruction for Grades 5-12

Estimated time: 3.5 hours

Asynchronous Learning: Online Course Individual Module

This module explains why some adolescents struggle with reading and writing and offers an overview of effective intervention practices.  

• Older Students Who Struggle with Literacy (misconceptions, motivation, and emotional consequences, tiered instruction)
• Causes of Literacy Difficulty
• Difficulty with Reading, Writing
• Supporting Struggling Readers and Writers in the General Education Classroom
• Overview: Effective Intervention Instruction
• Reading Intervention: Vocabulary and Comprehension
• Reading Intervention Suggestions: Decoding and Fluency
• Suggestions for Writing Intervention
• A Closer Look at Dyslexia (including the reading brain)
• A Closer Look at Executive Functions
• A Closer Look at English Learner Challenges
• Additional Suggestions

Estimated time: 3.5 hours

Asynchronous Learning: Online Course Individual Module

This module provides an overview of literacy assessments and explains how assessment data can be used to guide instructional suggestions.

• Intervention Instruction Informed by Assessment (assessment and MTSS, a secondary literacy instruction model)
• Screening and Diagnostic Assessment, Grades 5-12
• Types of Assessments, Assessment Terminology
• Assessment Across the Year (including using progress monitoring)
• Analyzing Assessment Data: Matching Students to Interventions
• Analyzing Data: School, Grade, Teacher Levels

Estimated time: 2 hours