In this class, we will learn together about strategies, tools and support mechanisms that will enable your students to confront their individual reading and learning issues. We will work to increase our individual understanding of literacy and reading in secondary schools, become familiar with issues associated with all reading levels and learn ways content area teachers can help students increase their content literacy skills. We will also focus on Historically Responsive Literacy to understand the implications of traditional literacy instruction on a diverse group of students, and strategies that can be used to foster an empowering environment of literacy. A crucial component of this class is introducing the basics for literacy instruction for adolescents. You will read chapters and articles that describe scientifically-based reading interventions. After reading about them, you will see examples modeled and have opportunities to try out some literacy interventions that are direct, explicit, and multi-sensory. During this course, you will have an opportunity to try out some reading interventions and receive feedback from a supervisor while working with high school students on campus for Earlham Summer. We will revisit these literacy interventions during Curriculum and Instruction II in the fall semester and you will be expected to use reading interventions routinely during your fall work sample and spring student teaching. We will also draw our attention to disciplinary literacy, specifically how to help students read in their content area. We will learn ways to increase students’ comprehension and use of written materials in content areas. We will also discover ways to help students develop inquiry, interpretation and analysis skills that can be used in all content areas. These skills will be aligned with Indiana Educator Standards as part of reading instruction (standard 7).