What are our Core Principles?

• Adolescents need access to high-quality literature and help in selecting literature that will meet their needs. We have compiled the "best of the best" web sites to help middle grades teachers select literature from the classics, award-winning lists, and literature recommended by experts, teachers, and students. Learn more about selecting adolescent literature.
  
• Over the past two decades, research on reading development has yielded a growing number of evidence-based practices, also referred to as strategies, that can help students with the complex process of reading to make meaning. Teachers use strategies before reading to elicit prior knowledge, build background information, and set a purpose. Teachers employ strategies during reading to guide the process by which readers interact with the text. Teachers use strategies after reading to help make interpretations, aid recall, and deepen understanding. Adolescents need to develop comprehension strategies so that they can make meaning when reading from the varied texts that fall within the category of adolescent literature. Research has found that the modeling and direct teaching of defined strategies can improve students' reading abilities. We are beginning with the strategy of questioning before, during, and after reading. Learn more about comprehension strategies.
  
• Students need multi-dimensional opportunities to respond to literature. Responding can be much more than the traditional book report and include discussions, writing, responding through visual art, drama, and multi-media. View a collection of research-based alternative response strategies.