Disciplinary Literacy Task Force

Welcome to a new school year and a new opportunity to improve adolescents' engagement, literacy, and lifelong outcomes through disciplinary literacy! This month's newsletter brings together a set of resources designed to deepen your understanding of disciplinary literacy, connect it with other literacy initiatives, and support effective implementation.

At the center of this issue is a new resource, Supporting Adolescent Readers with Disciplinary Literacy, built to help secondary educators meet the complex reading demands students face across content areas, and to be used alongside the Michigan Department of Education Dyslexia Handbook. We're also sharing a presentation drawn from years of experience working alongside building administrators, central office leaders, ISD consultants, and classroom educators to help you build and keep momentum with implementation.

And in case you missed it the first time around, we're resharing the video Unpacking the Mississippi Literacy Marathon: Implications for Michigan — a timely look at what we can learn from the "Mississippi Miracle" and what it might mean for our own work here in the mitten state. As always, we’re eager to learn from you and alongside you.

Happy Reading!

1. What does reading look like in your discipline?
2. Where might adolescent readers struggle while engaging in that reading?
3. What can teachers do about it?

You can access this resource by clicking on the MAISA P.A. 146 Landing Page, scrolling to "Additional Resources", and clicking on the link embedded within the title: Supporting Adolescent Readers with Disciplinary Literacy. We hope you find this resource helpful in your ongoing efforts!

Click on our professional learning flyer to find more information and registration links for these upcoming professional learning events:

• Developing a Disciplinary Literacy Professional Learning Plan for Secondary Leaders

• EduPaths online courses (they're free!)

• Disciplinary Literacy for Secondary Leaders online course

The Disciplinary Literacy Task Force is composed of consultants from across the state of Michigan, each of whom brings their own disciplinary expertise. We meet monthly, and our most pressing goal is to continue to scale this work statewide. We also prioritize equity in the delivery of our services as well as building and leveraging partnerships across the state in an effort to promote this important work. Our ongoing work includes planning for, creating, and implementing professional learning and resources for secondary educators and leaders and using this newsletter, our Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and other publications to broaden awareness about this approach and its benefits to our secondary students. Click here to access an interactive map with Task Force member contact information. You can find a wealth of resources on our website as well! We look forward to increased opportunities to work with you!