Teens for Literacy: Promoting Reading and Writing in Schools and Communities

Middle school students are at a turning point in their lives. During this busy time of physical & social growth, is it possible for teachers to make literacy experiences rewarding for teens & others around them? The authors of Teens for Literacy: Promoting Reading & Writing in Schools & Communities answer this question with a resounding "Yes!" This book describes a literacy program called Teens for Literacy that one of the authors established & has been participating in for more than 10 years & explains how readers can set up a similar program in their school or community. The program is intended to interest middle school & high school students in promoting literacy while improving their reading & writing skills. Teams of four or five students at each school participate directly in the literacy process by tutoring peers & elementary children in reading, reading aloud to others, coordinating reading contests & designing posters to encourage reading throughout the school and community. The three main objectives of the Teens for Literacy program are to involve students directly in promoting literacy, to encourage students to continue their education at a postsecondary institution & to acquaint students with teaching as a possible career. Teens for Literacy outlines the objectives & components of the program, explains how to plan the program at an individual school & offers guidelines for establishing an effective tutoring component within the larger program. The book also offers information on the teens' visits to a university or community partner, discusses how to expand the program beyond one school & offers suggestions on how to evaluate the program's success & spread the word about the program throughout the community. Teens for Literacy will serve as a valuable guide for committed teachers who want to improve their adolescent students' reading & writing skills while promoting literacy throughout their school and community. Allen Berger is the Heckert Professor of Reading & Writing at Miami University, Oxford, Ohio, USA. Elizabeth A. Shafran is a teacher in the Mason City Schools, Mason, Ohio, USA.Elizabeth A. Shafran is the author of 'Teens for Literacy: Promoting Reading and Writing in Schools and Communities' with ISBN 9780872072558 and ISBN 087207255X.