Adolescent Literacy Model (ALM) is a comprehensive literacy approach designed for middle and high school classrooms as a way to integrate literacy in all content areas. CTL focuses on these five subdomains:
1) Academic Dialogue
2) Vocabulary
3) Reading Comprehension
4) Writing to Learn
5) Writing to Demonstrate Learning
Through professional learning and personalized coaching, educators learn ways to improve student engagement, content knowledge, and collaboration through rigorous instruction using ALM tools and structures. These include instructional strategies that are to be intentionally selected to align with academic purposes. ALM’s approach also encourages schools to develop a literacy leadership team that encompasses teachers from a variety of content areas.
the ALM advances:
- Tier 1 Instruction aligned with Kentucky Academic Standards and based in content literacy, where literacy strategies are applied in all subject areas to increase student engagement and deepen learning
- Access to content learning for all learners through the regular use of content literacy
- Strategies which take advantage of the various facets of literacy: Vocabulary Development, Reading Comprehension, Writing to Learn, Academic Dialogue, and Writing to Demonstrate
- Teacher as instructional-designer, selectively integrating curriculum resources and technology, to enhance student opportunities to process and express content learning individually and collaboratively
- Leadership development, including training and support for principals and the creation of a literacy leadership team to encourage, support, and monitor progress
- A school instructional culture of high achievement through literacy development based in an environment of continuous improvement and growth-mindset
