Literacy Today

This book defines literacy broadly as it explores concepts within core subjects and shows how to make standards-based literacy the goal and outcome of school reform. It imagines a future digital medium where educational technology is worthy of the spirit our children bring to it. Classrooms and schools centered on learners and learning can be intellectually exciting places. This book attends to that concern while giving a great deal of attention to connecting overlapping themes to good teaching. Literacy Today sets out to challenge teachers to make literacy and learning more relevant and lasting for their students. By providing a standards-based context for connecting basic subjects, it encourages teachers to reflect upon their practices while building a conceptual framework for new directions and new approaches to the curriculum. As the concept of literacy expands to meet the needs of today's complex world, teachers need all the assistance that they can get. The standards movement does not authoritatively tell teachers what to do. rather, it helps them make decisions about what to teach, what to spend time on, and what to eliminate from the curriculum. This books gives teachers a road map and a literacy-intensive destination. It highlights some of the better routes and helps teachers with good activities and professional development along the way.