Lifting Literacy:A Framework for planning engaging adolescent literacy units

How can literacy instruction honor student identity, build strong skills, and still ignite joy in learning? Lifting Literacy introduces a practical framework for adolescent literacy that blends historically responsive literacy practices, textured teaching, and multimodal composition into a cohesive approach to English Language Arts instruction. Grounded in Dr. Gholdy Muhammad’s Historically Responsive Literacy (HILL) model, the framework centers five key pursuits—identity, skills, intellectualism, criticality, and joy—to ensure literacy learning is both rigorous and meaningful for students.   Participants will explore how these principles can be layered with textured teaching, a flexible instructional approach that emphasizes student choice, interdisciplinary learning, community connections, and experiential activities. The session also highlights the power of multimodal composition, demonstrating how students can communicate ideas through visual, linguistic, spatial, gestural, and digital modes. Teachers will see classroom examples of multimodal projects that deepen engagement while strengthening traditional literacy outcomes. Designed for any ELA classroom, this session offers practical strategies for designing units that connect the curriculum, texts, and students' experiences. Participants will leave with ideas for building literacy environments that foster engagement, critical thinking, and authentic expression. If you’re looking for ways to elevate literacy instruction while keeping students at the center of learning, this session will offer inspiration and concrete tools you can use immediately.