Developmental

Factors that Impact

Literacy:
Language

CognitivePsychological

Norms for 12-Year-Old Learners:

Social-EmotionalCultural

Understand and enjoy sarcasm, double meanings,

word play, and sophisticated jokes
Enjoy conversation with adults and peers
Value peer vocabulary and slang
Think more abstractly
Both playful and serious
Begin to excel at a subject or skill
Can see both sides of an argument
Interested in civics, history, current events, politics,
social justice, and environmental issues
- Pop culture (clothes)
Increased thought and work organization
Interested in performance and understand and
appreciate need for rehearsal and revision
Growing ability to set short term goals
Homework over longer periods
Can help peers with work , make good use of class
time during peer collaborative exercises
Learning is more effective with collaborative, crossdisciplinary teaching models, and self-contained
classrooms
Adult personality developing
Becoming self-aware, yet struggle for identity
Searches for solid, meaningful relationships
Telephone, computer, and mirror are important
Changeable and unpredictable
Develop empathy and insight
Appear enthusiastic and secure
Care about peer opinions more than authorities
Initiate own activities without prompting of adults
Leadership qualities develop (tutoring, school jobs,
community service, child care)
Appreciate teachers who listen and respond to their
suggestions
Benefit immensely from ceremonies and rituals
- Coming of age/rites of passage, honors
assemblies, graduations, service and athletics
awards
Need access to significant adults to help them think
about issues such as drugs, alcohol, sex, AIDS,

violence, and family problems ( beyond teachers and

parents)
Want to make money

Literacy Focus:
Reading

Writing

12-Year-Old Educational
Considerations:
Reading trade books
Reading newspapers, magazines,
working with charts and graphs,
using sources for in formation
(science)
Read trilogies and series (history,
sports, science fiction, and fiction
with themes tied to current events
and social justice)
Recognize and discuss formal
aspects of fiction
Complete research reports
Learning library skills
Writing:
Increased facility with revision
Interested in writing biographies
and autobiographies, brief essays
about world concerns (racism,
poverty, and environmental
issues), and genres of diary,
fantasies, myths
Spelling:
Functional for most part; spell
checkers are helpful
Writing Themes:
Summarizing and writing briefly
and clearly about teen issues (sex,
drugs, music, cars)
Emotional poetry
Editorial (extreme positions)
Handwriting:
Use computer to write, pleasure in
practicing handwriting by writing
letters, invitations, and thank-you
notes
Some interested in calligraphy

Developmental
Factors that Impact
Literacy:
Language

CognitivePsychological

Norms for 13-Year-Old Learners:

Social-EmotionalCultural

Want to know and use current peer language

Answer parents with single words or loud, extreme
language
Backward and forward moving in development
Some become using more abstract reasoning
Tentative, worried, and unwilling to take risks on
tough intellectual tasks
Like to challenge intellectual and social authorities
Across culture, cognitive development is enhanced
through social interaction
Very concerned about physical appearance
Not concerned with neatness of personal
environments
Quieter than 12 or 14 year-olds
Like to be left alone at home
Moody, sensitive, anger flare ups
Feelings easily hurt, can easily hurt others feelings,
frequent meanness may stem from insecurities and
fears
Girls focus on close friendships, boys travel in small
groups or gangs
Girls show interest in older boys
Spend hours on phone, computer, video games, TV
Feel and exert peer pressure (clothing, speech,
music, etc.)
Boys engage in horseplay and practical jokes still
Both boys and girls show interest in sports
Worry about school work
Increased use of humor with sarcasm
Enjoy collecting things (jewelry, make-up, music,
movies)
Adults must say little and listen a lot
Learn best when with others; accepted and enjoyed

Literacy Focus:
Reading

Writing

13-Year-Old Educational
Considerations:
Read fiction and non-fiction on
social issues
Extensively study literacy
elements
Read aloud as a class, use sources
dealing with social topics such as
conformity, crime, homelessness,
as springboards to discussion and
better understanding
Acquire vocabulary from context,
dictionary, and thesaurus
Use references to document their
statements
Writing:
Ability to revise with careful
attention to difference between
critique and personal criticism
Pride in using proper writing
mechanics
Beginning ability to structure short
essays with thesis and supporting
details
Ability to summarize
Spelling:
Functional for most, but spell
check is helpful
Writing Themes:
Curricular literature, stories about
social peer issues on justice vs.
injustice, inclusion vs. exclusion
Handwriting:
Functional for most
Computers helpful

Developmental
Factors that Impact
Literacy:
Language

Norms for 14-Year-Old Learners:

CognitivePsychological

Social-EmotionalCultural

Language is an aspect of their self-identity

Very concerned with use of slang that is popular with
peers, but also want to learn how to communicate in
the adult world
Interested in world meanings and developing
broader vocabulary
Engage more in group discussions.
Better at figuring out cause and effect and deeper
abstract thinking
More willing to admit to error and try something
differently
Very aware of problems in larger world and still
invested in learning more and finding solutions
Like technology and learning how things work
Crave adult connection even while fighting for their
identity
Need adults to listen and negotiate rules and
requirements
Time for boys to join the girls in front of the mirror
Feel the need to distance themselves from adults
and toward peers
Awkward embarrassment of being seen with parents
Adult personality still developing
Like to cram as much in each day as possible
Typically loud and rambunctious
know-it-all stage- dislike and respond poorly to
lectures
Eye-rolling, hair-tossing, scornful facial expressions
Challenging authorities is a visceral reaction and
argue for the sake of arguing
Want to do it their way & have freedom to be on
their own
Look for activities, yet afraid of embarrassment
Begin to develop their self-identity and group identity
- At home: their room decorations
- In the world: hair, clothing, music, language
May become devoted to a sport, musical instrument,
piercings, friendship, or idol. (important for fidelity in
adulthood)
Fidelity and sense of self develops through
guidelines, customs, and rites of passage

Literacy Focus:
Reading

Writing

American society offers few rites of passage for

14 year olds
Some families create these for their adolescent
Family, camps, church may be important, but school
is their primary social setting
Can be a pain at home and a start at school
The school structure and demands impact their
development (Example: homework is resented when
it lowers their grades when they dont do it OR
results in detentions OR missing extra-curricular. If
homework is perceived as a challenge and respond
to it with a negotiation, they are more likely to do it.)
14-Year-Old Educational
Considerations:
Use literary themes to support
their quest for identity and
explore perspectives of self and
others
Sample many genres: song lyrics,
poetry, drama, short story, and
novel
Study literacy elements
relationships
Express understanding of
difference between fact and
opinion
Use textual references in writing
and discussion
Use language as a tool for
different purposes
Participate in class read-aloud and
discussion
Continue increasing their
vocabulary
Writing:
Interested in choosing appropriate
genre to represent their ideas
Experiment with different voices
and write in different points of
view
More deliberate use of grammar
for style

Begin use of footnotes, endnotes,

bibliographic entries
Spelling:
Functional for most, but spell
check is helpful
Writing Themes:
Motivation to write in preparation
for activities (debates, mock
trials)
Use literary themes for creative
writing
Ability to do longer research
papers related to thematic studies
Willingness to write in journals
with adults to sort issues in their
own lives and larger world
Handwriting:
Increasing fluency with computers