Literacy
in Secondary Schools
What is literacy?
…the literate are defined not simply as those who have attained a certain level of proficiency in language ability, but rather as those who are able to use written materials effectively in the environment in which they live and work.
-McKenna & Robinson
McKenna, M. C., & Robinson, R. D. (2014). Teaching through text: Reading and writing in the content areas (2nd ed.). Pearson. (pg. 4)
Literacy is a HUGE focus in elementary schools. As students enter secondary schools, there is a switch from "learning to read" to "reading to learn". As secondary educators, we NEED to teach our students content specific literacy skills (intermediate and disciplinary literacy)
Three Types of Literacy Skills
Reading Strategies for the Classroom
Using the FAB 4
SERP Institute offers a few programs to support Adolescent Literacy
Word Generation Weekly - It is a program specifically designed for middle school. By using compelling topics to engage students in meaningful academic language development work with all their content-area teachers. Three “series” (years) of materials, with 24 one-week units per series.
You will need to create an account BUT everything is free to download.
STARI-STARI aims to accelerate the progress of struggling readers by addressing both basic reading skills, such as fluency and decoding, and deep comprehension skills simultaneously. It uses high interest books to practice the skills. It always have 3 "series" years of 3 units (Click here to see their Scope and Sequence)
About me
Teacher of 20 years in 3 states and Title I schools. Masters of Education in Reading. 12 years of teaching reading and multi-language learners for grades 6th-9th.