3.2 Literacy and reading in secondary school

The two video clips below are examples from the USA of different strategies that are used in the development of literacy across the curriculum.

The first clip shows how Fairfax School has helped students with key words in different subjects, integrating literacy development throughout the curriculum. The second example looks at small guided reading groups, where pupils explore meaning together.

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Transcript: Video 1: Best Practices: High School Reading Strategies

Reading strategies for high school students

Mary Keating

How many of you have ever come up against words you’ve never seen before and don’t know how to pronounce?

Alright let’s be honest – how many of you have just skipped that word?

Narrator

Social studies teacher Mary Catherine Keating is building knowledge through vocabulary. Because so many students come to this class with a range of reading skills, she knows the key to understanding content is through key words.

Mary Keating

How many of you have done the reading assignment, skipped over those words and had no clue what the reading said? So the words are the important part.

When you’re reading a non-fiction text, the words that you don't know, usually about 5 per cent for most kids, those are the most important words and they are the key to understanding the concept. So let’s go get some of this 5 per cent.

Narrator

As Mary Catherine Keating and Robert Sebring team-teach world history two, they embed reading strategies throughout their lesson. From paired reading to the use of word walls, these teachers help students master reading in the content area. The strategies are easily transferred to other reading the students may do. Attacking key words and concepts start with what students know.

Mary Keating

No phone after – anybody have rules about their phone?

Student

Apparently I’m not allowed to text between 4…

Mary Keating

So we began with an activity on their family and rules and who makes rules in the family, and then we moved it to the school and how you have a say in what you can do with those rules in learning that sometimes some rules are more structured.

Come up with the definition for absolute?

Student

A hundred per cent positive?

Mary Keating

Excellent!

Student

Everything.

Mary Keating

All of everything – I like that.

Narrator

To give kids, assign words in vocabulary. A lot of the kids will just go to the back, to the glossary, and copy the definition and never work with the word.

Robert Sebring

… and by definition you have tight control if you’re an absolute ruler…

Narrator

Keating and Sebring introduce words to students in multiple ways. First they begin by building background knowledge.

Mary Keating

Anybody have any kids making the rules in the house?

Narrator

Second, they want students to use words like a historian.

Student

So we can put the time period where absolutism was successful.

Narrator

And, third, Keating and Sebring group key words so students can interact with vocabulary. They cluster words and terms into categories and explain their reasoning behind it. For example, students should know the difference between Oliver Cromwell and the Roundheads, and the difference between absolutism and an absolute monarch. Finally, as homework, students will answer open-ended questions stressing the five per cent of terms and phrases unique to their chapter of study.

Mary Keating

Fact, right now, I’m assuming that you guys can do this – these two words – without looking them up.

Narrator

The goal for these students is to become active readers. As they study their textbooks and assigned readings, students learn to identify text clues to answer questions and even appreciate word walls.

Mary Keating

All the reading – even, you know, elementary, high school, middle school reading – has said put word walls in. This is the first year I’m doing it and I’m in the process of building it. My goal is, by the end of the year, there’s going to be words all over this classroom, and my idea is, as we move from unit to unit, I want the words to stay fresh in the mind.

Narrator

Keating and Sebring recognise that reading levels vary in their class – they purposely pair students to read to one another.

Student

Well, when people read out loud it also builds confidence in them.

Mary Keating

Able to listen for who is struggling with the reading so that we can pick that up and give them more assistance, plus the other thing we find is when they’re paired reading, they tend to pay attention more.

Student

Basically just highlighting like facts, and like things that like summarise each paragraph and on the side we write like a brief sentence or a couple of words to summarise each paragraph.

Narrator

Mary Catherine Keating and Robert Sebring weave reading strategies into their high school social studies classroom because it supports student learning for everyone. They know that as students progress in their education the reading they encounter becomes much more complex, yet some teachers seldom teach students how to deal with increasingly complex text and thus a learning gap begins to emerge. The explicit instruction of reading strategies for complex text of each content area is the main tool toward content mastery.

Mary Keating

Does it take time? Yes – but the time that it takes me to develop these strategies I gain at the end of the year because I don’t have to review as much because the kids have internalised a lot of it. They’ve made it their own.

Student

These reading strategies are very useful.

Student

And then you could just like look back, like okay about if you’re looking for something like what are the rules of ten? That’s right there. What do we use for power? That’s right there. It’s just easy to find.

Student

We don’t have it in different classrooms. I don’t know why as it’s such a…

End transcript: Video 1: Best Practices: High School Reading Strategies

Video 1: Best Practices: High School Reading Strategies

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Transcript: Video 2: 8th Grade Literacy: Small Group Guided Reading

Small Group Guided Reading – 8th Grade: North Middle School

Teacher

So today’s objective of our small group – can you hear me? Kinda, sorta? Alright. So today’s objective of our small group is that we are going to try and identify the main idea of the text. OK? So when you think of the main idea – what are some things that come to mind – what do you think about?

Student

If it is an expository who, what, where, when, why and how – like an online help?

Student

Thinking about what the text must be about?

Teacher

What the text must be about – OK. Anybody else want to add or do you disagree?

Student

Mainly about…

Teacher

Anything else? You guys agree? So don’t be shy. Everybody must pretend that they are not here OK as this conversation is between you guys – Miss Rodrigues is not leading the group discussion – OK? I’m just here to guide it alright? So before we get started I want you to do a quick preview of the text. Go ahead and read the title, the subtitle and any pictures and any captions and I want you guys to start discussing it when I get back.

Student

Miss

Teacher

Yes

Student

So does the state allow it?

Teacher

I don’t know – write that down.

Students

[Reading]

Teacher

OK, so I’m just going to get it started. What struck you as you preview the text? Anything that came to your mind that you wanted to talk about before we got started?

Student

The caption to the picture of the paddle says I don’t agree that discipline should be physical from teachers – it should be verbal or a suspension or something like that.

Teacher

What do you mean? I don’t understand what you are saying.

Student

Because it says how it is an effective deterrent to misbehaviour says the school Principal. This is how they discipline the kids by spanking them, and I said I don’t agree that it should be physical contact.

Teacher

So what do you guys think about what Jeremy said?

Student

Well I agree with him. [inaudible] Teachers shouldn’t be allowed to hit their students, that’s what I think.

Student

Well I noticed on the paddle it had different facts about how adults support this topic and how some say to allow it.

Teacher

Did it make you wonder something or you just – was it interesting – tell me what came to mind when you read that?

Student

It was kind of interesting to see how some adults agree with it.

Teacher

My dad would agree with it.

Student

He would?

Teacher

Yeah!

Alright – what I want you to do is to read all the way through and annotate all the way through to the end of the second paragraph, so – all the way to where it says ‘corporal punishment’ – you see that – the second paragraph? And I want you to be thinking about, as we are going, what is the main idea?

Student

Corporal punishment…

Teacher

OK so what were you thinking about while reading? What struck you as you read?

Student

That I could get demanded because all the teachers are the same gender as the student and they outlaw corporal punishment like…

Teacher

OK, so what about that?

Student

Like you can get demanded and also punished.

Teacher

Where does it say that at?

Student

No that’s what I’m thinking because right here it says the district’s policy, the same teacher – the guy was a male and he gave the punishment to a female and so he could probably get demanded if taken to court.

Teacher

He could get demanded? Fired? Taken to court, recommended – so you are thinking about what his actions were. OK, what else?

Student

I think that it wasn’t fair to do that to her just for that because it wasn’t like something that was extremely bad.

Teacher

So what makes something extremely bad?

Student

Maybe like…

Teacher

What do you guys think?

Student

From experience, like, as a referral, it says minor and major so like a major could be the spanking but a minor just like a detention, or something.

Teacher

What do you guys think?

Student

Yeah – I agree with Jeremy. Cos like copying your homework wouldn’t be that much of a big deal, especially, well maybe cos he might have been at high school but it still wouldn’t have been a major deal.

Student

And the classmate is the one who was copying and it doesn’t seem like the classmate got into trouble.

Student

Yeah it doesn’t seem like.

Teacher

So you don’t agree with what’s going on so far?

Student

Yes.

Teacher

So thinking about the main idea – what do we know about it so far? We said we would think about the 5 Ws and the ‘how’ – what do we know so far?

Student

The ‘what’ is the spanking.

Student

The ‘who’ is the man who is there to make them…

Teacher

So far that’s what we think? OK.

Alright, what we know that this is only the first couple of paragraphs and we still have more to read so what I want you to do is to continue on…

Student

I have the ‘how’.

Teacher

You have the ‘how’?

Student

How it’s done – the same gender of the student who was spanked – that’s how it’s done.

Teacher

So you are thinking about the actual corporal punishment and how they do it – that’s what you think this is mostly about?

Student

Hmmm

Teacher

Not yet. You need to read some more. OK.

So I want to read all the way to the second column where it says ‘among the children’ – you see that?

Student

Yes

Student

So are you going to talk?

Student

When he said that even though that they – that the studies when they show that when kids are spanked they just get like worse. I don’t understand why they do it if it just gets the behaviour problems worse.

Student

I disagree that it got worse because it makes them react and think that they shouldn’t be able to do it because they could [inaudible]

Student

But then as it says, it says that researchers say there is little evidence that spanking actually works to change children’s behaviour for the better. And they are saying that in fact kids spanked by their parents tend to be more aggressive than other kids and are likelier to develop behavioral problems as they get older. Some studies show that corporal punishment can even lead to lower IQs so I think the abuse leads them to have a bad, has them to get like a bad mood so when they do come to school they are not as focused and [inaudible] same amount of effort because like they are broken down inside from what happened. They want to get even but know they can’t.

Student

I would disagree with you as once you think about it, that as soon as like that their parents spank them so they want to be like one of them and know to do – what’s right – because they will be scared that if they don’t do what’s right they will get into even more trouble than if they do.

Student

But that’s the problem with some topics because there’s opinions but then there’s statistics. They’re talking about the statistics wise – this is what they have concluded and this is what their answer is and you are talking about opinions. Everybody has opinions about what should happen.

Student

It’s a lot more aggressive with them.

Student

That’s just the statistics.

Student

And it makes all of this negative so…

Teacher

OK so let’s go back to the text because Jeremy pointed out a statistic or a study where they said it doesn’t help kids but later on it said something that has to do more with the home versus school – do you remember that part? What does it say?

Student

They were talking about that...

Student

Like instead of paying attention in school they will be focused on what’s going to happen to me at home? What are my parents going to do to me?

Student

And it was talking about how they haven’t done research on both of the environments and they are talking about how just because at school they believe it doesn’t help the student they can’t say that at home it doesn’t help the student too as they are saying how…

Student

The facts are different.

Student

It’s unfair to assume the facts are the same.

Teacher

OK good. So now let’s go back to the main idea that we are thinking about – the ‘who, what, when, what, why, how’. When we first started, Jeremy said that it’s about spanking, giving a spanking in school, and now they are talking about all these studies, so what is it about so far? What is the term that they use? What do they call spanking?

Student

Corporal punishment.

Teacher

Corporal punishment. And what are they talking about?

Student

Aren’t they trying to persuade – like it’s a two-way side so like they are trying to persuade why they should do it using statistics and why they shouldn’t do it?

Teacher

OK so what do you guys think about that? Is it persuasive if they are giving both sides?

Student

No.

Student

It’s like informal.

Student

Mutual.

Student

Which one to choose?

Teacher

OK.

Student

So since they are giving us the statistics so they are informing us of the…

Student

At the same time they are telling you, you should support it or you should not support it.

Teacher

OK so let’s keep that in our mind for when we are thinking about the main ideas so we can come up with that at the end. So go ahead and finish reading and annotating the text to the very end, thinking about the main idea.

Teacher

Are we ready?

Students

We are ready.

Teacher

OK so now that we’re … instead of discussing let’s think about the main idea. What do you guys know about the main idea?

Student

It has something to do with spanking?

Teacher

OK.

Student

About slow work.

Student

We should write these down.

Teacher

That’s a good idea. What are you writing down?

Student

Whatever we say.

Teacher

There’s the poster up there. Expository text. You did, you just realised that? OK, you guys can talk about it. Let’s see if you can come up with something in the next few minutes.

Student

What is it – spanking?

Teacher

In what?

Student

In schools.

Teacher

That’s a question?

Student

Corporal punishment.

Teacher

Corporal punishment? You just said should it be allowed? They use the word in here. Corporal punishment is uncertain or undecided – does that make sense?

Student

The ‘who’ is students in the 19 states.

Teacher

So we got the ‘who’ and we have the ‘what’.

Student

The ‘when’ is?

Student

Is this currently or…?

Student

It says 2004 right here.

Student

It doesn’t have dates, because it says adults. All spanking has failed over the years – so you want to say now or 2000 generation?

Teacher

I think you will be safe to say currently as I got this out of a recent magazine that had just recently been printed – maybe they haven’t done a recent study.

Student

Are these aware?

Student

Are the schools in 19 states? Corporal punishment?

Teacher

Why is corporal punishment uncertain?

Student

There are two sides to this topic.

Student

What do you think the ‘how’ is? What does it connect to?

Student

Isn’t the ‘how’ the result?

Student

‘How’ is the corporal punishment.

Teacher

What happened at the end?

Student

We haven’t decided yet.

Teacher

Why not?

Student

Because it’s an argument…

Teacher

Who needs to decide?

Student

The ‘Hill’.

Student

The Congress.

Teacher

OK.

Student

But then it says the Hill and the classroom so…

Student

While the US Congress is considering such a ban in schools a final vote on the Hill and in the classroom is uncertain.

Student

What is ‘on the Hill’?

Teacher

What do you think?

Student

It’s probably corporal punishment or something like that.

Student

The final vote on…

Teacher

OK, let’s leave out the ‘How’ and let’s try to come up with the main idea that we have.

Student

The main idea is currently students in the 19 States and corporal punishment – instead of saying students we could just say schools because we are talking about the schools and the main idea.

Student

Instead of talking about students we should be talking about schools in the 19 states believe corporal punishment is uncertain due to the two sides of the topic.

Teacher

Good. Do you all agree on that?

Students

Yes.

Teacher

Good. So turn to your reading reflection in the front of your note book. We struggle with the main idea – why? What do we do? Why do we struggle with the main idea – this simple thing that you guys did as readers today? When you see or hear a main idea, you have to focus on the ‘who, what, why, when, where, how’, so that’s what I want you to write on today. As readers, when I think about the main idea, even if it’s one simple main idea, one question, you should always use the strategy of writing out ‘who, what, why, when, where, how’.

Something about spanking – do you remember that? Then we decided well let’s write down the ‘who, what, why, when, where, how’, and that’s a strategy that good readers use when coming up instead of guessing – OK?

So what are you going to do as a reader to clarify the main idea?

Student

Use the strategy of the 5 Ws and how to clarify the main idea.

Teacher

Holla!

Teacher

OK come to a stopping point please. Get your Martin Luther King’s speech and move to the front.

Teacher

So can you clarify what you got?

Student

As readers I think about main ideas. We should use the strategy of the 5 Ws and how to clarify the main idea.

End transcript: Video 2: 8th Grade Literacy: Small Group Guided Reading

Video 2: 8th Grade Literacy: Small Group Guided Reading

If you are a teaching assistant in a secondary school, think about how the activities could be adapted for your own setting.

If you are not working in a secondary school but know children at this stage, try to find out more about what they are reading in relation to a specific subject and how vocabulary or key words are different from everyday language. An example from geography could include the following words: globalisation, urban and rural, spit, glacier, soil erosion, deforestation.

• How does your school help with literacy in the secondary curriculum?
• What words are linked to a secondary school subject that are different from everyday use?