Structured Literacy and How it Applies in the Secondary Classroom

You may have noticed that "Structured Literacy" is the newest lingo when it comes to teaching reading to students. The New Mexico Public Education Department has released an entire guide for free which gives a comprehensive overview of how it applies to the classroom.

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I have studied the guide closely. Here are some strategies from the Structured Literacy Guide that you can start using in your secondary classroom right away.

Strategy 1- Establishing prior knowledge is key.

You probably are already doing this in your classroom. One of the causes for gaps in reading levels are that many students lack the basic knowledge on a subject matter in order to be able to read confidently about the topic. You can ask the students to share what they know on a KWL chart. If their knowledge base is meager than consider supplementing with some videos from resources on Youtube such as Crash Course History. CommonLit is great about linking videos to articles that engage student interest in a subject. Showing photographs is another way to help students preview a topic.

Strategy 2- Don't skip vocabulary building.

Students need to be explicitly taught vocabulary. First ask students to rate how well they know a word's meaning. Then analyze the word on the board together. Are there parts that help them understand the essential meaning of the word such as the root, prefix, suffix, etc. Once students start to realize that these word parts have particular meanings that can be applied in most circumstances it helps them to break it down.

Give students multiple opportunities to engage with the vocabulary. Have them draw pictures, write sentences, organize the words into categories of shared relationships.

The Structured Literacy Guide states that students need 7-10 experiences with vocabulary words until they are proficient with them. Make them part of exit tickets, or use sites like Vocabulary Bowl. The more often they work with a word, the better that they understand it.

Strategy 3- Be active during reading

Proficient readers are active readers. What does that mean? It means that they are constantly thinking about what they are reading and connecting it with what they know. There are many ways to be an active reader. My favorite way, and the one that absolutely proves to me without a doubt that students are thinking about what they read, is by having them annotate the text. If possible, provide printed copies of the reading, or significant passages if the text is large. You can also have it posted in Google Classroom and have them annotate the document digitally in Google Docs.

Model how to annotate the text as a whole group for the beginning paragraphs of a text. Once students get the hang of this skill, you can begin to model it less often.

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Strategy 4- Apply what you have read

Give opportunities for students to show that they understand the text. They can participate in discussions, respond to writing prompts, or synthesis the reading in a unique way by writing their own piece or responding artistically.

The tasks should vary from recalling knowledge type questions, connecting them to self, and eventually thinking about how it applies to the world as a whole.

Strategy 5- Everyone is a reading teacher

You don't have to be an English teacher or reading teacher in order to teach reading skills. In fact, students should be practicing their literacy skills in all subject areas. If students are in the practice of reading all the time, instead of just when they go to English class, then they will have multiple opportunities to hone and refine their skills. Students can still annotate reading passages when doing word problems in math, studying charts in science, or learning about physical fitness in PE. It's important that all teachers view themselves as literacy teachers.