Thousands and thousands of middle school students around the world participate in reading intervention programs, many that are very expensive with limited effectiveness. We wanted to know if an after-school intervention focused on close reading procedures could improve student achievement. Close reading of complex text involves annotations,…

Social media has become adolescents' primary platform for communicating with one another. As a school faculty we wanted to explore our students' ability to contribute new information while being sensitive not to co-opt their out of school literacies for school-based purposes. This article shares how teachers in one urban school…

In this article, we focus on instructional support for 91 students who speak African American Vernacular English and who are at high risk for not passing the required state exams. We profile the instruction that was provided and the results from that instruction, providing examples of how students' language was scaffolded such that they could…

A great deal of attention is being paid to the lack of reading and academic success for adolescent males. In this article, we discuss three structures in a school where boys read (and perform) as well as girls. When instruction is guided by inquiry, when teachers model their thinking while reading, and when book choices are honored, all students…

Inside a ninth-grade classroom, we witness one teacher's very intentional instructional attempts that resulted in her students being able to convey well-crafted reasoning and text-supported evidence to mount persuasive arguments. Through personal examples and Internet resources, the teacher concretized pathos, logos, and ethos. The teacher and…

Academic writing is a mainstay of expression in secondary schools. However, many students think of academic writing in terms of local operations that include spelling, punctuation, use of third person, and so on. Teachers may expect mastery of local operations, but often they want students to navigate the terrain of the content area or discipline…

This article discusses the flexible nature of the gradual release of responsibility (GRR) as a frame for inquiry-based science instruction. Given the mandate for the use of text-supported learning (Common Core Standards), the GRR can be used to allow students to learn as scientists as they collaboratively develop testable questions and experiments…

A history teacher examines what is successful and not successful in group work in his high school classroom and gives concrete suggestions for improving group practice. Topics discussed include preparing students for group work, supporting collaboration, inviting critical analysis, and assessing both group and individual performance. (Contains 2…

In this article, the authors focus on homework as an adjunct for learning in secondary school classrooms. Four types of students are profiled, with detail on how the students respond to homework assignments when they do not understand the content. The authors then review three changes in homework practices that can engage students, including…

Modeled in this column is the teaching of a text mapping routine that supports students reading and remembering the salient features of the text. The authors renamed the story mapping technique "text mapping plus" because they found that as students added relational words and graphics to their maps their retells of both fiction and nonnarrative…

When students make mistakes, have misconceptions, or are simply wrong, how their teachers respond either builds new skills and understanding or reinforces errors. An intentional approach to responding when students don't get it includes questions to check for understanding, prompts for cognitive and metacognitive work, cues to divert attention,…

The authors had the most fantastic teachable moment when they shared book club time with 24 students they teach at Health Sciences High and Middle College. As they reflect on their conversation with the students, they are convinced that the impetus for the students' interest in what they were reading and discussing with their peers was that they…

This formative experiment was designed to ensure that a group of high school students developed their literacy habits. The intervention consisted of a schoolwide approach to literacy using four instructional routines: think-alouds, note-taking writing to learn, and dedicated reading time. As part of the formative experiment, we document the…

Shared reading with think-alouds provides adolescent students with the modeling they need to become successful readers and writers. This article provides a sample of this type of interactive comprehension instruction in a science classroom. The authors then focus on the dimensions of effective shared readings with think-alouds that can be used…

In this exploration of school improvement work, two teachers at two schools worked hard to improve literacy achievement, but the performance at only one of the schools resulted in significant growth. By spending time observing classrooms and interacting with students, the authors believe that two factors made the difference: school structures and…