Summer Institute 2016‎ > ‎Day 1‎ > ‎

B. Incorporating Literacy Strategies in ALL Content Areas K-12


Session Description

In this session we will explore universal reading strategies that can be incorporated K-12.  

Learner Outcomes

By the end of the sessions participants will know / be able to:

1. Understand “why” literacy is important

2. Discuss strategies to close the achievement gap

3. Learn to incorporate strategies into content taught





How Important is Teaching Literacy in All Content Areas? 

(15 minutes)

According to Edutopia's article, "How Important is Teaching Literacy in All Content Areas",  Literacy is an Every-Century Skill.  "Adolescents entering the adult world in the 21st century will read and write more than at any other time in human history. They will need advanced levels of literacy to perform their jobsrun their householdsact as citizens, and conduct their personal lives." -- Richard Vaca, author of Content Area Reading Literacy and Learning Across the Curriculum.... There are an endless number of engaging, effective strategies to get students to think about, write about, read about, and talk about the content you teach. The ultimate goal of literacy instruction is to build a student's comprehension, writing skills, and overall skills in communication.

Directions:  Take a moment to reflect on the quote from the article above. Brainstorm with your group examples of  how:

1.) Students are reading and writing more today than any other time in history. 

2.) Why students need more advanced levels of literacy to perform jobs today, run their households, act as citizens, and conduct their personal lives. 

3.) How is literacy different for today's student than it was when you were a student in school? Is there a difference? 

4.) Why is it important more than ever that our students be literate and digitally literate? 


Post your group's responses to your school's  Padlet Below.









Warm-Up: Why Is Literacy Important?

(5 minutes )

With the members of your group, click the digital spinner and take turns responding to the questions. 

Incorporating Literacy K-12 Warm-up Spinner                     



Activity 1:

(30 minutes)

“I DO”:
Using the article “ 8 Great Ways to Close the Achievement Gap”,  we will model how to read and annotate the text
using the MGSD Literacy Strategies Bookmark and Code a Text Strategy anchor chart. We  will model annotating and questioning the text for #1 and #2









“We Do”:


Using the same article we will  lead participants as they work together to annotate #3 and #4 still questioning aloud and using the MGSD Literacy Strategies Bookmark and Code a Text Strategy anchor chart. 


“Two Do”:
Participants and a Partner will then complete #5 and #6 together using the same steps. 


“You Do”:


Finally,  individual participants will complete the article by annotating # 7 and #8 independently and sharing out their understandings.



Activity 2:

(10 minutes )

Let's Take it Another Step:

Using the same article, we will repeat the “I Do, We Do, You Do” strategy, but this time we will attempt to attach a M-Powerment Strategy to each step. We will do #1 and #2, the group together will do #3 and #4, partners will do #5 and #6, and individuals will do #7 and #8.

Wrap Up :

(5 minutes) 

Let's Analyze What We've Learned:

Participants will use Today’s Meet to answer the question:


The article presented many strategies to close the gap, what other strategies do you think would be helpful?


Extension Activity: (Apply to Your Content Area) 

(20 Minutes ) 

A great aspect about reading strategies is they are universal. Below are folders for each of the content areas. Locate the folder that corresponds to what you teach, open the article inside, and practice annotating your text with the MGSD Literacy Strategies Bookmark. Be prepared to share out your impressions of how you could implement these strategies into your own classroom. 

Additional Resources