Secondary Literacy: Middle_HS

Secondary Literacy (Middle and High School)

The Arizona Department of Education is focused on the importance of teaching children to read. It is important to continue this focus in the secondary classroom, including middle school and high school.  In short, literacy instruction remains every bit as important in the older grades, as it is in grades K-3. The resources provided here are meant to assist secondary (6th-12th) ELA educators and parents in providing the best instruction for all Arizona students. (Lauren Spenceley, Secondary ELA Specialist)

The Arizona English Language Arts Standards define the knowledge, understanding, and skills that need to be effectively taught and learned for all students to be ready to succeed in credit-bearing, college-entry courses, in the workplace, and/or in military service. The standards present a vision of what it means to be a literate person in the twenty-first century.

Grade-specific K-12 standards in Reading, Writing, Speaking, and Listening, and Language translate the broad aims of The Arizona English Language Arts Anchor Standards into age- and attainment-appropriate terms. These standards allow for an integrated approach to literacy to help guide instruction. 

You can access the Grade 6-12 ELA Standards, as well as the Vertical Articulation of Standards, Glossary, and other guidance materials on the Standards: English Language Arts webpage.

FAQ about approved novel/text lists and the standards

Coming soon! ADE Adolescent Literacy Guidance Document

This resource section is under construction, but a great place to start is:

IES Practice Guides - The Institute of Education Sciences has provided a set of recommendations for evidence-based best practices to address challenges in classrooms and schools that serve the secondary grades.

Great new resource from The Reading League - The Reading League Compass - Adolescent Literacy

More coming soon!

Achieve the Core-Text Complexity Toolkit

All About Adolescent Literacy - AdLit.org is a national multimedia project offering information and resources to the parents and educators of struggling adolescent readers and writers. 

AdLit Classroom Strategies - Before, During, and After Reading

CEEDAR - Disciplinary Literacy Course Enhancement Module

EdWeek - Spotlight on Adolescent Reading 

GELN - Essential Instructional Practices for Disciplinary Literacy in the Secondary Classroom

IES Practice Guides - The Institute of Education Sciences has provided a set of recommendations for evidence-based best practices to address challenges in classrooms and schools that serve the secondary grades.

Keys to Literacy Adolescent Literacy Resources - Joan Sedita of Keys to Literacy provides resources focused on adolescent literacy. Adolescent literacy encompasses the skills that must be taught to all students so they can meet increasingly challenging reading and writing demands as they move through the upper grades, as well as what needs to be done for those students who fall behind and may need intervention instruction in foundational literacy skills.

Meadows Center, Partner Reading Teachers' Guide - The purpose of this guide is to provide teachers with a feasible partner reading procedure that can be used in middle school classrooms.

NCTE Students’ Right to Read – Plethora of resources for engaging students in literature. 

ReadWriteThink – Powered by NCTE. ReadWriteThink is a teaching and learning community for English Language Arts teachers from K-12th grade with resources providing free access to the highest quality standards-based practices, lesson plans, videos, activities, and apps.

WestEd Publications, Reading for Understanding: How Reading Apprenticeship Improves Disciplinary Learning in Secondary and College Classrooms 

WestEd Reading Apprenticeship - What if instead of teaching around the text, lecturing, or summarizing for students, teachers engaged students in actually grappling with text - reading and talking about what it means and how they figured it out? WestEd has provided resources and materials to teach reading in a metacognitive way. 

Writing Contests 

JFK Profile in Courage Essay Contest - The Profile in Courage Essay Contest opens for submissions in the Fall of each year.

National Novel Writing Month Young Writers’ Program – National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) takes place in November. The Young Writers’ Program supports under-18 writers and K-12 educators as they participate in the November event, and take part in smaller writing challenges year-round.

Grammar Resources 

Heinemann Publishing, The Grammar Planbook 

Writing

Keys to Literacy, Keys to Content Writing Resources

IES Guide, Teaching Secondary Students to Write Effectively

AdLit.org, "Organizations that Promote Adolescent Literacy" - From lesson plans and classroom tools to free books and opportunities to publish students’ work, nonprofit organizations have a lot to offer parents, teachers, and struggling readers themselves. Learn about some nonprofits with a commitment to helping young people become better readers and writers.

AdLit.org, "Parent Engagement in Transitions to Middle and High School" - Using the 3A framework (Attendance, Achievement, and Attainment) for dropout prevention developed by the America’s Promise Alliance and the Annie E. Casey Foundation, this article highlights specific knowledge that parents need to support students’ success, as well as ways that schools can engage parents as partners.

AdLit.org, "Engaging Parents to Support Academic Achievement" - Academic achievement is a strong predictor of high school graduation and is critical to long-term success in college, work, and life. A sixth grader who fails Math or English has unsatisfactory behavior, or poor attendance has a 75% likelihood of dropping out. Freshmen in Chicago public schools who earn a B average or better have an 80% chance of finishing high school with at least a 3.0 GPA.

IES, "Literacy Tips for Parents of Adolescents" - Based on common instructional elements, these are activities that parents can initiate at home to help ensure successful literacy outcomes for their adolescent students.

Meadows Center, "How Can I Help My Middle Schooler Read Multisyllabic Words? Five Helpful Steps" - This resource describes a simple strategy you and your child can use to help decode long words.

Scholastic, “17 Ways to Keep Your Middle Schooler Turning Pages” - As your kids get older, they may put reading on the back burner. Learn the best ways to keep them turning the pages with these helpful tips. 

ADE Assessment - Educator resources for the new Arizona state assessments. [AASA (3rd-8th), ACT Aspire (9th), ACT (11th)]

Including:

  • Performance Level Descriptors and Item Specifications (AASA)
  • Arizona State Standards Alignment Guide (ACT and ACT Aspire)

High School Graduation - Information and Requirements

PostSecondary Resources - Resources and Events

OELAS Guidance - High School Credit for Integrated and Targeted ELD | OELAS Homepage

    PROFESSIONAL LEARNING OPPORTUNITIES

    Request Secondary ELA Professional Learning for your School/District - Schedule a 30-minute virtual meeting!

    AIM Pathways to Proficient Reading: Secondary - Opportunities for ADE-funded Cohorts for SY24-25!

    We have the opportunity to provide virtual cohorts of the AIM Pathways to Proficient Reading: Secondary professional learning course to Arizona educators (over $800 value at no cost to you or your district). This course includes over 55 hours of literacy learning for secondary educators. 

    At this time, we do not have seats available for the cohort beginning in September 2024. However, we foresee having more seats available in the future.  If you and/or your district/charter are interested in future availability for this training, please fill out this interest form: AIM Pathways to Proficient Reading: Secondary Interest Form for Future Opportunities

    Secondary ELA Webinars on APLD

    Earn PD credit and collaborate with other secondary ELA teachers! A variety of topics including: reading comprehension, writing, secondary MTSS, collaboration with Social Studies, and more! - use search term "secondary ELA"

    Register - use search term "secondary ELA" to narrow down your search

    ALL ELA Professional Learning Opportunities

    Current PD from the whole ELA Team: 

    • K-12 Literacy Office Hours once a month - come join us to hear the latest ELA news!
    • Arizona Reading Fundamentals OnDemand Academy - This academy offers schools a variety of free knowledge blocks on demand. Each knowledge block includes several different sessions. Each session includes three recorded presentations and pre- and post-activities. Districts and schools are encouraged to utilize these resources as a part of a comprehensive professional learning plan that is data-driven, sustained, intensive, collaborative, job-embedded, and instructionally focused.

    Register - use search term "k12-AS-ELA" to narrow down your search

    APLD Support:
    For questions regarding registration, certificates, accessing courses, etc. please refer to our: APLD FAQs

    Sign up for ELA Listserv:

    To stay on top of the latest Arizona ELA news, join our listserv!

    2025

    Register

    use search term "secondary ela book study" to narrow down your search

    Archived Book Studies:

    • September-October 2024 Reading for Understanding: How Reading Apprenticeship Improves Disciplinary Learning in Secondary and College Classrooms THIRD EDITION - Visit the Padlet!
    • Summer 2024 The Writing Revolution: A Guide to Advancing Thinking Through Writing in All Subjects and Grades - Visit the Padlet!
    • March-May 2024 Providing Reading Interventions for Students in Grades 4-9 and Beyond Practice Guide - Visit the Padlet!
    • March-May 2023 and February-March 2024 Thinking Reading: What Every Secondary Teacher Needs to Know About Reading - Visit the Padlet!
    • September-October 2023 Reading for Understanding: How Reading Apprenticeship Improves Disciplinary Learning in Secondary and College Classrooms THIRD EDITION - Visit the Padlet!
    • January - March 2023 Effective Instruction for Middle School Students with Reading Difficulties - Visit the Padlet!
    • Fall 2022 Disciplinary Literacy Inquiry & Instruction - Visit the Padlet!
    • Summer 2022 The Writing Revolution: A Guide to Advancing Thinking Through Writing in All Subjects and Grades - Visit the Padlet!
    • April-May 2022 Reading for Understanding: How Reading Apprenticeship Improves Disciplinary Learning in Secondary and College Classrooms, 2nd Edition - Visit the Padlet!
    • Early Spring 2022 Fundamentals of Literacy Instruction and Assessment, Grades 6-12 - Visit the Padlet!
    • Fall 2021 Effective Instruction for Middle School Students with Reading Difficulties
    • Spring 2021 Reading for Understanding: How Reading Apprenticeship Improves Disciplinary Learning in Secondary and College Classrooms, 2nd Edition

    You will find an abundance of resources for secondary writing and AZ's writing standards at this Padlet!

    Current Writing Sessions for SY2024-2025

    Assessing Secondary Writing - Register for the December 12th session!
    Resources Padlet

    ARCHIVED WRITING SESSIONS

    • Arizona's 6-12th Grade Writing Standards: Model, Practice, Reflect, Assess - Resources Padlet
    • Types of Writing Standards Grades 6-12: Argument Writing | Padlet
    • Types of Writing Standards Grades 6-12: Informative/Explanatory Writing | Padlet
    • Types of Writing Standards Grades 6-12: Narrative Writing | Padlet
    • Empowering Students through Grammar Instruction | Recording | Slide Deck 
    • Writing for College, Career, and Beyond | Recording | Slide Deck

    Reading Apprenticeship from WestEd - Disciplinary Literacy in grades 6-12 and beyond

    Reading Apprenticeship is an evidence-based professional learning experience focused on disciplinary literacy in grades 6-12. Educators are engaged in a process to discover the tools and perspective to “apprentice” their students in any subject area. This assets-based approach helps teachers develop students’ comprehension skills while also building subject-area knowledge, reader-identity, collaboration, and persistence. 

    • We currently do not have any free opportunities for taking part in Reading Apprenticeship, but please view the materials to learn more and reach out if you would like more information. Keep an eye out for future opportunities!

    Resources:

    Webinars

    Special Presentation - "Secondary ELA Webinar: Restoring Humanity to Striving Adolescent Readers" Recording - use this Passcode: V^2e5*h0 | Padlet of Resources
    Special Presentation - "A Face Like Mine: Connecting Classic Literature to Modern YA Books"On 2/11/21,  a panel of high school librarians discussed ways to incorporate modern YA books in teaching classic literature in the classroom. Click here to view the presentation
    Building Background in the Virtual Secondary ELA ClassroomBuilding schema and background knowledge is one of the best ways to raise reading comprehension for our students. In this webinar, we explored some easy and fun ways to do this in the virtual/distance learning secondary ELA classroom. A better understanding of how building background and surfacing schema will help your students become better readers. Visit the Padlet with resources and a slide deck.
    Summer Series - Spotlight on Media Literacy and SourcingIn collaboration with our ADE Social Studies team - Join trainers from ADE, and master teachers from around the state to a webinar to teach and engage with media literacy at all grade levels. Recorded presentation
    "What is Media Literacy and How Do I Teach It?"This webinar will examine what media literacy means, how do we teach students to be responsible consumers and producers of media, and examine some methods and lessons you can use in your classroom. Recorded presentation
    Integrating Secondary Social Studies and ELAIn collaboration with our ADE Social Studies team - How do you integrate Social Studies and English Language Arts in a secondary setting? What are the benefits of collaboration between English and Social Studies educators? This webinar demonstrated best practices to integrate Social Studies and ELA efficiently and easily. This webinar also used texts with multiple perspectives to address new ways to create cross-curricular projects and lessons. Slide Deck

    Secondary ELA Office Hours

    Secondary ELA Quarterly Office Hours

    Secondary ELA Quarterly Office Hours is a virtual opportunity to collaborate, share, and learn about secondary reading and literacy information from the AZ Department of Education with secondary ELA literacy educators and leaders from around the state. 

      Past Meetings:

      **The views and opinions expressed in any third-party resource do not necessarily reflect those of the Arizona Department of Education (ADE) and do not imply an endorsement by ADE.