How to teach high school reading with elementary literacy curriculum
High school teachers are handed sudden literacy mandates backed only by elementary-level training, such as clapping syllables for seniors, and superficial district PowerPoints. Without research-backed intervention materials or high school-appropriate strategies, educators are left guessing, ignoring the mandates, or running solo without peer support.
What the numbers show
Counted from the threads quoted below. How we count
What people tried
Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.
Found another way around this?
Share your steps and trade-offs so fellow engineers don't have to reinvent the wheel. No account required.
- 1ignoring the mandates until forced to deal with themDid this help you?
- 2watching what other schools decide to doDid this help you?
- 3using kindergarten-level strategies like clapping syllables with older studentsDid this help you?
- 4Teaching one graphic novel a yearDid this help you?
- 5Pre-teaching language used to describe artistic choices in comicsDid this help you?
- 6Reading instructional guides like Understanding Comics before teachingDid this help you?
In their words
Unedited, grouped by where they were said, most upvoted first within each place, each linked to the thread it came from.
“So I’m approaching this with what I think is correct information.”source ↗
“But they’re having us clap syllables with seniors. That’s part of the training.”source ↗
“Because I have some peer review on Science of Reading and that’s not in there? But I’m running solo on the reading - perhaps I’m wrong…? Because the district just has PowerPoints and smiles.”source ↗
“Have you taught graphic novels successfully in English class? What are your recommendation and tips?”source ↗
“I want the students to do more, but they’re not there yet. I think a graphic novel would be a good edition.”source ↗
“Handling? We're handling it like I personally handle a lot of things. Ball it up and ignore it until it becomes impossible to ignore.”source ↗
“My school was ahead of the game on the math, but we were caught off guard by the literacy decision. Unfortuneay, there doesn't seem to be any literacy intervention curriculum with much research supporting it.”source ↗
Where this came up
People with this problem also raised
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- 6Why do mandated teaching methods fail in the classroom?
- 6How to switch schools in the middle of the school year
- 2How to handle book annotations when multiple classes share the same copies
- 4How do I choose what grade level to teach?