What does the science of reading look like in high school (part 1 of many)?

What does the science of reading or structured literacy look like in high school? We get this question a lot…and the truth is, there is no one way to answer it, but we can still try. In this series, we will highlight high-impact, replicable instructional practices and routines that are relevant to high school and middle school English/ELA classes.

First up, we invite you into Bob Sparks’ 10th grade English class for a moment. In this clip you’ll see students hard at work, thinking, writing, reading, and interpreting select quotations from Life of Pi (yes, some high school students are still reading novels!).

Bob’s routine is simple. Here’s how it works:

1. Teacher poses a text-dependent question.

2. Students think and write about the question, identifying key textual evidence to support their response.

3. Students engage in a a brief Turn and Talk dialogue with a partner

4. Full class discussion.

5. Repeat!

I like this routine because for several reasons:

1. It keeps student attention and thought directly on the text, the entire time.

2. It builds on itself. By the time, they get to the full class discussion, students have had time to think about the question and text, write about the question and text, and talk about the question and text, and hear a partner talk about it. In other words, they’ve got stuff to say.

3. This routine is brisk. Bob doesn’t linger and wait for everyone to finish talking and writing. He keeps the pace moving.

4. This routine is easy to replicate across subjects and grade levels.

So back to the original question: what does the science of reading or structured literacy look like in high school? In Bob’s class, it looks like students grappling with complex text through thinking, reading, writing, and discussion.