Improving Adolescent Literacy: Strategies That Work

by Douglas Fisher, Nancy Frey

To help future teachers learn to infuse literacy instruction into all content areas, these authors present a rich panoply of engaging instructional strategies that research has shown to be effective for improving reading and writing in middle and secondary school students. After discussing common questions asked by content area teachers, a full chapter is devoted to each of eight strategies—anticipatory activities, read-alouds/shared reading, questioning, notetaking/notemaking, graphic organizers, vocabulary instruction, writing to learn, and reciprocal teaching—coupling discussions with examples from the author's own research in a diverse, urban secondary school. Features a common structure for presenting each strategy—1) scenario of a teacher using the strategy; 2) rationale for the strategy and its supporting research; and 3) descriptions of how the strategy works and authentic examples of the strategy in use. Additionally, in order to meet the challenge of today's inclusive, multicultural classrooms, the book presents only those strategies that have been proven effective with all learners - including those for whom English is not their first language. For future content area reading teachers.

Genres: Education, Nonfiction, Teaching, Academic, Reference, Grad School, Read For School

192 pages, Paperback

First published August 18, 2003

About the author

Douglas Fisher, Ph.D., is an educator and Professor of Educational Leadership at San Diego State University and a teacher leader at Health Sciences High & Middle College.

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Reviews

[Anna Brawner · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wouldn’t necessarily put a textbook on Goodreads. But I read every single page of this AND found a typo. So I’m giving myself credit for it

[Erin McDonnell-Jones · Rating 2 out of 5]

While this book does offer the same strategies as the other text ("50 Instructional Routines to Develop Content Literacy" also by Fisher); I liked the layout and format of the other text for a few reasons:

(1) It was linearly organized and easy to follow with the set-up and assistance offered in text. (How to use it, when to use it, etc...)
(2) While this text does offer more content area examples for individual strategies, I worry that novice teachers will feel "cornered" into use the strategy as it's listed rather than mulling over a possible strategy and how it could work.
(3) The lay out of the first book was very easy to follow. I could look up the strategy, flip to the page, and that was the only item in that section. Here, the strategies are embedded in the chapters and aren't as easy to search for within the text. (Although, to be fair, there's not much involved in each chapter so it's not overwhelming).

[Peter Myers · Rating 5 out of 5]

Improving Adolescent Literacy is a great resource for educators to incorporate interdisciplinary strategies into lesson plans and daily instruction. Fisher focuses on topics ranging from assessments, comprehension, questioning, building upon background knowledge, classroom discussions, etc. The book is filled with examples across disciplines and strategies for implementation in the classroom. A great resource for differentiating learning and providing students various opportunities to engage with their peers.

[Paula Boyce · Rating 4 out of 5]

This teacher resource book has many practical strategies for content area teaching and learning. I like Fisher's informal, and sometimes humorous, style of writing. The book is organized in chapters explaining and giving examples of the strategies, such as vocabulary development, using graphic organizers and writing. I plan to share these ideas with my students.

[Ella Hobson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found so many helpful ideas in this book for future lesson plans, student grouping methods, and small but effective instructional strategies. There were some parts that were better than others in terms of usefulness, and there were a few typos here and there, but overall, I enjoyed this read a lot.

[Dana S.G. Myers · Rating 4 out of 5]

Readability for a college text was really high and I actually found myself considering turning this rental into a purchase - a good reference text for literacy, if only teachers would use some of the suggestions!

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

I used this text for my students to use in my graduate class for content area reading. The new edition comes out in October, 2025. I felt that digital learning and assessments were a missing piece to this textbook. I am hoping the new edition brings more updates on that information.

[Devan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nothing super new in here for me, but still good stuff and reminders.

[Ms. Bridget · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nothing really stood out to me, but I have read and studied many of the concepts in this book already.

[Freda Anderson · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a teacher, usually, I get annoyed with some of these strategy books because they are filled with a lot of common sense things like "treat the kids like people instead of garbage," or "don't be racist to the kid who's still learning English." Those kinds of books make me shake my head in shame at the young teacher who is reading and avidly taking notes... But this book was super practical and helpful. I use a lot of strategies from this book and it's purposefully written to be geared towards teachers of all content areas (high school level). Very useful.

[J-Lynn Van Pelt · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a short accessible book that I highly recommend. The chapters are divided into different types of activities (e.g. anticipatory activities, graphic organizers, taking notes, writing to learn, vocabulary development, read alouds) and have three chapters that discuss reading research and the adolescent learner and high stakes testing. Each chapter also provides ideas on how to incorporate the strategies in classrooms throughout the core disciplines, foreign language classrooms, and electives. The only criticism that I have is that it is not made obvious that the strategies provided for a given discipline could be implemented in other subjects as well. My favorite chapter is on Writing to Learn.

[K · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really useful information about different ways to teach literacy in various content areas. It is centered around helping all students by scaffolding for students with special needs. This one is a keeper.

[QueenAmidala28 · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best education textbooks out there. I bought this edition because it was 90% cheaper than the new edition but it still has the same great information minus two new chapters. It is one text I am using in grad school that I know I will take with me to my classroom.

[Brian · Rating 3 out of 5]

Has some useful strategies in it, but the rest of the text is incredibly dry and makes it feel like a slog to get through. Worth a look just to browse some of the methods relating to your content area, but as a whole... not so much. Also, avoid the ebook like the plague and get the physical text.

[Logan Harrington · Rating 4 out of 5]

8/10:
A very well written book showcasing a lot of literacy educational techniques and how they can be applied to all content areas. Easy to read and understand with many images throughout that show the applications of these techniques. Very good read for anyone studying education!

[Fabiola · Rating 4 out of 5]

Required text for one of my courses.... Easy to read.....

[Grace · Rating 4 out of 5]

This text was quite accessible, and I liked all the examples it had to offer. It was my favorite of 3 for a class I took about Content Area Literacy.

[Delila Reviews Things And Stuff · Rating 3 out of 5]

Useful strategies to refer back to.