Decoding to Discourse, 6-12
Purchase
Description
"That's an elementary problem" is no longer an answer.
Every middle and high school has them: students who can decode the words but not navigate the dense sentences, specialized vocabulary, and multi-source arguments of secondary coursework. Their struggles are often dismissed as unfinished elementary business. Yet secondary literacy requires its own instruction, and many students have never received explicit instruction in those demands.
Decoding to Discourse, 6–12 is an MTSS playbook for closing that gap. Organized around the seven interconnected domains of academic vocabulary, sentence craft, text structure, evidence and argument, synthesis, writing process, and metacognition, it offers 154 classroom-ready strategies for teachers, coaches, and interventionists. Practitioner-scholar Dr. Anthony Fitzpatrick helps educators
- Pinpoint why adolescent readers struggle, from syntax and morphology to comprehension
- Use four Literacy Bridges to connect foundational skills to disciplinary literacy
- Move students from Surface to Deep to Transfer learning with tiered strategies
- Build a shared literacy vocabulary across grade levels and departments
- Teach syntax, evidence use, argument, and synthesis in any content area
A companion to the K–5 volume that also stands on its own, Decoding to Discourse, 6–12 helps middle and secondary educators teach students to read complex texts, write with precision, and use evidence to reason across subjects.
Contents
Foreword
- Introduction
DOMAIN 1 Academic Language and Vocabulary
- Pillar 1.1 — Vocabulary
- Pillar 1.2 — Morphology
- Pillar 1.3 — Knowledge Building and Schema Development
- Pillar 1.4 — Oral Language and Academic Discourse
- Pillar 1.5 — Fluency and Prosody
DOMAIN 2 Sentence and Paragraph Craft
- Pillar 2.1 — Syntax and Sentence Control
- Pillar 2.2 — Appositives, Clauses, and Concision
- Pillar 2.3 — Paragraph Craft and Cohesion
DOMAIN 3 Text Structure and Comprehension
- Pillar 3.1 — Literary and Narrative Comprehension
- Pillar 3.2 — Information and Argumentative Comprehension
DOMAIN 4 Evidence and Argument
- Pillar 4.1 — Evidence Integration and Commentary
- Pillar 4.2 — Argument, Counterclaim, and Logic
DOMAIN 5 Synthesis and Multi-text Literacy
- Pillar 5.1 — Summarizing, Paraphrasing, and Citation
- Pillar 5.2 — Synthesis and Multi-text Writing
DOMAIN 6 Writing Process and Conventions
- Pillar 6.1 — Planning, Outlining, and Argument Structure
- Pillar 6.2 — Revision, Audience, and Feedback
- Pillar 6.3 — Research and Publication
- Pillar 6.4 — Grammar, Syntax, and Style
DOMAIN 7 Metacognition and Bridges
- Pillar 7.1 — Metacognitive and Higher-order Thinking
- Pillar 7.2 — Morphology–Syntax–Comprehension Bridge
- Pillar 7.3 — Syntax–Fluency for Comprehension Bridge
- Pillar 7.4 — Metacognition and Transfer Bridge
- The Continuum
Resources
Companion Website
https://companion.corwin.com/courses/DecodingtoDiscourse6-12Description
"That's an elementary problem" is no longer an answer.
Every middle and high school has them: students who can decode the words but not navigate the dense sentences, specialized vocabulary, and multi-source arguments of secondary coursework. Their struggles are often dismissed as unfinished elementary business. Yet secondary literacy requires its own instruction, and many students have never received explicit instruction in those demands.
Decoding to Discourse, 6–12 is an MTSS playbook for closing that gap. Organized around the seven interconnected domains of academic vocabulary, sentence craft, text structure, evidence and argument, synthesis, writing process, and metacognition, it offers 154 classroom-ready strategies for teachers, coaches, and interventionists. Practitioner-scholar Dr. Anthony Fitzpatrick helps educators
- Pinpoint why adolescent readers struggle, from syntax and morphology to comprehension
- Use four Literacy Bridges to connect foundational skills to disciplinary literacy
- Move students from Surface to Deep to Transfer learning with tiered strategies
- Build a shared literacy vocabulary across grade levels and departments
- Teach syntax, evidence use, argument, and synthesis in any content area
A companion to the K–5 volume that also stands on its own, Decoding to Discourse, 6–12 helps middle and secondary educators teach students to read complex texts, write with precision, and use evidence to reason across subjects.
Contents
Foreword
- Introduction
DOMAIN 1 Academic Language and Vocabulary
- Pillar 1.1 — Vocabulary
- Pillar 1.2 — Morphology
- Pillar 1.3 — Knowledge Building and Schema Development
- Pillar 1.4 — Oral Language and Academic Discourse
- Pillar 1.5 — Fluency and Prosody
DOMAIN 2 Sentence and Paragraph Craft
- Pillar 2.1 — Syntax and Sentence Control
- Pillar 2.2 — Appositives, Clauses, and Concision
- Pillar 2.3 — Paragraph Craft and Cohesion
DOMAIN 3 Text Structure and Comprehension
- Pillar 3.1 — Literary and Narrative Comprehension
- Pillar 3.2 — Information and Argumentative Comprehension
DOMAIN 4 Evidence and Argument
- Pillar 4.1 — Evidence Integration and Commentary
- Pillar 4.2 — Argument, Counterclaim, and Logic
DOMAIN 5 Synthesis and Multi-text Literacy
- Pillar 5.1 — Summarizing, Paraphrasing, and Citation
- Pillar 5.2 — Synthesis and Multi-text Writing
DOMAIN 6 Writing Process and Conventions
- Pillar 6.1 — Planning, Outlining, and Argument Structure
- Pillar 6.2 — Revision, Audience, and Feedback
- Pillar 6.3 — Research and Publication
- Pillar 6.4 — Grammar, Syntax, and Style
DOMAIN 7 Metacognition and Bridges
- Pillar 7.1 — Metacognitive and Higher-order Thinking
- Pillar 7.2 — Morphology–Syntax–Comprehension Bridge
- Pillar 7.3 — Syntax–Fluency for Comprehension Bridge
- Pillar 7.4 — Metacognition and Transfer Bridge
- The Continuum
Resources
Companion Website
https://companion.corwin.com/courses/DecodingtoDiscourse6-12
Decoding to Discourse, 6-12
An MTSS Guidebook for Adolescent Reading and Academic Writing
March 2027 | 400 pages | Corwin
| Format | Published Date | ISBN | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| Paperback | 10/09/2026 | 9798348870270 | $40.95 |
"That's an elementary problem" is no longer an answer.
Every middle and high school has them: students who can decode the words but not navigate the dense sentences, specialized vocabulary, and multi-source arguments of secondary coursework. Their struggles are often dismissed as unfinished elementary business. Yet secondary literacy requires its own instruction, and many students have never received explicit instruction in those demands.
Decoding to Discourse, 6–12 is an MTSS playbook for closing that gap. Organized around the seven interconnected domains of academic vocabulary, sentence craft, text structure, evidence and argument, synthesis, writing process, and metacognition, it offers 154 classroom-ready strategies for teachers, coaches, and interventionists. Practitioner-scholar Dr. Anthony Fitzpatrick helps educators
- Pinpoint why adolescent readers struggle, from syntax and morphology to comprehension
- Use four Literacy Bridges to connect foundational skills to disciplinary literacy
- Move students from Surface to Deep to Transfer learning with tiered strategies
- Build a shared literacy vocabulary across grade levels and departments
- Teach syntax, evidence use, argument, and synthesis in any content area
A companion to the K–5 volume that also stands on its own, Decoding to Discourse, 6–12 helps middle and secondary educators teach students to read complex texts, write with precision, and use evidence to reason across subjects.
Table Of Contents:
- Foreword
- Introduction
- DOMAIN 1 Academic Language and Vocabulary
- Pillar 1.1 — Vocabulary
- Pillar 1.2 — Morphology
- Pillar 1.3 — Knowledge Building and Schema Development
- Pillar 1.4 — Oral Language and Academic Discourse
- Pillar 1.5 — Fluency and Prosody
- DOMAIN 2 Sentence and Paragraph Craft
- Pillar 2.1 — Syntax and Sentence Control
- Pillar 2.2 — Appositives, Clauses, and Concision
- Pillar 2.3 — Paragraph Craft and Cohesion
- DOMAIN 3 Text Structure and Comprehension
- Pillar 3.1 — Literary and Narrative Comprehension
- Pillar 3.2 — Information and Argumentative Comprehension
- DOMAIN 4 Evidence and Argument
- Pillar 4.1 — Evidence Integration and Commentary
- Pillar 4.2 — Argument, Counterclaim, and Logic
- DOMAIN 5 Synthesis and Multi-text Literacy
- Pillar 5.1 — Summarizing, Paraphrasing, and Citation
- Pillar 5.2 — Synthesis and Multi-text Writing
- DOMAIN 6 Writing Process and Conventions
- Pillar 6.1 — Planning, Outlining, and Argument Structure
- Pillar 6.2 — Revision, Audience, and Feedback
- Pillar 6.3 — Research and Publication
- Pillar 6.4 — Grammar, Syntax, and Style
- DOMAIN 7 Metacognition and Bridges
- Pillar 7.1 — Metacognitive and Higher-order Thinking
- Pillar 7.2 — Morphology–Syntax–Comprehension Bridge
- Pillar 7.3 — Syntax–Fluency for Comprehension Bridge
- Pillar 7.4 — Metacognition and Transfer Bridge
- The Continuum