“As educators, one of our main objectives is to equip students with the necessary skills and knowledge to succeed in their future endeavors. While reading may seem like a subject that falls under the English curriculum, it is actually a vital skill that is crucial in all subjects. That is why it is imperative that we start teaching reading across the curriculum in primary school.” (McLeod, 2024).
Starting with reading across the curriculum in elementary school is pivotal to setting and developing excellent structures to help students excel in acquiring deep comprehension and application skills. Why, then, are we not focusing on reading across the curriculum? Reading is a part of all subjects, our workplace, and our everyday lives, so how can we designate it as a subject?
When we send the message that reading is not a subject, we are telling our students and adults that reading should only be focused on during Reading class, and we are taking away their right to develop high-level neural connections and the skills needed to be successful in the future
Reading, Writing, Listening, and Speaking Across the Curriculum
It is common knowledge that “the work of building reading and literacy skills has been left primarily to elementary and English language arts teachers” (Boutz, Perini, & Silver, n.d.), and as a result, the efforts to help students develop deep comprehension and core literacy skills have not been effective.
Our nation’s literacy rates continue to decrease year after year. This happens when we focus only on reading strategies in Reading and Language Art classes rather than as a non-negotiable pedagogical practice across the curriculum with an emphasis on deep comprehension. For many, that distinct boundary should never be crossed, that is, reading should be left at the elementary and English Language arts classes, and others dare not cross lanes. This is a very damaging outlook, not only for our students’ learning experiences but for our society as a whole.
As educators, decision-makers, and leaders, we need to stop separating reading from other subjects and implement policies and laws that require reading to be incorporated across the curriculum. We also need to ensure that professional development is focused on supporting this initiative and does not continue to separate Reading from other subjects. Reading is a part of all subjects!
Currently, many organizations that support schools and train teachers separate Reading from other subjects because it yields financial gains, or they are unaware of the research showing the profound student benefits of supporting reading across the curriculum. Do not get me wrong! Many of these organizations produce exceptional products, so imagine the extraordinary products they will create when reading across the curriculum is made compulsory. These products will not only profoundly heighten our students’ deep comprehension skills, but also those needed to function effectively in the workplace.When we separate reading from other subjects, we do a disservice to our students!
When students engage in reading across the curriculum, they gain extensive knowledge, make meaningful connections, and build deep comprehension skills and strong neural connections for synthesis, knowledgeably articulating, and applying ideas. It is known that “Integrating literacy into all learning areas strengthens academic skills and prepares students for the real world, where the ability to assimilate information and articulate ideas clearly is invaluable” (Literacy across the Curriculum, 2024).
Reading Across the Curriculum and Artifact-Based Learning
It is extremely important to note that reading should always exist in collaboration with writing, listening, and speaking across the curriculum. Writing strengthens neural connections for deep understanding and the ability of students to authentically use and apply their knowledge in every aspect of their lives. It is extremely important to ensure that students are given extensive time to engage in writing and “receive adequate practice and instruction in writing, as this complex skill does not develop naturally.” (Graham 2019). Therefore, it is critical to have students engage in Student Write and in pre-, during, and post-reading strategies. These strategies not only connect to the science of deeper learning but also to the science behind writing and brain connectivity.
Reading is useless if we do not create learning products to synthesize and meaningfully apply the knowledge gained. It is important to note that learning products should not be one-time creations, but instead cumulative revisions of initial learning products. Often, students create one-time products that are not always revisited. Not only is this non-productive, but it also strips them of the opportunity to acquire profound growth, engage in metacognition and reflection, and be self-directed learners as they function in the world.
Remember the video on Austin’s Butterfly that was shared in Part 4 of this series? This is a great video that depicts how initial learning products are improved by engaging in listening, speaking, and writing. While this example focuses only on an elementary school artifact, much can be learned and applied to reading across the curriculum pedagogical strategies and practices.
- The importance of sharing end-product exemplars or rubrics to guide students’ output.
- Coaching and allowing students to provide specific, constructive, meaningful, and actionable feedback.
- Honoring and elaborating on ideas all students bring to the table.
- A focus on creating high-level products through the process of reflection and revision.
Reading Comprehension and Its Application to Everyday Life
The world is filled with information that anyone can access anywhere and anytime. Everyone can gain immense knowledge, but not everyone has the skills to outstandingly or excellently apply knowledge gained. As Dale Carnegie said, “Knowledge is not power until it is applied.” Having excellence in knowledge application is one of the most important skills of deep comprehension. It is one’s ability to make exceptional connections beyond the text and information to create incomparable products and actions in schools, the workplace, and the world.
A great portion of the facts that students learn and are taught today will eventually be modified, however, the lasting skill sets and toolkits that students need are executive functioning skills. This is reinforced in a New York Times article in which Thomas L. Friedman noted that Google does not focus on employing people with the most content knowledge or expertise, rather, those with high cognitive ability, innate curiosity, a willingness and love to learn and relearn, emergent leadership skills, a collaborative and adaptable mindset, and very importantly, someone who routinely demonstrates, ‘what they can do with what they know’
Cherry-Anne Gildharry, The Brain and Learning (2014).
Very few learners are at this high level of deep comprehension and executive functioning skills because many are not being given the opportunity to connect extensive information across the curriculum. In addition, a focus on artifact-based reading and other deep comprehension actions are not highlighted as important parts of our daily lives and a part of all curricula. Students engage in reading in other subjects and throughout their day-to-day lives, such as news articles, online articles, social media posts, bills, financial literacy, books, laws, and more. Yet, reading is still designated as a subject.
Current data reflects that students and adults lack comprehension skills related to critical thinking, synthesis, metacognition, innovation, and, very importantly, the application of knowledge gained. When reading is done in silos and is not seen as a part of the curriculum, we inhibit the development of skills needed to be literate students and future citizens who demonstrate excellence. There is a dire need for deep comprehension and high-level application skills in our world today.
World Economic Forum shares that the top two most important skills for 2027 are analytical thinking and creative thinking, and “saw increased importance for complex problem-solving skills in the workplace, as well as the rising importance of resilience, flexibility and agility.” (Brown & Sethi, 2023). “Teaching reading across the curriculum is critical to equip students with the skills they need in all areas of their education,” and to function effectively in the world (Yusuf & Enesi, 2011). We know that students and adults develop strong neural connections for deep comprehension and executive functioning skills when reading is focused on continually and extensively in all subjects and learners’ everyday lives. Only then are high-level neurons fired and wired together!
In America, we continue to see a decrease in deep comprehension in reading scores, confidence in abilities, understanding of different perspectives, personalized learning, innovation, and creativity. Instead, we see an increase in learning gaps, vindictive competition, plagiarism, bullying, gossiping, harassment, and defamation of character.

Our world needs more deep reading comprehension and application skills, which will help your students function effectively in their future workplaces and as honorable citizens and members of society.
When deep reading comprehension and application of knowledge gained are focused on continually across the curriculum, we develop strong neural networks for intelligence, thinking critically, and being good human beings. So, why, then, are we designating reading as a subject and not a part of all subjects and everyday life?
The SAGE Approach to the Science of Reading
Valid and reliable research supports reading practices that focus on depicting deep comprehension. If we want to improve reading comprehension and develop literate readers who can function effectively in school and the workplace, then we must change our reading techniques to a SAGE approach. We must use a blend of valid and reliable research-based reading strategies that focus on the whole brain and allow students to depict deep comprehension through artifact-based reading.
The below SAGE Science of Reading Framework that incorporates true Science of Reading ideas to help learners and educators focus on incorporating research-based reading comprehension strategies which have proven time after time to profoundly increase deep comprehension skills.

Allow learners to select and use Student Write strategies for inferencing and synthesizing and creating artifacts to represent knowledge gained when reading text. Reading goes way beyond phonics, phonemics, fluency, and vocabulary. Therefore, it is very important to go beyond fluency, reading rate, and isolated vocabulary and provide learners with extensive time to use student selected Student Write strategies to represent their deep comprehension of text. The goal of reading is comprehension. The goal of reading is comprehension. How are learners using Student Write Strategies to represent their comprehension of text profoundly?

Give learners time to engage in meaningful “Student Read-Write-Talk-Listen” activities simultaneously. The Wernicke’s area in the brain makes sense of spoken and written language by connecting to images, prior knowledge, learners’ personal experiences, and more. Learners have been naturally immersed in a world of sound from birth, so meaningful spoken language is very important as it incorporates what has already been in place. A Reading-Writing-Speaking-Listening focus develops the process of orthographic mapping and very importantly neuroplasticity to build neural circuitry and stronger neural networks for deep comprehension.

Growth mindset is a neuroscience connected skill focused on the neural growth actions of embracing change and challenges, persisting through obstacles, developing grit, overcoming limiting beliefs, and so much more. Learners need ongoing guidance on how to develop and focus on a growth mindset when creating high-level and excellent comprehension artifacts. Representing comprehension is not and will never be a one-time practice. Learners must embrace the growth mindset of editing and revising multiple versions of initial written drafts to create excellent learning products by engaging in ongoing self-reflection and metacognition, and implementing meaningful feedback.

Student Write reading strategies need to be implemented across curriculum and content, with the premise that all teachers are reading teachers. Increasingly, books and education programs are indicating that reading is no longer a subject, but a profound pedagogical strategy that strongly focuses on having learners represent what they comprehend. To further deepen comprehension, Student Write reading strategies must be coupled with extensive time for students to engage in research, design, revision and revision within and outside of the classroom walls, to support the creation of excellent learning products, and the development of stronger neural connections and literacy skills.
As an educator, I have used every strategy suggested in the SAGE Approach to the Reading of Science blog series to impact the learning experiences of my students and prepare them to function effectively in the world. As the wife of a former K-12 educator, Melanie Gildharry, now a business analyst and an educator in the business world, we continue to develop our Gildharry-family DNA for high-level thinking, synthesis, and meaningful application.
To learn more about these experiences, subscribe to the K12 Hub or check back soon for A Sage Approach to The Science of Reading: Part 6—My Personal Experiences with Reading Across the Curriculum and Neural Connections.
Did you miss the previous parts in this series, or want to refresh your memory? Catch up using the links below!
Part 1 – A Need for Artifact-Based Reading Strategies
Part 2: A Deeper Dive into Reading The Science of Reading
Part 3: Are We Reading the Science of Reading Correctly?
Part 4: The Connectedness of Deep Reading Comprehension to Brain Plasticity and Human Skills
About the Author
Cherry-Anne Gildharry holds a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics, a Master of Science in Education, and a Graduate Certificate in Instructional Coaching. With 29 years of experience in education, she has worked across various locations, including Trinidad and Tobago, North Carolina, Iowa, Texas, and other parts of the U.S. Throughout her career, Cherry-Anne has held numerous roles, such as High School and Middle School Math Teacher, Department Chair, and Teacher Leader. She has also served as an Algebra 1 and Geometry Lead Teacher, Workshop Creator and Facilitator, and Marzano’s Demonstration Teacher. Additionally, she has been a School-Based and District Coach, Leadership Coach and Collaborator, Learning Design Strategist, Virtual Instructional Coach, Professional Development Auditor, and Professional Development Content Creator.
Cherry-Anne has established a notable record of success both as a teacher and a coach. In North Carolina, 100% of her Algebra 1 and Geometry students achieved passing scores for consecutive years. Furthermore, teachers she coached, including those from Teach for America, saw their students achieve similar success rates.
Fun Fact: Cherry-Anne loves globe-trotting with her wife Melanie Gildharry! To date, they have traveled to all 50 states and 53 countries with 25 of them being European countries. Cherry-Anne took her first international flight from Trinidad and Tobago at age 9 to the United Kingdom to visit Edinburgh and Glasgow in Scotland, and four places in England.
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