Here is an interesting article in how to effectively teach reading and writing

Reading and writing for understanding
HGSE Lecturer Vicki Jacobs

Secondary school students can benefit enormously when teachers of all subjects integrate reading and writing strategies into their instruction – so argues Harvard Graduate School of Education lecturer Vicki A. Jacobs. These strategies, typical of “reading and writing to learn” and “reading and writing across the curriculum,” are problem-solving activities designed to help students move from simply knowing a fact to understanding a fact’s significance. Helping students make that leap – from knowing to understanding – represents the very heart of the educational enterprise.

Reading and writing for understanding