Although literacy has become a multi-faceted aspect of education essential to students' future success, studies have found that many secondary students lack basic literacy skills. In the past, much of the blame for adolescents' literacy problems has been placed on elementary teachers, but recent research suggests that secondary teachers must share in the responsibility for teaching literacy. This paper explores the various characteristics and modalities of literacy and reviews current literature in the field including the Common Core State Standards initiative. Most importantly, this paper provides suggestions for integrating literacy learning in the general curriculum at the secondary level with particular attention to content area literacy and technology integration.