A study described, analyzed, and interpreted the ways an effective high school teacher used literacy activities (reading, writing, and discussion) to teach chemistry to first-year chemistry students. The teacher selected was considered effective by peers and students and professed to intentionally use literacy activities as a means of teaching content. The teacher taught in a rural, midwestern high school located outside a mid-size university town. Field notes from classroom observations were informed by teacher interviews, as well as interviews with key student informants. Results indicated that: (1) literacy activities both depended on and fostered students' abilities to organize materials, concepts, and thinking about chemistry; and (2) the atmosphere of organization and active involvement was developed through the teacher's use of multiple literacy activities. Findings suggest that effective teachers choose instructional activities that foster direct student involvement, and that effective teachers develop teaching strategies that best suit their individual classroom contexts. (Seventeen references are attached.) (RS)