Literacy Matters - Winter 2020

Building Motivation and Literacy Skills through Integrating Relevant Content-Area Texts

Miranda L. Sigmon

new place and help them develop a better understanding of what makes their community/environment unique. This could be a shift in how teachers present reading activities as well so that we, as educators, present reading as a science teacher, would introduce a hands-on lab. Teachers must prepare for the text by building background knowledge, discussing vocabulary, and making predictions. As readers interact with the text, they will make observations and take notes of important ideas/events. As they finish reading, the reader must reflect on how our understanding of the concept being presented has developed or changed as a result of the ideas presented in the text. When viewing reading in this light, it requires a more active reader/learner stance Classroom examples of literacy integration. The first-grade example given by Afflerbach et al. (2013) demonstrated a teacher who consciously used positive language and focused on strengths and effort given to reading achievement to motivate a student. Questions used in reading lessons that are displayed in the article also demonstrate an approach to incorporating learning objectives within standards while also keeping students engaged in reading material with higher-level thinking. As teachers work to enhance reading skills through focusing on students’ perceptions of their readings as outlined in the article, it is clear that reading engagement and motivation will increase even if teachers’ lessons focus on skill development at the same time (Afflerbach et al., 2013). This balance between meeting standards while keeping students motivated in reading is crucial in elementary classrooms. In bringing together the ideas brought forth by Afflerbach et al. (2013) and Applegate and Applegate (2010), there is agreement that one main component in reading motivation and success is the expectation for students to engage in higher-level thinking while responding to texts. Another topic to consider in addressing state standards on historical events is the purpose of teaching such concepts and how they will be covered. Bellows and Bodle (2017) discussed the teaching of September 11th and how this historical event, along with others, should be evaluated for purposeful and meaningful learning outcomes as teachers plan. Bellows and Bodle (2017) note that ideological differences exist in materials focused on 9/11, and the historical narrative portraying this event in various children’s picture books have different purposes. Integrating literacy across all content areas is becoming an expectation. Nowell (2017) completed a qualitative study to determine teachers’ perceptions of integrating literacy and social studies teaching. In her research, the comments from various participants highlighted struggles and positive outcomes from literacy integration in the social studies

A current issue in elementary classrooms is going beyond what is required by standards to motivate students in an attempt to engage them in reading and improve literacy skills. With the annual end-of-year testing pressure placed on reading scores, much thought, professional development, and systematic instruction are geared toward increasing students’ reading test scores. During my years as an elementary teacher, I taught many literacy lessons based on standards as well as those incorporating student interests and other subject areas in hopes of engaging students and making reading fun. The use of the basal readers was expected during my literacy block; however, novel units were used sparingly and could also be utilized in subject area units. Looking back, I feel my students were much more engaged in the social studies units I planned when I incorporated adolescent chapter books to give a more personal account of a historical event. One novel unit my students enjoyed included reading Number the Stars by (Lowry, 1989) as part of our fifth grade WorldWar II study. When I used historical fiction in social studies units, students were able to get an elementary-age child’s account of daily life during WorldWar II. Incorporating historical fiction provided a more entertaining way of understanding the events in the social studies curriculum as well. On the other hand, opening the basal reader every week to read the next story listed in the curriculum-based pacing guide was not quite as exciting or anticipated by students. These experiences lead to the focus of this article, which is the importance of going beyond what is required by the standards and motivating students to engage in reading to improve literacy skills and find enjoyment in literature. One way to approach this is by integrating literacy instruction into content-area lessons. Literacy Influences in the Classroom Because both motivation and standards play essential roles within instruction, it is crucial that teachers find a balance among these classroom influences. State Standards The role of reading. Afflerbach, Cho, Kim, Crassas, and Doyle (2013) attach reading success to readers who are metacognitive, motivated, and engaged, developing epistemic beliefs, and have high self-efficacy. Students need to use higher-level thinking skills during reading activities and learn to “view reading as an opportunity to construct new knowledge” (p. 441). This complex view of reading encourages us to think of the practice of reading as an adventure allowing the reader to engage in an opportunity or experience; which they may not have participated in otherwise. For example, reading about a foreign land can teach the reader about a

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Literacy Matters | Volume 20 • Winter 2020 | scira.org | 7

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