Reading Matters Winter 2018

listen to the students’ plans for writing. In addition to self-selected topics, I introduce writing projects in different curriculum areas. Engaging my students in writing across the curriculum includes prompts in which they use academic and content vocabulary to write about their perspective on a social studies topic or to explain the steps in a mathematics problem or a science experiment. I teach reading strategies to give my students a metaphorical toolbox they can pull from while they read. By teaching tools for reading, I am preparing my students for using a variety of texts that foster learning in different disciplines. Over the course of a school year, content area reading skills and disciplinary literacy become fundamental goals in my classroom. At the beginning of the school year my students do not necessarily see the learning connections between the content areas. However, by the end of the year my students have made progress in applying reading skills to different content areas. introduction of disciplinary literacy can be found in successful elementary classrooms where literacy is deeply embedded in all areas of the curriculum. Basic literacy skills, content area reading strategies, and writing across the curriculum provide a foundation for disciplinary literacy in elementary classrooms. Content area learning includes a variety of texts and reading strategies that can be applied to all content areas. Hands-on, minds-on learning actively engages learners in developing content knowledge in science, mathematics and social studies. Samantha Smigel’s practice of teaching reading strategies and then applying them in different content areas prompts us to provide a closer look at content reading strategies that can be useful tools in developing disciplinary literacy. General Content Area Literacy Strategies Lay the Foundation for Disciplinary Literacy Elementary classroom teachers use general literacy strategies throughout multiple learning contexts during the school day. Content area literacy strategies provide a foundation for discipline- specific engagement. Using trade books , engaging in think alouds , constructing graphic organizers , recognizing text structure and encouraging collaborative activities can be used across the elementary curriculum. Explicit instruction in academic and content vocabulary is embedded in all content reading strategies. Listed here are five content area reading strategies that provide a powerful infrastructure for disciplinary literacy. Content strategies can be customized to fit lesson objectives for the discipline area. 1. Trade books cover a wide range of genres for elementary reading, including biographies, contemporary realistic fiction, historical fiction, nonfiction, poetry, science fiction, and traditional literature. The foundation for disciplinary literacy comes from reading in all content areas. Teachers _____________________________________ As elementary teachers plan units in mathematics, science and social studies, literacy strategies are essential to teaching in all areas of the curriculum. Practices that support the

use fiction and nonfiction trade books in a variety of ways with whole-class read alouds, small group guided instruction, independent reading, and in writing prompts. Trade books are powerful resources for disciplinary literacy. As elementary teachers plan thematic units of instruction, trade books offer potential for introducing vocabulary concepts, and skills for developing content knowledge. 2. Think alouds are used by teachers to help their students “see” what a reader thinks about as they are reading (Blair, Rupley, & Nichols, 2007). Teachers incorporate explicit instruction by verbalizing their thoughts as they read and think aloud. During the think aloud process, students simply observe and listen to the teacher as he or she engages in a monolog. Think alouds are useful for incorporating discipline-specific strategies and vocabulary in context. For example, a think aloud strategy can be used to apply spatial information in historical, cultural and physical contexts. 3. Graphic organizers are used widely in elementary teaching. Teachers use graphic organizers before learning to orient students about what is to come, during learning to help them grapple with ideas, and after learning to revisit and reflect upon information learned. Graphic organizers such as the KWL chart, concept map, Venn diagram, flow chart, cause and effect diagram, and T-chart provide a hands-on minds-on approach to organizing information. Used with a disciplinary focus, graphic organizers offer a flexible format for developing content vocabulary and knowledge. Meaningful practice in developing chronological understanding is achieved with a timeline graphic organizer. A cause-and-effect graphic organizer is useful for studying the impact of a science experiment. A Venn diagram documents spatial awareness when students compare two places in the world. 4. Cooperative Learning fosters positive relationships, develops self-esteem, and enhances academic learning (Vacca, Vacca, & Mraz, 2016). When teachers use explicit instruction to introduce collaborative activities they provide opportunities for students to work together and solidify concepts. Ways in which teachers can bring students together include jigsaw activities, group investigations, peer tutoring, and think-pair-share teams. Collaborative activities foster disciplinary literacy and inquiry when small groups of students work together to ask and answer questions in mathematics, science and social studies. 5. Text structures are used by authors to organize information in nonfiction texts. Teachers highlight text structures such as headings, subheadings, graphs, charts, illustrations, and guiding questions to teach students how texts are organized. The internal patterns that provide text description, sequence, comparison/contrast, cause/effect, problem/solution, and question/answer assist students in making sense of the logical connections among the important and less important ideas in informational material.

Reading Matters Teaching Matters

| 28 | Reading Matters | Volume 18 • Winter 2018 | scira.org

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