University of Illinois at Chicago

University of Illinois at Chicago
Teaching Disciplinary Literacy to Adolescents: Rethinking Content-Area Literacy A review of research by Timothy Shanahan Cynthia Shanahan University of Illinois at Chicago

Commonly Held Beliefs “Vaccination” theory of reading
All teachers are teachers of reading Grades K-3 are the “learning to read” years and Grades 4-12 are the “reading to learn” years

Increasing Specialization of Literacy Development
Disciplinary Literacy Disciplinary Literacy Intermediate Literacy Basic Literacy

Disciplinary Literacy Disciplinary Literacy Literacy skills such as decoding and knowledge of high-frequency words that underlie virtually all reading tasks. Intermediate Literacy These are skills that are taught in the early grades typically known as the “learning to read” grades. During these early years students are taught: Basic decoding Understanding of various print and literacy conventions (e.g. directionality) Recognition of high-frequency words Basic fluency routines (e.g. responding appropriately to basic punctuation) Organizational structures (e.g. problem-centered formulation of stories) Assumption of an author Basic Literacy

Literacy skills common to many tasks, including generic comprehension strategies, common word meanings, and basic fluency. Disciplinary Literacy Disciplinary Literacy Intermediate Literacy During the upper elementary grades students begin to go beyond these basic aspects of reading. They acquire skills that are a little more sophisticated and not as widely applicable BUT they are NOT linked to specific disciplines. These skills are gained by the end of middle school, but it is common to find high school students who are still struggling with these skills. These skills include: Decoding multi-syllabic words Responding with automaticity to words that are not part of the high-frequency words Interpreting less common forms of punctuation Knowing the meaning of a larger bank of words Learning to monitor their own reading comprehension Reading with more stamina Learning more complex forms of text organization (e.g. parallel plots, cause-effect) Understanding that authors have purpose Basic Literacy

Disciplinary Literacy Disciplinary Literacy Literacy skills specialized to history, science, mathematics, literature or other subject matter. Intermediate Literacy During middle school and high school, students many (but not nearly enough of) students begin to master more specialized reading routines and uses of language. Batman and Superman: It is important for content area teachers to continue the “teaching of reading” to their students by teaching them the discipline literacy of their content. Think about it this way, some kids are like SUPERMAN. They don’t need any help. They can figure out what they need to do to succeed and to study well in any content classroom. But, most of our kids are more like BATMAN. They need our help, like Batman needed the butler’s help and the car and the cape and all of his high tech gear to accomplish the same things as Superman. Both Superman and Batman achieve the same goals, but they need different amounts of help along the way. Basic Literacy

Reading Concepts in Study
Sourcing Contextualization Corroboration Text Structure Critiquing the Text Re-reading/Close Reading Vocabulary Comprehension Researchers worked with teams that consisted of: 2 content professors of Higher Ed 2 content teachers from high school 2 literacy experts Each group was asked to read a body of text and to report on which reading concept was the most helpful/relevant for them. These were the Reading Concepts used in the study.

Reading Concepts in Study: Sourcing
Looking at the authors, the type of publication and evaluating credibility History To a high degree with all texts (even high school text books) Chemistry To a medium degree (with non-textbook materials) Math Not at all History: “I saw, oh…I don’t know him very well, but he (the author) is part of a right-wing group of southern conservatives who is a seccessionist. I’m not sure that the best model for thinking about Lincoln as a president is one that comes from a racist. So I have my critical eyes up a little bit, so it’s a bit of a stretch to be friendly to…so I wanted to make sure to read it fairly. Chemistry: I pay attention I two ways: who wrote it and what is their affiliation, to see, is this somebody I recognize in the field, and also, I suppose, where the affiliation is, which, right or wrong, give more or less credibility. If it’s from a third world country, it may have a little less, I’d read it with a little more suspicion that if it came from a highly ranked university. I look to see who is the individual and see whether or not I’ve encountered their research in the past. Math: Yes, it’s interesting (who the author is), but it doesn’t really matter. The title and what I know of the review of these papers tells me that these methods are interesting to me. I don’t care whether this person has name recognition or not.

Reading Concepts in Study: Contextualization
Paying attention to the context in which a text is written (e.g. analysis of the time period and the political, and social forces) History To a high degree with all texts Chemistry To a medium degree Math Not at all History: I’d want to take up this book. It’s a 1984 book, and in Lincoln scholarship, that’ ages. There have been many books written since, and I would want to know how the argument changed since 1984. Chemistry: For my kind of science, information loses its relevance, because the principles are changing. In other fields, it may not be that way. The second paper (the Science article) is very driven by theory, as is the field. A paper 20 years old would be totally irrelevant… Math: Sometimes, it takes about years to find a response to a problem. So, an article written in 1985 is just as important today as it was in 1985 and is not dated, like it is in other fields.

Reading Concepts in Study: Corroboration
Noting agreements and disagreements across texts or between texts and one’s own knowledge History To a high degree and as a critique of credibility Chemistry To a medium degree and as a critique of understandability Math To a moderate degree and as a critique of understandability History: How does it relate to the other piece I just read?...The title in the Oates book doesn’t imply a particular perspective, except to say that it is published by Harper and Row so it is for a popular audience interested in history. It may also be trying to reach the professional audience as well. Many historians try to write to both audiences simultaneously. When you compare that with the Bradford piece, it’s a very different impression. The title indicates that the author is writing from a particular perspective—southern and conservative. Immediately, that colors how you read the piece. You expect it to be critical of Lincoln. If anyone is critical, it would be a southern conservative. A southern scholarly press means it was probably not intended for a wide audience lie the other book. Chemistry: I’m asking how their experiment is different fro ours. I’m doing a very, very similar experiment. And then, what can I get out of this paper? Can I improve on my experiment based upon what theirs was? Math:It starts right away—you try to reconcile. The way that it describes the solution is not exactly the same as I know it. Is it similar?

Reading Concepts in Study: Text Structure
The way the message is structured within a particular kind of text History Used as a way to find the author’s position (“where is he going with his argument?) Chemistry Used as a guide to understanding the text (“It starts with an abstract.”) Math Looking for where the problem is History: the argument was not straightforward, but roundabout, so clearly a part of an attempt to make analytical history a kind of a narrative, to raise big issues indirectly (reader friendly) so had to be more active in distinguishing the argument. Her most important statements were at the end, rather than at the beginning of paragraphs. Chemistry: In Science, the first paragraph or two should be intelligible to all scientists. That’s one reason why it’s the premier journal for scientist, because any scientist can read it…The first two paragraphs set the stage and what the fild is about. After that it goes into the technology of the apparatus. Math: In this paper, there are a lot of notations—background for what follows. So I try to memorize what symbols designate what. After a while, all statements will be a combination of symbols. It would make it impossible to understand what’s going on later if I didn’t try to remember them now.

Reading Concepts in Study: Critiquing the Text
Analyzing and evaluating History To a high degree, to determine credibility Chemistry To a moderate degree, to determine understandability and plausibility Math To a high degree, to determine correctness History: Uh, and then my response is first of all, I’m always kind of very suspicious and weary of the kind of “great man in history” approach, so I’m looking kind of carefully at how the author is embedding this argument. In other words, are they trying to undermine that great man in history, or are they addressing the problem and dealing with the problem or are they letting the problem just kind of fester without addressing it. Uh, so I’m looking carefully at how they’re kind of wording and locating the individual in history. Chemistry: There are certain basic laws of science that can’t be violated—does it make physical sense? Does your answer violate the principle of conservation of energy? For example, getting off the topic—they say there are two sides of one issue—intelligent design or evolution. That’s silly. Certain things are canon. Certain things are speculative. Textbooks present canon. But if they get an answer that violates the idea that there is no perpetual motion, they need to rethink. Math: I try to determine whether it’s (the solution to the problem) correct. That’s the important criteria, and it’s by no means assumed. It would be unusual to read a paper like this and not find something incorrect.

Reading Concepts in Study: Re-reading and Close Reading
History No discussion of this Chemistry Math To a high degree

Reading Concepts in Study: Vocabulary
What is challenging in texts? History Less technical vocabulary but challenging because of dated words, metaphorical terms, general academic vocabulary (i.e. Tier II) Chemistry Extensive technical vocabulary, words with both general and technical meanings Math

Reading Concepts in Study: Comprehension
What is challenging in texts? History Need to critique all aspects of text (including pictures, graphs, etc) Chemistry Need to access information in varying modes (text, graph, diagram, formula, etc) Math Extremely dense text. Need to understand the flow of information from print to numeracy, to graph

Summary of Findings The discipline groups differed in:
--the way they read --their ideas about challenges in text --their ideas about how texts should be taught The experts were guided by their content knowledge and acted within the framework of their discipline We need to take these frameworks into account when teaching students to read within the context of a discipline

Comprehension Instruction Example
Disciplinary Literacy Disciplinary Literacy Intermediate Literacy Basic Literacy

Disciplinary Literacy Understand literal meaning of text Review strategies for decoding a word prior to reading Disciplinary Literacy Intermediate Literacy These are skills that are taught in the early grades typically known as the “learning to read” grades. During these early years students are taught: Basic decoding Understanding of various print and literacy conventions (e.g. directionality) Recognition of high-frequency words Basic fluency routines (e.g. responding appropriately to basic punctuation) Organizational structures (e.g. problem-centered formulation of stories) Assumption of an author Basic Literacy

Use KWL Apply SQ3R strategy to remember text Disciplinary Literacy Disciplinary Literacy Intermediate Literacy During the upper elementary grades students begin to go beyond these basic aspects of reading. They acquire skills that are a little more sophisticated and not as widely applicable BUT they are NOT linked to specific disciplines. These skills are gained by the end of middle school, but it is common to find high school students who are still struggling with these skills. These skills include: Decoding multi-syllabic words Responding with automaticity to words that are not part of the high-frequency words Interpreting less common forms of punctuation Knowing the meaning of a larger bank of words Learning to monitor their own reading comprehension Reading with more stamina Learning more complex forms of text organization (e.g. parallel plots, cause-effect) Understanding that authors have purpose Basic Literacy

Disciplinary Literacy Disciplinary Literacy In history class, study the author’s stance prior to reading In science class, change reading strategies depending on the type of reading In math class, study the variable meanings prior to reading Intermediate Literacy During middle school and high school, students many (but not nearly enough of) students begin to master more specialized reading routines and uses of language. Batman and Superman: It is important for content area teachers to continue the “teaching of reading” to their students by teaching them the discipline literacy of their content. Think about it this way, some kids are like SUPERMAN. They don’t need any help. They can figure out what they need to do to succeed and to study well in any content classroom. But, most of our kids are more like BATMAN. They need our help, like Batman needed the butler’s help and the car and the cape and all of his high tech gear to accomplish the same things as Superman. Both Superman and Batman achieve the same goals, but they need different amounts of help along the way. Basic Literacy

Recommendations Disciplinary Literacy Teach high-level
discipline based reading skills Teach students reading skills and strategies they can use in every course During middle school and high school, students many (but not nearly enough of) students begin to master more specialized reading routines and uses of language. Batman and Superman: It is important for content area teachers to continue the “teaching of reading” to their students by teaching them the discipline literacy of their content. Think about it this way, some kids are like SUPERMAN. They don’t need any help. They can figure out what they need to do to succeed and to study well in any content classroom. But, most of our kids are more like BATMAN. They need our help, like Batman needed the butler’s help and the car and the cape and all of his high tech gear to accomplish the same things as Superman. Both Superman and Batman achieve the same goals, but they need different amounts of help along the way. Work extra with students who are reading far below grade level

Harvard Educational Review
Summary of Study Harvard Educational Review Fall 2009

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