You Mean I am Also Supposed to Teach Reading? Promoting Literacy in the Content Areas By Stephen Padgett

A basic definition of literacy: The ability to convey and receive meaning through various mediums of language. What Is Literacy?

“Being literate in a discipline means not only knowledge of disciplinary content but also the ability to read, write, think, and reason with texts in discipline specific ways” (Fang 2014, p446). What Is Literacy?

“Content area reading instruction is an important component of all secondary curricula and includes strategy instruction in word identification, vocabulary, and comprehension skills” (Bryant et al. 1999). “Content is what we teach, but there is also the how, and this is where literacy instruction comes in [... ] The ultimate goal of literacy instruction is to build a student's comprehension, writing skills, and overall skills in communication” (Alber 2014). What is literacy?

“Textbook-based instruction is based on the assumption that students can read and derive meaning from the text” (Bryant et al, 1999). Zywica andGomez (2008), explain “The expectation is that readers will have the requisite skills necessary for reading-to-learn” (p155) What Is Literacy?

But what happens when students cannot derive meaning from the text? Whose job is it to teach students to help students make meaning from the text when they lack the skills to do this for themselves? In “Instructional Strategies for Content-area Reading Instruction,” Bryant et al relate the account of a 7th grade teacher, Mr. James. Mr. James, a seventh-grade general education social studies teacher, participated in a teacher discussion group by explaining that students in his class who were reading below grade level had difficulty with content presented in the social studies textbook. In particular, these students demonstrated problems decoding multisyllabic words, learning vocabulary words even if they were defined in the book, and putting the main idea into their own words. He was concerned by the apparent lack of interest and motivation demonstrated by the students to read the text and participate in small group discussions. Although Mr. James included some activity-based instruction, he frequently used the textbook as instructional material for in-class and homework assignments. He suggested to the teacher discussion group that students needed to learn how to read the textbook so that they could learn the vocabulary and comprehend the content material. What Is Literacy?

Approaches to Developing Content Area Literacies Fang (2012) discusses the key assumptions of four approaches to developing content area literacies. The Cognitive Approach The Sociocultural Approach The Linguistic Approach The Critical Approach Cognitive Approach “The Cognitive requirements of reading and learning from texts are similar across all areas. Cognitive strategies help with the extraction of information from texts as well as the remembering and retention of content in school subjects.” Sociocultural Approach ‘Literacy is a complex process involving both cognitive and socio cultural dimensions. Students’ out-of-school literacies can be both a bridge to and a resource for promoting the development of content area literacies.” Linguistic Approach “Content area texts are constructed in language patterns that differ significantly from those that construct everyday texts. Students must learn to cope with the specialized language that constructs the specialized knowledge of content areas in order to be successful in school and workplace.” Critical Approach “All texts are inherently ideological and value laden. Knowledge is neither natural nor neutral. Literacy should empower people to challege social inequalities and promote social justice.” Approaches to Developing Content Area Literacies

“ Each of the four approaches…draws on a different theoretical and empirical tradition and privileges a particular set of teaching practices[…] they are not mutually exclusive; they complement one another in ways that allow teachers to tailor instruction to student needs, curricular goals, and the specific tasks at hand” (Fang 2012, p 107). Approaches to Developing Content Area Literacies

What can we do in the classroom? Frontloading Meaning Anticipation Guides K-W-L During Reading Annotation

Classroom Strategies Anticipation Guides Helps students activate prior knowledge. Alerts students to the themes and focus of the text. Places the text within a specific context and provides a purpose for reading the text. http://lindblomeagles.org/ourpages/auto/2015/5/4/56967053/gatsby%20anticipation%20guide.doc Classroom Strategies

Classroom Strategies K-W-L Charts What I Know About the Jazz Age What I Want to Learn About the Jazz Age What I Learned About the Jazz Age Create by Ogle (1986) These charts are allow students to connect prior knowledge with information that they would like to know, allowing for agency in the learning process. Provides motivation for reading the text. Classroom Strategies

Classroom Strategies Annotation Zymica and Gomez 2008 Zymica and Gomez, “Annotation is one of several cognitive literacy strategies that are used to help students see structure, analyze ideas, derive meaning, and communicate understandings[…]Annotation as a cognitive literacy approach helps students recognize how words and phrases and their definitions can be embedded skillfully in text yet in ways that (for struggling readers at least) are difficult to recognize, extract, and use to make meaning” (156). Zymica and Gomez’ s framework, “which advocates explicit instruction particularly around strategies, places an emphasis on two equally important issues for under-prepared readers. First, students must understand that they can approach text to gain information and second, they must know how to approach text to comprehend its message” (156, italics in the original). Zymica and Gomez 2008 Classroom Strategies

References Alber, Rebecca 2014. “How Important is Teaching Literacy in All Content Areas?” Edutopeia. Beers, K. (2003). When Kids Can't Read: What Teachers Can Do. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann. Bryant, Diane P. et al 1999. “ Instructional strategies for content-area reading instruction.” Intervention in School and Clinic. Fang, Zhiui. 2012. “Approaches to developing content area literacies: A synthesis and a critique.” Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy. 103-108. Fang, Zhiui. 2014.”Preparing content area teachers for disciplinary literacy instruction: The role of literacy teacher educators.” Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy. 444-448. Fisher, Douglas et al, 2002. “Seven Literacy Strategies That Work.” Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development. 70-73. Zywica, J., & Gomes, K. (october 2008). Annotating to support learning in the content areas: teaching and learning science. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 52(2), 155-165.

Abstract Often teachers in the content areas are specialists in the content of their fields, yet they do not see it as their responsibility to teach students the literacy required to become fluent in the types of texts that their content area produces. Other teachers understand the need to promote literacy in the content areas but lack the training or understanding of how to approach this task. In the content areas, many students with learning disabilities or weakness in literacy are mainstreamed into these classes. They lack the necessary skills to produce meaning from the texts. This presentation will address the need for content area teachers to provide literacy support for their students and offer three strategies for improving student literacy.