Content Area Reading and Literacy

Donna E. Alvermann is University of Georgia-appointed Distinguished Research Professor of Language and Literacy Education. Formerly a classroom teacher in Texas and New York, her research focuses on literacy instruction across the disciplines. Her co-authored/edited books include Reconceptualizing the Literacies in Adolescents’ Lives (3rd ed.); Bridging the Literacy Achievement Gap, Grades 4–12; and Adolescents and Literacies in a Digital World. Past President of the National Reading Conference (NRC), she serves on the Adolescent Literacy Advisory Group of the Alliance for Excellent Education. She was elected to the Reading Hall of Fame in 1999, and is the recipient of NRC’s Oscar Causey Award for Outstanding Contributions to Reading Research, College Reading Association’s Laureate Award, and the American Reading Forum’s and NRC’s two service awards. In 2006, she was awarded the International Reading Association’s William S. Gray Citation of Merit.   Victoria Ridgeway Gillis graduated from North Georgia College with a BS in Biology and from Emory University with an MAT in Secondary Science Education. She taught science courses including life science, chemistry, physics, and physical science in Georgia, Florida, and South Carolina. In the early 1970s, she encountered the ideas and concepts in content area reading and tried them in her classroom. Her success in using those strategies led her to return to graduate school after 20 years in the classroom to complete her Ph.D. at the University of Georgia in 1994. Victoria taught graduate and undergraduate disciplinary literacy courses at Clemson University for 20 years. She is currently Professor and Wyoming Excellence Chair in Literacy Education in the College of Education at the University of Wyoming.   Stephen Phelps is professor emeritus of Elementary Education and Reading at Buffalo State College. In his 30 years at Buffalo State, he taught a wide range of literacy methods courses at the undergraduate and graduate levels and was coordinator of the graduate literacy specialist program. His research interests include the preparation of teachers to work in urban schools and sociocultural influences on literacy acquisition and achievement.

Preface  

Chapter 1: Content Literacy and the Reading Process  

Assumptions Underlying Content Teaching  

Subject Matter  

Role of the Textbook  

Active and Independent Readers  

Fluent Readers  

Fluency with Information Technology  

What It Means To Be Literate  

Literate Thinking  

Content Literacy  

Disciplinary Literacy  

The New Literacy Studies  

The Reading Process  

A Cognitive View  

A Social Constructionist Perspective  

The Role of Motivation  

Summary  

Suggested Readings 

 

Chapter 2:      Language, Diversity, and Culture  

Language as a Vehicle for Teaching and Learning Content  

Seeing Language as Social Practice  

Dealing with Gendered Language in the Classroom and the Text  

Diversity in Language and Learning  

Second-Language Acquisition and Learning  

Dialect Differences  

Struggling or Reluctant Readers  

Gifted and Talented Learners  

Teaching and Learning in Culturally Diverse Classrooms  

Today’s Globalizing Influences  

Supporting Literacy among Adolescent ELLs  

Integrating Language, Culture, and Content  

Culturally Responsive Professional Growth  

Appreciating Diversity  

Involving Parents and Community  

Linking School and Home  

Summary  

Suggested Readings  

 

Chapter 3: Creating a Favorable Learning Environment  

Affective Characteristics  

Linking Content Literacy with Students’ Lives  

Adaptive Instruction  

Providing Choices  

Forms of Grouping  

Ability Grouping  

Cooperative/Collaborative Learning

Cross-Age Tutoring  

Discussion Groups  

Reading and Writing Workshops  

Creating Community with Technology and Multimedia

Technology  

Multimedia  

Assistive Technology  

Conflict Resolution  

What the Research Says  

Strategies for Managing Conflict  

Summary  

Suggested Readings

 

Chapter 4: Planning for Content Literacy  

Instructional Decision Making  

Essential Questions and Content Objectives  

Language and Literacy Objectives  

Learning Materials  

Student Capabilities and Needs  

Evaluation and Assessment  

Planning and Educational Technology  

Teaching Resources on the Web  

Planning Student Involvement with the Internet  

Planning for New Literacies  

Structured Frameworks for Content Literacy Lessons  

The Learning Cycle

Reciprocal Teaching  

Beyond the Daily Plan  

Unit Planning

Interdisciplinary Teaching  

Thematic Teaching  

Summary  

Suggested Readings  

 

Chapter 5: Assessment of Students and Textbooks  

Assessing Students  

Tests and Testing: A Consumer Advisory  

Types of Assessment  

Purposes of Assessment

Assessment for Learning

Assessment of Learning

Assessment as Learning

Assessing Textbooks  

Readability Formulas  

Consumer Judgments (or Don’t Judge a Book by Its Cover)  

Summary  

Suggested Readings  

 

Chapter 6: Preparing to Read  

The Role of Prior Knowledge  

Hurdles to New Learning  

The Teacher’s Task  

Assessing and Building Prior Knowledge  

The List-Group-Label Strategy  

Graphic Organizers  

Reading and Listening  

Writing  

Activating Prior Knowledge with Prereading Strategies  

Anticipation Guides  

Problem-Solving Activities  

K-W-L  

Summary  

Suggested Readings  

 

Chapter 7: Reading to Learn  

Constructing Meaning with Text  

Disciplinary Differences in Constructing Meaning  

Discipline-Specific Literacy Strategies  

Helping Students Comprehend  

Teaching Students to Be Strategic  

Making Text Comprehensible  

The Role of Fluency in Comprehension  

Questions and Questioning  

When to Ask: The Right Time and the Right Place  

What to Ask: The Relation between Questions
 and Answers  

How to Ask: Questioning Strategies  

Comprehension Guides  

Three-Level Guides  

Selective Reading Guides  

Interactive Reading Guides  

Sensing and Responding to Text Structure  

Common Text Structures  

Teaching about Text Structures  

Comprehending Online Texts  

Summary  

Suggested Readings  

 

Chapter 8: Increasing Vocabulary and Conceptual Growth  

Learning Words and Concepts  

How Students Learn Vocabulary  

Word-Learning Tasks  

Levels of Word Knowledge  

Types of Vocabulary  

Discipline-Specific Vocabulary Characteristics  

Readers’ Resources for Learning New Words  

Teaching Vocabulary: Preactive Phase

Criteria for Selecting Vocabulary  

Guidelines for Vocabulary Instruction  

Strategies for Introducing and Teaching Vocabulary  

Developing Students’ Independence: Interactive Phase

Using Context Clues

Using Familiar Word Parts  

Using Dictionaries  

Vocabulary Self-Collection  

Intensive Approaches for Struggling Readers
 and English Language Learners  

Reinforcing Vocabulary: Reflective Phase  

Literal Level:

Matching Activities, Puzzles, and Games  

Interpretive Level:

Categorizing Activities  

Analogies  

Concept Circles  

Application Level: Using Vocabulary in writing

Summary  

Suggested Readings  

 

Chapter 9: Reflecting on Reading  

Engaging Students through Discussion  

Small-Group Discussions  

Peer-Led Literature/Learning Circles  

Guiding Student Reflection  

Reaction Guides  

Reading for Different Purposes  

Discussion Webs  292

Intra-Act Procedure  

General Discussion Techniques  

Promoting Critical Literacy  

Teaching Literacy for Critical Awareness  

Incorporating Critical Media Literacy into the Curriculum  

Summary  

Suggested Readings  

 

Chapter 10: Writing across the Curriculum  

What Content Teachers Need to Know about Writing  

Writing and Reading  

The Writing Process  

Social Construction of Writing  

Writing and the Computer  

Writing Activities for Content Areas  

Writing Assignments  

Learning Logs and Journals  

Other Informal Writing Activities  

Reviewing and Summarizing  

Guiding Student Writing  

Writing to Inquire  

Preparing for Student Inquiry  

Collecting and Organizing Information  

Writing a Report  

Alternatives to the Traditional Research Report  

Responding to Student Writing  

Peer Responses  

Teacher Conferences  

Formal Evaluation  

Summary  

Suggesting Readings  

 

Chapter 11: Studying and Study Strategies  

Prerequisites for Effective Studying  

Motivation  

Teachers’ Expectations  

Knowledge of the Criterion Task  

Domain Knowledge  

Accessing Information  

Information Literacy and Library Skills  

Website Evaluation  

Preparing for Tests  

Objective Tests  

Subjective Tests  

Role of Homework  

Using Study Strategies  

Task Awareness with SQ3R  

Strategy Awareness  

Performance Awareness  

Note-Making Strategies  

Compare/Contrast Study Matrix  

Internet Search Strategies  

Summary  

Suggesting Readings  

 

Chapter 12: Developing Lifetime Readers: Literature in Content Area Classes  

Reading among Adolescents  

Who’s Reading What?

Reading in the Digital Age

Using Literature in the Content Areas  

Benefits of Using Literature  

Encouraging Responses to Literature  

Integrating Literature into Content Areas  

Uses of Literature in Content Areas  

Fiction and Nonfiction for Content Areas  

Developing Awareness of Diversity through Literature  

Advantages of Using Multicultural Literature  

Resistance to Multicultural Literature  

Choosing and Using Multicultural Literature  

Summary  

Suggesting Readings  

 

Appendix A Word Lover’s Booklist  

Appendix B Read-Aloud Books for Content Areas  

Appendix C Trade Books for Science, Math, and Social Studies  

Appendix D Culturally Conscious Trade Books  

Appendix E Standards for the Content Areas—Web Ready/
At a Glance  

References  

Name Index  

Subject Index