Content Area Reading and Literacy

Victoria R. Gillis graduated from North Georgia College with a BS degree in Biology and from Emory University with an MAT in Secondary Science Education. She taught middle and high school science courses including life science, chemistry, physics, and physical science in Georgia, Florida, and South Carolina for 20 years. In the early 1970s, she encountered the ideas and concepts in what was known as content area reading and tried them in her classroom. Her success in using principles of active learning drawn from content area reading led her to return to graduate school to complete a PhD at the University of Georgia in 1994. Victoria taught graduate and undergraduate disciplinary literacy courses at Clemson University for 20 years and served as a volunteer in the Reading and Writing for Critical Thinking project in Eastern Europe and Central America at the turn of the century. She is currently Wyoming Excellence in Education Literacy Chair in the College of Education at the University of Wyoming.   George L. Boggs graduated from King College with a B.A. in English/Literature and Religion before beginning his career as a teacher and coach in the Pacific Northwest. He taught middle school language arts, Latin, Spanish, and technology before returning to graduate school for a MA in Classics from Durham University in Great Britain. Graduate study in a different educational system in an entirely new field helped clarify a lifelong interest in disciplinary literacies. Returning to high school teaching in Georgia, he sought opportunities to help students make sense of the specialized ways of thinking that define school content areas, first, but also workplace and other domains that matter to children. This work culminated in doctoral research at the University of Georgia completed in 2012. His role as literacy researcher and teacher educator has positioned him at Florida State University to develop opportunities for teachers to understand the role of literacy in their subject area goals.   Donna Alvermann is the University of Georgia Appointed Distinguished Research Professor of Language and Literacy Education. She also holds an endowed chair position: The Omer Clyde and Elizabeth Parr Aderhold Professor in Education. Formerly a classroom teacher in Texas and New York, her research focuses on young people’s digital literacies and use of popular media. Author of numerous articles, she has several books to her credit: Adolescents and Literacies in a Digital World; Reconceptualizing the Literacies in Adolescents’ Lives (3rd ed.); Adolescents’ Online Literacies: Connecting Classrooms, Digital Media, and Popular Culture; and Bring It to Class: Unpacking Pop Culture in Literacy Learning. Most recently, she helped in designing an interactive website to learn how a community of researchers and researched objects can push boundaries associated with creating and disseminating “original” work and remixes online using a Creative Commons license.    

Brief Table of Contents

Chapter 1 Content Literacy and the Reading Process - 1

Chapter 2 Creating Effective Learning Environments - 34

Chapter 3 Planning for Content Literacy - 58

Chapter 4 Assessment of Students and Textbooks - 89

Chapter 5 Preparing to Read - 123

Chapter 6 Reading to Learn - 143

Chapter 7 Increasing Vocabulary and Conceptual Growth - 177

Chapter 8 Reflecting on Reading and Learning - 215

Chapter 9 Teaching Writing - 239

Chapter 10 Writing to Learn - 254

Chapter 11 Writing to Inquire - 279

Chapter 12 Developing Lifetime Readers: Literature in Content Area Classes - 296



Detailed Table of Contents

Preface xv

Chapter 1 Content Literacy and the Reading Process 1

Assumptions Underlying Content Teaching 4

Subject Matter 4

Role of the Textbook 5

Active and Independent Readers 6

Fluent Readers 8

Fluency with Information Technology 8

What It Means to Be Literate 9

Literate Thinking 10

Content Literacy 11

Disciplinary Literacy 12

The New Literacy Studies 19

The Reading Process 21

A Cognitive View 21

A Social Constructionist Perspective 26

The Role of Motivation 29

Summary 32

Suggested Readings 32

Chapter 2 Creating Effective Learning Environments 34

Affective Characteristics 37

Linking Content Literacy with Students' Lives 37

Adaptive Instruction 41

Providing Choices 42

Language as a Vehicle for Teaching and Learning Content 42

Seeing Language as a Social Practice 43

Dealing with Gendered Language in the Classroom and the Text 44

Diversity in Language and Learning 46

Second-Language Acquisition and Learning 46

Struggling or Reluctant Readers 50

Gifted and Talented Learners 51

Teaching and Learning in Culturally Diverse Classrooms 53

Today's Globalizing Influences 53

Supporting Literacy among Adolescent English Learners 55

Summary 56

Suggested Readings 57

Chapter 3 Planning for Content Literacy 58

Instructional Decision Making 61

Essential Questions and Content Objectives 62

Language and Disciplinary Literacy Objectives 65

Learning Materials 66

Student Capabilities and Needs 66

Evaluation and Assessment 68

Planning and Educational Technology 69

Teaching Resources on the Web 70

Planning Student Involvement with the Internet 72

Planning for New Literacies 74

Structured Frameworks for Content Literacy Lessons 75

The Learning Cycle 75

Reciprocal Teaching 78

Reading and Writing Workshops 80

Beyond the Daily Plan 80

Unit Planning 81

Schoolwide Programs 82

Interdisciplinary Teaching 84

Thematic Teaching 86

Summary 87

Suggested Readings 87

Chapter 4 Assessment of Students and Textbooks 89

Assessing Students 92

Tests and Testing: A Consumer Advisory 92

Types of Assessment 95

Purposes of Assessment: Learning about Students 101

Assessment for Learning: Cognitive Domain 102

Assessment for Learning: Affective Domain 108

Assessment of Learning: Grades and Grading 112

Assessment as Learning: Portfolio Assessment 114

Assessing Textbooks 119

Readability Formulas 120

Consumer Judgments (or Don't Judge a Book by Its Cover) 121

Summary 122

Suggested Readings 122

Chapter 5 Preparing to Read 123

The Role of Prior Knowledge 126

Hurdles to New Learning 126

The Teacher's Task 127

Assessing and Building Prior Knowledge 128

The List-Group-Label Strategy 129

Graphic Organizers 130

Reading, Viewing, and Listening 131

Writing 132

Activating Prior Knowledge with Prereading Strategies 133

Anticipation Guides 134

Problem-Solving Activities 139

K-W-L 140

Summary 142

Suggested Readings 142

Chapter 6 Reading to Learn 143

Constructing Meaning with Text 146

Disciplinary Differences in Constructing Meaning 147

Discipline-Specific Literacy Practices 148

Helping Students Comprehend 150

Teaching Students to Be Strategic 150

Making Text Comprehensible 152

The Role of Fluency in Comprehension 152

Close Reading 155

Questions and Questioning 156

When to Ask: The Right Time and the Right Place 157

What to Ask: The Relation between Questions and Answers 157

How to Ask: Questioning Strategies 163

Text Structure and Complexity 167

Common Text Structures 167

Teaching about Text Structures 168

Text Complexity 172

Comprehending Online Texts 174

Summary 175

Suggested Readings 176

Chapter 7 Increasing Vocabulary and Conceptual Growth 177

Learning Words and Concepts 180

How Students Learn Vocabulary 181

Word-Learning Tasks 181

Levels of Word Knowledge 182

Types of Vocabulary 182

Discipline-Specific Vocabulary Characteristics 183

Readers' Resources for Learning New Words 185

Teaching Vocabulary: Preactive Phase 188

Criteria for Selecting Vocabulary 190

Guidelines for Vocabulary Instruction 190

Strategies for Introducing and Teaching Vocabulary:

Preactive/Interactive Phase 191

Developing Students' Independence: Interactive Phase 197

Using Context Clues 197

Using Familiar Word Parts 199

Using Dictionaries 201

Vocabulary Self-Collection 201

Intensive Approaches for Struggling Readers and English Learners 203

Reinforcing Vocabulary: Reflective Phase 206

Literal-Level Activities 207

Interpretive-Level Activities 207

Application-Level Activities 212

Summary 213

Suggested Readings 214

Chapter 8 Reflecting on Reading and Learning 215

Engaging Students through Discussion 218

Small-Group Discussions 218

Peer-Led Literature/Learning Circles 220

Cooperative/Collaborative Learning 222

Cross-Age Tutoring 222

Guiding Student Reflection 224

Reaction Guides 224

Reading, Viewing, Listening, or Acting for Different

Purposes 226

Discussion Webs 227

Intra-Act Procedure 229

General Discussion Techniques 231

Promoting Critical Literacy 231

Teaching Literacy for Critical Awareness 233

Incorporating Critical Media Literacy into the Curriculum 234

Summary 238

Suggested Readings 238

Chapter 9 Teaching Writing 239

Writing Activities for Content Areas 242

Authentic Writing 242

Simulations 243

Writing Assignments 244

Writing as a Process 244

Reviewing and Summarizing 245

Understanding Writing as a Part of Development 248

From Pointing to Writing 248

Reading Is Writing Is Analysis 248

Responding to Student Writing 249

Peer Responses 249

Teacher Conferences 251

Formal Evaluation 251

Summary 252

Suggested Readings 253

Chapter 10 Writing to Learn 254

Note-Making Strategies 257

Strategies That Foster Discipline-Appropriate Thinking 261

Structured Note Making 261

Learning Logs and Journals 263

Think Writes 267

Response Heuristic 268

Creative Writing to Learn 270

Cinquains 270

Biopoems 271

Found Poems 271

Raft Assignments 273

Other Creative Writing Activities 275

Summary 277

Suggested Readings 278

Chapter 11 Writing to Inquire 279

Understanding Writing in Context 282

Academic Literacies 283

Disciplinary Literacies 283

21st-Century Literacies 283

Preparing for Student Inquiry 285

Collecting and Organizing Information 286

Research or Three-Search? 286

I-Charts 287

Writing a Report 288

Outlining 288

Paraphrasing 289

Revising 289

Alternatives to the Traditional Research Report 290

Multigenre Reports 290

Information Literacy and Library Skills 291

Website Evaluation 292

Hypermedia 293

Collaborative Internet Projects 294

Summary 295

Suggested Readings 295

Chapter 12 Developing Lifetime Readers: Literature in Content Area Classes 296

Reading among Adolescents 299

Who's Reading What? 299

Reading in the Digital Age 300

Reading Practices in the Content Areas 300

Benefits of Moving beyond the Textbook 300

Encouraging Responses to Literature 301

Integrating Literature into Content Areas 302

Uses of Literature in Content Areas 302

Fiction and Nonfiction for Content Areas 307

Developing Awareness of Diversity through Texts 311

Advantages of Using Multicultural Literature 312

Resistance to Multicultural Literature 312

Choosing and Using Multicultural Literature 314

Summary 317

Suggested Readings 317

Appendix A Word Lover's Booklist 319

Appendix B Read-Aloud Books for Content Areas 320

Appendix C Trade Books for Science, Math, and Social Studies 322

Appendix D Culturally Conscious Trade Books 326

Appendix E Standards for the Content Areas-Web Ready/At a Glance 330

References

Name Index

Subject Index