All teachers, no matter what subject they teach, are literacy teachers whether they know it or not. Alber (2010) states, “Content is what we teach, but there is also the how, and this is where literacy instruction comes in” (para. 7). There are many ways to incorporate literacy instruction into content areas. Teachers must take it upon themselves to find and implement these lessons consistently and effectively. There are many digital tools that can assist in this endeavor.
Students should be doing some kind of reading and/or writing every day in every classroom. Not all writing has to be formal. Some informal writing activities that can be easily incorporated into content areas are activities like quick writes, stop and jots, one-minute essays, etc. (Alber, 2010, para. 14). Google Docs is a great resource for this type of assignment. It allows students to share the document, collaborate and communicate in a quick, efficient manner. Padlet is another great resource to accomplish this. You can post a discussion prompt on your subject matter and have students brainstorm, reflect, or demonstrate their understanding. The use of a school’s learning management system (LMS) is also a great tool to use. Many LMS’s, like Schoology and Canvas, have a discussion board that provides students an opportunity to write in a manner that they find interesting and fun.
“The days of believing that we could hand informational text or a novel to a student and assume he or she makes full meaning of it on their own is a teaching mode of the past. Whether we like it or not, regardless of the content we teach, we are all reading instructors” (Albers, 2010, para. 17). Last week, I blogged about a resource called Rewordify. Rewordify would help content teachers make reading an often difficult text easier for their students. Students, parents and teachers can use Rewordify as needed. It allows the user to copy and paste a challenging text, and it will reword it in a more understandable way. In addition, teachers of all content areas could use graphic organizers to aid students in their understanding of texts. They can use brainstorming tools such as Bubbl.us. This would be great for reading and writing.
Simply put, Heller (2017) suggests to teachers, “They also must teach their students to read and write and communicate like mathematicians, historians, scientists, literary critics, and educated members of society” (para. 3). No matter our content area, we should be equipping students with the knowledge, vocabulary and tools that will allow them to be a successful 21st century learner. While content teachers may not be specifically teaching the basics of reading and writing, they should be asking students to apply these skills on a daily basis within their subject area. The use of digital tools makes this an easily attainable task.
References:
Alber, R. (2010, August 04). How Important is Teaching Literacy in All Content Areas? Retrieved May 15, 2017, from https://www.edutopia.org/blog/literacy-instruction-across-curriculum-importance
Heller, R., Ph.D. (2017). Teaching Reading and Writing in the Content Areas. Retrieved May 15, 2017, from http://www.adlit.org/adlit_101/improving_literacy_instruction_in_your_school/teaching_reading_and_writing_content_areas/
Lindsay,
ReplyDeleteRE:Simply put, Heller (2017) suggests to teachers, “They also must teach their students to read and write and communicate like mathematicians, historians, scientists, literary critics, and educated members of society”
This is so spot on! No matter what career a student ends up choosing, they need to be able to communicate, both written and verbal. It is our job to teach them this for any situation. I did not read your post last week, but this Rewordify tool sounds fabulous!! Thank you for sharing.
Lindsay,
ReplyDeleteRE: “Rewordify would help content teachers make reading an often difficult text easier for their students. Students, parents and teachers can use Rewordify as needed. It allows the user to copy and paste a challenging text, and it will reword it in a more understandable way.”
Rewordify has powerful implications for literacy instruction in the content areas. It also is a tool that can be used to implement the Gradual Release of Responsibility model.
The Albers quote, “The days of believing that we could hand informational text or a novel to a student and assume he or she makes full meaning of it on their own is a teaching mode of the past. Whether we like it or not, regardless of the content we teach, we are all reading instructors,” does a great job of summarizing why literacy instruction in the content areas is critical and supports the use of tools like Rewordify.
Dr. Dell
"Students should be doing some kind of reading and/or writing every day in every classroom. Not all writing has to be formal. "
ReplyDeleteWhen considering literacy, technology is a major component in our lessons at the present time. Literacy is everywhere and far more informal than it has been in the past. Standardized tests are implementing audio and video components. Students must learn how to be good listeners even when they are not considered auditory learners. This is all part of literacy. In addition, students must be able to respond to information within a video and compare it to a text that they have read. The level of compare and contrast and created lessons on proper note taking and determining what is important within a single video. I find that my students are consistently writing more informal responses just ot get used to the new components of technology influenced literacy.