getting students to understand, apply, and love your subject as you do! literacy department office...

GETTING STUDENTS TO GETTING STUDENTS TO UNDERSTANDUNDERSTAND, , APPLYAPPLY, , ANDAND LOVELOVE YOUR YOUR SUBJECT AS YOU DO!SUBJECT AS YOU DO!

LITERACY DEPARTMENTLITERACY DEPARTMENTOFFICE OF ACADEMIC STANDARDSOFFICE OF ACADEMIC STANDARDSGEORGIA DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION GEORGIA DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

CONTENT LITERACY:

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Kathy Cox, State School Superintendent-"We Will Lead the Nation in Improving Student Achievement"

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Section 1: Section 1: Hooked on Ideas! Hooked on Ideas! (Read It, Think It, Write It, (Read It, Think It, Write It,

Think It, Talk It!!!)Think It, Talk It!!!)You will find a collection of quotations

in your participant guide.

Read each one, and choose the one that “speaks” to your philosophy and beliefs.

Journal your thoughts and connectionsto this quotation.

Be prepared to share your thoughts.

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Examining Examining Hooked on Ideas Hooked on Ideas as a Content Area Lesson Planas a Content Area Lesson Plan

A science planA social studies planAn economics planA math planA CTAE planAn ELA plan

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Kathy Cox, State School Superintendent-"We Will Lead the Nation in Improving Student Achievement" 6

Section 2: Research Section 2: Research SupportSupport

• What is content literacy?• What does data tell us?• Why is content literacy

important?• What are some common strategies?

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What is content literacy?What is content literacy?“The level of reading and writing

skill necessary to read, comprehend, andreact to appropriate instructionalmaterials in a given subject area.”

Source: Bean, Thomas W. “Reading in the Content Areas: Social Constructivist Dimensions.” Handbook of Reading Research. Vol. III. Eds. Michael L. Kamil, et al. New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Publishers, 2000.

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What does data tell us?What does data tell us?70 % of high school students graduate on

time with a regular diploma; fewer than 60% of African American and Latino students do so. (Greene and Winters, 2005)

Students who enter 9th grade in the lowest 25% of their class are twenty times more likely to drop out than the highest-performing students. (Carnevale, 2001)

Approximately 40 percent of high school graduates lack the literacy skills employers seek. (Achieve, Inc., 2005)

Source: Biancarosa, Gina, and Catherine Snow. Reading Next—A Vision for Action and Research in Middle and High School Literacy: A Report to Carnegie Corp. of New York. 2nd ed. Washington, D. C.: Alliance for Excellent Education, 2006.

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What does data tell us?What does data tell us?U.S. dropouts’ literacy skills are lower than most

industrialized nations, performing comparably only to Chile, Poland, Portugal, and Slovenia. (OECD, 2000)

Almost 7,000 students drop out of high school every school day. (Alliance for Excellent Education, 2006)

8 million struggling readers in grades 4-12in schools across our nation. (NCES, 2003)

70% of students entering 5th and 9th grades in 2006 were reading below grade level. (NCES)


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What does data tell us?What does data tell us? Comparing the most recent NAEP results for all 3

grade levels to those from 1992, the percentage of students scoring proficient has significantly improved among 4th graders, but not among 8th and 12th graders (NCES, 1999, 2006)

The 25 fastest growing professions have far greater than average literacy demands, while the 25 fastest declining professions have lower than average literacy demands (Barton, 2000)

Both dropouts and high school graduates are demonstrating significantly worse reading skills than ten years ago (NCES, 2005)


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What does data tell us?What does data tell us?A lack of incentive and

engagement also explains why even skilled readers and writers often do not progress in reading and academic achievement in middle and high schools.

Source: Bean, Thomas W. “Reading in the Content Areas: Social Constructivist Dimensions.” Handbook of Reading Research. Vol. III. Eds. Michael L. Kamil, et al. New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Publishers, 2000.

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Why is content literacy Why is content literacy important?important?

According to Howard Gardner, the purpose of education is to enhance understanding. If students do not understand what they learn, what isthe purpose of learning?

I can never remember things I didn’t understand in the first place. ~ Amy Tan

Source: Harvey, Stephanie. Nonfiction Matters. Maine: Stenhouse Publishers, 1998.

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Why is content literacy Why is content literacy important?important?

The idea is NOT that content-area teachers should become reading and writing teachers, but rather that they should emphasize the reading and writing practices that are specific to their subjects, so students are encouraged to read and write like historians, scientists, mathematicians, and other subject-area experts.

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What are some common What are some common strategies?strategies?

Five components of comprehension strategy

Teacher ModelingGuided PracticeCollaborative PracticeIndependent PracticeApplication of the Strategy in

Authentic Reading Situations Source: Harvey, Stephanie, and Anne Goudvis. Strategies that Work: Teaching

Comprehension for Understanding and Engagement. Maine: Stenhouse Publishers, 2007.

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Prompted outlinesStructured reviewsGuided questionsChoosing short textsBuilding background knowledge

to teach specific content

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Response journalsMathematics logsReader blogs (technology

geared)Evidence gathering journalsCollective research notebook

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What types of strategies might a student need in What types of strategies might a student need in order to read materials and to write in different order to read materials and to write in different

contents?contents?

The short answer is that we introduce the strategies one at a time but quickly move on to introduce additional strategies so that kids build a repertoire of strategies and use them flexibly to understand what they read.

The ability to:grasp the gist of a textnotice and repair misinterpretationschange tactics based on the purposes

of reading

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Section 3: ChallengesSection 3: Challengesof Content Literacyof Content Literacy

Note: Each content faces its own challenges

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Earlier Research in Secondary Earlier Research in Secondary Reading Reading

Source: Source: Bean, Thomas W. “Reading in the Content Areas: Social Constructivist Dimensions.” Handbook of Bean, Thomas W. “Reading in the Content Areas: Social Constructivist Dimensions.” Handbook of Reading Research, Vo. III. Eds. Michael L. Kamil, Reading Research, Vo. III. Eds. Michael L. Kamil, et al. et al. New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Publishers, 2000. New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Publishers, 2000.

631.631.

Single text predominated in content classrooms.

Learning facts was a dominant goal.

Little pre-teachingof concepts and vocabulary occurred.

Teacher control and order were of paramount interest.

Accountability testing and time constraints limited teachers’ efforts to implement content area reading strategies.

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ACTIVITY: ACTIVITY:

TAKE EACH OF THE FIVE POINTS TAKE EACH OF THE FIVE POINTS

AND DISCUSS WHERE YOUR AND DISCUSS WHERE YOUR

CONTENT AREA APPROACH HAS CONTENT AREA APPROACH HAS

OR HAS NOT CHANGED.OR HAS NOT CHANGED.

Has the landscape changed since the 1991 review, and if so how?

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Reading and WritingReading and Writingin Content Areasin Content Areas

Texts are predominately EXPOSITORY.

Textbooks are typically used, but students also read primary source documents.

An increasing number of electronic texts are read.

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Challenges for Students in Challenges for Students in Social StudiesSocial Studies

Source: Buehl, Doug. “Reading and Writing Enhances Learning in All Classes.” Source: Buehl, Doug. “Reading and Writing Enhances Learning in All Classes.” Literacy Across the Literacy Across the Curriculum: Settling and Implementing Goals for Grades Six through 12. Curriculum: Settling and Implementing Goals for Grades Six through 12. Guide #12. Atlanta: Southern Guide #12. Atlanta: Southern

Regional Board. 101-126.Regional Board. 101-126.

Struggles center on wading through a wealth of factual information replete with unfamiliar names, events, and locations.

In their attempts to get everything straight, students may miss why it is to their advantage to know more about a time period or how government functions.

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Challenges for Students in Social Challenges for Students in Social StudiesStudies

Source: Buehl, Doug. “Reading and Writing Enhances Learning in All Classes.” Source: Buehl, Doug. “Reading and Writing Enhances Learning in All Classes.” Literacy Literacy Across the Curriculum: Settling and Implementing Goals for Grades Six through 12. Across the Curriculum: Settling and Implementing Goals for Grades Six through 12. Guide Guide

#12. Atlanta: Southern Regional Board. 101-126.#12. Atlanta: Southern Regional Board. 101-126.

Vocabulary moves way beyond identification and into application of abstract concepts (such as imperialism, states’ rights, culture, monarchy, separation of powers, etc.)

Texts’ organizations present challenges:

1.History—problem/solution

2.Geography--comparison/contrast

3. Economics, Psychology and Sociology—concept/definition connections

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Challenges for Students in ScienceChallenges for Students in ScienceSource: Buehl, Doug. “Reading and Writing Enhances Learning in All Classes.” Source: Buehl, Doug. “Reading and Writing Enhances Learning in All Classes.” Literacy Literacy

Across the Curriculum: Settling and Implementing Goals for Grades Six through 12. Across the Curriculum: Settling and Implementing Goals for Grades Six through 12. Guide Guide #12. Atlanta: Southern Regional Board. 101-126.#12. Atlanta: Southern Regional Board. 101-126.

Texts are typically densely packed with detailed information and technical vocabulary.

Although science texts focus on the world at large, many students STRUGGLEwith making connections to their personal experiences.

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Challenges for Students in Challenges for Students in ScienceScience


#12. Atlanta: Southern Regional Board. 101-126.#12. Atlanta: Southern Regional Board. 101-126.Students become overwhelmed by factual information and unfamiliar(even esoteric) terminology.

In fact, researchers have compared reading science to reading a foreign language because of the vast amount of science-specific vocabulary.

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#12. Atlanta: Southern Regional Board. 101-126.#12. Atlanta: Southern Regional Board. 101-126.Texts are organized through cause/effect connections.

1. “Why does this happen?”

2. “What would be the result if we did this?”

3. “Why did these features (or phenomena) develop?”

Biology textsare typically organized by:

Concept/definition

Frames which emphasize classification

Identificationof key traits.

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#12. Atlanta: Southern Regional Board. 101-126.#12. Atlanta: Southern Regional Board. 101-126.Science texts contain a great dealof visual information.

As a result, visual literacy skills are an integral part of science reading.

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Challenges for Students in MathChallenges for Students in MathSource: Buehl, Doug. “Reading and Writing Enhances Learning in All Classes.” Source: Buehl, Doug. “Reading and Writing Enhances Learning in All Classes.” Literacy Literacy


Students generally do not consider reading and writing as central to learning; therefore, many students attempt to bypass the reading passages and launch right into solving problems.

Too many students are taught to relyon teacher explanations to clear misunderstandings.

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Prose in texts presents special challenges:

1. Reading in math is very “sentence heavy.”

2. Every sentence is significant and communicates important information.

Visual literacy is important in math.

Reading is recursive, requiring students to cycle through a passage several times to acquire meaning.

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Textbook authors often assume a certain level of prior knowledge.

Students must adopt a different approach when reading mathematics.

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Textbooks are predominately arranged in problem solving mode of discourse.

Concept/definition is also evident.

Students attempt to apply rote problem-solving formulas while not truly understanding the principle.

Texts employ goal/action/outcome text frames(a sequence of steps).

Terms have precision meanings communicated in the forms of signs and symbols.

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Challenges for Students in CTAEChallenges for Students in CTAESource: Buehl, Doug. “Reading and Writing Enhances Learning in All Classes.” Source: Buehl, Doug. “Reading and Writing Enhances Learning in All Classes.” Literacy Literacy


Students may struggle with motivation issues because much of the reading is focused on the acquisition of facts.

Reading materials contain an extensive array of technical vocabulary and jargon that may be unfamiliar to people outside the field.

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As the technology becomes more advanced, so doesthe language.

The prose may be quite terse, without information that expands or embellishes the basic facts. Therefore, students may have to read the text several times to comprehend meaning.

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Texts typically follow goal/action/outcome structure as students read to follow directions or to learn a process or procedure.

Materials used in career/technical disciplines range from textbooks to technical manuals to actual documents used in the workplace. (Plans, Blueprints, Diagrams, etc.)

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Challenges for Students in ELAChallenges for Students in ELASource: Beers, Kylene, Source: Beers, Kylene, When Kids Can’t Read: What Teachers Can Do. When Kids Can’t Read: What Teachers Can Do. Portsmouth, NH : Portsmouth, NH :

Heinemann. 41Heinemann. 41 Texts come in all

genres, types and formats, and students must be able to navigate through all texts.

Comprehension Challenges: Clarifying

Comparing/Contrasting

Connecting

Inferencing

Predicting

Questioning

Author’s Purpose

Causal relationships

Summarizing

Visualizing

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Section 4: Note Taking:Section 4: Note Taking:A Strategy That WorksA Strategy That Works

Accessing knowledge through: •exploring •questioning •connecting•inferring•synthesizing•recording•understanding!!!

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Activity: Addressing Activity: Addressing ChallengesChallenges

Choose one challenge in your content area

as discussed in previous slides.

Write a strategy that you have used or will use that will help students face this challenge.

Share with your table, and then a spokesperson will share two with the entire group.

The best teachers of teachers are TEACHERS!!!!

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Active Note Taking Promotes Active Note Taking Promotes True Learning!!!True Learning!!!

Passive Note Taking Active Note Taking

Copying notes from the board, the overhead, or even a Smart Board

Receiving a copy of the teacher’s notes

Underlining or highlighting what the teacher says to mark

Annotating next to the words on a page that cause you to connect or have thought

Underlining/highlighting important information and writing your thinking!

Asking a question, making a connection to something familiar, giving an opinion, drawing a conclusion, and/or making a statement

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Activity: Judge for Activity: Judge for YourselfYourself

Receive three different examplesof student work that depict activenote taking strategies.

Identify the process that makes it clear that the student is actively engaged.

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Different Ways to Different Ways to Annotate:Annotate:

Marking in the margins of the text,as well as the text itself.

Using post-it notes or sticky notes or borders.

Creating graphic organizers that target idea gathering {vocabulary, quotations and meanings, and key concepts (arguments, main ideas, key points, etc.)}

Utilizing double-entry journals.Creating concept maps/webs, etc.

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Activity: Create a ModelActivity: Create a ModelReceive a specific content area

articleor activity.

Devise an annotation strategy for your students.

Create a model to take back into your classroom.

Be prepared to share.

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Section 5: Vocabulary—It is Section 5: Vocabulary—It is time to move beyond the time to move beyond the

dictionary!!dictionary!!

The goals of vocabulary study areto produce students who can:•read well•write well•communicate effectively

KEY: TO ACHIEVE THIS GOAL, STUDENTS NEED A LARGE RESERVOIR OF WORDS!

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Beyond the DictionaryBeyond the DictionaryExperiences

Reading

Direct instruction

Multiple encounters in meaningful contexts

Independent research

Strategies

USE!! USE!!

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Where Does VocabularyWhere Does VocabularyGrowth Originate?Growth Originate?

These findings emphasize the importance of reading as a source of vocabulary growth.

Volume of words read also reveals some surprising numbers.


Models of Four StrategiesModels of Four StrategiesStopper Words

Context Plus Activity

Portable Word Wall

Frayer Model

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Create a Vocabulary ActivityCreate a Vocabulary Activity

Return to the article that you used in the note taking section.

Using one of the suggested vocabulary strategies (or one of your own), create a stopper list, a context plus activity, a portable word wall, or Frayer Model that you would use as a model.

If you use one of your own strategies, be prepared to share!!

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Section 6: Three Types of Section 6: Three Types of Writing for Every ClassroomWriting for Every Classroom

Writing-to-Learn

Writing to Demonstrate Learning

Authentic Writing

Source: Dick, Elizabeth. “Weekly Writing.” Literacy Across the Curriculum: Setting and Implementing Goals for Grades Six through 12. Guide #12. Atlanta: Southern Regional Education Boards (SREB), 77-99.

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Writing to LearnWriting to LearnJournalsLearning logsWriter’s NotebooksExit and Entry (Admit) SlipsInquiry logsMathematics logsStudy guides

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Writing to Demonstrate Writing to Demonstrate LearningLearning

ParagraphsEssaysOpen-response questionsLab reportsResearch assignmentsCreative tasksOn-demand writing (timed writing) Project reports

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Authentic WritingAuthentic WritingArticlesEditorialsLetters to the editorSpeechesLettersProposals

ReviewsScriptsBusiness plansProposalsHow to manualsMemorandums

Writing ActivityWriting ActivityUsing these examples as a

springboard for your ideas, develop one strategy from each of these three types of writing that would enhance one of your study units.

For example: Reader Response Journal Prompt, Timed Writing Essay question, Informational Brochure.

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Additional Resources:Additional Resources:Specific Writing Examples

for the Content Areas

Modes of Discourse


Next Steps:Next Steps:Implement in all classrooms

Articulate a literacy plan

Form book study groups

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"The definition of literacy is shifting - it's always shifting," said Kylene Beers, president of the National Council of Teachers of English and

author of texts on teaching reading. "At one point in time, someone able to make an X was a

measure of literacy.“

Now, she said, "It's about conceiving ideas, synthesizing, explaining complex ideas well and easily. It's what you are going to need to do to

keep a job in this country.“

“Fewer Students Read Between Lines”The Tampa TribunePublished: July 1, 2008


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Contact Information:Contact Information:Mary Stout, ELA Program

Manager, [email protected] Dillard, ELA Program

Specialist,[email protected]

Kimberly Jeffcoat, TOA, [email protected]


getting students to understand, apply, and love your subject as you do! literacy department office...

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state school superintendent

student achievement

student achievement

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content literacy important

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