After reading the three articles (1. What Is Content Reading, 2. How Important is Teaching Literacy in All Content Areas, and 3. Teaching Reading and Writing in Content Areas), list at least 2-3 facts/concepts/ideas you learned from EACH article. Add commentary about at least 2 ways the information from EACH article can help you teach cross-content materials in your content area. If you will be teaching elementary school, then list how you can teach materials across several content areas.
Post by Friday, Dec. 18 and respond to both classmates by Sunday at 6:00 p.m. Your responses should be thoughtful, deep-thinking comments, not just "I agree..." If you choose to start with "I agree," state what you agree with and why.
From "How Important is Teaching", I learned literacy is more than reading and writing, it is also listening and speaking. I also learned it takes time to develop academic or high level conversation in small and large groups. I can utilize these facts especially in my Personal Finance classes by incorporating more creative writing to elevate the thought processes of the students. The statement, "you can't avoid thinking when your write," really made an impact on me. During lecture I should give students time to discuss with one another. The students usually engage in conversation and I'm sure it is not about the topic so doing this will allow them to fill their need to be vocal and keep them on task. From "What is Content Area Reading?", I learned content area reading is not only the concepts and ideas concerning the subject area but also the format and structure of the presentation of the text. Also a reader should make meaning on three different levels which are literal, inferential, and evaluation. Even though I have told the students they should read what is in the margins, captions, summaries, etc, it should really have them practice this on a regular basis by asking them questions and doing actives that directs them to those areas. I should also have the students learn of the different strategies for accessing information. From "Teaching Reading and Writing in the Content Areas", I learned that I shouldn't assume that the Language Arts department is teaching reading and writing. And I should not think that it is not my responsibility to teach the students to communicate effectively. I should incorporate activities that encourages the students to communicate as financial planners and data analysts. As a first year teacher, I am going to inquire with the other department staff to see if business communication is incorporated in the learning objectives of the classes I instruct, and if not what we should do to have it added to the student learning objectives. These articles have really inspired my thinking of how to take student learning to the next level.
ReplyDeleteI really like how you connected the reading to your classroom with your statement "The students usually engage in conversation and I'm sure it is not about the topic so doing this will allow them to fill their need to be vocal and keep them on topic." When I was in high school teachers never seemed to give anytime to discuss the topic I was learning, with other students so I would find myself just whispering to another student which I'm sure caused a distraction to other students. It wasn't until college that teachers had me really talk to other students about the topic which really helps the learning process because it gives you a chance to see what other students are thinking. In all of my teaching classes we spend a majority of the time discussing with other another which really makes us pay attention to the lesson because we know we are going to have to share with one another shortly.
DeleteI really like how you mentioned giving time for the students to discuss with one another. In many of my classes at Westminster our professors do think, pair, share. I have found this rewarding because it gives me time to myself to think about the topic or question and then pair with a partner to discuss or thinking and them share with a class. It also leaves room for brainstorming if someone is confused or can't find the pathway to the correct answer. Your final sentence was really rewarding to read "Really inspired your thinking of how to take students learning to the next level". This is a statement I have strived for in my education courses and reading articles like these make it easier to find the connection and think deeper of the how to.
DeleteWhat is Content Reading?
ReplyDeleteContent reading is “reading that a person needs to complete and understand in a particular subject area”.
Content area text differ from literature text by the looks and type of writing.
Depending on the type of content area students need to choose their reading strategies wisely.
Content reading is important for the students to understand. In grade school it is important to explore different reading strategies for the students to try so when reading specific content area reading they can use different strategies to fit the need of the reading. This concept is also used a lot in grade school because students start looking at the structure of books and different types of reading. Students can explore the books and choose what will help them get a complete understanding.
How important is Teaching Literacy in All content Areas?
Content is “what we teach, but there is also the how, and this is where literacy comes in”.
The ultimate goal is “to build a student’s comprehension, writing skills, and overall skills in communication”.
Teaching literacy in all content areas is important in grade school so students can build their communication, writing and comprehension skills. These are all use throughout school even in high-school and college so it is important to start young. It is also important to follow literacy in all content areas because while doing these tasks you are thinking. While writing students have to think to previously learned knowledge about capitalizing the first letter, ending with correct punctuation, and re-reading to make sure it makes since. These three topics are the stem to many other areas of learning and how students overall succeed in classes.
Teaching reading and writing in content areas
Little reading or writing goes into most content area classes
Don’t assume that the English department takes care of literacy instruction
All teachers should be trained in certain essentials of literacy instruction
Teaching reading and writing in content areas as well as across all content areas is important because it lays the framework for all basics and beyond the basics. In grade school it is important to be trained for basics in literacy instruction. Students need to be well prepared to go beyond the basics once they step up in grade levels. Teachers need to work toward cross content and integrated curriculum to mix all content areas to teach the topic.
While reading your reply to this topic your statement of "While writing students have to think to previously learned knowledge about capitalizing the first letter, ending with correct punctuation, and re-reading to make sure it makes since" really stood out to me. I did my practicum class in a second grade classroom and I was able to watch students learn about punctuation and how to write correct sentences which later led to writing papers. It was so neat to see students learn about writing because you could really see the progress they had made throughout my time spent with them. With writing, I believe once you learn something its hard to forget it so its easier to be doing the right thing after you have learned it one time, like capital letters for example. I noticed my students really trying to make sure they had all the correct punctuation and they made sure to review their work when finished. It was nice that their teacher spent so much time learning this so that they now have a base of writing learned for when they start writing bigger papers.
DeleteIntroducing the concept of looking at the structure of the text in grade school is great. When I was growing up it wasn't introduced until late high school and college, which in reality by that time I should have already had study habits and learning strategies established. I completely agree with you that teaching literacy across all content areas should be started at a young age. I have three children, two in college and one in high school. They all loved to read when they were little but my boys lost interest about middle school. Perhaps if they were taught these concepts they would continue to like to read and do better at content reading.
DeleteIn the article What is Content Area Reading? I learned that readers use different strategies for reading and comprehending content area text than they employ when reading literature (what is content reading). This means that when a student’s reads a novel vs. a text book they have to focus on different things. For a text book there are sidebars, illustrations, headings, footers and colored text that tells information about that subject. Novels have distinct chapters with each of the pages looking the same. In this article I also learned that literal is understanding the information written on the page. Inferential is reading between the lines and evaluation is making judgements and conclusions about the information. This will help me in my classroom because I can teach students how to highlight and remember the important information they find in either a text book or novel. When making my students do book reports it will be crucial to have my students know how to pick out the important material so they can apply that to their report. I can use this material when teaching any subject in elementary school. We will have science, math, English and social studies books and it will be important for students to know how to read the sidebars, look at illustrations, read the headings, footers, and colored text.
ReplyDeleteIn the article, How Important is Teaching Literacy in All Content Areas? I learned that literacy isn’t just the ability to read and write anymore. It is not about being able to make sense of and engage in advanced reading, writing, listening, and speaking. I also learned that for every 5-8 minutes that you talk, you need to give 1-2 minutes to your students for them to talk to each other. This article was very helpful when explaining how these concepts can be used for each subject. For example, I will have my class write everyday whether it’s formal or not. Every writing does not have to be formal but it is very important to have students write. Also I will have my students do a think pair share type of activity daily in order to build up their speaking skills. It is very important to have students talk to one another right off the bat so they are used to this and build up important speaking skills.
In the article Teaching Reading and Writing in the Content Areas, I learned that the English department might not take care of literacy instruction. If this is not realized, then math, science, and history teachers will assume that the English department bears the responsibility for all of the reading and writing responsibility. It is important that students are getting this in all of their classes and not just in their reading and writing classes. This will be important in my classroom that I imply reading and writing within every subject that I teach. I am going to be an elementary school teacher so I will be teaching every subject but will need to incorporate reading/writing into every lesson.
These articles were defiantly eye opening as a pre-service teacher because I was never taught different strategies to help with content reading in high school. I like mentioned in my reply to Pam's discussion I love the think, pair, minutes the students should get share method. When you -mentioned learning that for every - minutes to talk to each other I think it is important to utilize this in the classroom. Most the time I feel teachers skip the talking portion and just as individual students to share which can be effective however this allows students to view different view points.
DeleteAs you mentioned in your last paragraph, "The English department might not be taking care of the literacy instruction", that really spoke to me also. I have been focusing on content but trying to remind my students about "how to study and what to focus on". I will definately be implementing activities for the students to apply and practice the strategies. I feel as a high school instructor my students really need to master this since they will be heading to college and need to have these skills in order to excel at the next level of learning. If the students are already learning the strategies in grade school and we carry it over at the secondary level, then they should have an excellent opportunity in college to succeed. Both of you discussing about using it at the elementary level has me wondering about our grade school instructors so I am going to reach out and see if this is taking place at the district I am in.
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