Building a Bridge between Reading Research and Reading Across the Curriculum
Did you know?
An important way that schools can and must improve literacy instruction for students in grades 4-12 is to focus on reading and writing instruction in the academic content areas (Heller & Greenleaf, 2007).
Literacy stands at the heart of the academic content areas, and inasmuch as these content areas comprise the heart of the secondary school curriculum, content area literacy instruction must be viewed as the cornerstone of any comprehensive movement to build the kinds of thriving, intellectually vibrant secondary schools that young people deserve (Heller & Greenleaf, 2007).
Effective vocabulary strategy instruction includes giving both definitional and contextual information about new words, engaging in high level thinking skills when introducing words and talking about new words on a consistent basis (Ellery, 2005).
Fluency and comprehension often go hand in hand. A student who reads accurately and smoothly will more likely comprehend text better than a student who reads with hesitancy, repeats words or phrases, and makes oral reading errors (Stahl, 2004).
Many students engaged in the reading process benefit from explicit instruction in specific research-supported comprehension strategies in order to be able to apply and use the strategies on their own (Brown, 2008; Neufeld, 2005; Pardo, 2004).
"No matter how busy you may think you are, you must find time for reading, or surrender yourself to self-chosen ignorance. " – Confucius
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Click here to read about our online graduate course, Reading Across the Curriculum .
According to Peter and Pamela Wright, “Approximately 40 percent of students across the nation cannot read at a basic level. Average performing students have made no progress over the past 10 years, and the lowest-performing readers have become less successful over this same time period.” Frustrated teachers struggle with the weak reading skills and low motivation for reading in students, yet few teachers understand the struggles and the emotional toll that reading problems take upon our students.
Research shows that children who read well in the early grades will be far more successful in later years. As educators when we address struggling readers, we need to remember that we can make a difference with emerging readers, but only if we take a positive and proactive approach to helping them read.
Research has consistently identified the critical skills necessary to become good readers. Strategies exist that connect theory to facilitating reading, thinking, and learning skills in a variety of disciplines. By discovering how to plan lessons effectively, educators can engage students, deepen their understanding of content, and prepare them for success beyond the classroom. No matter what content area you teach, basic strategies exist to help students achieve reading success.
Tips for building a bridge between reading research and reading across the curriculum
Develop a Literacy Language. Develop a common vocabulary or literacy language you will use when discussing reading and literacy tasks. For example, students need to know the expectations for such terms as mental imagery and monitoring.
When you have a literacy language and you ask students to use mental imagery, they know to imagine the setting, the physical characteristics of the characters, and the interactions throughout the story.
When you have a literacy language and you ask students to monitor their reading, they know to notice when they drift off and then consciously refocus their attention.
- Build Background (Schema). Build the reader’s background or schema through pre-reading activities, visualization, communicating the big picture, and defining vocabulary. Building schema enhances comprehension because students can use prior knowledge and the background provided by the teacher to make meaning of what they read. Just a few seconds of schema-building can make a huge difference in comprehension.
Build Vocabulary. You can enhance reading success by using a variety of strategies for teaching vocabulary appropriate to the grade level and reading abilities of your students.
Use Word Maps to build vocabulary. Write the chosen word in the middle of the page with four boxes coming from the word in various directions. The student uses the four boxes to write a definition, draw a visual representation, write a synonym, and write a sentence using the word.
Word Play represents another way to build vocabulary. Students make a visual representation of the word that communicates the word’s meaning. For example, to define the word increase a student might create a word play writing each letter of the word increasing in size.
Improve Fluency. As their vocabulary base grows, students grow in their ability to comprehend and read with fluency. Students cannot become independent, confident readers without a strong base in phonics, sight words, and the ability to read with emotion.
Read-A-Minute presentations provide students an opportunity to improve fluency. Each student presents an oral reading of at least one minute in length to the class. Teachers can allow choice of content, repeated practice, and the opportunity for rehearsal before reading aloud. Read-A-Minute presentations can fit into any classroom schedule as a bell ringer activity. This gives the teacher an opportunity to monitor fluency and provide support for struggling students.
Brown, R. (2008). Strategy matters: Comprehension instruction for older youth. In Hinchman, K. S. & Sheridan-Thomas, H. K. (Eds.). Best Practices in
Adolescent Literacy Instruction (pp. 114-131). New York: Guilford.
Ellery, V. (2005). Creating strategic readers: Techniques for developing competency in phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and
comprehension. Newark, Delaware: International Reading Association.
Heller, R., & Greenleaf, C. (2007). Literacy instruction in the content areas: Getting to the core of middle and high school improvement. Washington, DC:
Alliance for Excellent Education.
Neufeld, P. (2005). Comprehension instruction in content area classes. The Reading Teacher, 59(4) 302-312.
Pardo, L. W. (2004). What every teacher needs to know about comprehension. The Reading Teacher, 58(3), 272-280.
Stahl. S. A. (2004). What do we know about fluency? In McCardle, P. & Chabra, V. (Eds.). The Voice of Evidence in Reading Research (pp. 187-211).
Baltimore, MD: Paul H. Brookes Publishing Co.
Wright, P. W. D. & Wright, P. D. (2009). Wrightslaw: No Child Left Behind FAQ’s Reading. Retrieved April 14, 2009, from
http://www.wrightslaw.com/nclb/faqs/reading.htm
Source: The above tips are based on PLS's graduate course Reading Across the Curriculum™. For more information see "Featured Onsite Graduate Course" to the right
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