Teaching discipline-specific literacies in grades 6-12 : preparing students for college, career, and workforce demands

Comprehensive, timely, and relevant, this text offers an approach to discipline-specific literacy instruction that is aligned with the Common Core State Standards and the needs of teachers, students, and secondary schools across the nation. It is essential that teachers know how to provide instruction that both develops content and literacy knowledge and skills, and aims at reducing student achievement gaps. Building on the research-supported premise that discipline-specific reading instruction is key to achieving these goals, this text provides practical guidance and strategies for prospective and practicing content area teachers (and other educators) on how to prepare all students to succeed in college and the workforce. Pedagogical features in each chapter engage readers in digging deeper and in applying the ideas and strategies presented in their own contexts: Classroom Life (real 6-12 classroom scenarios and interviews with content-area teachers) Common Core State Standards Connections College, Career, and Workforce Connections Applying Discipline-Specific Literacies Think Like an Expert ("habits of thinking and learning" specific to each discipline) Digital Literacies Differentiating Instruction Reflect and Apply Questions Extending Learning Activities The Companion Website includes: Lesson plan resources Annotated links to video files Annotated links to additional resources and information Glossary/Flashcards For Instructors: All images and figures used in the text provided in an easily downloadable format For Instructors: PowerPoint lecture slides Cover 1 Title Page 4 Copyright Page 5 Dedication 6 Table of Contents 10 Preface 14 Acknowledgements 20 About the Author 22 CHAPTER 1 – Preparing Students for Today and Tomorrow 24 College and Career Readiness 25 Workforce Readiness 26 What is 21st Century Learning? 28 Wanted: Highly Qualified Teachers for a New Era of Learning 28 Reconceptualizing Literacy 29 New Literacies 30 Adolescent Literacy and New Educational Standards 34 The Secondary Schools We Need 39 CHAPTER 2 – Literacy as a Discipline-Specific Process 53 Content Area Literacy 54 The Shift from Content Area Literacy to Disciplinary Literacy 56 Disciplinary Literacy 58 Academic Disciplines 60 Why Position Literacy in the Disciplines? 70 Disciplinary Literacy Learning Principles 73 CHAPTER 3 – Reading Complex Texts Beyond the Textbook 83 New Educational Standards and Text Complexity 84 What Is Text Complexity? 88 Qualitative Dimensions of Text Complexity 90 Quantitative Factors of Text Complexity 95 Reader Characteristics and Text Complexity 99 How Can Teachers Prepare Students to Read and Comprehend Complex Text? 100 Close Reading of Complex Text 101 Text-Dependent Questions 103 Accountable Talk 108 Text Complexity and a Disciplinary Literacy Learning Framework in Grades 6–12 109 CHAPTER 4 – Rigorous Instruction in the Disciplines 114 Classroom Instruction and Student Achievement 115 What Is Rigorous Instruction? 117 Planning for Rigorous Instruction in the Disciplines 123 High and Clear Expectations for All 125 Classroom Norms and Procedures 126 Student Engagement and Motivation 130 Rigorous Materials 131 Learning Goals 134 Explicit Instruction 141 Rigorous Instruction and Informal Assessment 146 Teacher Reflection 149 CHAPTER 5 – Vocabulary Learning and Instruction in the Disciplines 155 The Role of Vocabulary in the Context of New Educational Standards 156 Vocabulary and Learning 157 The Vocabulary of Core Disciplines 160 Vocabulary Instructional Decisions: Which Words to Teach? 164 Effective Vocabulary Instruction 168 Introducing and Teaching Vocabulary Strategies 170 Fostering Students’ Independence 178 Reinforcing and Extending Vocabulary Knowledge 185 CHAPTER 6 – Questioning and Comprehension in the Disciplines 197 The Importance of Critical Thinking Skills and Processes in the 21st Century 198 The Role of Comprehension in College, Career, Workforce, and Life Readiness 199 What Does It Mean to Comprehend? 201 Questions, Questioning, and Comprehension 204 What Makes a “Good” Question, “Good”? 209 What Questions to Ask? 210 Discipline-Specific Habits of Mind and Questioning 232 How to Create a Disciplinary Inquiry Classroom Culture 236 CHAPTER 7 – Discipline-Specific Comprehension Instruction 244 Teaching Comprehension 245 Fluency and Comprehension 248 Independent Reading 250 Building Comprehension through Text 250 Text Structure Instruction 252 Text Marking, Annotating, and Text Coding 257 Note-Taking 259 Summarizing 263 Strategies for Discipline-Specific Comprehension Instruction 265 Metacognition and Comprehension Monitoring 298 The Goal: Deep, Transferable Learning 300 CHAPTER 8 – Disciplinary Literacy Learning Environments 309 The Role of Discourse and Collaboration in the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) 310 What Is Academic Language? 311 Disciplinary Literacy and Classroom Talk 316 Characteristics of Discipline-Specific Learning Environments 319 Accountable Talk in the Disciplines 323 Collaborative Inquiry 329 Motivation, Engagement, and Student Voice 340 The Classroom Environment and How Students Learn 344 CHAPTER 9 – Writing in the Disciplines 353 Writing for Postsecondary and Life Success 354 Transitioning from High School to College Writing 356 Writing and Writing Instruction 357 Writing and the Common Core State Standards 364 Writing in the Disciplines 377 Writing to Learn 382 The Role of Collaboration in Writing 394 Digital Writing: Writing on the Screen 396 What Is the Best Approach to Improve Students’ Writing? 397 CHAPTER 10 – Assessing Student Learning in the Disciplines 403 Assessment and Instruction 404 Types of Assessment 405 Response to Intervention 419 Assessing Materials 424 Assessing Students’ Understanding of Texts 426 Policy, High-Stakes Testing, and Accountability 428 Assessing Student Learning in the Era of New Educational Standards 430 Assessing Student Learning in the Disciplines: Now What? 432 CHAPTER 11 – Teaching Discipline-Specific Literacies and Professional Development 441 Teacher Professional Development, and Student College, Career and Workforce Readiness 443 Andragogy: The Study of Adult Learning 445 What Is Professional Development? 446 Professional Development and Teacher Evaluation 448 Teacher Collaboration and Professional Development 457 The Need for Discipline-Specific Professional Development 463 A Not-So-Different Perspective on Change 464 Teacher Snapshots 468 Neither Standards, Nor Programs Teach; Teachers Do 469 Index 476 Comprehensive, timely, and relevant, this text offers an approach to discipline-specific literacy instruction that is aligned with the Common Core State Standards and the needs of teachers, students, and secondary schools across the nation. It is essential that teachers know how to provide instruction that both develops content and literacy knowledge and skills, and aims at reducing student achievement gaps. Building on the research-supported premise that discipline-specific reading instruction is key to achieving these goals, this text provides practical guidance and strategies for prospective and practicing content area teachers (and other educators) on how to prepare all students to succeed in college and the workforce. Pedagogical features in each chapter engage readers in digging deeper and in applying the ideas and strategies presented in their own contexts: Classroom Life (real 6-12 classroom scenarios and interviews with content-area teachers), Common Core State Standards Connections, College, Career, and Workforce Connections, Applying Discipline-Specific Literacies, Think Like an Expert ("habits of thinking and learning" specific to each discipline), Digital Literacies, Differentiating Instruction, Reflect and Apply Questions, Extending Learning Activities, The Companion Website includes: Lesson Plan Resources, Annotated links to video files, Annotated links to additional resources and information, Glossary/flashcards, For Instructors: All images and figures used in the text provided in an easily downloadable format, For Instructors: PowerPoint lecture slides Book jacket Offering a comprehensive, timely approach to discipline-specific literacy instruction aligned with the Common Core State Standards, this text provides practical guidance and strategies on how to prepare all students to succeed in college and the workforce.