Do We Really Have to Teach READING?

What does literacy look like in science and social studies? Many teachers think that they have to become language arts or reading teachers in order to teach literacy in the content area, but in reality we are already helping our students become more literate within our subject areas by using our everyday activities.

Note: The post below is a reflection from the Cris Tovani workshop “Reading Complex Text: Teaching Readers How to Interact and Engage with Challenging Text”. Reading and interpreting any of the following would be considered literacy in Social Studies and/or Science: - Charts & Graphs - Data - Essays - Primary documents (i.e. Constitution of the U.S.) - Maps - Instructions/Directions In this new age of literacy, creative thinking and producing, not consuming, information is the measure of success. Making meaning and connections will be valued, as will focusing on the multiple possibilities of any situation over seeking one solution. A student’s reading level changes based on three factors: background knowledge, interest and motivation, and purpose. For example, as adults with no background knowledge of high school physics, our reading levels would not be proficient compared to someone who is interested in physics or has previous background knowledge. As teachers, we need help build that background knowledge and interest at the beginning of a unit. We should also give students a purpose for reading so the student is able to sort information to determine what is important. As teachers of content area classes, we do not need to become the reading teacher. However, we should practice modeling (out loud) how we read our texts. This will help students monitor their own reading practices. Accomplished readers realize that they sometimes “drift off” or daydream while reading the text. This can be called a “Waste of Time Voice”. When this is recognized by the reader, we pull ourselves back into the text by stopping this behavior and refocusing on reading. This “Waste of Time Voice” causes readers to: - Lose track of what is being read - Stray from the text - Forget what is being read - Not care about the reading A useful “Conversation Voice” helps readers to: - Relate to the text - Make connections between the book and the reader - Ask questions - Give opinions - Talk back to the text - Remember what is read The next time we are asked to “help out” the Communication Arts department by teaching reading in Social Studies and Science, we don’t need to “freak out” – we are already practicing many of these strategies with our students.  Photo: cc licensed