What is Disciplinary Literacy, and how is it connected to…

The Common Core State Standards (CCSS)?

What is Disciplinary Literacy?

• “Advanced literacy instruction embedded within content-area classes such as math, science, and social studies” (Shanahan & Shanahan, 2008)

• Focus is on how experts read disciplinary texts, make use of content-specific comprehension and thinking strategies, and communicate about their learning

What is Disciplinary Literacy?

• Teachers communicate the differences in how text is approached by different types of experts and model how to do this effectively

• One of the challenges for practitioners is stepping away from our own expertise and breaking our knowledge down for the novices in our classes

4

In Wisconsin. . .

. . .disciplinary literacy is defined as the confluence of content knowledge, experiences, and skills merged with the ability to read, write, listen, speak and think critically in a way that is meaningful within the context of a given field.

5

Disciplinary Literacy

“Literacy… becomes an essential aspect of disciplinary practice, rather than a set of strategies or tools brought into the disciplines to improve reading and writing of subject-matter texts.” - Elizabeth Birr Moje

“Foregrounding the Disciplines in Secondary Literacy Teaching and Learning: A Call for Change.” Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy. Oct. 2008.

Why Disciplinary Literacy?

• Recognition that students’ worlds require reading in ways never seen before– Job market is changing: Most US jobs require

extensive job-specific reading, unlike the job market 50 years ago

– Expansion of information-based technology– Globalization

• (Shanahan & Shanahan, 2008)

• Implementation of Common Core Standards is a response to the changing needs of the 21st century learner/worker

Content Reading Strategies

Transferable Skills

8

Intermediate Reading Strategies

Monitor comprehension

Pre-read

Set goals

Think about what one already knows

Ask questions

Make predictions

Test predictions against the text

Re-read

Summarize

Discipline-Specific Reading Strategies

Build prior knowledge

Build specialized vocabulary

Learn to deconstruct complex sentences

Use knowledge of text structures and genres to predict main and subordinate ideas

Map graphic (and mathematical) representations against explanations in the text

Pose discipline relevant questions

Compare claims and propositions across texts

Use norms for reasoning within the discipline (i.e., what counts as evidence) to evaluate claims

RtI helps students who can’t use Intermediate

Reading Strategies Effectively

Isn’t Disciplinary Literacy just a repackaged form of Content Area Reading?

Disciplinary Literacy

• Aimed at what we teach• Example: how to read

and use information like a scientists

• Essential idea: “Students not only have to learn the essential content of a field, but how reading and writing are used in that field” (Shanahan, 2012)

Traditional “Content Reading”

• Aimed at how we teach• Sample focus: how to

read the history textbook effectively

• Examples:– Learning Strategies Binder– Graphic organizers to

compare/contrast– Teaching generic strategies

(using post-its, etc.)

Shanahan, T. (2012, January 12). Disciplinary literacy is not the new name for content area reading . Retrieved from http://www.shanahanonliteracy.com/2012/01/disciplinary-literacy-is-not-new-name.html

Is Disciplinary Literacy Replacing Content Reading Strategies?

• NO• Why?

– “Disciplinary Literacy cannot replace general [reading] strategy instruction for all adolescent learners because adolescents who struggle with reading and writing do not possess the foundational skills and strategies necessary to learn proficiently,” (Faggella-Luby, Sampson Graner, Deshler & Valentino Drew, 2012)

What Disciplinary Literacy ISN’T

• It’s not enough to just expose students to content-specific resources like primary source documents, scientific journal articles, data tables, maps, etc…

• Skilled content instructors have to model and teach students how to access those materials like experts in the field

Essential Components of DL

• Text Complexity – Increase the frequency with which students read

increasingly rigorous texts with appropriate instruction and scaffolding

• Better Fiction / Non-Fiction Balance• Use of AUTHENTIC, Discipline-Specific Texts• Explicit Instruction in Discipine-Specific Text

Features and Text Structures• Explicit Instruction of Tier Two and Tier Three

Vocabulary

Range of Texts“To measure students’ growth toward college and career readiness, assessments aligned with the CCSS should adhere to the distribution of texts across grades cited in the NAEP framework.”

Distribution of Literary and Informational

Passages in the 2009 NAEP Reading

Framework

Text Complexity•Levels of meaning•Structure•Language conventionality and clarity•Knowledge demands

•Word frequency•Sentence length•Text cohesion

•Motivation•Knowledge/experiences•Purpose•Task complexity

Text Selection

What texts do experts in your field read?

Types of Texts

Click icon to add picture

What types of text do experts in your field read?

FICTION

NONFICTION

Text FeaturesText features help students identify important details in the text and become more efficient in their reading.

Title Table of ContentIndex

Illustration

Photo

CaptionDiagramBold Print

Date lineHeading/Subheading

ParagraphGlossary

Paragraph

Text Features

Text Feature Title of Text Page Numb

er

Section Helps the

Reader

Text Feature Scavenger HuntLocate text features within a variety of texts, and identify in which text you found it, the page number, which section of the text you found it, and how it helps you as a reader.

Ne

w

Text StructuresText structures - the way that authors organize information - help students focus attention on key concepts and relationships, anticipate what’s to come, and monitor their comprehension as they read.

Cause & Effect

Chron. Order

CompareContrast

Process

Problem/ Solution

Definition or

Description

Text Structures

• Chronological Order or Process: Teacher cuts up a published text, and students put it in order

• Cause & Effect: Students stand in line, and teacher gives a prompt that ends with “which caused…” and the students one-by-one create the subsequent effects

• Problem/Solution: Students write down problems that they notice in their school/society and exchange with another group who finds a solution to the problem

• Compare and Contrast: Students classify and divide themselves or a mixed bag of objects, identifying similarities and differences

• Definition or Description: Teacher puts a mystery item in a brown paper bag and have teams write definitions and other teams have to guess the object

Vocabulary“Words are not just words. They are the nexus – the interface – between communication and thought.”- Marilyn Jager Adams

Vocabulary

“While the term tier may connotate a hierarchy, a ranking of words from least to most important , the reality is that all three tiers of words are vital to comprehension and vocabulary development.”

Tier 1

• Words used in everyday speech

• ELL’s may need support

Tier 2

• General academic words

• Words found more often in written texts across disciplines

Tier 3

• Domain-specific words

• Words found more often in written texts within a specific discipline

Vocabulary

Discussions to have within grade levels and content areas:

• What are you already doing to teach your students to think like biologists, sociologists, mechanics, artists, chefs, etc.?

• How can/should you scaffold these skills throughout your curriculum? (i.e. don’t try to teach all skills in one course)

• How do these skills link to your current and former department plans?

• How can you determine if your students are transferring these skills to other classes/areas of their lives?

Resources

• Faggella-Luby, M. N., Sampson Graner, P., Deshler, D. D., & Valentino Drew, S. (2012). Building a house on sand: why disciplinary literacy is not sufficient to replace general strategies for adolescent learners who struggle. Top Language Disorders, 32(1), 69-84.

• Shanahan, T. (2012, January 12). Disciplinary literacy is not the new name for content area reading . Retrieved from http://www.shanahanonliteracy.com/2012/01/disciplinary-literacy-is-not-new-name.html

• Shanahan, T., & Shanahan, C. (2008). Teaching disciplinary literacy to adolescents: rethinking content area literacy. Harvard educational review, 78(1), 40-59.