Researching literacy strategies is something vital to our future teaching careers. Though we may not all be English teachers, all content areas have their own specific type of literacy, and it is our duty to uncover that information and learn it fluently. In the first portion of this paper I will dive into how teachers respond and teach students perceived to be high achievers and students perceived to be low achievers and how I will respond to struggling readers in my content areas. In the second portion of this paper I will show the approach I will take in researching literacy in my content area, and share several different instructional strategies for Social Studies and Communication Arts and Literature.
In our textbook, Literacy Strategies for Grades 4-12: Reinforcing the Threads of Reading by Karen Tankersley, we are given some tips on how teachers view high and low achievers. In classrooms where students were perceived as high performers, she found that teachers “talked less and encouraged more interactions among students, allowed for more creative and generative approaches to learning, offered opportunities for independent work, had warmer and more personal relationships with students, and spent little time on behavior or classroom management issues” (Tankersley, 2005). On the other hand, she also talks about how teachers work with perceived low performers. With these students teachers “prepared more structured lessons, allowed fewer opportunities for student creativity, covered less content, rewarded students for trying hard rather than for good thinking, spent a significant amount of time on behavior and management issues, and had less congenial relationships with student due to heavy emphasis on discipline (Tankersley, ...
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...udents. It is also a way I can continue building up my resume of teaching strategies that I will use in my own classroom one day. I will continue to research strategies as I go forward in my education and after I leave my formal education in order to remain a life-long learner and model that for my students.
Works Cited
Loranger, A. (1999). The challenge of content area literacy: A middle school case study. Retrieved from https://crown.blackboard.com/bbcswebdav/pid-83221-dt-content-rid-408998_1/courses/EDU350_01_13S2/Loranger challenge of content area literacy case study.pdf
Tankersley, K. (2005). Literacy strategies for grades 4-12: Reinforcing the threads of reading. Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development
Urquhart, V. (2012). Teaching reading in the content areas. (3rd ed.). Denver: Mid-continent Research for Education and Learning.
In some classrooms, teachers’ subconsciously use their language to establish negative relationships with literacy. For example, some teachers use reading and writing as a punishment or reference it as work instead of fun. Johnston (2004) said “ the way a teacher talks can position students differently in relations to what they are doing, learning, or studying” (p.9). In my opinion, this means that language has the power to influence student’s perception. Therefore, what teachers say and how they say it impacts how students feel about themselves and the world. But, some teacher may not realize how their words and tone towards literacy influences how children feel about it. In general, I think children in urban schools need to be exposed to language and literacy experiences that are positive and engaging. Instead of using reading and writing as a consequence, it could be used as a reward, or make it an option during free time just like any other fun activity. In general, I believe some teachers subconsciously use language to create negative relationships between students and literacy, but if teachers would be more mindful of the undertone of their language, children would perceive literacy differently (Johnston,
Vacca, Richard T., Vacca, Jo Anna L., and Mraz, Maryann (2011). Content Area Reading: Literacy and Learning Across the Curriculum(10th Edition). Boston: Pearson.
Writing and Reading Across the Curriculum, Brief Edition (2nd Edition) (2 ed., pp. 413-429). New York: Longman.
Behrens, Laurence, and Leonard J. Rosen, eds. Writing and Reading Across the Curriculum. 7th ed. NewYork: Longman, 2000.
Writing and Reading across the Curriculum. Laurence Behrens and Leonard J. Rosen, Boston: Pearson 2011. 274-279
Burns, Paul C.,Roe, Betty D., and Ross, Elinor P. (1992). Teaching Reading in Todays Elementary Schools. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company.
Knoblauch argues that there are many definitions of literacy that impact people’s lives. Although he argues there are many definitions, he focused on four types of literacy that are most common in society. Knoblauch labels them as functional, cultural, personal-growth/liberal, and critical literacy. He defines functional literacy as a level of literacy that is “readying people for the necessities of daily life—writing checks, reading sets of instructions”(1990, p. 3) and other basic reading and writing skills. However, he also warns that there are hidden agendas in these types of defined literacies. Ill prepared teachers who do not connect to and challenge their students result in no critical literacy and very little
Writing and Reading Across the Curriculum. Tenth edition. Edited by Laurence Behrens and Leonard J. Rosen. New York: Longman Publishers, pp. 371-377, 2008.
Literacy, as a concept, has been evolving during the last few decades, presenting itself as a more complex term to comprehend. The deeper understanding of this notion has made the process of learning it, a bigger and more elaborate challenge.
Begrens, Laurence; Rosen, Leonard J. Writing and Reading Across the Curriculum. 7th ed. New York, Longman, 2000. 320-322.
Pinto, L., Boler, M., & Norris, T. (2007). Literacy is Just Reading and Writing, isn't it? The Ontario Secondary School Literacy Test and Its Press Coverage. Policy Futures in Education, 5(1), 84-99.
“Literacy—the ability to access, evaluate, and integrate information from a wide range of textual sources—is a prerequisite not only for individual educational success but for upward mobility both socially and economically,” states Sean Reardon (18). Literacy plays a significant role in civilized society. As Reardon mentioned, literacy is an important part of social and economic progression; therefore, it is unsurprising that thousands of dollars are poured into the education system each year to ensure that students can be considered literate. Reardon continues on to claim, “by third grade virtually all students can “read” in the procedural sense—they can sound out words and recognize simple words in context” (20). However,
While I believe every child is a reader, I do not believe every child will be enthralled with reading all the time. All students have the capability to read and enjoy reading, but just like any other hobby, interest will vary from student to student. The students in my classroom will be encouraged in their reading, be provided with choice, taught how books can take you into another world but, my students will not be forced to read. This paper will illustrate my philosophy of reading through the theories I relate to, the way I want to implement reading and writing curriculum, and the methods I will use motivate my students to read and help them become literate.
Every child deserves a positive, safe, nurturing, and stimulating learning environment where they will grow academically, socially, emotionally, and physically. My role as an educator is to provide my students with this type of environment as well as an education that will help them succeed academically and become life long learners. It is the responsibility of a literacy educator to provide students with this type of environment, but also to provide instruction that will help students become successful readers and writers. There are numerous programs and philosophies about literacy and reading. Through years of experience and research, one begins to develop their own creative approach on teaching these skills. After looking at different programs and seeing the positive and negatives of each, an integrated and balanced approach of literacy seems to be the best way to teach the differing needs of each student.
It is a “reading world” we live in and students should be guaranteed every opportunity to succeed in this information driven society. Children today are overwhelmed with more reading material than ever before on billboard, television, the Internet and at school, causing reading to become a relevant and essential need in the life of every child (Lumpkin 1972). Being able to read has become the core of our information driven society. Yet, reading difficulties continue to plague the foundation of our education system creating a problem that only seems to be escalating. Hasselbring affirms that reading difficulties are a serious concern to our nation’s students claiming that, “as many as 20 percent of 17 year olds... [are] functionally illiterate and 44 percent of all high school students…[are] described as semi-illiterate”(2004). This is a harsh reality to face – a reality that stems from difficulties developed at the elementary level where reading complications arise and usually go unchecked. These reading difficulties are carri...