What Does the Research Say?
Richard and Jo Anne Vacca and Maryann Mraz shared many strategies, best practices and case studies in their text Content Area Reading: Literacy and Learning Across the Curriculum, in an effort to show the positive effects of integrating literacy into multiple content areas. Although they promote simply integrating literacy within content areas, they emphasize that this alone will not yield results. Teachers must be willing to learn and implement new methods of teaching and take time to plan intentional lessons. "...the key to content literacy and learning is the forethought that goes into planning instructional frameworks that support thinking and learning with text." When it comes to teaching cross-curricula content with literacy, teachers must be dedicated to venture out of their comfort zones in order to build their students' depth of knowledge and strengthen their reading skills.
In The Knowledge Gap, journalist Natalie Wexler argues that one of the reasons America's education system is failing, specifically in the area of literacy, is because reading skills are taught out of context. She states "...if young children are introduced to history and science in concrete and understandable ways, chances are they'll be far better equipped to reengage with them with more nuance later on. At the same time, teaching disconnected comprehension skills boosts neither comprehension nor reading scores" (Wexler, 2019). Her book includes numerous case studies that prove that typically, students perform better in reading when the skills are taught within various content areas.
In Igniting a Passion for Reading, Steven Layne provides several strategies that teachers can implement to help build a student's love for reading. With diversity in the classrooms, it is inevitable that students will have different interests and respond to different teaching methods. Layne suggests multiple strategies including interest surveys, read alouds, book chats or discussions, modeling, goal setting and many more to help address the many needs within the classroom. When it comes to teaching literacy through content, we can expect to have a lack of motivation from certain students who may not be interested in the topic; however, implementing effective strategies and taking the time to get to know our students will go a long way in igniting a passion for reading and learning!
In The Art of Coaching, Elena Aguilar provides strategies and tips for literacy leaders to aid in transforming schools. She shares her ideas of what a transformed school looks like and outlines various actions teachers should take to optimize the transformation process. She states "I envision an education system that is equitable for all children" (Aguilar, 2016). By giving all students the same access to knowledge and literacy skills through integrating reading across content areas, this goal can be reached. Teachers should spend time learning about the demographics of their students and use their knowledge of students' backgrounds in order to keep learning equitable.
Learn More!
Teaching Methods
10 Content-Area Literacy Strategies for Art, Mathematics, Music and Physical Education
Knowledge Building
How Much Knowledge is too Little? When a Lack of Knowledge Becomes a Barrier to Comprehension
References
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Aguilar, E. (2016). The art of coaching teams: building resilient communities that transform schools. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
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Layne, S. L. (2012). Igniting a passion for reading: successful strategies for building lifetime readers. New York: Scholastic Inc.
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Vacca, R. T., Vacca, J. A., & Mraz, M. (2018). Content area reading: Literacy and learning across the curriculum. Boston: Pearson.
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Wexler, Natalie. (2019). Knowledge Gap: the hidden cause of americas broken education system-and how to fix it. New York: Avery Pub. Group.