An Introduction to the Practical Use of Reading, Writing and Language in

Diverse Content Area Classrooms

What is reading?

This seemingly easy question has been fodder for many a heated discussion among reading professionals. Most agree that reading is making sense out of those funny looking squiggles on the page we recognize as letters that form words. But what then does “making sense” mean? Does it mean the reader can assign a sound to every squiggle? Does making sense mean the reader can speak these sounds in a connected way, thus sounding out the words they form? Or is making sense dependent on understanding the meaning of the text?

Although some believe that sounding out, or decoding, words, qualifies as reading, others feel that this activity doesn’t always make sense, or make enough sense, out of text. Most of us have the ability to decode text without making sense of its meaning. If you doubt this, “read” the following: Ip huke li yoi priffoon. A basic knowledge of English phonics will enable you to decode the text, but if you can make sense of it, you are amazing!

Of course, the ability to decode words usually leads to comprehension, but decoding isn’t always necessary. To illustrate this, read the following sentence: If there is enough xxx Tom will be able xx ski. Without decoding every word, you were probably able to understand the meaning of the sentence. To understand more about reading, please go to the following webpage: http://michiganreading.org/DEFINITION%20OF%20READING.html

What does teaching reading have to do with me?

Now that you have read and thought about the act of reading, think about the application of what you have learned to your classroom. Except for rare instances, students in your mainstream classes will know how to decode (sound out) most of the non-technical words that appear in their textbooks, and you can help them learn the correct pronunciation of the technical words. You will find, however, that many of your students will have difficulty understanding their textbooks. Even those who can pronounce the words and understand their meanings will find that understanding the ideas and information stated, or implied, is a challenge.

In order to facilitate learning in your subject area, you must be a reading teacher. You do not have to teach phonics or decoding or any form of basic reading skills, but you will need to give your students the strategies and practice to make sense of text in your subject area. It may seem easier to throw away the textbooks and text-based materials, but if you are going to enable your students to be lifelong learners of your subject, you will need to teach them how to read that subject. Otherwise, your students won’t be able to understand metaphorical poetry or how to draw interferences in novels. They won’t be able to learn about history as it unfolds, or the new rules for scoring volleyball games. Without strategies for learning from text, your students won’t be able to review how to solve algebraic equations or to further their knowledge of the galaxy. Future concert goers won’t be able to understand the language used in program notes, and art enthusiasts will be frustrated by their inability to read about the art they love. To sum it up, in order to fully understand content area text, learners must possess the content literacy skills needed to effectively comprehend text materials in your subject area, and you must help them develop these skills.

There’s another reason to teach content literacy strategies. You can use subject-specific instruction and practice in reading and writing to be an effective teacher. No matter what subject you are teaching, meaningful use of reading, writing and discussion will enhance instruction. If you are skeptical, think about the following true experiences of some of my former students:

· A high school math teacher found that his students understood and retained difficult mathematical concepts if they wrote about them.

· A physics teacher read scientific news articles aloud to her students to begin class. She soon found that her students’ enthusiasm for physics grew.

· A middle school social studies teacher discovered ways to help his students understand authentic text by preparing them for reading with specific pre-reading activities.

· When a high school P.E. teacher started each class session by having her students read a short handout that explained what they would be doing in class, she saw an improvement in her students’ ability to follow directions. She also noticed an improvement in her students’ attitude toward her.

· By requiring students to write about their performances, a high school music teacher noticed that his young musicians were able to improve their musicality.

Isn’t reading taught in elementary school?

For many children, reading instruction begins before they have started school. Children who are fortunate to have an adult or an older child read to them begin to associate text with entertainment and learning. A toddler may not understand the squiggles on the page, but she soon learns that, when Daddy looks at those squiggles, he tells her a story she enjoys. Perhaps you have memories of being read to as a young child, and if you are a parent, hopefully you read to your children. Research has indicated that reading to children helps them be good readers.

By the time many children start school, they understand that the squiggles on the page are letters readers use to form words. These children may also know the names of the letters, the sounds they symbolize, and they may even be able to recognize some complete words. Other children don’t understand the symbol-to-sound relationship, either because they are not yet developmentally ready for this understanding or because they have not been exposed to the written word. Regardless of the child’s reading level, instruction in the beginning grades is focused on learning basic reading skills.

When children are in the fourth grade, most are ready to shift their focus from learning to read to reading to learn. Using text to gain unknown information and complex ideas is a natural progression from learning to read words, sentences and paragraphs that make up simple stories, but it is not easy. Prior knowledge of the topic, the vocabulary and the genre of writing play huge roles in the ability of the reader to learn from text. To be successful readers, students need strategies to help them understand challenging text. That is why students still need reading instruction in the secondary schools, and why the instruction is different from that presented in the elementary grades.

Why don’t students simply apply what they learned in elementary school to enable them to reading secondary school text materials?

They do! But they still need help learning strategies that will enable them to understand instructional text. Just as students need a teacher to guide them from arithmetic to high school mathematics, they also need a teacher to help bridge the gap between elementary and secondary school text materials.

Why does reading have to be taught in all subject areas? Shouldn’t the English teacher be in charge of teaching reading?

The English teacher needs to teach his students how to read literature. Reading in an English class is different from reading in other subjects. For example, vocabulary instruction in an English class won’t focus on technical terms. Expecting an English teacher to teach subject-specific technical terms would be like expecting a science teacher to teach iambic pentameter.

In addition to vocabulary, the structure and syntax of text materials varies from subject to subject. History teachers will teach their students to look for time order in events, music teachers will teach their students to read about musical styles to enhance their performances, and math teachers will teach their students to look precisely at each word in a problem in order to choose the correct functions for finding the solution. Although there is some overlap, discipline-specific reading is exactly that!

So how do I help my students understand the text materials in my content area?

We will be spending the semester exploring ways to do this. To get you started, it’s a good idea to acknowledge the fact that the reading skills needed in secondary schools are not intuitive to all students. Most students will begin a reading assignment by silently decoding words beginning with the first word on the page and continuing until their eyes have perceived the last word on the page. Unfortunately, this “non-strategy” doesn’t always lead to comprehension. You need to help your students be effective readers by guiding them through the reading process.

The Reading Process: Preparing to Read

The reading process starts with preparing to read. You will be introduced to many pre-reading activities to help activate students’ prior knowledge of the topics they will be reading. Pre-reading activities can also indicate what prior knowledge students will need before they are able to understand what they are reading.

The reason pre-reading is so important has to do with how we learn. When we learn, new information is “attached” to something we already know. If we have absolutely no knowledge of, or familiarity with, new information, learning is difficult if not impossible. Fortunately, our brain works in a very logical way to make prior knowledge accessible by connecting related ideas and concepts. This complex, interrelated “maze” of connected ideas and concepts is called a schema. Schemata, the plural form of schema, enable us to store information in a logical manner, or scheme.

When we activate our schemata and recall information that is related to what we are planning to read, we make the text easier to comprehend. To illustrate the importance of prior knowledge, let’s take another look at the sentence, “If there is enough xxx Tom will be able xx ski.” You were able to understand the sentence without decoding the fifth and tenth words due to your prior knowledge. Knowing that skiers need snow enabled you to understand that “xxx” meant “snow,” and your understanding of English told you that “xx” meant “to.” Likewise, your students use what they already know to make sense of text. Conversely, they will have difficulty understanding text materials in your subject area unless they activate, or gain some prior knowledge of what they will be reading and unless they are familiar with the structure of the text.

The Reading Process: Active Reading

Once readers have prepared for reading, they must continue to be actively involved with the text in order to maintain concentration and to ensure comprehension. This is done by constantly interacting, or having a mental conversation, with the text. During this stage of the reading process, effective readers react to what they are reading, compare new information to what they already know, predict what words, information and ideas they will encounter as they continue to read and make judgments about what they are reading. This active encounter with the text keeps readers on task and enables optimum comprehension. Modeling active reading will help your students to understand this part of the process.

Another vital aspect of active reading is when the reader continuously monitors comprehension. This is done by mentally reviewing, paraphrasing, organizing and/or synthesizing the text information as it is being read in order to ascertain that comprehension is taking place. The effective reader has the resources to check for comprehension and the strategies to take corrective action if needed. We call this understanding metacognition. As teachers, we need to help our students develop metacognition in order for them to learn in our class and beyond.

The Reading Process: Reflecting on Reading

Countless studies have shown that, if we read without reflection, we won’t remember much. Reflection cements learning. It helps us review, organize, analyze, synthesize and evaluate new information. Yet, in the busy world of middle school and high school, few students have the self-discipline to reflect on their reading. Fortunately, teachers have a plethora of activities that engage students in reflecting on their reading. Writing and discussion play important roles in this stage of the reading process, and you will discover many activities you can use to help your students reflect.

Aside from their use in reflecting on reading, writing and discussion are closely connected to reading. Therefore, learning ways to effectively incorporate writing and discussion activities will be important components of this course.

My goal in this course is to introduce you to ways to enhance your teaching with reading, writing and discussion strategies to help your students effectively learn in your subject area. It is my hope that you will embrace the strategies, methods and ideas presented in class.

Lonna Smith

smith@online.sjsu.edu (If you haven’t emailed me, do it NOW so I can make up a class distribution list!)