Running

head: LITERACY IN EDUCATION 1

Literacy In Education

Holly Maxwell

Colorado State University

LITERACY IN EDUCATION 2

Literacy can be defined as a persons knowledge of a specific subject or field

(dictionary.com, 2016). With this being said, literacy is important for every content area and

each content area has some sort of reading. English teachers have the responsibility of teaching

literature and grammar. Both of these tasks require different types of reading including historical

and analytical reading. Other content areas require different literacy skills. For example, reading

art can include determining meaning from texture, a component not found in other content areas.

In that manner, art teachers must teach their students how to read in a different way than their

English teachers would. The type of reading students are asked to do varies significantly from

subject to subject. A key component in teaching reading is having the ability to apply reading

skills learned in one content area to reading in another content area. Teachers must work together

in order to make these skills applicable across all contents. All teachers must be teachers of

reading because reading skills are applicable to every content area, each content area has unique

skills, and all content areas must come together to form a cohesive curriculum.

During recitation at the beginning of the semester, we individually read The Sam Trap,

which was written in an unfamiliar code. Many of us quickly figured out how to decipher the

story, however, even once we understood the code, we had to work through the words letter by

letter. I immediately had to change my approach to reading when The Sam Trap was placed in

front of me that day. Students studying multiple content areas and developing literacy skills in

each area have to adopt the same skill that I learned during this lesson. English texts are read

entirely differently than math, music, or science texts. Because of this, students must learn how

to switch from one type of reading style to another. Math teachers are responsible for teaching

their students how to read math equations and problems while I must teach students how to read

novels and short stories for comprehension. Both math and English teachers are responsible for
LITERACY IN EDUCATION 3

teaching their students how to read in their own content area, which is why all teachers are

teachers of reading.

On the first day of recitation in EDUC340, we discussed what it meant to read in

different content areas. I always knew that reading was applicable to every subject; however, I

was unaware that each content area had certain expectations of literacy that did not always mean

reading the English language like I have been accustomed to learn about. One of my peers

suggested that students in music should be able to read a note in music and from that reading,

they should understand the notes length, sound, and how it should make a person feel

emotionally. In many ways, English teachers hold the same expectations of their students. As we

read novels, we determine what tone a character holds (happy, bitter, excited, etc.) and we have

an emotional response to that character. Although not every subject has this emotional response,

I found this similarity quite intriguing. As a future teacher, I think it is important to remember

that all content areas require a certain level of literacy and that not all students will have strong

literacy skills in every content area. Students should understand the literacy expectations of a

class and be given the resources and education they need to further their understanding of the

subject at hand.

With English as my content area (and in any content area), reading and literacy levels can

vary between each student. Throughout the semester, I have been working with Diego, a student

with dyslexia. I have never experienced or understood reading with dyslexia until I began

working with Diego. I quickly made assumptions about his reading abilities when I first read

with him but soon realized that his low reading skills were due to this disability, one that many

teachers failed to help him with in years past. When working with Diego, we have to process

texts word-by-word and often syllable-by-syllable. He is quick to misread the and he when
LITERACY IN EDUCATION 4

he tries to work too fast and has trouble recognizing larger words. When I read with Diego

initially, he was reading a chapter book and finished one page in thirty minutes. He understood

what was happening in the text but felt discouraged because the book was taking such a long

time to read. The next week, I worked with him and another teacher on reading Shel Silverstein

poems. Although this was a better method, I do not think poetry is the best method in

approaching his literacy because it is so whimsical. After one week of working through this book

of poems, we worked with Diego on phonics flashcards. Helping Diego develop his reading

skills has been very different from working with the other students in the classroom because of

his dyslexia. Teachers of different content areas should also work with Diego on developing his

reading skills in each area.

The two other students I have worked with the most this semester are Justice and Ari.

These two students are extremely capable in their literacy skills, however they lack in motivation

and dedication to their schoolwork. I have learned throughout the semester that I have to get

these two started on their reading assignments together by asking them to tell me about their

assignments. I will frequently ask them to show me what they are working on in order to

determine how I can help them get started. Usually once I ask this, Justice and Ari get excited to

talk about their assignment. I will ask them further questions such as, What have you complete

this week? or What are your plans for the assignment today? Once I ask these questions, they

are usually willing to start working in class. I have also noticed that if I am not working directly

with them, they will procrastinate their work until someone checks on them. These two have

great literacy skills and produce good work when they are have motivation so I wonder if

perhaps they have stronger passions for subjects other than English. Even I have trouble finding

motivation for subjects that I do not want to study. This is another instance in which all teachers
LITERACY IN EDUCATION 5

must be teachers of reading. Justice and Ari need teachers in other courses to find their passions

through reading in those different content areas.

I think that the working together to form cohesive curriculum is the most important task

teachers should do for their students. The junior high and high school that I attended put great

focus on cross-referencing different content areas. Our sciences aligned well with our math

levels and our English classes studied literature from the time periods we were studying in our

history classes. In order for students to truly understand the importance of reading across content

areas, they should be able to draw connections between them. When this happens, teaching

reading becomes easier because students can use the skills they have learned in one class in

another instead of altering their reading skills for each class. Teaching reading in all content

areas provides students with the ability to advance in their education.

Part 2:

Throughout EDUC340 recitation, I have learned many techniques that I plan on using in

my own English classroom. I hope to teach seventh grade English in the future. Starting with

vocabulary lessons, I plan to use the Frayer model of studying vocabulary with my students (The

Teacher Toolkit, 2016). During seventh grade, I was given vocabulary worksheets weekly. I

would quickly fill out these worksheets for completion without knowing whether or not the

information was correct. I think that the Frayer model eliminates this possibility. It also makes

vocabulary more applicable because students have to think of characteristics, examples, and non-

examples instead of simply finding a definition. The Common Core State Standards say that

seventh grade students should be able to Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they

are used in a text, including figurative and connotative meanings (CCSS 36, 2016). The Frayer
LITERACY IN EDUCATION 6

model enforces this standard by having students determine real-life application of their

vocabulary words.

I have also learned how to teach the importance of text dependent questions. In order to

be successful writers in the future, seventh graders must learn to develop provoking questions. I

plan to teach Costas Levels of Thinking before beginning to write about texts. Level one

questions do not require analysis but are the most frequent questions asked while reading. I hope

to lead students away from these base questions in their writing so that they can develop greater

literacy skills. The CCSS state that student should be able to Conduct short research projects to

answer a question (including a self-generated question), drawing on several sources and

generating additional related, focused questions that allow for multiple avenues of exploration

(CCSS 6-8.7, 2016). Having students develop questions about a text by using Costas Levels of

Thinking would begin to fulfill this standard by giving students the tools they need to formulate

research-worthy questions.

Shakespeare is usually a standard of many English courses. As a seventh grader, I read

Romeo and Juliet and was frequently lost within the language of the text. In teaching this text,

I would have students use double entry diaries while reading. On the left-hand side of their

paper, they would write direct quotes from the text that challenged them on some level. On the

right-hand side, they would write what they believe the meaning is or why they are confused by

the passage. This method allows students to focus on their struggles rather than what they

immediately understand. It will allow them to further understand a text because they have to pick

out thorny passages that may hold a lot of meaning that they did not catch during an initial

reading.
LITERACY IN EDUCATION 7

The use of RAFTs as writing assignments for challenging texts can be very beneficial. I

believe that students can better understand a character when they step into the characters shoes

and RAFTs are an excellent way to accomplish this (Read Write Think, 2016). In my future

class, I intend to have students choose their role from a list of characters in a text. Their audience

would be the other characters. They can choose their format because this is where student

creativity blossoms and they can choose a format they are more passionate about. The topic of

the writing assignment would be a theme from the text. I love this idea because seventh graders

struggle with the concept of a theme but if they had to write about it from a characters

perspective, I believe they would understand its importance.

As I mentioned before, cross-referencing content areas is very important in education.

One way to ensure that students are doing this is by enhancing our understanding of a text by

making connections. In recitation, we discussed text to self, text to world, and text-to-text

connections (Facing History, 2016). By writing down these connections as students are working

with a text, they will develop their literacy skills across all of their courses. I will have students

make note of these connections throughout the year as they are reading in my class. This will

help them be successful in other classes because they will notice more references in each course

therefore having more background knowledge to work with. In order to further develop our

students, all teachers must be teachers of reading within their own content areas.
LITERACY IN EDUCATION 8

References

English Language Arts Standards. (2016). Retrieved November 27, 2016, from

http://www.corestandards.org/ELA-Literacy/

Frayer Model. (2016). Retrieved November 25, 2016, from

http://www.theteachertoolkit.com/index.php/tool/frayer-model

Text-to-Text, Text-to-Self, Text-to-World. (2016). Retrieved November 26, 2016, from

https://www.facinghistory.org/resource-library/teaching-strategies/text-text-text-self-text-

world

The definition of literacy. (2016). Retrieved November 30, 2016, from

http://www.dictionary.com/browse/literacy

Using the RAFT Writing Strategy - ReadWriteThink. (2016). Retrieved November 25, 2016,

from http://www.readwritethink.org/professional-development/strategy-guides/using-raft-

writing-strategy-30625.html