Building Content Literacy: Strategies for the Adolescent Learner

177 Pages·2010·19.22 MB·English

by  Roberta L. Sejnost

Building
CONTENT
LITERACY

Building
CONTENT
LITERACY
Strategies for the Adolescent Learner
ROBERTA L. SEJNOST
SHARON M. THIESE
Copyright©2010byCorwin
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Sejnost,Roberta.
Buildingcontentliteracy:strategiesfortheadolescentlearner/RobertaL.Sejnost
andSharonM.Thiese.
p.cm.
Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex.
ISBN978-1-4129-5715-1(pbk.)
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I. Thiese,Sharon. II. Title.
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Contents
Preface viii
Acknowledgments x
About the Authors xi
1. The Challenge of Adolescent Literacy 1
What Is the Challenge? 1
How Can We Meet the Challenge? 5
Content Area Literacy 6
Meeting the Standards 7
Adhering to the Standards 8
The Challenge of Reading Diverse Texts 8
Reading Narrative Text 9
Scaffolding Strategies for Narrative Text 10
Focus Strategy 10
Reading Expository Text 12
Scaffolding Strategies for Expository Text 14
Text Structure Strategy 14
Text Previews 16
Variations of Text Previews 16
Name That Feature 16
Textbook Sales Pitch/Commercials 17
What’s Old? What’s New? 17
Scaffolding Instruction for Special Needs Students 18
Chapter Summary 19
2. Teaching Specialized and Technical Vocabulary 20
The Implication of Teaching Vocabulary 20
Teaching Vocabulary in Content Area Disciplines 22
Scaffolding Vocabulary Development 24
Word Categorization Activities 24
Making Word Associations 25
Word Sorts 26
Graphic Representations 28
Concept of Definition 29
A Variation of the Concept of Definition 31
The Writing Connection 31
Word Mysteries 32
Possible Sentences 34
Story Impressions 35
Chapter Summary 37
3. Reading to Learn in Content Area Disciplines 41
Reading in Specific Content Area Disciplines 41
Scaffolding Reading in Specific Content Areas 45
Questioning Strategies 45
Question-Answer Relationship Strategy (QARS) 45
Questioning the Author 46
Bloom’s Taxonomy and the Discussion Cube 49
Note-Taking and Summarizing Strategies 51
Framed Outlines 51
Power Notes 52
Magnet Summary 54
Summary Graph 56
Pyramid Diagram 57
Study Guide Strategies 59
Three-Level Guide 59
Expository Text Structure Guide 61
Point of View Study Guide 62
Critical Response Strategies 64
Critical Thinking Map 65
REAP 66
Reader Response 68
Point, Counterpoint Strategy 68
Chapter Summary 69
4. Writing to Learn in Content Area Disciplines 74
A Rationale for Writing to Learn 74
Writing-to-Learn Strategies 76
Learning Logs and Journals 76
Learning Logs 76
Journals 77
Double-Entry Journals 78
Extended Writing-to-Learn Strategies 79
Shrinklit 79
Probable Passages 80
Guided Writing Procedure 82
RAFT 85
The Multigenre Report 87
Chapter Summary 90
5. Speaking to Learn in Content Area Disciplines 91
A Rationale for Speaking to Learn 91
Speaking-to-Learn Strategies 93
Jigsaw Strategy 93
Focused Jigsaw 94
Focus Cards 95
First Thoughts Strategy 98
Content-Focused Drama 99
Literature Circles 99
The Literary Tea Party 100
A Variation: The Victorian Tea Party and Research 101
Circle of Knowledge 102
Questions in Styles 103
Discussion Web 106
Save the Last Word for Me 109
Intra-Act 111
Chapter Summary 112
6.Fostering Real World Literacy 116
The Literacies of the Real World 116
The Internet 117
Evaluating Web Sources 118
Guidelines for Creating Effective Internet Activities 118
Informational Literacy 120
Inquiry-Based Learning 121
Information-Gathering and Analysis Activities 122
Collaborative Projects 122
Electronic Publishing 123
Virtual Field Trips 123
WebQuests 125
Problem-Based Project Learning 126
A Process for Using Problem-Based Project Learning 127
Social Action Projects 127
I-Search Project 128
Project-Based Learning 130
Historical Inquiry 133
Digital Storytelling 133
Media Literacy 137
Newspapers and Magazines 139
Advertisements 141
Editorials 142
News Broadcasts 142
Visual Literacy 143
Gathering Data From Visual Representations 144
Storyboards 147
Photo Essays 147
You Ought to Be in Pictures 147
Using Television and Videos 148
Chapter Summary 149
References 150
Index 158
Preface
Researchtellsusthemosteffectiveteachersofcontentarealiteracyarethecontent
area teachers themselves because, as content area specialists, they know what
knowledge and skills are needed to effectively read and write in their disciplines.
Ineffect,theythinklikescientists,artists,socialscientists,mathematicians,orprac-
titioners of whatever subject they teach. Yet, most middle school and high school
teacherswillreadilyadmitthatthemajorityoftheirtrainingincollegewasintheir
content area discipline rather than in how to teach literacy in that discipline.
This book presents a snapshot of adolescent learners and how they learn, and
it offers research-based best practices and content area strategies for teaching
grounded in the theory of multiple intelligences and brain-based research. These
enable teachers to increase student learning in all content area disciplines by
more effectively integrating reading, writing, and critical thinking into their daily
classroom instruction. Examples and reproducible masters for implementing the
strategies are included in this book to assure immediate transfer to all content
area classrooms.
Chapter 1 (The Challenge of Adolescent Literacy) highlights the challenge that
teaching adolescents often presents; then it details ways in which teachers in
today’s classrooms can meet this challenge by presenting students with effective
approaches to reading both narrative and expository texts.
Chapter 2 (Teaching Specialized and Technical Vocabulary) stresses the critical
importance of helping students acquire, learn, and retain vocabulary by noting
that the end product of both recreational and informational reading is compre-
hension and that vocabulary knowledge makes up as much as 70% to 80% of
comprehension. To help facilitate the learning of vocabulary, this chapter pro-
vides a myriad of strategies to foster vocabulary acquisition and knowledge in all
content areas.
Chapter 3 (Reading to Learn in Content Area Disciplines) discusses specific pro-
cesses and skills that students must be able to complete in order to successfully
comprehend both the narrative and expository texts they are required to read in
thevariouscontentareadisciplinestheystudy.Thischapterprovidesfourtypesof
learningstrategiesthatcanbeusedinallcontentareadisciplines:(1)questioning
strategies, (2) note-taking and summary strategies, (3) study guide strategies, and
(4) critical response strategies.
viii
Preface ix
Chapter4(WritingtoLearninContentAreaDisciplines)examinestheconnection
betweenreadingandwriting,notingthatonemusthaveaccesstowrittenmaterial
for reading to occur. Furthermore, the act of writing enables students to process
theideasandconceptstheyhavereadabout.Inordertohelpstudentsusewriting
to effectively learn what has been read, this chapter provides a variety of writing-
to-learn strategies for use in all content area disciplines.
Chapter 5 (Speaking to Learn in Content Area Disciplines) examines the connec-
tion between reading and speaking, noting that during speaking, students not
only process the ideas and concepts of their learning but also give concrete shape
to their thoughts. In order to help students use speaking to effectively learn what
hasbeenread,thischapterprovidesavarietyofspeaking-to-learnstrategiesforuse
in all content area disciplines.
Chapter 6 (Fostering Real World Literacy) considers the challenges that face stu-
dentsintheageoftechnologyanddiscussesthenewliteraciesthatengagestudents,
such as the Internet, informational literacy, media literacy, and visual literacy. In
ordertohelpstudentslearnusingthesenewtechnologicalopportunities,thischap-
terprovideslearningstrategiesthatcanbeusedinallcontentareasforinformation-
gathering and analysis activities, such as the following: (1) collaborative projects;
(2) problem-based project learning; (3) media literacy, with activities for learning
from newspapers, magazines, and news broadcasts; and finally (4) visual literacy,
with activities that use storyboards, photographs, television, and videos.