Content Area Reading and Learning: Instructional Strategies

481 Pages·2004·27.4 MB·English

by  Diane Lapp

Second Edition

Content Area
Reading and
Learning
Instructional Strategies
Diane Lapp
James Flood
Nancy Farnan
San Diego State University
LAWRENCE ERLBAUM ASSOCIATES, PUBLISHERS
Mahwah, New Jersey London
Originally published 1989.
Copyright © 2004 by Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any
form, by photostat, microform, retrieval system, or by any other means,
without the prior written permission of the publisher.
Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc., Publishers
10 Industrial Avenue
Mahwah, New Jersey 07430
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Content area reading and learning : instructional strategies / [edited by]
Diane Lapp, James Flood, Nancy Farnan. - 2nd ed.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references (p.) and index.
ISBN 0-8058-5270-0 (pbk.: alk. paper)
1. Content area reading. 2. Reading (Secondary) I. Lapp, Diane,
n. Flood, James, ffi. Farnan, Nancy.
LB1050.455.C662004
428.4'071'2-dc22
2004047079

Books published by Lawrence Erlbaum Associates are printed on
acid-free paper, and their bindings are chosen for strength and
durability.
Printed in the United States of America
10 98765432 1
Contents

Preface vii

SECTION 1 Content Area Reading: An Overview 1

1 Content Area Reading: A Historical Perspective 3

Mary W. Olson
University of North Carolina at Greensboro
Ernest K. Dishner
Penn State University, Harrisburg
2 Content Area Reading: The Current State of the Art 15

Thomas W. Bean
John E. Readence
University of Nevada, Las Vegas
SECTION 2 The Teacher and the Text 25

3 The Role of Textbooks and Trade Books in Content Area Instruction 27

Diane Lemonnier Schallert
Nancy Lee Roser
University of Texas at Austin
4 Understanding the Readability of Content Area Texts 39

Edward Fry
Rutgers University
5 Considerate Texts 47

Bonnie B. Armbruster
University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
iii
iv Contents
6 Identifying and Teaching Text Structures
in Content Area Classrooms 59
Stephen Simonsen
College of the Desert
SECTION 3 The Students 77
7 The Students: Who Are They and How Do I Reach Them? 79
Nancy Marshall
Florida International University
8 Engaging Students' Interest and Willing Participation
in Subject Area Learning 95
Martha Rapp Ruddell
Sonoma State University
9 Context for Secondary Reading Programs 111
Carl Smith
Indiana University
10 Students Acquiring English: Reading and Learning 123
Eleanor W. Thonis
Wheatland, California, School District
SECTION 4 The Instructional Program 139
11 The Content Area Teacher's Instructional Role:
A Cognitive Mediational View 141
Laura R. Roehler
Michigan State University
12 Real-World Literacy Demands:
How They've Changed and What Teachers Can Do 153
Larry Mikulecky
Indiana University
13 Teaching Secondary Science through Reading, Writing, Studying,
and Problem Solving 165
Carol Minnick Santa
Lynn Havens
Shirley Harrison
Kalispell, Montana, School District
14 Reading in Social Studies:
Using Skills and Strategies in a Thoughtful Manner 181
Charles W. Peters
Pontiac, Michigan, School District
Contents v
15 Understanding Literature:
Reading in the English or Language Arts Classroom 209
Nancy Farnan
San Diego State University
Alicia Romero
McGill University
16 The Role of Reading and Writing Instruction in Mathematics 227
Joan F. Curry
San Diego State University
17 Reading and Writing hi Sports and Physical and Health Education 245
Lance M. Gentile
San Francisco State University
Merna M. McMillan
Santa Barbara County Mental Health
18 Vocabulary Instruction in Content Areas 261
Michael F. Graves
University of Minnesota
Wayne H. Slater
University of Maryland
19 Study Techniques That Ensure Content Area Reading Success 277
Donna M. Ogle
National-Louis University, Evanston
20 Using Concept Mapping as an Effective Strategy
in Content Area Instruction 291
Diane Lapp
James Flood
Robert P. Hoffman
San Diego State University
21 Using Questioning Strategies to Promote Students' Active Comprehension
of Content Area Material 307
Helene M. Anthony
Moorhead State University
Taffy E. Raphael
Michigan State University
22 The Significance of Prior Knowledge in the Learning
of New Content-Specific Ideas 323
Patricia L. Anders
University of Arizona
Carol V. Lloyd
University of Nebraska, Omaha
vi Contents
23 Moving beyond Reading and Writing in the Content Areas
to Discipline-Based Inquiry 339
John R O'Flahavan
University of Maryland, College Park
Robert J. Tierney
Ohio State University
SECTION 5 Model Programs 353
24 Creating Response-Centered Learning Environments:
Using Authentic Texts to Extend and Enrich the Curriculum 355
Richard T. Vacca
JoAnne L. Vacca
Nancy Prosenjak
Kent State University
Linda Burkey
Mount Union College
25 A Cooperative Learning Approach to Content Area Teaching 369
Robert E. Slavin
Johns Hopkins University
26 Assessment in the Content Areas: Solving the Assessment Puzzle 383
Roger Fan-
Indiana University
Robert Pritchard
California State University, Fresno
27 Theory Becomes Practice: A Design for Content Area Lesson Planning 403
James Barton
University of Rhode Island
28 Preferred Instructional Practices hi the Content Areas 415
Karen D. Wood
University of North Carolina at Charlotte
29 Crossing Boundaries with Literate Actions:
A Look inside Successful Content Area Classrooms 427
Donna Alvermann
University of Georgia
Affiliations 437
References 439
Index 461
Preface

This is a working textbook. It provides students with maximum interaction with the infor­
mation and strategies discussed in each chapter. Each chapter begins with a Think before Read­
ing Activity, includes one or two Think while Reading Activities, and ends with a Think after
Reading Activity. Each type of activity is clearly marked with a box around it to assist the
teacher and students use of these as catalysts for thinking and discussion. These activities pre­
sent questions and scenarios designed to integrate students' previous knowledge and experi­
ences with their new learnings about issues related to content area reading, literacy, and learn­
ing. The many strategies and instructional ideas contained in each chapter often serve as a basis
for the activities, frequently requiring students to use the strategies in their answers.
In addition, a graphic organizer and chapter preview begin each chapter. Chapters are
designed to offer readers a genuine overview of concepts and ideas contained in each one.
The graphic organizers, particularly, can be used by students as a framework around which
to begin constructing knowledge on topics of literacy and learning across content areas.
Why a book about content area reading and literacy? Unfortunately, when the topic of
reading is introduced to content area specialists, it is often met with perplexed stares. Most
content area specialists believe that any reading related instruction is the work of the Eng­
lish teacher or the remedial reading teacher. Content specialists also often believe that their
students are not interested in their subject area, are not learning enough about it, and are
not reading the assigned material. Reasons for these concerns were studied in 1977, in "How
Content Teachers Telegraph Messages Against Readers" in The Journal of Reading, Vol­
ume 20, pp. 646-648, by B. J. Rieck, who reported the findings of a study in which Eng­
lish, science, social studies, mathematics, physical education, art, and home economics
teachers participated. Although published over two decades ago, insights from this survey
vii
viii Preface
are reflective of concerns in many content area classrooms today. In his survey, Rieck asked
teachers:
1. Do you require reading in your course?
97 percent responded yes, 3 percent responded no
2. Do most of your students read their assignments?
58 percent responded yes, 42 percent responded no
Rieck, in attempting to understand the why of these responses, further asked approxi­
mately three hundred students from the 42 percent of teachers who responded no:
1. Do you like to read?
52 percent yes, 38 percent no, 10 percent no response
2. Do you read your assignments in this class?
15 percent yes, 81 percent no, 4 percent no response
Isn't this perplexing? Why do students who like to read not feel the need to read their
assignments?
3. Do your tests cover mainly lecture and discussion or reading assignments?
98 percent lecture and discussion, 2 percent reading
Perhaps teacher behaviors are suggesting that there is no real need to learn from the
textbook.
4. Are you required to discuss your reading assignments in this class?
23 percent yes, 70 percent no, 1 percent no response
If completion of the textbook assignments is not needed for success on tests or class­
room discussion, students may not be motivated to read.
5. Does your teacher give you purpose for reading or are you only given the number of
pages to read?
95 percent pages, 5 percent purpose
It appears that although teachers may want students to read textbooks, they do not know
how to integrate lecture, discussion, and textbook reading.
6. Does your teacher bring in outside material for you to read and recommend books of
interest for you to read?
5 percent yes, 95 percent no
It seems that relationships between topics presented in content areas and real-world sit­
uations are not being modeled through experiences that say "lifelong reading of expository
materials is important."
Preface ix
7. Does your teacher like to read?
20 percent yes, 33 percent no, 47 percent don't know
Isn't it interesting that although 52 percent of the students responded that they like to
read, 80 percent of them do not credit their teachers with being readers? And isn't it inter­
esting that after spending approximately two hundred classroom hours together, it isn't obvi­
ous to them that books are important to their teachers?
Rieck concluded:
Out loud, teachers are saying: "I require reading in this course. All students are to read the
assignments. Students are to read X number of pages from the textbook." However, their
nonverbal attitude says to students: "You really don't have to read the assignments because
you aren't tested on them and probably won't have to discuss them. You should read X num­
ber of pages but there is no real reason to do so. Reading really isn't important. Outside read­
ing is of little value in this class. My students will have no way to tell whether or not I like
to read" (p. 647).
We propose that this attitude still prevails because the majority of secondary teachers
received little if any instruction in how to integrate reading into their teaching plans. Many
teachers believe they must "cover their material" and that covering the material is unre­
lated to good instruction or to reading. Secondary teachers often feel that they are spe­
cialists and that heavy reliance on the text somehow reduces their knowledge of the con­
tent area.
We agree that secondary teachers must be content area authorities, but we believe they
must be more than that. They also must be able to use instructional strategies to ensure that
all students learn content area concepts and learn to apply these concepts to real-life situa­
tions. Where written materials are involved, we believe that teachers, as instructional spe­
cialists, must know how to help students use the reading strategies that they will need to
comprehend and learn.
This text has been designed to provide content area teachers with strategies that will
help them teach their chosen fields of expertise. Section one, Content Area Reading: An
Overview, contains two chapters which provide, respectively, a look into the history of con­
tent area reading and insights into today's state-of-the-art perspectives.
Section Two, The Teacher and the Text, contains four chapters which explain the need
for content specialists to understand text-related strategies that will make their roles as teach­
ers of a particular discipline more effective. Also explained in this section is the complex­
ity of the structure of content area textbooks.
Section Three, The Students, contains four chapters which illustrate the emotional, cog­
nitive, and psychological development of the adolescent. Also emphasized are the ways in
which adolescents learn.
Section four, The Instructional Program, contains thirteen chapters which provide
instructional examples and strategies for teaching all of the content areas. Also included in
this section are chapters which explain how to use literature to introduce and expand con­
tent area reading, how to integrate reading, writing, and thinking strategies throughout con­
tent area subjects, and how to effectively use computers in content area classes.