Integrating Literacy in the Content Areas

1. Integrating Literacy in the Content Areas Laurie Gregory October 25, 2013

2. What do the Common Core Literacy Standards say students should do? • Read complex texts closely • Make evidence-based claims • Support claims with details • Write effectively • Do research

3. How often do you integrate literacy? • Every day • Every week • Every month • Every unit • Every quarter • Every year • Not often at all

4. Do a Close Reading • Do a close reading of the introduction to “Foregrounding the Disciplines in Secondary Literacy Teaching and Learning: A Call for Change” by Elizabeth Birr Moje

5. Discussion • Re-read the first two paragraphs. • What type of text is this?

6. Discussion • What is the author’s thesis? • What is disciplinary literacy?

7. Discussion • Re-read paragraphs 3-5. • What are the three reasons the author gives for stating her thesis? • How is she going to structure the rest of the piece to support her thesis?

8. What is close reading? • Engaging with a text of sufficient complexity directly • Examining meaning thoroughly and methodically • Reading and rereading • Understanding the central ideas and key supporting details • Reflecting on: • the meanings of individual words and sentences • the order in which sentences unfold • the development of ideas over the course of the text • Ultimately arriving at an understanding of the text as a whole (PARCC, 2011, p.7)

9. How to Support Students

10. Basic Lesson Structure

11. Text Dependent Questions Require students to… • Cite evidence • Determine the central idea • Analyze how the author structures the text and develops ideas/claims • Determine the meanings of words and phrases • Determine the point of view or purpose (From the Common Core Standards)

12. Think for a minute about the students currently enrolled in your class. It is possible that a good number of them could be so inspired by you and the learning that takes place in your course that they decide to pursue a college major and career in your content area.

13. How will these students use literacy skills in college and/or a career in your content area? What does literacy look like in your content area?

14. For History or Social Studies • Primary or Secondary Source Document • Complex set of ideas or events, possibly an argument • Unique, complex structure • Integrates charts, data, etc. • Academic Vocabulary

15. For Science, Health, FACS, and Technical Subjects • Explains a complex process or experiment or makes claims with evidence • Outlines a complex procedure for students to follow (i.e. lab) • Symbols, key domain-specific terms and concepts • Complex structure and relationships between concepts, • Includes data, charts, tables, etc. • Academic Vocabulary

16. Your Tasks: • Design a protocol for close reading and evidence based writing in your content area. • Create a calendar of what is currently being done to integrate reading and writing in your content area. • Explore some of the resources available on engageny.org. • Create a lesson that involves close reading and evidence-based writing.