Content Area Literacy

GSSD Coaches

Cindy Smith & Andrea Hnatiuk

*But I Am Not an English Teacher!

*Quick Write

*What is Literacy?

What will I be able to do when I am done here today?

I can identify and implement effective instructional strategies that can be used in content areas

What is important for me to learn and understand so that I can hit the target?

I must learn and understand student need support in content area literacy

What will I do to show that I understand?

I can implement effective cross curricular literacy instructional strategies that meet and assist student learning outcomes.

Moss, C., & Brookhart, M. (2012). Learning targets: Helping students aim for understanding in today’s lesson. Alexandria: ASCD.

Commit and Toss

*Why do students have difficulty reading academic texts?

*“The need to guide adolescents to advanced stages of literacy is not necessarily the result of any teaching or learning failure in the preschool or primary years; rather, it is a necessary next step in normal reading development.”

* -McCombs et al., 2005, pp. 2-3 as cited in Buehl, D. (2011)

*Model of Disciplinary

Literacy

*Basic Literacy

*Intermediate Literacy

*Discipline Literacy

*What does the curriculum say about literacy?

*Why is literacy important in my

subject area and What does it look

like?

*Big Question!

Literacy

Expressive

Receptive

Speak

WriteRepre-sent

Read View Listen

Create a subject specific graphic organizer using these headings

*Article Study

*Gradual Release of ResponsibilityBuehl, 2011

*Carousel Graffiti Activity

Pros?Cons?What students will benefit?When to use it?Ease of use?

*Think Aloud

*“I have a rain barrel that is 2 metres high, and has a diameter of 1.2 metres. How much water will it hold?”

*All too often, it is assumed that symbolic representation is the only way to communicate mathematically. The more flexible students are in using a variety of representations to explain and work with the mathematics being learned, the deeper students’ understanding becomes.

*Frontloading Vocabulary

*It is estimated that a high school student’s working vocabulary weighs in around 40,000 words -Stahl and Nagy, 2006

*Vocabulary is an important factor in academic success. -Short & Fitzsimmmons, 2007

*Teaching “Generative Vocabulary”

*Means teaching the origins of words, the meaning of prefixes and suffixes

*Ex: Poly = “many”. Polygon, polynomial, polydactyly, polyester, etc.

*Saves time, because learners aren’t just memorizing words, they are understanding how words work

*Helps students make connections to prior knowledge and across curriculum and subjects

Effective Classroom Strategies 18

* Classroom Instruction That Works – Effect Size

Effective Classroom Strategies 19

*Effect Size is a unit of measure used with meta-analysis that expresses the increase or decrease in student achievement

*Cohen simplified the range of effect sizes

*Small: 0.20 to 0.49

*Medium: 0.50 to 0.79

*Large: 0.80 and above

*Effect Size

Effective Classroom Strategies 20

* Summarizing and Note Taking

*For More Information

*Understanding Vocabulary, Scholastic

*Literature Review

*GSSD Content Area Literacy

*Closure

*3-2-13 – Important points2 – Learning activities you will try1 – Question you have

GSSD Content Area Literacy