Geography and Disciplinary Literacy in Elementary Classrooms

Judy Britt Winthrop University

1988 Summer Geography Institute

1991 Educational Technology Leadership Institute

• Explore the meaning and intent of disciplinary literacy for elementary geography.

• Share ideas for engaging students with disciplinary literacy in elementary geography.

The Purpose Of This Session Is to…

Content Area Reading Disciplinary Literacy

Source Reading Experts since 1920s Wider range of experts since the 1990s

Nature of Skills

Generalizable skills and activities that can be used in all or most reading situations

Specialized skills and activities

Focus Use of reading & writing to study/learn information

How literacy is used to make meaning within a discipline

Students Typically remedial (Strategies that are taught tend to work with younger and lower level readers – with no evident benefits for average and higher readers)

Whole distribution (Approaches usually have wider impact)

Texts Often encourages use of literacy text

Only focused on disciplinary text

Role of Graphics

Taught with vague generalities or are ignored altogether

Taught specific to the discipline and are critical to the whole of the text. Help support the context

Distinguishing Content Literacy From Disciplinary Literacy

Literacy is the ability to read and write.

Disciplinary literacy refers to the specialized skills that someone must master to be able to read and write in the various disciplines (science, math, literature, history, geography, civics and economics).

Disciplinary literacy and ELAStudents develop content knowledge, and skills with language arts strands - reading, writing, listening, speaking and viewing and presenting.

Each content or subject discipline has:its own unique knowledge core and its own ways of inquiring, investigating, reasoning, representing, and questioning.

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Why is Disciplinary Literacy important?

Each discipline has specialized habits of mind or ways of thinking,

language and vocabulary,text types to comprehend,ways of communicating in writing,and career requirements.

Students must be equipped to recognize these things. This training begins in elementary classrooms.

Make the Disciplinary Literacy Shifts

Build knowledge through content rich nonfiction and informational text offerings.

Ground reading and writing in evidence from the text

Provide regular practice with increasingly more complex text.

Defining Disciplinary Literacy in Geography

Disciplinary literacy is defined as the confluence of content knowledge, experiences, and skills merged with the ability to read, write, listen, speak and think critically in a way that is meaningful within the context of geography.

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Geographic Skills

The 5 geographic skills describe how students systematically conduct geographic investigations. By practicing these skills students become actively engaged in "doing geography".

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Geographic Skills

1. Asking Geographic Questions; 2. Acquiring Geographic

Information; 3. Organizing Geographic

Information; 4. Analyzing Geographic

Information; and 5. Answering Geographic

Questions.

Geography and LiteracyGeography and literacy education both focus on these outcomesStrengthening and building vocabulary.Reinforcement of reading and writing

strategies.Practical application of comprehension

skills.Addressing nonfiction reading and

writing topics. Christina Riska, National Geographic Education,

Dr. Kathy SwanAchieving the C3: An exploration into 21st Century social

studiesCKEC, February 26, 2014

C3 Framework Organization

Dimension 2:Applying Disciplinary Tools and

Concepts

Connecting Inquiry To Geography

• Disciplinary literacy and inquiry-based learning go beyond gathering facts.

• Disciplinary literacy and inquiry-based learning engages students in deeper learning, with a shift from gathering facts to investigating topics with projects.

Literacy, Geography or Both?

The overall purpose of this teaching and learning plan is not to teach literacy

It is primarily about geographical inquiry and learning to act/think/sound like a geographer

Being a geographer in this particular context (field work/report ) has particular language/literacy demands

Literacy is taught in the context of geography.

Teach students to “Think like a geographer”

Reason spatially

INPUT: Reading, Listening and Viewing

◦ Learn from geographic information ---maps, data graphic representations, technology and text.

OUTPUT: Writing, Speaking and Presenting

◦ -Construct maps, write, share ideas and opinions for decision making.

Recognize the integrative nature of geography with other social studies disciplines.

Geography Activities and Projects

• Map Investigations and constructions.

• Graphic Organizations

• Project-based investigations

• Analyze, organize and report data

• Population• Graphic Organizers• Country Reports, maps• Data charts

  In Disciplinary Literacy, the term "text" does not just mean "textbook"

All kinds of graphsData chartsMap CoordinatesMaps of All TypesWebsitesFiction - NonfictionNewspaper Articles

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Reading Read nonfiction geography texts

regularly.Introduce challenging academic

vocabulary to teach vocabulary.Provide direct, explicit instruction

about text features and text structures in geography texts.

Make integrative connections between history and geography.

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Disciplinary Literacy: Reading in Social Studies

Build prior knowledge with literature.

Teach discipline specific vocabulary.

Use text structures to teach content.

Use discipline relevant and text dependent questions.Use narrative and informational text to build contextual understanding and perspective.

Writing Across the CurriculumActive student engagementReading and writing are meaning

making processes that support all disciplines.

Students become critical thinkers and problem solvers as they use and develop writing skills in all areas of the curriculum.◦Writing to learn◦Writing to demonstrate learning◦Writing to publsih

Writing to Learn: Word BanksLearning LogsLists

◦ Admit slips, Exit slips

Questions, Predictions, Reflections

Quickwrite - Bell ringers

Graphic OrganizersJournal writing

◦ Personal, double entry.

◦ Simulated journals

Writing to Demonstrate LearningEssay examsShort answerHomework

assignmentsSummariesBook ReportsAll About…Report writing

Examples of Writing in GeographyPlace PoetryLearning LogsQuickwritesInformational ParagraphsDescriptionsAll About…Graphic OrganizersCompare and ContrastABC projects

Engage students in learning experiences that allow them to become “practitioners” to think like a geographer.

Teach lessons that develop knowledge of geography words.

Plan units that include various kinds of geography texts.

Guide students in combining knowledge and skills with the ability to read, write, listen, speak, think critically and demonstrate tasks in a way that is meaningful within the context of geography.

Disciplinary Literacy: Getting Started

Students demonstrate their content knowledge through reading, writing, listening and speaking in geography teaching and learning.