Engaging Students in Disciplinary Literacy, K-6: Reading, Writing, and Teaching Tools for the Classroom

by Cynthia H. Brock

Overview

This accessible book will help elementary school teachers improve literacy instruction inside or outside the Common Core environment. The authors address teachers’ instructional needs by introducing key concepts from current trends in literacy education—from high-level standards to the use of 21st-century literacies. Readers then follow teachers as they successfully implement the curriculum they developed to promote high-level thinking and engagement with disciplinary content. The text focuses on three disciplinary literacy units of instruction: a science unit in a 2nd-grade classroom, a social studies (history) unit in a 4th-grade classroom, and a mathematics unit in a 6th-grade classroom. Each unit revolves around a central inquiry question and includes research-based strategies for using reading, writing, and classroom talk as tools to foster disciplinary understandings. This unique, insider’s look at how real teachers build and implement a Common Core–aligned curriculum will be an invaluable resource for teachers, schools, and districts as they move forward to align their own curricula.

Book Features:

• A clear, concise overview of the teaching requirements of the Common Core.
• Research-based approaches for using the English language arts to learn science, math, and history.
• Cases from urban schools representing the full range of literacy achievement levels.
• Models of disciplinary units of study with guidance to help teachers create their own.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	2900807755272
Publisher:	Teachers College Press
Publication date:	04/18/2014
Series:	Common Core State Standards in Literacy Series
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	160
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 1.25(h) x 9.00(d)

About the Author

Cynthia H. Brock is a lecturer in literacy studies at the University of South Australia. Virginia J. Goatley is department chair in the Department of Reading at the University at Albany–SUNY. Taffy E. Raphael is a professor of literacy education at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Elisabeth Trost-Shahata taught in the Chicago Public Schools for 12 years and is now a bilingual/ESL specialist for the district. Catherine M. Weber is an assistant professor in the Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College at Arizona State University.

Table of Contents

Foreword Annemarie Sullivan Palincsar ix

Preface xi

Acknowledgments xiii

Part I Setting the Context 1

1 Setting the Framework for Instructional Ideas 3

Opportunities for Instructional and Curricular Improvements 4

Implications for Teaching Practices 6

Creating Curriculum for ELA in Disciplinary Learning: Five Design Principles to Improve Instruction 10

Concluding Comments 16

2 Disciplinary Literacy in Elementary Classrooms 17

Introducing and Contextualizing Disciplinary Literacy 17

New Conceptions of Disciplinary Literacy 23

Introducing Mary, Elisabeth, and Cassandra 24

Examples of Disciplinary Literacy 24

Concluding Comments 32

Part II Windows into Classroom Teaching

3 Reading Within and Across Texts 35

What Matters About Reading Instruction 35

Disciplinary Literacy and Reading 44

Examining Classroom Reading Across Disciplines 55

4 Writing Within and Across Texts 57

What Matters About Writing Instruction 57

Disciplinary Literacy and Classroom Writing 66

Examining Classroom Writing Across Disciplines 76

5 Disciplinary Literacy and Classroom Talk 79

What Matters About Classroom Talk 79

Disciplinary Literacy and Classroom Talk 85

Examining Classroom Talk Across the Disciplines 98

Part III Designing Your Own Disciplinary Literacy Instruction 101

6 Enacting Disciplinary Literacy in Elementary Classrooms 103

Disciplinary Tools: Reading, Writing, and Talking 104

Using the Five Design Principles to Plan Your Own Unit 108

Concluding Comments 115

Children's Literature 117

References 119

Index 131

About the Authors 143

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

“I can’t imagine a more timely book for these times in which the CCSS for English Language Arts are demanding that we pay more than lip service to integrated curriculum.”
—P. David Pearson, University of California, Berkeley

“If you’re wondering how to integrate literacy across the content disciplines, this is the text you will want to keep and return to.” —Diane Lapp, San Diego State University

“The dynamism of the elementary teachers in this book as they implement the five key design principles to deepen disciplinary thinking and literacy among their students is inspiring, and better still, infectious! As you read, you’ll naturally reflect and make plans to use these same principles and resources in your own teaching.”
—Donald R. Bear, professor, Iowa State University

“For decades, elementary school teachers have focused on developing students' literacy, hoping that the generic literacy skills students learn will serve them well as they engage with complex content area texts. But hope is not a plan. The plan is found in this exciting book that provides concrete ideas for teaching students to use literacy to think like scientists, historians, and mathematicians.”
—Douglas Fisher, professor of educational leadership, San Diego State University, and teacher leader, Health Sciences High & Middle College.