Are we all reading teachers?!


DISCIPLINARY LITERACY
By: Maddy Munn

Have you ever thought about the deeper meaning and understandings of literacy? Well, you’re in luck because that is what this week’s readings are all about!

Watch out, don't get stuck in the QUICKSAND! 


In the article Disciplinary Literacy: Adapt not Adopt by Victoria Gillis, we are introduced with the idea that many think that "every teacher (is) a teacher of reading." (Gillis 614). While Gillis explains that this is not true, we are DEF not all teachers of reading, we are teachers of something more important which is LITERACY!

So, you may be asking yourself how can I as a teacher of different subjects promote literacy in the classroom? Well pals I'm here to give you the inside scoop!

And here it is...

We in fact CAN promote literacy in our classrooms in different subjects in MANY ways! Let's start with the idea of disciplinary literacy and what it means. Disciplinary literacy is the idea of using literacy in all subjects through different modes instead of just promoting literacy in one subject. I totally agree with this concept because it is really important for our students to know more outside of the BASIC text we give them! 

I think of it similar to differentiation in our classrooms. We have learned about differentiation through our courses we have taken so far and the fact that not everyone learns similar which is OKAY!

Personally, I am more of a visual learner so it helps me if I can actually see the information that I am studying. For example, I definitely used graphs and pictures to help me out in the math department when I was younger (& now...) but it does no good for us if we don't know how to read those graphs or pictures! That is why it is our job to explore these different forms of literacy with our students and guide them through gaining the ability to learn how to read these things no matter what the subject is!  

Literacy through graphs and pictures stimulates critical thinking for our students and helps them create a deeper meaning. Gillis says, "Students need to understand the technical language (vocabulary) they use to communicate about these issues." (Gillis 615). To prepare our students for the outside world it is our job to be providing more than the obligation texts we have our students read.

 Technical language is important for our students to posses in any career field...AM I RIGHT? It is important that they build on this vocabulary so they can communicate with others professionally when they get older. SO, we can do this in our classrooms in many different ways! To start students could participate in a mini presentation with other classmates using this technical language to promote something that they are passionate about!


Let's talk about another thing...ADAPT RATHER THAN ADOPT!
This is another great concept to implement in your classroom. It allows our students to be able to create their own ideas and interpret texts how they want to and see it. Not only does it provide students with multiple options to consider and ideas it is another way to stimulate critical thinking in the classroom.

 A great way to bring this into the classroom would be to present it as a whole class activity on an anchor chart. When the reading is over students can then discuss as a class the literal text, interpreted text and application to the world around them. Once you have modeled it for them they can then try it themselves! 
Below I have attached a podcast that I found about teaching using disciplinary literacy. It is aimed more towards secondary education however it is definitely resourceful for elementary classrooms as well! Give it a listen y'all!

 Listen to this podcast!


 Thinking questions:
1. How do you plan on promoting disciplinary literacy in your classroom?

 2. Did your teachers promote disciplinary literacy in your classrooms when you were young? 

 3. How do you think disciplinary literacy reflected on the rest of your academics? How do you think it will reflect on the students academics?

4. Do you think that using Response Heuristic would be beneficial in the process of promoting disciplinary literacy?



















Comments

  1. AnonymousSeptember 15, 2019 at 5:43 PM

    Loved the article! I really liked your mini lesson plan having the students practice technical vocabulary skills. I also think you left us with great questions to think upon. I'm sure my teachers implemented literature in a variety of subjects but nothing that I can really think specifically on therefor i'm not really sure if it effected my other academics.

    I plan on promoting disciplinary literature in many ways as a future teacher.I personally agree that literature should be expressed throughout as many modes as possible across all subjects. One specific way i'm going to implement this is for my students to keep science note books that they write their experiments in. Not only are they writing down scientific data but learning how to put writing in chronological order and writing with a cause and effect. These are huge writing standards and skills that children practice while alongside doing science.

    I also love literature being implemented in other subjects, specifically ones that don't get much time. For example science doesn't get much devoted time in school settings therefor the chances are higher of a teacher implementing it in their classroom if it had a literature part as well because the state puts so much emphasis on reading.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Madison MunnSeptember 16, 2019 at 11:08 AM

      Dani,
      I agree that there are huge standards that we as teachers are required to teach and these students are required to meet. If we take these standards and expand them out across many different subjects it may not be as overwhelming to students to learn. Students will get to learn through multiple modes as well as in different contexts. I think it is a great idea to incorporate disciplinary literacy through subjects that are not often focused on in schools.

      Delete
  2. AbbySeptember 16, 2019 at 10:50 AM

    Great blog! I definitely agree that not all teachers are teachers of reading but of literacy instead. I was always a visual learner as well and I was great at math, but not so much reading. I just didn't think reading was for me. The article and you are totally right, literacy is all around us and in ever subject. I never though about how graphs and pictures could be considered literacy until I got to college. It is so important to show kids that even though they may not be great at reading, the are definitely good at literacy. I hope to promote disciplinary literacy in my classroom by pointing out to the kids when they make connections with literacy and showing them its all around them. I would like to use the anchor chart idea so they have a better understanding of these activities as well.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Madison MunnSeptember 16, 2019 at 11:06 AM

      Abby,
      I agree that I never really considered anything other than text, literacy, until I got to college! Understanding this concept as teachers is very important so that we can ensure we are using different modes of media in our classroom. This also makes the learning environment equal for everyone if we are using different methods for every student to be able to understand. Kids do think that literacy is strictly reading only and it is our job and very important for us to teach them that it is the complete opposite when they start their education! Opening different ideas about literacy may intrigue some students to explore and learn more.

      Delete
  3. AnonymousSeptember 16, 2019 at 3:35 PM

    Great job Maddy! I have honestly never heard of the term disciplinary literacy before, but it is definitely something I am planning on implementing in my future classroom. Like you said, if you are not able to understand what you are reading in any subject you will struggle! I have experienced this before in science because I could understand the terms, but not how they worked together! This is something that I think a lot of teachers forget about, because they just focus their literacy lesson in reading and writing. However, like you stated, literacy follows through to every subject! I think that in my future classroom I want to plan to have a writing component in each of the subjects other than just writing/reading block at least once a week! I think that this will help my students excel and grow in their writing, and this will help them to see the value in literacy.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. AnonymousSeptember 16, 2019 at 4:59 PM

      Aubrey,
      I like your idea of having a writing component in each subject each week for students to build those skills! It is important for students to have basic skills and word use down before they advance into harder topics. I agree with you that a lot of teachers do forget that literacy is incorporated in everything that we do and it is important for us to focus on that and encourage this in our classrooms becuase I believe it has faded out of our classrooms due to focus on testing.

      Delete
  4. AnonymousSeptember 17, 2019 at 5:45 AM

    Maddy I love your idea that not all teachers are teachers of reading, but teachers of literacy!
    Literacy is so important. I also agree with the idea that we need to incorporate literacy in more subjects than just reading. Which makes us teachers of literacy not reading. If we use literacy in every class, not just reading/english, then it shows our students the importance of literacy and how it expands more than just in our traditional reading/english classes.

    I think that answers your first question for thought too. I would have literacy be apart of my whole classroom! We would always talk about the importance of literacy and implement it everywhere.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Madison MunnSeptember 17, 2019 at 6:21 AM

    Thanks for your response! It is important to show our students that literacy is in so much more around us than just reading and writing. Using disciplinary literacy is a great way to open that idea up to students.

    ReplyDelete

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