Teaching Discipline-Specific Literacies
(Zygouris-Coe, 2015)
Content Area Literacy
Refers to general reading and writing skills used across all subjects to acquire knowledge.
Vocabulary Development
Vocabulary acquisition helps students understand specialized terms that are key to grasping scientific concepts.
Reading Comprehension Strategies
Summarizing key points after reading a passage.
Paraphrasing complex information in simpler terms.
Identifying the main idea and supporting details.
Making connections to prior knowledge.
Questioning the Text
Asking and answering questions to deepen understanding.
Summarizing
Condensing the main ideas and important details from a text.
Critical Reading and Thinking
Analyzing and evaluating the reliability and validity of the information.
Paraphrasing
Rewriting the information from the text in one’s own words to clarify understanding.
Text Annotation
Marking the text with notes, questions, and comments to improve understanding.
Comparing and Contrasting
Identifying similarities and differences between concepts, processes, or data.
Note-taking
Recording key information for review and deeper understanding.
Inferencing
Drawing conclusions or making interpretations based on information in the text.
Navigating and Interpreting Text Features
Interpreting diagrams, charts, and tables alongside text.
Where do students struggle most in science?
Abstract Concepts
Technical Vocabulary
Mathematical Integration
Complex Reading Materials
Practical Application
Disciplinary Literacy
Learning how to read, write, and think like experts within a specific field.
Understanding scientific vocabulary
This allows students to accurately comprehend and communicate scientific concepts, enabling them to engage with scientific information, discuss findings, and participate in scientific discourse effectively.
Comprehending scientific text structure
Scientific texts are structured in a specific way (e.g. Introduction, Methods, Results, Discussion), so students must learn to navigate the text in order to understand its purpose.
Interpreting data
Students need to understand how to read and analyze data, such as graphs, charts, and tables. This is how scientists/researchers extract meaningful information from their experiments, test hypotheses, draw valid conclusions, and ultimately advance scientific understanding by identifying patterns, relationships, and trends within the collected data. Data also serves as evidence to support or refute scientific claims.
Evaluating evidence
Scientific texts often include evidence-based arguments, requiring students to assess the quality and relevance of the data. This ensures the validity and reliability of scientific claims, allowing scientists to build accurate explanations based on empirical data, rather than personal opinions or biases.
Classroom Management for Equity
(Milner et al., 2018)
Culturally responsive classroom management
Cultural awareness
Teachers must recognize their own cultural biases and understand how these may affect their perceptions of student behavior.
Incorporating Students' Culture
Using students' cultural knowledge, perspectives, and values as a basis for structuring the classroom environment, rules, and interactions.
Building relationships
Building strong, respectful relationships with students by valuing their cultural identities and engaging with them as individuals. This involves understanding their social and emotional needs and how their culture may influence their interactions and learning preferences.
Trust and Respect
Students feel seen and respected, which strengthens their connection to the teacher and the learning environment.
Empowerment
Students feel empowered because they see their culture reflected in the classroom, promoting a sense of belonging and self-worth. This fosters greater student engagement and motivation.
Punishment Referral Patterns
Students of color are disproportionately referred for punishment for behaviors that are often subjectively interpreted, such as defiance or disrespect. These referrals often arise from cultural misunderstandings between teachers and students. Traditional punishment, such as suspension or expulsion, removes students from the learning environment, which disrupts their education and reinforces negative behavioral cycles.
Restorative Practices
Aim to repair relationships and resolve conflicts in a constructive manner.
Engage students in discussions about their behavior and how it impacts others, fostering reflection and accountability.
Similarities
between content area literacy and disciplinary literacy
Vocabulary Development
Both approaches focus on teaching students how to understand and use subject-specific vocabulary. Content area literacy uses general approaches to learning new terms, while disciplinary literacy goes deeper into how vocabulary is used within the discipline.
Engagement with Text Structures
Both approaches encourage students to engage with the structures of academic texts, such as headings, charts, graphs, and other features that convey information.
Supporting Argumentation and Evidence Use
Both approaches teach students how to gather evidence from texts and use it to support their claims.
Application of Critical Thinking
Students are taught to analyze, evaluate, and synthesize information from texts, whether they are reading a scientific paper or a literary work. Disciplinary literacy may focus more on how evidence is interpreted and presented in the context.
Use of Reading and Comprehension Strategies
Both approaches incorporate general reading strategies like predicting, asking questions, and making connections. Both approaches also teach comprehension strategies, such as summarizing, questioning, and making inferences, to help students understand complex texts.
Focus on Reading and Writing
Whether students are summarizing a science article (content area) or writing a lab report (disciplinary), they must be able to organize information and communicate clearly.
How can teachers help?
Content Area Literacy
Pre-teach vocabulary
Introducing key terms before reading helps students focus on meaning rather than being overwhelmed by unfamiliar words.
Graphic Organizers
Tools like concept maps, Venn diagrams, or charts can help students visualize relationships between abstract scientific concepts.
Annotating Texts
Encouraging students to highlight or summarize key points in scientific texts can improve comprehension.
Disciplinary Literacy
Model Scientific Thinking
Encourage students to read and think like scientists by interpreting graphs, analyzing data, and evaluating hypotheses.
Teach Text Structure
Scientific papers and textbooks are often organized differently than literature or history texts, so explicitly teaching students how to navigate these structures (e.g., understanding how a research article is broken into abstract, methods, results, discussion) can make reading easier.
Engage in Scientific Argumentation
Help students practice making claims, using evidence, and reasoning through scientific problems to mirror the way scientists write and communicate.