Challenges In Content Area Literacy

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Bill Blythe on June 24, 2009 at 9:36am

All of the above. I am surprised at the inability for many of the students to read the text and then comprehend what they have read. I attempt to include text reading as much as possible because that will be a skill that they need down the road. The biggest obstacle to the comprehension of the text and more importantly these days, the state testing, is the vocabulary. There are so many times that students do not comprehend the questions because of the vocabulary. They know the science concepts but get sidetracked by a word in the question. It also is not always a content related word such as precipitate or acceleration, but words such as contrast, relate, distinguish and determine. I have actually had students that when asked to draw a conclusion have drawn a picture. I am going to make a concerted effort to attack this problem this year and am looking for suggestions. I have concentrated on the content related words but need to integrate many others to help my students become more successful.

Permalink Reply by Jessica Fries-Gaither on June 24, 2009 at 10:09am

Hi Bill,
I certainly understand your frustration! You've touched on a very important issue in this area - academic vocabulary. These words aren't specific to any one content area, and include words like contrast, conclusion, relate, etc. You're absolutely correct in that these words are often just as troublesome as the science concepts!

I'm going to look for some resources on academic vocabulary to share with you. In the meantime, here are a few ideas from my own experience:

In addition to teaching the science vocabulary, add a few new academic terms to each unit. Ideally, these would be related to the types of tasks students would need to perform in that particular unit. I've seen suggestions on the order of two new words every 5 weeks or so - which gives plenty of time to practice.

Start a word wall in your room specifically dedicated to these academic words. As you teach new words, add them to the wall with a student friendly definition and some sort of image or symbol to represent the concept. This is a great reference for students throughout the year.

Devote time to explicity teaching these words - we've got lots of examples of research-based vocabulary strategies on our wiki page. One teaching sequence is to present students with the word and definition and an image or symbol to represent it. Students then create their own definition and their own representation, and revise them over time. Concrete objects are also create visual metaphors for these

Model these words for students. For example, when you are teaching "draw a conclusion," actually talk through the process and share your thinking out loud. Do this several times, and then have students try drawing a conclusion, using prompts to help them succeed. Only ask them to work independently when you think they've had sufficient support to be successful.

Team up for success. The great thing about academic vocabulary is that it spans all content areas. If you teach on a team, your team might focus on the same words at the same times. If students actively work on drawing conclusions in ELA, SS, Science, and Math, they'll be much more likely to master the skill.

Finally, your team could have students create a vocabulary notebook for academic words - including definitions, symbols, and examples from all the content areas. They could continually add to this as the year goes on, and use it as a reference.

I'm also going to add a couple of reading/vocabulary professional books to the book club found on the main page of the NING. I highly recommend Teaching Reading in Social Students, Science, and Math by Laura Robb and Comprehension Connections by Tanny McGregor.

Hope this helps for a start - I'll add some resources in the next few days.

Permalink Reply by Karolee Smiley on June 26, 2009 at 11:35am

Jessica, those are some great ideas.

I am a huge advocate for explicitly teaching vocabulary. Part of that is reason is due to some statistics I heard some time ago that students learn more new words in a biology class than in a foreign language class. So, between new concepts and new vocabulary, it all can be very overwhelming.

I spend some time last summer doing some research on vocabulary development, preparing for my presentation on literacy in science workshop. One of the things I found was students need a great deal of exposure to a word to understand it. Using a term three times is not going to add that word to their vocabulary. There needs to be repeated use in context for students to learn.
The research also showed that student created graphic representation of a term are one of the better ways to reinforce a term. This comes back to whole brain learning and addresses different learning modalities.

I have found lots of ideas, but seems to work for me and my students is a daily vocabulary activity. I do the activities as my bell activity or warm up. It provides daily structure for students, reiterates the importance of the vocabulary, and becomes an easy lead in. I use one paper for the week, so at the end they have a dictionary of all the terms for the year by week. The paper is broken into sections, and we complete each part each day, so it is done by the end of the week. I think I have attached the worksheet, if you want to take a look at it.

-Monday is word and definition day. This is the longest of my vocab activities, where students get the words for the week (maximum of 10). They copy the definitions of the words and learn the word parts of the words.
-On Tuesday, we use the words in sentences, so it becomes practice in using the word.
-Our Wednesdays are short days, so I need something that is more flexible in time so we play a reinforcement game. This ties in more kinesthetic movement in the learning of vocabulary. Students work with their group and each group has a squishy stress ball. They say a word and throw the ball (nicely) to a member of their group. That person needs to state a definition, preferably in their own words. Then, they state a different vocab term and throw the ball to someone else and so forth.
-Thursday is picture day. Students draw a visual representation of the word.
-Friday, we have our weekly quiz. The quiz has vocabulary and concepts from the week.

I initially learned the idea of having vocabulary as a bell activity when I was student teaching. Each day, my master teacher had words for the day, so each day students would add words to the list for the week and had the quiz on Friday. I have been developing it and revising it since. As I learn more and get more ideas, I try to improve it. Its still not a perfect system, but its come along way from every day adding a few words and definitions to the list.

I would love to hear some more ideas to add or improve my vocab system! Anyone else have ideas on how to teach vocabulary?
Anyone read Building "Academic Vocabulary Teacher's Manual" by Marzano and Pickering?

Attachments:

• vocab5pix.pdf, 9 KB

Permalink Reply by Jessica Fries-Gaither on June 26, 2009 at 1:51pm

One thing I've been reading a lot about is the move away from copying definitions - and instead having students develop their own definitions through a variety of experiences (including hands-on science and math manipulatives).

In terms of graphic organizers, I'd recommend Concept of Definition Maps and Vocabulary Concept Cards. If you are dealing with a group of related words, Semantic Features Analysis is also a good exercise.

I also just heard a Michael Salinger talk about writing poetry as a means for vocabulary development. His poems incorporate student-generated definitions and non-examples, and are great for content area teachers! You might want to check out his book, Well Defined: Vocabulary in Rhyme (Boyds Mill Press, 2009) for examples.

Permalink Reply by Mary Henton on June 29, 2009 at 12:51pm

Hi, Bill,
Interesting that your students are struggling with general vocabulary--yet vocabulary that is academic, if you will (e.g., words like contrast, related, distinguish, etc.). Two things come to mind. First, this is an opportunity to connect with other content teachers, including the language arts teacher. The other content teachers certainly are facing and experiencing the same thing you are observing. If you have common planning time or any kind of team time, this issue of academic vocabulary would be something to address and work with across the content areas.

I remember observing in a middle school in Champaign, IL several years ago where the staff was very intentional about teaching these skills and related vocabulary across the curriculum. So, for example, the language around "compare and contrast" was integrated into the lessons and discussions in science class, math, social studies, etc. over, say the course of 2 weeks or so. Then there was a focus on "summarizing" and "identifying main points" for a couple of weeks. No one had to revamp their entire curriculum, just make a point of including discussion, homework, or class activities that used the particular techniques.

Second, the theme of the April issue of Middle Ground is literacy. There might be some helpful information there, as well.

M


Bill Blythe said:

All of the above. I am surprised at the inability for many of the students to read the text and then comprehend what they have read. I attempt to include text reading as much as possible because that will be a skill that they need down the road. The biggest obstacle to the comprehension of the text and more importantly these days, the state testing, is the vocabulary. There are so many times that students do not comprehend the questions because of the vocabulary. They know the science concepts but get sidetracked by a word in the question. It also is not always a content related word such as precipitate or acceleration, but words such as contrast, relate, distinguish and determine. I have actually had students that when asked to draw a conclusion have drawn a picture. I am going to make a concerted effort to attack this problem this year and am looking for suggestions. I have concentrated on the content related words but need to integrate many others to help my students become more successful.

Permalink Reply by Sheila Cantlebary on July 9, 2009 at 4:42pm

Hi, Bill,

I agree that vocabulary has everything to do with comprehension. I especially recommend the professional text Instructional Strategies for Teaching Content Vocabulary, Grades 4-12. Two of its authors, Janis Harmon and Karen Wood, wrote a feature story for Adolesecent Literacy In Perspective, an online magazine. They stressed that vocabulary instruction must extend beyond word definitions. The entire issue is packed with ideas for teaching vocabulary for content-area learning and can be accessed at http://ohiorc.org/r/OADJ1.

Permalink Reply by Mary Henton on July 16, 2009 at 2:04pm

I just re-read Jeffrey Wilhelm's article, "Change We Can Believe In: Real Literacy for Real World Learning," in the April Middle Ground. Was struck with the statement, "Inquiry is...a structured apprenticeship into expert reading, composing, knowing, and doing that is pursued in a meaningful context that mirrors disciplinary work in the real world."

If I think about the image of "structured apprenticeship," then it's easier for me to understand and re-imagine literacy instruction. Just as I learned the language and skills of baking by working alongside my grandmother (e.g., kneading bread, cutting in shortening, letting dough rest ) and the language of sewing (e.g., bound buttonholes, lapped seam, seam allowance, salvage edge) from apprenticing with my mother, we need to teach content-specific language within context. Also, the notion of apprentice allows that the learner develops competency over time and with increasingly complex tasks. I didn't make a lined, wool skirt with pleats and waistband the first time I sewed. I began with simple sewing projects and honed skills and learned new ones with each new project.

Permalink Reply by Ellen Loehman on July 17, 2009 at 10:18am

With two years of district-wide professional development on literacy (reading in the content filed), I am convinced that I am a reading teacher. Who knew? But here is my problem: how do I balance reading with inquiry in 42 minutes a day? I can be an awesome teacher as far as literacy goes, but still not even touch on what the NSES say is most important - the nature of science.

Permalink Reply by Jessica Fries-Gaither on July 17, 2009 at 10:24am

Ellen, you raise a really important point - and one that we were just discussing in my office yesterday! I believe that scientific inquiry is still your number one priority - even true reading teachers will agree that these types of experiences build background knowledge necessary for comprehension.

I'd look for ways to weave mini-lessons into the learning cycle, with inquiry still serving as the foundation of the lesson. I think teaming up with your LA colleage could be very helpful in this area. If he or she is teaching a particular strategy, use the same language and apply that strategy in science class. You won't need to devote as much time and students will be able to transfer what they've learned.

Another good resource is Teaching Reading in Social Students, Science, and Math by Laura Robb. She gives some great examples of using bursts of literacy instruction without sacrificing your content.

Ellen Loehman said:

With two years of district-wide professional development on literacy (reading in the content filed), I am convinced that I am a reading teacher. Who knew? But here is my problem: how do I balance reading with inquiry in 42 minutes a day? I can be an awesome teacher as far as literacy goes, but still not even touch on what the NSES say is most important - the nature of science.

Permalink Reply by Cherlyn Anderson on August 25, 2009 at 3:46pm

One of the best books I have ever used in my Science classroom is Stephanie Harvey's Strategies That Work and Nonfiction Matters. Both of these books are full of strategies to promote conceptual understanding from a variety of informational texts.

I have two books now that I can't wait to take a look at. Lester Laminack's Reading Aloud Across the Curriculum and Janet Allen's new More Tools for Teaching Content Literacy.