Characteristics of Literacy-Rich, Content-Area Classrooms

Imagine that you are an epidemiologist, a scientist who studies infectious diseases and develops strategies to contain them. What might a typical day on the job entail? You might read the latest studies published by experts in your field, conduct experiments and record the corresponding data, and present your findings to colleagues. A typical day would involve a mixture of all four language skills—reading, writing, listening, and speaking.

Now consider a variety of other professions, such as engineering, nursing, and plumbing. What role would reading, writing, listening, and speaking play in each of these areas?

These fields have specialized vocabulary. Each uses reading, writing, listening, and speaking for different purposes. However, these skills are important in each.

Similarly, these skills are important for students in all content areas, not just in English class. Frequent reading, writing, listening, and speaking strengthens students’ comprehension and ability to apply their learning in each of the content areas.

In this video, we will explain why it is important to integrate literacy skills into content-area classrooms. We will also describe what literacy-rich classrooms look like and how instructors support students within them.

Why Is It Important to Integrate Literacy into Content Areas?

Let’s look at some reasons why literacy skills play an integral role in all academic content areas.

First, literacy skills help students comprehend the vocabulary they encounter. This includes both academic vocabulary, which is found in academic contexts across multiple subject areas, and content-specific vocabulary, which is used within specific subject areas.

For example, students must understand academic vocabulary words like compare, contrast, and evaluate in order to interact with content and reach deeper levels of meaning. They must also understand content-specific vocabulary words, such as sum, factor, and integer in mathematics, in order to make sense of the specific concepts they are learning.

Literacy skills help students decode both of these types of vocabulary words, determine their meanings, and form connections between related words and concepts.

Additionally, when students learn about a topic using multiple sources, discuss the topic with others, and write about their learning, they deepen their comprehension.

What Does a Literacy-Rich, Content-Area Classroom Look Like?

A literacy-rich classroom encourages frequent reading, writing, listening, and speaking regardless of the content area. Let’s look at each of those more closely.

Reading

Classrooms should provide students with a variety of reading materials in addition to their textbooks. The types of reading materials vary according to the content area and may include fiction and nonfiction books, newspaper and magazine articles, scientific journals, poems, maps, and essays. Digital reading materials should be included in addition to print sources and may include websites, online journals, blogs, emails, and multimedia presentations.

Students should be encouraged to read in order to generate and answer questions about a topic, compare and contrast the same topic from multiple sources, and solve real-world problems.

Let’s look at an example of how reading is incorporated in a literacy-rich, fifth-grade classroom.

Sarah is studying the Great Depression in her social studies class. After reading about this period in her textbook, she reads a series of primary-source newspaper articles chronicling the event as it unfolded in real time. She also reads biographies of Herbert Hoover and Franklin Roosevelt to learn about their leadership styles during this time in American history. Finally, she analyzes population maps of different locations within the United States from the 1920s to 1940s to see what effects the Great Depression had on migration patterns.
Contrast Sarah’s likely understanding of the causes and effects of the Great Depression after reading this collection of texts with her understanding after reading the textbook alone.

Writing

Literacy-rich classrooms also provide students with frequent opportunities to write about their learning. The purposes for writing differ depending on the learning objectives and content area, but may include formal reports, letters, journal entries, scripts, articles, brochures, stories, and poems. Writing can help students articulate their thinking, convey information to others, and solve real-world problems.

Let’s look at an example of how writing is incorporated in a literacy-rich, third-grade classroom.

Samuel is learning about weather patterns in his state, including how tornadoes form, when they are most likely to occur, and what to do when a tornado warning is issued. He creates a tornado safety brochure that he shares with younger students in the school to guide them through forming a tornado preparation plan.

Listening

Frequent listening activities are also part of literacy-rich classrooms. Students may listen to class discussions, podcasts, videos, interviews with experts or first-hand sources, historical recordings, or newscasts. Listening helps students consider multiple perspectives on a topic, hear supporting or opposing viewpoints, and potentially reconsider their own viewpoints in light of new information.

Let’s look at an example of how listening is incorporated in a literacy-rich, sixth-grade classroom.

Lin’s science class is learning about the Apollo 11 mission. Their textbook chronicles the challenges scientists faced in planning and executing the mission that landed humans on the moon for the first time. In addition to reading the textbook, Lin’s class listens to newscasts of the mission launch and moon walk, recordings from mission control, and the astronauts’ broadcasts from space. They also listen to an interview with one of the engineers who worked on the mission. In each of these recordings, students hear content-specific vocabulary used in context by professionals in the field. Students then discuss similarities and differences between this mission and other engineering marvels in modern history.

Think about how Lin’s comprehension of this event and the engineering achievements behind it might be affected by the additional listening activities and how the emotion and detail conveyed through firsthand oral accounts enhance her understanding.

Speaking

Speaking activities may include discussions, speeches, oral presentations, skits, role plays, song performances, and interviews. During these activities, students must consider their audiences and present information in a clear manner that is appropriate for the context.

Class discussions occur frequently. During discussions, students are prompted to identify their main points and support their arguments with facts and evidence, deepening their own understanding.

Let’s look at an example of how speaking is incorporated in a third-grade math classroom learning multiplication.

After being introduced to the concept of multiplication, students are asked to find the product of 3 times 5. Ava solves the problem through repeated addition: 5+5+5=15. Her classmate Bo solves the problem by drawing an array. Ava explains her problem-solving method to Bo, and he explains his method to Ava. Both benefit from explaining their own thinking as well as being introduced to a different strategy they may use in the future.

Instructor Support

Teachers support the students in their literacy-rich classrooms in a variety of ways beyond planning frequent reading, writing, listening, and speaking activities.

They incorporate academic and content-specific vocabulary words in class discussions and model strategies for determining their meanings. They explain their thinking aloud as they read and write, and they encourage respectful sharing of ideas among classmates. They show students how reading, writing, listening, and speaking are used to accomplish authentic tasks and solve real-world problems.

Review

It is important to integrate literacy skills in all content areas. Frequent reading, writing, listening, and speaking activities within the content areas can deepen comprehension and provide opportunities for students to apply their learning.

Teachers in content-area classrooms can support their students by using academic and content-specific vocabulary words, explaining their own thinking as they read and write, and encouraging the sharing of ideas.

Questions

To wrap up, let’s go over a couple of review questions!

1. Compare and contrast academic vocabulary and content-specific vocabulary. List some examples of each.

2. How could reading be incorporated into a third-grade math lesson on addition with decimals?