READING STRATEGIES
FOR THE CONTENT AREAS
Strategic Teaching
Word storm the title of this session at you table. There is a paper with
letters at the top. Predict words that might appear in this session that
begin with your letters. Then write a question this session might
answer.
Office of Instruction
March 2010
Content Literacy
Reading is focused by the
domain of knowledge in
which it is employed. To read
well in any discipline is to
think well in that discipline.
Each discipline has a
conceptual vocabulary. Each
has a manner of statement.
Each has structures through
which it develops, applies and
appraises its ideas.
Strategic Teaching


Provides opportunities for small
group learning
Provides explicit instruction





Time for feedback
Think alouds
Scaffolds instruction
Models literacy strategies
Makes critical connections of
literacy strategies

Pre, during and post strategies
Instructional
Practices
New Voices in Content


Get students to read and think like content
specialists
Interacting with text
Visualizing
 Making connections (with background knowledge)
 Inferring and predicting
 Generating and Answering Questioning
 Determining importance
 Interpreting vocabulary


Connecting reading, discussing and writing
Active Engagement

TWIRL (Harvey & Goudvis, 2005)
Talk
Write
Investigate
Read
Listen
Common Core: Standards for
Reading, Writing, and Research
Grades 6 – College-and Career- Ready (CCR)
 History/Social Studies and Science
 10 CCR Standards define a foundational core of
reading skills and understanding

 Grade
6-CCR standards that form a progression of skills
that build on the core

10 CCR Standards define a foundational core of
writing skills and understandings
 Grade
6-CCR standards that form a progression of skills
that build on the core
Example: CCR for Writing in
Social Studies and Science
CCR Writing Standard 6
Perform short, focused research projects as well
as more sustained research, demonstrating
understanding of the material under
investigation.
Grade 6-8 students are able to:
Perform short, focused research projects that demonstrate understanding of the material
under investigation and generate additional related questions for research.
Grade 9-10 students are able to:
Demonstrate proficiency at performing short, focused research projects and more
sustained research that demonstrate an increasing command of the subject under
investigation.
Grade 11-CCR students are able to:
Demonstrate proficiency at performing short, focused research projects and more
sustained research that synthesize multiple authoritative sources on a subject.
Example: CCR for Reading in
Social Studies
CCR Reading Standard 9
Compare and contrast two or more texts to integrate
information, build knowledge, or understand different
approaches to similar themes or topics.
Grade 6-8 students are able to:
Analyze the relationships between primary and secondary source documents.
Grade 9-10 students are able to:
Compare and contrast presentations of the same topic in different media, and
describe the differences in focus, organization, and depth.
Grade 11-CCR students are able to:
Integrate information from diverse historical/social science sources into a coherent
account of events, noting key discrepancies.
How do teachers become proficient
in TWIRL in their classrooms?
The best model for becoming
proficient with planning and
implementing strategic lessons is
when teachers work
collaboratively within or across
content areas to support one
another to implement strategic
teaching.
TAKE 5
Is this
possible?
How can it
happen in
your
schools?
What are the
questions
remaining?
Strategic Teaching


Provides opportunities for small
group learning
Provides explicit instruction





Time for feedback
Think alouds
Scaffolds instruction
Models literacy strategies
Makes critical connections of
literacy strategies

Pre, during and post strategies
Organizing your
school for good
Instructional
Practices
Before Reading Strategies
Before Reading
Teacher’s Purpose
Literacy Strategies
Examples for Content
Areas
Prepare the students
for learning by
activating prior
knowledge, building
background, making
predictions, introducing
needed vocabulary,
setting purposes for
reading, encouraging
students to generate
questions, connecting
reading and writing,
and if needed,
conducting an explicit
lesson on a particular
literacy strategy
•Activating prior
knowledge
•Five W’s and H
•KWL Chart
•Quick Writes
•Anticipation Guides
•Think Aloud
•Affinity
•Cloze
•Semantic Map
•Concept/ Definition
Map
•DR/TA
•Venn Diagram
•RAFT
•Frayer Model
•Word Sort
•Open House
•Making predictions
•Previewing text
•Establishing a
purpose for
reading/learning
•Generating questions
During Reading Strategies
During Reading
Teacher’s Purpose
Literacy Strategies
Examples for Content
Areas
Engaging students with
text, self-monitoring
comprehension, using
mental imagery,
constructing graphic
organizers, integrating
new information with
prior knowledge,
summarizing text,
verifying predictions
and organizing
concepts
•Engage with text
•Verify and formulate
predictions
•Summarize text
•Self-monitor text
•Visualize
•Integrate new
information with
background
•Construct graphic
organizers
•Infer
•Frayer Model
•Semantic Feature
Analysis
•Semantic mapping
•Pairs Read
•Learning Logs
•Writing to learn
•Structured NoteTaking
•KWL Chart
•One Question One
Comment
•Trouble Slips
•I Don’t Understand
Statements
After Reading Strategies
After Reading
Teacher’s Purpose
Literacy Strategies
Examples for Content
Areas
Encouraging students
to reflect on what they
read, prompt students
to evaluate
predictions, examine
questions that guided
reading, require
students to respond to
text through discussion,
require students to
respond to text
through writing,
encourage retelling or
summarizing, connect
writing to reading
•Reflect on text
•Evaluate predictions
•Discuss questions
•Respond to text in
writing
•Respond to text
through discussion
•Summarize
•Retell
•Connect writing and
reading
•KWL Chart
•Journaling
•Three Index Card
Discussion
•FortunatelyUnfortunately
•If-Then
•Somebody Wanted
But So
•Exit Slips
•Share One Get One
Literacy Starts with Teachers





Offer teachers a manageable number of new
strategies.
Move from workshop to classroom.
Establish forums for teacher empowerment.
Vary the formats used in staff development.
Start with those who are most eager, and then
spread the learning.
Educational Leadership, March 2010
Teacher Responsibility
Focus Lesson
I do it.
Guided
Instruction
We do it.
Collaboratively
We do it together.
Independently
We do it alone.
Student Responsibility
How are the literacy strategies taught
through explicit instruction?
Flexible Grouping



Purposeful reordering of students into working
groups to ensure that all students work with a wide
variety of classmates and in a wide range of
contexts during a relatively short span of class time
Allows teacher to “audition” each student in a
variety of arrangements
This is a regular feature of a strategic teacher’s
instructional planning
Small group learning-Lexiles
Reading Selection
Length
Ease of
Reading Lexile
Fleming, T. 2006. “The Not-So-Hidden History.” Boys Life
96 (9): 44-47.
4 pgs.
Easy
800
Fleming, T. 2006. “The Treaty That Rescued a
Revolution.” Boys Life 96 (8): 40-45.
6 pgs.
Easy
840
Calkins, V. 1993. “Radical Revolutionary Samuel
Adams.” Cobblestone 14 (9): 20-22.
3 pgs.
Average 1030
Rosenfeld, R., and N.M. Mattila. 2007. “Learning the
Soldier’s Life.” Cobblestone 28 (8): 7-10.
4 pgs.
Average 1070
Ferling, J. (2007). “100 Days That Shook the World.”
Smithsonian 38 (4): 44-45.
9 pgs.
Difficult
1190
Schwarz, F.D. (1999). “1774.” American Heritage 50 (3):
110-111.
2 pgs.
Difficult
1390
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One Question – One Comment
Please write one question and one comment about
reading strategies in the content areas on a note
card.