This paper argues that reading and writing are complementary skills that should not be separated from content-area instruction. Drawing on research from Erickson (1998), Nourie et al. (1998), Gardill and Jitendra (1999), Foley (2001), and Wood and Harmon (2002), the paper traces the development of literacy from early childhood through high school and makes the case that content-area teachers bear responsibility for fostering critical reading and writing skills. The paper examines instructional strategies including story mapping, guided note-taking, and cooperative learning, and highlights how multimodal, cross-curricular approaches benefit diverse learners — including students with learning disabilities and those in correctional settings.
Learning to read and write are complementary skills. While in the younger years writing depends heavily on reading skills, by middle and high school the two become mutually reinforcing: reading is necessary to complete writing assignments, while writing about what one has read increases comprehension of the material. For this reason, separating reading and writing instruction from content areas is arbitrary and will eventually interfere with students' progress in those content areas.
From the day children are born, parents are told by doctors, teachers, and other experts to read to them — and to do so every day. This advice exists because hearing language that contains story lines, rich vocabulary, and vivid imagery facilitates language development and cultivates a desire to read. From The Poky Little Puppy to Rudyard Kipling, children's literature uses language in exciting and colorful ways. Good children's literature does not sound like the everyday conversations a child hears, and thus broadens the child's experience with language.
As a child grows older, he or she learns to read. While adults are still encouraged to read aloud to children at all ages — and skilled classroom teachers continue to do so — as children develop their own reading ability they gain increasing access to the many ways language can be used. They are exposed to a wider circle of knowledge than could ever be gathered from conversation alone.
This background of knowledge and familiarity with written language is a necessary foundation for any writing a child undertakes. The child who does not read widely will have a markedly smaller store of information to draw from when writing. This link between reading and writing becomes even more important as students enter middle and high school, where they are expected to read new information, digest it, and organize it in a way that demonstrates understanding of the material. While writing poetry and fiction can be valid assignments as well, well-educated students are expected to produce written reports based on what they have read — gathering new information and communicating it in written form.
One important way to develop the skill of reading content material and using it in written form is to teach reading and writing across the curriculum. Critical thinking skills can be applied to subject-area textbooks as well as to supplementary readings. Erickson (1998) offered the example of girls researching the lives of famous scientists. As they assembled a timeline and a report, they read critically and realized that women were markedly underrepresented. Returning to their materials with fresh eyes, they found information about the struggles of early women scientists for the recognition they deserved. By applying reading and writing skills within a science context, the students developed competencies in all three areas simultaneously. Erickson calls this "informational literacy."
As Nourie et al. observe, "Many preservice teachers do not recognize the extent to which content area subjects and language use are correlated. Language is central to all learning, regardless of the discipline." These authors also point out that when reading and writing are incorporated into content learning, instruction becomes multimodal. In addition to lecture, reading critically provides intrapersonal learning. Group activities that require students to read critically and then produce a report allow for interpersonal learning. Those reports can be presented orally to the class. Hands-on learning can be incorporated through displays illustrating what students have learned.
Nourie et al. remind readers that some students will need support throughout the reading and writing process, but when content-area subjects are recognized as also being classes in literacy, this support becomes a natural and important part of the course. Over time, students can learn to recognize the reading strategies they use, understand why they use them, and become aware of their own cognitive processes while reading — a capacity known as metacognition (Nourie et al., 1998).
"Research-backed strategies for reading and writing instruction"
"All teachers responsible for student literacy development"
In 1950, students could drop out of high school and still find a job — perhaps in construction or a factory — that allowed them to support a family and be a productive member of society. In the last fifty years, our expectations as a country have increased. We now expect all students to graduate from high school having mastered the basic skills of reading and writing. It is therefore the responsibility of all teachers to understand how they can enhance and help develop their students' literacy skills. It is crucial that content-area teachers continually analyze their course material to capitalize on opportunities to promote critical reading and the ability to organize and present information in written form.
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