Literature-Based Teaching in the Content Areas

40 Strategies for K-8 Classrooms

Carole A. Cox

• Publisher: SAGE Publications, Inc
• Year: 2011
• ISBN:
  9781452237619
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Pedagogía
• Subtopic: Educación primaria

Grounded in theory and best-practices research, this practical text provides teachers with 40 strategies for using fiction and non-fiction trade books to teach in five key content areas: language arts and reading, social studies, mathematics, science, and the arts. Each strategy provides everything a teacher needs to get started: a classroom example that models the strategy, a research-based rationale, relevant content standards, suggested books, reader-response questions and prompts, assessment ideas, examples of how to adapt the strategy for different grade levels (K–2, 3–5, and 6–8), and ideas for differentiating instruction for English language learners and struggling students. Throughout the book, student work samples and classroom vignettes bring the content to life.

PART

I

Language Arts and Reading

WHAT RESEARCH HAS TO SAY ABOUT LITERATURE-BASED TEACHING AND LANGUAGE ARTS AND READING

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Over the last 40 years, there have been several major research studies of literacy, which have informed language arts and reading instruction. This research has either been conducted on a national scale or funded by U.S. federal agencies, institutes, or associations. Overall, this research supports the use of a balanced approach to literacy instruction that considers all the language arts that support learning to read as well as the importance of students learning the alphabetic principle, word study, and phonics to decode new words.

More specifically, here is what this research has to say about literature-based teaching and language arts in reading:

• The First-Grade Studies (Bond & Dykstra, 1967/1997) analyzed 27 studies that were commissioned to compare methods of beginning reading instruction in the United States. The results showed that an integrated program that included learning phonics, reading meaningful text, and reading and writing for meaning was most effective.

• Learning to Read: The Great Debate (Chall, 1967) was a synthesis of reading research from 1900 to 1965 that showed the importance of learning the code as well as reading aloud to young children and reading extensively to develop fluency and comprehension.

• Becoming a Nation of Readers: The Report of the Commission on Reading (Anderson, Hiebert, Scott, & Wilkinson, 1985) supported the findings of Bond and Dykstra and Chall but showed a need for a greater emphasis on reading comprehension as part of a balanced, integrated approach to teaching reading and language arts; for more time allotted for children to read quality children’s literature; for reading aloud by teachers; and for writing integrated into the reading period.

• Beginning to Read: Thinking and Learning About Print (Adams, 1990) showed that the most important instructional activity was reading literature aloud to children and providing time for children to read many types of texts to develop fluency.

• Preventing Reading Difficulties in Young Children (Snow, Burns, & Griffin, 1998) summarized research on reading, pre-K through 3rd grade. Essential elements of best practices included fluency development through practice with engaging literature at students’ independent level.

• The Report of the National Reading Panel (National Institute of Child Health and Human Development [NICHD], 2000), commissioned by the U.S. Congress, established five pillars of reading instruction: phonemic awareness, phonics (alphabetics), fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension. The report found that vocabulary can be learned incidentally in the context of storybook reading or from listening to the reading of others and that active participation during storybook readings has an impact on learning. The report recommended an integrated, balanced reading program.

In Classrooms That Work: They Can all Read and Write (Cunningham & Allington, 2007), there are several recommended best practices that were derived from studies based on observations of unusually effective teachers. These best practices include several that can be implemented with literature-based teaching of language arts and reading:

• Offering many opportunities to read
• Providing opportunities to discuss what is read
• Integrating the teaching of reading and writing
• Having books everywhere and using them in many ways
• Reading aloud frequently
• Having children read and write throughout the day and at home

Characteristics of these teachers’ instructional approaches included several features that are a part of literature-based teaching:

• Managed choice, meaning students were presented with options to choose from
• Multiple class instructional formats, such as whole class, small group, student pairs, and student-teacher conferences
• Collaborative learning
• Student self-evaluation

The studies described in this book revealed an important characteristic of the best practices of these unusually effective teachers that supports the idea of literature-based teaching. They all used the widest variety of reading materials available to them. None used a single reading program or set of materials. Practices that were regularly used by these teachers were reading aloud to students every day, scheduling time every day for self-selected reading, talking to students about their reading, making time for sharing and responding to reading, and providing a wide array of reading materials for students to choose from. One of the best ways to put these best practices into place in your own classroom is through literature-based strategies for teaching literacy.

GUIDELINES FOR SELECTING BOOKS FOR TEACHING LANGUAGE ARTS AND READING

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Every year, a committee appointed by the Children’s Literature Assembly of the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) selects 30 titles for the Notable Children’s Books in the Language Arts. The charge of the seven-member national committee is to select books each year that best exemplify the criteria established for the award. Books considered for this annual list are works of fiction, nonfiction, and poetry written for children in Grades K through 8. The books must meet one or more of the following criteria:

1. Deal explicitly with language, such as plays on words, word origins, or the history of language
2. Demonstrate uniqueness in the use of language or style
3. Invite child response or participation
   In addition, books are to
4. Have an appealing format;
5. Be of enduring quality; and
6. Meet generally accepted criteria of quality for the genre in which they are written.

For more information about the Notable Children’s Books in the Language Arts, see the Children’s Literature Assembly’s website at http://www.childrensliteratureassembly.org/.

Other excellent book selection guides are Children’s Choices, Young Adult Choices, and Teacher’s Choices which are joint projects of The International Reading Association (IRA) and the Children’s Book Council (CBC). Children’s Choices is an annual list of favorite new books chosen by 12,500 school children. An annotated version of the list appears in the October issue of the IRA publication The Reading Teacher. An annotated list of Young Adult Choices appears each year in the November issue of the Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, also an IRA publication, and an annotated list of Teacher’s Choices appears in the November issue of The Reading Teacher. For more information go to the IRA website at www.reading.org and click on Booklists.

NATIONAL STANDARDS FOR THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE ARTS

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The national standards for the English language arts were written jointly by two professional teaching organizations of educators focused on language and literacy: The IRA and the NCTE. These standards represent what students should know and be able to do in the English language arts.

The vision guiding these standards is that all students must have the opportunities and resources to develop the language skills they need to pursue life’s goals and to participate fully as informed, productive members of society. These standards assume that literacy growth begins before children enter school as they experience and experiment with literacy activities—reading, writing, and associating spoken words with their graphic representations. Recognizing this fact, these standards encourage the development of curriculum and instruction that make productive use of the emerging literacy abilities that children bring to school. Furthermore, the standards provide ample room for the innovation and creativity essential to teaching and learning. They are not prescriptions for particular curriculum or instruction.

Standards for the English Language Arts(International Reading Association [IRA]/National Council of Teachers of English [NCTE], 1996) names and defines six language arts:

Reading. The complex, recursive process through which we make meaning from texts, using semantics; syntax; visual, aural, and tactile cues; context; and prior knowledge.

Writing. The use of a writing system or orthography by people in the conduct of their daily lives to communicate over time and space.

Listening. Attending to communication by any means; includes listening to vocal speech, watching signing, or using communication aids.

Speaking. The act of communicating through such means as vocalization, signing, or using communication aids such as voice synthesizers.

Viewing. Attending to communication conveyed by visually representing.

Visually Representing. Conveying information or expressing oneself using nonverbal visual means, such as drawing, computer graphics (maps, charts, artwork), photography, or physical performance.

IRA/NCTE Standards for the English Language Arts

1. Students read a wide range of pr...

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• Preface
• Acknowledgments
• Introduction
• Part I. Language Arts and Reading
• Part II. Social Studies
• Part III. Mathematics
• Part IV. Science
• Part V. The Arts
• Index
• About the Author