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What can the simple view of reading teach us about disciplinary literacy?

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What can the simple view of reading teach us about disciplinary literacy?

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The Simple View of Reading

The simple view of reading tells us that reading is the product of two processes (Gough & Tunmer, 1986). The first could be called "word recognition," that is, the ability to apply the spelling-sound correspondence rules of English to a set of letters on the page. To read well in English, one must have developed phonological awareness, decoding ability, and some automaticity in recognizing frequent words. The second could be called "language comprehension," which is a complex set of skills that includes accessing a semantic representation of a group of encountered words, using syntax and morphology to understand a sentence's grammatical structure, and applying background knowledge of a situation to interpret a text. Depending on the skills and processes implied by the term, "language comprehension" can be extensive indeed.

The point is that according to the simple view of reading, reading comprehension is the product of students' word-recognition ability and language comprehension. If students can decode well but do not understand the words, they will not comprehend the text. On the other hand, students with strong verbal ability who cannot decode will not understand the text either. Skilled reading requires both components. Importantly, while lexical and sublexical skill demands may be more or less similar across disciplinary texts, that is not the case for language comprehension skills. The prior knowledge, specialized vocabulary, and authors' assumptions of their readers vary considerably by discipline. A conceptual focus on these differences aligns with an approach to literacy called disciplinary literacy.

Disciplinary literacy and language comprehension

The phrase disciplinary literacy was adopted by education leaders in the 1990s as a way to talk about the integration of content and communication (Shanahan & Shanahan, 2012). The term has since been embraced by organizations such as the International Literacy Association, the National Council of Teachers of English, and the National Governors Association.

Disciplinary literacy refers the idea that communication is most meaningful when it exists within a clear context. This means that when we are reading, analyzing, and writing texts, we are doing so in ways that are meaningful and useful to whatever topic or discourse community we happen to be a part of-whether that's a classroom or a larger community. In schools, the discipline we are in plays a big role in defining the context of our communication. Reading and writing are not skills to be practiced in isolation, but rather they are tools we use to do things-to solve problems, make meaning, and communicate with others in specific ways. Disciplinary literacy emphasizes the importance of engaging students in each content area's own discourse community so that they understand the "rules of the game". In middle school history classes that might mean helping students learn distinct reading strategies for interpreting primary and secondary sources. In science and technical subjects, that might mean helping students develop literacy strategies related to making informed inferences from data tables and charts.

Developing skilled readers

Hollis Scarborough developed a representation of the development of skilled reading known as the Reading Rope. Dr. Scarborough writes about the Reading Rope in "Connecting early language and literacy to later reading (dis)abilities: Evidence, theory, and practice" (Scarborough, 2001). The focus of the article is the prediction of future reading abilities based on K and Pre-K measures. The chapter emphasizes that reading is a multicomponent skill, and failure in one aspect can result in comprehension failure. For those of us interested in adolescent readers and teaching disciplinary literacy, this developmental perspective brings the implications of "the simple view" into sharper relief, even though Scarborough developed her model independently of the simple view (personal correspondence).

To help us think more clearly about the implications of this developmental perspective for disciplinary literacy, we present four figures based on Scarborough's reading rope. These figures are only suggestive. Of course, each science text that we read taxes component skills differently. There are essential differences among texts written in different science subdomains. Still, we can make some broad generalizations about the features of texts written in each discipline and the literacy skills student need to master to read these texts proficiently. Doing so helps us understand the wide variety of challenges our middle school and high school students have in mastering "language comprehension" and strategically integrating these skills. I also hope that comparing the literacy skills needed across domains also highlights how the ways that we teach students can and should vary across disciplines.

Figure 1. The Many Strands of Skilled Reading in Science

Developing component skills in and across the disciplines

Thinking about the development of component skills from a developmental perspective can help us think more clearly about disciplinary literacy skills. Figure 1 is a Science Reading Rope. Scientific knowledge is empirically based and dynamic. Scientists take the perspective of informed skepticism (Schwartz & Lederman, 2008), so it is not unusual for scientific texts to use caveats or hedges. Scientists use concise and precise language to express their findings, and science writing is loaded with technical language (Schleppegrell, 2004). In many fields, technical drawings, tables, equations, and data visualizations are regular and vital features of scientific writing. One of the goals of supporting the development of a scientific reader is to help them strategically integrate sources of information. For instance, a skilled reader may pay close attention to the data presentations and skim the author's interpretation of those data. The simple view helps us understand that our students require word recognition and language comprehension. The rope diagram helps us understand that how we strategically integrate component comprehension skills varies in meaningful ways. We do not simply need to help students develop component skills. We should also be teaching students to strategically integrate these skills within and across reading subcomponents.

Figure 2. The Many Strands of Skilled Reading in Math

Figure 2 presents a Math Reading Rope. Math and the disciplines that rely on it use mathematical notation as a critical aspect of written expression. These expressions allow mathematicians to communicate complex ideas to one another succinctly. Unsurprisingly, writing in math often refers to equations, visualizations, or results presented along with a technical explanation. The literacy knowledge required to follow or create this dual system of communication is complex (Barton & Heidema, 2002). Similarly, language structures in math are unusual, and mathematical writing uses letters in ways that break our expectations for the use of the alphabet (think "let x be the diameter"). The trajectory to skilled reading requires the increasingly strategic integration of language and numeric skills. In this case, the fluent execution and coordination of word recognition and language comprehension are complicated by the simultaneous cognitive burden of computation and the unusual use of language in writing. Again, our goal is to support skill development and help students understand where to focus their attention when reading like a mathematician. Literacy instruction is critical in math classes but extremely challenging since both literacy demands and content demands are often very high.

Figure 3. The Many Strands of Skilled Reading in Literature

Literary criticism is unruly. Literary authors and literary critics have no compunction about referencing historical accounts, informational texts, linguists, philosophers, and even obscure cartographers in their goal of providing erudite interpretations for their readers. However, some commonalities generally apply to the work of reading literature. For instance, one common understanding is that the work of literary criticism assumes that texts can be interpreted in many ways (Scholes, 1985). Unlike mathematicians and scientists, literary scholars do not attempt to arrive at a single solution. The production of interesting and contentious interpretations is as valued as arriving at a consensual conclusion. Another assumption is that close engagement with the text can reveal insights that are not immediately evident. Different readers will have different experiences with texts depending on what they attend to and their personal experiences. In this way, the reading of literature should be a deeply personal experience. For instance, my reading of a text may focus on a particular metaphoric trope, while you may be interested in the arc of the plot. These decisions can represent an intentional and uneven emphasis across language comprehension subskills. We must model how different approaches can be equally valuable when supported with textual evidence.

Figure 4. The Many Strands of Skilled Reading in History

A historian aims to construct a coherent account of the past via references to multiple texts, artifacts, and documents, each of which may present the events differently and requires readers to navigate multiple perspectives in constructing knowledge. Unsurprisingly, historians value corroboration across sources (Wineburg, 1991). They will often enumerate evidence in support of a particular perspective or stance (Schleppegrell, 2004). However, although the historian's appraisals are subjective, they do not invoke personal pronouns or markers of epistemic belief. "This is the great paradox of history writing. Although historians are assuming an evaluative stance toward the content they are studying, disciplinary conventions demand that historians articulate their subjective take on events in objective terms" (Galloway et al., 2013, p.25). Because skilled historical reading rests on relevant background knowledge, one of our challenges is how to scaffold the reading of particular texts so that students can integrate other component skills required to read like a historian. Similarly, we may need to strongly scaffold specific primary source documents that present particular challenges because of language shifts.

Intermediate literacy and disciplinary literacy strategies

Literacy development is foundational to a student's educational experience, but students are often asked to read for different reasons in each content area. There are general strategies that can be applied across all subjects, as well as those that are more specialized. General reading strategies like predicting, monitoring, and summarizing are needed by all students and are powerful because they can be applied across content area classes. These strategies allow students to actively engage with the text they're reading and build a more complete understanding of the information they're taking in.

These strategies can be further supported by other disciplinary-specific literacy skills such as reading tables and charts, interpreting historical artifacts, reading equations, or interpreting chemical formulae. These disciplinary literacy skills are critical for reading in some areas, but not necessarily in others-for example, it would not be useful for a student to learn how to read an equation when studying history or English literature.

While it is important to support students' development of general reading strategies, it is also critical to teach them how to focus their attention on aspects of text that are specific to their current subject matter. Our students are consent faced with conflicting evidence in the news and online about important issues. In order for them to navigate these sources they need specific critical disciplinary literacy skills that they only develop in our content area classes.

Conclusions

The simple view of reading helps us understand that children require decoding skills and language comprehension to become skilled readers. Scarborough's classic rope graphic emphasizes that there are subcomponent skills and that skilled reading requires the strategic integration of these skills. In this article, I hope I've demonstrated that texts in different disciplines tend to place differential demands on students. As teachers, we need to support discipline-specific reading skills in our domains and help our students understand which skills to emphasize strategically. Doing so requires that teachers reflect on what reading is like in their content area and make strategic use of strategies to support students based on the challenges they face. We believe that this work is best done with the support of job-embedded collaborative professional development.

Acknowledgments: This post is based in part on the chapter I co-authored with Elizabeth Moje and Emily Galloway in the book Adolescent Literacy in the Era of the Common Core. I was particularly influenced by the insights of Dr. Galloway. This post has also benefited from discussion with members of the Ohio Adolescent Literacy Network, especially Rachel Daniels. I am also grateful for feedback from Hollis Scarborough who corrected serious problems with an earlier version of this post. Of course, I take full responsibility for those errors and misunderstandings that remain.

Learn more: No matter where you are in your schools journey toward literacy, we're here to help. Our model, which combines face-to-face and online instruction, is tailored to the needs of your school and staff. We work hard to ensure that our professional learning builds the leadership capacity of your local team to ensure sustainability beyond our involvement. Get in touch.
Related post: Constrained and unconstrained skill development: Why it matters for secondary students
References

Barton, M. L., & Heidema, C. (2002). Teaching reading in mathematics: A supplement to Teaching reading in the content areas: If not me, then who? McREL.

Galloway, E. P., Lawrence, J. L., & Moje, E. B. (2013). BC5. Research in disciplinary literacy: Challenges and instructional opportunities in teaching disciplinary texts. In J. Ippolito, J. L. Lawrence, & C. Zaller (Eds.), Adolescent literacy in the era of the common core: From research into practice. Harvard Educational Press.

Gough, Philip B., & William E. Tunmer (1986). "Decoding, Reading, and Reading Disability." Remedial and Special Education: RASE, 7(1), 6-10. https://doi.org/10.1177/074193258600700104

Scarborough, H. S. (2001). Connecting early language and literacy to later reading (dis) abilities: Evidence, theory, and practice. Handbook of Early Literacy Research, 1, 97-110.

Schleppegrell, M. J. (2004). The language of schooling: A functional linguistics approach. Erlbaum.

Scholes, R. E. (1985). Textual power: Literary theory and the teaching of English. Yale University Press.

Schwartz, R., & Lederman, N. (2008). What scientists say: Scientists' views of nature of science and relation to science context. International Journal of Science Education, 30(6), 727-771. https://doi.org/10.1080/09500690701225801

Shanahan, T., & Shanahan, C. (2012). What Is Disciplinary Literacy and Why Does It Matter? Topics in Language Disorders, 32(1), 7. https://doi.org/10.1097/TLD.0b013e318244557a

Wineburg, S. S. (1991). Historical problem solving: A study of the cognitive processes used in the evaluation of documentary and pictorial evidence. Journal of Educational Psychology, 83(1), 73-87.

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What can the simple view of reading teach us about disciplinary literacy?

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According to the simple view of reading, reading comprehension is the product of students' word recognition ability and language comprehension. If students can decode well but don't understand the words, they won't comprehend the text. On the other hand, students with strong...

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Sample Lesson & Video Vocabulary Instruction – Sixth Grade Language Arts

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Sample Lesson & Video Vocabulary Instruction – Sixth Grade Language Arts

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Dr. Anita Archer is preparing students to read a biography of Harriet Tubman including the following activities:  a) teaching background knowledge, b) introducing the pronunciation of multi-syllabic words, and c) teaching critical vocabulary words.

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Grade Level: Sixth Grade - Middle School

School: Fees Middle School

Location: Tempe, Arizona

Videographer: Dima Yaremenko

Elapsed Time: 09:36

Introduction: Dr. Archer is preparing students to read a biography of Harriet Tubman including the following activities: a) teaching background knowledge, b) introducing the pronunciation of multi-syllabic words, and c) teaching critical vocabulary words. In this video segment, Dr. Archer is introducing two vocabulary terms: elude and intention.

To see the entire passage reading preparation, see the following videos:

Pronunciation of Multi-syllabic Words - Sixth Grade Language Arts

Background Knowledge Instruction - Sixth Grade Language Arts

Focus: As you watch this video, think about the following questions:

1) What steps were used in the vocabulary instructional routine to introduce each of the vocabulary terms?

2) What other procedures were used to extend vocabulary instruction?

3) What delivery skills were used?
Feedback: What steps were used in the vocabulary instructional routine to introduce each of the vocabulary terms?
The instructional routine included the following steps:

1) Introduce the pronunciation of the word.
In order to attachment meaning to the vocabulary term and to retrieve that meaning, students must pronounce the word correctly. If the word is one that students have neither heard or said OR is difficult to pronounce, have the students pronounce the word a number of times.

2) Provide a student-friendly explanation of the word's meaning. The next step is to present the meaning of the word using a definition/explanation that is easy to understand and only includes known words. In this case, the definition was presented in a written form within the power-point. Presentation of the definition within a sentence makes it easier to process the definition.

3) Illustrate with examples.
Dr. Archer presented a number of examples to illustrate the vocabulary term/concept. Some of the examples related to the students' own experiences while other examples related directly to the use of the word in the passage, thus bridging vocabulary instruction and passage comprehension.

4) Check understanding by asking questions.
Dr. Archer asked students questions to determine their understanding. In this lesson, students were asked to discern between examples and non-examples of 'elude' and later examples and non-examples of 'intention.'

Missed Opportunity: It would have been helpful to ask students how they knew that the exemplar was an example or non-example. This would have deepened students' thinking in regards to the word's meaning.
What other procedures were used to extend the vocabulary instruction?
Word Use - Students were asked to anticipate how the word 'elude' might be used in the passage. Not only did this require deeper knowledge of the word's meaning, but served to bridge vocabulary instruction and passage comprehension.
Teacher Use of Word - After 'elude' had been introduced, Dr. Archer immediately used the word within her own language ("Did he want to elude us?") Given that it takes multiple exposures to a word before a word's meaning is mastered, it is important that the teacher use the word as often as possible. This is one of the reasons for having a "Word Wall". You will have a visual reminder of the words that were recently taught.

Part of Speech - With older students, especially ELL's, it is helpful to introduce the part of speech. Of course, it would first be necessary that students understand the terms noun, verb, adjective, and adverb.
Logs - Students in every class should maintain a vocabulary log that includes at a minimum the vocabulary term and a definition. Students could also add an original sentence, an illustration, synonyms, etc. Vocabulary logs can be used for self-study, class review, and partner-study.

Word Relatives - The most expedient procedure for expanding students vocabulary is to introduce students to "word relatives" (intend, intention, intentional, intentional). The word relatives for intention were listed on the screen and a connected story was used to introduce the words. This practice illustrates the transparent morphemic nature of English and is especially important if the pronunciation of the relatives is altered (e.g., reform and reformation; wild and wilderness; protest and protestant) so that students can transfer the meaning from one word to the relatives.

Embedded Study Skills: One of the goals of Middle School is to teach the study skills that will support students academically in secondary schools and in higher education. Note-taking skills were reinforced as students wrote in their logs.
What delivery skills were used?
Active Participation: Dr. Archer requested continuous responses from the students to ascertain their learning and to increase on-task behavior. Those responses included:

a) Choral Responses. When the answers were short and the same, choral responses were requested.

b) Partner Responses. When the answers were long and different, Dr. Archer had students share their answers with their partners.

c) Written Responses. Students recorded entries in their logs.

Monitoring: When the students were sharing answers with their partners or writing in their logs, Dr. Archer circulated in the room and gave feedback including praise, encouragement, and corrections.

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Explicit Instructions | Effective and Efficient Teaching

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Grade Level: Sixth Grade - Middle School School: Fees Middle School Location: Tempe, Arizona Videographer: Dima Yaremenko Elapsed Time: 09:36 Introduction: Dr. Archer is preparing students to read a biography of Harriet Tubman including the following activities: a) teaching background knowledge, b) introducing the pronunciation of multi-syllabic words, and c) teaching critical vocabulary words.

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Four word-diagrams on explicit instruction inspired by the book, ‘Explicit Instruction: Effective & Efficient Teaching’ by Anita Archer & Charles A. Hughes. You can download the full HQ file below.

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Four word-diagrams on explicit instruction inspired by the book, ‘Explicit Instruction: Effective & Efficient Teaching’ by Anita Archer & Charles A. Hughes. You can download the full HQ file below.

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WWC-IES Practice Guide: Improving Adolescent Literacy: Effective Classroom and Intervention Practices

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WWC-IES Practice Guide: Improving Adolescent Literacy: Effective Classroom and Intervention Practices

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WWC | Improving Adolescent Literacy: Effective Classroom and Intervention Practices

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This guide presents strategies that classroom teachers and specialists can use to increase the reading ability of adolescent students.

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Great short resources on IES recommendation #1 (Vocab) and the potential roadblocks and solutions.

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REL Publication | Guide and Checklists for a School Leader’s Walkthrough during Literacy Instruction in Grades 4-12

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This tool was developed to assist school leaders in observing specific research-based practices during literacy instruction in grade 4-12 classrooms and students’ independent use or application of those practices. The tool aims to help school leaders...

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Structure of Ohio's Learning Standards for English Language Arts

Revision of Ohio's Learning Standards in English Language Arts

Ohio educators, many of whom engage daily with Ohio students, drove the process to make improvements to Ohio's Learning Standards for English Language Arts as part of a periodic review. In many cases, the changes reflect instruction already taking place in Ohio's classrooms. The clarifications in the revised standards will guide districts in modifying, not replacing their existing local curriculum, instructional plans and materials. In addition to the information available now, we will be providing additional resources to help educators learn about, and begin using, the revised standards.

Ohio's Learning Standards for English Language Arts (adopted 2017)

In 2015-2016, Ohio embarked on an updating process resulting in revised standards that the State Board of Education adopted in February 2017. The 2018-2019 Ohio's State Tests will assess the content of the revised 2017 standards.

Appendices to the Standards

The updated appendices to the standards reflect the revisions adopted in 2017 for English Language Arts & Literacy in History/Social Studies, Science, and Technical Subjects. Go to our Instructional Strategies page to find more information on text complexity, as described in Appendix A.

These documents, represented by strand, show how the standards progress from kindergarten through grade 12 for each of the college and career readiness anchor standards.

Additional Resources for Understanding Ohio's English Language Arts Learning Standards

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Ohio's Learning Standards for English Language Arts

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Structure of Ohio's Learning Standards for English Language Arts Revision of Ohio's Learning Standards in English Language Arts Ohio educators, many of whom engage daily with Ohio students, drove the process to make improvements to Ohio's Learning Standards for English Language Arts as part of a periodic review.

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Sponsored by Today by Studyo and Scholastic Scope

This post contains Amazon Affiliate links. When you make a purchase through these links,
Cult of Pedagogy gets a small percentage of the sale at no extra cost to you.

Are your students the readers, writers, and thinkers you want them to be? Is your school or system producing graduates who are ready to tackle the literacy demands of our world? If you're not sure of these answers, it may be time for a literacy check-up.

As a researcher, author, and consultant for almost two decades now, I've been honored to work alongside teachers to create meaningful literacy instruction. In the past 18 months, I've observed over 1000 lessons-some in person, many virtually-taught by teachers in American classrooms from preschool to 12 th grade. Through these observations, one thing has become abundantly clear to me: We need to do better if our children are to become highly literate.

And they simply must.

They must become lifelong readers, writers, inquirers, critical thinkers, and empathetic souls. Without high levels of literacy, they become prey to misinformation and economic manipulation. They may not fully understand or enact their rights and freedoms. They may not be able to communicate their ideas well. If not highly literate, they will earn lower wages and have a greater risk of being incarcerated (NCES, 1994). They also risk living a life devoid of the beauty and power of literature. There are so many reasons that literacy is perhaps the most pressing civil rights issue of our time.

I've worked with hundreds of schools and systems trying to create markedly more literate lives for their students in the past 18 years. And for 17 years prior to that, I was a teacher, administrator, and instructional coach. So, as a senior member of this profession, I have a long and deep view here. I've seen methodologies and legislation come and go-many of them so-called "game changers"-but what persists is literacy instruction eerily similar to my own schooling in the 1970's and 1980's. There are still numerous class periods filled with answer-the-questions and look-it-up-in-the-dictionary. Student-led discussion is practically nonexistent; teacher-talk and low-level questions fill the hours. Student-made posters with drawings in colored pencil abound. When asked what they're drawing and why, students can't supply key points from the content or use the appropriate, discipline-specific terminology.

We can do better. We must do better.

Esteemed educator Mike Schmoker has written about his experiences in schools quite extensively, and sadly, they mirror my own: "When I tour schools and classrooms with... administrators, we never lament the possible absence of instructional technology, personalized-learning strategies, or other popular (but largely unproven) 'innovations.' We do lament the omnipresence of worksheets; the startling disparities in the content taught by teachers teaching the same course in the same school building; the ubiquitous 'cut, color, and paste' activities that masquerade as literacy instruction... and the widespread inattentiveness..., abetted by the tradition of calling on only those who raise their hands-while the rest sit, passive and bored. We note the paucity of authentic reading and writing activities, even in courses where they should predominate."

The past year and half, which I've spent supporting about a dozen school systems in several different states, has not changed my views. The COVID pandemic has given us an unprecedented opportunity to rethink instruction, but what I'm finding time and time again is that teachers have turned to methods and tasks that don't work well but, in most cases, are easy to orchestrate. There is less writing (especially at the secondary level). There is more cutting, coloring, and pasting (mostly at the elementary level). There's a good bit of clapping and singing beyond the preschool years. Teachers are showing a lot of YouTube videos without discussing them. There are more worksheet packets than I've ever seen. And, tragically, there is too much passive screen time. I see many classes where the kids might as well be back at their kitchen tables during lockdown because they're doing the exact same kind of work-having the teacher and classmates nearby is not part of the work; it's just a kid and a device, doing something together.

I'm not sure why this is happening, and frankly, I don't want to spend a lot of time analyzing it. I understand that every teacher's nerves are frayed. Educators have just experienced the most traumatic and stressful year of their careers. Perhaps it's been difficult to hold true to what we know works. Perhaps we have lost our way a bit. That's understandable. But we need to get back on track, and fast. We must excise ineffective practices and zero in on what works. The literacy check-up process can help us do that.

Defining Good Literacy Instruction

So what works? And how do we make sure we're doing what works as often as possible?

A good starting point would be to look at what it means to be "literate." My book What To Look for in Literacy is a practical improvement guide for literacy instruction. In the book, my co-author Tracey Shiel and I first discuss what it means to be a literate person in today's world. In short, the well-prepared, highly literate high school graduate of today must be all of the following:

A reader who chooses to read independently and who can tackle complex texts in all disciplines;

An effective communicator who can speak and write well, share information effectively, defend one's positions with compelling evidence, and collaborate well;

A critical thinker-one who can analyze and synthesize, taking into account the credibility of sources;

An inquirer who seeks information about his/her interests and who finds answers to meaningful questions; and

A global citizen who embraces diversity and seeks cultural understanding.

Next, we turn to effective literacy instruction in general. Briefly, we focus on how units and lessons should be built, following a backward design process and the concept of the gradual release of responsibility. We also spend a great deal of time discussing the components of reading instruction, effective reading and writing instruction for all age levels, and content-area literacy.

After laying this groundwork, the book then provides approximately 90 research-based tools to monitor literacy instruction for each grade span: the early years (grades PK-2), elementary (3-5), middle school (6-8), and high school (9-12). The tools can be used by administrators, instructional/literacy coaches, and teachers-ideally in collegial fashion-to examine literacy instruction, reflect on practices, and plan for increased effectiveness. And while the tools can be used for various monitoring/accountability purposes, they are intended to fuel inquiry and innovation. They are not meant to be evaluative or punitive.

What follows is a sampling of check-up tools for three areas: environment, reading instruction, and writing instruction. Use these to get a sense for how effective your current literacy practices are. And when you're ready to go deeper, you can explore all of the tools in What to Look for in Literacy.

Check-Up Area 1: Environment

Whole-School Environment

Some of the most tangible, easy-to-collect data is about the learning environment: What do the halls, walls, and materials in the school say about literacy? How do they support literacy learning?

The tool below can be used by any staff member to move around the school and look at various displays, tuning into what is supportive of literacy. It may be enlightening to take a walk throughout the school with your PLC or other team to complete this form (and take photos). "Hard" data like this often spurs conversation and change.

When using this tool to conduct literacy check-ups, I've found that schools often display student artwork and sports-related items (trophies, jerseys, etc.) but are missing opportunities to reinforce literacy learning. Recently, I've also seen a lot of displays focused on the social and emotional well-being of students, often with information about a growth mindset. Why not add student writing samples to such displays? That's just one of many easy literacy moves that I've seen in some schools that have made their literacy focus more prominent.

Click image to open larger view. Click here to make a copy of this tool for your Google Drive.

Encouraging and celebrating all things literate all throughout a school sends a clear message to students and families that literacy is valued. Displays don't have to be elaborate or time-consuming. Look at the examples below that get the job done.

In this example, middle school teacher Melanie Van Soelen posts what she is currently reading at her door. She has shared with me that this simple display has invited several students to talk with her about the books she's reading and to consider reading them too. A display like this shows students that teachers are lifelong readers, not just people who spend all their free time trying to create work for students. Imagine if every teacher in a school had such a display at their doors or in the front of the room! What a powerful message that sends about the importance of reading across one's entire life.

In the next example, former third-grade teacher Leanne Brown has literacy actually spilling out of her room! She posted a motivational quote each week along with a rotating display of student writing. Simple yet powerful.

Classroom Environment

The literacy environment inside classrooms is obviously even more important, as classrooms are where students spend the majority of their time. One of the most vital parts of a literate classroom environment is a robust classroom library. As author and educator Kelly Gallagher has noted, "Rather than waiting for students to discover the joys of the library, we must bring the books to the students. Students need to be surrounded by interesting books daily, not just on those occasional days when the teacher takes them to the library."

I am dismayed that in recent years, funding for hard-copy books has decreased. Electronic books and reading software are good resources to have, but the research is clear that students who have physical books within reach read more - they read up to 60% more in classrooms with libraries (Neuman, n.d.).

The tool below can be used to examine your own classroom library. It can also spark conversation about disparities from room to room. If we want children to be highly literate, then they must have access to materials they want to read as they go from room to room during the school day.

Click images to open larger view. Click here to make a copy of this tool for your Google Drive.

Check-Up Area 2: Reading Instruction

The checkup tools for instruction look a little different. They can be easily integrated into the walkthrough procedures that administrators often use. They can be used by coaches within coaching cycles, especially if a teacher is trying to improve or innovate in a specific area of literacy instruction. They can also be used by groups of teacher colleagues to collect data over time showing which instructional practices are most common (and which are nonexistent).

The three tools below would be used by an observer who watches all or part of reading instruction on any given day. You can see across the grade spans how the "look-fors" change to take into account the age levels of students and the work they are expected to do.

Early Years (PK-2): Direct Vocabulary Instruction

The tool below can be used to assess vocabulary instruction with our youngest students. The best early grades classrooms are awash in language, both oral and print. However, in my recent experience in early grades classrooms, there is more use of video and less oral language coming directly from the teacher. This tool examines vocabulary development with an emphasis on the teacher's actions.

Click image to open larger view. Click here to make a copy of this tool for your Google Drive.

Elementary: Reading Instructional Practices/Strategies

The second tool is designed to be used when teachers are engaged in their daily literacy block. You'll notice that the tool addresses lesson design. One of the most common things I've noticed since returning to face-to-face instruction in many classrooms is that lessons are not designed well for interaction. They also lack the sequence that Madeline Hunter (1982) taught us so well: getting the brain's attention, stating an objective, providing input and modeling, and orchestrating guided practice that leads to independent practice. Reciprocal teaching and jigsaw are specific, highly effective strategies and are represented on this tool as well.

Click image to open larger view. Click here to make a copy of this tool for your Google Drive.

Middle/High School: Reading Instructional Practices/Strategies

The third and final tool can be used in the secondary grades when observing a teacher of any subject area and may be most useful if your school is engaged in literacy across-the-curriculum efforts. Texts at the secondary level can be very challenging for students to comprehend, and this tool delineates how text should be tackled (stating a learning intention, activating background knowledge, teaching domain-specific vocabulary). Often, in secondary classrooms, teachers simply give students the directive to read - and then are frustrated when students show no comprehension of key content and don't know the most important terminology.

Click image to open larger view. Click here to make a copy of this tool for your Google Drive.

Check-Up Area 3: Writing Instruction

The check-up tools for writing instruction are similar to those for reading in that they reflect sound lesson and unit design and delineate specifics about effective instructional strategies. These tools can be used to collect information about the prevalent writing practices in a school or district and to help teachers reflect on their practices.

Elementary: Writing Instruction

In the elementary years, students learn to express their ideas with correct spelling and fluent, legible handwriting. They need lots of opportunities to write in order to become both more competent and confident. Unfortunately, what I'm seeing in elementary classrooms is what Mike Schmoker has seen too-arts and crafts activities masquerading as writing instruction ( see "The Crayola Curriculum" here).

The tool below focuses on the writing process and specific, effective strategies (shared writing, interactive writing, mentor texts, etc.). It's a succinct guide to help everyone remember and look for evidence of best practices.

Click images to open larger view. Click here to make a copy of this tool for your Google Drive.

Middle and High School: Writing Instruction

Sadly, I see a fair amount of non-writing occurring at the secondary level as well. The most common fake writing assignments are poster-making and report-writing that consists of copying and pasting gobs of material from various websites. Students do these assignments with little conversation among themselves and with very little initial direction or ongoing feedback from their teachers.

This tool focuses on effective instructional strategies, like modeling the type of writing expected and conferring with writers to provide feedback. This tool is most appropriate for English language arts classes; in the book, there are also tools for non-ELA classes, as shown in the next example.

Click images to open larger view. Click here to make a copy of this tool for your Google Drive.

Middle & High School Non-ELA: Writing Instruction

This tool is designed to be used in non-ELA classes and combines environment and instruction. This tool makes clear that when assigning writing in any class, the use of exemplars and rubrics is necessary. It also reminds teachers that resources like word walls and reference materials are needed in all classrooms to support content-area learning. This tool would be excellent to use if your school is engaged in cross-curricular literacy efforts - or if you want to be in the future.

Click images to open larger view. Click here to make a copy of this tool for your Google Drive.

Where to Start

If you want to conduct a literacy check-up in your school, get started in one area. Perhaps literacy learning environments have been neglected during the past year and need to be revamped. If so, you can start with the environment tools. Or perhaps you've spent the past couple of years implementing a new elementary reading program. If so, what has been done for writing? Has it suffered from a lack of care? Use the tools to find out. Or, if your school or district wants to go big and bold, you can have my consulting team come in and collect baseline data in all the areas covered in the book - environments, reading, writing, speaking/listening, and research/technology. We would work hand-in-hand with your leadership team so that you can all understand and act on the data.

We all know the adage, "What gets monitored gets done." It's not a surprise to me that teachers are handing out a lot of worksheet packets, playing too many videos, and having kids cut, color, and paste in their English/reading classes. It makes clear that the monitoring of effective literacy instruction has fallen by the wayside. It's time to refocus.

We educators have had a year like none other, and we are finally back with our students, in a situation as much like normalcy as it can be. What better time is there to do what works best? As administrator Jay McClain says, "As we come out of the shock of our crises, we have an opportunity. We have a choice. We can choose to be awakened, to come out of the wilderness... Or we can choose to pretend this never happened and revert to what wasn't working. The choice is ours."

References

Hunter, M. (1982). Mastery teaching. El Segundo, CA: TIP Publications.

McClain, J. (2021). A found year. Unboxed. Retrieved May 1, 2021, from https://hthunboxed.org/unboxed_posts/a-found-year/.

National Center for Education Statistics. (1994). Literacy behind prison walls: Profiles of the prison population from the national adult literacy survey. Retrieved May 12 from https://nces.ed.gov/pubs94/94102.pdf.

Neuman, S. B. (N. D.) The importance of the classroom library. Retrieved May 1, 2021, from http://teacher.scholastic.com/products/paperbacks/downloads/library.pdf.

Schmoker, M. (2019). Focusing on the essentials. Educational Leadership. Retrieved May 1, 2021, from http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational-leadership/sept19/vol77/num01/Focusing-on-the-Essentials.aspx.

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Does Your School Need a Literacy Check-Up?

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Sponsored by Today by Studyo and Scholastic Scope This post contains Amazon Affiliate links. When you make a purchase through these links, Cult of Pedagogy gets a small percentage of the sale at no extra cost to you. Are your students the readers, writers, and thinkers you want them to be?

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IES Practice Guide: Providing Reading Interventions for Students in Grades 4–9 (2022)

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IES Practice Guide: Providing Reading Interventions for Students in Grades 4–9 (2022)

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The purpose of the Reading Tiered Fidelity Inventory (R-TFI) Secondary-Level Edition is to provide School Leadership Teams with a tool to assess the implementation of a School-wide Content Area Reading Model.