The principles and practices of literacy across the curriculum involve embedding reading and writing skills into all subject areas, fostering a culture of literacy beyond the English classroom. This approach ensures students develop robust literacy skills that they can apply in various contexts.
Core Principles
The core principles revolve around creating an environment where literacy is valued and actively practiced:
- Establish a Culture that Supports Literacy: This involves making literacy a priority throughout the school. It's about creating a shared understanding that reading and writing are vital tools for learning in every subject.
- Example: Having subject-specific literacy displays, celebrating student writing from different subjects, or having a school-wide reading initiative.
- Explicitly Teach Skills: Literacy is not just acquired passively. It requires focused instruction on specific skills relevant to each subject.
- Example: Teaching students how to analyze a primary source document in history or how to interpret data in a science report.
- Make Literacy Authentic and Relevant: Contextualize reading and writing within the subject matter so that students understand the purpose and practical uses.
- Example: Writing lab reports in science classes, writing persuasive letters in social studies, or writing character analyses in literature.
Practical Applications
The practical applications of these principles are manifested through various practices:
- Create a Compelling Classroom Library for Independent Reading: A rich collection of books relevant to subject areas encourages independent reading and exploration.
- Example: Having a classroom library with various nonfiction books related to science, history, and geography, alongside fiction.
- Confer with Students Individually During Independent Reading Time: Provide personalized support and feedback to students, guiding them in their reading choices and comprehension.
- Example: Regularly checking in with students during silent reading time to discuss what they are reading and their understanding.
- Talk About Books: Engage students in discussions about their reading, encouraging critical thinking, and different perspectives.
- Example: Facilitate class discussions, book clubs, or partner discussions where students explore different aspects of the reading materials.
- Write About Books: Use writing as a tool for understanding, reflection, and connecting with the reading material.
- Example: Students could write reading responses, summaries, compare and contrast essays or create their own ending to a story.
Summary Table
| Principle | Practice | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Culture of Literacy | Establish school-wide value for reading and writing in every subject area. | Subject-specific literacy displays, school-wide reading challenges, shared expectations for literacy across the school. |
| Explicit Skills Instruction | Provide direct teaching in subject-specific reading and writing techniques. | Teaching how to interpret graphs in math or how to use primary sources in history. |
| Authentic Application | Connect reading and writing to real world applications and purposes. | Writing lab reports, presenting a speech, writing a persuasive essay on an issue related to the class topic. |
| Promote Independent Reading | Create and maintain a rich collection of books for self-selected reading. | Curated classroom libraries with a diverse range of fiction and non-fiction texts related to the subjects taught in that classroom. |
| Personalized Support | Engage with students individually during reading to offer direction. | One-on-one reading conferences, mini-lessons based on individual student needs, providing specific feedback on reading performance. |
| Classroom Conversation | Facilitate active and thoughtful conversations about what students are reading and learning. | Group discussions, partner reading activities, book clubs, classroom debates. |
| Writing as a Learning Tool | Use writing to solidify understanding of what is read and discussed. | Reading responses, summary writing, writing analysis essays, creating original text based on reading. |
By integrating these principles and practices, schools can ensure that students develop strong literacy skills that support learning in all subject areas and throughout their lives.
