As my journey through the ins and outs, do’s and don’t’s of disciplinary literacy continues, one of my burning questions has finally been answered. But, I am going to keep you suspense just a tad bit longer. As I have been reading all these intriguing articles about disciplinary literacy, I have been blown away with all the information regarding this concept that I had never heard of before or even experienced. One of the amazing things about being a teacher (or aspiring teacher as I am) is that you are a forever learner right alongside your students. From learning what exactly disciplinary is to what disciplinary literacy teaching looks like in each subject, my eyes have been opened. But, as I have been reading article after article, one thought has consistently run through my mind. The one question that has been etched on brain demanding an answer is, “Well, what about 4th grade?” You may be confused, so let me give you a little bit of context.
I am a Middle-Level future educator; therefore, I will be certified in grades 4-8. Each and every article that I have read regarding disciplinary literacy has been directed towards high school. Every example of disciplinary literacy teaching in a lesson has come from a high school lesson. It has been so helpful to see disciplinary literacy teaching in practice, but I still constantly wondered if these same practices could even be used in elementary/middle school. In other words, I questioned if I could even apply these examples and practices in my own teaching in the grades of 4th-8th. Well kids, do you believe in miracles? Because they do exist, and my burning questions and doubts have been answered.
Shanahan and Shanahan wrote an article titled, “Does Disciplinary Literacy Have a Place in Elementary School?” The simple, straight-forward answer to the question-based titled article is “yes.” So, the next question is, what does disciplinary literacy teaching look like in elementary school? We know that in high school, disciplinary literacy teaching is basically encouraging students to use reading writing strategies in the disciplines to fully understand the discipline and to think like a historian, problem-solve like a mathematician, experiment like a scientist, etc. However, as the article suggests, the role of disciplinary literacy in elementary school is for “students to read informational text, distinguishing the differences among them and between informational texts and literature” to prepare them high school (Shanahan & Shanahan, 2014, p. 3).
Now that we know the purpose of disciplinary literacy in elementary school, here are some strategies and practices from the article that teachers can incorporate into their lessons to promote disciplinary literacy. In elementary school, teachers use many informational texts for their students to read. However, to steer away from simply reading these texts to learn the information in the content area, teachers can use, “informational texts [that] represent a wide range of text types, modalities, and purposes” in order to incorporate disciplinary literacy (Shanahan, & Shanahan, 2014, p. 3). Therefore, a small example of this is for teachers to have students determine the different purposes behind several informational texts. Another strategy is to give the students a variety of different texts on the same subject. This mimics how “experts in history, science, or English think about and evaluate what is read across sources” (Shanahan & Shanahan, 2014, p.3). Through this strategy, the students are learning to evaluate different text types on the same subject. This could involve having the students read the first-hand account on the Holocaust through Anne Frank’s diary and having them read the historical fiction novel Number the Stars. Both of these books are about the Holocaust but give information through different perspectives. One is a true story while the other is a made-up story with real-life events. It is also important, in regards to introducing disciplinary literacy teaching in elementary school, to assure that the students understand and comprehend the vocabulary in the subjects. If the students do not understand the vocabulary, then they will not understand the text (Shanahan & Shanahan, 2014, p.3).
These strategies only touch the surface of the different disciplinary literacy teaching strategies that a teacher can use in elementary school. It is a great feeling to know that 4th grade can most definitely be included in the practices of disciplinary literacy. Remember, we as teachers, are always learning, so I am looking forward to the next bit I will learn about disciplinary literacy. I cannot wait to promote disciplinary literacy in my own teaching as a middle-school teacher.
Reference:
Shanahan, C., & Shanahan, T. (2014). Does disciplinary literacy have a place in elementary school? The Reading Teacher, 67(8), 636-639.
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