Today, as never before, content area literacy is gaining the attention of educators. Although it has always been emphasized at the secondary level, the need for content area literacy instruction at the elementary level is becoming more and more apparent. This article begins by providing background on the topic, demonstrating how interest in elementary content area literacy has increased over the past decade and the ways conceptions of content area literacy have changed over time. It identifies three critical reasons for including content area literacy in the elementary grades:
Early exposure to exposition may facilitate development of nonnarrative reading and writing skills
Informational texts may motivate some children to read more
Informational texts may increase student facility with new knowledge domains
It then describes five ways that teachers can make a place for content area instruction in their classrooms. They include (a) integrating literacy instruction with content area study, (b) providing students access to multiple text types and time to read them, (c) helping students become strategic readers and writers of informational texts, (d) involving students in inquiry‐based experiences, and (e) developing professional expertise in teaching students about nonnarrative texts.
The purpose of this study was to compare the text genres represented in two recent California-adopted basal readers (grades 1 through 6) with the guidelines for informational text types in the 2009 NAEP framework. Phase 1 of data collection involved the use of two measures to determine the presence of each text genre: number of pages and number of selections. The researchers assigned pages and selections to one of four categories: narrative, poetry, play, or nonfiction. The second phase of data collection involved classification of nonfiction selections according to one of four categories: literary nonfiction, or one of three types of informational text: expository, argumentation and persuasive, or procedural and documents. The researchers computed percentages of pages and selections devoted to each genre and each type of nonfiction across grade levels and series. Results overall indicated that 40% of pages/selections in both series were devoted to nonfiction text, and that 50% of nonfiction text selections were expository and 33% were literary nonfiction. The findings indicate that these basal readers expose students to more nonfiction text than in the past, but that the exposure to informational text is still less than recommended by the 2009 NAEP and limited mainly to exposition.
ResúmenEn este estudio se compararon los géneros representados en 2 textos básicos de lectura recientemente adoptados en California (de 1 a 6 grado) con las recomen-
This study investigated the instructional practices of three high school teachers perceived as successful in implementing a new rhetoric and writing course in an ethnically diverse high school district in the Southwest United States. Using qualitative research methods over a three-month period, researchers examined teacher practices related to the yearlong course, teachers' perceptions of the successes and challenges in applying the curriculum, and the impact of the curriculum on teachers and students. Through an analysis of field notes, structured interviews, a pilot survey, and course-related documents, researchers found that the class provided important bridging opportunities aimed at preparing students for college-level reading and writing. The curriculum also emphasized direct, explicit instruction, which several scholars contend benefits linguistically and culturally diverse students. In addition, course creators offered weekly staff-development sessions that supported teachers in implementing the new curriculum. Areas of challenge that emerged included the course pacing, reading selections, and the focus on writing and revising.
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