Using Literature Across the Curriculum
Sandra Porter
LTCY444G
Middle and
secondary learners must be fluent and accomplished lifelong readers in order to
function as critical thinkers in the world of tomorrow. The responsibility of teaching reading to
students does not end after elementary school, but continues through the middle
and secondary grades. In the middle and
secondary levels, the teaching of reading does not end in literature arts
class, but should be taught across the curriculum. The more reading a student does, the better a
reader he will be.
This
presentation will expand upon the ideas contained in Chapter 8, Literature
Across the Curriculum and Throughout Life, of Readers
Teachers Learners, Expanding Literacy Across the Content Areas by William G. Brozo
and Michele L. Simpson. It will highlight on-line resources and printed
reference materials that: 1) examine support for and the importance of student
access to a wide range of quality literature and other reading materials to
improve literacy; 2) review case studies on the use of
literature across the curriculum; 3) aid
teachers and students in the selection of appropriate literature; and 4) provide lesson planning suggestions to
assist teachers with the integration of literature in the classroom. With the breadth and depth of on-line
resources available, all teachers should be able to provide content-area
reading instruction with authentic and engaging texts.
SECTION
1 SUPPORT FOR THE USE OF LITERATURE
ACROSS THE CURRICULUM AT THE MIDDLE AND SECONDARY LEVELS
Position
Paper of the Commission on Adolescent Literacy of the International Reading
Association:
http://www.reading.org/positions/supporting_young_adolesc.html This position paper, adopted in May, 1999, focuses on the importance of adolescent literacy instruction in an educational climate where more and more emphasis is being placed on early reading education. The International Reading Association advocates that adolescents deserve access to a wide range of high-interest reading materials and that reading instruction across the curriculum should build skills in reading increasingly complex materials. Also included in this publication is a comprehensive list of suggested readings in adolescent literacy.
Framework
for an adolescent literacy initiative in the content areas:
http://knowledgeloom.org/practices3.shtml?t=1&location=1&parentid=1174&bpinterid=1174&spotlightid=1174 This article highlights four key components
for the delivery of adolescent literacy instruction across the curriculum, with
best practices for each component.
Well-designed literacy programs understand the emotional and social
needs of adolescents, and employ instructional techniques that insure students
will interact with each other and with text.
Teaching strategies in reading, writing and thinking should be research
based. Literacy instruction in all of the content areas should focus on
vocabulary development, understanding text structures, and support of the
particular content area. Community and
administrative support on a school-wide and district-wide basis is key to a successful literacy initiative. The framework was developed by the Knowledge Loom, a repository/database of
information on best practices in teaching at
SECTION
2 CASE STUDIES OF THE USE OF LITERATURE
AND LITERACY INSTRUCTION ACROSS THE CURRICULUM
The
reading apprenticeship program:
http://knowledgeloom.org/servlet/external.class?url=http://www.wested.org/stratlit/pubsPres/HER/p01green.htm&t=1&location=6&bpinterid=1174&spotlightid=1174&oldurl=/resources.shtm Lengthy description of an instructional framework designed and used in San Francisco to help underperforming students become more confident and strategic readers through reading instruction in the content areas, using a variety of texts. The reading apprenticeship concept suggests that the best teachers of literacy practices within a specific discipline are those that have mastered the discipline, that is, subject area teachers who have much acquired background knowledge. To unlock the secret of literacy within the disciplines, instruction must take place across the curriculum. Teachers within the disciplines can model for students the reading of various texts and textbooks to help students gain insight into their reading processes.
How music
and art teachers can support school-wide reading goals:
http://www.ncacasi.org/jsi/2001v2i1/all_teachers.adp While specifically mentioning music and art teachers, this article from the Journal of School Improvement discusses strategies that can be used by any teacher to help students comprehend text. The strategies highlighted are finding the main idea, sequencing, summarizing, making predictions, using imagery, retelling, using QARs and writing. The same clues that help musicians and artists comprehend works of art and pieces of music are also clues that help in decoding text.
Using
literature to teach geography:
http://www.ed.gov/databases/ERIC_Digests/ed393786.html Presented in this article are 3 main reasons to use literature in the teaching of geography: geography has an impact on shaping any society, literature can provide travel experiences to students by taking them on a tour of the world through the use of books, and students are more likely to understand geographical concepts if they can learn about real people and situations in places around the world. It is important that the right literature be chosen based on the accuracy of geographical information presented.
SECTION 3 CHOOSING LITERATURE
IN THE CONTENT AREAS
Annually, the International Reading Association publishes annotated lists of books selected by both teachers and young adults as their favorites of the year. If you click on one of the specific “list links” below, you will need Acrobat Reader to open the files as the lists are in PDF format. If you prefer, you can go to the IRA Reader’s Choices Webpage ( http://www.reading.org/choices/choices_download.html) and get information about ordering multiple copies of the lists or even the books on it – they are available at a discount! I like these links for two reasons. As teachers and professionals, we want to be able to recommend high-quality literature to our students, and we also want to keep up to date on the latest books available. Secondly, we want to offer books to our students that they will like. Middle schoolers and secondary students are not always adept at choosing books, particularly if they are reluctant readers. Having an annual list of books chosen by other young people would be a helpful tool to let them look over when selecting a book for SSR or personal reading. We want to make them life-long readers, they need to be reading books they enjoy!
The teachers’ list was first published in 1989 so that
teachers, librarians, parents and others could find new books that can be used
across the curriculum by students ages 5 - 14. Each book is read by between 6 and 200 people
in a region before being added to the list.
The annotated list for 2002 will appear in the November issue of The
Teachers’ Choices for 2001 http://www.reading.org/pdf/tc_2001.pdf
Teachers’ Choices for 2000 http://www.reading.org/pdf/TCOffprint9108.pdf
Teachers’ Choices for 1999 http://www.reading.org/pdf/TeachersChoices99.pdf
The young adult list first appeared in 1987 and is valuable because it gives middle and secondary school students the opportunity to voice their opinions about books they like. Each year 30 titles are voted on by approximately 4500 students in grades 7 to 12. The annotated list for 2002 will appear in the Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy in November.
Young Adults’ Choices for 2001 http://www.reading.org/pdf/yac_2001.pdf
Young Adults’ Choices for 2000 http://www.reading.org/pdf/YAChoices2000offprint.pdf
Young Adults’ Choices for 1999 http://www.reading.org/pdf/YAChoices99.pdf
Search
engine for books across the content areas:
http://www.cde.ca.gov/literaturelist/litsearch.asp The California Department of Education provides this site for educators to search for books by grade level, language, culture, genre, classification, awards, and most importantly, by curriculum connection. It is a wonderful site that could be used either for selecting one book or a classroom set to be used in a thematic unit in any content area. Author name, title, and keyword searches are also available.
SECTION
4 SEARCHABLE
LITERATURE LESSON PLANS ACROSS THE CONTENT AREAS:
At the following web sites, teachers will find suggestions
for teaching activities for a variety of different works of literature.
Cyberguides:
http://www.sdcoe.k12.ca.us/score/cyberguide.html CyberGuides are
web-based lesson plans for a wide range of literary texts, listed by grade
categories. Each guide contains a student and teacher edition, standards (for
Lesson
plans from McDougal Littell:
http://www.mcdougallittell.com/disciplines/_lang_arts/novelguide.cfm These literature lesson plans include warm-up activities, related readings, content area tie-ins, and research assignments.
Random House Although this is another proprietary site, it has excellent lesson plans, searchable by discipline, grade level, theme, time and time period.
Searchable lesson plans by time period: http://www.randomhouse.com/teachers/guides/time/ i.e., Civil War, Holocaust, civil rights era, etc.
Searchable lesson plans by theme: http://www.randomhouse.com/teachers/guides/theme/ i.e., coming of age, adoption, bravery, etc.
Searchable lesson plans by discipline: http://www.randomhouse.com/teachers/guides/discipline/ i.e., health, history, language arts, math, etc.
Searchable lesson plans by grade level http://www.randomhouse.com/teachers/guides/grade/
Links to more lesson plans and
other teacher resources:
http://www.webenglishteacher.com/litmain.html This site, from WebEnglishteacher, is arranged by author name. By selecting an author, you are then given a list of various web links, including lesson plans, author interviews, teacher guides, vocabulary, etc. Following is an example of the links generated for Amy Tan.
|
Amy Tan |
|
Anniina's Amy Tan Page Amy Tan Amy Tan Model
Lesson -The Joy Luck Club Teacher's Guides: The Joy Luck Club Vocabulary
words from The Joy Luck Club |
BIBLIOGRAPHY
OF PRINT RESOURCES
Dillingofski, Mary Sue (1993 January). Turning
teachers into readers. School
Library Journal, 39, 31-33.
Hynds, Susan. (1997) On
the Brink: Negotiating Literature and Life With
Adolescents.
Langer, Judith A. (1995) Envisioning Literature: Literacy
Understanding and Literature Instruction.
McClain, H. (1992 March). Building a literature-based collection. School Library Journal, 38, 180.
Miller, Darcy. (1994
March-April). Using literature to build self-esteem in
adolescents with learning and behavior problems. Clearing House, 67, 207-212.
Short, Kathy G. (1999 Summer). The search for ‘balance’ in a
literature-rich curriculum. Theory
Into Practice, 38, 130-138.
Walker-Dalhouse,
Doris & Dalhouse, A. Derick (1997 February) Development of a literature-based
middle school reading program: Insights gained. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 40, 362-371.
White, J. Elaine. (2000 Spring) Young adult literature as a key to literacy. ALAN Review, 27. Retrieved