When I first began this class, I questioned how literacy had anything to do with science, and especially math because math is just a bunch of numbers and equations that need to be solved. I was so far wrong! As I look back at everything I have learned this semester, I realize that literacy must be taught in every class, and it has a different meaning in different content areas.
One of the most valuable pages in Subjects Matter is page 30 which lists the Thinking Strategies of Effective Readers. This page is so valuable in my opinion because it lists the nine literacy strategies that students should be able to do and gives a brief description of what each strategy entails. We came back to this list all throughout the semester when discussing or doing an activity on literacy skills needed to accomplish a task in any content area class.
One of the many activities that we did while in this class was looking at the Georgia Milestones Sample Test. When looking at both the science and math sample questions, I realized how much reading and literacy there really is. This activity really opened my eyes to why we as content area teachers need to focus on literacy while also teaching our content area curriculum. While looking at the Science sample questions, there were some answer choices that were a paragraph each. Most middle school students would just skip right over the question and not even attempt it. While looking at the 6th to 8th grade sample math questions, we critically analyzed the questions to see which literacy skills were needed for each of the various grade level questions. Surprising to me, almost every literacy skill listed on the worksheet (from pg. 30 in Subjects Matter) was needed in order to answer the question. This example really allowed me to see how important literacy is in a math class especially.
Another valuable assignment that we did throughout the semester was presenting a strategy lesson in pairs over our selected strategy from Subjects Matter pgs. 90-174. These strategy lessons that we presented in pairs were helpful for two reasons. The first reason is that this presentation gave us the opportunity to present material to our peers and practice teaching. Secondly, the strategies that were discussed throughout are great examples of before, during, and after reading strategies that can be used to help promote literacy and implement various skills into any content area instruction. The most valuable and most important strategy that I learned about was Read-Alouds. This strategy is so important in a content area class because by the teacher reading a text aloud and discussing and explaining their thoughts throughout the text, the students are able to better understand the material being taught and discussed. The students also learn how to use the literacy skills (inferring, questioning, evaluating,analyzing, etc.) while they are reading. This is important for students to be able to do because it allows them to interact with the text, feel more comfortable with content area texts, and because it is required of them to be able to do on the Georgia Milestone.
After taking this class, I believe that content area literacy is a key aspect of teaching, especially math and science. All of the activities that we have done throughout the course have helped me understand the importance of content area literacy in the classroom. The activities that we did throughout the semester have given me examples of how to incorporate literacy into any content area that I may teach, while also engaging the students.
(601)
Maegan
Comments
Post a Comment