content literacy area

1. What is Content Area Literacy?

2. Objectives
1. I can define elements necessary for an
effective guided reading lesson.
2. I can define Content Area Literacy

5. Watching Guided Reading
○ Watch the lesson and answer the following
questions:
○ https://mediacast.ttu.edu/Mediasite/Play/071d92d28b4f4317b99b2b0b8b808
ce11d?catalog=4dc7289a-d3e0-4ae5-8fdc-5b86c027a06b
○ How does the teacher introduce the book?
○ How does the teacher support the readers?
○ How does the teacher support
comprehension?
○ How does the teacher follow the lesson plan
that you will be using this semester?

6. ○ “Content literacy is the ability to use reading and
writing to acquire information in a subject area.”
(Gunning, 2003)
○ Think about the books that are on your bedside
table. At this moment, I have a magazine, a
textbook for our this class, a catalog, and a book
about parenting on my nightstand. I read all of
these books for different purposes and with a
different focus. When I read for fun, it looks different
than when I am reading for inspiration, learning, or
information. This is content literacy.
○ “Perhaps the most significant change in elementary
reading instruction in the last few years has been
the emphasis on reading (and writing) for
information.” (Frey and Fisher 2007)

7. Try It!
Take a minute and think about the
type of reading and writing you have
done in the past week. Think about
the things that you have done at
home, work, school, in your personal
life and daily routines. Make a list
on a scrap piece of paper before you
go to the next slide.

8. You may have listed some of these kinds of
reading and writing:
○ Read recipes
○ Read and write a grocery list
○ Read to a child
○ Help a child with homework
○ Read and write emails
○ Read a syllabus or calendar
○ Read an article or textbook for class
○ Read a newspaper
○ Read or write a letter
○ Create a to do list
○ Read a college schedule
○ Read a website
○ Read a novel or magazine

9. Children need to learn early that they read
informational texts different than fiction texts. They
need strategies that differ from reading stories.Research suggests:
○ Children’s attitudes
towards reading is
generally positive in first
grade and declines by
sixth grade.
○ Instruction in 4th grade
tend to be more group
reading (round robin
reading) and virtually no
independent reading
takes place.
○ Students who
experience “4th grade
slump” on measures of
achievement declined
and scored in the 25th
percentile by eleventh
grade.
○ Studies have found little
or no use of
informational texts in first
grade, as low as 3.6
minutes per day.
○ On grade level middle
school students score a
full year level lower on
comprehension of non-
fiction texts when
compared to reading
fiction.
○ Approximately 80 to 90
percent of reading that
students will have to do
in the future will be
informational in nature.

10. Pike and Mumper tell us on
page 8, “It is predicted that by
the year 2020, the amount of
information will double ever
seventy three days.” The
children that we teach need
to be prepared for this to meet
the demands they will
encounter in their jobs and
world.

11. In order to understand Content Area Literacy, we
need to understand what is a nonfiction text.
Nonfiction is: “ A carefully crafted genre, provides ideas,
facts and principles organized around main ideas, using
both verbal and visual texts. The purposes are to inform,
instruct, and enlighten. They can include books about
the science (natural, social and physical), history, sports,
crafts, the arts, how-tos, newspapers, articles, the World
Wide Web, and so on, that discuss factual information
about a topic.” Pike and Mumper (2007), pg 4.

12. Sample made in 4th grade

13. What do nonfiction or
informational texts look like?
Throughout this semester the terms nonfiction or
informational texts may be used. They are the
same thing…a book that provides information.
○ Frequently broken up into sections
such as table of contents, headings,
glossaries, and indexes.
○ They also include features that make
the text easier to read including
bullets, captions, varied fonts, etc.
○ We call these features Access
Features.

14. “Access features support
comprehension of nonfiction and
often expand information about a
topic” (Pike and Mumper, pg 5)

15. 4th grader analyzing text
features (access features)

17. I think content area literacy begins the moment a
child uses reading to learn or to enjoy or to inquire. As
soon as kids are learning to read they are reading to
learn; they are reading to enjoy, to inquire. I don’t
separate learning to read and reading
to learn. That is kind of a false dichotomy. What
motivates kids to want to learn to read is that they
are learning from what they read or they are enjoying
what they read. The emphasis is on the use of reading
which begins very early in one’s development, using
reading for lots of purposes — that’s where content
literacy begins. (p. 57)
Richard Vacca (as sited in Adams, S and Bodrova, E. Beginning With The End In Mind: Aligning
Elementary Literacy (Electronic version) from www.mcrel.org.

18. The next few slides are some Ideas
that you might want to use to use
with your Personalized Learning
Groups. Some of these items were
created in EDLL 3351 and others
were new ideas. Once you find
areas that your students need to
work on, find engaging activities
that will help them grasp that
concept.

19. Personalized Learning Groups

30. Objectives
1. I can understand the guidelines and
policies for EDLL 4380
2. I can define elements necessary for
an effective guided reading lesson.
3. I can define Content Area Literacy