Module 1 Question How has your understanding of the term “literacy” grown or changed after reading the material in Module 1? How might you be rethinking literacy specific to your discipline? In Reading Next study, referred to in the McLaughlin text on pages 18-19, Biancarosa and Snow state that, "The idea is not that content-area teachers should become reading and writing teachers, but rather that they should emphasize the reading and writing practices that are specific to their subjects, so students are encouraged to read and write like historians, scientists, mathematicians, and other subject-area experts." How do you see the knowledge of your discipline working in tandem with the key elements of an adolescent literacy program in order to achieve the goals laid out by the Common Core Literacy Standards? Module 1 Post Before reading the materials for this week’s module, I had a simplified view of what literacy looks like in the Secondary Science classroom. In my mind, I thought that literacy in my classroom might look like memorizing scientific vocabulary words or writing short responses on lab activities. I was unaware of the multifaceted approach to literacy presented by the authors we read this week, specifically the increasing specialization of literacy development by Shanahan and Shanahan. Being a content area teacher, it had not occurred to me that I needed to teach reading strategies to my students so they could better understand and master the content I presented. I wrongfully assumed that the work of their ELA teachers would transfer over seamlessly into my classroom. There are three main ways I can see that I can easily reinforce content area literacy skills in my classroom: reading and writing about data, incorporating more inquiry, encouraging students to share and reflect on others’ work (Banks). In science labs, students are required to write down their results, but they need to know how to do this correctly, such as using scientific notation or what units to use. Students need to know what numbers are important and what order to write them in. Additionally, I can rewrite labs so that they have fewer or less-specific directions to promote the students’ inquiry. While it is important for students in science to know how to follow directions, it is equally as important for them to creatively find solutions on their own. Finally, students should have the experience of reviewing one another’s data and analyses to help them sharpen their observation and literacy skills. I checked my school’s online standards archive on Rubicon Atlas to find out what Common Core Literacy Standards I ought to be teaching in our current 8th grade unit. According to the standards, my students need to use the science content presented in this section to cite evidence, make visuals, write explanations, and select audio/visual resources. These are similar to the standards presented in McLaughlin, Chapter 3. I feel like I have given them the opportunity to do all of these things, but that I needed to explicitly teach the students how to do each task specific to the science content in order to get the best results from my students. References: Banks, S. (2016, November 17). Science Literacy and NGSS. Retrieved March 21, 2018, from https://www.teachingchannel.org/blog/2014/07/16/science-literacy-in-the-age-of-ngss/ McLaughlin, M. (2015). Content Area Reading Teaching and Learning for College and Career Readiness (2nd ed.). Pearson. Shanahan, T., & Shanahan, C. (2008). Teaching Disciplinary Literacy to Adolescents: Rethinking Content-Area Literacy. Harvard Educational Review, 78(1).