Literacy in the Disciplines

Research has shown there are seven literacy strategies good readers use to make meaning of text: monitoring understanding, making connections, asking questions, drawing conclusions, making inferences and predictions, using mental images, and synthesizing. Furthermore, explicit teaching of these strategies can help students who struggle improve their comprehension. (Keene and Zimmerman 2007, Tovani, 2000) However, due to the different nature of subject areas taught at the high school level, strategy instruction will not look the same in every classroom. 

PDF:  7 Literacy Strategies:  Quick Reference Guide

Disciplinary literacy is the term that has been coined to encourage teachers to examine how literacy functions in their subject areas.  In her keynote address at the National Writing Project Conference in New Orleans of March 2010, noted researcher Elizabeth Birr Moje argued that “the tools of knowledge production and critique, whether rooted in the disciplines or in everyday life, should be uncovered, taught, and practiced.” (Moje 2010)

Moje proposes the following questions for teachers to consider when approaching literacy instruction in their subject areas:

-  How do members of the discipline use language on a daily basis?
-  What kinds of texts do they turn to or produce as part of their work?
-  How are interactions with members of the discipline shaped
          (or governed by) texts?
-  Who are the primary audiences for written work in your discipline?
-  What are the standards for warrant demanded by those audiences?
-  Are there words or phrases that are demanded by or taboo in your
          discipline?
-  Are there writing styles that are demanded by or taboo in your discipline?
-  What is unique about your discipline in terms of reading, writing,
          speaking, and listening?

(Moje 2010)

Here is Moje's PowerPoint Presentation:
www.nwp.org/cs/public/print/resource/3121

Here is Moje's comparison of literacy in Math and History:

History / Math Comparison

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In her presentation to Fort Richmond Collegiate staff in Pinawa in October 2010, Cris Tovani highlighted the way the seven literacy strategies are adapted in Math, Science and Social Studies (Tovani 2010):

PDF:  Math Strategies
PDF:  Science Strategies
PDF:  Social Studies Strategies
PDF:  Literacy Across the Content Areas Rubric from Taking Action on Adolescent Literacy
         (Page 1)   (Page 2)   (Page 3)   (Page 4)

See our Page on disciplinary literacy for a detailed look at this approach