Middle School English Language Arts Instructional Guide

DISCIPLINARY LITERACY

Specifc reading, writing, and communicating within a discipline.

Disciplinary literacy refers to the specifcs of reading, writing, and communicating in a discipline. It focuses on the ways of thinking, the skills, and the tools that are used by experts in the disciplines (Shanahan & Shanahan, 2012). Each discipline (e.g., science, math, history,

art, technology, etc.) has a specialized vocabulary and components that are unique to that discipline. Secondary students need to be taught what is unique about each discipline and the “nuanced differences in producing knowledge via written language across multiple disciplines” (Moje, 2007, p. 9). Content literacy strategies typically include ways to approach text in any discipline; these strategies help with comprehension but are not suffcient for an in-depth understanding of a particular discipline. Content literacy strategies include

predicting what the text might be about before reading, paraphrasing during reading, and summarizing after reading. However, in addition to these strategies, students must learn and use specifc strategies to comprehend complex text in the disciplines. For example, when reading historical documents, students need to contextualize information (When was it written? Who was the audience? What was going on in society at that time?); source the document (Who wrote it? For what purpose?); and corroborate conclusions (Do other documents written during that time have the same perspective and come to the same conclusions?).

English Language Arts

Mathematics

Social Studies

Science

● Story elements: who, what when, where, why ● Literal vs. implied meaning ● Themes Text structures ● Genres: i.e., poetry, essay, fiction

● Search for the “truth” and for errors ● Importance of each word and symbol ● Interpretation of information presented in unusual ways ● Mathematical modeling & problem solving

● Author’s perspective and bias; sourcing ● Time period: contextualization ● Corroboration of multiple perspectives and documents ● Rhetorical constructions

● Facts based on evidence ● Graphs, charts, formulas ● Corroboration and transformation ● Concepts such as data analysis, hypothesis,

observations, investigations

Literacy in the disciplines is crucial for several reasons. A secondary students’ ability to read complex texts is strongly predictive of their performance in college math and science courses (Alliance for Excellent Education, 2011). Yet students are reading less in high school than they did ffty years ago. The Common Core State Standards (CCSS) (National Governors Association Center for Best Practices, Council of Chief State School Offcers, 2010) emphasize close reading of complex text in the disciplines to build a foundation for college and career readiness. Adapted from Shanahan, shanahanonliteracy.com

Last Updated May 30th, 2024 Middle School ELA, Page 19