Content Area Literacy Essay
Our youngest generation is a rare and a precious resource facing a human wave of global competition. This reality is changing the way teachers think of Content literacy, and more importantly, it is changing their classroom practice. Teachers across the globe are beginning to realize that they are responsible for producing learners who possess the literacy skills needed for the 21st century. Therefore, one should know that Content area literacy is the ability to use all the literacy skills (reading, writing, listening, speaking, viewing, questioning and thinking) for the acquisition of new content in a given discipline. It relates to the challenges of reading in the academic area for example Geography and Social Studies. It is the means of providing students with scaffolding (support) which
…show more content…
helps them to understand content information. Consequently, the scaffold in this sense relates to instructional strategies and techniques that teachers introduce and use in their classes for students to read and write effectively.
People who have read good literature have lived longer than people who cannot are will not read (S.I. Hayakawa). Accordingly, there are various factors that hinder an individual from interpreting and understanding information given; whether it’s hard text, electronic informational sources, MTV, or a documentary film. There are four text factors and four student factors that affect content area learning. Firstly, one text factor that affects content area learning is that the readability level of the material is too high. The text in the book might be too advanced for the reader; as a result students cannot comprehend printed material. Secondly, another text factor that affects the content area learning is the lack of diagrams and illustrations especially in Geography books. The materials are rather monotonous and dull therefore the learner finds it hard to pick up that material and read it. The use of diagrams and illustration can give a clearer or better understanding of the printed text.
Thirdly, printed materials contain a lot of specialized vocabulary. Specialized vocabulary refers to a vocabulary which changes in meaning from one content area to another. Therefore if the learner came upon a word like “root” in science it doesn’t mean the same in a mathematical basis. Therefore it is expected that teachers help students to expand their vocabularies as they grow in subject area knowledge. The fourth text factor that affects the content area learner is that books or other reading materials might not be readily available. Therefore students do not have access to resources. In addition there are four student factors which also affect the content area literacy. Firstly, students are unmotivated and have a low interest level on a specific content area. Many students know how to read, but are reluctant to read. Therefore it is the teacher’s responsibility to increase student’s motivation for reading assignment.
Secondly, the student is not reading at the level he/she should be reading at. Therefore, this affects how he/she interprets and understands different information. For example a child in grade nine should not be at a grade seven reading level. Thirdly, the student might have some health problems which make it difficult for them to learn in a normal class room setting. In many cases the teacher may not always identify the problem at an early date so eventually the teacher might just over look something that can be classified as a huge problem in learning. For example a child who is slightly visual impaired or slightly hard of hearing. They might have enough vision or hearing to be able to move about their environments, read large printed materials, recognizes sounds and understand some speech, but find it hard at some point to keep up with the majority of the class. Therefore it would be difficult for them to be successful in a normal classroom setting. The fourth student factor that affects the content area learning is the lack of prior knowledge. Students always tend to forget things that were though before thus they cannot make sense out of what is being thought now. In addition a student is not reading unless she comprehends.
Primarily, teachers do not have to be reading teachers. However, in order to maximize learning of specialized subject matter, content teachers can address literacy needs to assist struggling readers master the curriculum. Therefore three roles of a content area teacher are:
1. Students cannot be expected to read materials written above their levels. Therefore, as a geography teacher you must be able to determine the readability of written materials to avoid frustrating students with reading requirements they cannot handle. A teacher of geography must know how to select textual materials which are appropriate for students to learn content area effectively. In geography there is a lot of information to grasp therefore the teacher should select materials that have varying diagrams and illustrations thus, enhancing students understanding of the content.
2. Most geography books are complex and not easily understood for example the Waugh (Geography an Integrated Approach). Consequently, a student is not going to read unless he/she comprehends. Student often need help in comprehending subject materials. Therefore, a Geography teacher must be able to help students develop comprehension skills/ strategies for the specialized reading materials in Geography.
3. Students often encounter long and difficult words in Geography books. Therefore, it is not expected that you teach beginning word recognition skills but be able to help students develop strategies for pronouncing multi-syllable words that may at first appear unfamiliar to your students. For example word such as Ur-ban-ni-za-tion. In addition all content areas have specialized vocabulary. Especially teachers of Geography are expected to help students develop and expand word meaning at different levels. For example a word such as root (root in a numerical sense and root as in the root of a plant) and capital (capital as in parish and capital as in money).
Fry and Raygor as develop formulas for determining the reading difficulty of printed materials and to guide the teacher in preparing or altering reading levels of materials.
These formulas both have their strengths and weaknesses. Subsequently, Fry’s graph uses the traditional factors of sentence length and word difficulty to determine readability. The grade reading level (or reading difficulty level) is calculated by the average number of sentences (y-axis) and syllables (x-axis) per hundred words. These averages are plotted onto a specific graph; the intersection of the average number of sentences and the average number of syllables determines the reading level of the content.
There are two advantages of using Fry’s readability formula. Primarily, Fry’s readability formula do not require the readers to first go through the text to decide if the text is too hard or too easy to read. By using Fry’s readability formula, you can know ahead of time if your readers can understand your material. This saves time and money. The second advantage of using Fry’s readability formula is that it aids in assisting teachers to select readable text that always attracts a larger
reader-base.
There are also some disadvantages of using Fry’s readability formula. The first disadvantage is that Fry’s readability formula cannot measure everything that contributes to how readable a book is for a student, simple by counting syllables or determining sentence length, any more than a reading test can measure a student’s reading behavior. The use of Fry’s formula cannot measure the context, prior knowledge, interest level, difficulty of concepts, or coherence of text. Therefore Fry’s formula is not all that effective in estimating how best a student can read and understand a text.
The second disadvantage of using Fry’s readability formula is that the readability formula is not much help if you want to know if the target audience (students) will understand the text (based on one passage). Fry’s readability formulas also cannot measure the complexity of a word or phrase to pinpoint where you need to correct it. In conclusion, every teacher is a teacher of reading thus they should motivate there students to be a student of reading. As a content area teacher you should become aware of your basic responsibilities as a teacher for helping students to read content area materials. The teacher is expected to help problem readers survive and learn in your classroom while they are overcoming their reading problems.
helps them to understand content information. Consequently, the scaffold in this sense relates to instructional strategies and techniques that teachers introduce and use in their classes for students to read and write effectively.
People who have read good literature have lived longer than people who cannot are will not read (S.I. Hayakawa). Accordingly, there are various factors that hinder an individual from interpreting and understanding information given; whether it’s hard text, electronic informational sources, MTV, or a documentary film. There are four text factors and four student factors that affect content area learning. Firstly, one text factor that affects content area learning is that the readability level of the material is too high. The text in the book might be too advanced for the reader; as a result students cannot comprehend printed material. Secondly, another text factor that affects the content area learning is the lack of diagrams and illustrations especially in Geography books. The materials are rather monotonous and dull therefore the learner finds it hard to pick up that material and read it. The use of diagrams and illustration can give a clearer or better understanding of the printed text.
Thirdly, printed materials contain a lot of specialized vocabulary. Specialized vocabulary refers to a vocabulary which changes in meaning from one content area to another. Therefore if the learner came upon a word like “root” in science it doesn’t mean the same in a mathematical basis. Therefore it is expected that teachers help students to expand their vocabularies as they grow in subject area knowledge. The fourth text factor that affects the content area learner is that books or other reading materials might not be readily available. Therefore students do not have access to resources. In addition there are four student factors which also affect the content area literacy. Firstly, students are unmotivated and have a low interest level on a specific content area. Many students know how to read, but are reluctant to read. Therefore it is the teacher’s responsibility to increase student’s motivation for reading assignment.
Secondly, the student is not reading at the level he/she should be reading at. Therefore, this affects how he/she interprets and understands different information. For example a child in grade nine should not be at a grade seven reading level. Thirdly, the student might have some health problems which make it difficult for them to learn in a normal class room setting. In many cases the teacher may not always identify the problem at an early date so eventually the teacher might just over look something that can be classified as a huge problem in learning. For example a child who is slightly visual impaired or slightly hard of hearing. They might have enough vision or hearing to be able to move about their environments, read large printed materials, recognizes sounds and understand some speech, but find it hard at some point to keep up with the majority of the class. Therefore it would be difficult for them to be successful in a normal classroom setting. The fourth student factor that affects the content area learning is the lack of prior knowledge. Students always tend to forget things that were though before thus they cannot make sense out of what is being thought now. In addition a student is not reading unless she comprehends.
Primarily, teachers do not have to be reading teachers. However, in order to maximize learning of specialized subject matter, content teachers can address literacy needs to assist struggling readers master the curriculum. Therefore three roles of a content area teacher are:
1. Students cannot be expected to read materials written above their levels. Therefore, as a geography teacher you must be able to determine the readability of written materials to avoid frustrating students with reading requirements they cannot handle. A teacher of geography must know how to select textual materials which are appropriate for students to learn content area effectively. In geography there is a lot of information to grasp therefore the teacher should select materials that have varying diagrams and illustrations thus, enhancing students understanding of the content.
2. Most geography books are complex and not easily understood for example the Waugh (Geography an Integrated Approach). Consequently, a student is not going to read unless he/she comprehends. Student often need help in comprehending subject materials. Therefore, a Geography teacher must be able to help students develop comprehension skills/ strategies for the specialized reading materials in Geography.
3. Students often encounter long and difficult words in Geography books. Therefore, it is not expected that you teach beginning word recognition skills but be able to help students develop strategies for pronouncing multi-syllable words that may at first appear unfamiliar to your students. For example word such as Ur-ban-ni-za-tion. In addition all content areas have specialized vocabulary. Especially teachers of Geography are expected to help students develop and expand word meaning at different levels. For example a word such as root (root in a numerical sense and root as in the root of a plant) and capital (capital as in parish and capital as in money).
Fry and Raygor as develop formulas for determining the reading difficulty of printed materials and to guide the teacher in preparing or altering reading levels of materials.
These formulas both have their strengths and weaknesses. Subsequently, Fry’s graph uses the traditional factors of sentence length and word difficulty to determine readability. The grade reading level (or reading difficulty level) is calculated by the average number of sentences (y-axis) and syllables (x-axis) per hundred words. These averages are plotted onto a specific graph; the intersection of the average number of sentences and the average number of syllables determines the reading level of the content.
There are two advantages of using Fry’s readability formula. Primarily, Fry’s readability formula do not require the readers to first go through the text to decide if the text is too hard or too easy to read. By using Fry’s readability formula, you can know ahead of time if your readers can understand your material. This saves time and money. The second advantage of using Fry’s readability formula is that it aids in assisting teachers to select readable text that always attracts a larger
reader-base.
There are also some disadvantages of using Fry’s readability formula. The first disadvantage is that Fry’s readability formula cannot measure everything that contributes to how readable a book is for a student, simple by counting syllables or determining sentence length, any more than a reading test can measure a student’s reading behavior. The use of Fry’s formula cannot measure the context, prior knowledge, interest level, difficulty of concepts, or coherence of text. Therefore Fry’s formula is not all that effective in estimating how best a student can read and understand a text.
The second disadvantage of using Fry’s readability formula is that the readability formula is not much help if you want to know if the target audience (students) will understand the text (based on one passage). Fry’s readability formulas also cannot measure the complexity of a word or phrase to pinpoint where you need to correct it. In conclusion, every teacher is a teacher of reading thus they should motivate there students to be a student of reading. As a content area teacher you should become aware of your basic responsibilities as a teacher for helping students to read content area materials. The teacher is expected to help problem readers survive and learn in your classroom while they are overcoming their reading problems.