Engaging Students in Disciplinary Literacy, K-6

This accessible book will help elementary school teachers improve literacy instruction inside or outside the Common Core environment. The authors address teachers’ instructional needs by introducing key concepts from current trends in literacy education—from high-level standards to the use of 21st-century literacies. Readers then follow teachers as they successfully implement the curriculum they developed to promote high-level thinking and engagement with disciplinary content. The text focuses on three disciplinary literacy units of instruction: a science unit in a 2nd-grade classroom, a social studies (history) unit in a 4th-grade classroom, and a mathematics unit in a 6th-grade classroom. Each unit revolves around a central inquiry question and includes research-based strategies for using reading, writing, and classroom talk as tools to foster disciplinary understandings. This unique, insider’s look at how real teachers build and implement a Common Core–aligned curriculum will be an invaluable resource for teachers, schools, and districts as they move forward to align their own curricula.

Book Features:

• A clear, concise overview of the teaching requirements of the Common Core.
• Research-based approaches for using the English language arts to learn science, math, and history.
• Cases from urban schools representing the full range of literacy achievement levels.
• Models of disciplinary units of study with guidance to help teachers create their own.

Cynthia H. Brock is a lecturer in literacy studies at the University of South Australia. Virginia J. Goatley is department chair in the Department of Reading at the University at Albany–SUNY. Taffy E. Raphael is a professor of literacy education at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Elisabeth Trost-Shahata taught in the Chicago Public Schools for 12 years and is now a bilingual/ESL specialist for the district. Catherine M. Weber is an assistant professor in the Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College at Arizona State University.

“I can’t imagine a more timely book for these times in which the CCSS for English Language Arts are demanding that we pay more than lip service to integrated curriculum.”
—P. David Pearson, University of California, Berkeley

“If you’re wondering how to integrate literacy across the content disciplines, this is the text you will want to keep and return to.” —Diane Lapp, San Diego State University

“The dynamism of the elementary teachers in this book as they implement the five key design principles to deepen disciplinary thinking and literacy among their students is inspiring, and better still, infectious! As you read, you’ll naturally reflect and make plans to use these same principles and resources in your own teaching.”
—Donald R. Bear, professor, Iowa State University

“For decades, elementary school teachers have focused on developing students' literacy, hoping that the generic literacy skills students learn will serve them well as they engage with complex content area texts. But hope is not a plan. The plan is found in this exciting book that provides concrete ideas for teaching students to use literacy to think like scientists, historians, and mathematicians.”
—Douglas Fisher, professor of educational leadership, San Diego State University, and teacher leader, Health Sciences High & Middle College.