Reading Across The Disciplines + the Marshall Memo

Ahhh, the luxury of summer. I got the Marshall Memo this morning, and I didn't have to file it away until later so that I could get some email messages sent, papers graded, or lessons planned. I actually got to read it right away. If you don't have this resource, you should get access to it--it's like a personal curator of the most interesting articles on education from resources across the web. Here's his mission in his own words: "This weekly memo is designed to keep principals, teachers, superintendents, and others very well-informed on current research and effective practices in K-12 education. Kim Marshall, drawing on 48 years’ experience as a teacher, principal, central office administrator, consultant, and writer, lightens the load of busy educators by serving as their 'designated reader.'

To produce the Marshall Memo, Kim subscribes to 60 carefully-chosen publications (see list to the right), sifts through more than a hundred articles each week, and selects 5-10 that have the greatest potential to improve teaching, leadership, and learning. He then writes a brief summary of each article, pulls out several striking quotes, provides e-links to full articles when available, and e-mails the Memo to subscribers every Monday evening (with occasional breaks; there are 50 issues a year)."
Go to http://www.marshallmemo.com if you are interested in learning more. Now.

But this is today's brief summary of something on my mind, so I'm putting this here partially as a placeholder. I need to come back to it. I've been geeking out about the teaching of reading for several years now, and I'm getting interested in reading in other content areas, too. So here's today's favorite from Kim Marshall:

Getting Students Reading, Writing, and Thinking in Each Content Area

In this article in Primer, author/consultant ReLeah Cossett Lent acknowledges the pushback from some content-area teachers when they’re told to teach generic literacy skills in their classes. “Of course we want all students to read deeply, write with clarity and purpose, and use critical thinking to solve problems,” says Lent, “but mandating programs or generalized solutions without asking teachers what makes sense in their content area rarely gets us moving in the right direction.” There are big differences in how students read, reason, write, think, speak, inquire, and participate in different content areas, and the disciplinary literacy movement needs to acknowledge that. Here are Lent’s suggestions for each subject:

Science:

• When scientists read, they…
- Assume an objective stance;
- Ask why;
- Rely on data, sketches, and charts;
- Make connections from known concepts to new concepts;
- Determine validity of sources and quality of evidence;
- Pay attention to patterns;
- Make predictions;
- Review and reflect;
- Pay attention to vocabulary.

• When scientists write, they…
- Use precise wording;
- Compose in phrases, bullets, graphs, or sketches;
- May favor the passive voice;
- Seek exactness over craft;
- Communicate in a systematic format;
- Distinguish facts from opinions.

• When scientists think, they…
- Allow curiosity to drive learning;
- Look for connections;
- Understand when they need more data;
- Rely on prior knowledge or research;
- Consider new hypotheses or evidence;
- Propose explanations;
- Create solutions.

History/Social Science:
• When historians read, they…
- Identify bias;
- Untangle conflicting perspectives and claims;
- Corroborate information and sources;
- Contextualize sources;
- Examine text structure;
- Compare and contrast events, accounts, documents, and visuals;
- Infer what is not explicit;
- Analyze and interpret.

• When historians write, they…
- Create timelines with accompanying narratives;
- Use information and evidence from multiple sources;
- Organize conflicting ideas or perspectives into a whole;
- Grapple with large quantities of information;
- Use the past as a mirror to the present;
- Summarize social or political consequences of an event.

• When historians think, they…
- Sift through fragments of information;
- Compare and contrast what they have been presented;
- Connect causes with effects;
- Synthesize events or ideas across long periods of time;
- Recognize bias;
- Think critically.

Mathematics:
• When mathematicians read, they…
- Isolate information they have been given and look for information they need;
- Identify patterns and relationships;
- Decipher symbols and abstract ideas;
- Apply mathematical reasoning;
- Seek accuracy;
- Analyze, formulate, and interpret;
- Evaluate data.

• When mathematicians write, they…
- Explain, justify, describe, estimate, or analyze;
- Use representations;
- Seek precision;
- Use real-world situations;
- Communicate ideas clearly;
- Draw conclusions.

• When mathematicians think, they…
- Use all available information to solve problems;
- Consider generalizations and exceptions;
- Bring forth previous understandings;
- Know when to estimate and generalize;
- Employ mathematical principles;
- Engage in conceptual understandings.

ELA or English:

• When students of English read, they…
- Find meaning through literary techniques;
- Identify underlying messages that evolve as a theme;
- Recognize bias;
- Use context to learn new vocabulary or words used in new ways;
- Summarize, synthesize, and analyze;
- Comprehend how devices such as tone, foreshadowing, or irony affect the text;
- Question the author;
- Make connections;
- Pay attention to the craft of writing.

• When students of English write, they…
- Use a process: drafting, revising, and editing;
- Understand how to flexibly use organization, details, elaboration, and voice to enhance meaning;
- Ask for feedback;
- Avoid formulaic writing;
- Employ literary techniques and devices appropriately;
- Use evidence;
- Avoid bias.

• When students of English think, they…
- Use reflection as a tool for understanding;
- Ask questions of the text;
- Compare texts or themes;
- Clarify through discussion;
- Use their thinking in speaking or written form;
- Make connections among texts, themes, or the real world.

Differentiating disciplinary literacy in this way, concludes Lent, “we can tap into the potential of every teacher to guide students in unlocking the mysteries of their content. No longer will teachers feel that someone has imposed literacy upon them, but they will discover the best literacy practices for their content, creating readers, writers, and thinkers who rely on their teachers’ expertise to gain access to content-area knowledge.”

“Disciplinary Literacy: A Shift in the Right Direction” by ReLeah Cossett Lent in Primer (from the Massachusetts Reading Association), June 2017 (Vol. 45, #2, p. 6-11), no e-link


I wonder what my friends in the other content areas would think about these lists (especially the reading and writing lists), and I also wonder how we could think together about instruction and assessment to support students to develop these skills. Do they need to be taught to read differently in different areas?