Content mastery in subject areas is dependent on adolescents’ ability to access the literacy of each discipline. Therefore domain learning and language/literacy learning are inextricably bound. This instructional arena is often described as disciplinary literacy. To facilitate student success in learning math, science, history, literature and other subjects, secondary teachers need to view their respective disciplines through a language lens and engage in what might be called “language-sensitive domain teaching.” This direction in instruction is not tantamount to secondary teachers becoming reading teachers – not at all. Rather it is an approach to secondary content instruction that provides teachers with the knowledge and tools to help students navigate the language used in the discipline.
In this interactive workshop, you will explore the discourse structures of your subject areas and learn specific techniques to help your students process and produce the discipline specific language necessary to engage in higher order thinking around the content.
Hands on activities with textbooks and other materials used by teachers will be part of the workshop.
Target Audience
Grades 7-12 Classroom Teachers, Learning Support Teachers, Administrators and Instructional Coaches
Please bring a textbook used in your subject area or a course you teach.