ANNUAL EDITIONS: Critical Reading in the Content Areas 04/05
UNIT 1. Critical Literacy Theory1. Exploring the Links Between Critical Literacy and Developmental Reading, Mellinee Lesley, Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, November 2001
This article challenges instructors to address developmental reading through critical literacy pedagogy. The author presents persuasive evidence to promote critical literacy for academic success.
2. Saving Black Mountain: The Promise of Critical Literacy in a Multicultural Democracy, Rebecca Powell, Susan Chambers Cantrell, and Sandra Adams, The Reading Teacher, May 2001
The authors of this article define critical literacy as central to the promotion of democracy in a multicultural society. Teachers are challenged to recognize that literacy is more a matter of making meaning out of words than developing a set of skills.
3. What Do We Mean By Literacy Now?, Jerome C. Harste, Voices from the Middle, March 2003
This article challenges readers to consider literacy as social practice and raises critical questions about how educators define literacy, whose definition is advantaged, and who benefits from curriculum decisions.
UNIT 2. Culture of Literacy4. Creating a Middle School Culture of Literacy, Robert Feirsen, Middle School Journal, January 1997
This article contrasts the void of a culture of literacy experienced by students as they transition from elementary school to middle school. Feirsen appeals to middle school educators to transform the culture for the sake of literacy.
5. Building Sound Literacy Learning Programs for Young Adolescents, Judith L. Irvin, Middle School Journal, January 1997
This article presents six different methods found in secondary schools for teaching literacy: no reading instruction, remedial reading courses, developmental reading courses, reading in the content area, integrated language arts programs, and thematic learning.
6. Improving Young Adolescent Literacy Through Collaborative Learning, Karen D. Wood, Rachel L. McCormack, Diane Lapp, and James Flood, Middle School Journal, January 1997
This article presents collaborative learning as an ideal instructional strategy for meeting the social and developmental needs of secondary students as a way of promoting critical literacy.
7. A Culture of Literacy in Science, Donna Hooker Topping and Roberta Ann McManus, Educational Leadership, November 2002
The authors describe a middle school science room in which the science teacher cares about reading and writing and uses the two in science as part of the school-wide accountability for literacy.
UNIT 3. Adolescent Motivation for Literacy8. Affective Dimensions of Content Area Reading, Alan M. Frager, Journal of Reading, May 1993
This article connects affective learning theory with practical reading strategies as the author addresses the affective dimensions of content area reading. The author focuses on the affective state of the reading process to identify causes and solutions to reading problems. Pre-reading, during reading, and post-reading strategies are suggested.
9. Activating Student Interest in Content Area Reading, Carla Mathison, Journal of Reading, December 1989
Mathison addresses the problem of students not completing reading homework assignments and the role that motivation plays in reading. The author gives five strategies for generating student interest in content area reading: analogies, personal anecdotes, disrupting readers’ expectations, challenging students to resolve a paradox, and novel and conflicting information or situations.
10. Enhancing Young Adolescents’ Motivation for Literacy Learning, Nancy B. Mizelle, Middle School Journal, January 1997
This article addresses the concerns of middle school teachers about young adolescents’ motivation for literacy learning. Specifically, it focuses on classroom strategies educators in the fields of motivation and literacy have identified as beneficial.
UNIT 4. Textbook Reading and Comprehension11. Reading and Understanding Textbooks, Katherine E. Misulis, Reading Improvement, 1994
This article presents three reading/study guides to help students access information in textbooks. These include K--W--L, Selective Reading Guides, and Levels of Comprehension Guide.
12. Assessing Students’ Skills in Using Textbooks: The Textbook Awareness and Performance Profile (TAPP), Rebecca Bell Sammons and Beth Davey, Journal of Reading, December 1993/January 1994
This article presents the Textbook Awareness and Performance Profile (TAPP) as an evaluative tool for assessing students’ textbook reading abilities. The article does not address the critical question as to where a classroom teacher will find time for 45 to 60 minute individual evaluations. The article does raise critical concerns about how to assess students’ reading needs.
13. Fostering Students’ Understanding of Challenging Texts, Susan Watts and Michael F. Graves, Middle School Journal, September 1997
The authors present the Scaffold Reading Experience (SRE) as a strategy for teachers to use in planning lessons. Teachers are instructed to identify six factors: students, purpose of reading, text, pre-reading, during reading, and post-reading activities.
14. Searching for Information in Textbooks, Mariam Jean Dreher, Journal of Reading, February 1992
This article discusses reading from the perspective of finding information. The author defines the word “search” and presents suggestions for instructing secondary students on how to conduct meaningful “searches” to gather, use, and produce information.
15. Teachers’ Views of Textbooks and Text Reading Instruction: Experience Matters, Deborah Menke and Beth Davey, Journal of Reading, March 1994
This article reports findings on what the effect of teaching experience has on textbook content teachers’ use in the classroom. Findings show that more experienced teachers found time for textbook reading during class. Overall, there was little evidence of instruction on reading textbooks among secondary teachers, regardless of experience.
16. Teacher-Directed and Student-Mediated Textbook Comprehension Strategies, Catharine J. Reynolds and Spencer J. Salend, Academic Therapy, March 1990
This article presents five teacher-based strategies and three student-based strategies for improving textbook comprehension.
17. The Directed Questioning Activity for Subject Matter Text, Randall James Ryder, Journal of Reading, May 1991
This article presents questioning strategies to aid in comprehending textbook information. The author suggests using pre-questions, adjunct questions, and inferential questions. Questioning strategies move from concrete to higher-level thinking.
18. Scaffolding Adolescents’ Comprehension of Short Stories, David N.E. Fournier and Michael F. Graves, Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, September 2002
The authors describe a scaffolding strategy to assist middle school students with comprehending texts.
UNIT 5. Content Area Reading Strategies Across the Curriculum19. Developing Critical Understanding of the Specialized Language of School Science and History Texts: A Functional Grammatical Perspective, Len Unsworth, Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, April 1999
This article focuses on the specialized language of science and history textbooks used in school and points out the importance of developing a broad range of literacy skills needed for students to function in the academic content area setting.
20. Learning from Social Studies Textbooks: Why Some Students Succeed and Others Fail, Elton G. Stetson and Richard P. Williams, Journal of Reading, September 1992
This article discusses “reading energy” and its role in the decoding and comprehension process in reading Social Studies textbooks. The authors provide strategies for helping students build “reading energy” and use it for success.
21. Reading Across the Great Divide: English and Math Teachers Apprentice One Another as Readers and Disciplinary Insiders, David Donahue, Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, September 2003
This article challenges pre-service teachers to read across the curriculum, moving beyond identity with a single content area to an identity as an interdisciplinary reading teacher.
22. The Effect of Learning Mathematical Reading Strategies on Secondary Students’ Homework Grades, Elliott Ostler, The Clearing House, September/October 1997
This article lists and discusses how terminology, eye patterns, graph/text interaction, and reading direction are four key factors that distinguish reading math texts from other informational texts.
23. Comprehending Multiple Texts: A Theme Approach Incorporating the Best of Children’s Literature, Raymond P. Kettel and Nancy L. Douglas, Voices from the Middle, September 2003
This article argues for teachers to move from book-at-a-time teaching to multiple text, single theme teaching. The approach addresses the needs of students on varying reading levels. All can participate in the theme discussion while reading texts on appropriate reading levels.
24. Celebrating Literature in a Comprehensive Middle School Program, Marguerite Cogorno Radencich and Anita Meyer Meinbach, Middle School Journal, September 1997
This article features the successful use of book discussions at Southwood Middle School in their effort to develop a comprehensive literature program. The book discussions are conducted under the program title of “Grand Conversation”.
25. Literature for Children and Young Adults in a History Classroom, Judy E. Van Middendorp and Sharon Lee, The Social Studies, May/June 1994
This article describes the powerful impact children’s literature can have in the content areas.
UNIT 6. Assessing Literacy and Content26. Using Alternative Assessment to Provide Options for Student Success, Dorie Combs, Middle School Journal, September 1997
This author argues that the more teachers focus on the basics, the less children actually learn. Teachers are encouraged to give students options for demonstrating their knowledge and learning as an alternative to students choosing to fail within a standardized system.
27. Giving Voice to Middle School Students Through Portfolio Assessment: A Journey of Mathematical Power, Karen M. Higgins and Mary Ann Heglie-King, Middle School Journal, September 1997
This article presents portfolio assessment for the math classroom as a means for students to communicate their thinking, processes, and the degree of their understanding of concepts.
28. Dismantling the Factory Model of Assessment, Frank W. Serafini, Reading & Writing Quarterly, 2002
This article is a critical study of assessment and challenges teachers to consider replacing the Factory Model with “reflective inquiry” processes of assessment.
UNIT 7. Critical Literacy Perspectives29. Tales from Two Textbooks: A Comparison of the Civil Rights Movement in Two Secondary History Textbooks, Terrie L. Epstein, The Social Studies, May/June 1994
This article problematizes textbook presentation of the civil rights movement in two secondary history books. The article gives concrete examples of how differences in information presentation result in creating biased accounts of history.
30. The Story of Ourselves: Fostering Multiple Historical Perspectives, Michael O. Tunnell and Richard Ammon, Social Education, April/May 1996
The authors argue in favor of teachers exposing students to multiple points of view through trade books. Likewise, the authors suggest teachers guide students in a critique of the texts to surface the ways that texts omit some voices and include others.
31. Using Textbooks with Students Who Cannot Read Them, Jean Ciborowski, Remedial & Special Education, March 1995
This article summarizes existing literature on textbook instruction and provides many practical strategies to develop skills for utilizing textbooks.
32. Guidelines for Adapting Content Area Textbooks: Keeping Teachers and Students Content, Jeanne Shay Schumm and Kelly Strickler, Intervention in School and Clinic, November 1991
This article presents several ways of substituting.
33. Assisting Students with Difficult Textbooks: Teacher Perception and Practices, Jeanne Shay Schumm, Sharon Vaughn, and Linda Saumell, Reading Research and Instruction, 1994
This article examines successful teachers of diverse learners for perceptions and practices with regard to adapting textbooks for their students to promote understanding. The article provides teachers’ ratings of desirability, feasibility, and use of textbook adaptations by elementary, middle, and high school groupings.
34. Dialogue in Teaching Is Critical Instruction, Glenda Moss, Middle School Journal, March 2004
This article presents dialogue on how teaching is critical instruction for engaging students in reading, writing, speaking, and listening—the four components of literacy.
