Calee Drew

IES Practice Guide and Five Content Area Literacy Strategies

Recommendation #1 - Provide explicit vocabulary instruction

In the IES Practice Guide, there are 4 tips on how to carry out this recommendation.
1. Dedicate a portion of the regular classroom lesson to explicit vocabulary instruction.
2. Use repeated exposure to new words in multiple oral and written contexts and allow sufficient
practice sessions.
3. Give sufficient opportunities to use new vocabulary in a variety of contexts through activities
such as discussion, writing, and extended reading.
4. Provide students with strategies to make them independent vocabulary learners.
Though these are great tips, there are also some roadblocks. But, with each roadblock
there is always a solution. It is up to us teachers to find that solutions so we can have successful
classrooms. The roadblocks include,
1. Students may vary in their response to different vocabulary instruction strategies.
2. Teachers may not know how to select words to teach, especially in content areas.
3. Teachers may perceive that they do not have time to teach vocabulary.
In the English classroom, vocabulary is used every day. When reading a book in class, it
is important for the students to have prior knowledge of some of the vocabulary theyll come
across in the book. Before reading a class novel, I will have a vocabulary activity with my
students. This activity will go over words theyll see in this novel and it will help them
understand it a lot better. If the students start reading something they do not understand, all
interest will be lost and they will not care about what they are reading. Vocabulary instruction is
very important in the classroom. Educating our students with words they need to know will
greatly benefit their learning experience.

Calee Drew

IES Practice Guide and Five Content Area Literacy Strategies

Recommendation #2 - Provide direct and explicit comprehension strategy instruction

1. Select carefully the text to use when first beginning to teach a given strategy.
2. Show students how to apply the strategies they are learning to different texts, not just to one
text.
3. Ensure that the text is appropriate for the reading level of students.
4. Use direct and explicit instruction for teaching students how to use comprehension strategies.
5. Provide the appropriate amount of guided practice depending on the difficulty level of the
strategies that the students are learning.
6. When teaching comprehension strategies, make sure students understand that the goal is to
understand the content of the text.
Roadblocks
1. Most teachers lack the skills to provide direct and explicit comprehension strategy
instruction.
2. Content-area teachers may believe that they are not responsible for teaching comprehension
strategies to their students.
3. Some teachers and students may lose the forest for the trees.
Reading comprehension is easily looked over. Most classes have assigned textbooks that
the teacher is given for their students to use during class. Though this might be great, it will do
no good if the students do not understand. We cannot expect a student to learn from reading out
of these textbooks. As teacher, we need to make sure the textbooks make sense and we need to
go over them ourselves before we assign the students to work out for them. Students can read a
textbook and get absolutely nothing from it. We need to make sure that our students are learning
and using these textbooks to their advantage. Comprehending the text is important.

Calee Drew

IES Practice Guide and Five Content Area Literacy Strategies

Recommendation #3 - Provide opportunities for extended discussion of text meaning and

interpretation.
1. Carefully prepare for the discussion.
2. Ask follow-up questions that help pro- vide continuity and extend the discussion.
3. Provide a task, or a discussion format, that students can follow when they discuss texts
together in small groups.
4. Develop and practice the use of a specific discussion protocol.
Roadblocks 1. Students do not readily contribute their ideas during discussions because they are either not
engaged by the topic or afraid of getting negative feedback from the teacher or other students.
2. Discussions take classroom time, and too much time spent on an extended discussion of a
single topic may interfere with cover- age of all the content in the curriculum.
3. Teachers lack the skills in behavior management, discussion techniques, or critical thinking to
guide productive discussion and analysis of text meanings.
Discussing a text in the classroom can be fun. We should never expect our students to
clearly understand what were reading. It is important to stop frequently and discuss what is
happening and ask if any students have any questions. When discussing a text, it if often lead to
class discussions. Class discussions can bring out some great ideas that most students would
have never though of on their own. It is also interesting to hear other points of view. Getting the
students to talk about what theyre reading ensures that they will actually read and engage in the
discussion.

Calee Drew

IES Practice Guide and Five Content Area Literacy Strategies

Recommendation #4 - Increase student motivation and engagement in literacy learning

1. Establish meaningful and engaging content learning goals around the essential ideas of a
discipline as well as the specific learning processes students use to access those ideas.
2. Provide a positive learning environment that promotes students autonomy in learning.
3. Make literacy experiences more relevant to students interests, everyday life, or important
current events.
4. Build in certain instructional conditions, such as student goal setting, self-directed learning,
and collaborative learning, to increase reading engagement and conceptual learning for
students.
Roadblocks
1. Some teachers think that motivational activities must entertain students and therefore create
fun activities that are not necessarily focused on learning.
2. Some students may think that textbooks are boring and beyond their ability to understand.
3. Many content-area teachers do not realize the importance of teaching the reading strategies
and thinking processes that skilled readers use in different academic disciplines and do not
recognize the beneficial effects of such instruction on students ability to engage with their
learning.
4. Adolescent students who struggle in reading do not expect to do well in class.
Student motivation is so important in the classroom. If a student is not motivated, they
will quickly check out and learn nothing from your class. As teachers, we need to make sure a
student never reaches this point. Include in your lessons something that relates to your students.
Talk about sports, music, hobbies that theyre interested in, anything to involve them in the
lesson. If the students feel like they have something they can relate to, they will enjoy the lesson

Calee Drew

IES Practice Guide and Five Content Area Literacy Strategies

a lot more. We also need to make our classrooms a safe and inviting environment for them. If a
student does not feel welcome in your classroom, they will resent coming. Always make sure to
be inviting and approachable. This can make a huge difference for a students.
Recommendation #5 - Make available intensive and individualized interventions for struggling
readers that can be provided by trained specialists.
1. Although classroom teachers can some- times pinpoint students learning needs by using
informal assessment tools or even observation, a more reliable method for identifying struggling
readers includes use of an initial screening test or a threshold score on a required reading test and
subsequent use of a diagnostic reading test that must be administered, scored, and interpreted by
a specialist.
2. The identification of students learning needs should be followed by the selection of an
intervention that provides an explicit instructional focus targeted to meet those needs.
3. Even though explicit strategy instruction and various forms of structuring effective strategy
instruction show promise, it also seems clear that many struggling readers require more intensive
efforts than do students who are performing at or near grade level.
4. Additionally, intensive interventions might involve repeated reading, provision of adjunct
questions to scaffold comprehension, and questioning for understanding to improve the reading
outcomes of adolescents.
Roadblocks 1. Some middle and high schools may not have the specialized personnel, time, and resources to
conduct efficient screening assessments for students to identify their reading needs.

Calee Drew

IES Practice Guide and Five Content Area Literacy Strategies

2. Many middle and high school content-area teachers, in areas such as science, math, and social
studies, do not possess the information or skills needed to teach reading and do not believe that it
is their job to teach reading strategies.
If a student is struggling in your class, you should make it a point to help them out as
soon as you can. After a lesson, you might realize that one student in particular really struggled
with the reading activity and was constantly behind. You can reach out to this student and ask if
there is anything you can do to help. You might also have to revise the lesson plan for this
student and give them something that they will be able to handle. If a student cannot keep up
with the rest of the class, they often feel embarrassed and quickly give up. It is our job to be
accommodating to them and help them anyway that we can.
Literacy Integration Strategies
1. Poems
Poems play a huge role in Language Arts. Whether we study poets or different poetry
styles, poems come in handy in the classroom. I can incorporate poems into my classroom by
having a Poet Tree. This tree will stand tall in the corner of the classroom and students can
decorate it with their own poetry throughout the year. As we study different poets we can also
hang that poets poems off of the tree for students to refer to throughout the year. Students will
learn how to write their own poems and they will learn different techniques to help their poetry
become stronger.
2. Posters, Displays, Collages
Book reports will be given throughout the year to my students. But, instead of boring
book reports, we can make it exciting. The students wont turn in redundant papers talking about
their books and what they enjoyed about it. They will create movie posters, convincing their

Calee Drew

IES Practice Guide and Five Content Area Literacy Strategies

others classmates that their book should be made into a movie. Students will have to be creative
with their work and have strong points as to why their book should be made into a movie. On
this movie poster, students will have to hide ten facts about their book somewhere on the front.
These facts can be hidden by characters, cars, etc.
3. Journals
Journals can play a vital role in the English classroom. As students come in the
classroom, they will pick up their journals from their assigned cabinet and sit down at their
desks. In these journals, students will complete their bellwork. They can also use these journals
for free writing. Some days I might have a question up on the board that the students will have to
answer in their journals. These questions could vary from daily life questions to whats
happening in the world. Students will write how they feel about that topic. Journals are also a
good way to get students to write everyday. It will also help me monitor their progress
throughout the year.
4. Reviews to movies, TV Shows, Performances, Recordings
Writing reviews can be used as a great critical writing activity. When students write a
review, they have to have specific evidence from what they are writing the review about. In order
to have this evidence, they need to be able to cite it. This can be a fun activity that shows
students how to cite textual evidence and how to analyze what they are reviewing. Analyzing a
text, show, performance, movie, etc. can lead to deeper thinking which allows the students to
really understand what they are reading. Deeper thinking in the classroom can lead to better
discussions and increase class participation.

Calee Drew

IES Practice Guide and Five Content Area Literacy Strategies

5. Small Groups
I love the idea of using small groups in the classroom. Switching things up can keep
things exciting and keep the students interested. I can use small groups when I want students to
discuss a certain text we have read. Group work can also be done when students are in these
small groups. If there is a study guide that needs to be filled out, students can work together and
discuss their answers. This would be a great review right before a test. I would monitor the
classroom to make sure students stayed on task. Giving the students the freedom to work in small
groups creates a sense of trust in the classroom. When students realize you trust them, they end
up working a lot better.

Calee Drew

IES Practice Guide and Five Content Area Literacy Strategies

Works Cited

Kamil, M. L., Borman, G. D., Dole, J., Kral, C. C., Salinger, T., and Torgesen, J. (2008).
Improving adolescent literacy: Effective classroom and intervention practices: A Practice Guide (NCEE #2008-4027). Washington, DC: National Center for Education Evaluation and Regional Assistance, Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of
Education. Retrieved from http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/wwc .