Written for the busy practitioner by an experienced professional development consultant, writer, and speaker, "Literacy for Real" is a hands-on guide to meaningful reading across the content areas of math, science, and social studies in grades 6-12. It presents key information that addresses all types of 21st century literacy--visual, digital, and…

Explains the prerequisites involved in learning critical reading skills and describes some classroom lessons and activities that can build these abilities with all types of adolescent students. (MAI)

Describes a reading instruction technique designed to stimulate spontaneous verbal interaction through a problem solving task. The technique is suggested for content area reading. (MKM)

The study questions on this one-page guide can be used in the history classroom to help students identify the important features of a historical document. The questions can be used as the basis of class discussion, or they can serve as a preliminary writing assignment before a major essay. (RM)

Offers guidelines for teaching children how to read critically and how to judge the authenticity and accuracy of fictional biographies and diaries. (FL)

Describes the techniques of critical reading and how they were taught to college students in an honors writing class. (JT)

Students having difficulty with reading in the social studies may be having difficulty with much more than the technical, skill-oriented facility with language that the content area approach is supposed to alleviate. Students must also be taught to interpret the text, i.e., to link the world to the words that represent it. (RM)

Suggestions to help social studies teachers use historical fiction and biography to teach critical reading to intermediate grade students are made. For example, teachers should help students to check various sources for the author's qualifications, purpose, and bias and assist students in analyzing language and writing style. (RM)

A model to encourage the systematic development of analytical reading skills in the study of history is presented. The example used is drawn from an introductory unit in American history. (RM)

Although students are expected to read and comprehend grade-level texts by the time they reach middle school, classroom teachers are constantly challenged to instruct students who have difficulty comprehending what they read. But how does a middle school teacher approach this task, particularly a teacher with limited experience in reading…

Offers a technique for use with films or filmstrips that transforms passive learning situations in content area classrooms into interactive ones. Contains a sample "reasoning guide." (FL)

Examines patterns of instruction in literature, particularly the transactional strategy proposed by Louise Rosenblatt, that emphasize the reader's immediate experience with the text. Illustrates the effective application of response-based teaching of literature. (RL)

The new General Educational Development test demands that students read critically. Teaching critical reading presents a twofold challenge to teachers. First, they must help students expand their knowledge in content areas. They must also teach students the skills involved in reading critically. Because the skills entailed in critical reading are…

Shows how a content area teacher can help students relate prior experiences to the new information to be gained through the reading assignment. (MKM)

A major goal of the social studies teacher should be to nurture independent reading-thinking habits, including inquisitiveness, critical thinking, and evaluation of ideas presented in information. How this can be done through skillful question planning is discussed. (RM)