Reading mathematics problems can frustrate students to the point of shutting down. Although Pólya's four-step plan is a well-known problem-solving framework, the author's students benefited from a more concrete and detailed approach: chunking the reading. In this article, the author describes an approach to problem solving used with eighth-grade…

Content area literacy and disciplinary literacy are umbrella terms that describe two approaches to literacy instruction embedded within different subject areas or disciplines. Under a content area literacy approach, students learn reading and writing processes that are common across disciplines. As part of content area literacy instruction,…

Recent research on disciplinary literacy has called for a paradigm shift among secondary content teachers from perceiving themselves as disciplinary content transmitters to disciplinary literacy teachers who model and engage students in reading, writing, inquiring, and doing like experts within each discipline. How do content teachers incorporate…

The number of middle school students with learning disabilities (LD) taught social studies in general education classes continues to rise. Providing general education teachers with additional ways to support students with LD as they navigate social studies reading materials could help planning and teaching for all students. In middle school, when…

Hands-on science activities help to make science more interesting for children and create that sense of wonder and excitement. But hands-on science and teacher lectures do not offer the full course meal. The textbook is often missing. As stated in the Common Core State Standards, students must have multiple opportunities to become independent in…

Comprehension problems have become an epidemic: One out of every four secondary school students is unable to read and comprehend the material in textbooks. Start addressing the root of the problem today with this practical guidebook, designed to strengthen adolescents' reading comprehension and written expression so they can master academic…

Teaching new biology concepts to ninth graders can be tough, and teaching students with disabilities even tougher--but we are accountable for "all" students. These authors used a cooperative learning strategy called "Collaborative Strategic Reading" in an inclusive ninth-grade biology class to see whether they could "hook" students and, at the…

Recent years have witnessed a growing interest in interdisciplinary teaching and learning in the elementary grades. Teachers are increasingly looking for ways to help their students integrate literacy instruction with content area learning. This article highlights some of the similarities between reading comprehension and mathematical…

This manuscript describes a first-year college study strategies course designed to introduce students to literacy practices typical in academic settings. Given constraints imposed by institutional requirements on students' schedules during their first year, an authentic course pairing with a content area course is rarely possible; therefore, the…

Many teachers fall into the pattern of "assumptive teaching" (Herber 1970), assuming that other instructors will teach students the important strategies they need for learning. In this case, tools and strategies may not be taught outside of reading or language arts because a science teacher can say, "It's not my job." However, a sixth-grade team…

This article discusses how to promote oral language development through science. The authors describe how they incorporate academic "talk strategies" into science lessons in a nonintrusive and meaningful manner. These talk strategies are adapted from the "Avenues" (2007) curriculum for English learners (ELs), which gives examples of cooperative…

Enjoyable literacy strategies help elementary teachers reinforce students' mathematics knowledge. This article shares a number of literacy strategies that can easily connect with mathematics. These strategies include word associations, multimeaning word cards, and games. (Contains 7 figures.)

Describes a way to teach summarization that can be applied to all content areas, and explains the factors that make it effective. Includes written guidelines to follow as the class learns how to write summaries. Notes that a formal test of these classroom procedures showed that repeated references and generalization were both effective in…

Describes the goals and nature of school mathematics reform and the philosophy and nature of the constructivist classroom. Suggests that math teachers who are interested in creating reformed classrooms can look to constructivist theories of learning and content-area literacy theories and methods to provide the structure needed to make reform…

Argues that instructors involved in academic assistance must become familiar with the academic demands their students face in different content courses. Discusses four methods to gather such information, and shows how to identify relevant strategies for students to practice with actual course texts. (SR)