Developing Academic Literacy

Ch 3 Developing Academic Literacy

Is it possible for students who are past elementary grades to develop academic literacies, or is it too late? It is not too late. Says who? Say the authors of Reading for Understanding. And as they say, “The proof is in the pudding.”

These women conducted a study from Oct of 96 through May of 97 in which they gave specific instruction in academic literacies to the entire freshman class at the high school where two of the authors worked. Their results showed an improvement in reading comprehension by an average of two years, as measured by standardized reading tests. Sound like something you want for your class? Then read on.

The authors believed strongly that all freshmen could benefit from becoming more conscious of the mental strategies involved in reading different types of texts. They also believed that diverse readers would learn from each other, and did not want to establish a school culture in which only the so-called slow readers improved their reading abilities. And so, a plan was crafted.

The course was designed as an inquiry into reading, with teachers as master readers and students as their apprentices. Students were invited into a yearlong inquiry that would explore what reading is and what proficient readers do when they read. They were encouraged to get to know themselves as readers and to build their motivation for reading.

Key instructional strategies employed in all four units were silent sustained reading (SSR), reciprocal teaching (RT) and explicit instruction in self-monitoring and cognitive strategies that facilitate reading a variety of texts.

As I read this chapter I became very excited, wanting to discover what these strategies were and to determine whether or not they would be applicable and effective in my classroom. And so I read on…