Effective Content Reading Strategies to Develop Mathematical and Scientific Literacy: Supporting the Common Core State Standards and the Next Generation Science Standards

Success in mathematics and science requires students to process and comprehend various forms of text; yet, many teachers feel ill-equipped to promote the development of literacy skills within the context of developing conceptual understanding of mathematics and science. Many content area literacy resources do not provide an adequate development of the complexities involved in dealing with mathematics and science texts. This work presents important background information on the reading and process and classroom tested strategies which include implementation information and ideas for modifying the strategy to diverse needs. These classroom examples support teachers and educational specialists as they design instructional experiences to facilitate both students’ conceptualization of important subject area content and the tools necessary for students to develop the literacy skills necessary to be successful in today’s text rich educational learning environments.

David K. Pugalee is a professor of education and Director of the Center for STEM Education at University of North Carolina at Charlotte. He received his PhD from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He has also taught middle grade mathematics and science. In addition to the two books he published with Christopher-Gordon, he has also published several books with NCTM.