Reading Science: Practical Strategies for Integrating Instruction

How can we prepare our students to think, read, and write like scientists?

In Reading Science, Jennifer Altieri reminds us that literacy skills aren’t add-ons to the science class―they are critical parts of instruction. She addresses the need for both literacy and science skills in our classrooms to prepare our students for the future challenges they will meet.

Strategies you can use right away

Filled with practical strategies customized for science classrooms based on Jennifer’s decades of experience connecting content areas with literacy, this book supports:

• teaching students to be critical consumers of scientific information they read, regardless of the source or type of text
• developing students’ interest in scientific vocabulary and rich understanding of how words relate to each other
• encouraging collaboration as students seek answers to scientific questions and communicate their findings.

Science requires specialized literacy demands

Our students should be prepared for not only the science class as we know it today but for future science classes and the world beyond. To create classrooms that support this kind of learning, we must use literacy as a tool to help students access science content, communicate their ideas precisely, and apply their discoveries in new contexts.

Jennifer Altieri has been a teacher, reading consultant, and is currently associate professor of literacy at Coastal Carolina University. The author of multiple books and a frequent presenter at conferences, Jennifer is passionate about developing readers, writers, and thinkers through content literacy.

Listen to Jennifer talk about integrating science and literacy on The Heinemann Podcast.

Follow her on Twitter: @JenniferAltier1