Tools for Teaching Content Literacy

Reading and writing across content areas is emphasized in the standards and on high-stakes tests at the state and national level. As educators seek to incorporate content-area literacy into their teaching, they confront a maze of theories, instructional strategies, and acronyms like REAP and RAFT. Teachers who do work their way through the myriad content reading and writing strategies are discovering not all activities are appropriate for content instruction: only those with a strong research base meet the high standards expected in classrooms today.

Janet Allen developed the ideal support for teachers who want to improve their reading instruction across the curriculum. Tools for Teaching Content Literacy is a compact tabbed flipchart designed as a ready reference for content reading and writing instruction.

Each of the thirty-three strategies includes: a brief description and purpose for each strategy;a research base that documents the origin and effectiveness of the strategy; graphic organizers to support the lesson;classroom vignettes from different grade levels and content areas to illustrate the strategy in use.

The perfect size to slip into a plan book, Tools highlights effective instructional strategies and innovative ideas to help you design lessons that meet your students’ academic needs as well as content standards. The definitions, descriptions, and research sources also provide a quick reference when implementing state and national standards, designing assessments, writing grants, or evaluating resources for literacy instruction.

After teaching high school reading and English in Maine for twenty years, Janet Allen relocated to Florida, where she currently teaches English education courses at the University of Central Florida. A recipient of the Maine Educator Award and the Milken Foundation National Educator Award, Dr. Allen has always had a special interest in working with students who are at risk in terms of literacy and has spent much of her teaching career researching and working with these students.