Entering the World of Disciplinary Literacy 101

Dr. Michael Manderino from Northern Illinois's Literacy Education program asks us, a classroom of mostly primary and intermediate elementary teachers, what exactly is disciplinary literacy? As we all look around at each other, eyes wide, all of us worried about stepping into a world that we've heard of but never actually lived, we all breathe in deeply--maybe hoping that the extra oxygen to our brains will help us in the creation of a concept not well known to us.

Well, Dr. Manderino...here is my first best try:

Disciplinary Literacy 101 by Jennifer Cortez

My understanding of disciplinary literacy is the way in which educators explicitly teach linguistic strategies in order to navigate the text of different disciplines. For example, a science report is completely different than how a historical report is structured. Therefore, there is a large need for students to be given a set of "tools" in order to understand the content. Content literacy is much different than disciplinary literacy; however when combined together, the two are a force to be reckoned with. Disciplinary literacy is the key that opens the door to the core content. As Dr. Elizabeth Moje asserts, what an exciting time to be teaching literacy.

Thinking back to my own experience as a learner of literacy from primary all the way up to collegiate, it is difficult to find a time in which I believe I was taught disciplinary literacy. I think it is very sad that many students, including myself, were never taught to navigate a text. If we, as educators, are able to help begin jump start the process, the better it will be for our future society.

So here is my claim:

All teachers, including elementary teachers, should teach disciplinary literacy.

Now, hang with me.

I have the unique perspective of being a content specialized teacher (literacy & social studies) in a 4th & 5th grade multiaged setting. This is a new format that my district just switched to this year. My students see me for half of the day, and then go to their STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, Mathematics) teacher for the other half of the day. Again, this is very new and my district is learning about what is working about this model and ways in which we can improve in order to maximize instruction. 

The ultimate goal for us, as educators, is to have students be independent and own their abilities. We want our children to be able to access any part of world. By accessing, I don't only mean being able to have the opportunity to interact with the world, I also mean being able to fully comprehend the world. What a great gift we have the opportunity to give our students. 

I still teach the same curriculum that has been used in the past. There are difficulties with this including curriculum overload in a smaller literacy time frame. As I was reading the literature for this module, it hit me. My district has the PERFECT opportunity to start the disciplinary literacy approach in the elementary levels.

Thus, I had a great idea. 

Let's teach HOW to tackle a mathematical problem and the linguistic implications that entail within that problem. 

Let's teach HOW to fully interact with a biographical sketch of Abraham Lincoln by being evaluative of the sources of the author.

Let's teach HOW an author makes a scientific claim and how to consider and dissect that claim.

Let's teach our students to be able to TALK about content in depth.

This can be done by elementary teachers taking on the approach of disciplinary literacy. In my district's case, let's have STEAM teachers approach those linguistically challenging scientific and mathematical content and explicitly teach how to read these texts. Let's have my district's literacy/social studies teachers educate students on how to read a historical document. It may be irresponsible of us to assume that students will be able to receive all of this instruction solely in a literacy classroom at the elementary level. With the rigor of common core and the rocketing expectations of students earlier in their academic careers, it may be worthwhile to teach disciplinary literacy in the elementary grades. 

The idea is scary, and boy, change is hard. But if we do not prepare our students from the get-go, they will be at a disadvantage for the rest of their lives.