Did you know that our students read in every lesson?
If you ask our students where they use literacy skills they will tell you in English lessons, and I’m sure the same response comes naturally to teachers too. They probably won't tell us the following though: Facebook posts, Twitter feeds, subtitles, online news articles, etc and yet all these are forms of literature.
For us at CRGS we need to look at our literacy across the curriculum. With each teacher considering their subject areas and understanding the level of literature that each subject exposes their students to and how it enables students to access the vast curriculum offered at secondary education.
In English, Humanities and Science this answer is obvious. In English we don't stop reading and analysing texts, using comprehension strategies, skimming, scanning, close reading, perhaps a little reciprocal reading practice. Historical accounts and scientific research take in the general insights into the topic area with more focus on dates and results.
But something doesn't add up in some subject areas and we don't fully understand the game. Maths and Physical Education stand out nationally and will feel at present that this is “Not subject specific enough” or “Not relevant for my subject” when looking at literacy skills- a comment which was uttered by many practitioners at the ‘Reading across the curriculum’ conference I attended recently.
So, what would help the areas beyond the use of traditional literacy feel more enthusiastic about embedding literacy into their subject?
Physical Education learners are often experts at modelling high-quality speaking and listening at KS3, but at KS4 Physical Education presents advanced reading and writing demands in a scientific context. Physical Education content knowledge is established through text, diagrams, photographs and data as well as pitch-side analysis.
"James borrows 8 books from the library he only manages to read three before they are due back. It costs him £3.40 for every day he is late and it takes him four days to read each book. How much will James owe if he doesn't return his books until he has completed them all." (Answer: £68.00- please concentrate).
Above is an example of a Maths problem which uses subject specific vocabulary. Mathematicians need to read a problem slowly, closely, evaluating the significance of every word. The skimming and scanning techniques recommended for other subjects may not work for them. Grammatical words like “a”, “the” and “each” matter, but the character and setting do not.
So, how do our students work through this without support from their subject teacher with their reading? All that happens when we don’t scaffold subject specific reading is that students are able to decode but not fully understand what is being asked of them and it becomes ‘high threat’. We need to take this threat away by understanding “reading” is a part of every subject in CRGS and the curriculum. Read the question! Read the question! Is what we say as teachers year after year even the moments before they walk into the GCSE exam hall.
As well as thinking about specific reading practices, teachers of STEM subjects will need to teach the vocabulary in their discipline. It is becoming more apparent that students are noting key terminology from other subjects and personally speaking I have experienced (especially with KS3) they are bringing that terminology to the ‘Word Spies’ activity in an English lesson. But would it not make more sense for this tier two and three vocabulary, pulling out concepts and unlocking of the curriculum through definitions/etymology to be championed by the expert? That’s you! I can tell you now that it would be much more valuable if the definition comes from the subject teacher than an English teacher using ‘Online Etymology Dictionary’.
Reading and literacy skills are the fundamentals to understanding your subjects better (even more so now with the ‘Recovery Curriculum’ being at the forefront of the DfE’s agenda). They prompt the love of learning and encourage learning beyond the classroom.
Let's open the conversation on how we can improve reading and literacy skills across all our departments. Can we make subject specific literature as the beating heart of the lesson?
“Reading is essential for those who seek to rise above the ordinary.” - Jim Rohn
Article written by Jessica Everill, English
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