Think Outside the Textbook: Harnessing Content Literacy

Dr. Shannon Clapsaddle, Dr. Larry Bohannon, and Carrie Mueller ______________________________________________________

Think Outside the Textbook: Harnessing Content Literacy

“I don’t know how to teach reading. I’m not an English teacher, I’m a science teacher!” marked the beginning of our unexpected collaborative relationship several years ago. Gone are the days of clinging to to the idea that, although departmentalized, teachers are responsible for their content only (Fisher & Ivey, 2005). Teaching high school in Illinois, the authors found the intersection of Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) and Common Core State Standards in English Language Arts (CCSS ELA) presented new opportunities for teachers to rethink what content area literacy looks like in middle and high school content classes. This intersection also exists among the Oklahoma Academic Standards for Science (OASS) and the Oklahoma Academic Standards for English Language Arts (OAS for ELA), particularly when considering the OAS for ELA Employability Skills. While NGSS and OASS require students to go beyond surface facts and figures to gain a deeper understanding of science content, the expectation that students encounter a wider range of reading materials increased with CCSS ELA in the Content Areas and the OAS for ELA. This article outlines a collaborative effort between a reading teacher and a science teacher, who teaches biology, physical earth science, forensics, and chemistry, to address the new standards, as well as to increase the amount of time spent reading and number of texts students read in various science classes.

Norris and Phillips (2002) described science literacy as both derived, or “being knowledgeable, learned, and educated in science” and fundamental, or “reading and writing when the content is science” within their claim that fundamental literacy skills are essential to science literacy (p. 224). If educators expect students to learn science from texts, we also must foster the literacy skills required to do so. We knew that many of our students were struggling readers because they were enrolled in mandatory remedial reading classes, and we knew that many of our students had learned to hate both science and reading based upon the interest inventories that students completed in their reading classes at the beginning of the year. Textbook reading was particularly difficult for many of our students who were struggling readers (Allington, 2002). Ivey (2002) explained, “Even the best strategies in the world will not help students read something that presents unfamiliar concepts in language far beyond their reach” (p. 20). We knew that new standards required us to provide students with opportunities to read more informational texts, and we wanted to incorporate texts that would enhance both students’ derived and fundamental literacy skills.

As we began our collaborative efforts, we discovered that a source of hesitation from the science content area teacher surfaced and needed to be addressed. The science teacher, although an avid reader herself, had little background or professional development in teaching literacy in her content area. The reading teacher knew that this

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was typical because, although she began her career in teaching English Language Arts, she did not know what to do when her students were unable to access the ELA curriculum. This encouraged her to seek professional development through graduate coursework where she earned a Reading Specialist Certification. We addressed the hesitation and knowledge gap in content area literacy instruction by focusing on a few research-based reading principles to address new standards and to grow the literacy skills of our students.

Three basic research-based principles guided our efforts to select books to read in science classes, as well as the activities we designed for those texts. First, students need to engage in high success reading (Allington, 2008). Nobody likes to engage in activities in which they do not feel successful. This meant that our students, many of whom had been placed in a freshman remedial reading class prior to or while concurrently enrolled in a Physical Earth Science class, would need to choose books that allowed for high success reading, as well as for differentiation. Second, adolescents need time during the school day to engage in reading (Jolliffe & Harl, 2008). We knew that our students were representative of most students, who read less than one hour per day. We wanted to increase the amount of time they spent reading during the school day. Third, students must be provided with strategies instruction to apply to literacy tasks, and those strategies should by modeled within content instruction, not separate from content instruction (Fisher & Ivey, 2005). We chose a few strategies and repeated them to help students internalize the strategies to become more strategic readers of nonfiction. The following describes the process of our collaborative efforts to implement these principles in a physical earth science class with Kamkwamba’s (2009) The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind.

Class: 10 th Grade Physical Earth Science Text: The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind, by William Kamkwamba Timeframe: 1 day (part of 50-minute class period) per week for 13 weeks

Selecting the Text

After reading The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind, we realized it could be utilized in the Physical/Earth Science curriculum to reinforce some of the concepts involved in our unit of electricity and machines, which can be aligned with OASS for Physical Science (Figure 1). The book is a biography of Kamkwamba’s struggles growing up in poverty in Malawi. When his family can no longer afford to send him to school, Kamkwamba took his education into his own hands by visiting the local library and reading about things in which he was interested. He stumbled across a book that helped him explore his life-long interest in electricity and machines. He decided to build a windmill to generate electricity for the benefit of himself and his family. This project ended up garnering world-wide attention, and Kamkwamba’s life changed for the better. Ultimately, Kamkwamba embarked on a self-directed STEM project that combined his interests and necessities to survive.

In addition to the science content, this text presented opportunities to help students bridge informational text, which is essential reading to understand science content, and narrative text, which includes characters and a plot. When students struggle to comprehend content area texts, they often struggle to connect with the information, so

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providing content-laden informational text that also includes a story structure with characters and a plot can help students to garner essential content by connecting with the characters and plot. These types of text (Figure 1) represented a deviation from more typical textbook or informational texts assigned in science classes, and we suspected that the texts would enhance student engagement, while also supporting content learning.

Finding the Time

At first, we struggled to determine when we could fit reading a book into the already full curriculum. After examining the schedule, we realized that quizzes were administered on a weekly basis, and students did not utilize entire class periods to take each quiz. After the weekly quiz, students completed word searches or crossword puzzles. Although these activities were seemingly literacy-related, the students’ vocabulary and comprehension skills and knowledge were not strengthened by completing them. Our starting point, then, was to use the time we found after each weekly curriculum-based quiz to incorporate time for literacy strategy instruction, as well as time for reading.

Incorporating Reading Strategies

We wanted students to learn specific reading strategies that they could internalize and repeat in science class, as well as in other content area classes, to help them become more strategic readers of nonfiction. We assigned sections of the text at a time, and students were expected to read independently and create an artifact that showed evidence of their comprehension of the text in the form of written paragraphs or completed graphic organizers. We wanted to hold students accountable for their reading, as well as to assess their understanding of the targeted content.

We chose two main literacy strategies to directly teach and repeat as students read the book. The first literacy strategy was using an open approach to interpreting student responses to open-ended questions, which we sometimes modified from Think About It bookmarks (Burke, 2002). The second literacy strategy was using a graphic organizer entitled Episodic Notes (Burke, 2002). This graphic organizer requires students to draw pictures of content they read, as well as to caption and describe the pictures they draw. In addition to these literacy strategies, we also used class discussion to clarify elements of the text; these class discussions surrounded both teacher-generated and student-generated questions about the text.

Open approach to open-ended questions. We chose an open approach to interpreting how students of various reading abilities comprehended the text instead of quizzing students on more specific information. An open approach involved asking questions about the text that required students to reflect upon and write about what they read and to provide textual evidence. An open approach did not involve asking questions for which there was one correct response. Examples of open approach questions that we modified from Burke’s (2002) Think About It bookmarks (p. 139) included the following: What are some of the items William has made from scratch? (chapter 3) What are some of the items William uses in his business repairing radios? (chapter 4)

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Would you have been able to start a business at William’s age? (chapter 4) What are some of the things that William wants to do with the windmill? (chapter 9) What are some of the items that William is using to make the windmill? (chapter 9) What are some of the tactics William uses to stay in school? (chapter 10) Why is school so important to William? (chapter 10) Would you have been supportive of William, like his friend Gilbert, or would you have been skeptical, like the villagers? (chapter 10) What has been your greatest accomplishment so far? Compare your accomplishment with William’s accomplishment. (chapter 11)

Episodic Notes graphic organizer. For other sections of reading assigned, they summarized what they read by using Burke’s (2002) Episodic Notes (pp. 144-145). The Episodic Notes served as a graphic organizer in which they sketched and described 3-6 main points from the text they read. Drawing pictures of the content of the text requires students to visualize what they are reading, which becomes a memory anchor or cue for the content.

Discussions. A few times we held a class discussion to address Kamkwamba’s descriptions of his culture, such as the stories adults told children about magic to frighten them, the differences in schooling between Malawi and the United States, and traditions of gender in Kamkwamba’s culture. Although these discussions did not address specific science objectives or standards, the discussions allowed students to begin to understand how information and learning can be impacted by culture, which is addressed by the OAS for ELA Standard 3: Critical Reading and Writing. These discussions allowed some students to think about this from their own culture as well as the culture represented in the text.

Implementing the strategies. To implement each new strategy, we read a selection of text aloud with students and modeled responding to the text with the strategy. For example, to use Think About It bookmarks, the teacher verbally responded to each of the prompts with examples from the text that was read aloud, as well as asked students for examples. Students answered as many of the prompts as they wished in one paragraph. To use Episodic Notes, the teacher read a few pages of the book and asked students what pictures they could draw and how they could caption those pictures; the teacher also modeled drawing and captioning. After introducing and modeling a strategy, students were then able to work independently with the text and strategies.

Assessment

At the onset of our initiative to incorporate literacy instruction in science classes, assessment was a concern, and we needed to clarify how we would address assessing both science content and literacy skills. Initially, assessing student literacy skills was a source of hesitation to incorporate literacy instruction in a science class because the science teacher had a perception that, because she had little background in teaching literacy skills, she would struggle to clearly instruct and assess literacy skills.

Science teachers are not English teachers, but that does not mean they do not know about writing. Science teachers know that complete sentences start with a capital

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letter and end with a punctuation mark. Science teachers recognize that writing for scientific purposes should be clear, concise, and descriptive. Science teachers can identify textual evidence and references to text within student responses. Science teachers also use technical, scientific vocabulary, and they support students’ acquisition of scientific terminology.

As we unpacked our perceptions of content area teachers and who is responsible for teaching literacy skills, we realized that, although we may not have been taught how to teach literacy strategies, we had been assessing literacy skills regardless of this. Literacy strategies instruction improved our students’ literacy skills, however, because we were explicitly teaching the literacy skills through strategies instruction instead of simply assessing the literacy skills inherent in our students’ abilities to communicate their knowledge of science objectives.

Clear, open, assessment expectations. We decided that students would write four complete sentences for each set of writing prompts for an assigned section of text, and the students were relieved when they were provided with clear, but open, expectations for their writing. Students were instructed to answer as many of the prompts as they wanted as long as they included four complete sentences that started with a capital letter, ended with a period, and included a noun and a verb that went together. Our decision to require four sentences was based upon both the abilities of the students, many of whom experienced struggles with literacy, as well as our desire that students completed the reading and writing during the class (after the weekly quiz) instead of as homework. Our assessment remained uncomplicated, and by leaving it open-ended, we found that students showed us more learning than we might have asked them to produce in more closed-ended multiple-choice or short answer assessments.

Differentiation

In order to differentiate reading the text for students or for time, the sections of the text can be eliminated to focus on specific science content. For example, it is not necessary to have students read all of the narrative about the details about the famine to understand that William, his family, and the entire country were starving and it changed everything. Additionally, students who struggled significantly with reading did not need to read entire sections of text assigned in order to respond to the writing prompts provided. Individual students with disabilities were directed to read specific pages to answer questions in the writing prompts provided. For more significant support for English Language Learners who might not have the language abilities to tackle the text, there is a children’s picture book and a book for middle grades students written at a 4 th -6 th grade level that can be used to accompany the text or instead of the text.

What They Learned

One student included Kamkwamba’s motivation to build the windmill when he wrote, “William is reading about integrated science and physics and electromagnetic induction. He wants to build a windmill so his family won’t go hungry in December and January. He wants to use it to grow tomatoes and potatoes. He’d use the blades, a shaft, and rotor, some wires and something to generate electricity from the movement of the blades.” This student demonstrated comprehension of the OAS Crosscutting Concept in

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the Physical Science Standards for Motion and Stability, Cause and Effect: Systems can be designed to create a desired effect.

The book elegantly details the differences between alternating and direct current, and many advanced concepts involved with circuit-building and engineering. One student summarized her understanding of how Kamkwamba constructed the windmill based upon her reading of chapter 9 when she wrote, “He was reading about books with mechanical things to help him figure out his windmill. He wants to use it to generate power. He used metal, copper, and a rubber belt. He also used copper, wheels, gears he made from soda caps, and a motor.” This student touched upon the Interdependence of Science, Engineering, and Technology concept that, “Modern civilization depends upon major technological systems…” within the OAS Physical Science Standard for Energy.

A few shared experiences in their writing about how the book made them realize they were very lucky to have the things they do. Students were struck by the lengths Kamkwamba went to go to school, and reflected upon their own level of dedication. One student wrote about chapter 10, “School was important to William because he want[ed] the right amount of knowledge like everyone else. Having to deal with school fees he was determined to still learn even though he couldn’t be in class. I think I wouldn’t have done all of the things William did to stay in school.” Although this reflection did not address a specific science standard, it is evidence that the student was able to begin to garner a more global perspective of school and scientific learning.

When using Burke’s (2002) Episodic Notes strategy (pp. 144-145), students drew pictures of what they read and included captions that described those pictures. The pictures showed us that students were visualizing the content they were reading, which is a literacy skill that impacts comprehension of the content. For chapter 12, One student drew a step-up transformer and wrote, “William used diagrams [that described] how to make his own step-up transformer.” He also drew a picture of a flip-flip and wrote, “William constructed more and more and used random things he found, like flip-flops, to make a switch.” Another student, who was an English Language Learner, drew a boy reading a book and wrote, “William learning about mutual induction.” He also drew William climbing to the top of his windmill and wrote, “William was adding three light bulbs to the bike after he had the battery.” For chapter 13, one student drew a radio and wrote, “William and Gilbert start their own radio broadcast.” She also drew William with a bucket of corn and wrote, “William managed to get almost a pail full of corn from the government during the famine.” She also drew a picture of William and another person and wrote, “William was offered a lot of money for his corn he purchased, and he turned it down.” The Episodic Notes could be used to show that students were learning skills through literacy strategies instruction that address OAS for ELA Employability Skills in Applied Knowledge: Reading, “Read and comprehend documents ranging from simple and straightforward to more complex and detailed,” which is correlated with the OAS for ELA Standard 2: Reading and Writing Processes.

What We Learned

Stories about science are inspiring to students who otherwise may seem disconnected from the content that we love. Reading William’s story provided opportunities for students to connect with elements of the plot while engaging in contextualized science content that we wanted them to explore. When we teach this text

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in the future, we will also include a culminating project in which students build their own windmills and explore alternative energy.

We also learned that a book can expand the students’ perspectives and experiences of the world in general. Several students commented that they knew that some African countries are economically-depressed, but had no idea the lengths to which that was true. The girls often commented on the way women are treated as opposed to men, and they were surprised to learn that there are still cultures that rely on a dowry system for marrying their children. These discussions touched upon the OAS for ELA Standard 3: Critical Reading and Writing standard which requires students to “…comprehend, interpret, evaluate, and respond to a variety of complex texts…from a variety of historical, cultural, ethnic, and global perspectives.” The science content was married seamlessly to the culture in which William was learning it, and the students were immersed into it.

Concluding Thoughts

While reading Kamkwamba’s story in a physical earth science class, students connected to the text they were provided in ways that they could not connect with a traditional textbook. They were able to explain and describe scientific concepts, but beyond that, they were able to use the texts to draw conclusions and to think about science and their worlds differently. In our experiences, including informational text to support science curriculum impacts students’ derived and fundamental literacy skills. An appropriately selected, compelling, content-specific text can change the way we read about, write about, and talk about science in the classroom.

Dr. Shannon Clapsaddle is an assistant professor in Leadership, Middle, & Secondary Education at Southeast Missouri State University. She may be reached at sclapsaddle@semo.edu

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Dr. Larry Bohannon is a professor Early Childhood, Elementary, & Special Education at Southeast Missouri State University. He may be reached at rlbohannon@semo.edu

Ms. Carrie Mueller is a science teacher at Carbondale Community High School. She may be reached at carrie.mueller@cchs165.com

References Allington, R. L. (2002). You can't learn much from books you can't read. Educational

Leadership,60(3), 16-19.

Allington, R. L. (2008). What really matters in response to intervention: Research-based designs. NY: Allyn & Bacon.

Burke, J. (2002). Tools for thought: Helping all students read, write, speak, and think. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

Fisher, D., & Ivey, G. (2005). Literacy and language as learning in content-area classes: A departure from “every teacher a teacher of reading.” Action in Teacher Education, 27(2), 3-11.

French, T. (2010). Zoo story: Life in the garden of captives. Hachette UK.

Ivey, G. (2002). Getting started: Manageable literacy practices. Educational Leadership, 60(3), 20-23.

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Jolliffe, D. A., & Harl, A. (2008). Studying the "reading transition" from high school to college: What are our students reading and why? College English, 70(6), 599-617.

Kamkwamba, W., & Mealer, B. (2009). The boy who harnessed the wind: Creating currents of electricity and hope. New York: Harper Collins.

Norris, S. P., & Phillips, L. M. (2003). How literacy in its fundamental sense is central to scientific literacy. Science education, 87(2), 224-240.

Sheinkin, S. (2012). Bomb: The race to build--and steal--the world's most dangerous weapon. New York: Macmillan.

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Figure 1 Informational Text, Science Class, Topics, and OAS for Science Alignment

Informational Text The Boy Who Harnessed The Wind: Creating Currents of Electricity and Hope by William Kamkwamba & Bryan Mealer

Science Class Physical Science, Physics

Topics

Electrical circuits, electrical current

OASS Alignment

HS-PS2-4 Motion and Stability: Forces and Interactions: Magnets or electric currents cause magnetic fields; electric charges or changing magnetic fields cause electric fields.

HS-PS2-5 Motion and Stability: Forces and Interactions: “Electrical energy” may mean energy stored in a battery or energy transmitted by electric currents.

Bomb: The Race To Build (and Steal) The World’s Most Dangerous Weapon by Steve Sheinkin

Physical Science, Chemistry

Nuclear chemistry, safety, chain reactions, nuclear decay

HS-PS3-3 Energy: Definitions of Energy: At the macroscopic scale, energy manifests itself in multiple ways, such as in motion, sound, light, and thermal energy. HS-PS1-1 Matter and Its Interactions: Each atom has a charged substructure consisting of a nucleus, which is made of protons and neutrons, surrounded by electrons.

HS-PS1-5 Matter and Its Interactions: Chemical processes, their rates, and whether or not energy is stored or released can be understood in terms of the collisions of molecules and the rearrangements of atoms into new molecules, with consequent changes in the sum of all bond energies in the set of molecules that are matched by changes in kinetic energy.

HS-PS1-8 Matter and Its Interactions: Nuclear processes, including fusion, fission, and

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A Zoo Story: Life In The Garden Of Captives by Thomas French

Biology, Conservation Biology, Ecology

Conservation, endangered species, animal behavior, wildlife management, human impact on natural populations

radioactive decays of unstable nuclei, involve release or absorption of energy. HS-LS2-1 Ecosystems: Interactions, Energy, and Dynamics: Ecosystems have carrying capacities, which are limits to the numbers of organisms and populations they can support. These limits result from such factors as the availability of living and nonliving resources and from such challenges such as predation, competition, and disease. Organisms would have the capacity to produce populations of great size were it not for the fact that environments and resources are finite. This fundamental tension affects the abundance (number of individuals) of species in any given ecosystem.

HS-LS2-8 Ecosystems: Interactions, Energy, and Dynamics: Group behavior has evolved because membership can increase the chances of survival for individuals and their genetic relatives.

HS-LS4-5 Biological Unity and Diversity: Changes in the physical environment, whether naturally occurring or human induced, have thus contributed to the expansion of some species, the emergence of new distinct species as populations diverge under different conditions, and the decline–and sometimes the extinction–of some species.

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