Literacy beyond ELA

It should be noted that literacy goes far beyond the scope of the ELA classroom. It should not be the responsibility of one teacher to provide a students' entire literacy experience. With different subjects there comes a whole new set of demands and skills that need to be addressed in the context of the subject. As a collaborative science teacher, I see a variety of struggles in the classroom that can not be left to ELA teacher to "fix." In science, students struggle with non-fiction writings and decoding various concept representations such as diagrams, charts, graphs, and maps. It's funny because I used to think literacy was confined to simply reading books, but now I think that any sort of communication should be considered literacy. If students are unable to communicate their knowledge or understanding about the curriculum in the forms accepted by a certain discipline we must ask ourselves if they are really learning. Most definitions of literacy include having the ability to use language proficiently; so if a student understands why the sky is blue but cannot communicate this knowledge, is that student really proficient in that subject? If this is the case, how can we incorporate literacy in the classroom so that we can effectively teach our students but still have time to actually teach the curriculum?

In this blog I hope to find strategies that will help teachers address literacy in every classroom. The ability to communicate knowledge is an invaluable skill and should be made a priority. Additionally, most literacy skills will help students in a variety of subjects and carried into later grades. We want to create great learners that will enter the world with a range of skills that will help them to get jobs. Obviously it is great to have a student be the master of a 6th grade science curriculum, but is this going to get them a job when they graduate. It is not that the curriculum should be swept aside, its just that literacy should be considered when planning a lesson or unit. I know its scary but lets try to think outside the box.