Embedding Literacy Across the Curriculum

I had nearly 20 years in the field of education as an English teacher, alternative education teacher, district mentor, and reading specialist when I became the instructional coach at a high school in south Milwaukee.

During one of my first professional development (PD) sessions with my colleagues, I referred to the significance of the “four core” subjects and how important it was that specific ACT reading standards become an integral part of those disciplines.

After the PD, the music department chairperson gently explained how I had completely ignored her discipline, her department, and music’s worth in my PD. In truth, her discipline wasn’t on my radar—and that was the problem.

As an instructional coach and reading specialist, it was my job, my purpose, to gather together all disciplines and show teachers how standards could be seamlessly embedded into their content area—not as one more thing to do, but rather as a pedagogical and logical part of the lesson. What other subjects had I ignored?

In my work, it seems that most of my instructional coach colleagues tended to support, perhaps unknowingly, those classes where literacy seems a most natural fit. But it can be, perhaps, a little more challenging to embed literacy in classes where the content may not obviously lend itself to reading skills and strategies.

Focus on Literacy across all disciplines

If we are truly going to talk about reading, then we must focus on reading in all disciplines, not just the ones that are being tested. When we teach “reading across the curriculum”—a well-worn phrase to be sure—we are enhancing all disciplines and, as a result, significantly improving a student’s ability to do well, not just on a standardized test but most notably in the classroom and beyond.

According to the National Council of Teachers of English, “The research is clear: discipline-based instruction in reading and writing enhances student achievement in all subjects. Studies show that reading and writing across the curriculum are essential to learning. Without strategies for reading course material and opportunities to write thoughtfully about it, students have difficulty mastering concepts.” 

This approach can help students learn how to read and write for different purposes and can also reinforce learning across all areas.

What can instructional coaches, teaching and learning coordinators, and curriculum leaders do to ensure that all disciplines are, indeed, a part of the reading conversation?

Know your state’s standards

This is more than just a cursory read-through. Highlight the skills within those standards. As an example, in my book, Clearing the Path for Developing Learners: Essential Literacy Skills to Support Achievement in Every Content Area, I highlight four states and their standards: Wisconsin Academic Standards, California Content Standards, Wyoming Content and Performance Standards, and the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education Frameworks.  

While these states have differing language regarding their standards, all states require their ninth- and 10th-grade English language arts students to determine a (theme or) central idea of a text. That phrase now becomes a skill. Let’s say the Health teacher is teaching a lesson about the connection between nutrition and mental health: I might recommend that students read a brief paragraph and determine the theme—the main or central idea—within that passage. Therefore, students are applying the standard within the lesson; there is no extra lesson being written or extra work being done.

Observe all disciplines

While this may seem obvious, we cannot respectfully collaborate with teachers without observing their discipline. All disciplines require specific vocabulary to learn and understand; if you’re not sure what to look for or how to support a teacher in an unfamiliar discipline, begin with the vocabulary. As an example, I’m English certified; I am not an art teacher or a physical education teacher or a family and consumer education teacher. But I certainly appreciate the learning that goes into those subjects. However, I can still support my colleagues by becoming familiar with the vocabulary of their respective disciplines. 

Let’s take art as an example. The freshmen art teacher is introducing art terms to her students. I might offer a vocabulary development guide (inspired by Doug Buehl’s Classroom Strategies for Interactive Learning) as a way to help students remember and use art terms correctly and confidently. In observing all disciplines, you will gain an understanding of what teachers need and how to support them in their work.

Be resource-ready

When meeting with teachers, have your reading skills resources available—graphic organizers, concept maps, charts, outlines, journals—whatever students need to apply those standards to the work they’re doing in class. For example, you might say, “Today I’m going to observe Family and Consumer Science class for the first time this year. Since this is my first observation, I’m going to bring an all-inclusive strategy that might be helpful to the teacher and their students.” 

Being able to summarize is a skill that is necessary in all content areas. I would therefore bring a summary graphic organizer, such as Using the 5Ws and How to Find Information, found in Janet Allen’s More Tools for Teaching Content Literacy, to this class. During discussion, students could keep track of the who, what, where, when, and why of the discussion. From that information, they can write a brief summary. Being resource ready encourages inspiration and opportunity. In sharing your resources, the teacher has the chance to revise or modify those resources based on what their students need. 

We know it’s easy to focus on disciplines we feel most comfortable supporting; however, we do our colleagues and our students a great injustice if we’re merely giving lip service to reading across the curriculum and not actually embracing it as a part of our practice.