HOW CAN WE DESIGN AND RESPOND TO THE DISCIPLINARY LITERACY NEEDS OF ADOLESCENTS?
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Running Head: HOW CAN WE DESIGN AND RESPOND TO THE DISCIPLINARY LITERACY NEEDS OF ADOLESCENTS?
How can we design and respond to the disciplinary literacy needs of adolescents?
Brent Werts
Clemson University
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HOW CAN WE DESIGN AND RESPOND TO THE DISCIPLINARY LITERACY NEEDS OF ADOLESCENTS?
ABSTRACT
To design and respond to the disciplinary literacy needs of adolescents, teachers must use designing inquiry and a task along with selecting appropriate disciplinary texts and scaffolding literate thinking to help students develop deep conceptual knowledge and skills that will prepare them for learning in school and life after graduation.
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HOW CAN WE DESIGN AND RESPOND TO THE DISCIPLINARY LITERACY NEEDS OF
ADOLESCENTS?
Adolescents of this day and age have tremendous knowledge in technology as compared to those of previous generations. It is therefore important to use designing inquiry and a task, as well as selecting appropriate disciplinary texts and scaffolding literate thinking to engage and interest the
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HOW CAN WE DESIGN AND RESPOND TO THE DISCIPLINARY LITERACY NEEDS OF ADOLESCENTS?
adolescents. It is also important for teachers to plan and adjust for the needs of students and this is how teachers design and respond to the disciplinary literacy needs of adolescents.
In any classroom there are students from many different backgrounds with many different learning interest and styles. Teachers must define what they want students to learn. It is therefore important to use designing inquiry and a task to motivate and engage students. “Motivation is a key element of learning and in particular adolescents increasingly turn to their peer groups for validation and support” (Frey/Fisher, 2010). Teachers must create a curiosity and interest about a topic to engage students. If some students are not interested the peer who is interested and enthusiastic can motivate the uninterested one. By putting students in groups and letting students choose specific tasks, then they are likely to do their best to gain approval from their peers. “A sense of belonging provides a foundation on which teachers can facilitate inquiry, collaboration and deep thinking for students” (Plaut, 2009). Teachers can purpose a discussion question to the class and engage all students to participate and give their thoughts and ideas and respond to classmate’s thoughts and ideas. It is important for students to work though their thoughts and ideas to come to a common goal of understanding. For example you want student to learn about WWII and the importance of this war in history. A teacher could introduce movie day into the class providing students with 3–4 similar movies about WWII,
noting that the students individually are allowed to choose which movie they watch. After the movie, students are then posed the question of what is important about this war for class discussion. Another example of designing inquiry and a task, is to have library day and propose
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HOW CAN WE DESIGN AND RESPOND TO THE DISCIPLINARY LITERACY NEEDS OF ADOLESCENTS?
a question for discussion. After discussion, the students go to the library and research to prove and support their theory. Teachers should relate materials to real world problems that students today can understand, so it is important to understand what students today are concerned about or interested in. “Only by making the classroom texts more engaging and by drawing on their ability to understand narrative — an ability they exhibit every day outside of school — can teachers turn alliterate young people into literate adults”(annenburginstitute, 2004).
Teachers and students must select appropriate disciplinary texts to engage students in learning and being curious about the world around them. If students are interested in learning about how to cook a turkey for Thanksgiving, the students should consult family members, cook books, internet food experts and watch food shows. The student should ask others how they cook their turkey and if possible sample cooked turkeys. Did the student like the taste of fried turkey or oven baked turkey. How do you deep fry a turkey, what type of oil do you use, what temperature should the oil be. If oven baked, what temperature does the oven have to be? What type of marinade was used on the turkey they like best? Does the student like stuffing inside the bird or not. How long should the bird be cooked to be done, but not dry. The student will have to research all the various inquiries to come to a conclusion. This fun example shows how
students can be empowered to think critically, promote reading, writing and communication and this is not just for turkey’s, but anything a student wants to learn about.
Scaffolding strategies can be designed to promote students’ knowledge especially when they may not be at a level of reading and understanding the lesson. For example, break down the
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HOW CAN WE DESIGN AND RESPOND TO THE DISCIPLINARY LITERACY NEEDS OF ADOLESCENTS?
lesson into small lessons and build upward, allowing for discussion and practice. Since students understand and learn at different levels it is important to offer options so all students feel included and not left behind. Another example of scaffolding is taking students on a field trip to a national historic site and providing information concerning the site’s importance and allowing student to explore the site. Upon return to the classroom the teacher can reference the field trip and build on the learned knowledge.
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HOW CAN WE DESIGN AND RESPOND TO THE DISCIPLINARY LITERACY NEEDS
OF ADOLESCENTS?
These techniques can be used to design and respond to the disciplinary literacy needs of adolescents to prepare them with knowledge that entices them in school and prepares them for life after graduation. “The expansion of information based technology, the internationalization of labor markets and the changing of workplace demands have increased the importance of literacy as an ingredient of economic and social participation” (Shanahan, 2008). It is by teaching students how to use designing inquiry and a task to selecting appropriate disciplinary texts and scaffolding literate thinking to empower them to use these skills for anything they wish to learn about. “The challenge for adolescent readers is that they lack highly specialized skills and knowledge, which are a prerequisite for engaging with complex disciplinary concepts. This leaves many of them, even those who have developed general comprehension strategies, ill-
equipped to read and learn from disciplinary texts independently. So, rather than drawing from a general toolbox of literacy skills to apply across disciplines, the goal of disciplinary literacy instruction from this perspective is for adolescents to develop multiple sets of highly specialized literacy tools that allow them to read like a historian and write like a scientist” (Education Leadership, 2017).
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HOW CAN WE DESIGN AND RESPOND TO THE DISCIPLINARY LITERACY NEEDS
OF ADOLESCENTS?
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HOW CAN WE DESIGN AND RESPOND TO THE DISCIPLINARY LITERACY NEEDS
OF ADOLESCENTS?
Adolescent Literacy. (2004, Winter/Spring). Retrieved November 19, 2017, from
Education Leadership: Literacy in Every Classroom: Three Directions for Disciplinary Literacy. (2017, February). Retrieved November 19, 2017, from www.ascd.org
Frey, N., & Fisher, D. (2010). Motivation Requires a Meaningful Task. English Journal, 100.1, 30–36. Retrieved November 19.2017
Plaut, S. (Ed.). (2009). The Right to Literacy in Secondary Schools: Creating a Culture of Thinking. New York: Teachers College Press.
Shanahan, T., & Shanahan, C. (2008, Spring). Teaching Disciplinary Literacy to Adolescents: Rethinking Content-Area Literacy. Retrieved November 19, 2017, from www.eoc.sc.gov
