The double entry diary

Over the past couple of weeks I have been defining content literacy in my own words. So far I have come up with something that goes like this: The ability to use reading and writing in all subjects through various creative content-specific strategies.

In class we have been learning different content-specific strategies and how to use them in the classroom. One of the strategies we learned is called the double entry diary. This is a great strategy that will help your students read texts that are difficult for them. It is a good way to organize your thoughts and ideas from readings. In class we made double entry diaries for three different types of texts. We had to make one for a chapter from the book Do I really have to teach reading: Content comprehension, grades 6-12, by Cris Tovani, we made another double entry diary for an article we read on small pox, and the third double entry diary was a math problem that our teacher gave us. Here is a picture of my double entry diary for chapter 2 in the Tovani text:

I organized my thoughts in two different categories. On the left I have different examples and quotes taken from the text and on the right is where I share my thoughts and connections that I make to the text. The double entry diary was very helpful for something like this because it made me think deeply about the text and different ways I could use the examples from the text in my classroom. 

This is a picture of my double entry diaries for the math problem and the article on smallpox. In my math classes I have to explain all of my math problems. So doing this double entry diary for math was no new to me. I think it would be a good strategy in the classroom, but I don’t think it is the most helpful strategy. The explanation on the right is exactly what you see on the left. I just don’t see these really helping students because you are just explaining the steps you took to solve the problem. The double entry diary for the smallpox article I did not find helpful at all. The article is a bunch of facts so on the left side I had a lot to write down, but on the right I had nothing to say because everything was already explained on the left.

I really enjoyed learning how to use the double entry diary. I definitely saw in class ways that it can be helpful and also ways that it isn’t helpful. I think this is a great strategy to use with your students if you use it for the right text. It is a great way to make you think deeper about different readings and have an organized way to write down your thoughts and connections. 

Our teacher has us listen to very interesting podcasts and this week we listened to a podcast from the Hempfield School District that talked about different content literacy strategies and how students need to stop relying on their teachers for answers. The teachers in the podcast were saying that students are now not challenging themselves to figure out their own problems. Instead they are going to the teacher to get the answer and not figure it out on their own. I can completely understand this because i know that when I was in middle school I would give up on my school work a lot. I would go to the teacher and ask for help. A lot of my teachers would just guide me to the answer, but I definitely had some teachers who would give me answers to problems out of frustration. I think it is important for teachers to figure out where the student is confused and help solve their confusion by guiding them to the right answer. Students need to discover answers on their own. There are many different strategies that can be used, and every teacher needs to find one because there will always be students that just want to  give up. 

Dr. JoAnne Deshon and The Critical Link Between Literacy 2.0 and Critical Science

            Dr. JoAnne Deshon is a very inspiring science teacher who has shared how she incorporates literacy into her classroom in the podcast The Critical Link Between Literacy 2.0 and Critical Science: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/critical-link-between-literacy/id357933877?i=81092235&mt=2

            I enjoyed listening to this podcast because it was interesting to hear from a teacher who teaches a subject that seems difficult to use literacy techniques in the classroom. She seems to have a passion for teaching and knows exactly how to use her time in the classroom effectively. Reading and writing is very important in the classroom. Dr. Deshon likes to use children’s literature because it motivates the kids. She uses it before, during, and after each unit. I love that idea of using it throughout the unit because it can help to summarize what they are learning. She explains that the quietest parts of her days are when she does read aloud in the classroom because the students love listening to the stories. By reading non-fiction books she can help clear up students misconceptions. Non-fiction science books allow students to hear about real life experiments that have been performed. Writing is very important in every classroom. In science class Dr. Deshon has the students keep daily journals. This is a great idea because it allows the students to reflect on what they learned that day or what they thought about a lab experiment that they did. Students are required to keep data tables and descriptions of each step of the experiments. She finds ways to use fun activities that involve literacy. For example, she has the class make a class newspaper together. That is a great activity because students would have a fun time making it. Her classes connect with science classes at other schools through podcasts and emails. She even has her students write the emails and communicate with the other students. All of these different activities are great ways to have the kids keeping up with their reading and writing. She demonstrates that not only English is a subject that involves reading and writing, but also every subject can find fun and interesting ways to incorporate literacy into the classroom. This podcast was very helpful and I recommend it to anyone who is interested in furthering his or her knowledge in content literacy. 

Introduction and Reflection on Content Literacy

Hi I am a college student who is studying middle school education in Southeast United States. My main focus is Mathematics, but I also have a secondary focus in Social Studies. This blog is for a course that is related to content literacy. I am really hoping to establish a network to help me as a teacher. I want to grow and learn more from other teachers and I feel that this is the perfect opportunity to do so. I have always dreamed of being a teacher. I come from a family of teachers and they showed me how important the profession is. I really enjoy working with kids even though it can be a challenge at times, but these challenges are what make me want to have the experiences and discover what is going on in the mind of these children. Kids are some of the most interesting people on the planet and I find that the way their mind works to be fascinating.

I now understand the importance of content literacy after reading the article, How Important is Teaching Literacy in All Content Areas?. I agree with this article and all the points it made. Literacy is very important to our students and she be taught by all teachers in every content area. Content is what we teach and literacy is the how. There are so many different effective strategies that can be used in the classroom to engage your students. Literacy includes reading, writing, speaking, and listening. Group discussions or small group discussions should always be an activity to use in the classroom. You can use it every content area. It is important that the teacher also participates by listening and adding in input to small groups as they walk through the classroom. Writing is an important skill that students will use throughout life. Writing helps make a sense of what you are learning and helps to make connections. Writing can be used in math by having students explain their answer and why the formula works. Every classroom can use strategies such as quick writes or short essays, and this will help the students create a deeper understanding about the content they are learning.

The article, National Writing Project, had some really important thoughts and ideas on the importance of content literacy. Every teacher should be a teacher of content literacy. All students need to learn different cognitive processes through reading in all different content areas. Teachers need to teach the classroom all different strategies for learning and literacy across all content areas and how to apply them to math, science, social studies, and English. It is very crucial to use different effective strategies to help students before, during, and after readings. Students need to question what they read and have different interpretations that they can share with each other. Math is a subject that is difficult to understand how to add in literacy to the curriculum. There are actually many different ways to make this possible. Math readings can provide students with mathematics history and models for types of thinking that is done by professional mathematicians. This helps students gain more confidence in participating in math class. Overall I believe that content literacy is very important in all areas of school. Every teach needs to be a teacher of reading, writing, speaking, and listening.