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.