University of Southern California Dissertations and Theses

Literacy across the disciplines

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Literacy across the disciplines

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Content Running head: LITERACY ACROSS THE DISCIPLINES
LITERACY ACROSS THE DISCIPLINES
by
Julie Lynne Graham
A Dissertation Presented to the
FACULTY OF THE USC ROSSIER SCHOOL OF EDUCATION
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
In Partial Fulfillment of the
Requirements for the Degree
DOCTOR OF EDUCATION
May 2020
Copyright 2019 Julie Lynne Graham
LITERACY ACROSS THE DISCIPLINES 1

TABLE OF CONTENTS
List of Tables 3
Abstract 4
Chapter One: Introduction 5
Statement of the Problem 5
Context 5
Problem of Practice 7
Goal 9
Evidence for the Problem 9
Importance of the Problem 11
Instructional Needs Assessment 12
Curriculum Description and Purpose 13
Curriculum Goal, Outcomes and Capstone Assessment 13
Definition of Terms 14
The Designer’s Positionality 16
Organization of the Design Blueprint 17
Chapter Two: Review of the Literature 18
The Content of the Curriculum 18
Why Are Some Students More Likely to Become Poor Readers? 18
Historical Context: Reading by 9 21
General Literacy Strategies Across Disciplines to Support Struggling
Adolescent Readers 23
Disciplinary Literacy Strategies to Promote High Achievement in the Content
Areas for Struggling Adolescent Readers 25
Prior Attempts and Analysis to Address Reading in Single Subject Environments 27
Approaches to Curriculum Design 29
Adult Learning Approaches 29
Expectancy Value Theory 29
Social Cognitive Theory 30
Cognitive Load Theory 30
Chapter Three: The Learners and the Learning Context 31
Learner Profile 31
Ability 31
Cognitive Characteristics 32
Physiological Characteristics 32
Self-Efficacy 32
Affective Characteristics 33
Social Characteristics 33
Prior Knowledge 34
General World Knowledge 34
Specific Prior Knowledge 34
Description of the Learning Environment 35
Facilitator Characteristics 35
Existing Curricula/Programs 35

LITERACY ACROSS THE DISCIPLINES 2

Available Equipment and Technology 36
Classroom Facilities and Learning Climate 36
Chapter Four: The Curriculum 37
Overall Curriculum Goal, Outcomes, and Summative Assessment 37
Curriculum Goal 37
Curriculum Outcomes 38
Summative Assessment 38
Cognitive Task Analysis (Information Processing Analysis) 39
General Instructional Methods Approach 40
Description of Specific Learning Activities 41
Sequence of the Units 42
Scope and Sequence 48
Delivery Media Selection 50
Key Considerations in Choosing Media 50
General Instructional Platform Selection 51
Specific Media Choices 52
Delivery Costs 52
Chapter Five: Implementation and Evaluation Plan 52
Implementation of the Course 53
Implementation of the Evaluation Plan 55
Curriculum Purpose, Need and Expectations 55
Evaluation Framework 55
Level 4: Results and Leading Indicators 56
Level 3: Behavior 58
Critical Behaviors 58
Required Drivers 59
Organizational Support 61
Level 2: Learning 62
Learning Goals 62
Components of Learning Evaluation 62
Level 1: Reaction 64
Evaluation Tools 65
Immediately Following the Program Implementation 65
Delayed for a Period After the Program Implementation 66
Conclusion to the Curriculum Design 66
REFERENCES 68
Appendices
Appendix A: Overview of the course/workshop/curriculum
Appendix B: Integrated Instructor’s Guide to the Unit Lesson Plans, Materials, and Assessments
Appendix C: Evaluation Instruments (Immediate and Delayed)

LITERACY ACROSS THE DISCIPLINES 3

List of Tables

Table 1: Units and Time Allocation 42
Table 2: Scope and Sequence
49
Table 3: Specific Media Choices 52
Table 4: Indicators, Metrics, and Methods for External and Internal Outcomes 57
Table 5: Critical Behaviors, Metrics, Methods, and Timing for Evaluation 58
Table 6: Required Drivers to Support Critical Behaviors 60
Table 7: Evaluation of the Components of Learning for the Program 63
Table 8: Components to Measure Reactions to the Program 64

LITERACY ACROSS THE DISCIPLINES 4

Abstract
Learning to read and write across disciplines is an essential part of preparing students to
be productive citizens, yet the majority of students in the state of California are entering
secondary school lacking foundational literacy skills. Solving this problem requires a
mulit-faceted approach that includes all teachers on a middle school or high school campus. This
curriculum is designed to prepare content area, single subject teachers to incorporate literacy
strategies into daily classroom practice in order to increase content area knowledge while
strengthening literacy skills. The curriculum is based upon a cognitive task analysis and is
designed to be delivered across a two day training. Teachers who do not already specialize in
literacy will learn how to take an inventory of student needs, utilize note-taking strategies, and
select high-interest, leveled texts to support struggling readers. They will also learn how to
effectively teach content area vocabulary, increase comprehension, scaffold written responses
and design assessments for feedback, growth, and celebrations of student learning . The activities
utilized within this course enable content area teachers to apply new literacy knowledge and
skills directly into classroom practice. In order to increase the likelihood of transfer and
implementation, the course culminates with the learners redesigning a current content area unit
of study. The overall goal of this course is to empower teachers to meet the diverse literacy
needs of their students in all content area classrooms.

LITERACY ACROSS THE DISCIPLINES 5

CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION
Statement of the Problem
Context
Learning to read across disciplines is an essential part of preparing students to be
productive citizens, yet the majority of students in the state of California are entering secondary
school lacking foundational literacy skills. Children begin the process of developing literacy
skills prior to becoming school aged. These skills are supported by adults who act as language
and literacy models. Foundational reading and writing skills typically begin to emerge when
students enter kindergarten classrooms and are taught phonemic awareness, phonics, simple
decoding, and early comprehension of written text. As students move through the early grades,
these skills are further developed so that, by third grade, a typical student demonstrates the
fluency needed to gain meaning from more complicated texts. In addition, by this age, emphasis
shifts from learning to read to reading to learn. Students should now be able to dive deeper into
subjects like science, social students, mathematics, and other discipline-specific content areas
because they have the ability to learn from books and other forms of text. Elementary school
teachers are highly trained to guide students through the developmental stages of reading, but,
due to a variety of factors, not all children follow the same trajectory. So, what happens to
students who do not successfully learn to read from their elementary teachers before
matriculating to junior high and high school? As the complexity of the content standards
increase in junior high and high school, how do educators address the needs of students who lack
sufficient literacy skills?

LITERACY ACROSS THE DISCIPLINES 6

In California, the Commission on Teacher Credentialing (CTC) is the governing body
that decides the standards for licensing and credentialing of professional educators to serve
public school students. According to the CTC website, the mission of the commission is “ To
ensure integrity, relevance, and high quality in the preparation, certification, and discipline of the
educators who serve all of California's diverse students” (CTC, 2018). In the context of K-12
education, teacher candidates generally choose one of two pathways: a multiple subject
credential or a single subject credential. Those who choose to pursue a multiple subject
credential are required to take a broad range of courses designed to prepare them to teach a
variety of subjects at the elementary level. These courses might include mathematics, English
language arts, general science, social science, art, and physical education. Most of these courses
will emphasize literacy as a key component across all content areas. In addition, these educators
are expected to demonstrate competency in comprehensive reading instruction that includes the
systematic study of phonemic awareness, phonics, and decoding; literature, language and
comprehension; and diagnostic and early intervention techniques. These knowledge and skills
are tested using the Reading Instruction Competence Assessment (RICA; CTC, 2018). A
passing score on the RICA is a requirement for teaching in an elementary classroom. This is
meant to ensure that all elementary teachers are well prepared to deliver reading instruction that
is developmentally appropriate and that prepares students to not only “learn to read,” but to also
“read to learn.” If a student leaves elementary school without foundational literacy skills, he or
she will no longer receive the benefit of the extensive training of multiple subject teachers.
A typical middle school or high school consists mostly of teachers with single subject
credentials who are grouped by discipline to create departmental subcultures with the primary

LITERACY ACROSS THE DISCIPLINES 7

focus of professional development and professional collaboration centering around one specific
content area or discipline, oftentimes excluding conversations regarding literacy
( Darling-Hammond et al., 2009) .
Candidates who choose to pursue a single subject credential specialize in one particular
discipline. Examples from the CTC include mathematics, English, chemistry, biology, art, social
science, and music. Courses for a single subject credential emphasize content area knowledge
and content-specific pedagogy. Candidates are also expected to have a basic understanding of
the development of English language skills to address the needs of language learners as well as a
basic understanding of foundational literacy. Single subject credential candidates are not
required to have a thorough understanding of literacy and are not required to pass the RICA
(CTC, 2018).
At the secondary level, it is expected that students matriculate from elementary school
having attained the ability to read effectively and with flexibility across discipline-specific texts
(California Department of Education, 2013). However, this is often not the case, as evidenced
by standardized assessment scores demonstrating a gap between the knowledge and skills
students bring to the classroom and the literacy instruction they will receive in single subject
classrooms.
Problem of Practice
Educators can predict with a moderate to high degree of accuracy which students are
going to drop out of high school based on early literacy skills in elementary school (Alexander,
Entwisle, & Horsey, 1997). Most school reform efforts focus on preventing reading deficiencies
by targeting students in kindergarten through third grade, as at these early grades, students are

LITERACY ACROSS THE DISCIPLINES 8

expected to understand how to manipulate sounds, that symbols can represent sounds, and that
sounds and symbols can be put together to form written words. This is often referred to as
phonemic awareness and phonics. Students are also expected to decode words fluently with
appropriate rate, accuracy, and prosody while increasing vocabulary and comprehension.
Learning to read is a complex process that develops over time (Mayer & Alexander, 2016). In
2019, 51.78% of third grade students in California did not adequately meet the grade level
standards for English language arts (California Department of Education, 2019). As students
move into fourth grade, instruction in foundational literacy skills shifts to focus on vocabulary
development and comprehension. Academic, social emotional, and behavioral screenings and
interventions are needed to ensure students reach proficiency by this critical juncture.
In California, all students in grades three through eight, as well as those in the eleventh
grade, take a standardized assessment published by the Smarter Balanced Assessment
Consortium (SBAC). According to the California Department of Education (2019), 47.84% of
sixth grade students either met or exceeded the standards for English language arts on the SBAC
assessment. This means that less than half of students moving on to middle school were
prepared for the literacy demands they will face. For those classified as economically
disadvantaged, the rate of students meeting or exceeding standards declines to 35.45%. Among
those who are categorized as English learners, 9.1% met or exceeded standards for English
language arts (California Department of Education, 2019).
With the majority of students in California demonstrating a lack of foundational literacy
skills, single subject teachers need additional training in literacy beyond the credential program

LITERACY ACROSS THE DISCIPLINES 9

qualifications to effectively teach to specific disciplines such as biology, world history or
physical education (CTC, 2018; Spear-Swerling, Brucker & Alfano, 2005).
Goal
Literacy cannot be taught effectively if relegated to the silo of the English class.
Participants in the course will learn specific strategies to incorporate into domain-specific
classrooms that both increase young people’s literacy skills and increase students’ content area
knowledge. Single subject credential courses, especially those designed prior to 2013, did not
adequately prepare domain-specific teachers for the rigors of the new standards and
accountability system.
Failure to solve this problem has repercussions for individual students and for society as a
whole. For our young people, especially marginalized students, solving this problem will
diminish disparate graduation and school dropout rates while building effective literacy skills
that prepare students for college and careers. In addition, the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention suggests reframing school dropout as a public health issue. Freudenberg and Ruglis
(2007) write,
If medical researchers were to discover an elixir that could increase life expectancy, reduce the
burden of illness, delay the consequences of aging, decrease risky health behavior, and
shrink disparities in health, we would celebrate such a remarkable discovery. Robust
epidemiological evidence suggests that education is such an elixir. (p. 1)
As such, solving the literacy epidemic has far reaching consequences for the nation’s future.
Evidence for the Problem

LITERACY ACROSS THE DISCIPLINES 10

While there are a multitude of complex factors that contribute to a student either not
graduating or dropping out altogether, entering secondary school with subpar literacy skills is a
major contributing factor. Middle school and high school teachers are poorly trained to address
literacy skills across the school day because literacy training is not part of the requirements to
earn a single subject credential. Single subject credential candidates are not required to have a
thorough understanding of literacy and are not required to pass the RICA or otherwise validate
that they are well prepared to instruct students in literacy (CTC, 2018).
Evidence for this problem can be seen in the lack of progress teachers make in closing the
gap between students who enter with deficits in reading and their peers. According to the
California Department of Education (2019), 83% of students who started high school in 2014
completed the graduation requirements to earn a high school diploma in 2018. In addition, there
is still a large disparity in graduation rates for students who are African American (73%), English
language learners (68%), students with disabilities (66%), and homeless and foster youth (53%).
In 2018, 9.6% of students dropped out of school altogether and were not included in the overall
graduation rates. African American students dropped out at a rate of 16%. This is five times the
rate of Asian students and twice the rate of White students.
Approximately 10% of high schools within the United States are described as dropout
factories where 40% of the students starting their freshman year fail to earn a diploma
(Zuckerbrod, 2007). According to data from 2010, it is estimated that 7,000 students drop out of
high school each day (Carlson, 2013). When students enter junior high and high school with
reading and writing deficits, their chances of completing high school decline significantly.
Shanahan and Shanahan (2008) contend that vaccinating students by providing sound

LITERACY ACROSS THE DISCIPLINES 11

foundational literacy instruction in the elementary grades does not effectively ensure that
students will be effectively prepared for the rigors of reading and writing at the high school level.
Also, despite these statistics, the majority of high schools in the United States do not provide a
systematic approach to addressing the needs of students who lack sufficient literacy skills
(Sturtevant, 2003). Until teachers are better prepared to meet the literacy needs of students within
content area classes, these statistics will remain stagnant.
Importance of the Problem
When students enter high school unprepared for secondary education, their chances of
ever attaining proficiency in literacy are low (Freudenberg & Ruglis, 2007). The Common Core
State Standards for English language arts promote the understanding that, in order for students to
leave high school being college and career ready, they must demonstrate independence, build
strong content knowledge, and respond to varying demands of audience, task, purpose, and
discipline. They must also comprehend as well as critique, value evidence, use technology and
digital media strategically and capably as well as understand the perspectives and cultures of
others (Common Core State Standards, 2013). Pedagogy to address these skills is taught in
pre-service teacher courses for those who desire to earn a single subject credential in language
arts. However, these literacy skills are not required for those earning a single subject credential
in areas other than English language arts (CTC, 2019).
As such, teachers with single subject credentials need additional training in these higher
order literacy skills. Especially for students who demonstrate a reading deficit, addressing these
college and career skills cannot simply be the responsibility of the English teacher in a 55-minute
period five times per week. To make the most of instructional time, all teachers in every subject,

LITERACY ACROSS THE DISCIPLINES 12

must be working collectively towards these goals and incorporating high-quality literacy
instruction across the school day.

Instructional Needs Assessment
According to Smith and Ragan (2005), the problem model can be used to determine if a
problem actually exists, to identify if the cause is related to the employee or the environment,
and to ascertain if the solution requires new learning. A problem-based needs assessment
indicates that knowledge, skills, motivation and organizational climate deficits all contribute to
the lack of literacy instruction across the school day in the middle and high school levels for
single subject teachers. The knowledge and skills were not adequately taught or reinforced
within the teacher credentialing process. In addition, single subject teachers may not see it as
their role to teach literacy alongside their domain-specific course, which creates a motivation
concern. Within schools, organizing teachers based upon domain-specific content, such as the
science department or arts department, does to allow for the expertise of the English staff to be
collectively utilized.
While training does exist to address this lack of literacy knowledge and skills, few
schools commit to the ongoing literacy training of the staff at large. Most training sessions are a
one-and-done model where teachers sit through a session and are not held accountable for
implementation. In addition, teachers do not receive feedback or coaching on the skills and
strategies presented. This model of training is expensive for schools and does little to impact
instruction or student learning (International Literacy Association, 2018).

LITERACY ACROSS THE DISCIPLINES 13

Utilizing the discrepancy model (Smith & Ragan, 2005), the goals of the K-12
educational system are to prepare students to be college and career ready. However, with
graduation rates across California hovering at 86%, paired with dropout rates hovering at 9.6%,
many of our students are not receiving adequate instruction and are, therefore, failing to meet the
goal of being college and career ready (California Department of Education, 2019). While there
are a multitude of reasons a student might fail to graduate or drop out altogether, illiteracy is a
major factor that contributes to poor grades, low self-efficacy, poor attendance, and an increase
in risky health behaviors (Freudenberg & Ruglis, 2007). Therefore, prioritizing literacy across
the school day is a means of mitigating the impact of students entering middle school or high
school with a reading deficit. This will require retraining of teachers to accomplish the goal of
preparing our youth to be college and career ready.
Curriculum Description and Purpose
The purpose of this curriculum is to prepare single subject teachers to incorporate literacy
strategies that are appropriate to their specific domain courses to increase the amount of time
students spend on activities that promote and improve literacy skills and strategies. This
curriculum is designed to be delivered in three full-day workshops spread across a school year.
Between workshops, it is expected that participants will implement new strategies and document
their progress. In addition, the curriculum presenter will visit classrooms looking for supporting
evidence of implementation and providing feedback. The presenter will also provide additional
readings and resources via email to participants between sessions to further encourage
implementation.
Curriculum Goal, Outcomes and Capstone Assessment

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The overall course goal of this curriculum is to teach single subject credentialed teachers
to incorporate evidence-based instructional practices that support literacy while also promoting
the domain-specific content that their single subject credential allows them to teach. By the end
of the course, learners will be able to analyze current domain-specific units of study and identify
individual lessons that can be enhanced using newly learned literacy strategies. These include
explicitly teaching domain-specific vocabulary and improving comprehension of informational
and domain-specific text. At the completion of these workshops, learners will implement
literacy strategies in their classrooms. The capstone assessment will be a revised domain-specific
unit of study that incorporates evidence-based literacy strategies.
Definition of Terms
Many terms are relevant to and referenced in this dissertation. For the purpose of this
curriculum design, these terms are defined as follows.
Collective teacher efficacy. This term refers to the belief of the group as a whole to
attain organizational goals and to have a positive impact on student achievement (Donohoo,
2018).
Content area literacy. Shanahan and Shanahan (2008) distinguish this term from
disciplinary literacy by stating, “Content area literacy focuses on study skills that can be used to
help students learn from subject matter specific texts...and emphasizes techniques that a novice
might use to make sense of a disciplinary text” (p. 8).
Disciplinary literacy. Shanahan and Shanahan (2012) define disciplinary literacy as
“the knowledge and abilities possessed by those who create, communicate, and use knowledge

LITERACY ACROSS THE DISCIPLINES 15

with the disciplines...and emphasizes the unique tools that the experts in a discipline use to
engage in the work of that discipline” (p. 7).
Literacy. This term refers to the ability to read and write effectively across a variety of
contexts (ILA, 2018). Specifically, individuals must be able to demonstrate independence, build
strong content knowledge, and respond to varying demands of audience, task, purpose, and
discipline. They must also comprehend as well as critique, value evidence, use technology and
digital media strategically and understand the perspectives and cultures of others (California
Department of Education, 2013) .
Modeling. Bandura (1997) defined modeling as a process of observational learning. It
involves attention, retention, reproduction, and motivation. In the classroom, this refers to the
teacher demonstrating the objective of the lesson for students to observe and imitate.
Scaffolding. Wood, Bruner and Ross (1976) introduced this term based upon the work
of Vygotsky’s zone of proximal development (ZPD). They define scaffolding as a process that
enables a child or novice to solve a task or achieve a goal that would be beyond his unassisted
efforts. As they note, scaffolds require the teacher “controlling those elements of the task that are
initially beyond the learner's capability, thus permitting him to concentrate upon and complete
only those elements that are within his range of competence”“ (p. 90).
Single subject credential. This term describes the certification in California required for
a person to teach one core subject such as mathematics, science, social studies, or English
language arts. Generally, this credential is utilized at the middle school or high school level
(CTC, 2018).

LITERACY ACROSS THE DISCIPLINES 16

Zone of proximal development (ZPD). The term refers to “the distance between the
actual developmental level as determined by independent problem solving and the level of
potential development as determined through problem solving under adult guidance, or in
collaboration with more capable peers” (Vygotsky, 1978, p. 86).

The Designer’s Positionality
The lens from which this dissertation is written is from 24 years of experience in
education at both the elementary and middle school level. The designer of this curriculum has a
multiple subject credential with supplementary authorization to teach English and has served as a
teacher of third, fourth, fifth, and sixth grade students. In addition, the past 19 years have been
spent as an administrator overseeing the instructional program of both elementary and K-8
school settings. Within this context, the designer has demonstrated expertise in the areas of
emergent literacy, strategies for collective teacher efficacy, multi-tiered systems of support, and
the professional learning community model. Through these experiences, the designer has
developed a deep commitment of promoting literacy as a means to bettering the lives of the
students she serves.
Throughout her career, the designer has approached this work through an emphasis on
Vygotsky’s (1978) sociocultural theory, believing that society plays an important role in an
individual’s development. In practice, the designer recognizes that there are a multitude of
societal factors that contribute to illiteracy and that teacher expertise is only one piece of this
complex issue. Additionally, the culture and environment of a school has an impact on the

LITERACY ACROSS THE DISCIPLINES 17

literacy education that students receive (Buckingham, Wheldall, & Beaman-Wheldall, 2013). In
the school setting, when teachers collectively believe they have a positive impact on literacy
development, student achievement improves (Donohoo, 2017). Therefore, collective teacher
efficacy should be a priority of all school leaders so that literacy and reading is incorporated
throughout the high school day and across content areas. Collaboration and shared expertise
across academic disciplines are essential components to providing students with a literacy-rich
environment.
Organization of the Design Blueprint
This dissertation is divided into five chapters. In Chapter One, the problem of practice
was clearly defined utilizing current evidence and a needs assessment. Chapter Two will consist
of a literature review focused on literacy in the secondary environment. Chapter Three will
define the learners as single subject credentialed teachers who teach subjects other than English
language arts in the context of middle and high schools. Chapter four will consist of the five
workshop lessons designed according to research-based instructional design practices. Finally,
Chapter Five will be a review of the implications of this work and areas for further research and
innovation.

LITERACY ACROSS THE DISCIPLINES 18

CHAPTER TWO: REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE
The Content of the Curriculum
The literature review is presented in four parts. The first part is devoted to disparities
between children who learn to read and those who struggle. The second part incorporates the
research on foundational literacy skills that should be mastered by the age of nine. The third
section identifies general literacy strategies that teachers can apply across all content areas to
scaffold and support learners who enter secondary school with poor literacy skills. The fourth
part investigates discipline-specific literacy strategies to further enhance instruction in the
content areas. An analysis of prior attempts to solve this problem of practice is examined to
inform the design of this curriculum and resolve this gap in professional practice. Finally, the
general approaches section describes the theories utilized to inform the design of this curriculum.
Why Are Some Students More Likely to Become Poor Readers?
There are a number of salient factors that directly impact a student’s likelihood of
becoming either a proficient or a poor reader. Bronfenbrenner’s (1994) bioecological model for
human development can be applied to reading development as well. This paradigm encompasses
both nature and nurture by describing interactions between genetics and the environment.
Friend, DeFries, and Olson (2008) substantiated the bioecological model as it specifically applies
to reading and found that genetic potential is more likely to be realized in an environment that is
conducive to that factor. Inherited learning disabilities, such as dyslexia, are more likely to have
a negative impact in environments experiencing poverty (Friend et al., 2008). However, the
negative impact of genetic susceptibilities may be avoided in high-quality home and educational
environments.

LITERACY ACROSS THE DISCIPLINES 19

The home environment plays a substantial role in a child’s reading development.
Reading development starts before formal schooling through book sharing with an adult and the
number of books in the home (Mol & Bus, 2011). While early print exposure is predictive of
later reading success, it becomes even more important for older students as they develop their
oral language, word recognition, and vocabulary. Mol and Bus (2011) further suggest that
children who are successful at reading tend to read more, leading to even greater comprehension,
technical reading, and spelling skills. Children who do not experience early success tend to read
less, quickly increasing the achievement gap between themselves and students who have
developed a reading routine. This is also known as the Matthew Effect (Mol & Bus, 2011).
There is a wide range of time spent reading outside of school for students. The amount of time
students spend reading books outside of school is a significant predictor of reading
comprehension and has a direct, causal relationship (Anderson, Richard, Wilson, Paul, &
Fielding, 1988).
Aikens and Barbarin (2008) suggest that additional family factors such as literacy
environment, parental involvement in school, and parental role strain all contribute to a student’s
literacy achievement. In accordance with Bronfenbrenner’s (1994) bioecological model, Friend
et al. (2008) found that the greater number of years of education the parents attained, the less
likely genetic susceptibilities for dyslexia were actualized. In addition, school absences have
been found to put students at higher risk of reading problems (Buckingham et al., 2013).
The school environment also plays a major role in contributing to reading development.
While the socioeconomic level of the family contributes to reading success or failure, Aikens and
Barbarin (2008) found that socioeconomic level of the neighborhood as well as the concentration

LITERACY ACROSS THE DISCIPLINES 20

of poverty on the school campus have an even greater impact on reading scores. In addition,
Aikens and Barbarin also found that the percentage of students experiencing reading difficulties
in a particular school may have a greater impact on reading development for the student body
overall as compared to the impact of the family environment. Schools with higher
concentrations of students living in poverty achieve lower percentages of reading proficiency
even with those students who are not experiencing poverty or designated as socioeconomically
disadvantaged. Again, literacy performance of each student may be more closely related to the
SES of the school rather than the SES of the individual student (Buckingham et al., 2013).
Limbrick, Wheldall, and Madelaine (2011) noted that poor behavior in school impacts reading
ability, and, conversely, poor reading impacts school behavior. In addition, the number of
children identified as having poor sociability, aggression, anxiety, inattention, or hyperactivity
increases in school environments with a lower average socioeconomic status. Students from
lower SES communities have lower average daily attendance rates and higher rates of chronic
absenteeism that contribute to missed instruction and lower reading scores (Buckingham et al.,
2013).
Within the school environment, teachers play an important role in reading development.
Quality of teaching within a school varies from classroom to classroom and is a significant factor
in student achievement (Hattie, 2009). The quality of the teacher and the quality of teaching has
a strong effect size on student literacy (Hattie, 2009). The barometer of influence categorizes
factors with an effect size of 0.70 or higher as having the potential to significantly accelerate
student achievement (Hattie, 2009). According to Hattie (2009), the quality of the teacher has a
direct, causal relationship to student achievement in reading, especially in the areas of teacher

LITERACY ACROSS THE DISCIPLINES 21

clarity (0.75), teacher credibility (0.90), and teacher estimates of achievement (1.29). While it is
generally understood that the amount of time a student spends reading contributes to overall
reading success, Anderson et al. (1988) suggest that, within the school environment, teachers can
influence the amount of time students spend reading inside and outside of school.
Genetic and environmental factors such as home learning environment, time spent
reading, the quality of the teacher, the quality of the school, student behavior, health, attendance,
and initial reading instruction all contribute to a child’s success or failure in becoming literate.
And, for students who have not mastered foundational literacy skills by the age of nine, reaching
proficiency in reading and writing in middle and high school can become an insurmountable
challenge.
Historical Context: Reading by Nine
For most students, a critical shift in literacy development occurs around the age of nine
that requires students to apply foundational literacy skills fluidly across content areas to learn
new information from text. Alexander et al. (1997) suggest that early failure in learning to read
casts a long shadow across the lifespan. Academic disengagement as early as first grade can be
predictive of later failure to graduate from high school. Certain types of students are far more
likely to experience a long-term process of academic disengagement. Alexander et al. discuss
educators can acknowledge the connections between first grade experiences and eventual
dropout to mitigate the impact of engagement behaviors, achievement patterns, and track
placements.
In 1985, the federal government commissioned a cross-disciplinary research team to
inform educational policy in regards to literacy. In Becoming a Nation of Readers, Anderson

LITERACY ACROSS THE DISCIPLINES 22

(1985) recognized that technology and the world economy were changing rapidly and predicted
that the skills needed for a student to be considered literate back in 1950 would be only a fraction
of the skills needed to be functionally literate in the year 2000. Anderson utilized the analogy of
a symphony orchestra to describe all of the processes that have to come together synchronously
for a reader to derive meaning from text and described the act of skilled reading as constructive,
fluent, strategic, motivated, and a lifelong pursuit. The overall theme of Becoming a Nation of
Readers is that educators must recognize and apply the body of research that exists to promote
effective reading instruction and experiences for all students (Anderson, 1985).
The most recent body of research to support reading for understanding in kindergarten
through third grade has been synthesized by Foorman et al. (2016) in a report for the National
Center for Education Evaluation. This resource poses four recommendations that are still
aligned to and substantiate the original findings from Becoming a Nation of Readers (Anderson,
1985) for students to be able to construct meaning from text by the end of third grade. The first
recommendation is that teachers should emphasize academic language skills, including the use of
inferential and narrative language and vocabulary knowledge. Next, students need to develop an
awareness of the segments of sounds in speech and how these sounds link to letters. The third
recommendation asks teachers to explicitly instruct students how to decode words, analyze word
parts, and write and recognize words. Finally, the fourth recommendation seeks to ensure that
each student reads connected text every day to support reading accuracy, fluency, and
comprehension.
Failure to apply the critical components of foundational literacy research within the
elementary classroom substantially limits a student’s ability to gain access to middle school and

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high school standards and curriculum (Foorman et al., 2016). To meet the needs of struggling
students entering middle and high school, single subject teachers need to incorporate continued
literacy instruction across the entire school day and all content areas utilizing both general
literacy strategies as well as those strategies that are specific to the disciplines.
General Literacy Strategies Across Disciplines to Support Struggling Adolescent Readers
There are a variety of strategies that can be employed across disciplines to promote
literacy for all students, especially for those who enter middle and high school needing additional
literacy support to gain information from written text. In Becoming a Nation of Readers ,
Anderson (1985) outlines three essential factors for extending literacy beyond the early years.
These factors include the quality of school textbooks, the instruction provided by teachers, and
opportunities for meaningful practice (Anderson, 1985). In regards to instructional practices
provided by teachers, vocabulary instruction and explicit comprehension instruction continue to
be key elements (Foorman et al., 2016) .
Schools should design a coordinated approach to addressing the unmet vocabulary needs
of middle and high school learners (Fisher & Frey, 2008). In addition, Fisher and Frey (2008)
posit that vocabulary instruction in secondary schools should be intentional, transparent, usable,
personalized, and prioritized for all students. Likewise, Swanson et al., (2016) specifically found
that vocabulary instruction should include definitions, morphology, and context clues. Beck,
McKeown, and Kucan (2013) added that vocabulary instruction should include a frequency of 10
new words introduced each week and that robust vocabulary instruction goes beyond simply
teaching the definitions of words so that students have opportunities to use the words, explore
facets of word meaning, and ponder relationships among words.

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High school students are required to gain information through independent reading of
informational text. There are a number of strategies that contribute to reading comprehension.
Spires and Donley (1998) demonstrated that activating prior knowledge combined with strategies
to target the main idea of a text increase performance on application-level comprehension.
Swanson et al. (2016) support this finding and concluded that comprehension instruction should
also include a preview of text, activation of background knowledge, comprehension strategies,
comprehension monitoring, and extended meaningful discourse.
In addition to activating prior knowledge, teachers should ensure that students are reading
text that is appropriately challenging. According to McLeod (2012), the ZPD was first described
by Vygotsky in 1978 and is defined as the distance between what a student can do independently
and the potential of what a student can do with adult supervision or in collaboration with more
capable peers. Scaffolds are the activities or support provided by the instructor or a more
competent peer that guides the learner through the ZPD (McLeod, 2012). Scaffolding is a key
feature of effective instruction because the teacher continually adjusts the level of support and
the difficulty of the text in response to the performance of the learner.
Fisher and Frey (2014) found the comprehension strategy of close reading to be
particularly helpful to students in secondary school. The intervention in this study focused on
five elements: short, complex texts, repeated readings, annotation, text-dependent questions, and
discussion of the text, including argumentation. Of the middle school students who participated
in the treatment group, 64% demonstrated at least a one level gain on the California Standards
Test of English Language Arts as compared to only 12% who participated in a traditional after
school program. Conclusions from this study recommend that close reading of texts should

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involve multiple readings done across several instructional sessions so that students are guided
through the discovery of different levels of meaning as passages are read multiple times (Fisher
& Frey, 2014).
Integrating strong vocabulary development, differentiated levels of high-interest text, and
close reading comprehension strategies are essential for students to apply across every discipline.
In addition to these general literacy strategies, there are also discipline-specific literacies that
must be explicitly taught if struggling adolescent readers are to be successful in content areas
such as social studies, science, and mathematics.
Disciplinary Literacy Strategies to Promote High Achievement in the Content Areas for
Struggling Adolescent Readers
Shanahan and Shanahan (2012) define disciplinary literacy as “the knowledge and
abilities possessed by those who create, communicate, and use knowledge within the
disciplines...and emphasizes the unique tools that the experts in a discipline use to engage in the
work of that discipline” (p. 8). Although reading scores across the United States have
consistently improved for 9-year-old students over the past 15 years, adolescent literacy has
stalled on both national (NAEP) and international (PISA) assessments (Shanahan & Shanahan,
2008). Transitioning young readers from basic and intermediate literacy to disciplinary literacy
requires the acknowledgement that reading becomes more specific and less generalizable within
content area classes (Shanahan & Shanahan, 2008). Faggella-Luby, Graner, Seshler, and Drew
(2012) further emphasize that, in addition to basic literacy skills, students also need to
understand that each content area class requires a different set of skills for both reading and
writing. This study makes a case for the need to ensure students have foundational,

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generalizable literacy skills prior to explicitly teaching disciplinary literacy (Faggella-Luby et al.,
2012).
There is a great deal of academic diversity in middle and high school classrooms across
the country. Advanced literacy skills are needed across academic disciplines. Faggella-Luby et
al. (2012) recommend mnemonic strategies, reciprocal teaching, self-regulated strategy
development model (SRSD), and content enhancement strategies (CERs), the recall enhancement
routine, and question exploration routine as evidence-based practices as a focus for adolescent
literacy. Close reading is an activity and skill needed across every discipline that varies based on
the type of text and purpose for reading (Paul, 2018). Annotating, defining words and concepts,
as well as strategic reading are intermediate literacy strategies essential to middle and high
school classrooms. Specific disciplinary strategies such as sourcing, corroboration, critique,
detailed reading, text structure, and graphic elements are all applied differently across content
areas (Paul, 2018).
As students face differing demands across content-specific classrooms, they need to be
explicitly taught the differences between literacies in each course. Based upon a cognitive task
analysis (CTA) of disciplinary experts (Shanahan & Shanahan, 2008), mathematicians value
re-reading, close reading, and highly precise language. Standards for mathematical practice
(California Department of Education, 2013) requires students to construct viable arguments and
critique the reasoning of others. Disciplinary writing in math can promote metacognitive
thinking and a deeper understanding of concepts. Brozo and Crain (2018) outline a five-step
process to document problem solving approaches and thinking while promoting self-monitoring,
reflection, and revision.

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Chemists often read alternative representations of text such as pictures, graphs, charts,
and diagrams while processing them recursively ( Shanahan & Shanahan, 2008) . Text is
chronically underused in science classrooms (Fang, 2014). Trade books can be a way to
emphasize a wide range of reading materials that vary in content, readability, interest, genre,
register and format. Teachers can utilize book discussion groups outlined in this research to
promote and scaffold the use of science text for both unit studies of scientists and studies of
science careers (Fang, 2014).
Historians must consider the author or source prior to reading text to search for biases,
analyze interpretations of events, and make judgements. To create, communicate and evaluate
knowledge in the disciplines, Shanahan and Shanahan (2008) describe specific note-taking
strategies that take into account the differences in texts and purposes: structured-summarization
strategy for chemistry, mathematics structured note-taking strategy, and the history events chart.
Specifically teaching these unique literacies that pertain to content area classes such as
social studies, science, and mathematics is essential for struggling adolescent readers to master
the standards and expectations of those disciplines. Both general literacy strategies and specific
disciplinary literacy strategies are essential to support struggling readers across the school day.
Prior Attempts and Analysis to Address Reading in Single Subject Environments
Due to the significance of this problem, there have been prior attempts to address literacy
in single subject environments. The CEEDAR Center is a collaboration of the University of
Florida, the American Institutes for Research, the Council of Chief State School Officers, the
American Association of Colleges for Teacher Preparation, and the Council for the Preparation
of Educator Preparation. These groups came together to produce resources for institutions of

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higher education to prepare pre-service teachers in the areas of disciplinary literacy. These
resources are free and available online for colleges and universities to incorporate into teacher
preparation programs. However, the resources do not take into account sound curriculum design
practices. Most of them lack attempts to assess prior knowledge, do not incorporate
metacognitive strategies, and ignore Mayer’s (2001) multimedia design principles.
The Association of Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD), provides free
online resources for principals to utilize in professional development sessions with staff. These
resources are articles and texts that are designed for teachers to read and then implement
strategies into the classroom. Simply providing resources falls short of addressing the needs of
the teacher as the learner. This attempt also relies heavily on the site-level administrators ability
to combine resources with sound instructional practices during professional development
sessions.
A massive open online course (MOOC) for disciplinary literacy has been developed by
The Friday Institute. This is a free 20-hour course intended for teachers of grades 6 through 12.
The course is a general overview of strategies to teach children how to read, write, and think like
a scientist, historian, mathematician, and literary critic. However, it does not provide practice,
feedback, or accountability to ensure that participants have high levels of implementation in the
classroom.
None of the prior attempts researched combine both general and discipline-specific
strategies for scaffolding instruction and supporting students who arrive in middle and high
school with deficits in literacy. In summary, addressing the needs of struggling adolescent
readers requires the collective efforts of all educators on a school campus across the entire school

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day. For all teachers to be successful in this endeavor, sound research in instructional design
should be applied to professional development in the area of literacy training.
Approaches to Curriculum Design
There are four theories that inform this curriculum: adult learning approaches (Knowles,
1984), expectancy-value theory (Wigfield & Eccles, 2000), social cognitive theory (Bandura,
1997), and cognitive load theory (Sweller, 1988). With these in mind, the designer strives to
create curriculum that maximizes student learning and motivation to incorporate both general
and disciplinary specific literacy strategies into content area coursework.
Adult Learning Approaches
Adults have different needs than younger learners (Knowles, 1984). There are six
principles considered within the design of this curriculum to address those needs. First, adults
are internally motivated and require choice and self-direction. Second, adults bring life
experiences and knowledge to learning that must be recognized and incorporated into the
content. Next, adults are goal-oriented and desire their learning to be relevant to their work.
Finally, adult learners require respect for their time, context, and expertise.
Expectancy-Value Theory
Within this curriculum, it is vital to acknowledge that the learners may not be willing
participants in the workshops. Principles of expectancy-value theory (Wigfield & Eccles, 2000)
are incorporated into the curriculum to increase the utility value of the strategies being learned.
The facilitator will model the importance and value of general and disciplinary literacy
strategies. Materials and activities will be timely, relevant, and connected to the current content
participants are teaching in their own classrooms.

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Social Cognitive Theory
The design of this curriculum will incorporate elements of social cognitive theory
(Bandura, 1997). Literacy strategies will be demonstrated and modeled. Learners will have
opportunities to set productive goals and practice new strategies. Feedback from the facilitator
will be timely and private to enhance learning (Mayer, 2011).
Cognitive Load Theory
Cognitive load theory (Sweller, 1988) was considered within the design of this
curriculum. The facilitator will break up cognitively demanding content and tasks into
manageable parts (Mayer, 2011). In addition, the facilitator will decrease extraneous load by
utilizing effective instructional practices and multimedia design (Mayer, 2011).

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CHAPTER THREE: THE LEARNERS AND LEARNING CONTEXT
This chapter is divided into two distinct sections that describe the learner, in this case
teachers, and the learning environments, which will be middle schools and high schools. The
learner profile will define both the cognitive and physiological characteristics of the learner. In
addition, self-efficacy will be discussed in terms of both the affective and social factors that
contribute to learning. Learners’ prior knowledge will be categorized by general world
knowledge and specific prior knowledge needed to engage in the learning of this new content.
The requirements for the learning environment will include the facilitator characteristics, existing
curricula, and available equipment and technology as well as classroom facilities and learning
climate.
Learner Profile
It is important to clearly understand the characteristics of the learners in this course to
design instruction that is meaningful to each individual and increases the capacity for
implementation. This course is intended to meet the needs of single subject credentialed teachers
working in middle school and high school environments. This target audience excludes teachers
who are already credentialed in the area of English language arts, as literacy is already an area of
expertise for these educators. There are three primary factors taken into consideration when
designing this course: ability, self-efficacy, and prior knowledge.
Ability
Ability is talent or proficiency in a specific area. Learners have both cognitive abilities
and physiological characteristics that enable them to learn new content and skills.

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Cognitive characteristics. The learners in this course are all college graduates with
post-graduate work that meets the requirements of a teaching credential. In addition, many of
them will have advanced degrees, and all work within a professional setting. They have the
ability to interact with peers in high-level discussions regarding instructional beliefs and
practices. In addition, they have efficient literacy skills that allow for some of the content of the
course to be provided in text format. The metacognitive skills of these learners allow for
reflection on past practices to adopt and incorporate new literacy practices. Nonetheless, there
are still a range of cognitive abilities. To meet the learners’ needs, scaffolds will be embedded to
allow for differentiated support of the participants.
Physiological characteristics. Although specific abilities of the learners are unknown, it
is assumed that all are fit for duty in a school setting. They should be in adequate health to sit for
direct instruction, stand when needed, and move about the room for collaborative group work.
The ages likely fall within the range of 22 years for first year teachers to those approaching
retirement age. Based upon this wide difference of ages, the designer accounted for a range in
processing speed, allowing for additional response time. Other learning adjustments will be
considered as the instructor assessing through observations the physiological needs of the actual
learners.
Self-Efficacy
It is vital that the facilitator encourages positive self-efficacy for the learners in order for
the content to be implemented in the classroom setting. Self-efficacy is one’s belief in one’s
own knowledge and skills to accomplish a goal. Past experiences with professional learning
shape the learners’ attitudes towards new learning.

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Affective Characteristics
Many educators choose to pursue a single subject credential because they have a
preferred discipline or area of interest such as dance, science, or world languages. Because of
the high level of interest, there is also a high level of motivation for the classes they teach.
Single subject teachers may assume that the students entering the classroom have basic literacy
skills needed to engage in that course of study, and may allocate different levels of importance to
literacy instruction in the content areas. If an incoming student requires remediation in basic
literacy skills, it is often viewed as the responsibility of the English teachers or special education
department.
These educators may not view themselves as teachers of literacy and have little
background to do so. This course is designed to give foundational background knowledge, as
well as practice and feedback, to increase self-efficacy and confidence for implementation. One
of the goals is for teachers to gain an understanding that literacy is the responsibility of every
educator on a school campus and that promoting literacy can also improve performance in the
content areas.
Social Characteristics
Middle and high schools are often organized by departments. This departmentalization
organizes teachers by content areas and insulates them from teachers in other domains. This
results in a lack of collaboration and shared expertise from outside the department. Departments
compete for limited resources such as funds, materials, and facilities.
Within each department, there are varying degrees of motivation, especially when it
comes to district-mandated professional development. This can range from eager to resistant.

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Within this course, the instructor will be responsible for demonstrating value and attaining
engagement to increase motivation for learning and implementation. Another goal is to build
collective teacher efficacy so that the literacy development of students is the responsibility of all
educators on campus.
Prior Knowledge
Learners will interact with new content differently based on the prior knowledge they
bring to the course. It is essential that the curriculum designer take into account that prior
knowledge of the learner changes how the learner interprets and organizes new information.
General world knowledge. Learners will have differing cultural backgrounds and
biases. A single subject credential requires additional college coursework in one specific
discipline allowing the educator to specialize and have a deeper knowledge of that particular
content area. In addition, these educators learn and implement pedagogy that is specific to
science, math, social studies, physical education, dance, or other disciplines. It is assumed that
participating teachers have general knowledge of curriculum design, assessment practices,
engagement strategies, and classroom management. This prior knowledge is essential to draw
upon when designing curriculum to increase the likelihood that teachers will implement new
literacy strategies back in their own classrooms.
Specific prior knowledge. Learners will need to have an understanding of the types of
texts that are generally utilized in their classrooms, such as math story problems, science lab
reports, or historical speeches. They will also bring background knowledge of language and
vocabulary that is specific to the discipline taught. It is also assumed that participants will have
basic technology skills such as Google Apps for Education.

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Description of the Learning Environment
Accounting for the intended learning environment is an important factor when designing
curriculum. This course takes into consideration the characteristics of the facilitator, existing
curricula and programs, available equipment and technology, and classroom facilities and
learning climate.
Facilitator Characteristics
Instructors who facilitate this course will need to have classroom teaching experience to
understand the social dynamics of a school setting, as well as to gain the trust and respect of the
audience. In addition, instructors will need expertise in the area of foundational literacy
development and knowledge of current practices supported by research. Qualifications might
include multiple-subject, single-subject in English language arts, and/or reading specialist
credentials. Instructors also need to have experience in andragogy, management of cognitive
load when presenting to large groups of people, and engagement of the audience.
Existing Curricula/Programs
The needs assessment conducted for this curriculum indicates that ongoing professional
development in literacy is either limited or non-existent at the junior high and high school level.
However, all single subject teachers have existing curricula in their specific content areas. This
new curriculum proposes to enhance current classroom instruction by providing participants with
literacy strategies that promote vocabulary and comprehension. During this course, learners will
bring a unit of study already being implemented in the classroom and revise that unit to
incorporate new strategies acquired.

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Available Equipment and Technology
For this course, the instructor will utilize a laptop and projector or large-screen television
to display slide presentations and other media. Participants will need to bring their personal
laptops or tablets, have access to outlets to charge devices, and utilize wireless internet. The
instructor and participants will utilize common software such as Google Apps for Education.
Classroom Facilities and Learning Climate
This course will be capped at 40 participants. The environment will be a standard
classroom or main meeting room designated for professional development on a middle school or
high school campus. The room should be equipped with large tables for collaborative
conversations.
The mission of most high schools incorporates the idea of preparing students to be
college and career ready. The facilitator will work with school administration to develop a plan
for accountability and evaluation of implementation as this work should be considered a school
wide initiative or signature practice that enhances the mission of the school.

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CHAPTER FOUR: THE CURRICULUM
Overall Curriculum Goal, Outcomes, and Summative Assessment
The purpose of this curriculum is to prepare single subject teachers to incorporate literacy
strategies that are appropriate to their specific domain courses to increase the amount of time
students spend on activities that promote and improve literacy skills and strategies throughout
the entire school day. This curriculum is designed to be delivered in three full-day workshops
spread across a school year. Between workshops, it is expected that participants will implement
new strategies and document their progress. In addition, the curriculum presenter will visit
classrooms looking for supporting evidence of implementation and providing feedback. The
presenter will also provide additional readings and resources via email to participants between
sessions to further encourage implementation. Finally, the summative assessment will be a unit
of study that the learners design within their own content area of expertise that incorporates the
literacy strategies learned throughout the course.
Curriculum Goal
The overall course goal of this curriculum is to teach single subject credentialed teachers
how to incorporate evidence-based instructional practices that support literacy while also
promoting the domain-specific content that their single subject credential allows them to teach.
The learners must develop the knowledge, skills, and attitudes to value and prioritize literacy as a
fundamental skill across all disciplines.

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Curriculum Outcomes
By the end of the course, learners will be able to analyze a current domain-specific unit
of study and identify individual lessons that can be enhanced using newly learned literacy
strategies. These literacy strategies include
● inventorying students’ needs
● designing discipline-specific note-taking strategies
● analyze and select high-interest, leveled texts to support struggling readers
● identifying and explicitly teaching domain-specific and general knowledge vocabulary
● improving comprehension of informational and domain-specific text through disciplinary
specific reading behaviors and close reading strategies
● designing scaffolds that allow students to express content knowledge in written form
● ascertaining students’ content area knowledge by providing appropriate support for the
literacy demands of the assessments.
Learners will also have developed or strengthened
● motivation and self-efficacy for teaching literacy skills
● understanding of instructional design principles.
Summative Assessment
At the completion of these workshops, learners will implement literacy strategies in the
classroom. The capstone assessment will be a revised, domain-specific unit of study that
incorporates evidence-based literacy strategies to be implemented in the classroom. The unit of
study will be evaluated by a rubric that measures the application of learning in the areas of

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evaluating students’ literacy needs, note-taking, vocabulary development, comprehension
strategies, scaffolds for written expression, and designing content area assessments.
Cognitive Task Analysis (Information Processing Analysis)
A CTA was conducted to gain insights from practitioners in the field (Smith & Ragan,
2005). Three participants were selected as subject matter experts. Each one of them has earned
a single subject credential in an area other than English language arts and has taught in the
classroom for 10 years or more. Each of them was recommended by a school site administrator
for the ability to promote literacy in the single subject classroom. In addition, each serves on
district-level committees that promote literacy in some capacity. These committees include
Document Based Questioning (DBQ) Implementation Committee, English Learner Advisory
Committee, and Tier 3 Vocabulary Initiative. For the purpose of this study, the subject matter
experts range in disciplinary specialization: social studies, science, and culinary arts/career
technical education. The researcher conducted CTA interviews to synthesize the expertise of
these practitioners with findings from the literature review. The researcher then designed the
following steps from the findings.
Summary of Steps
1. Take an inventory of the students’ literacy needs utilizing informal assessments (i.e.,
written paragraph, read aloud, oral comprehension) and verify findings in collaboration
with the ELA teachers. (CTA and literature review)
2. Implement a note-taking strategy that incorporates both text and sketches. (CTA)
3. Select high-interest text within a variety of reading levels from both the textbook and
supplemental reading materials that addresses the disciplinary content. (Literature
review)
4. Analyze the selected texts for both disciplinary specific vocabulary and general
knowledge vocabulary that can be pre-taught using evidence-based strategies to increase
comprehension of text. (CTA and literature review)
5. Identify and explicitly teach literacy strategies that are specific to the discipline including
text features, text structures, and reading behaviors. (CTA and literature review)
a. Sciences

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b. Social Studies
c. Mathematics
d. Visual and Performing Arts
e. Career and Technical Courses
6. Utilize a variety of strategies to preview the “big idea” of the content to set a clear
purpose for independent reading time. (CTA)
7. Incorporate strategies for re-reading and close reading of text. (CTA and literature
review)
8. Design scaffolds for written responses including graphic organizers, job aides, worked
examples, skeletal outlines, and 1:1 conferencing. (CTA and literature review)
9. Design assessments that separate required content knowledge from literacy skills. (CTA
and literature review)
10. Celebrate success by offering feedback that focuses on growth. (Literature review)

General Instructional Methods Approach
There are four theories that inform this curriculum: adult learning approaches,
expectancy-value theory, social cognitive theory, and cognitive load theory. With these in mind,
the designer strives to create curriculum that maximizes student learning and motivation to
incorporate both general and discipline-specific literacy strategies into content area coursework.
The instruction will follow a combination of supplantive and generative approaches
(Smith & Ragan, 2005) to maximize learning. Supplantive strategies, representative of social
cognitive theory, are those that scaffold the learner’s information processing by explicitly
providing the goal, organization, elaboration, sequencing, emphasis of content, checking for
understanding, and suggestions for transfer to an authentic context. Supplantive strategies are
designed to minimize cognitive load allows the instructor to manage time and other resources.
This curriculum is also designed to allow learners to enhance their own area of expertise by
applying the new learning in this course. Therefore, generative strategies will be utilized so that
learners can construct their own meaning and value to the learning in keeping with

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expectancy-value theory. Learner characteristics and prior knowledge have been taken into
consideration to make learning applicable.
In addition, the seven components of guided experiential learning (Clark et al., 2008) will
also be applied to the design of the course. Considerations have been made for the sequencing of
the tasks, conditions for learning, equipment and materials needed, sensory requirements, and
performance indicators. Experiential learning allows the participants to actively engage in
generating the content and organization of the curriculum to enhance ownership of the content by
making meaning collaboratively (Kolb & Kolb, 2012). The curriculum intentionally uses
strategies that will make the learning relevant and transferable for the learner.
Description of Specific Learning Activities
The specific learning activities take into consideration supplantive, generative, and
experiential learning approaches (Clark, Yates, Early, & Moulton, 2010). The curriculum is
structured around the organizational lesson design that includes gaining the attention of the
learner, informing the learner of the objectives, accessing prior knowledge, presenting materials,
providing opportunities for practice with guidance and feedback, assessing the performance of
the task, and enhancing retention and transfer (Smith & Ragan, 2005). Additionally, as learners
participate in the course, specific activities are designed to improve motivation and engagement
to increase the value that learners place on literacy in the single subject environment. The
curriculum is designed to engage the learners in cognitive processes that draw upon relevant
prior knowledge within their areas of expertise and then to apply new knowledge and skills in the
area of literacy to enhance overall teaching performance and improve student achievement in
their classrooms.

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Sequence of the Units
Each lesson is sequenced in an order that minimizes cognitive load by breaking up
complex tasks into smaller steps. The following seven units build upon each other and should be
delivered in order. For the purpose of this curriculum design project, the units have been
organized into 2 days of instruction. However, the units can be combined or separated as needed
to meet the needs of the organization (Table 1).
Table 1
Units and Time Allocation
Unit Session Time
Allocated
Topic
1 1 30
minutes
Taking an inventory of literacy needs
(CTA step 1)
2 1 30
minutes
Utilizing note-taking strategies
(CTA step 2)
3 1 1 hour Selecting high-interest, leveled texts to support
struggling readers
(CTA step 3)
4 1 2 hours Incorporating strategies for disciplinary and
general vocabulary development
(CTA step 4)
5 1 2 hours Teaching disciplinary literacy strategies to
increase comprehension
(CTA step 5)
6 2 3 hours Creating an authentic “purpose for reading” and
increasing content area knowledge through close
reading strategies
(CTA steps 6 & 7)
7 2 3 hours Scaffolding written responses and designing
assessments for feedback, growth, and
celebrations of student learning
(CTA steps 8, 9, & 10)

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Unit 1: Take an inventory of the literacy needs of students utilizing informal assessments (i.e..,
written paragraph, read aloud, oral comprehension) and verify findings in collaboration with the
ELA teachers. (CTA and literature review)
Terminal learning objective.
● Given a diverse caseload of students in content area classrooms, learners will be
able to effectively identify the students in need of additional literacy support.
Prerequisite analysis (enabling objectives). To achieve the terminal objective,
learners must:
● Understand that secondary school students utilize foundational literacy skills
(phonemic awareness, phonics and fluency), vocabulary, comprehension, and
writing to learn and demonstrate knowledge of content area knowledge and skills.
● Understand the impact that poor literacy skills have on learning content area
knowledge and skills specific to each discipline.
● Be able to identify existing beliefs and biases concerning the responsibility of
literacy instruction beyond the English language arts classrooms and across
content area classes.
● Be able to develop a collaborative relationship with English language arts
teachers on a school campus.
● Be able to develop a philosophy and commitment to the diverse literacy needs of
students within a content area class.
Learning activities.
● Inform the participants of the learning objective.
● After introductions and attention activities, assess the learners’ prior knowledge
regarding foundational literacy skills (phonemic awareness, phonics and fluency),
vocabulary, comprehension, writing and literacy screening.
● Teach any necessary prerequisite conceptual knowledge by providing definitions,
examples and non-examples regarding literacy and informal literacy assessments
● Provide opportunities for learners to generate their own examples and non
examples.
● Demonstrate a variety of literacy screening tools and the purpose for each.
● Model how to use the screening tools to gather information about students
● Provide practice and formative feedback in accurately screening and identifying
students in need of literacy support and scaffolding.
● Provide opportunities for the learners to select or design screening tools for the
classes they currently teach to transfer learning to the classroom context.
Assessment and Application of learning.
● Participants will present a rationale for the use of each screening tool designed.
● When provided with a set of screening data from a typical classroom of students,
learners will accurately identify students in need of additional literacy support and
will be able to form appropriate groupings based upon student need.

Unit 2: Implement a note-taking strategy that incorporates both text and sketches. (CTA)
Terminal learning objective.

LITERACY ACROSS THE DISCIPLINES 44

● Given their own content area context, learners will implement a note-taking
strategy that incorporates both text and sketches.
Prerequisite analysis (enabling objectives). To achieve the terminal objective,
learners must:
● Know the specific content, standards, and expectations of the classes they teach.
● Be able to break down larger concepts into smaller chunks.
● Be able to prioritize content knowledge for students.
● Be able to access the current textbook for the course.

Learning activities.
● Inform the participants of the learning objective.
● Gain attention and motivation of the learners through an activity that reinforces
the value of note-taking.
● Assess the learners’ prior knowledge in regards to note-taking using text as well
as sketches or non-linguistic representations.
● Teach any necessary prerequisite conceptual knowledge by providing definitions,
examples and non-examples in the area of evidence-based note-taking strategies.
● Provide opportunities for learners to generate their own examples and non
examples.
● Present various note-taking formats to the learners.
● Model the use of note-taking strategies from texts across various disciplines.
● Provide practice and feedback with note-taking formats.
● Encourage retention and transfer by having learners select the note-taking format
that best meets the needs of their classroom and reflect on today’s learning by
summarizing in the preferred note-taking format.
Assessment of learning.
● Participants will select a note-taking format that is appropriate to a unit of study in
their classroom and make a model or “worked example” of note-taking of a piece
of text typically used in that unit of study.

Unit 3: Select high-interest text within a variety of reading levels from both the textbook and
supplemental reading materials that address the disciplinary content. (Literature review)
Terminal learning objective.
● Based on the specific content of a unit of study within their classroom, learners
will utilize a variety of digital resources to select high-interest text at various
reading levels to scaffold access to the content material.
Prerequisite analysis (enabling objectives). To achieve the terminal objective,
learners must:
● Know the specific content, standards, and expectations of the classes they teach.
● Be able to utilize basic internet search skills.
● Know and understand the general interests of the age level of the students served.
● Understand the different reading ability levels of students as learned in Unit 1.
● Be able to select a variety of high-interest digital resources at various grade levels.
Learning activities.
● Inform the learners of the learning objective.

LITERACY ACROSS THE DISCIPLINES 45

● Gain attention of the learners by having them reflect on their own ability to
comprehend a high-level scientific journal article that has highly specific domain
vocabulary and technical terminology.
● Assess the learners’ prior knowledge regarding their ability to select appropriately
challenging text that is high-interest and readable for students
● Teach any necessary prerequisite conceptual knowledge by providing definitions,
examples and non-examples.
● Provide opportunities for learners to generate their own examples and non
examples.
● Present a variety of tools that allow an individual to search text at varying
readability levels.
● Model how an instructor can provide a high-interest text at various readability
levels to scaffold for students.
● Provide practice in selecting texts that are appropriate to a unit of study specified
by the learner and offer feedback as needed.
● Provide time for learners to reflect on the process of selecting appropriate texts
and share with the group how this new learning could transfer into the classroom
Assessment of learning.
● The participants will utilize digital resources to select three pieces of text on the
same topic with readability at grade level, below grade level, and above grade
level to differentiate within the classroom for students from diverse literacy
backgrounds.

Unit 4: Analyze the selected texts for both disciplinary specific vocabulary and general
knowledge vocabulary that can be pre-taught to increase comprehension of text. (CTA and
literature review)
Terminal learning objective.
● Within the specific texts selected in Unit 3, the learner will be able to identify
disciplinary vocabulary and general knowledge vocabulary as well as
evidence-based strategies to teach these vocabulary words to students.
Prerequisite analysis (enabling objectives). To achieve the terminal objective,
learners must:
● Understand how to select appropriately challenging text.
● Know the difference between disciplinary vocabulary and general knowledge
vocabulary.
● Understand the general vocabulary levels of students.
● Be able to write a lesson plan.
Learning activities.
● Inform the participants of the learning objective.
● Gain attention of the learners.
● Assess the learners’ prior knowledge in the area of vocabulary development
● Teach any necessary prerequisite conceptual knowledge by providing definitions,
examples and non-examples in the area of vocabulary development.
● Provide opportunities for learners to generate their own examples and non-
examples.

LITERACY ACROSS THE DISCIPLINES 46

● Present a variety of strategies for selecting appropriate vocabulary words that
should be explicitly taught to improve comprehension of the text.
● Model a variety of evidence-based strategies for teaching vocabulary words.
● Provide practice and feedback in regards to selecting appropriate vocabulary
words from content area text.
● To promote retention and transfer, provide opportunities to write a lesson plan for
a content area classroom that incorporates the texts, identified vocabulary words,
and vocabulary development strategies.
Assessment of learning.
● Participants will write a lesson plan that incorporates content area text, identified
vocabulary words, and vocabulary development strategies to be incorporated into
their Unit of Study.

Unit 5: Identify and explicitly teach literacy strategies that are specific to the discipline
including text features, text structures and reading behaviors. (CTA and literature review)
a. Sciences
b. Social Studies
c. Mathematics
d. Visual and Performing Arts
e. Career and Technical Courses
Terminal learning objective.
● Based upon the text selected in Unit 4, learners will be able to incorporate
disciplinary literacy strategies into a unit of study for their own classrooms.
Prerequisite analysis (enabling objectives). To achieve the terminal objective,
learners must:
● Know the types of text generally used in the learner’s own content area.
● Understand that the act of reading significantly differs among different areas of
study.
● Be able to incorporate literacy strategies into a unit of study.
Learning activities.
● Inform the learners of the learning objective.
● Gain attention of the learners by playing a game where participants identify text
from their own area expertise.
● Assess the learners’ prior knowledge regarding text features, text structures, and
reading behaviors.
● Teach any necessary prerequisite conceptual knowledge by providing definitions,
examples and non-examples.
● Provide opportunities for learners to generate their own examples and non
examples.
● Present the differing types of text features, text structures, and reading behaviors.
● Model how to explicitly utilize text features, text structures, and reading
behaviors to improve comprehension of the text.
● Provide practice and feedback in identifying text features, text structures, and
required reading behaviors to each learners’ selected text from Unit 4.

LITERACY ACROSS THE DISCIPLINES 47

● Promote retention and transfer by having learners utilize new knowledge and
skills in a lesson plan within their Unit of Study for the specific content area
classroom.
Assessment of learning.
● Participants will write a lesson plan that incorporates text features, text structures,
and reading behaviors

Unit 6: Utilize a variety of strategies to create an authentic “purpose for reading” and increasing
content area knowledge through close reading strategies
Terminal learning objective.
● Participants will apply strategies to create a “purpose of reading” and close
reading strategies to a unit of study
Prerequisite analysis (enabling objectives). To achieve the terminal objective,
learners must:
● Be able to select appropriate text.
● Understand the text features, text structures, and reading behaviors required of
content-specific text.
● Be able to apply text features, text structures, and reading behaviors to
content-specific text.
Learning activities.
● Inform the learners of the learning objective.
● Gain attention of the learners.
● Assess the learners’ prior knowledge regarding “purpose for reading” and close
reading strategies.
● Teach any necessary prerequisite conceptual knowledge by providing definitions,
examples and non-examples in the area of “purpose for reading” and close
reading strategies.
● Provide opportunities for learners to generate their own examples and
non-examples
● Present strategies for “purpose for reading” and close reading.
● Model “purpose for reading” and close reading strategies to improve
comprehension of content-specific text.
● Provide practice and feedback with the text that learners selected in Unit 4.
● To promote retention and transfer, learners will apply new knowledge and skills
to their capstone assessment unit of study.
Assessment of learning.
● Participants will write a lesson plan that incorporates strategies for “purpose for
reading” and close reading that.

Unit 7: Scaffolding written responses and designing assessments for feedback, growth, and
celebrations of student learning
Terminal learning objective.
● The participants design assessments in the form of scaffolded written responses
that allow for feedback and celebration of student learning.
Prerequisite analysis (enabling objectives). To achieve the terminal objective,

LITERACY ACROSS THE DISCIPLINES 48

learners must:
● Understand the students’ differing literacy knowledge and skills.
● Be able to differentiate between content area knowledge and literacy skills.
● Be able to match a content area learning objective with an appropriate assessment
that accounts for the literacy capacities of students.
Learning activities.
● Inform the learners of the learning objective.
● Gain attention of the learners.
● Assess the learners’ prior knowledge in regards to designing assessments in the
form of scaffolded written responses that allow for feedback and celebration of
student learning.
● Teach any necessary prerequisite conceptual knowledge by providing definitions,
examples and non-examples in the area of these assessments.
● Provide opportunities for learners to generate their own examples and
non-examples.
● Present strategies for designing assessments in the form of scaffolded written
responses that allow for feedback and celebration of student learning.
● Model these assessments.
● Provide practice and feedback designing assessments in the form of scaffolded
written responses that allow for feedback and celebration of student learning.
● Promote retention and transfer by having the learner design their own assessments
that can be used to measure learning in their capstone assessment unit of study
Assessment of learning.
● The participants will design their own assessment that will measure learning
objectives in their capstone assessment unit of study.

Scope and Sequence
Based upon the results of the CTA, the following outcomes are designed to be taught in a
progressive manner. Skills and strategies are introduced first. Participants will then be provided
with opportunities for guided practice, feedback, and reinforcement. Finally, participants will
demonstrate mastery by applying the new skills and strategies to a unit of study designed for
their own school context and classroom (Table 2).

LITERACY ACROSS THE DISCIPLINES 49

Table 2
Scope and Sequence
I=introduced
R=reinforced
M=mastered
Curriculum Units
Curriculum Outcomes Unit
1
Unit
2
Unit
3
Unit
4
Unit
5
Unit
6
Unit
7
Assess and inventory the literacy
needs of students.
I R R R M
Design note-taking strategies that are
discipline specific.
I R M
Analyze and select high-interest,
leveled texts to support struggling
readers.
I R M
Identify and explicitly teach
domain-specific and general
knowledge vocabulary.
I R R M
Incorporate disciplinary specific
reading behaviors and close reading
strategies to improve comprehension
of domain-specific texts.
I R M
Design scaffolds that allow students
to express content knowledge in
written form. Reinforcement will be
through a job aide.
I R R R R R M
Ascertain students’ content area
knowledge and design assessment
that provide appropriate support for
the literacy demands of the discipline.
I R R R M
Develop and strengthen motivation
and self-efficacy for teaching literacy
skills.
I R R R R R M

LITERACY ACROSS THE DISCIPLINES 50

Table 2, continued
I=introduced
R=reinforced
M=mastered
Curriculum Units
Curriculum Outcomes Unit
1
Unit
2
Unit
3
Unit
4
Unit
5
Unit
6
Unit
7
Understand and apply instructional
design principles in order to
incorporate literacy strategies into
classroom practices.
I R R R R R M

Delivery Media Selection
Several factors were considered when determining the role media will play in delivering
this curriculum. The section below expands on these considerations as they apply to the
curriculum goals and the targeted learners.
Key Considerations in Choosing Media
Clark et al. (2010) emphasize three key factors that help instructional designers select
appropriate media for effective training and education. These are sensory modes required for
learning, conceptual authenticity, and the learners’ need for feedback. Different types of tasks
require different forms of sensory input in order for the learner to apply concepts, processes, or
procedures. An example of this would be that people learning to cook need to utilize all of their
senses to feel what it’s like to hold a chef’s knife properly, taste for seasoning, touch the
elasticity in a dough, and smell if something is burning. Without these sensory inputs, the learner
is not able to adequately complete the task. In regards to conceptual authenticity, the learner
must be in an environment that depicts the conditions in which the learning will be applied. For
example, it would be very difficult to teach a person how to ride a bike while sitting in a
classroom. This type of learning requires the person to be outside where a bike can actually be

LITERACY ACROSS THE DISCIPLINES 51

ridden. In regards to feedback, some tasks require coaching in the moment, or synchronously.
This is especially true for complex tasks that require complex practice exercises. For other types
of tasks, the feedback can be given asynchronously, or at an alternate time from when the task is
being completed. Asynchronous feedback is acceptable for tasks when the learner would be able
to apply constructive comments after the initial task has been completed. An example would be
when a teacher gives comments on a writing assignment in order for the student to revise the
piece.
General Instructional Platform Selection
Based upon the three key factors of media selection (Clark, et al., 2010), this course will
be divided into two days of in-person instruction with opportunities for continued distance
learning between sessions. The main tasks of this course involve teachers planning for
classroom instruction, therefore, there is a low need for sensory input and a high degree of
conceptual authenticity. Feedback should be both synchronous and asynchronous. This will
involve coaching during the in-person instruction when learners are applying new knowledge
and skills in guided practice. It will also include asynchronous feedback given to learners in
regards to the lessons and units they design.

LITERACY ACROSS THE DISCIPLINES 52

Specific Media Choices
Table 3
Specific Media Choices
Media Selection Criterion Relation to Literacy Across the Disciplines
Special sensory requirements - does
instruction require sensory information
beyond visual and aural?
There are no sensory requirements beyond
visual and aural that are needed by the learner
in order to participate in this curriculum.
Conceptual Authenticity - can the media
adequately depict the conditions required for
learners to apply new learning?
The nature of this task requires the learner to
apply new knowledge and skills to their own
lesson plans and units of study. In-person,
synchronous instruction is best suited for this
purpose.
Immediate Feedback - is there a need for
immediate corrective feedback?
Immediate corrective feedback is beneficial
when designing and implementing literacy
strategies. This course will be designed to
allow for coaching time. The instructor will
also give asynchronous feedback to the units
of study created by the participants.

Delivery Costs
It is important to consider the delivery costs of this curriculum in conjunction with the
needs of the organization and the learners (Smith & Ragan, 2005). For this course, the preferred
delivery method is in person. Therefore, the costs include instructor salaries, instructional
materials, transportation to and from the training site, possible overnight housing depending on
location, and facility requirements such as custodial, electrical, and internet access. In addition,
the organization may need to pay for release time or extra hourly wages for the attendees.

LITERACY ACROSS THE DISCIPLINES 53

CHAPTER FIVE: IMPLEMENTATION AND EVALUATION PLAN
Implementation of the Course
The goal of this curriculum is to improve the likelihood that single subject, content area
teachers will incorporate literacy strategies and scaffolds into their classrooms so that students
with inadequate literacy skills can both access the content area curriculum and improve their
reading and writing concurrently. Teachers will attend a two day workshop in which learning is
immediately applied to classroom practice. In addition, the designer and facilitators will be
available to follow up with teachers to increase the likelihood of new knowledge and skills being
transferred into everyday instructional practices. Surveys will be utilized to assess both
immediate responses delayed responses.
Implementation and dissemination of this curriculum is intended to assist school districts,
as well as individual schools, to improve State test scores, increase graduation rates, and better
prepare students for college and career. To reach this goal, implementation will follow Smith
and Ragan’s (2005) stages of adoption. The stages are as follows:
Stage 1: Awareness. School sites and districts across California have metrics such as the
SBAC assessments, California Dashboard, and graduation rates that bring awareness to the need
to improve literacy instruction in classrooms. For this curriculum, the designer will share the
course with local school districts in North Orange County via an email to the Assistant
Superintendents of Educational services outlining the goals and content of the course.
Stage 2: Interest. As a follow up to the email, the designer will reach out via a phone
call to the local Assistant Superintendents to ascertain if any districts or schools have formed

LITERACY ACROSS THE DISCIPLINES 54

positive opinions regarding the course, and if any of them express interest in meeting further to
discuss possible implementation.
Stage 3: Evaluation. Once districts and schools are aware of the problem and a
curriculum that may address their needs, an evaluation of resources including time, budget, and
personnel will need to be conducted to gain an understanding of the feasibility of bringing this
professional development into the organization.
Stage 4: Trial. A small scale pilot will be offered to potential organizations. The
designer will meet with decision making bodies such as literacy committees, leadership teams,
small groups of teachers and administrators to give a preview of the curriculum and to gain
essential information about the specific context in which the curriculum will be taught.
Stage 5: Adoption. After considering the problem, the design of the curriculum, and the
resources needed to address the problem, districts and school sites may make the decision to
adopt this professional development to improve literacy outcomes within the organization.
Stage 6: Integration. Following adoption, the designer and/or trained instructors will
work with the district and schools sites to deliver the curriculum and ensure implementation
within the classrooms. This phase of implementation will require ongoing support and
accountability from administrators and coaches at the individual school sites. Feedback will be
gathered by the designer from those overseeing instructional practices at the school site. This
feedback will be used to further refine the curriculum and to provide additional support if needed
to ensure a positive trajectory towards improved student literacy outcomes.

LITERACY ACROSS THE DISCIPLINES 55

Implementation of the Evaluation Plan
Curriculum Purpose, Need and Expectations
The purpose of this curriculum is to empower single subject teachers to incorporate
literacy instruction and strategies into their classrooms to meet the needs of students who enter
middle school and high school lacking the prerequisite literacy skills. This curriculum addresses
the concern that districts and individual schools receive students who are not adequately
prepared for California’s rigorous standards. In addition to high quality language arts classes
and developing systems and structures for intervention, districts and school sites also need to
consider utilizing the entire school day to promote literacy, especially in content area classes. A
CTA was conducted to design this curriculum utilizing the knowledge and experience of content
area experts that are already incorporating literacy into their work. The desired outcome is for
teachers across California to improve their efficacy in incorporating literacy skills into content
area instruction to ultimately improve student literacy.
Evaluation Framework
This curriculum will be evaluated utilizing the New World Kirkpatrick Model
(Kirkpatrick and Kirkpatrick, 2016). Evaluation is intended to improve the curriculum, increase
the level of transfer for participants, and demonstrate value to the client, which in the case of this
curriculum would be a district or school site. The four levels of evaluation will include reaction,
learning, behavior, and results (Kirkpatrick and Kirkpatrick, 2016). The New World Kirkpatrick
Model has been revised to take into account improvements in technology that allow for easy
access to information, on the job training, and informal professional learning. In addition, the
new model emphasizes the once overlooked Levels 3 and 4 which measure transfer of learning

LITERACY ACROSS THE DISCIPLINES 56

well beyond the original training and impact of the training on the overall goals of the
organization (Kirkpatrick and Kirkpatrick, 2016).
Level 4: Results and Leading Indicators
Level 4 of the New World Kirkpatrick Model (2016) is vital in demonstrating that the
implementation of this curriculum results in helping an organization reach the goal of improving
literacy instruction beyond the walls of the language arts classroom and into disciplinary
classrooms such as science, mathematics, social studies, and the arts. Kirkpatrick and
Kirkpatrick (2016) define results as, “The degree to which targeted outcomes occur as a result of
the training and the support and accountability package.” The external results of this curriculum
are experienced by the larger community and include increased student achievement in the area
of English language arts, an increase in publicly reported indicators of school success in
language arts (California Dashboard), and increased graduation rates (Table 5.1). Internal results
are experienced by the individual schools and teachers who participate in this curriculum and
include improved literacy instruction across all disciplines, improved collective teacher efficacy
in the area of literacy, an increased sense of individual responsibility for literacy instruction, and
increased employee satisfaction (Table 5.1).
In addition, Kirkpatrick and Kirkpatrick (2016) define leading indicators as, “Short-term
observations and measurements that suggest that critical behaviors are on track to create a
positive impact on the desired results.” As seen in Table 5, there are a variety of leading
indicators to measure progress towards the external and internal results. These include an
analysis of proficiency data, California Dashboard ratings, and graduation rates, in addition to
informal observations, classroom walkthroughs, interviews, conversations, and surveys.

LITERACY ACROSS THE DISCIPLINES 57

Table 4
Indicators, Metrics, and Methods for External and Internal Outcomes
Outcome Metric(s) Method(s)
External Outcomes
Increased student
achievement in the area of
English language arts
Proficiency data from district
benchmark assessments and
SBAC
Comparison of pre- and
post-benchmark data and year
to year SBAC results
Increase in publicly
reported indicators of
school success in
language arts (California
Dashboard)
Achievement of green or blue
status on the California
Dashboard
Comparison of prior year
California Dashboard results
from before and after
implementation
Increased graduation rates The percentage of students who
enter as freshmen and complete
A-G requirements as seniors to
earn a high school diploma
Comparison of graduation rates
before and after implementation
of the curriculum
Internal Outcomes
Improved literacy
instruction across all
disciplines
Checklist of literacy
instructional strategies
developed by the principal and
teachers
Informal, unannounced
walkthroughs by administration
Improved collective
teacher efficacy across all
disciplines in the area of
literacy
Teacher and administrator
perceptions evidenced through
Likert style surveys
Feedback through interviews,
conversations, and surveys
Increased sense of
individual responsibility
for literacy instruction in
content area classrooms.
Teacher and administrator
perceptions evidenced through
Likert style surveys
Feedback through interviews,
conversations, and surveys
Increased employee
satisfaction
Teacher and administrator
perceptions evidenced through
Likert style surveys
Feedback through interviews,
conversations, and surveys

LITERACY ACROSS THE DISCIPLINES 58

Level 3: Behavior
Critical behaviors. The ultimate goal of professional learning is for participants to
incorporate new knowledge and skills into the workplace. Kirkpatrick and Kirkpatrick (2016)
suggest defining a few critical behaviors and then identifying required drivers to increase the
likelihood that new learning from this course will be transferred into classroom practice. In the
context of this course there are three critical behaviors that districts and schools will want
participants to achieve to impact student learning. First, teachers will strive to understand and
meet the literacy levels of individual students. Second, Teachers will routinely incorporate
literacy strategies into content area units of study. And finally, Teachers will continue to seek
out formal and informal professional development that enhances both literacy and content area
pedagogy. In order for learning to become regular practice across a school site, these behaviors
should be carefully measured and monitored over time (Table 5.2).
Table 5
Critical Behaviors, Metrics, Methods, and Timing for Evaluation
Critical Behavior Metric(s) Method(s) Timing
1. Teachers will strive to
understand and meet
the literacy levels of
individual students
Completion rates of
informal literacy
assessments:
Listening In Activity
and Quick Write
Activity
Teacher self report to
administration
Beginning of each
semester or
course when
meeting a new
group of students
2. Teachers will
routinely incorporate
literacy strategies into
content area units of
study
Teacher lesson plans
and teacher
self-reporting
Formal submission of
lesson plans to school
administration

Observations by
school administration
After the
workshop

LITERACY ACROSS THE DISCIPLINES 59

Table 5, continued
Critical Behavior Metric(s) Method(s) Timing
3. Teachers will continue
to seek out formal and
informal professional
development that
enhances both literacy
and content area
pedagogy
Number of formal and
informal professional
development
opportunities
completed by teachers
Teachers’ logs of
professional
development
activities
After the
workshop

Required drivers. Kirkpatrick and Kirkpatrick (2016) suggest that organizations design
systems of support and accountability that include reinforcement, encouragement, rewards, and
monitoring. These required drivers act as a means to ensure both compliance with critical
behaviors as well as progress towards desired results (Kirkpatrick & Kirkpatrick, 2016). Table
5.3 outlines the required drivers and timing of accountability and support for the critical
behaviors listed in Table 5.2. The required drivers for this course rely heavily on the concept of
collective teacher efficacy (Donohoo, 2017) so that all staff members on a school site are
working together towards common goals. In context, this means that all teachers, regardless of
their subject area of expertise, are incorporating instructional strategies that support high levels
of literacy for students into daily classroom practice to create a professional school culture that
values literacy across all disciplines.

LITERACY ACROSS THE DISCIPLINES 60

Table 6
Required Drivers to Support Critical Behaviors
Method(s) Timing
Critical Behaviors Supported
1, 2, 3 Etc.
Reinforcing
Resources given to learners
during the curriculum to keep
for reference on the job
During the workshop/ongoing 1, 2
Instructional design template
to serve as job aide
During the workshop/ongoing 1, 2
School wide literacy goals
will be posted in public
spaces around the school
At the beginning of the
workshop/ongoing
1, 2, 3
Administrators to model
literacy strategies during staff
meetings
Ongoing 1, 2, 3
Encouraging
Articulation meetings across
content areas hosted by the
ELA teachers to encourage
implementation
Once per semester following
the workshop
1, 2, 3
ELA teachers send emails to
school staff with current
standards being taught so that
content area teachers can
reinforce with students
Monthly following the
workshop
1, 2
Administrators leave positive
feedback notes when
observing literacy strategies
being utilized in content area
classrooms
Ongoing 1, 2, 3
Teachers meet to discuss
success of literacy strategy
implementation
Once per semester following
the workshop
1, 2

LITERACY ACROSS THE DISCIPLINES 61

Table 6, continued

Method(s) Timing
Critical Behaviors Supported
1, 2, 3 Etc.
Rewarding
Participants will receive a
certificate validating
completion of the course
At the completion of the
workshop
1, 2, 3
Teachers with high levels of
implementation will be
recognized at staff meetings
Monthly or at regularly
designated staff meeting times
1, 2, 3
Monitoring
Follow up observations in
classrooms with feedback
Ongoing 1, 2
Department and grade level
meetings to discuss student
progress
Once per semester following
the workshop
1, 2
Formative and summative
teacher evaluations conducted
by administration
Ongoing formative and end of
the year for summative
1, 2, 3

Organizational support . School districts and individual school sites serve as the
organizations responsible for supporting teachers to transfer new literacy learning into classroom
and school practice. Districts can support school sites by providing administrators who are well
equipped as instructional leaders so that school wide initiatives are well defined, clearly
supported, and monitored for success. Districts should create a culture where collaboration
among principals happens both formally and informally. In addition, districts should ensure that
high levels of literacy instruction are prioritized in school board goals so that district initiatives
support and drive the literacy goals at individual school sites.

LITERACY ACROSS THE DISCIPLINES 62

Site-level administrators, ELA department leads, and fellow teachers all have a
responsibility to ensure that literacy instruction occurs throughout the school day for students.
Literacy initiatives should be every staff members’ responsibility. As such, the school culture
and learning environment should value ongoing professional development both during and after
the completion of this course. The required drivers listed in Table 5.3 rely heavily on the
instructional leaders at the school site.
Level 2: Learning
Learning goals. Literacy cannot be taught effectively if relegated to the silo of the
English class. The overall course goal of this curriculum is to teach single subject credentialed
teachers how to incorporate evidence-based instructional practices that support literacy while
also promoting the domain-specific content that their single subject credential allows them to
teach. The learners must develop the knowledge, skills, and attitudes to value and prioritize
literacy as a fundamental skill across all disciplines.
Components of learning evaluation . Throughout this course, there are opportunities for
participants to demonstrate their learning. The instructional designer has embedded means for
the facilitator to check for and monitor understanding, engagement and motivation. These
opportunities include such things as choral responses, group discussions, an Interactive Journal,
reflective activities, goal setting, and authentic application assignments. Assessments have been
categorized in Table 5.4 as declarative, procedural, attitude, confidence, or commitment
(Kirkpatrick & Kirkpatrick, 2016).

LITERACY ACROSS THE DISCIPLINES 63

Table 7
Evaluation of the Components of Learning for the Program.
Method(s) or Activity(ies) Timing
Declarative Knowledge “I know it.”
Thinking within pair shares During
Group readings, questions, and discussion During
Notes recorded in Interactive Journal During and after
Procedural Skills “I can do it right now.”
Small group discussion During
Scenarios where procedural knowledge is
demonstrated through a simulation of
classroom practice.
During
Self-assessment of competency of procedure During and after
Notes recorded in Interactive Journal During and after
Attitude “I believe this is worthwhile.”
Fist to Five responses Before, during and after
Discussions about the impact of
implementation
Before, during and after
Reflections recorded in Interactive Journal During and after
Confidence “I think I can do it on the job.”
Engagement in class discussions and learning
activities
During
Self-assessment and survey Before, during and after
Reflections recorded in Interactive Journal During and after
Commitment “I will do it on the job.”
Instructional lesson plans During and after

LITERACY ACROSS THE DISCIPLINES 64

Table 7, continued
Method(s) or Activity(ies) Timing
Development of individual action plans During and after
Observations of instruction After
Goals recorded in Interactive Journal During and after

Level 1: Reaction
Kirkpatrick and Kirkpatrick (2016) define reaction as, “the degree to which participants
find the training favorable, engaging, and relevant to their jobs.” Table 5.5 lists the methods
used for participants to display their overall satisfaction with the course. Participant engagement
will be measured throughout the course utilizing attendance records, participation, completion of
lesson plans, and facilitator pulse checks. Relevance and customer satisfaction will be monitored
continuously throughout through guided use of the Interactive Journal and at the conclusion of
the course with surveys and course evaluations.
Table 8
Components to Measure Reactions to the Program.
Method(s) or Tool(s) Timing
Engagement
Attendance records At the beginning of each session
Participation in group activities and scenarios Ongoing
Completion of lesson plans Ongoing
Instructor observations and pulse checks During

LITERACY ACROSS THE DISCIPLINES 65

Table 8, continued

Method(s) or Tool(s) Timing
Relevance
Reflective responses in the Interactive Journal Throughout the course
Survey During and after the course
Customer Satisfaction
Reflective responses in the Interactive Journal Throughout the course
Course evaluation At the conclusion of the course
Follow up survey Delayed after conclusion of the course

Evaluation Tools
Two types of learner centered course evaluation tools have been designed to provide
feedback to the instructional designer and the facilitator. One of the tools is designed for use
immediately following the course, and encompasses Levels 1 and 2 (Kirkpatrick & Kirkpatrick,
2016). The second tool is designed to be given after a delayed period so that participants have an
opportunity to actually apply new learning to classroom practice. Incorporating all four levels of
evaluation in the second tool allows the instructional designer and course facilitator to assess
transfer of learning (Kirkpatrick & Kirkpatrick, 2016).
Immediately following the program implementation. At the conclusion of the
workshop, participants will be asked to complete a brief survey that measures Levels 1 and 2 of
the Kirkpatrick and Kirkpatrick (2016) evaluation model (Appendix A). The aim of this survey
is to measure the learner’s experience and determine the declarative and procedural knowledge

LITERACY ACROSS THE DISCIPLINES 66

gained from participation in the course. It is intended to provide the instructional designer and
the facilitator with information to make relevant revisions to the workshop for future sessions.
Delayed for a period after the program implementation. While it is important to
capture the participants’ reactions at the completion of the workshop, ultimately, the value of this
course lies in the level of implementation of new learning that happens once the participants
return to their daily work in classrooms. Therefore, evaluation tool (Appendix B) has been
designed to collect information following a semester of implementation. This tool goes beyond
Levels 1 and 2 or Kirkpatrick and Kirkpatrick (2016) to document any changes in teaching
behaviors and additional results of the training. This information is critical to demonstrate to
stakeholders that the objectives of this course and the design of this curriculum add value to their
organizations.
Conclusion to the Curriculum Design
Learning to read across disciplines is an essential part of preparing students to become
productive citizens. Currently, less than half of sixth grade students entering middle school are
adequately prepared for the rigors they will face (California Department of Education, 2019).
When students enter high school unprepared for secondary education, their chances of ever
attaining these literacy goals at proficient levels are improbable (Freudenberg & Ruglis, 2007).
With this in mind, educators must make full use of every instructional minute that students spend
in school. This includes ensuring that single subject teachers are highly skilled at incorporating
both general literacy and disciplinary specific literacy skills into their daily instructional
practices. This effort is simply not the work of English language arts teachers alone. Instead, all
educators across all disciplines must work together to ensure that all students gain the literacy

LITERACY ACROSS THE DISCIPLINES 67

skills needed to attain and reach their own individual academic achievement goals. To that end,
this curriculum was created to support all teachers, all school sites, and all districts to maximize
literacy learning for all.

LITERACY ACROSS THE DISCIPLINES 68

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Appendix A
Course Evaluation for Literacy Across the Disciplines

Context: Please complete this survey in order to provide feedback to the workshop designer
and facilitator. Your responses will be used to improve this course for future participants.
Directions : Please circle the
appropriate rating to indicate the degree
to which you agree with each statement.
Strongly
disagree
1

2

3

4
Strongly
agree
5
Statements:
I took responsibility for actively
participating in this workshop.
1 2 3 4 5
The presentation style of the facilitator
contributed positively to my learning
experience.
1 2 3 4 5
Classroom practices presented in this workshop are applicable to my classroom.
Literacy assessments 1 2 3 4 5
Note taking 1 2 3 4 5
Text selection 1 2 3 4 5
Vocabulary instruction 1 2 3 4 5
Disciplinary literacy 1 2 3 4 5
Close reading strategies 1 2 3 4 5
Scaffolded writing strategies 1 2 3 4 5
What additional support would you like in order to be successful in your classroom?

Please provide any suggestions for change/improvement you may have for future sessions of
this workshop.

Co-Adapted by:
Gilligan R., Graham, J., & Naudin, M. (2020). Delayed Course Evaluation Tool.
Co-Adapted from:
Kirkpatrick, J. D., & Kirkpatrick, W. K. (2016). Kirkpatrick's four levels of training evaluation.
Association for Talent Development.
Appendix B
Implementation Evaluation for Literacy Across the Disciplines

Context: The purpose of this survey is to determine if the training you attended has had an
impact on your classroom practices.
Directions : Please circle the
appropriate rating to indicate the degree
to which you agree with each statement.
Strongly
disagree
1

2

3

4
Strongly
agree
5
Statements:
Looking back, this course was a good
use of my time.
1 2 3 4 5
I have applied what I learned in this
workshop to my classroom.
1 2 3 4 5
I am already seeing positive results with
my students from attending this training.
1 2 3 4 5
Open Ended Questions:
Of the strategies presented in this course, which were the most relevant to your classroom?
(ie.: Literacy assessments, note taking, text selection, vocabulary instruction, disciplinary literacy, close reading strategies,
and scaffolded writing strategies.)

What early signs of success have you noticed from your efforts?

What is the impact of this training on your school as a whole?

Describe any challenges you are experiencing in applying what you learned and possible
solutions to overcome them.

Co-Adapted by:
Gilligan R., Graham, J., & Naudin, M. (2020). Delayed Course Evaluation Tool.
Co-Adapted from:
Kirkpatrick, J. D., & Kirkpatrick, W. K. (2016). Kirkpatrick's four levels of training evaluation.
Association for Talent Development.

Appendix C
Literacy Across the Disciplines
Course Overview
Plan and Instructor’s Guide

Duration: 30 minutes
Lesson Materials
Computers (participants should bring their personal devices)
Projector or large television for display
Access to a learning management system or Google Drive
Slide presentations
Handouts & worked examples
Chart paper w/ markers

Learner Characteristic Accommodations
Participants are adults with a single subject credential in an area other than English Language Arts. These
adults are likely mandated by the school or district to take this course and may or may not be motivated to
incorporate literacy skills into everyday classroom practice. Therefore, the value, practicality, and usefulness
of this learning will be emphasized throughout. Participants will have differing levels of technology skills that
will necessitate differentiation and support.

Facilitator’s Notes
To informally assess the prior knowledge and experience of the participants, the facilitator will ask questions
relating to the subject areas taught by participants, prior knowledge in regards to literacy strategies, and the
expectations of the course.

Instructional Activities

Instructional
Sequence
Time
(mins)
Description of the
Learning Activity
Instructor
Action/Decision
(Supplantive)
Learner
Action/
Decision
(Generative)
Introduction 5 Provide motivation by drawing the
participant’s attention to the
problem of students entering middle
and high school without the
prerequisite literacy skills. Provide
the overall purpose of the course
that participants will be able to
positively impact student learning in
specific disciplines by incorporating
literacy strategies into daily
instruction.

Increase utility value for
participants by describing how
teachers can expect better
performance in content area classes
when the literacy needs of students
are being met.
Introduce the purpose
of the course through
videos, images, and
statistics that
demonstrate the
personal impacts of
poor literacy skills for
today’s youth.

Facilitator will elicit
from participants some
of the obstacles students
face that hinder success
in content area courses.
It is anticipated that
responses will likely
refer to deficits in
reading and writing.
Participants
will respond to
the facilitator
by describing
obstacles
students face
that hinder
success in
content area
courses.
The
participants
will begin an
interactive
journal for the
course. This
interactive
journal will
serve as a job

1

Course Overview and Lesson Plan Templates
aide and will
be built
throughout the
course with
reflections,
resources, and
learnings. They
will write
down their
personal goals
of what they
hope to learn
from the
course and
how they
intend to apply
it to their own
classrooms.
Course Goal 5 Introduce the course goal and
outcomes:

The overall course goal of this
curriculum is to incorporate
evidenced-based instructional
practices to support literacy while
also promoting the domain specific
content that a single subject
credential allows them to teach.

By the end of the course,
participants will be able to analyze
current domain specific units of
study and identify individual lessons
that can be enhanced using newly
learned literacy strategies.
Present the course goal
and outcomes.
Participants
connect and
match the goal
and outcomes
to their
personal goal
and application
in a modified
“sketch note”
format within
their
Interactive
Journals (p. 1).
Purpose for
the Course

10 Stimulate motivation by describing
the benefits for the participants:
● increased self-efficacy in
the area of literacy
instruction
● increased learning results
for students in participants’
classrooms
● increase equity and access
for participants’ students
by providing literacy
scaffolds

In addition, participants will avoid
the following:
● poor content area learning
Facilitator provides a
reflective survey that
connects the
participants current
classroom context, their
learners, and their
self-efficacy with the
course goals and
outcomes.

Participants
reflect on their
expectations of
the course by
engaging with
and completing
a survey.

2

Course Overview and Lesson Plan Templates
for participants’ students
● disengagement in the
classroom due to lack of
access
Course
Overview

10 Provide participants with a visual
model of all the units in the course
to assist them in organizing their
learning. Show all the units in the
course to provide a mental model
and assist the learners to organize
their learning and make connections
between the units and the course
goal.

Provide a description of the
activities, tools, and artifacts that
will be used in each unit.

Facilitator uses a visual
model to show the units
in the course and how
each relates to achieving
the course goal.
Describe the reasoning
for sequencing the units.

Describe how the units
are structured, the
overarching design of
the units, and some of
the common
components and
activities that each unit
provides.

Facilitator elicits
responses from
participants about what
they anticipate will be
the most interesting or
more valuable aspects of
the course.
Participants
follow the
model and
make notes of
how each unit
applies to their
personal goals
and reasons for
taking the
course.

Participants
ask questions
and share the
part of the
course they are
most
interested in or
consider the
most valuable
as it relates to
their current
work
assignment.
Total Time 30

Course Overview Infographic

3

Course Overview and Lesson Plan Templates

4

Course Overview and Lesson Plan Templates

5

Course Overview and Lesson Plan Templates

6

Course Overview and Lesson Plan Templates
Unit 1 Overview

Unit 1: Take an inventory of the literacy needs of students utilizing informal assessments (ie.,
written paragraph, read aloud, oral comprehension) and verify findings in collaboration with the
ELA teachers. (CTA and Literature review)
Terminal learning objective.
● Given a diverse caseload of students in content area classrooms, learners will be
able to effectively identify the students in need of additional literacy support.
Prerequisite analysis (enabling objectives). In order to achieve the terminal objective,
learners must:
● Understand that secondary school students utilize foundational literacy skills
(phonemic awareness, phonics and fluency), vocabulary, comprehension, and
writing in order to learn and demonstrate knowledge of content area knowledge
and skills.
● Understand the impact that poor literacy skills have on learning content area
knowledge and skills specific to each discipline.
● Be able to identify existing beliefs and biases concerning the responsibility of
literacy instruction beyond the English Language Arts classrooms and across
content area classes.
● Be able to develop a collaborative relationship with English Language Arts
teachers on a school campus.
● Be able to develop a philosophy and commitment to the diverse literacy needs of
students within a content area class.
Learning activities.
● Inform the participants of the learning objective.
● After introductions and attention activities, assess prior knowledge of the learners
regarding foundational literacy skills (phonemic awareness, phonics and fluency),
vocabulary, comprehension, writing and literacy screening.
● Teach any necessary prerequisite conceptual knowledge by providing definitions,
examples and non-examples regarding literacy and informal literacy assessments
● Provide opportunities for learners to generate their own examples and non
examples
● Demonstrate a variety of literacy screening tools and the purpose for each
● Model how to use the screening tools to gather information about students
● Provide practice and formative feedback in accurately screening and identifying
students in need of literacy support and scaffolding.
● Provide opportunities for the learners to select or design screening tools for the
classes they currently teach in order to transfer learning to the classroom context.
Assessment and Application of learning.
● Participants will present a rationale for the use of each screening tool designed.
● When provided with a set of screening data from a typical classroom of students,
learners will accurately identify students in need of additional literacy support and
will be able to form appropriate groupings based upon student need.

Literacy Across the Disciplines
Lesson Plan and Instructor’s Guide
Unit 1: Taking an Inventory of Literacy Needs

Unit Duration: 80 Minutes

Introduction: Take an inventory of the literacy needs of students utilizing informal assessments (ie., written
paragraph, read aloud, oral comprehension) and verify findings in collaboration with the ELA teachers.

Learning Objective(s)
Terminal Objective:
Given a diverse caseload of students in content area classrooms, learners will be able to effectively identify the
students in need of additional literacy support.
Enabling Objective(s):
● Understand that secondary school students utilize foundational literacy skills (phonemic
awareness, phonics and fluency), vocabulary, comprehension, and writing in order to learn and
demonstrate knowledge of content area knowledge and skills.
● Understand the impact that poor literacy skills have on learning content area knowledge and skills
specific to each discipline.
● Be able to identify existing beliefs and biases concerning the responsibility of literacy instruction
beyond the English Language Arts classrooms and across content area classes.
● Be able to develop a collaborative relationship with English Language Arts teachers on a school
campus.
● Be able to develop a philosophy and commitment to the diverse literacy needs of students within a
content area class.

Lesson Materials *
Infographic Course Overview Bookmark
Access to computer with internet
Access to the learning management system or Google Drive
Interactivee Journal
Observation Tool Job Aides: Listening In Activity and Quick Write Activity
Presentation slides

Learner Characteristic Accommodations
Learners are adults who have likely been mandated by the school or district to attend the training. They may lack
the motivation, confidence and/or skills to promote literacy in their current classroom contexts. As adult learners,
the practicality and usefulness of the training must be emphasized throughout.

Facilitator’s Notes
To informally assess their prior knowledge before beginning, ask questions of participants relating to: What content
areas they currently teach, their prior experiences with literacy instruction, their knowledge of foundational literacy
skills, and their knowledge of disciplinary specific literacy skills.

Instructional Activities
Instructional
Sequence
Time
(mins)
Description of the
Learning Activity
Instructor
Action/Decision
(Supplantive)
Learner
Action/
Decision
(Generative)
Gain
Attention
5
minutes
In order to provide value to the
participants, the facilitator will show a
brief video on the power of literacy.
The facilitator plays the
video and asks
participants to discuss
Participants
watch the video
and discuss
The Power of Literacy

reactions with an elbow
partner.

Instructor asks
participants to share out to
the whole group.
reactions with
an elbow
partner before
sharing with the
whole group.
Learning
Objectives
1 minute Facilitator will show the class the
Course Overview Infographic and
write the terminal objective for this
unit on the front board.
Facilitator will read the
terminal objective and ask
for understanding and
questions.
Participants will
watch, listen
and ask
questions or
acknowledge
understanding.
Purpose for
Learning
4
minutes
Benefits: participants will be able to
adjust instruction to meet the
identified literacy needs of students.
This will allow for greater learning of
the disciplinary specific content being
taught in the participants’ classrooms.

Risks Avoided: participants will avoid
poor learning of disciplinary content
by students in their classrooms by
understanding which students may be
in need of literacy scaffolds and
supports.
Facilitator states the
reasons for learning the
material and the risk
avoided. Key points will
be stated aloud while
others will be bullet
points on screen

Facilitator will explain the
use of “fist to five”
Participants will be asked
a question and the
response is a physical cue
indicating a fist as zero
and a 5 as highly
valuable.
After listening
to the learning
objective and
purpose for
learning,
participants will
give a “fist to
five” on the
perceived value
of this objective
to their
classroom
contexts.
Overview
(What you
already
know...what
you are going
to learn...and
how you are
going to learn
it.)
3
minutes
A learning management system will
house all of the materials for the
course and will be introduced at in this
first unit.

Participants understand that secondary
school students utilize foundational
literacy skills (phonemic awareness,
phonics and fluency), vocabulary,
comprehension, and writing in order to
learn and demonstrate knowledge of
content area knowledge and skills.
They understand firsthand the impact
that poor literacy skills have on
learning content area knowledge and
skills specific to each discipline.

In this unit, participants will be able to
quickly identify which students have
deficits in reading and writing.

Participants will learn this by watching
the modeling of two informal
assessment strategies and analyzing
mock data.
As part of the overview,
the Facilitator will
introduce the learning
management system
where course materials
will be housed for
participants to access
and/or download.

Facilitator describes and
explains prior knowledge
connection to new
knowledge as well as
learning strategies.

Guiding Question: “How
will we know which of
our students need
additional literacy
support?”

Facilitator describes the
activities of the unit (from
the first column).

Participants
listen and watch
presentation of
overview with
guiding
question,
explanation of
the learning
management
system, and the
review of
learning
strategies
needed in order
to be successful.

Within table
groups,
Participants sort
the cards as to
which they can
define easily
and which are
difficult to
define.

At the end of this session, Participants
will be able to customize these two
assessments for their own classrooms.

Facilitator will ascertain the prior
knowledge of the group by having
them define key terms that pertain to
foundational literacy.

Facilitator uses the
analogy of a
Foundation of a house
as compared to the
foundations of
literacy...Participants
are given cards with
foundational literacy
skills printed:
phonemic awareness,
phonics, decoding,
fluency, vocabulary,
comprehension, and
writing. Table groups
make two piles: one
with terms they know
and one with terms
which are unfamiliar or
difficult to define.

Facilitator will guide a
discussion regarding the
prerequisite knowledge of
the group.

Prerequisite
Knowledge
7 In the overview section, the Facilitator
will informally assess prior knowledge
of foundational literacy skills of
individuals and of the group as a
whole.

It is expected that the Participants will
have the prior knowledge. In the event
they do not, the Facilitator will teach
the concepts by giving definitions,
examples and nonexamples.

The Facilitator will
provide definitions,
examples, and
nonexamples for any
knowledge the
Participants may need.
For any
knowledge that
Participants
need, they will
generate their
own examples
and
nonexamples in
the Interactive
Journal (p. 2) to
demonstrate
their
understanding.
Learning
Guidance
15
minutes
The Facilitator will demonstrate two
different informal
observation/assessment tools:
- Listening In Activity
- Quick Write Activity

Facilitator demonstrates
the two tools.

For the Listening In
Activity, Facilitator will
model how to use the
form in hard copy and in
digital spreadsheet. The
Facilitator will show a
video of students reading
aloud from a textbook.
Facilitator will model how
to informally categorize
Participants
watch the
demonstration
and take notes
in the
Interactive
Journal (p. 3)
for each of the
two tools
utilizing a
T-chart.
the oral reading ability of
each student utilizing the
Listening In Activity.

The Facilitator will model
how to design and
administer a Quick Write
Activity and how to sort
assessments on the
Instructional Groupings
Worksheet.
Practice and
Feedback
20
minutes
A practice and feedback opportunity
will allow for the participants to
demonstrate to the Facilitator that they
clearly understand the knowledge and
skills needed to informally assess
students’ reading and writing skills.

Facilitator will play a
video of three different
students reading from a
textbook in order for
Participants to practice the
Listening In Activity.

Facilitator will give table
groups a set of Completed
Quick Write Assessments
that Participants will
analyze on the
Instructional Groupings
Worksheet

Facilitator will walk
around to give corrective
feedback to Participants
as needed.

IF learners respond
correctly to the practice
with feedback, THEN
they can move on to the
authentic assessment.

IF learners do not respond
correctly, THEN feedback
will include a detailed
explanation about the
incorrect answers and
learners can engage in
additional practice.
Participants will
listen to three
different
students reading
from a textbook
and practice the
Listening In
Activity in order
to identify
students in need
of additional
literacy support.

Given a set of
Completed
Quick Writes,,
Participants
utilize the
Instructional
Groupings
Worksheet to
identify students
in need of
additional
writing
scaffolds.
Authentic
Assessment *
20 Participants will apply new learning
by making their own
Listening In Activity and Quick Write
Activity for the classes they currently
teach.

Facilitator will continue to
offer guidance and
feedback while
Participants work on
revising each assessment
for their own contexts.
Participants will
choose either
the hard copy
format or the
spreadsheet
format of the
Listening In
Activiyt and
modify it for

use in their own
classes by
adding class
period or
sections and
student names.

Participants will
pick a prompt
from their
specific
discipline to
create a Quick
Write Activy
and
Instructional
Groupings
Worksheet to be
used with their
current students.
Retention
and Transfer
5
minutes
Authentic Assessment above is
designed to prepare participants to
apply new learning as soon as the
following day.
Facilitator will encourage
participants to set a date
for these assessments to
take place in participants’
classrooms.
Participants will
mark their
calendars or
planbooks for
when they will
accomplish the
task of both the
Listening In
Activity and the
Quick Write
Activity .
Big Ideas 3
minutes
Review and re-motivate: Review the
“take-aways” from this lesson and the
application of procedures. Connect
back to the importance of providing
literacy scaffolds that support content
area learning. Emphasize the
importance of knowing the different
literacy levels of the students served.
Facilitator will ask the
question, “How can the
process of identifying
students in need of
literacy support improve
content area learning in
your classroom?”
In the
Interactive
Journal (p.3),
participants will
document their
thinking in
regards to the
importance of
literacy
scaffolds.
Advance
Organizer for
the Next Unit
2
minutes
In the next section, Participants will
learn how to utilize note-taking
strategies with their students that
incorporate both visuals and text to
deepen understanding and memory of
discipline specific knowledge and
skills.
Instructor “previews” next
lesson through the Visual
Course Overview
Infographic.
Participants
listen and view
infographic.
Total Time 80
minutes

Visual Course Overview Infographic:

Unit Overview from Ch 4
Unit 2: Implement a note-taking strategy that incorporates both text and sketches. (CTA)
Terminal learning objective.
● Given their own content area context, learners will implement a note-taking
strategy that incorporates both text and sketches.
Prerequisite analysis (enabling objectives). In order to achieve the terminal objective,
learners must:
● Know the specific content, standards, and expectations of the classes they teach
● Be able to break down larger concepts into smaller chunks
● Be able to prioritize content knowledge for students
● Be able to access the current textbook for the course

Learning activities.
● Inform the participants of the learning objective
● Gain attention and motivation of the learners through an activity that reinforces
the value of note-taking
● Assess prior knowledge of the learners in regards to note-taking using text as well
as sketches or non-linguistic representations
● Teach any necessary prerequisite conceptual knowledge by providing definitions,
examples and non-examples in the area of evidenced-based note-taking strategies.
● Provide opportunities for learners to generate their own examples and non
examples
● Present various note-taking formats to the learners
● Model the use of note-taking strategies from texts across various disciplines
● Provide practice and feedback with note-taking formats
● Encourage retention and transfer by having learners select the note-taking format
that best meets the needs of their classroom and reflect on today’s learning by
summarizing in the preferred note-taking format
Assessment of learning.
● Participants will select a note-taking format that is appropriate to a unit of study
in their classroom and make a model or “worked example” of note-taking of a
piece of text typically used in that Unit of Study.

Literacy Across the Disciplines
Lesson Plan and Instructor’s Guide
Unit 2: Utilizing Note-taking Strategies

Unit Duration: 30 Minutes

Introduction: Implement a note-taking strategy that incorporates both text and sketches.

Learning Objective(s)
Terminal Objective:
Given their own content area context, learners will implement a note-taking strategy that incorporates both text and
sketches in order to support students that require literacy scaffolds.
Enabling Objective(s):
● Know the specific content, standards, and expectations of the classes they teach
● Be able to break down larger concepts into smaller chunks
● Be able to prioritize content knowledge for students
● Be able to access the current textbook for the course

Lesson Materials *
Infographic Course Overview Bookmark
Access to computer with internet for learning platform or Google Drive
Note taking guide (Reflective Journal) and materials
Presentation slides

Learner Characteristic Accommodations
Learners are adults who have likely been mandated by the school or district to attend the training. They may lack
the motivation, confidence and/or skills to promote literacy in their current classroom contexts. As adult learners,
the practicality and usefulness of the training must be emphasized throughout.

Facilitator’s Notes
The Reflective Journal will be a tool used throughout the course that utilizes these note-taking strategies. The
facilitator should explicitly point this out to the participants.

Instructional Activities
Instructional
Sequence
Time
(mins)
Description of the
Learning Activity
Instructor
Action/Decision
(Supplantive)
Learner Action/
Decision
(Generative)
Gain
Attention
1
minutes
A sketchnote that contains the learning
objective, purpose for learning,
overview, and prerequisite knowledge
for this section will be posted on the
board.
Facilitator posts the
sketchnote that contains
the learning objective,
purpose for learning,
overview, and
prerequisite knowledge
for this section.

Facilitator asks the
question, “What do you
think this next section
will be about? How
might this next section
support students who
require literacy support
in your content area
classroom?”

Participants view
the sketchnote
and predict with
an elbow partner
answers to the
following
questions:

“What do you
think this next
section will be
about? How
might this next
section support
students who
require literacy
support in your
content area
classroom?”
Learning
Objectives
1 Given their own content area context,
learners will implement a note-taking
strategy that incorporates both text and
sketches in order to support students
who require literacy scaffolds..
From the sketchnote,
facilitator will state the
learning objective and
ask for understanding
and questions.
Participants will
circle the part of
the sketchnote
that represents the
objective.

They will have an
opportunity to ask
questions or
acknowledge
understanding.
Purpose for
Learning
1 Benefits: Participants will be able to
select from a variety of note-taking
strategies to utilize in their classrooms
that will promote high levels of
engagement, study guidance, and
retention of information for students.
These strategies are not about
“dumbing down” the content, but
“leveling up” student access to it.

Risks Avoided: Utilizing these
strategies avoids boredom and poor
note-taking in the content areas due to
deficits in literacy.
From the sketchnote,
facilitator will state the
purpose for learning.
Participants will
circle the part of
the sketchnote
that represents the
purpose for
learning.
Overview 1 In order to assess prior knowledge in
the area of note-taking, Participants
will engage in a table conversation
about how they currently utilize
note-taking strategies and how well
these strategies support students with
literacy needs.

In this unit, participants will be able to
select from a variety of note-taking
strategies such as sketchnotes, cornell
notes, boxing, charting, mapping, and
annotations to support students with
literacy deficits to gain access to the
content.

Participants will learn this by
analyzing sketchnotes, cornell notes,
boxing, charting, mapping, and
annotations for use in their own
classroom contexts.

At the end of this session, Participants
will be able to customize note-taking
strategies to enhance learning in their
classrooms.
Facilitator will pose the
questions, “How do you
currently utilize
note-taking strategies in
your classroom? How
well do these strategies
work for the students
who have difficulty
reading and writing?”

Facilitator will rotate
around the tables
listening in to the group
responses.

From the sketchnote,
Facilitator will state the
overview.
Participants will
discuss the
questions in table
groups.

Participants will
circle the part of
the sketchnote
that represents the
overview.

Prerequisite
Knowledge
5
minutes
In the overview section, the Facilitator
will informally assess prior knowledge
of individuals and of the group as a
whole.

It is expected that the Participants will
have the prerequisite knowledge. In
the event they do not, the Facilitator
will teach the concepts by giving
definitions, examples and
nonexamples.
The Facilitator will
provide definitions,
examples and
nonexamples for any
knowledge that
Participants may need.

For any
knowledge that
Participants need,
they will generate
their own
examples and
nonexamples in
the Interactive
Journal to
demonstrate their
understanding.
Learning
Guidance
8
minutes
Sketchnotes, cornell notes, boxing,
charting, mapping, and annotations
will all be presented by the Facilitator
with the pros and cons of each method.

Accommodations for students with
literacy needs will also be presented.

Digital note-taking tools will be
explored by means of watching this
video: Top 10 Note Takers 2019
Facilitator will model the
6 different note-taking
strategies.

The Facilitator will also
provide typical
accommodations that
allow access for students
with literacy needs.

Facilitator will play the
video.
Participants will
take notes in the
Interactive
Journal (p. 4)
using the charting
strategy. The
notes will include
a definition,
diagram, pros,
cons, and
accommodations.

Participants will
watch the video.
Practice and
Feedback
8
minutes
Participants will analyze the strategies
for use in different classroom
scenarios.
Facilitator will present
Participants with various
teaching scenarios.
Facilitator will ask the
question, “What
note-taking strategy
might be best for this
classroom scenario?
What accommodations
might be needed for a
student with literacy
needs?”

Facilitator will offer
feedback as the table
groups share responses.
Participants will
analyze each
scenario and
determine
appropriate
note-taking
strategies as a
table group.

Participants will
share thoughts
with the class as a
whole.
Authentic
Assessment *
5
minutes
For this assessment, participants will
implement a note-taking strategy that
incorporates both text and sketches
into a current unit of study from their
specific content areas..
Facilitator will post a
Padlet for Participants to
share their thinking.

Padlet Prompt : Match a
current unit of study that
you will be teaching in
your classroom with an
appropriate note-taking
strategy.
Participants will
select an
upcoming unit of
study and match
an appropriate
note-taking
strategy to the
unit.

Participants will
add these
responses to a
Padlet
Retention
and Transfer
3
minutes
Participants will be asked to write a
commitment statement in the form of
an implementation goal.
Facilitator will ask
Participants to write a
commitment statement in
the Interactive Journal
(p. 5).

Prompt: “I will
incorporate new
note-taking strategies and
accommodations to
Participants will
add a
commitment
statement to their
chart notes in the
Interactive
Journal(p. 5)
support my learners
by…”
Big Ideas 1 minute Review and re-motivate: Review the
“take-aways” from this lesson and the
application of procedures. Connect
back to the importance of providing
literacy scaffolds that support content
area learning, especially in the area of
note-taking.
Facilitator will ask the
question, “How likely are
you to utilize a new piece
of learning in your
classroom this upcoming
week?”
Participants will
respond to the
Facilitator using
the fist to five
method from Unit
1.
Advance
Organizer for
the Next Unit
1 minute In the next section, Participants will
learn how to select appropriately
leveled texts in order for students at
different literacy levels to be able to
access content area information.
Instructor “previews”
next lesson through the
Visual Course Overview
Infographic.
Participants listen
and view
infographic.
Total Time 35
minutes

Visual Course Overview Infographic:

Unit Overview from Ch 4

Unit 3: Select high interest text within a variety of reading levels from both the textbook and
supplemental reading materials that address the disciplinary content. (Literature Review)
Terminal learning objective.
● Based on the specific content of a unit of study within their classroom, learners
will utilize a variety of digital resources to select high interest text at various
reading levels to scaffold access to the content material.
Prerequisite analysis (enabling objectives). In order to achieve the terminal objective,
learners must:
● Know the specific content, standards, and expectations of the classes they teach
● Be able to utilize basic internet search skills
● Know and understand the general interests of the age level of the students served
● Understand the different reading ability levels of students as learned in Unit 1
● Be able to select a variety of high interest digital resources at various grade levels
Learning activities.
● Inform the learners of the learning objective
● Gain attention of the learners by having them reflect on their own ability to
comprehend a high level scientific journal article that has highly specific domain
vocabulary and technical terminology.
● Assess prior knowledge of the learners regarding their ability to select
appropriately challenging text that is high interest and readable for students
● Teach any necessary prerequisite conceptual knowledge by providing definitions,
examples and non-examples.
● Provide opportunities for learners to generate their own examples and non
examples
● Present a variety of tools that allow an individual to search text at varying
readability levels
● Model how an instructor can provide a high interest text at various readability
levels to scaffold for students
● Provide practice in selecting texts that are appropriate to a unit of study specified
by the learner and offer feedback as needed
● Provide time for learners to reflect on the process of selecting appropriate texts
and share with the group how this new learning could transfer into the classroom
Assessment of learning.
● The participants will utilize digital resources to select three pieces of text on the
same topic with readability at grade level, below grade level, and above grade
level in order to differentiate within the classroom for students from diverse
literacy backgrounds.

Literacy Across the Disciplines
Lesson Plan and Instructor’s Guide
Unit 3: Selecting High Interest, Leveled Texts to Support Struggling Readers

Unit Duration: 1 Hour and 30 minutes

Introduction: Select high interest text within a variety of reading levels from both the textbook and supplemental
reading materials that address the disciplinary content.

Learning Objective(s)
Terminal Objective:
Based on the specific content of a unit of study within their classroom, learners will utilize a variety of digital
resources to select high interest text at various reading levels to scaffold access to the content material.
Enabling Objective(s):
● Know the specific content, standards, and expectations of the classes they teach
● Be able to utilize basic internet search skills
● Know and understand the general interests of the age level of the students served
● Understand the different reading ability levels of students as learned in Unit 1
● Be able to select a variety of high interest digital resources at various grade levels

Lesson Materials *
Infographic Course Overview Bookmark
Access to computer with internet for learning platform or Google Drive
Note taking guide (Reflective Journal) and materials
Sticker dots
Presentation slides

Learner Characteristic Accommodations
Learners are adults who have likely been mandated by the school or district to attend the training. They may lack
the motivation, confidence and/or skills to promote literacy in their current classroom contexts. As adult learners,
the practicality and usefulness of the training must be emphasized throughout. In regards to texts being used in
classrooms, many of the participants may rely heavily on the adopted textbook. In order to increase the likelihood
of implementation, resources provided to participants need to be free and easily accessible.

Facilitator’s Notes
Be sure to send out a message to Participants prior to this session. Participants will need to bring with them a
current unit of study from their own practices to be utilized in the next lessons. Throughout this course, note-taking
from Lesson 2 will be reinforced and modeled. In Lesson 2, Participants utilized the “boxing method” for taking
notes. In this lesson, Participants will be directed to try out the “sketchnote” method for taking notes.

Instructional Activities
Instructional
Sequence
Time
(mins)
Description of the
Learning Activity
Instructor
Action/Decision
(Supplantive)
Learner
Action/
Decision
(Generative)
Gain
Attention
5
minutes
Facilitator will gain attention by
demonstrating how difficult it is to
comprehend information from text that
is too difficult or that has highly
specialized vocabulary.
Facilitator will display a
piece of text from a
scientific journal and ask
comprehension questions
of the audience.
Difficult Text for Lesson
3

Facilitator will lead a
discussion about the
difficulty our students
have gaining content area
Participants will
read the text and
attempt to
answer
comprehension
questions.

Participants will
reflect and
discuss the
difficulty
students may
have in their
information from text that
is too difficult for them.
classrooms
when text is too
difficult.
Learning
Objectives
1 minute Facilitator will show the class the
Course Overview Infographic and
write the terminal objective for this
unit on the front board.
Facilitator will read the
terminal objective and ask
for understanding and
questions.

Participants will
watch and
listen.

They will have
an opportunity
to ask questions
or acknowledge
understanding.
Purpose for
Learning
5
minutes
Benefits: By utilizing differentiated
texts, participants will be more
effective in supporting students within
their classrooms to access the content
and increase comprehension of content
being taught.

Risks Avoided: Participants will
avoid losing the attention of students
in their classrooms due to the text
level being inaccessible or
unengaging.
Facilitator states the
reasons for learning the
material and the risk
avoided. Key points will
be stated aloud while
others will be bullet
points on screen.

Facilitator will ask
participants to estimate
the percentage of students
in participants’
classrooms that have
difficulty reading the
adopted text.

Facilitator will post a
chart with a range from
0-100%.

Facilitator will ask
Participants to write a
statement in their
Interactive Journal in
regards to the data
collected.
Participants will
reflect on their
current students
and estimate the
percentage of
students who
have difficulty
accessing the
current
textbook.
Participants will
place a sticker
dot along the
chart from 0%
to 100%.

Participants will
write a
reflection
utilizing the
“sketchnote”
format in their
Interactive
Journal (p. 5) in
regards to the
data collected.
Overview 2
minutes
Assess prior knowledge of the
participants.

In this unit, Participants will learn
what makes a particular text difficult
to read, how to identify the level of a
particular text, and how to find
different sources for leveled texts that
are relevant to the courses of study
they teach in order to provide
scaffolded access to students.

Participants will learn this through a
guided demonstration with time for
Facilitator will ask the
questions of table groups
in order to informally
assess prior knowledge:
“Apart from the adopted
text, where do you find
text for your classes?
Because you are content
area experts, it is assumed
you know how to select
texts, including sources
from the Internet, that are
relevant to your
instruction. How do you
ensure that those texts
They will have
an opportunity
to ask questions
or acknowledge
understanding.
exploration and analysis of the
benefits of each resource.
meet the literacy needs of
students?”

Facilitator will read the
terminal objective and ask
for understanding and
questions..
Prerequisite
Knowledge
2
minutes
In the overview section, the Facilitator
will informally assess prior knowledge
of individuals and of the group as a
whole.

It is expected that the Participants will
have the prerequisite knowledge. In
the event they do not, the Facilitator
will teach the concepts by giving
definitions, examples and
nonexamples.
The Facilitator will
provide definitions,
examples and
nonexamples for any
knowledge that
Participants may need.

For any
knowledge that
Participants
need, they will
generate their
own examples
and
nonexamples in
the Interactive
Journal (p. 5)
utilizing the
“sketchnote”
format to
demonstrate
their
understanding.
Learning
Guidance
25
minutes
Text complexity is based on a number
of factors that include:
● Average words per sentence
● Average sentences per
paragraph
● Percentage of unfamiliar
vocabulary
● The number dependent and
independent clauses
● Number and complexity of
visual devices (diagrams,
charts, maps, etc.)
● Structural elements of
nonfiction text
● Prerequisite prior knowledge
● Concept difficulty

Educators can identify the grade level
of a text utilizing the Flesch-Kincaid
Grade Level Formula .

There are many resources for finding
leveled text that are free to educators.
● NewsELA
● ReadWorks
● CommonLit
● Smithsonian Tween Tribune
● News In Levels
● ReWordify
● Text Compactor
Facilitator will guide
Participant’s through the
factors that determine the
complexity of a text.

Facilitator will ask
Participants to analyze the
scientific text used to gain
attention for the factors of
complexity in a table
group discussion.

Facilitator will model how
to quickly identify the
level of any particular text
utilizing the
Flesch-Kincaid Grade
Level Formula .

Facilitator will introduce
resources where
Participants can find free
leveled texts and will
model completing the box
notes using in the
Interactive Journal (p. 6)
NewsELA and
ReadWorks for the group.

Participants will
listen to the
factors that
determine text
complexity and
apply these
factors to the
scientific text
used to gain
attention at the
beginning of the
lesson in a table
group
discussion.

Participants will
watch a
demonstration
of how to
quickly identify
the level of any
particular text.
Practice and
Feedback
25
minutes
A practice and feedback opportunity
will allow for the participants to
demonstrate to the Facilitator that they
clearly understand the knowledge and
skills needed to select high interest,
leveled text to meet the diverse
literacy needs of the students they
serve.
Facilitator will direct
Participants to utilize the
Flesch-Kincaide Grade
Level Formula to the
scientific text used at the
beginning of the lesson.

Facilitator will provide
time for the Participants
to complete the
Exploratory Worksheet.

The Facilitator will
circulate around the room
engaging Participants in
conversations regarding
the sources, checking for
understanding and
offering feedback.
Participants will
apply what they
learned about
the
Flesch-Kincaid
Grade Level
Formula to the
scientific text
used at the
beginning of the
lesson.

Participants will
research the
remaining
resources
looking to
define the
benefits of each
on the
Interactive
Journal (p. 6)

Participants will
respond to
feedback from
the Facilitator
by adding
additional
details to the
Interactive
Journal (p. 6).
Authentic
Assessment *
25
minutes
Participants will apply new learning
by finding differentiated texts for use
in their own classrooms.
Facilitator will ask each
Participant to find texts at
three different levels of
complexity on the same
topic for their own unit of
study.
Participants will
find texts at
three different
levels of
complexity on
the same topic
for their own
unit of study.
They will be
able to indicate
the
Flesch-Kincaid
Grade Level for
each text.
Retention
and Transfer
2
minutes
Authentic Assessment above is
designed to prepare participants to
apply new learning as soon as the
following day.
Facilitator will encourage
Participants to set a date
to utilize the leveled texts
in an upcoming unit of
study.
Participants will
mark their
calendars or
planbooks for
when they will
utilize the
leveled texts in
an upcoming
unit of study in
their own
classrooms.
Big Ideas 2
minutes
Review and re-motivate: Review the
“take-aways” from this lesson and the
application of procedures. Connect
back to the importance of providing
literacy scaffolds that support content
area learning, especially through the
use of differentiated, leveled text that
makes content information accessible
to learners.
Facilitator will ask the
question, “How can the
use of differentiated texts
improve learning in your
single subject
classroom?”
In the
Interactive
Journal (p. 6),
participants will
document their
thinking in
regards to the
importance of
differentiated
texts and new
learning from
today’s lesson
using the
“boxing”
method..
Advance
Organizer for
the Next Unit
1 minute In the next section, Participants will
learn how to identify content specific
vocabulary and strategies to explicitly
teach that vocabulary in order to
increase students’ content area
knowledge.
Instructor “previews” next
lesson through the Visual
Course Overview
Infographic.
Participants
listen and view
infographic.
Total Time 1 hour
and 30
minutes

Visual Course Overview Infographic:

1
Unit Overview from Ch 4

Unit 4: Analyze the selected texts for both disciplinary specific vocabulary and general
knowledge vocabulary that can be pre-taught to increase comprehension of text. (CTA and
Literature Review)
Terminal learning objective.
● Within the specific texts selected in Unit 3, the learner will be able to identify
disciplinary vocabulary and general knowledge vocabulary as well as
evidenced-based strategies to teach these vocabulary words to students.
Prerequisite analysis (enabling objectives). In order to achieve the terminal objective,
learners must:
● Understand how to select appropriately challenging text
● Know the difference between disciplinary vocabulary and general knowledge
vocabulary
● Understand the general vocabulary levels of students
● Be able to write a lesson plan
Learning activities.
● Inform the participants of the learning objective
● Gain attention of the learners
● Assess prior knowledge of the learners in the area of vocabulary development
● Teach any necessary prerequisite conceptual knowledge by providing definitions,
examples and non-examples in the area of vocabulary development
● Provide opportunities for learners to generate their own examples and non
examples
● Present a variety of strategies for selecting appropriate vocabulary words that
should be explicitly taught in order to improve comprehension of the text
● Model a variety of evidence-based strategies for teaching vocabulary words
● Provide practice and feedback in regards to selecting appropriate vocabulary
words from content area text
● To promote retention and transfer, provide opportunities to write a lesson plan for
a content area classroom that incorporates the texts, identified vocabulary words,
and vocabulary development strategies
Assessment of learning.
● Participants will write a lesson plan that incorporates content area text, identified
vocabulary words, and vocabulary development strategies to be incorporated into
their Unit of Study

Literacy Across the Disciplines
Lesson Plan and Instructor’s Guide
Unit 4: Incorporating Strategies for Disciplinary and General Vocabulary Development

Unit Duration: 1 Hour and 30 minutes

Introduction: Analyze the selected texts for both disciplinary specific vocabulary and general knowledge
vocabulary that can be pre-taught to increase comprehension of text.

2
Learning Objective(s)
Terminal Objective:
Within the specific texts selected in Unit 3, the learner will be able to identify disciplinary vocabulary and general
knowledge vocabulary as well as evidenced-based strategies to teach these vocabulary words to students.
Enabling Objective(s):
● Understand how to select appropriately challenging text
● Know the difference between disciplinary vocabulary and general knowledge vocabulary
● Understand the general vocabulary levels of students
● Be able to write a lesson plan

Lesson Materials *
Infographic Course Overview Bookmark
Access to computer with internet for learning platform or Google Drive
Note taking guide (Reflective Journal) and materials
Marzano’s Six Steps for Teaching Vocabulary job aide
Presentation slides

Learner Characteristic Accommodations
Learners are adults who have likely been mandated by the school or district to attend the training. They may lack
the motivation, confidence and/or skills to promote literacy in their current classroom contexts. As adult learners,
the practicality and usefulness of the training must be emphasized throughout.

Facilitator’s Notes
Be sure to send out a message to Participants prior to this session. Participants will need to bring with them a
current unit of study from their own practices to be utilized in the next lessons. In addition, they will need to bring
the differentiated texts selected as part of Lesson 3. Throughout this course, note-taking from Lesson 2 will be
reinforced and modeled. In this lesson, Participants will be directed to try out annotations of a piece of text.

Instructional Activities
Instructional
Sequence
Time
(mins)
Description of the
Learning Activity
Instructor
Action/Decision
(Supplantive)
Learner
Action/
Decision
(Generative)
Gain
Attention
3
minutes
Gain attention of the audience by
reintroducing the scientific text and
text complexity factors from Lesson 3.
Facilitator will ask
Participants to estimate
the number of words in
the scientific text that
were unfamiliar and pose
the question, “Since
vocabulary is a factor of
text complexity, how did
your lack of word
knowledge impact
comprehension of the
text?”
Participants will
estimate the
number of
words in the
scientific text
that were
unfamiliar.

Participants will
discuss the
question in table
groups.

Learning
Objectives
1 minute Facilitator will show the class the
Course Overview Infographic and
write the terminal objective for this
unit on the front board.
Facilitator will read the
terminal objective and ask
for understanding and
questions.

Participants will
watch and
listen.

They will have
an opportunity
to ask questions
3
or acknowledge
understanding.
Purpose for
Learning
2
minutes
Benefits: The benefit of explicitly
teaching vocabulary is increased
comprehension of content area text
and increased learning of content area
knowledge and skills..

Risks Avoided: Identifying and
explicitly teaching unfamiliar
vocabulary prevents students in the
classroom from missing key points of
content area instruction.
Facilitator will state the
purpose for learning.
Participants will
listen and
acknowledge
the value of
vocabulary
instruction.
Overview 2
minutes
Participants already know that each
discipline has vocabulary that is
specific to that area of study.

In this lesson, Participants will learn
how to identify and explicitly teach
vocabulary that is necessary for high
levels of understanding within the
selected unit of study.

Participants will learn this through
modeling, practice and feedback
utilizing the texts selected from
Lesson 3.
Facilitator gives a verbal
overview of the lesson.

Facilitator will pose the
guiding question: “How
can we enhance
comprehension of content
area texts through explicit
teaching of both general
knowledge and
disciplinary specific
vocabulary?
Participants will
have an
opportunity to
ask questions or
acknowledge
understanding.

Participants will
write the
guiding
question in
Interactive
Journal (p. 7)
and take notes
for this lesson
using the
Cornell
Note-taking
format.
Prerequisite
Knowledge
2
minutes
It is expected that the Participants will
have the prerequisite knowledge. In
the event they do not, the Facilitator
will teach the concepts by giving the
definition, examples and
nonexamples.
The Facilitator will
provide definitions,
examples and
nonexamples for any
knowledge that
Participants may need.

For any
knowledge that
Participants
need, they will
generate their
own examples
and
nonexamples in
the question
section of the
Cornell Notes in
the Interactive
Journal (p. 7) to
demonstrate
their
understanding.
Learning
Guidance
30
minutes
Using the sample scientific text,
Facilitator will demonstrate how to
identify key vocabulary words that
will need to be explicitly taught.

Facilitator will model
how to identify words
from a given piece of text
that may need to be
Participants will
be given a job
aide that
outlines
Marzano’s Six
4
A job aide outlines Marzano’s Six
Steps and will be printed on cardstock
for participants to keep in their
planbooks..

Marzano’s Six Steps for Teaching
Vocabulary:
● The teacher explains a new
word, going beyond reciting
its definition (tap into prior
knowledge of students, use
imagery).
● Students restate or explain the
new word in their own words
(verbally and/or in writing).
● Ask students to create a
non-linguistic representation
of the word (a picture, or
symbolic representation).
● Students engage in activities
to deepen their knowledge of
the new word (compare
words, classify terms, write
their own analogies and
metaphors).
● Students discuss the new
word (pair-share, elbow
partners).
● Students periodically play
games to review new
vocabulary (Pyramid,
Jeopardy, Telephone)
explicitly taught to
students.

Facilitator will provide a
job aide that outlines
Marzano’s Six Steps.

Facilitator will model the
six steps for Participants
using the words
monovalent and
covalently from the
sample text.
Steps and will
place aide in
their plan
books.

Participants will
be encouraged
to take notes in
the Interactive
Journal using
what they
learned about
note-taking in
Lesson 2.

Participants will
engage in the
six steps as if
they were
students in a
classroom.
Practice and
Feedback
15
minutes
A practice and feedback opportunity
will allow for the participants to
demonstrate to the Facilitator that they
clearly understand the knowledge and
skills needed to identify and explicitly
teach vocabulary.
Facilitator will provide
each table group with a
sample paragraph.

Facilitator will direct each
table group to identify
vocabulary words and
discuss how to work
through Marzano’s Six
Steps as a group.

Facilitator will rotate
between table groups to
offer assistance and to
provide feedback.
Participants will
read sample
paragraph.

In table groups,
Participants will
identify
vocabulary that
may be
unfamiliar to
students.

Participants will
engage in a
conversation in
table groups
about how to
apply
Marzano’s Six
Steps to the
identified
5
vocabulary
words.
Authentic
Assessment *
30
minutes
Participants will apply new learning
by identifying vocabulary that may be
unfamiliar to students in the
differentiated text selected in Unit 3.

Participants will apply the Marzano’s
Six Steps to explicitly teach the
identified vocabulary words in a
lesson plan format.
Facilitator will direct
Participants to identify
vocabulary that may be
unfamiliar to students in
the differentiated, leveled
texts each of them found
in Lesson 3.

Facilitator will provide an
opportunity for
Participants to design a
lesson plan to explicitly
teach identified
vocabulary utilizing
Marzano’s Six Steps
Participants will
identify
vocabulary that
may be
unfamiliar to
students within
their selected
texts from
Lesson 3.

Participants will
design a lesson
plan to
explicitly teach
that vocabulary
utilizing
Marzano’s Six
Steps.
Retention
and Transfer
2
minutes
Authentic Assessment above is
designed to prepare participants to
apply new learning as soon as the
following day.
Facilitator will encourage
Participants to set a date
to incorporate new
learning in regards to
vocabulary identification
and vocabulary
instructional strategies in
an upcoming unit of
study.
Participants will
mark their
calendars or
planbooks for
when they will
utilize
vocabulary
instructional
strategies in an
upcoming unit
of study in their
own classrooms.
Big Ideas 2
minutes
Review and re-motivate: Review the
“take-aways” from this lesson and the
application of procedures. Connect
back to the importance of providing
literacy scaffolds that support content
area learning, especially in the area of
explicitly teaching general knowledge
and disciplinary vocabulary.
Facilitator will revisit the
guiding question: “How
can we enhance
comprehension of content
area texts through explicit
teaching of both general
knowledge and
disciplinary specific
vocabulary?

In the
Interactive
Journal,
participants will
document their
thinking in
regards to the
importance of
identifying and
explicitly
teaching
vocabulary.
Advance
Organizer for
the Next Unit
1 minute In the next section, Participants will
explore disciplinary specific literacy
strategies to support students with
diverse literacy needs and to increase
students’ content area knowledge.
Instructor “previews” next
lesson through the Visual
Course Overview
Infographic.
Participants
listen and view
infographic.
Total Time 1 hour
and 30
minutes

6
Visual Course Overview Infographic:

7

Unit Overview from Ch 4

Unit 5: Identify and explicitly teach literacy strategies that are specific to the discipline
including text features, text structures and reading behaviors. (CTA and Literature Review)
a. Sciences
b. Social Studies
c. Mathematics
d.
Terminal learning objective.
● Based upon the text selected in Lesson 3, learners will be able to incorporate
disciplinary literacy strategies into a unit of study for their own classrooms.
Prerequisite analysis (enabling objectives). In order to achieve the terminal objective,
learners must:
● Know the types of text generally used in the learner’s own content area
● Understand that the act of reading significantly differs among different areas of
study
● Be able to incorporate literacy strategies into a unit of study
Learning activities.
● Inform the learners of the learning objective
● Gain attention of the learners by playing a game where participants identify text
from their own area of expertise
● Assess prior knowledge of the learners regarding text features, text structures, and
reading behaviors
● Teach any necessary prerequisite conceptual knowledge by providing definitions,
examples and non-examples
● Provide opportunities for learners to generate their own examples and non
examples
● Present the differing types of text features, text structures, and reading behaviors
● Model how to explicitly utilize text features, text structures, and reading
behaviors to improve comprehension of the text
● Provide practice and feedback in identifying text features, text structures, and
required reading behaviors to each learners’ selected text from Lesson 3
● Promote retention and transfer by having learners utilize new knowledge and
skills in a lesson plan within their Unit of Study for the specific content area
classroom.
Assessment of learning.
● Participants will write a lesson plan that incorporates text features, text structures,
and reading behaviors

Literacy Across the Disciplines
Lesson Plan and Instructor’s Guide
Unit 5: Teaching Disciplinary Literacy Strategies to Increase Comprehension

Unit Duration: 2 Hours

Introduction: Identify and explicitly teach literacy strategies that are specific to the discipline including text
features, text structures and reading behaviors.
a. Sciences
b. Social Studies
c. Mathematics
d.

Learning Objective(s)
Terminal Objective:
Based upon the text selected in Unit 4, learners will be able to incorporate disciplinary literacy strategies into a unit
of study for their own classrooms.
Enabling Objective(s):
● Know the types of text generally used in the learner’s own content area
● Understand that the act of reading significantly differs among different areas of study
● Be able to incorporate literacy strategies into a unit of study

Lesson Materials *
Infographic Course Overview Bookmark
Access to computer with internet for learning platform or Google Drive
Note taking guide (Reflective Journal) and materials
Presentation slides

Learner Characteristic Accommodations
Learners are adults who have likely been mandated by the school or district to attend the training. They may lack
the motivation, confidence and/or skills to promote literacy in their current classroom contexts. As adult learners,
the practicality and usefulness of the training must be emphasized throughout.

Facilitator’s Notes
Be sure to send out a message to Participants prior to this session. Participants will need to bring with them a
current unit of study from their own practices to be utilized in the next lessons. Throughout this course, note-taking
from Lesson 2 will be reinforced and modeled. In this lesson, Participants will be directed to try out Cornell notes in
their Reflective Journals.

Instructional Activities
Instructional
Sequence
Time
(mins)
Description of the
Learning Activity
Instructor
Action/Decision
(Supplantive)
Learner
Action/
Decision
(Generative)
Gain
Attention
5
minutes
Explore the idea that different types of
text require different approaches from
the reader.
The Facilitator will
display three very
different pieces of text
that require different
strategies for
comprehension.

Facilitator will pose the
question to table groups:
“How are these texts
similar? How are they
different? Which types of
text are most frequently
used in your classroom?”

Participants will
analyze the
three pieces of
text and answer
the questions in
table groups.

A representative
from each table
group will share
findings with
the broader
audience.
Facilitator will lead a
discussion gathering input
from each table group.
Learning
Objectives
2
minutes
Facilitator will show the class the
Course Overview Infographic and
write the terminal objective for this
unit on the front board.
Facilitator will read the
terminal objective and ask
for understanding and
questions.

Participants will
watch and
listen.

They will have
an opportunity
to ask questions
or acknowledge
understanding.
Purpose for
Learning
2
minutes
Benefits: Participants will be able to
help students successfully access
meaning from texts by teaching
students how to identify and approach
disciplinary literacy tasks.

Risks Avoided: Participants will
avoid the assumption that students
know how to differentiate their
reading behaviors based on the texts
encountered.
Facilitator will state the
purpose for learning.
Participants will
listen and
acknowledge
the value of
disciplinary
specific
strategies.
Overview 1 minute Participants already know the types of
text features and text structures are
commonly found in the texts utilized
in their classrooms.

In this lesson, Participants will learn
how to explicitly teach strategies that
support students in understanding texts
encountered in disciplinary classroom
contexts..

Participants will learn this through
watching videos, taking notes, and
participating in discussions with other
content area teachers.
Facilitator gives a verbal
overview of the lesson.
They will have
an opportunity
to ask questions
or acknowledge
understanding.
Prerequisite
Knowledge
5
minutes
In the Gain Attention section, the
Facilitator will informally assess prior
knowledge of individuals and of the
group as a whole.

It is expected that the Participants will
have the prerequisite knowledge. In
the event they do not, the Facilitator
will teach the concepts by giving
definitions, examples and
nonexamples.
The Facilitator will
provide definitions,
examples and
nonexamples for any
knowledge that
Participants may need.

Depending on the prior
knowledge of the group, it
is likely that text features,
text structures, and
reading behaviors will
need to be defined.

For any
knowledge that
Participants
need, they will
generate their
own examples
and
nonexamples in
the Reflective
Journal utilizing
the Cornell
Notes format to
demonstrate
their
understanding.
Learning
Guidance
1 hour Participants will learn that different
disciplines require different literacies
in order for the student to successful
engage in learning and communicating
content area knowledge and skills.

Video links posted in Interactive
Journal (p. 9)
Close reading of Informational
Science Text
Literacy in Science
Reading and Writing in the Science
Classroom
Verbal Discourse
Rigorous Instruction Through Literacy
and NGSS
Some Thoughts on Math Literacy
Literacy in Math
Close Reading Problems in Middle
School Math
Close Reading in High School Math
Algebra 1 Close Reading Protocol
Disciplinary Literacy in Mathematics
Reading Like A Historian
How to Read Like a Historian
Close Reading, U.S. History
Literacy in Social Studies
Approximating Literacy
Approaches-Supports for Reading

The Facilitator will show
a video defining
“Disciplinary Literacy”
with examples from four
secondary classrooms.

Facilitator will discuss
common text features,
text structures, and
reading behaviors
associated with different
disciplines.

The Facilitator will direct
the Participants to sit in
groups with colleagues
that teach the same
discipline.

Facilitator will provide a
menu of video resources
for each discipline.

Facilitator will direct each
disciplinary group to
choose the resources they
find most interesting and
take chart their notes
within the Interactive
Journal (p. 9).

Participants will
document
learning from
the video and
lecture using the
chart within the
Interactive
Journal (p. 9).

Participant will
choose to watch
disciplinary
specific videos
from a menu of
resources.
Practice and
Feedback
15
minutes
A practice and feedback opportunity
will allow for the participants to
demonstrate to the Facilitator that they
clearly understand the knowledge and
skills needed to incorporate
disciplinary specific strategies in
classroom contexts.

Facilitator will direct each
disciplinary group to
present three strategies
learned from the videos to
the group as a whole.

The Facilitator provides
feedback to each of the
groups.
In disciplinary
groups,
Participants will
select three
strategies from
the videos to
share orally
with the whole
group.

Participants will
take notes on
the strategies
presented from
the disciplinary
groups that may
apply to their
own disciplines.
Authentic
Assessment *
25
minutes

Participants will apply new learning
by writing or revising a lesson plan
within their unit of study that
Facilitator will direct
Participants to design a
lesson plan within their
unit of study that
Participants will
write or design
a lesson plan
within their unit
incorporates disciplinary literacy
strategies.
incorporates disciplinary
literacy strategies.
of study that
incorporates
disciplinary
literacy
strategies.
Retention
and Transfer
2
minutes
Authentic Assessment above is
designed to prepare participants to
apply new learning as soon as the
following day.
Facilitator will encourage
Participants to set a date
to implement the lesson
plan in an upcoming unit
of study.
Participants will
mark their
calendars or
planbooks for
when they will
implement the
lesson plan in
an upcoming
unit of study in
their own
classrooms.
Interactive
Journal (p. 10)
Big Ideas 2
minutes
Review and re-motivate: Review the
“take-aways” from this lesson and the
application of procedures. Connect
back to the importance of providing
literacy scaffolds that support content
area learning, especially disciplinary
specific literacy strategies.
Facilitator will ask the
question, “What does it
mean to read and write
like a _______ ?”
(scientist, historian,
mathematician, etc.)
Interactive Journal (p. 10)
In the
Interactive
Journal (p. 10),
participants will
document their
thinking by
answering the
question from
their own
disciplinary
lens.
Advance
Organizer for
the Next Unit
1 minute In the next section, Participants will
learn how to incorporate a purpose for
reading and close reading strategies in
order to increase students’ content area
knowledge.
Instructor “previews” next
lesson through the Visual
Course Overview
Infographic.
Participants
listen and view
infographic.
Total Time 2 hours

Visual Course Overview Infographic:

Literacy Across the
Disciplines Day 1
Hello! Presenter’s Name Email address Phone number Social media handle 2 Speaker gives a brief introduction of self.
3 Literacy is one way to change the
world...http://www.read.org.za/useful-info/benefits-of-literacy/ No attribution required. Retrieved from
https://pixabay.com/photos/earth-blue-planet-globe-planet-11015/
4 Improved Literacy can contribute to...Improved economics and a decrease in the
likelihood of personal poverty. No attribution required. Retrieved from:
https://pixabay.com/photos/money-home-coin-investment-2724238/
5 Areas of higher literacy show a decrease in crime rates. No attribution required. Retrieved from
https://pixabay.com/photos/freedom-prison-jail-jailed-1125539/
6 Prevent disease such as HIV/Aids through prevention through information provision No attribution required. Retrieved from
https://pixabay.com/illustrations/virus-microscope-infection-illness-1812092/
7 Promotes democracy No attribution required. Retrieved from:
https://pixabay.com/vectors/crowd-people-democracy-community-296520/
8 Personal benefits: self-esteem, confidence, empowerment, better jobs and higher
earnings No attribution required. Retrieved from
https://pixabay.com/photos/graduation-college-graduate-4502796/
9 Educators can predict with a moderate to high degree of accuracy which students are
going to dropout of high school based on early literacy skills in elementary school
(Alexander, Entwisle, & Horsey, 1997) No attribution required. Retrieved from
https://pixabay.com/photos/glass-ball-soap-bubbles-float-1767291/
10 48% According to the California Department of Education (2019), 47.84 percent of sixth
grade students either met or exceeded the standards for English Language Arts on the
SBAC assessment. This means that less than half of students moving on to middle
school were prepared for the literacy demands they will face.
11 35% For those classified as economically disadvantaged, students meeting or exceeding
standards declines to only 35.45 percent. (California department of education.2019).
12 And for those who are categorized as English Learners, a mere 9.1 percent met or
exceeded standards for English Language Arts
13 Who are your students? Facilitator opens with a brief conversation around this
question. No attribution reuqired.
14 Facilitator displays the results of this quick participant survey...
15 Facilitator displays the results of this quick participant survey...
16 How can single subject teachers
improve literacy while teaching
content area knowledge and skills? DAY
1 DAY
2 END GOAL: teachers will modify a current unit of
study to incorporate skills that both
improve literacy AND increase content
area knowledge for students. Facilitator does a brief overview of the course and directs participants to the
Interactive Journal p. 1. Participants can take notes on the different lessons in the
course by describing the meaning of each icon.
Interactive
Journal What parts of this course
do you feel will be the
most beneficial to your
classroom? What are
your personal goals for
this course? 17 Page 1 Facilitator directs participants to write a reflection that may enhance expectancy
value...
END GOAL! Throughout this
course, you will be
applying your learning
to a unit of study that
you already teach. Please be thinking
about what topic/unit
you will want to
utilize... 18 Prepare participants with the end in mind...
Close Look Teachers can incorporate simple
techniques to get a closer look at the
literacy needs of students entering
their content area classes. 1 19
20 Play the video and briefly discuss its impact.
Given a diverse caseload of students in
content area classrooms, learners will be
able to effectively identify the students in
need of additional literacy support. 21 Facilitator reviews the objective, purpose for learning and benefits/risks avoided.
22 To what degree do you think this
objective will be valuable to your
classroom practices? Facilitator asks question and participants respond with fist-to-five with 1 being low
value and 5 being high value.
23 Facilitator uses the analogy of a Foundation of a house as compared to the
foundations of literacy...Participants are given cards with foundational literacy skills
printed: phonemic awareness, phonics, decoding, fluency, vocabulary,
comprehension, and writing. Table groups make two piles: one with terms they know
and one with terms which are unfamiliar or difficult to define.
Interactive
Journal What are the foundational
components of literacy? What tools can help
identify students in need
of literacy support to
improve content area
learning? 24 Pages 2-3
Tools... Listening In Activity Quick Write Activity 25 Facilitator explains there are two observation tools that can be used. Facilitator
reviews the Listening In Activity Worksheet
Listening In Activity
Practice Add video #1 ● Decodes multisyllabic words
accurately ● Reads with phrasing,
intonation, use of
punctuation and expression
that reflects understanding
of the text ● Uses context clues,
glossaries, and dictionaries
to determine the meaning of
unfamiliar vocabulary ● Searches for information in
graphics such as diagrams,
charts, maps and captions ● Constructs summaries that
are concise and reflective of
the important overarching
ideas in the text. 26 Play video and have participants practice the activity. Conduct a brief discussion after
each practice in order to informally assess and offer feedback.
Listening In Activity
Practice Add video #2 ● Decodes multisyllabic words
accurately ● Reads with phrasing,
intonation, use of
punctuation and expression
that reflects understanding
of the text ● Uses context clues,
glossaries, and dictionaries
to determine the meaning of
unfamiliar vocabulary ● Searches for information in
graphics such as diagrams,
charts, maps and captions ● Constructs summaries that
are concise and reflective of
the important overarching
ideas in the text. 27 Play video and have participants practice the activity. Conduct a brief discussion after
each practice in order to informally assess and offer feedback.
Listening In Activity
Practice Add video #3 ● Decodes multisyllabic words
accurately ● Reads with phrasing,
intonation, use of
punctuation and expression
that reflects understanding
of the text ● Uses context clues,
glossaries, and dictionaries
to determine the meaning of
unfamiliar vocabulary ● Searches for information in
graphics such as diagrams,
charts, maps and captions ● Constructs summaries that
are concise and reflective of
the important overarching
ideas in the text. 28 Play video and have participants practice the activity. Conduct a brief discussion after
each practice in order to informally assess and offer feedback.
Tools... Listening In Activity Quick Write Activity 29 Facilitator moves on to the second tool and reviews the Quick Write Activity
Worksheet
Quick Write Activity
Practice Student can
clearly write
to
communicate
learning at
grade level. Student
demonstrates
difficulty with
writing and
will require
scaffolds. Basic
paragraph is
in tact.
Student can
communicate
in writing but
may require
support. 30 Participants will be given six sample student paragraphs to sort into the three
categories. Facilitator will walk around and give feedback as needed.
Let’s apply what
we’ve learned... Listening In Activity 1. Select a reading from your
content area textbook that is part
of your current unit of study. 2. Enter the students’ names on the
Listening In Instructional
Groupings Worksheet. 3. Set a date in your planbook for
when you will try this out with
students. Quick Write Activity 1. Select a short reading from your
content area textbook that is part
of your current unit of study
(approximately 2 pages). 2. Enter the students’ names on the
Quick Write Instructional
Groupings Worksheet. 3. Set a date in your planbook for
when you will try this out with
students. 31 Give participants time to prepare to conduct these activities in their own classrooms.
Interactive
Journal Reflection
Time! 32 Page 3 See Interactive Journal p. 3
33 How can single subject teachers
improve literacy while teaching
content area knowledge and skills? DAY
1 DAY
2 END GOAL: teachers will modify a current unit of
study to incorporate skills that both
improve literacy AND increase content
area knowledge for students. Facilitator reminds the participants of the objective of the course, what has been
already covered, and what is coming up next.
Note-Taking Teachers can introduce note-taking
strategies that utilize both graphics
and text to support students in
accessing content. 2 34
35 Facilitator asks participants to analyze the graphic and determine what forms of
note-taking will be taught in this lesson. Which ones might the participants already
use in their classrooms?
Interactive
Journal Let’s take
some
notes! 36 Page 4 Refer to Interactive Journal.
Given your own content area context, you
will implement a note-taking strategy that
incorporates both text and sketches in
order to support students that require
literacy scaffolds. 37 Facilitator reviews the objective, purpose for learning and benefits/risks avoided.
Charting 38 Facilitator provides direct instruction on the different types of note taking. Participants
are instructed to discuss the benefits and best uses for each.
Cornell Notes 39 Facilitator provides direct instruction on the different types of note taking. Participants
are instructed to discuss the benefits and best uses for each.
Boxing 40 Facilitator provides direct instruction on the different types of note taking. Participants
are instructed to discuss the benefits and best uses for each.
Sketch Notes 41 Facilitator provides direct instruction on the different types of note taking. Participants
are instructed to discuss the benefits and best uses for each.
Mapping 42 Facilitator provides direct instruction on the different types of note taking. Participants
are instructed to discuss the benefits and best uses for each.
43 BONUS! Facilitator shows video that provides an overview of tech tools for note-taking.
Scenario #1 Students need to take notes on a chapter in
the science textbook pertaining to different
types of chemical reactions. The teacher
wants to ensure that students understand
the key vocabulary terms and that they can
differentiate between different types of
reactions. 44 Practice and feedback: Participants discuss which note-taking format would be best
for this scenario.
Scenario #2 The students have studied different
examples of genocides around the world.
The teacher is playing a video of a first
hand account of the Holocaust and wants
students to compare this experience with
first hand survivor accounts from
Myanmar and Rwanda. 45 Practice and feedback: Participants discuss which note-taking format would be best
for this scenario.
Scenario #3 A math teacher wants students to take
notes on the procedures of a lengthy math
algorithm so that learners can refer to the
steps in future examples of this problem. 46 Practice and feedback: Participants discuss which note-taking format would be best
for this scenario.
47 Participants will use the following link to match an activity within their current unit of
study to an appropriate note-taking strategy and display it for the group using Padlet. https://padlet.com/julie_graham3/susq9n3r05i3
Interactive
Journal Implementation
Goal 48 Page 5 Refer to Interactive Journal.
49 How can single subject teachers
improve literacy while teaching
content area knowledge and skills? DAY
1 DAY
2 END GOAL: teachers will modify a current unit of
study to incorporate skills that both
improve literacy AND increase content
area knowledge for students. Facilitator reminds the participants of the objective of the course, what has been
already covered, and what is coming up next.
Text Selection Teachers can select high interest,
leveled texts to increase engagement
and understanding of the content. 3 50
Your turn! Determine the main idea with
three supporting details from
the following paragraph... 51 Provide participants with this snippet from Luo, H., Hernandez, R., Hong, H., Graves,
S., Yang, Y., England, C., … Luo, H. (2015). Noninvasive brain cancer imaging with a bispecific antibody fragment,
generated via click chemistry. Proceedings of the National Academy of
Sciences of the United States of America, 112(41), 12806–12811.
https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1509667112
Participants will estimate the percentage of students that have difficulty reading the
adopted text. Facilitator will post a range from 0-100 on the front board. Participants
will place a sticker along the range to indicate their answer.
Based upon the content of a specific unit of
study within your own classroom, you will
utilize a variety of digital resources to select
high interest text t various reading levels to
scaffold access to the content material. 53 Facilitator reviews the objective, purpose for learning and benefits/risks avoided.
What makes a text
difficult to read? ▪ Average words per sentence ▪ Average sentences per paragraph ▪ Percentage of unfamiliar vocabulary ▪ Number and complexity of visual devices
(diagrams, charts, maps, etc) ▪ Structural elements of nonfiction text ▪ Prerequisite prior knowledge ▪ Concept difficulty 54 Facilitator explains text complexity.
55 Flesch-Kincaid
Grade Level
Formula LINK Facilitator explains one of the measures for text complexity and has participants
practice finding the reading level of a familiar piece of text used in their classroom.
Let’s Explore Some
Resources... NewsELA Up-to-date news site
providing articles adapted
from major news sources at
five different levels. ReadWorks Curated non-fiction and
literary articles, searchable
by grade level and lexile.
Many articles are available in
multiple versions (or "Steps")
or offer audio. CommonLit Collection of fiction and
non-fiction texts, correlated
to Common Core standards,
and searchable by lexile,
grade-level, genre and more. Smithsonian
Tween Tribune Daily AP news article,
lexile-leveled for grades K-12. News In Levels Daily short news articles at
three different levels,
including audio, targeted
toward English language
learners 56 Text Compactor Automated online
summarization tool best for
informational texts. ReWordify Paste in text to simplify
English to a lower reading
level to better support
reading comprehension and
vocabulary development. Participants explore the following resources looking specifically for texts related to
their selected units of study.
Interactive
Journal Try using
“boxing” to
explore the
resources... 57 Page 6 Refer to Interactive Journal.
Participants will use this time to find a resource that they can use in their own unit of
study...
59 How can single subject teachers
improve literacy while teaching
content area knowledge and skills? DAY
1 DAY
2 END GOAL: teachers will modify a current unit of
study to incorporate skills that both
improve literacy AND increase content
area knowledge for students. Facilitator reminds the participants of the objective of the course, what has been
already covered, and what is coming up next.
Vocabulary Each content area has specific
terminology. Teachers can support
students by incorporating strategies
for disciplinary and general
vocabulary development. 4 60
61 Monovalent antibody fragments (Fab) were produced from intact CET and
TRC105 mAb via papain digestion and purified by size exclusion chromatography
and protein A affinity column. The purity of the obtained fragments was confirmed
by SDS polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS/PAGE) and size exclusion
chromatography (Fig. 1 B and Fig. S1). To prepare each Fab fragment for the
subsequent conjugation, we derivatized Fab reactive primary amines with one of
two reactive moieties of the Diels–Alder orthogonal reactive pair: Tz or TCO.
Conjugates were then purified by size exclusion spin columns and concentrated by
ultrafiltration. Following, the fragments were covalently linked via a copper-free
click reaction to form a bispecific Bs-F(ab)2 antibody fragment (Fig. 1 A). Size
exclusion chromatography showed a reaction efficiency of 37.5% (Fig. S1).
SDS/PAGE (Fig. 1 B) and MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry (Fig. S2) corroborated
the identity of Bs-F(ab)2 ([M+H]+, 104.04 kDa). Participants estimate the number of words that are unfamiliar within this text and
discuss their estimates as a table group.
Using the leveled texts you just selected,
identify both disciplinary vocabulary and
general knowledge vocabulary as well as
evidenced-based strategies to teach these
vocabulary words to students. 62 Facilitator reviews the objective, purpose for learning and benefits/risks avoided.
Interactive
Journal For this
section, we’ll
use Cornell
Notes 63 Page 7 Refer to Interactive Journal.
64 Monovalent antibody fragments (Fab) were produced from intact CET and
TRC105 mAb via papain digestion and purified by size exclusion chromatography
and protein A affinity column. The purity of the obtained fragments was confirmed
by SDS polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS/PAGE) and size exclusion
chromatography (Fig. 1 B and Fig. S1). To prepare each Fab fragment for the
subsequent conjugation, we derivatized Fab reactive primary amines with one of
two reactive moieties of the Diels–Alder orthogonal reactive pair: Tz or TCO.
Conjugates were then purified by size exclusion spin columns and concentrated by
ultrafiltration. Following, the fragments were covalently linked via a copper-free
click reaction to form a bispecific Bs-F(ab)2 antibody fragment (Fig. 1 A). Size
exclusion chromatography showed a reaction efficiency of 37.5% (Fig. S1).
SDS/PAGE (Fig. 1 B) and MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry (Fig. S2) corroborated
the identity of Bs-F(ab)2 ([M+H]+, 104.04 kDa). Let’s select this word as an example to take through Marzano’s six steps...Facilitator
should give out Job Aide: Six Steps for Teaching Vocabulary
65 1. Provide a description, explanation, or example of the
new term. ● Looking up words in dictionaries is not useful for teaching vocab ● Provide a context for the term ● Introduce direct experiences that provide examples of the term ● Tell a story that integrates the term ● Use video as the stimulus for understanding information ● Ask students to investigate the term and present the information to
the class (skit, pantomime, poster, etc.) ● Describe your own mental picture of the term ● Find or create pictures that explain the term The next six slides are text heavy...Do not read them to the participants. DO allow
participants time to add them to the Interactive Journal if they wish. Facilitator will use
the words “monovalent” and “covalently” from the original piece of text and model
each of these steps using these words...
66 2. Ask students to restate the description,
explanation, or example in their own words. ● Monitor and correct misunderstandings ● Must be student’s original ideas, not parroting
the teacher Do not read this slide to the participants. DO allow participants time to add them to
the Interactive Journal if they wish. Facilitator will use the words “monovalent” and
“covalently” from the original piece of text and model each of these steps using these
words...
67 3. Ask students to construct a picture, symbol, or
graphic representing the word. ● Model, model, model ● Provide examples of student’s drawings (and
your own) that are rough but represent the
ideas ● Play “Pictionary” Draw an example of the term ● Dramatize the term using speech bubbles ● Let them find a picture on the internet, if
necessary Do not read this slide to the participants. DO allow participants time to add them to
the Interactive Journal if they wish. Facilitator will use the words “monovalent” and
“covalently” from the original piece of text and model each of these steps using these
words...
68 4. Engage students periodically in activities that help
them add to their knowledge of the terms in their
notebooks. ● Highlight prefixes, suffixes, root words that will help them
remember the meaning of the term ● Identify synonyms and antonyms for the term ● List related words ● Write brief cautions or reminders of common confusions ● Translate the term into another language for second language
students ● Point out cognates to words in Spanish ● Write incomplete analogies for students to complete ● Allow students to write (or draw) their own analogies ● Sort or classify words ● Compare similarities and differences Do not read this slide to the participants. DO allow participants time to add them to
the Interactive Journal if they wish. Facilitator will use the words “monovalent” and
“covalently” from the original piece of text and model each of these steps using these
words...
69 5. Periodically ask students to discuss the terms
with one another. ● Think-Pair-Share Compare their descriptions of
the term ● Describe their pictures to one another ● Explain to each other any new information they
have learned (“aha’s”) ● Identify areas of disagreement or confusion and
seek clarification ● Students can make revisions to their own work Do not read this slide to the participants. DO allow participants time to add them to
the Interactive Journal if they wish. Facilitator will use the words “monovalent” and
“covalently” from the original piece of text and model each of these steps using these
words...
70 6. Involve students periodically in games that allow
them to play with terms. ● Pictionary ● “Oops” (formerly known as “Bang”) ● Upset the fruit basket ● Memory ● Jeopardy (vocab words are on the board, players make up a question to define) ● Charades ● Name that Category ($100,000 Pyramid) ● Password ● Talk a Mile a Minute (like Catch Phrase) ● Bingo (you give definition, kid marks the word) ● Create a skit (assign groups of 3-4 kids 3 vocab words to make a skit out of) ● Swat Game (post 2 sets of words, kids on 2 teams compete to find words first and
swat with fly-swatter) Do not read this slide to the participants. DO allow participants time to add them to
the Interactive Journal if they wish. Facilitator will use the words “monovalent” and
“covalently” from the original piece of text and model each of these steps using these
words...
YOUR TURN! Open your Interactive Journal to p. 8. In table groups, read the paragraph and
highlight vocabulary that may be
unfamiliar to students. Engage in a
conversation about how you might apply
Marzano’s Six Steps. 71 Facilitator should walk around to give feedback to table groups.
Participants will be given time to apply new vocabulary strategies to the texts they
selected in Lesson 3. Facilitator should walk around to give feedback to individuals.
Summarize and Plan for
Implementation… (Interactive Journal p. 7) 73 Refer to Interactive Journal
74 How can single subject teachers
improve literacy while teaching
content area knowledge and skills? DAY
1 DAY
2 END GOAL: teachers will modify a current unit of
study to incorporate skills that both
improve literacy AND increase content
area knowledge for students. Facilitator reminds the participants of the objective of the course, what has been
already covered, and what is coming up next.
Tools for the
Discipline Students need different tools for
different disciplines. Teachers can
incorporate disciplinary literacy
strategies to increase understanding
in the content areas. 5 75
76 Sample Lab Report Participants will compare and contrast three different types of texts to understand the
concept that different types of text require different reading strategies… No attribution required. Retrieved from
https://pixabay.com/illustrations/dna-doctor-lab-helix-biology-4092762/
77 Math Performance Task Participants will compare and contrast three different types of texts to understand the
concept that different types of text require different reading strategies… No attribution required. Retrieved from
https://pixabay.com/illustrations/math-symbols-blackboard-classroom-1500720/
78 World History
Textbook Participants will compare and contrast three different types of texts to understand the
concept that different types of text require different reading strategies… No attribution required. Retrieved from
https://pixabay.com/photos/clever-glasses-book-learning-1499290/
79 Examples of essential literacy strategies used in four
major disciplines... ELA ● Story elements:
who, what, when,
where, why ● Literal vs. implied
meaning ● Themes Text
structures ● Genres: i.e., poetry,
essay, fiction Math ● Search for the
“truth” and for
errors ● Importance of each
word and symbol ● Interpretation of
information
presented in
unusual ways ● Mathematical
modeling & problem
solving Science ● Facts based on
evidence ● Graphs, charts,
formulas ● Corroboration and
transformation ● Concepts such as
data analysis,
hypothesis,
observations,
investigation History ● Author’s
perspective and
bias: sourcing ● Time period:
contextualization ● Corroboration of
multiple
perspectives and
documents ● Rhetorical
constructions Participants are given an envelope with the above bullet points cut into individual
strips. In table groups, participants sort these bullet points into the four categories.
Utilizing those same texts you’ve already
selected, we’ll now look at disciplinary
literacy strategies to apply to your unit of
study. 80 Facilitator reviews the objective, purpose for learning and benefits/risks avoided.
Disciplinary
Literacy “Whoever is doing the
reading, writing, and
discussing is the one getting
smarter.” -Sam Bennett, Researcher and Educator 81
82 What is “disciplinary literacy”? Facilitator plays video and conducts a brief discussion
to check for understanding.
Let’s
Explore A menu of videos that
pertain to your specific
discipline will help us
learn more about
disciplinary literacy as it
applies to our own
classrooms. (Interactive Journal p. 9) 83 Refer to Interactive Journal. Participants explore video links and take notes on their
learning.
84 Groups share out what they learned from the videos...
85 Authentic Assessment: Participants will use the lesson template that they most prefer
to apply new learning to their unit of study.
Interactive
Journal Reflection: “What does it mean to
read and write like a
(scientist, historian,
mathematician)? 86 Page 10 Refer to Interactive Journal.
87 How can single subject teachers
improve literacy while teaching
content area knowledge and skills? DAY
1 DAY
2 END GOAL: teachers will modify a current unit of
study to incorporate skills that both
improve literacy AND increase content
area knowledge for students. Facilitator reminds the participants of the objective of the course, what has been
already covered, and what is coming up next.

Participant:
Date:

Interactive
Journal

Literacy Across the
Disciplines
Presented by ________________

1

While the Facilitator is presenting the overview of
this course, take notes as to what each of these
icons represent…

What parts of this course do you feel will be the
most beneficial to your classroom? What are your
personal goals for this course?

2
What are the foundational components of literacy?

Component Definition
Is this a
possible area
of need for
your current
students?
Phonemic Awareness


Phonics/Decoding


Fluency


Vocabulary


Comprehension


Written Expression



How do classroom teachers identify students in
need of scaffolded support in order to maximize
content area learning?

Link to digital version of
Listening In Activity

Link to digital version of
Quick Write Activity

3

Use this T-chart to take notes on the two
observation tools.

Listening In Activity Quick Write Activity

REFLECTION
How can the process of identifying students in need of literacy support
improve content area learning in your classroom?

4

Let’s use the CHARTING Method to document our
learning during this section on note-taking.
Types of Note-taking

Method Definition Sketch Pros Cons Scaffolds
Charting


Cornell


Boxing


Sketch
Notes


Mapping



5

Implementation Goal for Note Taking
I will incorporate new note-taking strategies and accommodations to
support my learners by...

Try sketch noting to document your learning in
regards to identifying leveled texts for use in the
classroom...

6
Try using Boxing in this space below to explore the
following resources that pertain to leveled texts.

Resources:
● NewsELA
● ReadWorks
● CommonLit
● Smithsonian Tween Tribune
● News In Levels
● ReWordify
● Text Compactor

How can the use of differentiated texts improve learning in your single subject classroom?
What resources do you think will be most helpful with your own students?

7

Use Cornell Notes to record your
thinking in regards to evidenced-based
vocabulary instructional strategies…

Guiding Question:

Key terms & Questions:

●

Summary: (What did you learn? How will you implement these strategies
into your next unit of study?)

8
Your Turn: highlight words from the Gettysburg
Address that may be unfamiliar to your students.

Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty,
and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.
Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated,
can long endure. We are met on a great battle-field of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field,
as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and
proper that we should do this.
But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate -- we can not consecrate -- we can not hallow -- this ground. The brave
men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The
world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us
the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly
advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us -- that from these honored
dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion -- that we here
highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain -- that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of
freedom -- and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.
Abraham Lincoln
November 19, 1863

Make a web of ideas for teaching those words:

9

Let’s explore disciplinary specific
literacy strategies in classroom
practice. Below is a list of curated
videos for your viewing pleasure!

Discipline: Video Links: Strategy Notes:
Science

Close reading of Informational
Science Text

Literacy in Science

Reading and Writing in the
Science Classroom

Verbal Discourse

Rigorous Instruction Through
Literacy and NGSS

Math

Some Thoughts on Math
Literacy

Literacy in Math

Close Reading Problems in
Middle School Math

Close Reading in High School
Math

Algebra 1 Close Reading Protocol

Disciplinary Literacy in
Mathematics

Social
Studies

Reading Like A Historian

How to Read Like a Historian

Close Reading, U.S. History

Literacy in Social Studies

Approximating Literacy
Approaches-Supports for
Reading

10

“What does it mean to
read and write
like a ( scientist, historian,
mathematician ) ?”

How and when will you
implement new learning into
your classroom practice?

11

What note-taking strategy has worked
best for you thus far? Choose one to
record your learning in regards to
setting a purpose for reading and close
reading.

How might the teacher guide students in setting a purpose for reading and
close reading of a selected text?

In addition to the lesson plan you write today, in what other ways will you
utilize the strategies of setting a purpose for reading and close reading?
What other resources did you find today that you might want to reference
in the future?


12
Close Reading Template

Teacher: Grade: Date:
Text (worthy of close
read):

Focus chunk/portion of
the text for close reading:

STEPS:
1. FIRST READ (key ideas and details)
After setting a purpose for reading, students read
the text (do not activate prior knowledge)

Think-Pair-Share to check for understanding and
focus back on the purpose for reading

2. SECOND READ (craft and structure)
Reread selected chunk independently focusing on
text dependent questions. For additional scaffolding,
teacher can choose Read Aloud, Think Aloud, Shared,
or Paired Reading

Students use pencils, post-its or highlighters to
annotate portions of the text that aid in citing text
based evidence. Discuss in small groups

3. THIRD READ (integration of knowledge and ideas)
Reread selected chunk focusing on text dependent
questions. Scaffold as needed with Read Aloud,
Think Aloud, Shared or Paired Reading.

Discuss in small or whole group.
Journal with text dependent questions.
Complex ideas that
require close reading:
❏ Vocabulary
❏ Syntax
❏ Text Structure
❏ Text Features
❏ Coherence
❏ Audience
Appropriateness
Text-Dependent
Question(s):
Select 2-3 high cognitive
level questions that will
require students to use
the author’s words.
Prompt to use text
evidence.
1. CCSS

2. CCSS

13
3. CCSS

Writing scaffolds support students in lifting the
level of their own writing. When teachers
provide appropriate scaffolds, students
produce higher quality work.

Scaffold Definition Example Application to my
discipline
Chunking


Writing
together


Graphic
organizers


Sentence
frames


Peer editing
with rubric


One-on-One
conferencing

14

Let’s put it altogether!

Course Assessment

Participants in this course will be able to incorporate evidenced-based
instructional practices to support literacy while also promoting the domain
specific content their single subject credential allows them to teach. In
addition, participants will be able to analyze a current domain specific unit of
study and identify individual lessons that can be enhanced using newly
learned literacy strategies.

Unit of Study:
_____________________________________________

New Learning: Application: Resources: Notes:
Close Look:
incorporate simple
techniques to gain a
better
understanding of the
literacy needs of
students.
How and when will
you use the
Listening In Activity
and the Quick Write
Activity in your
classroom?
What texts will you
use from your unit
of study for both of
these activities?

Link the texts here:

Note-Taking:
introduce strategies
that incorporate
both visuals and text
to support students
in accessing content
Select one of the five
note-taking
strategies for use
throughout this unit.
Create a high quality
sample of what you
expect the notes to
look like for this unit.
This sample can also
be used for students
who are absent or
for those who need
accommodations.

Link your creation
here:

Text Selection:
select high interest,
leveled text to
increase
engagement and
understanding of the
content
Utilizing one of these
tools, select
additional text at
various levels.
● NewsELA
● ReadWorks
● CommonLit
Link the selected,
leveled texts here:

BELOW Grade Level

ON Grade level

15
● Smithsonian
Tween
Tribune
● News In
Levels
● ReWordify
● Text
Compactor
ABOVE Grade level

Vocabulary:
incorporate
strategies for
disciplinary and
general vocabulary
development

Make a list of words
that will need to be
explicitly taught for
this unit:

Link or list words
here:

Design activities that
follow the Marzano 6
steps and link below:

Tools for the
Discipline:
utilize disciplinary
literacy strategies to
increase access to
the content.

What do students
need in order to
read, write, and
think like a (scientist,
historian,
mathematician, etc.)?

Link your creations
here:

Comprehension:
create an authentic
purpose for reading
and increase content
area knowledge
through close
reading strategies

Utilize the Close
Reading Template to
design at least one
close read for the
unit
Link your completed
close reading
template here:

Writing:
scaffold
assignments to lift
the level of students’
written work
What is the writing
assignment for this
unit? What scaffolds
are appropriate at
this time?

Make a list of
students who you
will prioritize for
Link your creations
here:

16
one-on-one
conferences.

Listening In Activity

The purpose of this activity is to give the classroom teacher an opportunity
to determine which students may be in need of scaffolded literacy support in
order to maximize content area learning.

BEFORE the activity
1. Select a reading from your content area textbook that is part of your
current unit of study.
2. Enter the students’ names on the Listening In Instructional Groupings
Worksheet.
3. Arrange students in groups of 2-4.

DURING the activity
1. Instruct students to take turns reading the text aloud.
2. Circulate among the groups and pause to listen in to each student.
3. Make a quick assessment of each student’s readiness for content-area
reading and mark it on the chart.
4. Take notes on anything you find interesting or needing further
attention.

Here are a few key things to listen in for as students read a portion of text:
● Decodes multisyllabic words accurately
● Reads with phrasing, intonation, use of punctuation and
expression that reflects understanding of the text
● Uses context clues, glossaries, and dictionaries to determine the
meaning of unfamiliar vocabulary
● Searches for information in graphics such as diagrams, charts,
maps and captions
● Constructs summaries that are concise and reflective of the
important overarching ideas in the text.

FOLLOWING the activity
1. Sort students regarding your initial reading impressions on the
Instructional Groupings Worksheet below.
2. Keep these groups in mind while selecting appropriate texts for the
unit.
3. Consult with your ELA Department colleagues or school counselors if
you identify a student for whom you need more detailed information.


Period______________________

Date_______

Listening In Instructional Groupings Worksheet

Student Name Reads with
confidence
and ease
Reads text
with slight
difficulty
Cannot
read text
to
ascertain
meaning
Notes:



















































Quick Write Activity

The purpose of this activity is to give the classroom teacher an opportunity
to determine which students may be in need of scaffolded literacy support in
order to communicate their learning in writing.

BEFORE the activity
1. Select a short reading from your content area textbook that is part of
your current unit of study (approximately 2 pages).
2. Enter the students’ names on the Quick Write Instructional Groupings
Worksheet.

DURING the activity
1. Ask students to read the selected text and then write a paragraph
summarizing the key points. Let students know what you are looking
for in their paragraphs from the box below.

Here are a few key things to look for in your students’ quick writes:
● Did the student use a topic sentence that states the main idea?
● Does the student use at least 3 different facts, examples or ideas
to elaborate on the topic?
● Did the student use transition words or phrases?
● Did the student use a concluding sentence?
● Did the student spell familiar words correctly?
● Did the student utilize accurate capitalization and punctuation?

FOLLOWING the activity
1. Sort students regarding your initial writing impressions on the
Instructional Groupings Worksheet below.
2. Keep these groups in mind while planning writing activities for your
students.
3. Consult with your ELA Department colleagues or school counselors if
you identify a student for whom you need more detailed information.

Period______________________

Date_______

Quick Write Instructional Groupings Worksheet

Student Name
Student can
clearly write
to
communicate
learning at
grade level.
Basic
paragraph is
in tact.
Student can
communicate
in writing but
may require
support.
Student
demonstrates
difficulty with
writing and
will require
scaffolds.
Notes:


















































Difficult Text Snippet for Lesson 3
Noninvasive brain cancer imaging with a bispecific antibody
fragment, generated via click chemistry
Luo, H., Hernandez, R., Hong, H., Graves, S., Yang, Y., England, C., … Luo, H. (2015).
Noninvasive brain cancer imaging with a bispecific antibody fragment, generated
via click chemistry. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United
States of America, 112(41), 12806–12811.
https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1509667112

Synthesis and Characterization of Bs-F(ab) 2 .
Monovalent antibody fragments (Fab) were produced from intact CET and TRC105 mAb via
papain digestion and purified by size exclusion chromatography and protein A affinity
column. The purity of the obtained fragments was confirmed by SDS polyacrylamide gel
electrophoresis (SDS/PAGE) and size exclusion chromatography ( Fig. 1 B and Fig. S1 ). To
prepare each Fab fragment for the subsequent conjugation, we derivatized Fab reactive
primary amines with one of two reactive moieties of the Diels–Alder orthogonal reactive
pair: Tz or TCO. Conjugates were then purified by size exclusion spin columns and
concentrated by ultrafiltration. Following, the fragments were covalently linked via a
copper-free click reaction to form a bispecific Bs-F(ab) 2 antibody fragment ( Fig. 1 A ). Size
exclusion chromatography showed a reaction efficiency of 37.5% ( Fig. S1 ). SDS/PAGE
( Fig. 1 B ) and MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry ( Fig. S2 ) corroborated the identity of
Bs-F(ab) 2 ([M+H] + , 104.04 kDa).

Job Aide: Six Steps for Teaching Vocabulary
(Marzano, 2004)

Facilitator should print these cards on bright colored card stock and cut apart for
participants to attach to his/her planbook for future reference.

Unit Overview from Ch 4

Unit 6: Utilize a variety of strategies to create an authentic “purpose for reading” and increasing
content area knowledge through close reading strategies
Terminal learning objective.
● Participants will apply strategies to create a “purpose of reading” and close
reading strategies to a unit of study
Prerequisite analysis (enabling objectives). In order to achieve the terminal objective,
learners must:
● Be able to select appropriate text
● Understand the text features, text structures, and reading behaviors required of
content specific text
● Be able to apply text features, text structures, and reading behaviors to content
specific text.
Learning activities.
● Inform the learners of the learning objective
● Gain attention of the learners
● Assess prior knowledge of the learners regarding “purpose for reading” and close
reading strategies
● Teach any necessary prerequisite conceptual knowledge by providing definitions,
examples and non-examples in the area of “purpose for reading” and close
reading strategies
● Provide opportunities for learners to generate their own examples and non
examples
● Present strategies for “purpose for reading” and close reading
● Model “purpose for reading” and close reading strategies to improve
comprehension of content specific text
● Provide practice and feedback with the text that learners selected in Unit 4
● To promote retention and transfer, learners will apply new knowledge and skills
to their Capstone Assessment Unit of Study
Assessment of learning.
● Participants will write a lesson plan that incorporates strategies for “purpose for
reading” and close reading that

Literacy Across the Disciplines
Lesson Plan and Instructor’s Guide
Unit 6: Creating an Authentic “Purpose for Reading” and Increasing Content Area Knowledge
Through Close Reading Strategies

Unit Duration: 3 Hours

Introduction: Utilize a variety of strategies to create an authentic “purpose for reading” and increasing content area
knowledge through close reading strategies

Learning Objective(s)
Terminal Objective:
Participants will apply strategies to create a “purpose of reading” and close reading strategies to a unit of study
Enabling Objective(s):
● Be able to select appropriate text
● Understand the text features, text structures, and reading behaviors required of content specific
text
● Be able to apply text features, text structures, and reading behaviors to content specific text

Lesson Materials *
Infographic Course Overview Bookmark
Access to computer with internet for learning platform or Google Drive
Note taking guide (Reflective Journal) and materials
Presentation slides
Different kinds of texts from the library such as a textbook, manual, novel opinion piece, etc.

Learner Characteristic Accommodations
Learners are adults who have likely been mandated by the school or district to attend the training. They may lack
the motivation, confidence and/or skills to promote literacy in their current classroom contexts. As adult learners,
the practicality and usefulness of the training must be emphasized throughout.

Facilitator’s Notes
Be sure to send out a message to Participants prior to this session. Participants will need to bring with them a
current unit of study from their own practices to be utilized in the next lessons. Throughout this course, note-taking
from Lesson 2 will be reinforced and modeled. In this lesson, Participants will be directed to try out sketchnoting.

Instructional Activities
Instructional
Sequence
Time
(mins)
Description of the
Learning Activity
Instructor
Action/Decision
(Supplantive)
Learner
Action/
Decision
(Generative)
Gain
Attention
8
minutes
*Since this is the beginning of Day 2,
Facilitator will open with an
opportunity for reflection.

Demonstrate the need for looking
closely at a graphic by having
participants do a “hidden picture
puzzle” as an analogy for the acts of
setting a purpose and close reading.
Facilitator displays a Poll
Everywhere quiz for
participants to post about
how they are
implementing learning
from Day 1.

Within the slide
presentation, the
Facilitator posts a “hidden
picture puzzle” and asks
the Participants to find 6
specific items.

The Facilitator explains
the analogy of the “hidden
picture puzzle” being
similar to the acts of
setting a purpose and
close reading.
Participants
complete the
Poll
Everywhere
question:
“What new
learning did you
apply in your
classroom since
our last time
together?”

Participants
study the
“hidden picture
puzzle” and
identify the six
items.

Participants
develop an
understanding
that the “hidden
picture puzzle
has similarities
to setting a
purpose and
close reading.
Learning
Objectives
1 minute Facilitator will show the class the
Course Overview Infographic and
write the terminal objective for this
unit on the front board.
Facilitator will read the
terminal objective and ask
for understanding and
questions.

Participants will
watch and
listen.

They will have
an opportunity
to ask questions
or acknowledge
understanding.
Purpose for
Learning
2
minutes
Benefits: Participants will benefit
from learning this objective because
their students will have a higher
likelihood of gaining content area
knowledge from classroom texts.

Risks Avoided: Participants will
avoid relying on lecture to convey
information by incorporating
appropriate strategies to engage
students in reading for meaning.
Facilitator will state the
purpose for learning.
Participants will
listen and
acknowledge
the value of
setting a
purpose and
close reading.
Overview 2
minutes
Participants already know how to
select appropriate texts for the varying
literacy levels in their classrooms.
They also know that content area text
can be a tremendous resource for
content area learning.

In this lesson, Participants will learn
how to maximize the comprehension
of content area texts through the use of
two comprehension strategies: setting
a purpose for reading and close
reading.

Participants will learn this through
direct modeling from the Facilitator
and guided practice with the texts
selected by Participants in Lesson 3.
Facilitator gives a verbal
overview of the lesson.
They will have
an opportunity
to ask questions
or acknowledge
understanding.
Prerequisite
Knowledge
2
minutes
It is expected that the Participants will
have the prerequisite knowledge. In
the event they do not, the Facilitator
will teach the concepts by giving
definitions, examples and
nonexamples.
The Facilitator will
provide definitions,
examples and
nonexamples for any
knowledge that
Participants may need.

For any
knowledge that
Participants
need, they will
generate their
own examples
and
nonexamples in
the Reflective
Journal to
demonstrate
their
understanding.
Learning
Guidance
57
minutes
Setting a purpose for reading increases
comprehension for the reader and
close reading is a strategy that
maximizes a student’s opportunity to
gain information from a piece of text
by reading the text 3 times utilizing a
different purpose for each reading.

Participants will learn how to
introduce and utilize both setting a
purpose for reading” and close reading
strategies in the classroom.
Facilitator will discuss
three steps to setting a
“purpose for reading”.

Facilitator will model
setting a “purpose for
reading”

Facilitator will define
close reading and outline
the 7 steps of close
reading.

Facilitator will model
close reading of a picture,
a cartoon, a diagram, and
finally written text.

Facilitator will model the
use of the Close Reading
Template
Participants will
choose their
favorite
note-taking
strategy to
record learning
in the Reflective
Journal (p. 11).
Participants will
experience the
setting a
purpose for
reading and
close reading
strategies as
students in a
classroom as the
Facilitator
models.
Practice and
Feedback
30
minutes
A practice and feedback opportunity
will allow for the participants to
demonstrate to the Facilitator that they
clearly understand the knowledge and
skills needed to apply strategies to
create a “purpose for reading” and
close reading strategies to a unit of
study

Facilitator will provide
time and instruct
Participants to search the
internet for pictures,
cartoons, or diagram that
are on the same topic as
the text selected in Lesson
3.

Facilitator will direct table
groups to discuss how
they might utilize setting
a purpose for reading”
and close reading for the
selected visuals along
with the texts selected in
Lesson 3.

Facilitator will rotate
among the table groups
offering feedback and
guidance.
Participants will
search the
internet for
pictures,
cartoons, or
diagram that are
on the same
topic as the text
selected in
Lesson 3.

Participants
discuss with the
table groups
how they might
utilize setting a
purpose for
reading and
close reading
for the selected
visuals along
with the texts
selected in
Lesson 3 .

Participants will
receive
feedback from
the Facilitator
and other
colleagues at the
table.
Authentic
Assessment *
45
minutes
Participants will apply new learning
by designing a lesson plan that
incorporates a purpose for learning
and close reading strategies.
Facilitator will instruct
Participants to design a
lesson plan using the
Close Reading Template
that incorporates the texts
selected in Lesson 3, a
picture/cartoon/diagram,
that enhances the content,
as well as purpose for
learning and close reading
strategies.
Participants will
design a lesson
plan using the
Close Reading
Template
(Reflective
Journal p. 12)
that
incorporates the
texts selected in
Lesson 3, a
picture/cartoon/
diagram, that
enhances the
content, as well
as purpose for
learning and
close reading
strategies.
Retention
and Transfer
30
minutes
Authentic Assessment above is
designed to prepare participants to
apply new learning as soon as the
following day.

At this juncture, Participants will also
be given additional research time to
find new leveled pieces of text,
pictures, cartoons, and diagrams for
other units of study to enhance
implementation and transfer beyond
the original leveled texts selected in
Lesson 3.
Facilitator will encourage
Participants to set a date
to utilize the lesson plan
in an upcoming unit of
study.

Facilitator will provide
additional research time to
find new leveled pieces of
text, pictures, cartoons,
and diagrams for other
units of study within their
specific content area and
direct Participants to share
these resources with other
colleagues in the room
who also teach that
content.
Participants will
mark their
calendars or
planbooks for
when they will
utilize setting a
purpose for
reading and
close reading
strategies in an
upcoming unit
of study in their
own classrooms.

Participants will
research new
leveled pieces
of text, pictures,
cartoons, and
diagrams for
other units of
study and share
these with
colleagues.

Big Ideas 2
minutes
Review and re-motivate: Review the
“take-aways” from this lesson and the
application of procedures. Connect
back to the importance of providing
literacy scaffolds that support content
area learning, especially through
Facilitator will ask the
question, “In addition to
the lesson plan you write
today, in what other ways
will you utilize the
strategies of setting a
In the Reflective
Journal (p. 11),
participants will
document their
thinking in
regards to the
importance of
setting a purpose for reading and close
reading strategies.
purpose for reading and
close reading?
setting a
purpose for
reading and
close reading
strategies and
new learning
from today’s
lesson .
Advance
Organizer for
the Next Unit
1 minute In the next section, Participants will
learn how to design assessments in the
form of scaffolded written responses
that allow for feedback and celebration
of student learning in order to increase
students’ content area knowledge.
Instructor “previews” next
lesson through the Visual
Course Overview
Infographic.
Participants
listen and view
infographic.
Total Time 3 hours

Visual Course Overview Infographic:

Unit Overview from Ch 4

Unit 7: Scaffolding written responses and designing assessments for feedback and growth of
student learning
Terminal learning objective.
● The participants will be able to scaffold written responses that support high
quality written work production from students.
Prerequisite analysis (enabling objectives). In order to achieve the terminal objective,
learners must:
● Understand the differing literacy knowledge and skills of the students
● Be able to differentiate between content area knowledge and literacy skills
● Be able to match a content area learning objective with an appropriate assessment
that accounts for the literacy capacities of students
Learning activities.
● Inform the learners of the learning objective
● Gain attention of the learners
● assess prior knowledge of the learners in regards to designing assessments in the
form of scaffolded written responses that allow for feedback and celebration of
student learning.
● Teach any necessary prerequisite conceptual knowledge by providing definitions,
examples and non-examples in the area of these assessments
● Provide opportunities for learners to generate their own examples and non
examples
● Present strategies for designing assessments in the form of scaffolded written
responses that allow for feedback and celebration of student learning.
● Model these assessments
● Provide practice and feedback designing assessments in the form of scaffolded
written responses that allow for feedback and celebration of student learning that.
● Promote retention and transfer by having the learner design their own assessments
that can be used to measure learning in their Capstone Assessment Unit of Study
Assessment of learning.
● The participants will design their own assessment that will measure learning
objectives in their Capstone Assessment Unit of Study

Literacy Across the Disciplines
Lesson Plan and Instructor’s Guide
Unit 7: Scaffolding Written Responses and Designing Assessments for Feedback, Growth, and
Celebrations of Student Learning

Unit Duration: 3 Hours

Introduction: Scaffolding written responses and designing assessments for feedback, growth, and celebrations of
student learning

Learning Objective(s)
Terminal Objective:
The participants will be able to scaffold written responses that support high quality written work production from
students.
Enabling Objective(s):
● Understand the differing literacy knowledge and skills of the students
● Be able to differentiate between content area knowledge and literacy skills
● Be able to match a content area learning objective with an appropriate assessment that accounts
for the literacy capacities of students

Lesson Materials *
Infographic Course Overview Bookmark
Access to computer with internet for learning platform or Google Drive
Note taking guide (Reflective Journal) and materials
Presentation slides

Learner Characteristic Accommodations
Learners are adults who have likely been mandated by the school or district to attend the training. They may lack
the motivation, confidence and/or skills to promote literacy in their current classroom contexts. As adult learners,
the practicality and usefulness of the training must be emphasized throughout.

Facilitator’s Notes
Be sure to send out a message to Participants prior to this session. Participants will need to bring with them a
current unit of study from their own practices to be utilized in the next lessons.

Instructional Activities
Instructional
Sequence
Time
(mins)
Description of the
Learning Activity
Instructor
Action/Decision
(Supplantive)
Learner
Action/
Decision
(Generative)
Gain
Attention
13
minutes
Teachers are often disappointed in the
quality of written responses turned in
my students.

Participants will be given an
opportunity to list their “pet peeves” in
regards to student writing.

This activity also serves as a way for
the Facilitator to understand the prior
experiences and prior knowledge of
the group as a whole.
Facilitator will utilize
humor by showing
pictures of common “pet
peeves”.

Facilitator will ask table
groups to have a
discussion regarding the
problems with students’
written work.

Facilitator will ask for
responses from the
audience and make a list
of the collective thinking
on the front board.

Facilitator will link these
“pet peeves” to the
objective for this lesson.
In table groups,
Participants will
have a
discussion
regarding the
problems with
students’
written work.

Participants will
contribute
responses from
the table groups
to a whole
group
discussion.
Learning
Objectives
2
minutes
Facilitator will show the class the
Course Overview Infographic and
write the terminal objective for this
unit on the front board.
Facilitator will read the
terminal objective and ask
for understanding and
questions.

Participants will
watch and
listen.

They will have
an opportunity
to ask questions
or acknowledge
understanding.
Purpose for
Learning
2
minutes
Benefits: Participants will get higher
quality written responses from their
students at all literacy levels. Students
in their classrooms will be more
motivated to demonstrate their content
area knowledge in the form of writing.

Risks Avoided: Participants will
avoid assigning writing tasks that are
too difficult for students to complete
successfully.
Facilitator will state the
purpose for learning.
Participants will
listen and
acknowledge
the value of
writing
scaffolds and
celebrations.
Overview 2
minutes
Participants already know that written
responses are an important measure of
student understanding and that writing
is often a gateway skill to future
opportunities for students.

In this lesson, Participants will learn
how to design writing
tasks/assessments with appropriate
supports and scaffolds that lift the
level of student responses, particularly
for those who struggle with literacy.

Participants will learn this through
modeling, close reading, and
additional research.
Facilitator gives a verbal
overview of the lesson.
Participants will
have an
opportunity to
ask questions or
acknowledge
understanding.
Prerequisite
Knowledge
2
minutes
In the overview section, the Facilitator
will informally assess prior knowledge
of individuals and of the group as a
whole.

It is expected that the Participants will
have the prerequisite knowledge. In
the event they do not, the Facilitator
will teach the concepts by giving
definitions, examples and
nonexamples.
The Facilitator will
provide definitions,
examples and
nonexamples for any
knowledge that
Participants may need.

For any
knowledge that
Participants
need, they will
generate their
own examples
and
nonexamples in
the Reflective
Journal.
Learning
Guidance
80
minutes
Writing scaffolds and ideas for writing
celebrations will be presented.
Facilitator will model
learning from the previous
class by setting a purpose
for reading and guiding
the Participants through
the steps of close reading
with a piece of text on the
topic of writing scaffolds.

Participants will
understand the
purpose for
reading and
follow the close
reading strategy
to comprehend
the topic of the
article.

Facilitator will model the
following scaffolds:
● Writing Together
● Graphic
Organizers
● Sentence Frames
● Paragraph at a
Time
● Peer editing w/
rubric
● One-on-One
Feedback
●
Participants will
complete notes
in the Reflective
Journal (p. 13).
Practice and
Feedback
40
minutes
A practice and feedback opportunity
will allow for the participants to
demonstrate to the Facilitator that they
clearly understand the knowledge and
skills needed to scaffold writing
assignments.

The Facilitator will pass
out an example of a
poorly written paper.

Facilitator will instruct
participants to discuss
how each of the scaffolds
might be utilized to lift
the level of the student
piece: Writing Together,
Graphic Organizers,
Sentence Frames,
Paragraph at a Time, Peer
editing w/ rubric,
One-on-One Feedback,
Celebrations.
Participants will
analyze the
student writing
sample and
discuss how
each of the
scaffolds might
be used to life
the level of the
student piece.

Authentic
Assessment *
30
minutes
Participants will apply new learning
by designing a lesson plan that
incorporates scaffolds for writing
assignments and celebrations of
learning.
Facilitator will direct
Participants to design a
lesson plan within their
unit of study that
incorporates writing
scaffolds and celebrations.
Participants will
design a lesson
plan within their
unit of study
that
incorporates
writing
scaffolds and
celebrations.
Retention
and Transfer
2
minutes
Authentic Assessment above is
designed to prepare participants to
apply new learning as soon as the
following day.
Facilitator will encourage
Participants to set a date
to utilize assessments in
the form of scaffolded
written responses that
allow for feedback and
celebration of student
learning in an upcoming
unit of study.
Participants will
mark their
calendars or
planbooks for
when they will
utilize
assessments in
the form of
scaffolded
written
responses that
allow for
feedback and
celebration of
student learning
in an upcoming
unit of study in
their own
classrooms.
Big Ideas 2
minutes
Review and re-motivate: Review the
“take-aways” from this lesson and the
application of procedures. Connect
back to the importance of providing
literacy scaffolds that support content
area learning, especially through
writing assignments and celebrations
of student learning.
Facilitator will ask the
question, “To what degree
do you anticipate the
quality of written
responses will improve
when you utilize these
scaffolds with your
students?”
Participants will
answer the
questions using
the “fist to five”
response.
Advance
Organizer for
the Next Unit
5
minutes
This is the conclusion of the Unit.

Facilitator will display the
Visual Course Overview
Infographic and quickly
review what was learned
in this course.

Facilitator will provide
contact information in the
event further support is
needed in order to
implement new learning.
Participants will
write down the
contact
information in
the Reflective
Journal.
Total Time 3 hours

Visual Course Overview Infographic:

Literacy Across the
Disciplines Day 2
Hello! Presenter’s Name Email address Phone number Social media handle 2 Speaker gives a brief introduction of self as a review...
3 Facilitator conducts this poll and discusses results.
4 “Today we will be adding two more pieces to the puzzle and then putting all of our
learning together into your own disciplinary specific unit of study.” No attribution required. Retrieved from
https://pixabay.com/photos/puzzle-last-part-joining-together-3223941/
5 How can single subject teachers
improve literacy while teaching
content area knowledge and skills? DAY
1 DAY
2 END GOAL: teachers will modify a current unit of
study to incorporate skills that both
improve literacy AND increase content
area knowledge for students. Facilitator reminds the participants of the objective of the course, what has been
already covered, and what is coming up next.
6 Facilitator uses this game to get the attention of the audience and present an analogy
between this activity and “setting a purpose for reading” and close reading strategies.
Especially for students who are poor readers, it is vitally important set very clear
expectations for what students should be looking for or learning from a piece of text.
Participants will apply strategies
to create a “purpose for reading”
and close reading strategies to a
unit of study. 7 Facilitator reads the purpose for learning and states the benefits and risks avoided.
Facilitator will also give a verbal overview of the lesson. Participants have an
opportunity to ask questions or acknowledge understanding.
Interactive
Journal Choose your favorite
note-taking strategy to
record your learning! 8 Page 11 Refer to Interactive Journal.
Setting a Purpose
for Reading... Why am I
reading this? Establish
a
Purpose Ask and
answer
?s 9
Why am I reading this? 10 ● To gain information ● To learn how to do
something ● To solve a problem ● To form an opinion ● To be entertained Facilitator asks the participants to look at the variety of magazines in the picture. Why
might someone read each of these magazines. Could there be more than one
purpose? If so, what is the primary purpose.
Establish a Purpose 11 ● Preview the text to get a general idea of
what it is about ● Read the title ● Glance through it looking at text
features and illustrations ● Then set your purpose Facilitator should bring a variety of materials from the public library: a textbook, a
manual, a novel, an opinion piece or editorial and model these steps.
Ask and Answer Questions 12 ● Literal Questions have factual answers ● Interpretive Questions ask you to go beyond
what is stated in the text. You connect what you
read with what you know. ● Evaluative Questions ask you to make a
judgement. ● Universal Questions ask you to apply what you
read to life in general. Using the materials brought from the library, the facilitator should model asking and
answering different types of questions with the group. Participants can then practice
themselves.
CLOSE READING 13 What is close reading? Facilitator defines close reading as a thoughtful, critical
analysis of a text that focuses on significant details or patterns in order to develop a
deep, precise understand of the text’s form, craft, meanings, etc. It is a key
requirement of the Common Core State Standards and directs the reader’s attention
to the text itself.
Close Reading of Picture 14 Let’s practice close reading with a picture...Facilitator guides the participants through
the steps of close reading. Step 1: Have participants examine the picture Step 2: Model your thinking aloud for the “first read” Step 3: Encourage participants to share their observations Step 4: Encourage participants to probe deeper with their thinking. Image retrieved from:
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/29/learning/whats-going-on-in-this-picture-sept-30-
2019.html
15 Provide participants with time to look for pictures, cartoons, or diagrams that could be
used as an introduction to close reading that go along with their unit of study.
Facilitator will direct table groups to discuss how they might utilize setting a purpose
for reading and close reading for the selected visuals.
Now let’s try this
with text... 16
Three Steps for
Close Reading... 1st Key ideas
and details 2nd Craft &
structure 3rd Integration
of
knowledge
and ideas 17 Facilitator briefly states the three steps.
Can we close read
an article about
close reading? 18 Facilitator utilizes the article excerpt Teaching Close Reading with Complex Texts in
the Content Areas. Facilitator can direct participants to read online, or the Facilitator
can provide hard copies. Facilitator guides the group through setting a purpose for
reading and the three steps of close reading.
01 02 Text Title Place your own
text here 3 Text Title Place your own
text here 04 19 Reflective
Journal p. 12 Facilitator walks the participants through the close reading planning template.
Participants then use the template and apply it to the text selection chosen in Lesson
3. Facilitator walks around offering feedback.
Interactive
Journal In addition to the lesson
plan you wrote today, in
what other ways will you
utilize the strategies of
setting a purpose for
reading and close
reading? 20 Page 11 Refer to Interactive Journal.
21 How can single subject teachers
improve literacy while teaching
content area knowledge and skills? DAY
1 DAY
2 END GOAL: teachers will modify a current unit of
study to incorporate skills that both
improve literacy AND increase content
area knowledge for students. Facilitator reminds the participants of the objective of the course, what has been
already covered, and what is coming up next.
22 Participants will be asked to identify common “pet peeves”. (Examples: Slow walkers,
The word “moist.”, When a computer or phone won't load a page fast enough, People
who talk loudly on the phone, Noisy eaters, People who talk while their mouth is full,
Couples who sit next to each other (instead of across from each other) in a booth,
Having to repeat yourself multiple times. Then the Facilitator will generate a list of common “pet peeves” when it comes to
students’ written responses and write them on the board. This leads into the objective
on the next slide. Photo courtesy of Needpix.com. Retrieved from:
https://www.needpix.com/photo/1011156/cat-funny-goofy-face-animal-cute-pet-feline-
kitty-funny-cat
Participants will be able to scaffold
written responses that support
high quality work production from
students. 23 Facilitator reads the purpose for learning and states the benefits and risks avoided.
Facilitator will also give a verbal overview of the lesson. Participants have an
opportunity to ask questions or acknowledge understanding.
24 There are six strategies that can help students produce higher quality work...
Interactive
Journal Chart the definitions and
examples for each of the
writing scaffolds. 25 Page 13 Refer to Interactive Journal.
Writing Scaffold #1 CHUNKING: One
paragraph at a time... 26 Facilitator describes the process of breaking a project into small components. Use
the analogy of focusing on one brick at a time rather that the whole building. Photo labeled for noncommercial reuse and retrieved from:
https://www.google.com/search?q=brick+laying&tbm=isch&ved=2ahUKEwjM5r34x9b
mAhWUATQIHW0tBqEQ2-cCegQIABAA&oq=brick+laying&gs_l=img.3..0j0i10j0l2j0i1
0l3j0j0i10j0.39046.41134..41886...0.0..0.69.764.12......0....1..gws-wiz-img.......0i67.FtJ
DLBu3HZI&ei=VFsGXszsA5SD0PEP7dqYiAo&safe=active&tbs=sur%3Af&hl=en#img
rc=HsmPi_3G37qyPM
Writing Scaffold #2 WRITING TOGETHER 27 Facilitator describes and models the process of writing together. Photo labeled for noncommercial reuse and retrieved from:
https://www.google.com/search?q=together+writing&tbm=isch&ved=2ahUKEwjRodPc
yNbmAhXiOX0KHSVyCHEQ2-cCegQIABAA&oq=together&gs_l=img.1.1.0i67l4j0l6.8
6065.86959..89168...0.0..0.73.514.8......0....1..gws-wiz-img.......0i131.3XC18wzPux0&
ei=JlwGXtH2B-Lz9AOl5KGIBw&safe=active&tbs=sur%3Af&hl=en#imgrc=oRpX8vDR
bqhpkM
Writing Scaffold #3 GRAPHIC
ORGANIZERS 28 Facilitator describes and models the process of graphic organizers. Photo labeled for noncommercial reuse and retrieved from:
https://www.google.com/search?q=graphic+organizer+for+writing&tbm=isch&ved=2a
hUKEwiWv92HydbmAhW5FjQIHfYgBFsQ2-cCegQIABAA&oq=graphic+org&gs_l=img
.1.0.0i67j0j0i67j0j0i67l5j0.143175.144497..146292...0.0..0.81.707.11......0....1..gws-wi
z-img.......0i131.daCzXlzn0_k&ei=gFwGXpb_HLmt0PEP9sGQ2AU&safe=active&tbs=
sur%3Af&hl=en#imgrc=4LlROGPUr2h8PM
Writing Scaffold #4 SENTENCE FRAMES 29 Facilitator describes and models the process of sentence frames. Photo labeled for noncommercial reuse and retrieved from:
https://www.google.com/search?q=frames&tbm=isch&ved=2ahUKEwjkjqTyydbmAhX
pADQIHQsIDVcQ2-cCegQIABAA&oq=frames&gs_l=img.3..0i67l2j0j0i10i67j0i67l2j0l3j
0i67.45562.46337..47718...0.0..0.75.404.6......0....1..gws-wiz-img.......0i131.K9c8p1a
PcUg&ei=X10GXqTjOOmB0PEPi5C0uAU&safe=active&tbs=sur%3Af&hl=en#imgrc=
18pvAIN0ck5I8M
Writing Scaffold #5 PEER EDITING W/ RUBRIC 30 Facilitator describes and models the process of peer editing with a rubric. Photo labeled for noncommercial reuse and retrieved from: https://www.google.com/search?q=writing+rubric&tbm=isch&ved=2ahUKEwiFmcyJytb
mAhXtAjQIHchfBWAQ2-cCegQIABAA&oq=writing+rubric&gs_l=img.3..0l10.75844.77
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oWRMu2F0PEPyL-VgAY&safe=active&tbs=sur%3Af&hl=en#imgrc=f_nLPye_wmhQE
M
Writing Scaffold #6 WRITING
CONFERENCES:
ONE-ON-ONE FEEDBACK 31 Facilitator describes and models the process of writing conferences. Photo labeled for noncommercial reuse and retrieved from: https://www.google.com/search?q=teacher+conference+with+student&tbm=isch&ved
=2ahUKEwi09ortytbmAhWAAzQIHdn0AfUQ2-cCegQIABAA&oq=teacher+conference
+with+&gs_l=img.1.0.0j0i24.7604.11652..13189...1.0..0.68.1530.25......0....1..gws-wiz
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h=661&biw=1280&safe=active&tbs=sur%3Af&hl=en#imgrc=DPP0vhEBJQXNSM
01 02 Text Title Place your own
text here 3 Text Title Place your own
text here 04 32 Facilitator displays a copy of poor student writing. Participants brainstorm ideas that
the teacher could implement to lift the level of the student work.
33 To what degree do you believe the
quality of students’ written work will
improve with the use of scaffolds? Facilitator poses the question and asks for the participants to respond using the
fist-to-five method.
34 How can single subject teachers
improve literacy while teaching
content area knowledge and skills? DAY
1 DAY
2 END GOAL: teachers will modify a current unit of
study to incorporate skills that both
improve literacy AND increase content
area knowledge for students. Facilitator reminds the participants of the objective of the course, what has been
already covered, and what is coming up next.
Workshop
Time! Let’s collaborate with peers to
modify a current unit that
meets the overall goal of this
course: to improve literacy
and increase content area
knowledge and skills! (Interactive Journal pp. 14-15) 35 This is a time for participants to put all of their learning together. Facilitator will move
about the room offering guidance and feedback. Refer to Interactive Journal for the
planning template.
Close Reading Template

Teacher: Grade: Date:
Text (worthy of close
read):

Focus chunk/portion of
the text for close reading:

STEPS:
1. FIRST READ (key ideas and details)
After setting a purpose for reading, students read
the text (do not activate prior knowledge)

Think-Pair-Share to check for understanding and
focus back on the purpose for reading

2. SECOND READ (craft and structure)
Reread selected chunk independently focusing on
text dependent questions. For additional scaffolding,
teacher can choose Read Aloud, Think Aloud, Shared,
or Paired Reading

Students use pencils, post-its or highlighters to
annotate portions of the text that aid in citing text
based evidence. Discuss in small groups

3. THIRD READ (integration of knowledge and ideas)
Reread selected chunk focusing on text dependent
questions. Scaffold as needed with Read Aloud,
Think Aloud, Shared or Paired Reading.

Discuss in small or whole group.
Journal with text dependent questions.
Complex ideas that
require close reading:
❏ Vocabulary
❏ Syntax
❏ Text Structure
❏ Text Features
❏ Coherence
❏ Audience
Appropriateness
Text-Dependent
Question(s):
Select 2-3 high cognitive
level questions that will
require students to use
the author’s words.
Prompt to use text
evidence.
1. CCSS

2. CCSS

3. CCSS

Course Assessment

Participants in this course will be able to incorporate evidenced-based
instructional practices to support literacy while also promoting the domain
specific content their single subject credential allows them to teach. In
addition, participants will be able to analyze a current domain specific unit of
study and identify individual lessons that can be enhanced using newly
learned literacy strategies.

Unit of Study:
_____________________________________________

New Learning: Application: Resources: Notes:
Close Look:
incorporate simple
techniques to gain a
better
understanding of the
literacy needs of
students.
How and when will
you use the
Listening In Activity
and the Quick Write
Activity in your
classroom?
What texts will you
use from your unit
of study for both of
these activities?

Link the texts here:

Note-Taking:
introduce strategies
that incorporate
both visuals and text
to support students
in accessing content
Select one of the five
note-taking
strategies for use
throughout this unit.
Create a high quality
sample of what you
expect the notes to
look like for this unit.
This sample can also
be used for students
who are absent or
for those who need
accommodations.

Link your creation
here:

Text Selection:
select high interest,
leveled text to
increase
engagement and
understanding of the
content
Utilizing one of these
tools, select
additional text at
various levels.
● NewsELA
● ReadWorks
● CommonLit
● Smithsonian
Tween
Tribune
● News In
Levels
● ReWordify
● Text
Compactor
Link the selected,
leveled texts here:

BELOW Grade Level

ON Grade level

ABOVE Grade level

Vocabulary:
incorporate
strategies for
disciplinary and
general vocabulary
development

Make a list of words
that will need to be
explicitly taught for
this unit:

Link or list words
here:

Design activities that
follow the Marzano 6
steps and link below:

Tools for the
Discipline:
utilize disciplinary
literacy strategies to
increase access to
the content.

What do students
need in order to
read, write, and
think like a (scientist,
historian,
mathematician, etc.)?

Link your creations
here:

Comprehension:
create an authentic
purpose for reading
and increase content
area knowledge
through close
reading strategies

Utilize the Close
Reading Template to
design at least one
close read for the
unit
Link your completed
close reading
template here:

Writing:
scaffold
assignments to lift
the level of students’
written work
What is the writing
assignment for this
unit? What scaffolds
are appropriate at
this time?

Make a list of
students who you
will prioritize for
one-on-one
conferences.

Link your creations
here:

Abstract (if available)

Abstract Learning to read and write across disciplines is an essential part of preparing students to be productive citizens, yet the majority of students in the state of California are entering secondary school lacking foundational literacy skills. Solving this problem requires a multi-faceted approach that includes all teachers on a middle school or high school campus. This curriculum is designed to prepare content area, single subject teachers to incorporate literacy strategies into daily classroom practice in order to increase content area knowledge while strengthening literacy skills. The curriculum is based upon a cognitive task analysis and is designed to be delivered across a two day training. Teachers who do not already specialize in literacy will learn how to take an inventory of student needs, utilize note-taking strategies, and select high-interest, leveled texts to support struggling readers. They will also learn how to effectively teach content area vocabulary, increase comprehension, scaffold written responses and design assessments for feedback, growth, and celebrations of student learning. The activities utilized within this course enable content area teachers to apply new literacy knowledge and skills directly into classroom practice. In order to increase the likelihood of transfer and implementation, the course culminates with the learners redesigning a current content area unit of study. The overall goal of this course is to empower teachers to meet the diverse literacy needs of their students in all content area classrooms.

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Asset Metadata

Creator Graham, Julie Lynne (author)

Core Title Literacy across the disciplines

School Rossier School of Education

Degree Doctor of Education

Degree Program Education (Leadership)

Publication Date 05/12/2020

Defense Date 03/04/2020

Publisher University of Southern California (original), University of Southern California. Libraries (digital)

Tag collective teacher efficacy,curriculum,disciplinary literacy,foundational literacy,High School,junior high,middle school,OAI-PMH Harvest,professional development,Reading,strategies,Writing

Language English

Contributor Electronically uploaded by the author (provenance)

Advisor Yates, Kenneth (committee chair), Cash, David (committee member), Hirabayashi, Kimberly (committee member)

Creator Email Julie_graham@myfsd.org,juliegra@usc.edu

Permanent Link (DOI) https://doi.org/10.25549/usctheses-c89-304151

Unique identifier UC11664349

Identifier etd-GrahamJuli-8494.pdf (filename),usctheses-c89-304151 (legacy record id)

Legacy Identifier etd-GrahamJuli-8494.pdf

Dmrecord 304151

Document Type Dissertation

Rights Graham, Julie Lynne

Type texts

Source University of Southern California (contributing entity), University of Southern California Dissertations and Theses (collection)

Access Conditions The author retains rights to his/her dissertation, thesis or other graduate work according to U.S. copyright law. Electronic access is being provided by the USC Libraries in agreement with the a...

Repository Name University of Southern California Digital Library

Repository Location USC Digital Library, University of Southern California, University Park Campus MC 2810, 3434 South Grand Avenue, 2nd Floor, Los Angeles, California 90089-2810, USA