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6.1
Chapter 6 • Reading and Writing to Learn Content
T
HE
R
ELATIONSHIPOF
L
ITERACYAND
L
EARNING
As students progress through elementarygrades, they move from learning to read andwrite narrative texts to working withinformational texts. Similarly, in this chapterthe focus shifts from teaching students to readand write, to using reading and writing to helpstudents learn content concepts andprocesses. By adapting the literacy practicessuggested in this chapter to fit the needs of their classrooms, teachers can lead students tothink more critically about informational textsand to apply what they learn to situationsoutside the classroom.This chapter is based on the followingassumptions about the nature of literacyactivities to enhance content learning:
Learning is a human activity.
Learning isa dynamic process rather than a staticproduct, a process where the focus is onthe changes that take place in thethinking of the learner during an activity.Teaching is more than dispensinginformation because learning is morethan receiving and rememberinginformation (Brozo & Simpson, 1999).
Learning is a social activity.
Thinking isdetermined by actions, contexts, andparticipation in communities. Humanlearning and literacy activities arefunctions of cultures. Variations incultural practices and situationalconditions produce variations in ways of 
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READING&WRITINGTOLEARN CONTENT 
Literacy is an activity, a way of thinking nota set of skills. And it is a purposefulactivity—people read, write, talk and thinkabout real ideas and information in order to ponder and extend what they know, tocommunicate with others, to present their  points of view, and to understand and beunderstood (Langer 1987, p 4).
 
knowing; therefore, human development has no singleuniversal goal and development varies in direction andoutcomes (Daniels & Bizar, 1998).
Learning is enhanced by interchanges which arelanguage-based.
Meaning and purpose are integral to allaspects of literacy/learning activities and must beunderstood in terms of the social interaction involved.Students need to spend a great amount of time working incooperative relationships with other students to explorealternative perspectives and evaluate ideas. Thesecooperative relationships help provide meaning andpurpose as students communicate and connect to theworld outside the classroom. These relationships alsoestablish learning communities in and outside the schoolsetting (Brozo and Simpson, 1999; Daniels & Bizar, 1998;Grabe & Grabe, 2000).
Learning is a process of meaning-making.
Reading,writing and discussion are complementary, constructiveand parallel processes that can develop students’ thinking.Students build and increase their content knowledge whenliteracy activities are used as tools for learning. If teachersemphasize the connections between literacy activities,students can also increase their understanding of therelationships among the various content concepts andprocesses (Brozo & Simpson, 1999, p. 227; Strickland &Strickland, 1993).
Learning is enhanced through self-reflection.
Learningin content areas is directed toward the development of critical thinkers and active independent learners (Ryder &Graves, 1998). In order for this to happen, students needthe opportunity to reflect on their own learning andthinking strategies through self- and group- assessmentactivities designed by the teacher.
Learning is enriched through assessment and feedback.
Assessment is an on-going process in the classroomthrough which teachers make instructional decisions toincrease opportunities for students’ learning.Throughout earlier chapters, the connections betweenliteracy and learning have been emphasized. A recurring themehas been the transactional nature of learning to which studentsbring prior knowledge, experience, beliefs and attitudes. Whencontent area teachers use reading, writing and discussion toengage their students’ social and cultural backgrounds, theycreate rich classroom contexts for learning. Clearly, schoolsexpect teachers to help students master content, but focusing
Chapter 6 • Reading and Writing to Learn Content
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on students’ passive use of skills andinformation will not help them develop thepractical applications of learning that they willneed beyond the classroom walls. The teacher’srole in this process is to provide an atmospherein which students actively and consciouslyconstruct useful meaning. Students can alsobecome more aware of their own thinking andlearning strategies as they participate in theinstructional activities that are discussed inthis chapter.
The Teacher’s Role in Creating a LiteracyEnvironment
Learning does not occur in isolation, butin the context of social activity. By participatingin social activity inside and outside theclassroom, students master culturally prescribedways of speaking, reading, writing and thinking(Dixon-Krause, 1996). Successful teachers takeadvantage of the social nature of learning and aresensitive to the different dynamics of classroomsituations. Key to capitalizing on the differencesin classroom situations is the recognition that thepresentation of information in a lecture formatitself does not necessarily result in the generationof knowledge (Grabe & Grabe, 2000).The teacher’s role is one of designingactivities that are authentic and challenging.In addition to helping students generateknowledge, teachers promote critical thinkingas they guide student work related tounfamiliar content. Teachers assess students’work so that they can adjust instruction to fitstudents’ needs, often gaining new knowledgealong with their students (Grabe & Grabe,2000). This means that teachers mediatelearning as students share knowledge andconstruct meaning through social interactions(Dixon-Krause, 1996; Miller & Legge, 1999).Teachers attempt to reach the area betweenstudents’ actual development (the processesand tasks they can perform independently)and the students’ potential development (theprocesses and tasks they can perform with theassistance of an experienced person). Thismediation requires scaffolding or doing someof the work for students until they can do it forthemselves (Grabe & Grabe, 2000).Much of the scaffolding between students’actual and potential development occursthrough conversations mediated by theteachers as they help students fill in gaps inunderstanding (Miller & Legge, 1999).Scaffolding student learning might alsoinclude modeling thinking processes, offeringreminders, explaining words or concepts thatstudents don’t understand, providing(repeating and reinterpreting) clear directionsand demonstrating tasks for students. Theteacher’s role in scaffolding studentdevelopment is to guide student inquiry andmodel active learning (Grabe & Grabe, 2000).Teachers can make learning meaningfuland authentic when students are given theopportunity to match new information withtheir prior knowledge. In order for students tomake connections to prior knowledge, theyneed the opportunity to work collaboratively,take risks, and test their ideas (Strickland &Strickland, 1993). Collaborative work anddiscussion motivate and extend currentthinking processes related to content. Thistype of collaborative dialogue also helpsteachers establish "knowledge-buildingcommunities" in their classrooms (Applebee,2000).
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