Republic of the Philippines

NUEVA VIZCAYA STATE UNIVERSITY

Bayombong, Nueva Vizcaya
COLLEGE OF TEACHER EDUCATION
Professional Education 6
DEVELOPMENTAL READING

MODULE 1: READING IN THE CONTENT AREAS: MULTIPLE LITERACY

Kinesiology or Social Studies Art Industrial Art

Physical Education and History

READING IN THE
CONTENT AREAS:
MULTIPLE LITERACY

Science Mathematics
English Music

Reading in Social Studies and History

The type of comprehension emphasized in social studies and history is interpretation,
synthesis, and analysis. Students should master facts and then think about how these facts
contributed to the events of the past as well as how they can be used to predict future events.
Historians are concerned with the human context of the past and the present, which emphasizes
thinking in a chronological continuum. Possessing historical literacy would include the ability of
taking trips into the past and throughout the world, and meeting people, unknown countries, and
alternate interpretations of how life could be lived.

In most history or social studies classes, obtaining meaning requires the ability to read
written material, maps, and time lines on a literal level and then reorganize the information in the
form speeches, and critiques. The language of social studies encompasses terms specific to the
area of instruction. For example, when studying the revolutionary period in the Philippines, terms
such as martial law and dictatorship must be understood before conceptual meaning of the
period is obtained. As a result, the language of social studies includes names, locations, and
terms for political conditions that cannot be expected to be in the students’ vocabularies.

Social Studies Reading Skills

Understanding the organization of content
Reading for main ideas
Careful reading to retain facts
Understanding a great range of vocabulary in government, politics, economics, law and
sociology
Discriminating between fact and opinion
Understanding abstract terms such as democracy, civilization, constitution and so on
Dealing with many references about one topic
Making comparisons
Reading maps and globes

What are the criteria for evaluating performance in history?

Excellent students in history are able to read facts and interpret them. They must be able
to take information and predict future outcomes from what they have read. Reports are
evaluated for accuracy in historical facts and logical organization.

What strategies can be employed to teach reading in social studies?

 1. Construct a reading center in the classroom where supplementary materials are kept that
relate to the period being studied.
2. Relate the past to the present by having students read daily newspapers, magazines,
maps, timelines, and graphs.
3. Have students write out their interpretations of historical events and dramatize them.
4. Teach students to predict and interpret by doing in-depth projects like examining historical
buildings in different towns.
5. Increase student awareness by discussing the interpretations of historical facts made on
TV documentaries and by inviting speakers to present their interpretations on subjects
studied in class.

Reading in Art
Art has a special language, much of which is ambiguous. In art, students can formulate
their own problems that interpret their emotions. They develop a degree of literacy in a medium
different from the written language to communicate their feelings. Art evaluators pay attention to
subtleties, whereas students must always think in terms of editing their work. For both the
teacher and the student, art evokes different realms of thinking.

Art Reading Skills

Comprehending technical terms and language
Following directions
Reading about the lives of artists
Reading the history of art
Comprehending art criticism, technical approaches, and so on

What are the criteria for evaluating performance in art?

1. Composition and overall design. How well does the composition work? Is the design
effective?
2. Technical abilities. Has the artist used his of her control of the medium to the best of his
or her abilities? How much improvement has been made?
3. Presentation. Has the work been addressed in the most enhancing way? Is the work
sloppy? Does it appear that the student does not care about the subject or is lost?
4. Expression. Has the artist clearly shown his or her expression? Is the meaning of the
work clear?

What strategies can be employed to teach reading in art?

1. Allow students to make a visual narrative into the form of a comic book. This may help
students in their attempts to communicate and encourage them to read other sources of
literature, as well as help them learn visual expression (Hoff, 1982).
2. Encourage students to study artists in history as well as contemporary artists. By reading
about artists and showing their works, the students gain knowledge about different ways
of expressing themselves and different reasons the artists in history had for expressing
themselves. It will teach those good ideas and open-mindedness (Costanzo, 1981).
3. Incorporate reading into classroom by doing exercises in imaginative visualization.
Reading literature filled with imagery to the class, and encourage the students to find
literature to increase their reading ability and imagination (Hubbard, 1989).
4. Many students are intimidated by the thought of expressing themselves visually. They are
afraid to try to draw because they lack the experience. A helpful strategy for a beginning
student is to use handwriting as a tool for expression (Hess, 1981).

Reading in Music
Music, like mathematics, requires the reading of a new set of symbols and technical terms
related to speed, intensity and duration of music. Reading music also involves thinking about
interpretation and the ability to hear sounds-both literal and imagined. The instrument studied
also influences the difficulty of reading music. In essence, music introduces a new language, a
new sequence of punctuation and syntax, and symbols of dynamics. Although a few musicians
cannot read music, almost all are able to read the language and meaning of scores. Reading
music is making sense of aural sentences written in treble and bass clef and jazz chants.

Music Reading Skills

Reading words or songs correctly
Knowing meaning of musical terms
Reading biographies of composers and great musicians
Reading stories of operas
Comprehending critical evaluations of concerts
Comprehending descriptive articles about music
Following directions in musical textbooks

What strategies can be employed to teach reading in music?

1. Writing new lyrics to existing music is a motivating strategy to encourage the beginning
student to be a “composer.” Study of rhyming patterns, narrative style, and matching
desired text to expressive music gives the student a background for understanding the
parts of a composition. Prewriting, writing and rewriting techniques are employed as
students work to make their lyrics fit the chosen melody.
2. Studying the biographies of composers is a current strategy. This strategy has limitless
possibilities for students to do research, read and write original compositions, and make
time lines about a composer’s life.

Reading in English
Obtaining reading in English requires reading for detail and subtlety. The details in a piece
of literature enable students to interpret motive, characterization and reasoning. Analyzing
details provides the basis for comprehending and interpreting the main idea or theme of a
piece of literature. The themes of most works are meant to be personally instructional to the
readers. Themes are guideposts to help others analyze, interpret, and appreciate their own
experiences. Thinking in English begins with details of reading or analyzing a sentence and
then moves to more global personal meaning.
English teachers consider themselves artists with words, and their objective is frequently
to teach students how to express their emotions and thoughts through words. As a result,
student papers are marked with questions about clarity, awkwardness, and redundancy.
Every student learns to analyze the logic of language by identifying grammatical parts of
speech used in his or her writing as well as the writing of other authors. Although most
students can recite specific terminology like verb, noun, adjective and adverb, they often are
unable to apply that knowledge to their own writing or identify parts of speech on a test.

English Reading Skills

Vocabulary
Learning terms unique to English (e.g., apostrophe, adjective)
Learning English (literary or grammatical) meanings for common words (e.g., romantic,
subject, feel, act)
Learning word connotations and understanding figurative language and allusions (e.g.,
lemon, two peas in a pod, Narcissus, Pygmalion)
Understanding words change in meaning and pronunciation (e.g., edelweiss, croissant)
Understanding how new words are coined or how they enter our language (e.g., snafu,
morpheme)

Comprehension
Selecting significant details
Classifying convergently
Formulating main ideas
Following directions
Recognizing sequence
Inferring time, place, mood, motive of characters
Making comparisons
Responding to imagery
Recognizing semantic and literary devices
Distinguishing between fact and opinion
Detecting fallacies of reasoning

What are the criteria for evaluating performance in English/literature?

1. Participation
2. Creativity
3. Originality
4. Critical Thinking
5. Open-mindedness
6. Acceptance and application of constructive criticism
 7. Organized thinking

What strategies can be employed to teach reading in English/literature?

1. Analyze sentence structures by writing out reasons for various syntactical categories
within sentences rather than using diagrams.
2. Analyze the style and techniques of authors’ works, as opposed to reading literature for
face value of the plot.
3. Search for reasons behind the style and techniques used in the works. For example, are
the styles and techniques a result of reacting to the immediate environment or are they a
reaction to a previously accepted style or technique?
4. Convey meaning in English/literature by utilizing peer grouping and tutoring.
5. Teach vocabulary through word origins, phonology, and word evolution.
6. Relate reading material to the students’ prior experiences and current environments.
7. Require students to use higher-order thinking skills through questions that require skills
such as evaluation, synthesis, and analysis.
8. Avoid prejudice in thinking.

Reading in Mathematics

The most obvious difficulty in reading mathematics is learning the language of math
symbols and terms. Parabola is a math term, + is a math symbol. Plus can be read as plus, sum,
or add to name a few different vocabulary words that mean “to put together.” Equations can be
considered sentences in math that students must learn to read. Furthermore, mathematicians
then take math word problems and add meanings to common words. For example and in a math
word problem usually means add. When the word problem is written, sometimes necessary
information is not included. Students must then solve the word problem but they are actually
solving for two unknowns when information is deleted from the problem. Word problems require
students to read on both the literal and interpretative levels, which is often not a part of content
instruction in math classes.
As students take geometry and calculus classes, the math language gets more
specialized and technical. The language of math contains both visual and written symbols
organized into visual and written sentences. When word problems are read from a mathematical
perspective, common words frequently have meanings.

Mathematics Reading Skills

Engaging in slow, detailed reading
Reading nonverbal types of material (e.g., alphabetical symbols, formulas, equations, graphs,
etc.)
Reading without the aid of running content
Understanding technical vocabulary
Comprehending financial pages in newspapers
Understanding statistical reports
Following directions on tax blanks

What are the criteria for evaluating performance in mathematics?

1. Deriving the correct answer is one of the most important criteria; however, it is not
considered the most important criterion.
2. The use of the proper method, or procedure, in solving a problem is considered to be of
almost the same importance as the correct answer.
3. Neatness in the presentation of homework or projects is also important.
4. Completeness of assignments and showing the work are important criteria.
5. The teacher should be correct in all aspects of the grading process. Mistakes will happen,
but incorrectly grading work as a standard practice is not acceptable.

What strategies can be employed to teach reading in math?

1. Use the chalkboard and the overhead projector in classroom presentations to help
students in their reading. Discussion of math symbols and technical terms will occur
simultaneously with the visual representation.
2. Introduce mental exercises into the classroom. Students will begin at the first semester
with relatively easy problems to solve without the benefit of paper and pencil, and
progress to more complex problems. Teaching mental dexterity is of enormous benefit to
anyone who is having trouble retaining information.
3. Daily homework assignments to familiarize the students with formulas and equations,
which would reduce the necessity of memorizing countless formulas, will help students
 who are having trouble understanding the problems. The homework does not have to be
time consuming; it should just be sufficient to allow students to go over what has been
learned in class, which is in short-term memory.

Reading in Science
A high school chemistry and physics teacher encouraged her third year son to excel in
math and science. When asked why, she said, “If he can read and figure mathematics
effectively, he can teach himself any other subject in any field.” Science is perceived as a
difficult, elitist subject in which successful students are viewed as much greater thinkers than
those in “soft” subjects. Thinking of science as elitist has resulted in school counselors placing
only successful students in science (which reduces the numbers of students who can enjoy
science) and teachers avoiding science (because they feel incompetent to teach it adequately).
Aside from the values attached to science, the thinking processes needed to make
meaning from the field are varied. Background or factual knowledge must be obtained from
reading textbooks and scientific journals. This knowledge must be tested, explored, and
demonstrated in laboratories and experiments. The criteria for excellence in science does not
seem to come from one right answer but from growing process of applying procedures to
understand the known and the unknown. Science also has a language of its own in flowcharts,
textbooks, and laboratory books.
For example, try to make meaning from this science textbook statement:

Measures of laterality do not correlate perfectly with invasive measures of cerebral

asymmetry. For example, dichotic-listening studies show a right-ear bias for words in
about 80% of right-handed subjects, but sodium Amytal testing and brain stimulation
show language to be represented in the left hemisphere in over 95% of right-
handers.

The course is human physiology, and, like astronomy, biology, botany, chemistry,
physics, earth science, and geology, obtaining meaning is not necessarily a process of reading
the words.

Science Reading Skills

Understanding technical vocabulary
Reading symbols and formulas
Following directions
Reading books on scientific research, biographies of scientists, advances in field, and so on
Recognizing pseudoscientific claims in advertisements
Drawing conclusions

What are the criteria for evaluating performance in science?

In science, it doesn’t matter if it doesn’t work. What is important is whether the scientific
method of discovery is followed. Teachers need to be open-minded and allow their students to
learn through an inquiry-based approach. An important criterion for excellence as a science
teacher is to expect a lot and facilitate success. No one will continue at something where he or
she fails continually.

What strategies can be employed to teach reading in science?

1. Find a balance between exploration science and book science. Predictive reading and
webbing for comprehension are two strategies that will help keep that balance.
2. Reading in science means defining the problem, looking at the problem thoroughly, then
organizing a plan of attack for solving it. Explore all possibilities- wrong, right, and multiple
conclusions- so that comprehensive solutions can be reached. Do not be afraid to be
inventive and
creative. Do not be afraid to revise, update, or totally discard findings with advances in
knowledge and technology. Becoming an organized thinker will also improve thinking
skills, allowing students to proceed from the problem to the solution faster and more
completely.
3. Teach students to read for objectives.
4. Read current events for enthusiasm and relativity of science.
5. Look at lab reports to encourage the reading and synthesizing of information that has
been read and observed.
6. Teach students to be risk takers—to not be afraid to be wrong and to consider more than
one answer.

Reading in Kinesiology or Physical Education

Reading Skills in Kinesiology or Physical Education
Developing technical vocabulary
Locating information
Reading charts, diagrams, play books, and so on
Reading to remember details
Reading to follow directions
Reading for the central thought of the passage
Reading orally

What are the criteria for evaluating performance in PE?

PE should be graded by using what is known as the Body Component model of assessing
skill development. That is, each student is evaluated as he or she performs a specific skill (e.g.,
running). The skill itself is divided into its component parts, which are further broken down into
beginner stage, intermediate stage, and advanced stage. As the student performs the skill, the
teacher positions herself or himself appropriately in order to concentrate on each one of the
components mentioned above. After the performance test is completed, the teacher adds up the
scores from each component and looks the score up on a preassigned chart that determines
what percentile the student is in. Another 20 percent may be added if the child shows
exceptional effort, which allows come consideration for those who simply cannot perform the skill
correctly.

What strategies can be employed to teach reading in PE?

1. Technical vocabulary can be easily taught by playing games like basketball, football, and
baseball using word definitions. For example, in order to first base in Vocabulary
Baseball, the student must be able to give three definitions of foul, as used in football,
basketball, or baseball.
2. PE terms can be written down when watching professional games on TV. Class
discussion of the terms can follow the viewing of an assigned game.
3. Biographies of sports heroes can be assigned to students for reading. Development of
comprehension skills is easier when students are familiar with the sports figure.

Reading in Industrial Arts

Reading Skills in Industrial Arts
Reading explanations and instructions
Understanding safety rules in shops and factories
Comprehending instructions for the care of tools, equipment, and so on
Reading about current affairs, labor problems, industrial relations, seeing both sides of an issue,
and so on

Reading Skills in Homemaking

Reading bills and statement accurately
Interpreting charts and graphs
Following directions in recipes and clothes patterns
Understanding instructions for using mechanical appliances
Reading labels
Reading household pages in newspapers and magazines
Reading books on dietetics, fashion, and so on
Critical reading of advertising claims