As extensive as the Strategic Content Area Teaching Project (S.C.A.T.P.) has been, I have gained a new understanding of what incorporating literacy in content area classrooms requires. First, my choice to explore a new content area, History, immediately exposed me to a new set of norms within the History content area context. Secondly, throughout the project, I was continually stretched to use all of my knowledge of literacy and apply that to my students.
Comparing my previous self-assessments, I have become more comfortable and meta-cognitive of my own knowledge regarding literacy in all content areas. For instance, I am considerably more comfortable with readability formulae. I had previous exposure in my undergraduate work, however, brief and over-simplified. Using the readability formulas for the first part of the project made me realize the strengths and limitations of each formula. As such, I will be critical of publications and other’s reviews of books based on how many and which formulas were used to assess a text. In addition, my knowledge of content area instructional strategies has grown extensively. The Billmeyer and Barton (1998) text has aided me tremendously in offering content specific activities and strategies that improve students’ literacy skills. Not only did that book help me, but all of the Strategy cards I completed. My timing was not perfect, but I still gained knowledge in each strategy I chose. The most pertinent part of each Strategy card was the “How it looks” section. By creating a worksheet and model, I solidified my understanding of the strategy.
My gains in knowledge include specific reading and writing to learn activities, which are beneficial and easy to implement. I also have more background knowledge about expository text features. Throughout the program at Nazareth College, I have been specifically interested in the expository text strategies, as I deem them imperative for students’ future success in the world. Until this class, I have not had the content in my classes to fulfill this learning goal of mine. I finally feel I am knowledgable about specific expository text features and helpful strategies that I am comfortable with using with students.
My instructional abilities have also improved. The reciprocal teaching project helped me direct a discussion effectively. I know directing discussions is one of the most challenging aspects to good teaching and I am glad I practiced with other professionals before actual students. Reciprocal teaching offers a semi-structured outline for discussion and I will likely use it in the future.
All activities contributed to my growth as a content area literacy instructor. In particular, I gained a great deal of new knowledge from my peers’ reciprocal teaching articles and discussions. Melissa’s article Teaching expository text structures through information trade book retellings (2004) really helped me. The article itself was very informational and focused. As I stated previously, I was thirsting for knowledge of expository text features, so I was very excited when I read this article. I also learned about trade books, which was something I had heard about but did not really know what they were. I will certainly revisit this article in the future.
As I previously stated, the reciprocal teaching assignment had a significant affect on me, from my peers’ articles and my own discussion directing. Another assignment that greatly helped me was the strategy cards in Part III of the S.C.A.T. project. In particular, my strategy card three, zooming in and zooming out and strategy card seven, creative debate. Both of these strategy cards impacted me because they allowed me to fully participate in the strategy before implementing it with students. For strategy three, I had been exposed briefly to the zooming in and zooming out strategy but never had the chance to create the worksheet myself. By fully participating in the entire strategy, I truly know the cognitive load the strategy requires and therefore can adjust scaffolding appropriately for students. Strategy card seven allowed me to experience a completely new way of discussion--creative debate. I had never heard of this discussion strategy before reading it in Billmeyer and Barton (1998) and never participated in a creative debate in any of my classes. I had fun creating the different roles and the worksheet for my students. In addition, after participating in a creative debate our class, I truly realize the benefits it can have. By discussing a topic from a specific perspective, you immerse yourself in the topic and therefore understand the different perspectives. I will certainly use these strategies in my classroom in the future.
Looking back at the Self-Assessment, I feel I have made gains in each of the points listed. Some of my biggest gains were in learning content area strategies, understanding vocabulary acquisition, and using writing as a tool for learning. I still would like to work more with digital and multimedia technologies to be comfortable with creating blogs or podcasts in my classes. I will continually work toward creating favorable learning environments for students and adding to my knowledge in the other areas I listed. At this time, I do not have any looming questions, I just need to increase my knowledge in the areas outlined on the Self-Assessment sheet.
Works Cited
Billmeyer, R. & Barton, M.L. (1998). Teaching reading in the content areas: If not me, then who? (2nd ed.). Aurora, CO: Mid-continent Regional Educational Laboratory.
Moss, B. (2004). Teaching expository text structures through information trade books. The Reading Teacher, 57(8), 710-718.
