My Profile as a Disciplinary Reader
By Brianna Ingram
Disciplinary Literacy: Defined
Shanahan and Shanahan (2008) created a model where literacy instruction progresses through three phases. Basic literacy builds the foundation for reading and writing, where students learn to decode and recognized high-frequency words. Intermediate literacy focuses on improvement of fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension. Finally, disciplinary literacy, which is the most neglected, is the learning of skills specialized to specific content areas.
My Profile as a Disciplinary Reader
My Reader Profile
- WHAT: I love to read fiction novels, magazines, and news/entertainment articles on websites like Buzzfeed. I do a lot of reading related to my education and field of study. This includes textbooks, scholarly articles, and even blogs written by other teachers. I also read a good deal of articles and blogs related to health and fitness.
- WHERE & WHEN: I do most of my reading from my bed, usually before I go to sleep or when I first wake up. I also read throughout the day for class and homework. I rarely have time to read books for pleasure during the school year, but I try to save them for summer or breaks.
- HOW: I read articles and blogs on my phone or iPad. I absolutely cannot read scholarly articles or text for class on a digital device. I am someone who has to print everything out and highlight EVERYTHING. I'm a fast reader, but sometimes catch myself drifting off, so i have to go back and re-read.
- WHY: I read for entertainment, to keep up with the world, and to unwind after a long day. Majority of my reading is for school work. I also read to keep up with new ideas and information that relate to my teaching career.
Future Teacher
As a teacher, I will model for my students what it looks likes when an expert reads, writes, and thinks in each discipline. Modeling in a way where the teacher thinks out loud allows students to observe the unobservable process of thinking. I will also scaffold students by providing strategies to help them make sense of disciplinary texts. As Buehl (2011) states, "Students are given reading and writing assignments, not reading and writing instruction." Because of my experiences in school, I will be sure to instruct students how to read and write, by modeling and scaffolding them along the way.
Sources
Buehl, Doug (2011). Mentoring students in disciplinary literacy. Developing readers in the academic disciplines (chapter 1).
Shanahan, T. & Shanahan C. (2008). Teaching disciplinary literacy to adolecents: Rethinking content area literacy. Harvard Education Review, 78(1), 40-58.
About Me
Email: ingrambr12@students.ecu.edu
Location: East Carolina University, East 5th Street, Greenville, NC, United States