At the beginning of the semester, I was unsure of how literacy could be applied and taught across all content areas. I struggled to see how we would apply literacy to non-content literacy classrooms, specifically math. However, throughout this semester, I have learned the importance of how literacy must be applied in all content areas. As I reflect on this course, I can identify various tools, strategies, and lessons that I was able to learn from and hope to apply to my own classroom one day.
First, I think a key takeaway was through book club. I thoroughly enjoyed this assignment, as I explored the book, Prisoner B-3087, outside of my content area. Through book club, I was able to learn about roles within a group and see how they can be applied in the classroom. Our course book, Subject Matters, provided guidelines for assigning specific roles, ensuring that all group members are involved. Often times, book clubs or group activities can be found with one person doing all the work and others sitting back letting one person lead. Therefore, the designated roles was extremely beneficial. I found these roles to be helpful, as they guided our group discussions. While this was specifically done in book club, I can see how defining roles for group worthy activities can benefit the group norms and participation. Also, I noticed how book club could be used in all content areas, even math. But, that is not to say that creating book club will not present a challenge for a math classroom. However, I am able to see the benefit of allowing students to step away from the typical norms of a mathematics classroom, while viewing mathematics with a literacy mindset.
Additionally, I enjoyed the reading strategies we learned and applied throughout various assignments this semester. Through text sets, in class readings, lesson plans, and journal articles I was able to see how beneficial and practical these strategies are for a reader. Personally, I found myself more engaged and attentive with the reading. I think these strategies are excellent tools for students to use across all content areas. These strategies from chapter 2 of Subject Matters included setting purpose, using prior knowledge, asking questions, evaluation, and discussion; to name a few. For example, I was able to apply these strategies to text sets for math and science, while also using the strategies for the group lesson plan where my group was able to annotate a mathematics text. I now can see how reading strategies before, during, and after reading can guide and benefit students. It allows students to understand their goals and purpose while reading to keep their focus on what they are reading and its application. Chapter 6, How to Use a Textbook in Subject Matters, reminded me of the importance of being mindful of what texts we are assigning to students. Textbooks and other texts are great resources to help students learn; however, teachers must be mindful of what matters and the levels of importance. Therefore, when students read selective textbooks and other texts, they are able to pay more attention using the reading strategies to help them learn and better understand the material. As a future educator, I plan to use these strategies in my classroom, as students will have a better awareness and understanding for what they are reading, the goals and purpose in reading it, and how to apply what they read to what we are learning.
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