Essay On Content Area Literacy

Content area literacy can positively impact students through strengthening vocabulary development, improving their language arts skills, and fostering a better retention of knowledge. Teaching reading strategies to use in the content area can help students retain the knowledge you impart to them – making them smarter, problem solvers, and critical thinkers (Greenwood, 2010).Secondary teachers are willing to teach content area literacy if they can be shown that it will positively impact their student achievement. (Ming, 2012) In many cases, the teachers are hesitant to teach content area literacy because of a feeling of inadequacy. Teachers need to be shown that they too can teach literacy in their subject areas.
Content area literacy can be taught using a variety of strategies, and technological tools. For a student to understand what they are reading, they must be given time to develop their vocabulary. Content area teachers can help their students become more literate by using vocabulary strategies, but overloading a teacher’s already stretched time with many strategies is ineffective. “It is best to learn a few strategies well and to be patient.”(Greenwood, 2010), Strategies that allow student groups to choose …show more content…
Two ways to teach content area literacy with technology are through virtual field trips, and software use on projects (Jacobs, 2002). Virtual field trips allow the student to explore a new place or topic. Virtual field trips can be assessed with a variety of projects that activate a student’s problem solving skills. Use of new software helps a student become more tech-literate in our increasingly hi-tech world. Time can be spent teaching a new software skill before a unit that includes practice activities for the student. The new software can then be integrated into an assignment that assesses the knowledge gained throughout a unit is fun for the student and can make interesting oral