Nonfiction Literacy Across the Curriculum
Kristine Woods, Media Specialist, M.A. Teasley Middle School, Canton, GA
The state of Georgia redefined what students should know and be able to do through the adoption of the Georgia Performance Standards (GPS) curriculum, changing from a Quality Core Curriculum (QCC). One of the changes teachers now implement is a reading across the curriculum standard. The English Language Arts standard states “the student reads a minimum of 25 grade-level appropriate books or book equivalents (approximately 1,000,000 words) per year from a variety of subject disciplines. The student reads both informational and fictional texts in a variety of genres and modes of discourse, including technical texts related to various subject areas” (Georgia Department of Education, 2006). The content areas’ standard includes elements of reading in all curriculum areas, discussing books, building vocabulary knowledge, and establishing context.
The media program exists to support the curriculum in the classrooms by providing resources and instructional collaboration “to design, develop, and implement programs that encourage reading for enjoyment and information” (AASL and AECT, 1998, p. 67). Students participate in a reading program developed by the media specialist to encourage reading books across the curriculum. Students read twenty-five books from ten categories of designated Dewey classifications, fiction, biography, and story collections. The emphasis of the program is to ensure students read from a variety of subject disciplines to explore life experiences, expand vocabulary, and increase reading comprehension. The program includes participation in the Georgia Children’s Book Award program. Content area reading is incorporated across the curriculum through reading assignments and accountability to ensure distribution of reading responsibility becomes an interdisciplinary goal. Investigation into the research literature, shows the program is a valid option to implement the reading across the curriculum standard.
Middle school students transition from learning to read to reading to learn. Middle schools in Georgia are not required to offer a separate reading course as students are expected to improve their reading skills through reading across the curriculum: reading in every class. According to the Georgia Department of Education,
After the elementary years, students are seriously engaged in reading for learning.
This process sweeps across all disciplinary domains, extending even to the area of
personal learning. Students encounter a variety of informational and fictional
texts, and they read texts in all genres and modes of discourse. In the study of
various disciplines of learning (language arts, mathematics, science, social studies),
students must learn, through reading, the communities of discourse of those disciplines.
Each subject has its own specific vocabulary; and for students to excel in
all subjects, they must learn the specific vocabulary of all subject areas in context.
In the middle grades, students self-select reading materials based on personal
interests established through classroom learning. Students become curious about
science, mathematics, history, and literature as they form contexts for those subjects
related to their personal and classroom experiences. As students explore academic
areas through reading, they develop favorite subjects and become confident
in their verbal discourse about those subjects (ELA7 p. 3, 2006).
Literature concerning the inclusion of nonfiction reading shows that middle school students benefit from nonfiction reading to provide exposure to vocabulary in context, enhance prior and background knowledge in a variety of disciplines, experience purposeful reading, improve self-esteem, encourage self-regulation, and make connections to their own lives.
Throughout the elementary years and into the middle grades’ years, the focus of literature study is on narrative forms. The emphasis, however, on adult reading is non-narrative, expository reading. According to Abrahamson and Carter (1991), “nonfiction often becomes the catalyst that turns teenagers into lifetime readers” (p. 54). Nonfiction reading positively influences attitudes, values, and behaviors of the adolescent reader by providing information about the complexities of life. Influence is strongest when reading choices are voluntary rather than assigned. (Culp and Sosa, 1993). “Readers tend to approach books in one of two ways: they either look at what they can carry away from the text, or they look at what they can experience through the text” (Abrahamson and Carter, p. 55, 1991). Students reading nonfiction carry away new vocabulary in context that will scaffold learning in the classroom. The 1992 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) demonstrated the need for increased experience with nonfiction materials. According to the NAEP, the “most likely relationship between diverse reading and reading comprehension is due to the increased exposure to new vocabulary and new ideas” (Dreher, p. 414, 1999).
By choosing what interests them, the students build on prior knowledge and expand background knowledge of multiple subjects. “If we expect to produce well-rounded, problem-solving adults, we have an obligation to help them integrate both their knowledge base and the major influences of their lives” (Hirth, p. 22, 2002). When information is interesting to a student, “the interest can engender more purposeful reading and writing – literacy for real purposes” (Caswell and Duke, p. 115, 1998). A motivated reader persists in setting and meeting goals, improves self-efficacy, and increases fluency with increased volume of reading. Meeting success through reaching reading goals and building knowledge increases the self-esteem of the student (Caswell and Duke, 1998). When the student internalizes his/her beliefs about his/her self-efficacy, the value of reading nonfiction and “the motivational orientation will influence…the level of self-regulation” (Horner and Shwery, p. 108, 2002). “Children who are self-regulated readers set goals that are short-term, specific, and attainable; select, use, and monitor their reading strategies effectively; and self-evaluate progress toward their goals” (Horner and Shwery, p. 108, 2002). A nonfiction literacy program can open a myriad of skills instruction for the students. Students benefit from the increased reading fluency, vocabulary development, connections to content areas, and background knowledge. By tracking their reading, students become conversant on the Dewey Decimal system, call numbers, self-knowledge of their reading zone, library catalog search skills, book catalog record use, and self-efficacy of reading development. Every student benefits from incorporating nonfiction into the reading repertoire.
References
Abrahamson, Richard F. and Carter, Betty. (1991, Jan.). Nonfiction: the missing piece in the middle. The English Journal, 80(1), 52-58. Retrieved February 3, 2008, from JSTOR database.
American Association of School Librarians, Association for Educational Communications and Technology. (1998). Information power: Building partnerships for learning. Chicago: American Library Association.
Caswell, Linda, J. and Duke, Nell K. (1998, February). Non-narrative as a catalyst for literacy development. Language Arts, 75(2), 108-117. Retrieved January 13, 2008, from Proquest Library database.
Culp, Mary Beth, and Sosa, Jamee Osborn. (1993, Dec.). The influence of nonfiction on attitudes, values, and behavior. The English Journal, 82(8), 60-64. Retrieved February 3, 2008, from JSTOR database.
Dreher, Mariam Jean. (1999, January). Motivating children to read more nonfiction. The Reading Teacher, 52(4), 414-415. Retrieved January 29, 2008, from Academic search Complete database.
Georgia Department of Education. (2006). Georgia Performance Standards. Atlanta, GA. Retrieved February 3, 2008, from Georgia Department of Education Web site: http://public.doe.k12.ga.us/.
Hirth, Paul. (2002, March). From the secondary section: What’s the truth about nonfiction? The English Journal, 91(4), 20-22. Retrieved February 3, 2008, from JSTOR database.
Horner, Sherri L. and Shwery, Craig S. (2002, Spring). Becoming an engaged, self-regulated reader. Theory into Practice, 41(2), 102-109. Retrieved February 3, 2008, from JSTOR database.