Kristine E.

Pytash and Lisa Ciecierski

page

14

Teaching from a Disciplinary

Literacy Stance

This is my first year teaching writing. I must say that I am not enjoying the experience. I don't feel that 1 was
given proper training or instruction. I am concerned that I am not giving my students the best learning environ
ment that they should have. It seems like I am falling short. I am eagerfor some help and encouragement.
Brenda, fifth-grade social studies teacher (2013)

earing Brendas statement

was not new to either of us.

As educators and researchers

who work with content area teachers,
we often hear similar sentiments. In fact,
statements like Brendas can be found
throughout the literature surrounding
content area literacy and disciplinary lit
eracy (Fisher & Ivey, 2005).
The conversation surrounding the argument
that reading and writing should be taught across
the curriculum has been taking place since the
early 1900s. William S. Gray, an educator and
researcher who influenced the world of reading
during that era, helped popularize the content
area reading instruction slogan, Every teacher a
teacher of reading (as cited in Moore, Readence,
& Rickelman, 1983, p. 424). Later, Austin &
Coleman (1961) recommended all teachers take
a course in reading instruction. Over the decades,
content area literacy instruction has explored the
literacy skills, practices, and strategies necessary
for students to be successful readers and writers
across all subject areas. However, educators have
noted the tensions, issues, and conflicts that ex
ist when content area teachers are encouraged to
teach reading and writing (Fisher & Ivey, 2005).
As school districts are implementing the

Common Core State Standards (National Gov

ernors Association Center for Best Practices &
Council of Chief State School Officers, 2010),
more teachers are discussing disciplinary literacy
and the implications for the middle school class
room. While the issues, tensions, and conflicts
with content area literacy are well documented,
content area teachers may be unsure about what
disciplinary literacy is and what it means for their
instructional practices. Like Brenda, these teach
ers might now be required to teach reading and
writing without feeling confident about doing so,
understandably unsure about the role of literacy
in their classroom. W ith that in mind, we wrote
this article with two goals. First, we begin to ex
plore and provide insight into the term disciplin
ary literacy. Second, we provide specific examples
of teaching from a disciplinary literacy stance.
While we acknowledge this is a significant un
dertaking, we hope this article can begin to pro
vide middle school teachers with both theoretical
and pedagogical understandings of disciplinary
literacy.

What Is Disciplinary Literacy?

It is important for middle school teachers to know
that disciplinary literacy is not simply a change in
terminology; it constitutes a conceptual shift in
how educators approach literacy instruction in
content area classrooms. Content area literacy is

Voicesfrom the Middle, Volume 22 Number 3, March 2015

Pytash and Ciecierski I Teaching from a Disciplinary Literacy Stance

page

often focused on strategies that are not specific

to a particular discipline, but rather on general
strategies that are applicable to all subject areas.
While such strategies to support reading com
prehension and writing are important, they are
not the focus of disciplinary literacy. Instead,
disciplinaty literacy is a nuanced examination of the
literacy practices valued by the discipline. From this
stance, middle school students should be en
gaged in the literacy practices situated within the
disciplines. This requires teachers to restructure
how they think about literacy in the disciplines.
Teachers instructional goals and practices must
shift from a sole focus on reading and writing
strategies for better comprehension and learning
to a more in-depth examination into the nature
of the discipline and the function of literacy with
in the discipline.
Moje (2008) outlined three major compo
nents of disciplinary literacy: 1) discourses and
practices in the discipline and in literacy, 2) iden
tities and identification in the discipline and in
literacy, and 3) knowledge of the discipline and
literacy within the discipline. There are two im
portant points within Mojes (2008) first compo
nent. First, from a disciplinary literacy stance,
students should not only investigate the practices
valued by the discipline, but also examine why
these particular practices are valued. Second,
students should explore the way experts use lan
guage. Shanahan and Shanahan (2008) explored
this point during a study of experts reading
processes. They found historians viewed texts
as interpretations and were aware of bias, while
chemists read texts presuming results could be
reproduced. Understanding the practices and
the language supporting those practices allows
middle school students to gain insight into how
knowledge is produced and disseminated.
Mojes (2008) second component builds off
the first by supporting the idea that when middle
school students examine and engage in the prac
tices and discourses of disciplinary experts, they
have opportunities to enact the identity of ex
perts. Finally, middle school students must have
specific domain knowledge. Content knowledge

is imperative if students are to truly understand

the practices, language, and ways of a discipline.
In the following section, we highlight ways
teachers can introduce practices valued in dis
ciplines, help students examine how experts use
language, provide opportunities to enact the
identity of experts, and build students content
knowledge.

^^

Instructional Practices
It is critical to note that students should be par
ticipating in the practices of the discipline, such
as conducting experi
ments or interpreting W hen students read and w rite
historical documents, authentic texts used in the
rather than solely read
ing about these prac field, they engage in th e ac
tices; however, reading tual practices and discourses
and writing are neces
sary for knowledge and o f th e discipline.
discourse acquisition,
and they serve as scaffolds and models for deeper
conversations about how and why knowledge is
produced and disseminated.
Based on our work with middle school stu
dents and content area preservice and inservice
teachers, we suggest that when teaching from
a disciplinary literacy stance, educators need to
move past the textbook to incorporate authentic
texts, such as feature articles, picturebooks, blogs,
websites, and opinion editorials. When students
read and write authentic texts used in the field,
they engage in the actual practices and discourses
of the discipline. To support these suggestions,
we present examples from our work with middle
school science students as well as preservice and
inservice teachers.

R ead in g as an In q u iry in to th e V alued

Practices o f th e D iscipline
Mojes (2008) first component recognizes the im
portance of engaging in the practices of the disci
pline. For example, scientists engage in inquiry.
Scientific inquiry refers to how scientists study
the natural worldthrough planning, hypoth
esizing, observing, researching, experimenting,

Voicesfrom the Middle, Volume 22 Number 3, March 2015

Pytash and Ciecierski I Teaching from a Disciplinary Literacy Stance

page

collecting specimens, and collaborating with oth

ers. Because scientific inquiry is a critical prac
tice, we encourage teachers to rely on authentic
literature as a guide and model. This can serve as
a scaffold before students engage in specific prac
tices of the discipline.
There are many sources that may be consid
ered for use in the classroom to convey the prac
tices and the thinking of actual people in specific
disciplines (see Fig. 1). A teacher may consider
using Look Up! (Burleigh, 2013) when teaching
the thinking and processes common in scientific
inquiry. This text focuses on Henrietta Leavitt
and tells the story of her scientifically inquisi
tive mind. During a long science experiment, a
teacher might read about how Henrietta peered
through a magnifying glass to measure tiny star
dots on photographs of the previous nights sky.
On the photographs, the stars resembled little
bits of dust (p. 19). Her inquiry led to her ask
ing questions such as, W hat could these little
dots tell her? W hat were they saying? (p. 19).
The science teacher could engage students in us
ing this method of inquiry to pose new questions
about their own investigations and to move their
inquiries forward, while also creating new goals
for their work. Students might also look through
Berne, J. (2008). Manfish: A story o f Jacques Cousteau. San Francisco, CA:
Chronicle Books.
Burleigh, R. (2013). Look up!: Henrietta Leavitt, pioneering woman as
tronomer. New York, NY: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers.

Davies, J. (2004). The boy who drew birds: A story o f John James Audu
bon. Arlington, VA: HMH Books for Young Readers.

Dendy, L., & Boring, M. (2005). Guinea p ig scientists. New York, NY: Henry
Holt.
Engle, M. (2010). Summer birds: The butte rflies o f Maria Merian. New York,
NY: Henry Holt.
Hopkins, H. J. (2013). The tree lady. New York, NY: Beach Lane Books.
Hopkinson, D. (2010). The humblebee hunter: Inspired by the life & ex
perim ents o f Charles Darwin and his children. New York, NY: Disney.

McDonnell, P. (2011). Me . . . Jane. New York, NY: Little, Brown Books for
Young Readers.
Pennypacker, S. (2009). Sparrow girl. New York, NY: Disney.
Winter, J. (2011). The watcher: Jane Goodall's life w ith the chimps. New
York, NY: Schwarts & Wade.

Figure 1. Authentic literature for the science classroom

their science notebooks to find specific instanc

es where they could pose scientific questions.
Meanwhile, the teacher could continue reading
about how Henrietta persisted in studying the
photographs: She measured. She took notes.
She looked. And looked. And looked. Slowly,
she began to see tiny differences between the star
dots (p. 26). At this point, it might be produc
tive to invite students to revisit their observation
notes as well as the phenomenon being studied
to determine if their original conclusions warrant
further investigation and/or revision.
By engaging with this text as well as other
scientific texts, such as those found in Figure 1,
students may learn the importance of detailed,
organized, and inquisitive notes and questioning
strategies when participating in scientific inqui
ry. They might also recognize that they are not
merely writing to complete lab exercises; they are
engaging in these practices because that is what
actual scientists do.

Writing to Learn Genres and Discourse

One instructional approach for developing stu
dents as writers is to study mentor textshighquality texts that exemplify the type of writing
that students should do in a disciplinary class
room. Studying mentor texts as a guide for writ
ing allows teachers to incorporate Mojes (2008)
components into instruction by having students
study writing closely for both subject matter
acquisition and for the learning of language,
discourse, and writing practices valued by the
discipline.
Writing is an important tool for scientific
inquiry because it is a primary means of com
munication within the science community (Yore
& Treagust, 2006). Science educators argue that
middle school students should write in diverse
genres, including feature articles, news articles,
film writing, and blogs (McDermott, 2010).
Teachers should collect high-quality texts that
exemplify the features of writing they want stu
dents to recognize. Then a teacher can help stu
dents deconstruct the text, examining both the
structure of the piece and the discourse (Ray,

Voicesfrom the Middle, Volume 22 Number 3, March 2015

Pytash and Ciecierski I Peaching from a Disciplinary Literacy Stance

page

2006). It is important that teachers focus stu

dents attention on how the piece is written. We
suggest following Grant, Lapp, Fisher, Johnson,
& Freys (2012) framework as a guide for how
teachers can introduce a task such as studying sci
entific writing.
In a physical science classroom, students
could learn how to write feature articles by study
ing a piece such as Ice Lab: Engineers Test How
Well Jet Engines Withstand Super-Cold Tempera
tures (Ice Lab, 2014). This article describes how
engineers tested jet engines by blasting them
with cold air and water to simulate a jet flying
into a cloud, thus allowing scientists to determine
how a jet engine could withstand the freezing
temperatures. The teacher can begin by having
students note the length of the piece and explore
the three main sections of text. For instance, a
student might notice that the opening paragraph
identifies a potential problem: winter tempera
tures can impact how a plane flies. The rest of the
section provides background information about
the engineering team working to solve the prob
lem. The teacher and students would continue to
read the entire article while deconstructing the
text to examine how the author writes about the
problem and the experiment.
After discussing the structure, the teacher
and students should spend time talking about
how discourse and academic language are used
in the piece. They might discuss how the experi-

17
ment description provides specific details, such as
the speed of the air down the tunnels (113 kilo
meters). Then academic language would be ex
amined, noting, for example, the particular ways
thrust and atmosphere are used in the article.
After studying similar mentor texts, teach
ers and students could discuss the features they
notice across all the texts, essentially building a
guide for students to
use when writing an Our goal is to invite educators
original feature ar to consider disciplinary lit
ticle based on a sci
ence experiment they eracy as more than a change
conducted. Mentor in terminology, while also
texts serve not only
as guides for students providing alternatives and
as writers, they also ideas of how to encompass it
function as catalysts
for
conversations, into everyday instruction.
spurring
questions
such as: W hat genres are valued in science and
why? How is knowledge produced and dissemi
nated? W hat is the purpose for writing in sci
ence?

Conclusion
In this article, we suggest that disciplinary liter
acy is more than a simple change in terminology
from content area literacy. It constitutes a shift
that should shape instruction in middle school
classrooms where students are engaged in literacy

CONNECTIONS FROM READWRITETHINK

Teaching from a Disciplinary Literacy Stance
This lesson plan from ReadWriteThink.org incorporates history and inform ational texts. After reading Sally Walker's
nonfiction book Blizzard o f Glass: The Halifax Explosion o f 1918 or other nonfiction books th a t illu stra te a human-made
disaster, students examine how other great mistakes in history affected mankind and caused change in the world. For
example, they can discover th a t the massacre at the 1972 Munich Olympics led to increased security at a ll subsequent
games. They can learn th a t the sinking of the Titanic led to safety policy changes so th a t all ships needed enough
lifeboats to carry a ll passengers in case o f an emergency. While listening to each other's presentations created using
technology, students take notes to compare and contrast th e ir disasters using the Compare and Contrast Chart p rintou t.
Then students pair up to create Venn diagrams to illu stra te th e ir notes.
h ttp ://b it.ly /lB rm g b f

Voices from the Middle, Volume 22 Number 3, March 2015

Pytash and Ciecierski I Teaching from a Disciplinary Literacy Stance

page

18

practices situated within the specific disciplines.

To guide teachers in teaching with a disciplinary
lens, we have presented two suggestions for in
struction. First, we model how scientific inquiry
can be taught with authentic literature; second,
we investigate how genre and discourses can be
taught through mentor texts. Our goal is to in
vite educators to consider disciplinary literacy as
more than a change in terminology, while also
providing alternatives and ideas of how to en
compass it into everyday instruction.

References
Austin, M., & Coleman, M. (1961). The torch lighters:
Tomorrows teachers of reading. Cambridge, MA:
Harvard University Press.
Burleigh, R. (2013). Look tip!: Henrietta Leavitt, pio
neering woman astronomer. New York, NY: Simon
& Schuster.
Fisher, D., & Ivey, G. (2005). Literacy and language as
learning in content-area classes: A departure from
Every teacher a teacher of reading. Action in
Teacher Education, 27(2), 3-10.
Grant, M., Lapp, D., Fisher, D., Johnson, K., & Frey,
N. (2012). Purposeful instruction: Mixing up the
I, we, and you. Journal of Adolescent and
A dult Literacy, 56, 45-55.
Ice lab: Engineers test how well jet engines withstand
super-cold temperatures. (2014). Retrieved from
http://brow ndigital .bpc .com /publication/

?i=193595&ver=html5&p=14#(page :14,
issueJ d : 193595).
McDermott, M. (2010). Using multimodal writing
tasks in science classrooms. The Science Teacher,
77(1), 32-36.
Moje, E. B. (2008). Foregrounding the disciplines in
secondary literacy teaching and learning: A call for
change. Journal of Adolescent & A dult Literacy, 52,
96-107.
Moore, D., Readence, J., & Rickelman, R. (1983).
An historical exploration of content area read
ing instruction. Reading Research Quarterly, 18,
419^38.
National Governors Association Center for Best Prac
tices & Council of Chief State School Officers.
(2010). Common core state standards for English
language arts and literacy in history/social studies,
science, and technical subjects. Washington, DC:
Author. Retrieved from http://www.core
standards.org/ela-literacy.
Ray, IC. (2006). Study driven: A framework for planning
units of study in the writing workshop. Portsmouth,
NH: Heinemann.
Shanahan, T., & Shanahan, C. (2008). Teaching disci
plinary literacy to adolescents: Rethinking contentarea literaqt Harvard Educational Review, 78,
40-59.
Yore, L., & Treagust, D. (2006). Current realities and
future possibilities: Language and science literacy
empowering research and informing instruction.
International Journal of Science Education, 28,
291-314.

Kristine E. Pytash, NCTE member since 2004, is an assistant professor in literacy education at
Kent State University and can be reached at kpytash@kent.edu. Lisa Cieciersld, NCTE member
since 2012, is an instructor of education at Edinboro University of Pennsylvania and can be reached
at lcieciersld@edinboro.edu or lciecier@kent.edu.

Voicesfrom the Middle, Volume 22 Number 3, March 2015

Copyright of Voices from the Middle is the property of National Council of Teachers of
English and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv
without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print,
download, or email articles for individual use.