How Do I Teach Reading and Writing in My Discipline?

Reading and writing are central to understanding in every content area, so supporting literacy development is essential to effective teaching. In particular, teaching for understanding in each content area requires building students’ abilities to read and write in the ways that are unique to that discipline, such as reading historical documents like a historian, writing about an experiment like a scientist, reading to analyze literature, or writing to explain mathematical thinking. At the same time, supporting all students to learn rich content requires providing access to disciplinary reading and writing for students who enter our classrooms with a wide range of literacy skills and experiences.