Teach Reading? But I’m not a Reading Teacher! - Article structure for cross-content-area literacy instruction

Oct 15, 2026

Upload by jayni

Middle and high school students often fail to read at grade level, creating an educational challenge across content areas. The article argues that all teachers—not just reading specialists—can support disciplinary literacy by using a structured approach. It proposes five elements: students listen to read-alouds, read frequently, practice reading strategies, interact with texts and peers, and build word consciousness. The structure aims to strengthen comprehension and vocabulary while expanding students’ content-area knowledge.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages10

Reading Time25 min

AccessFree to download

Students across content areas need structured literacy support

A framework based on research findings

Students need to listen to others read aloud

Students need to read often

| | “Teach Reading? But I’m not a Reading Teacher!” | | --- | --- | Beth Hurst & Cathy J. Pearman, Missouri State University A critical issue in education today is that many middle and high school students are not able to read on grade level (Alvermann & Rush, 2004; Biancarosa & Snow, 2010; Heller & Greenleaf, 2007; Houge, Geier, & Peyton, 2008) . In an effort to deal with the problem, many schools encourage all teachers, regardless of their subject area, to emphasize reading in their classes, because as Rasinski, Padak, McKeon, Wilfong, Friedauer, and Heim (2005) state,“if our goal is to improve student performance across content areas, then improvements in general reading abilities must be a goal”(p. 26). This is often met with a great deal of resistance because not only have most teachers not been trained in the reading process, but they also do not feel it is their responsibility to teach reading. Heller and Greenleaf (2007) state,“At the secondary level, the responsibility for teaching reading and writing often seems to belong to no one in particular”(p. 15) . However, Shanahan (2012) makes the point that the “idea of disciplinary literacy is that students not only have to learn the essential content of a field , but how reading and writing are used in that field”(para. 3). He contends teachers in any field can help students read text critically in the same way professionals in the fields would read the text, instead of merely helping students learn what they need for a test. The purpose of this article is to provide a structure that any teacher, regardless of content area and training in reading instruction, can use to help students hone the literacy skills necessary to explore, develop, and expand content area knowledge. The suggested structure is based on areview of the literature that states: students need to (a) listen to others read aloud (Miller, 2002; Rasinski, 2003; Routman, 2003); (b) read often (Allington, 2006; Anderson, Hiebert, Scott, & Wilkinson, 1985; Cunningham, 2009), (c) practice using reading strategies (Beers, 2003; National Reading Panel, 2000),(d) interact with texts and each other (Routman, 2003, 2005: Vacca, Vacca, & Mraz, 2011), and (e) develop a word consciousness (Harmon, Wood, & Medina, 2009; Scott & Nagy, 2004) . Students Need to Listen to Others Read Aloud Hearing others read aloud is an excellent way to stimulate students’ interest in reading (Miller, 2002; Rasinski, 2003; Routman, 2003) . Trelease (1989), an expert on reading aloud and author of the famed book The Read-Aloud Handbook (2006), contends that reading aloud to students is “the most effective advertisement for the pleasures of reading”(p. 201) . Vacca et al.(2011) contend, “After hearing a book read aloud, students are much more likely to pick up books on this topic, and related ones, on their own”(p. 383) . Additional benefits are that hearing reading aloud helps students develop their reading comprehension and vocabulary (Harris & Sipay, 1990; Routman, 1996) . For example, students who struggle to read a content area textbook use a great deal of their cognitive energy on decoding the text with little energy left to devote to comprehension. Hearing the text read aloud relieves these students of the burden of decoding and allows them to focus on comprehension. Vocabulary acquisition is also enhanced by hearing text read aloud. As the text is being read aloud, the teacher can use think alouds to model the use of context clues to determine the meaning of words, insert synonyms and antonyms, give definitions, or make connections for students to information they have learned previously (Tompkins, 2009) . One way teachers can set up a structure for students to hear others read aloud is to have asignup sheet (some teachers have a calendar posted on the wall) where each student in the class signs up for a day to read aloud to the class (Hurst, Scales, Frecks, & Lewis, 2011) . Then each class period begins with one student

FAQs

Why does the article emphasize disciplinary literacy in middle and high school?

Many students do not read on grade level, and the article highlights that students must learn both field content and how reading and writing are used within that field.

What five components does the article recommend for improving literacy?

Students should listen to others read aloud, read often, practice using reading strategies, interact with texts and each other, and develop word consciousness.

How does read-aloud support students who struggle with textbooks?

Hearing texts read aloud reduces the cognitive burden of decoding so students can focus on comprehension, while teachers model context clues, definitions, and connections to prior learning.

Oct 15, 2026

Upload by jayni