Disciplinary Literacy Comes to Middle School

Recently, many states adopted educational standards that emphasize the teaching of “disciplinary literacy” in Grades 6–12. This article explains the concept of disciplinary literacy and distinguishes it from the more widely known idea of “content area reading.” Teaching students effectively to understand how literacy is used to create, communicate, and evaluate knowledge in science, math, history, and literature requires an instructional commitment from the teachers in those fields. Useful resources for helping teachers to deliver such instruction are provided.