Secondary English/Language Arts Classroom Analysis

Contrasting from other content areas such as math and science, the secondary English/language arts classroom revolves around the study of literature and writing itself as opposed to strategically implementing reading and writing strategies into content-area classrooms. Reading and reading processes are two blocks that help make up the foundation of all forms of education. Therefore, it is essential that educators understand how to effectively model both their content and classrooms after the many different literacy practices and learning styles their vast array of students will possess. Being literate could mean many things, but in the case of the classroom it could be defined as the proper comprehension of material. It is essential that educators

The book Content Area Reading: Teaching and Learning for College and Career Readiness by Maureen McLaughlin highlights what it said to be the modern way of thinking about the reading process. One excerpt states that “theoretical investigation of the reading process focuses on two current beliefs: (1) that reading is a social constructivist process and (2) that readers think their way through the construction of meaning” (McLaughlin, 2015, p. 50). Two important questions should be asked in regards to this information. How is reading a social constructivist process? And how do readers think their way through the construction of meaning? Social constructivists believe that students learn by connecting new information two what they already know and then learning takes place when what they already know is integrated with new information (McLaughlin,

Effective educators use strategic instruction in order to help make students aware of the processes that they are engaging in to make meaning from text and to communicate effectively (DelliCarpini, 2011, p. 108). In the spring semester of 2017 at Indiana University South Bend, the course EDUC - M464-Methods of Teaching Reading, taught by Dr. Hope Smith Davis highlighted many strategies that could be used to support the framework of before-during-after. These included but are not limited to: K-W-L (know, want to know, learn), Insert Bookmarks, and Learning Logs. Each of these strategies were highlighted within the Maureen McLaughlin text and applied to the text itself within the M464 course. Also, each of these specific strategies have application toward one or more aspect of the before-during-after framework. For example, K-W-L pertains to each piece of the framework, whereas insert bookmarks is used during reading and learning logs are used after. It is important to piece strategies that work well together in order to reach higher-order thinking in students and also allow them “make meaning from text,” as described as the definition of what it means to read in