Interdisciplinary Reading in the Content Areas

The Sarasota County Public School District dedicates a section of its Web site to Meeting the Secondary Reading Challenge: Interdisciplinary Reading in the Content Areas. This site provides several reading strategies that assist teachers in incorporating literacy into the instruction of all subjects. Strategies include vocabulary building, graphic organizers, journals, note-taking, and activities for before and after reading. One specific strategy is called "photographed vocabulary," which helps students retain more information because the vocabulary word is experienced or visualized. For instance, a student will better remember and understand the meaning of the word 'timid' if he or she acts out the word in front of the classroom. Another strategy is to use Venn Diagrams, which can help to compare and contrast characters, systems, operations, or attributes. Overall, there are over 30 different reading strategies to help students succeed in all subject areas.

The website also includes training information and strategies of the Creating Independence through Student-owned Strategies (CRISS) Project, which is designed to develop thoughtful and independent learners by enabling them to be in charge of their own learning. CRISS strategies help students to better organize, understand, and retain course information. To enhance student learning, CRISS employs the following concepts:

• students must be able to integrate new information with prior knowledge
• students need to be actively involved in their own learning by discussing, writing, and organizing
• students must self-monitor to identify which strategies are the most effective for a given learning task.

To view these strategies and lesson plans or learn more about this site, go to: www.sarasota.k12.fl.us/sarasota/interdiscmain.htm