The On-Your-Feet Guide to Disciplinary Literacy in Science

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How can you use literacy tools used to help students practice the behaviors of scientists? With a disciplinary literacy approach, science teachers can focus on teaching their specialized content by showing students the literacies that truly support scientific thinking – so students can read, write, think, investigate, and communicate as scientists.

This On-Your-Feet Guide will help teachers:INTRODUCTION

• Plan instruction that engages students’ natural inquiry and curiosity;

• Apprentice students toward deeper understanding of scientific concepts, terms, understandings, and text;

• Help students use their new learning to create, communicate, and participate in science;

• Teach skills required by science standards and frameworks; and

• Work with colleagues to design instructional units that incorporate both deeper content learning and science-specific literacy skills.

The strategies in this guide will help you teach students to read, write, think, and do as scientists!

On-Your-Feet Guides (OYFGs) provide you with the ultimate “cheat sheet” to implement effective change in your classroom while in the moment of teaching. Designed for accessibility, and providing step-by-step guidance, the OYFGs are written by experts who take research-based practices and make them doable for the busy teacher. 

Each On-Your-Feet Guide is laminated, 8.5”x11” tri-fold (6 pages), and 3-hole punched.

Use the On-Your-Feet Guides
• When you know the “what” but need help with the “how”
• As a quick reference to support a practice you learned in a PD workshop or book
• To learn how to implement foundational practices
• When you want to help your students learn a specific strategy, routine, or approach, but aren’t sure how to do it yourself

ReLeah Cossett Lent is an international consultant known for speaking, writing, and providing workshops on various topics ranging from literacy to leadership teams. She was previously a middle and high school English, Social Studies, and Journalism teacher before becoming a founding member of a state-wide literacy project at the University of Central Florida. There, she contributed to developing Florida′s Reading Endorsement courses and coordinated literacy leadership teams statewide. Her most impactful work stems from multi-day residencies in schools, districts, and consortiums, where she has created numerous professional learning initiatives with positive results in student achievement and teacher leadership. An advocate for student ownership and active learning, ReLeah emphasizes powerful collective efficacy as teacher teams engage in problem solving. She has been recognized with several awards, including intellectual freedom awards from the National Council of Teachers of English and The American Library Association, the PEN First Amendment Award, and the Florida Council of Teachers of English (FCTE) President′s Award for her "significant contributions to the teachings of English in State of Florida."

Marsha Voigt has 30 years of experience as a diagnostician and teacher, working with kindergarten through college-age students who struggled with literacy.  She now focuses on professional development and serves as a consultant and literacy coach.  In their article, “Growing Leaders from Within,” she and ReLeah describe their first year of working together to facilitate a truly collaborative literacy learning community.