One way teachers are using their instructional time more efficiently is by teaching content area topics during Reading and Writing Workshops. There are many benefits to teaching this way, primarily that opportunities for students to engage with content in different ways tends to increase retention and understanding.
“Requiring students to speak and write about new ideas, solve and talk about conceptual problems, and in other ways actively engage with new thoughts enhances learning.”
- The McGraw Center for Teaching and Learning
>> Addressing content area topics in the Reading Workshop:
>> Addressing content area topics in the Writing Workshop:
There are several excellent standards-aligned, content-area units within the Units of Study. For example, the fourth grade reading unit “Reading History: The American Revolution” and the writing unit “Bringing History to Life” expose students to a variety of reference materials with strong scaffolding and support. Students learn about Colonial America and the Revolutionary War, and gain an understanding of how to engage with information text for research, and how to craft their own information texts to teach others. This unit can be adapted to accommodate different social studies topics.
Creating connections across the school day and across different disciplines helps students learn more deeply, creates a holistic learning experience, and provides skills that students need to succeed on tests, in academics, and in life.
Twice a month on Wednesday nights at 7:30 pm EST the Teachers College Reading and Writing Project hosts a Twitter chat using the hashtag #TCRWP.
Tonight's Twitter Chat (Wed. Jan. 8, 2020) will feature Mike Ochs @readwritemike, Casey Maxwell @ctyinthecity, and Dwight McCaulsky @McaulskyDwight. Join us!
Not on Twitter? Take Heinemann’s free Twitter for Educators course here.