Disciplinary literacy is about more than decoding. Each discipline has its own habits of mind (ways of thinking, reasoning and meaning making) and unique types of texts, genres and structures. In this section, you will connect the reading strategies you use as an expert in the field to the habits of mind and texts that will support students to engage in complex disciplinary reading.

Spark Activity

Extensive disciplinary reading involves teaching the habits of mind and practices for interpreting and synthesizing; using a range of texts for purposes core to the discipline; and explicitly teaching reading strategies that are unique to the discipline.”

- Oregon's Adolescent Literacy Framework, page 21

Many subject-area teachers did not get a course on “how to teach reading.” However, you already read like an expert in your field.

Think of a strategy you use when you encounter a complex text (e.g., checking a diagram first, rereading, questioning the author’s assumptions, comparing to another source) as you respond to this question. You may wish to capture your thinking in your journal space.

How might naming that strategy aloud help your students?

Step 1: Read

Select at least one discipline. Read the selection from Oregon's Adolescent Literacy Framework to learn more about how to engage students in reading like a professional in that discipline. As you read, pay attention to:

Habits of mind: What ways of thinking (e.g., critiquing evidence, analyzing patterns, interpreting language, testing claims) are emphasized?
Texts: What authentic genres (e.g., proofs, lab reports, primary sources, project proposals) are central to this discipline?
Connections: How do these habits and texts extend or deepen general reading strategies (e.g., summarizing, questioning, monitoring comprehension)?

Language Arts
Mathematics
Science
Social Science
CTE
Health and PE

Reading Like a Literary Critic, Oregon's Adolescent Literacy Framework, pages 107-109

(PDF) - Reading Like a Literary Critic

Reading like a Mathematician, Oregon's Adolescent Literacy Framework, pages 118-121

(PDF) - Reading like a Mathematician

Reading like a Scientist, Oregon's Adolescent Literacy Framework, pages 130-133

(PDF) - Reading like a Scientist

Reading like a Social Scientist, Oregon's Adolescent Literacy Framework, pages 142-145

(PDF) - Reading like a Social Scientist

Reading like a Career Professional, Oregon Adolescent Literacy Framework, pages 152-155

(PDF) - Reading like a Career Professional

Reading like a Health and Physical Education Professional, Oregon's Adolescent Literacy Framework, pages 162-165

(PDF) - Reading like a Health and Physical Education Professional

Step 2: Reflect

Respond to one or more of these prompts. You may wish to capture your thinking in your journal space.

If you asked your students what it feels like to read like a professional in your discipline (e.g., a scientist, historian, mathematician, artist), what might they say right now—and what do you hope they would say by the end of the year?
Which habit of mind or authentic text could you highlight more intentionally this semester to help students read like an expert in your field?
How can you, as a teacher, make the invisible moves of expert readers in your field visible and accessible to students?