Resources and Instructional Strategies Effective Middle School Science Teachers Use to Improve Content Area Reading Skills

This study examined the resources and instructional strategies effective middle school science teachers use to improve content area reading skills. Reading instruction in the middle school years should follow the natural cognitive progression that occurs in the adolescent brain from learning to read to reading to learn. Scientific reading is a different type of reading than most middle school students are accustomed to. It is important to understand that students will continue to be expected to read non-fiction critically for success in the 21st century. Effective teachers know this, and they perceive themselves as teachers of reading regardless of the content area in which their expertise lies. This qualitative research study was conducted at a rural middle school with three science teachers who employ before, during, and after literacy strategies when reading the textbook content with their students. The methodologies used in this study were interviews, observations, and document collection. The results of this study revealed the students‘ reading difficulties perceived by the teacher participants, the literacy strategies used by the teacher participants, the instructional resources the teacher participants used to improve comprehension, and the need for professional development in content area literacy.Melanie S. BeaverSusan KigerCutter, LisaLai, Feng-QiSpeer, James HDoctor of PhilosophyDepartment of Curriculum, Instruction, and Media TechnologyCunningham Memorial Library, Terre Haute, Indiana State University.2012-04-12DoctoralTitle from document title page. Document formatted into pages: contains 135p. : ill. Includes appendix