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Introduction
In recent years, the face of content area literacy instruction has changed. With the
implementation of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) and other educational policies,
there has been a significant shift in content area literacy instruction. Once associated exclusively
with middle and high school instruction, today, as never before, educators are directing their
attention to the importance of encouraging content area literacy instruction at even the earliest
levels. (Moss, 2005 p.46). Experts suggest that the following three critical factors have
contributed to this shift: standards-based education, standardized test performance, and
technology. These three factors play an important role in every classroom at every grade level.
As a third grade teacher, teaching 21st century learners, content area literacy is a priority in my
daily instruction.
This paper will examine various aspects of content area literacies as they relate to

elementary school classrooms. This includes a definition of content area literacy, national and
local policies that impact content area literacy instruction, examples of instructional strategies
that I use to teach content area literacy and how they are used in my classroom, as well as how
these strategies help prepare my students to be successful members of a global society.
What is Content Area Literacy?
Over the years, the term content area literacy has evolved. Initially called content area
reading, it referred to the concept of reading to learn. It was then changed to content area
literacy and expanded to include reading and writing to learn. In recent years, experts have once
again expanded the definition to include technology and other text types. Thomas Bean, (quoted
in Swafford & Kallus, 2002), offered the following definition created by students in his content
area literacy class:
Content area literacy is a cognitive and social practice involving the ability and desire to
read, comprehend, critique, and write about multiple forms of print. These multiple forms
of print include textbooks, novels, magazines, internet materials, and other sociotechnical
sign systems conveying information, emotional content, and ideas to be considered from
a critical stance. (p.10) (as cited in Moss, 2005 p. 47).

As the above definition reflects, the term content area literacy has become far more
complex than simply reading and writing to learn with textbooks. It refers to the various
literacies in students day to day lives, both inside and outside the classroom. For students
learning in the 21st century, literacies can come in many forms. This includes textbooks, trade
books, text messaging, email, social media and websites. These literacies influence the lives of
even our youngest students and teachers at all grade levels must recognize their importance.
Content area literacy must become an instructional priority in all elementary school classrooms.
National and Local Policies
In recent years, we have seen a reform in education both at the national and local level. In
2010, along with forty-four other states, Nevada adopted the Common Core State Standards
(CCSS) and the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium (SBAC) standardized test. These
standards were created to set national benchmarks for the skills that students should have
mastered by certain grade levels and the SBAC serves as the assessment piece to measure
student mastery of these standards. Shortly thereafter, Nevada also adopted the Next Generation
Science Standards (NGSS). Much like the CCSS, these standards outline expectations for student
performance in science in grades K-12. Most recently, Nevada passed the Read by Three Act.
This act was created to improve early literacy and increase student achievement. Across the
nation, policies are changing education. As teachers, our instruction is heavily impacted by these
policies and the expectations they carry. Now, as never before, there is a greater emphasis on
content area literacy instruction.
With the recent implementation of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS), reading
instruction in classrooms throughout the United States has been significantly impacted by the
focus on text complexity as well as the increased use of non-fiction texts at all grade levels.
Professional discourse is now heavily focused on the use and implementation of complex texts to
teach literature and informational reading standards across all grade levels and content areas. The
Common Core State Standards (CCSS) were developed by the National Governors Association
Center for Best Practices (NGA) and the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO). The
authors of the CCSS have identified text complexity as one of the three instructional shifts that

come with the new standards and define text complexity as the inherent difficulty of reading
and comprehending a text combined with consideration of reader and task variables (NGACBP
& CCSSO, 2010 Appendix A, Glossary of Key Terms, p. 43). It is believed that being able to
read complex text independently and proficiently is necessary for high achievement in college,
careers and numerous life tasks (NGA & CCSSO, 2010).
With the new standards has also come a new standardized assessment. The Smarter
Balanced Assessment Consortium (SBAC) is a computer adaptive assessment that allows
students to demonstrate their knowledge and understanding of the Common Core State
Standards. The types of questions asked on the SBAC include selected response, constructed
response, technology enhanced, and complex performance tasks. The adaptive feature of this
assessment is one that is new to high stakes testing. This simply means that test questions will
either increase or decrease in level of difficulty based on the students answers to the previous
question. Including this feature will minimize testing time, ensure that all standards are covered,
and will provide teachers with a more accurate measure of each students understanding of the
grade level CCSS standards.
The Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) outline what K-12 students are expected
to know and be able to do in science. Jane Best and Allison Dunlap (2014) explain, The Next
Generation Science Standards establish performance expectations for K-12 students across
science disciplines and, for the first time, include standards for engineering (p.1). Each of the
NGSS standards contain three important elements: disciplinary core ideas, science and
engineering practices, and crosscutting concepts. Integrating these three standards into each
NGSS, allows for more authentic learning experiences and reflect the ways in which real
scientists and engineers conduct their work. The purpose of the NGSS is to increase students
capacity to acquire and apply scientific knowledge to unique situations and to think and reason
scientifically (NGSS Lead States, 2013 p. xvi).

Nevada Governor Brian Sandoval recently signed the Read by Three Act (SB391), which
was created to improve early literacy and increase student achievement. Under this law, schools

are now required to identify students who demonstrate reading deficiencies. Upon identification,
schools must send written notification to parents, provide intensive reading interventions, and in
some cases, will retain students who are not considered proficient at the end of the third grade.
This act also requires a progress monitoring plan for each struggling reader in grades K-3. These
plans will be individualized and will outline what interventions will be provided to address and
support each individual readers needs. Under this act, additional learning support and
professional development opportunities will be provided to educators in order to better support
struggling readers. Lastly, the Read by Three Act will require that all school districts and charter
schools in Nevada report the number of students retained each year in third grade.

As a third grade teacher with the Clark County School District in Las Vegas, Nevada, my
classroom instruction is heavily impacted and influenced by these national and local policies. As
mentioned above, the face of content area literacy is changing. With the focus on complex texts
and increased use of non-fiction texts under the CCSS as well as the integration of science under
the NGSS, content area literacy has become a priority in my instruction. Combined with the
SBAC assessment and the Read by Three Act, expectations for both teachers and students are
extremely high. To scaffold students reading of challenging text materials I use Project Based
Learning (PBL) and STEM Education (science, technology, engineering and math).
Implementing these two research based instructional strategies has allowed me to successfully
guide my students in reading complex texts to address various content area literacies, teach the
CCSS and NGSS standards, as well as prepare my students to take the SBAC assessment.
Project Based Learning
Organized chaos. This is the term I use when referring to my own project-based learning
(PBL) classroom. Project Based Learning is a method in which the students take ownership of
their learning and the teacher becomes a facilitator. Heidi Bullock describes the role of the PBL
teacher as someone who, facilitates the learning process by providing or helping acquire
resources, monitoring group processes, and coaching students in the metacognitive processes of:
problem solving, collaboration, communication, reflection and self-evaluation (as quoted in

Light, 2014). All of which are necessary components for groups of students to complete their
project and/or solve their problem. The main goal of PBL is to produce students who have a
deeper understanding of a topic, can read complex texts, and are intrinsically motivated to learn.
With the current implementation of Common Core and the Smarter Balanced Assessment
Consortium (SBAC) students are expected to demonstrate application of knowledge rather than
just recall facts. PBL offers students many opportunities to demonstrate and apply what they
have learned by asking them to conduct research, solve real world problems, complete
investigations, work collaboratively in a team, utilize technology and present their findings to an
audience. PBL is not a supplementary activity, but rather, teaches curriculum concepts and
standards through a project. PBL can meet the rigorous demands of the common core if teachers
can adapt to the following six shifts in teaching practices: move from instruction to inquiry,
balance knowledge and skill, encourage and model deep thinking, teach teamwork, establish a
culture of inquiry, and blend coaching with teaching.
When aligned, these practices act synergistically to activate a student's desire to learn,
support growth over time, invite deeper engagement, and stimulate the reflective and
critical facultiesoften in a team-based, collective environment, that lead to superior
solutions and analysis (Markham, 2012).
PBL often integrates multiple contents areas into each project, allowing teachers and
students to cover many content area standards during one project. Not only do projects build
speaking skills required by the common core standards, but they also build thinking and
application in the subject area related to the topic (Larmer and Mergendoller, 2013). In addition,
PBL allows for common core standards to be taught through scaffolding and differentiation. Just
as Common Core encourages, PBL creates independent thinkers and learners.
STEM Education
STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) is a great instructional strategy for
teachers to use to teach content area literacies as well as address many CCSS and NGSS
standards. Patricia Fioriello defines STEM education as an approach in which STEM subjects

are integrated through an instructional method that uses designed-based, problem solving,
discovery, and exploratory learning strategies (as cited in Roberts, 2013 p. 22.)
STEM education can be described as a component of curriculum. It is not intended to
represent a new set of core subjects of the 21st century to replace the traditional reading,
writing, and arithmetic. Rather, the STEM subjects are to be seen as a collective
curriculum, where their content can become integrated or fused as one subject. (Morrison
& Barlett, 2009 as cited in Roberts, 2013 p. 23).
While similar to PBL, STEM provides an increased focus on technology and engineering.
STEM education, through project-based learning strategies, can stir the curiosity of how things
work in young learners minds and enhance their creativity, innovation and learning experiences
(Roberts, 2013 p.23). By integrating STEM into the existing curriculum we are providing our
students with 21st century skills they will need to be successful as adults. STEM provides the
opportunity for our students to be trained in creative problem solving techniques, collaboration
skills, and encourages them to become innovative thinkers. In addition, it teaches our students
the scientific method and how scientists and engineers use the scientific method to design, test,
solve problems, and create new inventions.
Skills for the Future
For students learning in the twenty-first century, PBL and STEM allow them to develop
skills that will assist them in becoming productive members of a global society. With technology
advancing at such rapid rates, we are essentially preparing our students for jobs that dont yet
exist. The objective of project based learning and STEM is to have students learn responsibility,
independence and discipline; all of which teach twenty-first century skills.
PBL and STEM classrooms demand overt cognitive engagement, as learners develop
their own conceptualizations of problems, set learning goals, draw on existing
knowledge, identify and evaluate available resources, create strategies to solve the
problems, monitor and self-regulate their own processes, and self-reflect on the validity
of their approaches. (Pintrich, 2004; Savin-Badin and Major, 2004; Zimmerman, 2000a).

Working collaboratively in groups teaches students how to be active listeners, how to

negotiate, and how to utilize one anothers strengths to successfully produce a final project. PBL
and STEM also provides students with opportunities to evaluate and solve real-world problems.
This not only deepens the learning process for students, but teaches them the skills they will need
to be problem solvers as they transition into adulthood.
Most importantly, PBL and STEM allow students to utilize technology to enhance their
learning by conducting research and preparing presentations. In addition, students also learn how
to navigate the internet safely and how to determine what sources are reliable. When preparing
their final projects, students can use applications, blogs, videos, PowerPoint, and other various
tools. All of which promote creativity and encourage students to think outside the box.
Presenting is another skills students acquire through PBL and STEM. When students complete
their projects, they are required to present them to their teachers and peers. Learning how to be
engaging speakers as well as respectful audience members are important skills for students to
aquire. Lastly, at the completion of a project, students are provided time to reflect and selfevaluate. They are able to identify their own strengths and weaknesses, how they contributed to
their team and ways to improve for their next project.
Student Motivation
Since implementing PBL and STEM in my classroom, I have seen student motivation
increase. My students are engaged in their learning and are excited to learn. PBL and STEM
allow students the opportunity to form questions based on their own interests and then pursue
deeper learning and knowledge of the subject.
Motivation studies conclude that students who adopt intrinsic, learning-oriented goals are
more inclined to find value in the learning, adopt deep cognitive strategies, and attain
better performances, compared to students who focus on extrinsic rewards or performing
goals (Harari and Stolk, 2014).
Project-based learning and STEM are instructional models that scaffold and differentiate
instruction. By doing so, students are allowed to learn at their own levels. This intrinsically
motivates students to take risks in their learning. It is not unrealistic to suspect that students who

are highly motivated will improve their reading abilities as they strive to understand and learn
during PBL (Bell, 2010 p.41).
As mentioned previously, technology plays a large role in the project-based learning and
STEM classroom. For students, technology is both engaging and motivating. Not only are they
able to conduct their research to gain more knowledge on their subject, but they can also utilize
various applications to present their final products. PowerPoint, podcasts, videos, blogs, comics,
and photo stories are just a few of the technological resources students can use when completing
final projects. In my own experience, I have found my students to be motivated by choice,
differentiation and technology. By inviting students to take ownership of their learning, I have
seen my students put forth a great effort in their learning and push themselves to pursue
knowledge on levels they did not think they could reach.
PBL and STEM in My Classroom
Since implementing PBL and STEM education with my students, I have seen an increase
in student effort, motivation, and engagement. My students are excited to learn and enjoy the
challenges that come with both strategies. They particularly enjoy becoming researchers,
scientists and engineers as they take on various tasks across all content areas. These instructional
strategies have made learning rigorous standards exciting and fun. In addition, I have seen an
increase in student understanding. Through their final projects and presentations, students are
able to demonstrate understanding of the standards taught. These two strategies allow assessment
to come in various forms. Students are not just taking pencil/paper assessments and recalling
facts. Throughout each project I am able to collect a number of formative assessments while
students work towards their projects and presentations which serve as the summative assessment.
I have seen students who would have failed a pencil/paper assessment excel in designing and
creating a project. Overall, my students have become deeper thinkers, more inquisitive learners
and better problem solvers, collaborators, and communicators.
One example of PBL in my classroom is a project called Create-a-School. For the last
two years, I have had my students complete this activity during the first few weeks of the school
year. Doing this at the start of the school year is a great way to introduce my students to PBL as

well as the routines, expectations and collaboration skills that come with it. In addition, this
project is a wonderful way to build community within my classroom during the first few weeks
of school. This project addresses many third grade reading, writing, math, research, social studies
and speaking and listening standards. To complete the task, students work in heterogeneous
groups of four and five
The driving question for the Create-a-School PBL project is as follows: What makes a
school a safe, engaging and successful place to learn? Throughout this unit students are
challenged to design a school by stepping into the role of various people including an architect,
a principal, a teacher, and even a computer science expert. To begin, each team is given a
questionnaire which lists questions that are designed to get them thinking about what all goes
into to building a school, how to create a safe environment for students, how to write school
rules, and even develop daily schedules. Once each team has discussed and answered the ten
questions, they can get to work on their project. Activities that each team must complete to
include in their final project include the following: naming their school, creating school rules,
constructing a landscape of learning by designing map of the school (to include as many
elements as possible), write learning objectives for reading, writing, math, science and social
studies, creating a school motto, and designing a homepage for their schools website.
Throughout the project I act as a facilitator by conferencing with each group and providing
support when needed. To conduct research, students are able to utilize various texts, articles,
websites, videos and have even interviewed the principal, teachers, and our schools computer
technician. Once students have completed their research and all activities, they have a choice in
how they will present their findings to answer the driving question. For this particular PBL
project, my students have chosen to do PowerPoint and Prezi presentations, present a poster
board, and build a diorama.
An example of a STEM education activity I have done with my students is an
engineering unit where students had to answer the following driving question: Based on what
you know about engineering, how could you collaborate to design and create a mechanical hand?
This unit lasted several weeks and covered third grade reading informational, writing, math,
speaking and listening, and NGSS science engineering standards. Before my students could

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design and create a mechanical hand, they needed to learn about engineers, what they do, and
how they use the scientific method to conduct experiments and create new inventions. To do so,
my students and I spent several weeks learning about and researching engineers. To build
background knowledge, I selected various complex texts in which my students and I conducted
close reads in order to learn about engineers, what engineers do and the scientific method.
Resources collected included magazine articles, informational articles, videos and websites.
Once students had an understanding of engineering they were given the following STEM
task: Design and build a mechanical hand model with moving fingers. Again, students worked in
heterogeneous groups of four and five and were required to keep a STEM journal throughout the
project. This journal allowed students to state the goal of the project, list the materials they could
use, list the constraints of the project, as well as to record notes on their plan, construct a diagram
of their hand, build and test their model, evaluate their model, and list improvements to make
their design better. Included in the journal is a questionnaire that students complete individually
at the end of the project to self-reflect on their contributions to their team project.
Each team was provided a bucket with the following materials: one plastic glove, two
feet of string, five rubber bands, five pipe cleaners and fifteen tissues. In each team bucket was a
task card that stated the task, materials, constraints and recording (STEM journal). The task card
provided the following information:
Task: Design and build a mechanical hand model with moving fingers.
Materials: This includes the contents of your box and scissors.
Constraints: The hand must have moveable fingers and thumb. Each digit should move
independently and all together. It does not have to grasp, but certainly can!
Recording: In your STEM journal, track your thinking, designing, and construction.
Your final design will be presented to the class. A reflection of this design challenge is
also part of the task.
This STEM activity was a wonderful success! Though many of the teams had to make
revisions to their original designs, students truly became engineers, utilized the scientific method
and worked collaboratively to successfully construct a mechanical hand with moving fingers that

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were able to move both independently and all together. During their presentations, each team was
required to demonstrate how their hand moves as well as show the diagram of their original
design and explain how they constructed, tested and made revisions to create their final product.
Conclusion
The face of content area literacy has changed. Gone are the days of simply reading to
learn. Instructional strategies like PBL and STEM education have allowed content area literacy
instruction to become rich in hands-on, inquiry based, and real world learning experiences. Both
of these methods incorporate various literacies including the reading of complex texts, digital
literacies and technology components. In utilizing these strategies, my content area literacy
instruction has become much stronger and my 21st century learners are becoming better equipped
to be successful members of a global society.
With the CCSS, NGSS, and SBAC assessment, students are expected to demonstrate
application of knowledge rather than just recall facts. By working collaboratively, conducting
research to answer the driving question and presenting their final projects/products, PBL and
STEM education require students to demonstrate application of knowledge. These strategies
provide an integrative, meaningful, effective, and engaging way for students to learn all grade
level standards.
Though Project Based Learning and STEM education are still new teaching strategies to
me, I am satisfied with the results I am seeing in my students. As mentioned previously, my
students have never been more engaged, motivated or excited to learn. I have been amazed at
what my students have accomplished and the sense of pride they feel when they finish a project.
Because PBL and STEM provide scaffolded and differentiated instruction, I have seen students
be successful, who would not have been successful with traditional paper/pencil assignments and
assessments. Overall, my students have become deeper thinkers, more inquisitive learners and
better problem solvers, collaborators, and communicators. PBL and STEM education have
changed the face of content area literacy in my classroom for the better.

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