disciplinary literacy

What is Disciplinary Literacy? By Vicky Zygouris-Coe

“Disciplinary literacy involves the use of reading, reasoning, investigating, speaking, and writing required to learn and form complex content knowledge appropriate to a particular discipline.” (McConachie & Petrosky, 2010, p. 16). Disciplinary literacy is not a new term for reading in the content areas (Shanahan & Shanahan, 2012); instead it emphasizes the knowledge, skills, and tools of the experts in each discipline--the mathematicians, historians, authors, and scientists who communicate, use, and create knowledge in their respective discipline. Disciplinary literacy is not about a set of strategies we can use to help students organize text or make connections among words; it is referring to the ways of thinking, knowing, and doing that are consistent with each discipline.

Disciplinary Literacy:

• Commercial Art

• Design & Color

• Drawing & Painting

• Photography

• Printmaking

• Three-Dimensional Art

Intermediate Literacy:

• Literacy skills common to many tasks include the elements and principles of visual art.

Basic Literacy

• Terms from the art industry: materials, supplies, types of art.

• Media – Spray paint, watercolor, acrylic paint, oil, pastel, Conte, graphite, cut paper/stencil, charcoal, color pencil.