In their Four Resources Model, Freebody and Luke (1990) described four roles that readers take as they engage with texts: the code breaker, meaning maker, text user/analyst, and text critic. In this article, we propose the addition of a fifth role, the text actor. In this role, readers engage with texts that can incite, inform, and inspire them to…

This paper argues that the plan and study phases of lesson study are productive in helping educators with varied expertise and experience to explore scientific practices like modeling with ties to disciplinary literacy. Points are illustrated with data from a lesson-study cycle in science that two university-based teacher educators, one in…

This article addresses the considerations on what they term "digitally supported elementary disciplinary literacy" in elementary grade (K-5) instruction. In doing so, the authors focus on the particularities of elementary instruction and what disciplinary literacy might look like in those grade levels, with a particular emphasis on…

Disciplinary literacy approaches recently have been finding their way into early elementary classrooms (K-2) and preschool, but this idea still needs more careful study, discussion, and operationalizing before determining its value and place in the early grades curriculum. The purpose of this article is to describe a case of curriculum exploration…

Elementary teachers are tasked with teaching the language and literacy strategies and skills leading to reading comprehension while also teaching disciplinary content that is the subject of texts, frequently with limited instructional time. Prior research demonstrates that an integrated approach to science and literacy instruction featuring…

In this study, we focused on the implementation of a disciplinary literacy inquiry unit with a group of sixth-grade students. Guided by us, students learned about a local budgetary crisis, researched subtopics of interest to them (e.g., the effect of budget cuts on school athletics), and then wrote letters to their state's governor sharing their…

Integrating content-area and literacy instruction in primary-grade classrooms creates authentic and engaging opportunities for students to build background knowledge and literacy skills. Furthermore, when students engage in meaningful dialogue about content-area topics they can discuss complex ideas and use content-specific vocabulary. These…