In the article, "Making a case and a place for effective content area literacy instruction in the elementary grades," author Barbara Moss asserts that effective content area literacy in the elementary grades is essential to prepare students for meeting the demands of the 21st century's marketplace.
Moss's argument for elementary level content area literacy is three-fold: early exposure is key; informational texts motivate children; and information texts increase new knowledge domains. First, Moss says that early exposure to expository text lays the foundation for the expository texts to which students are largely exposed in the later grades. While early elementary reading is typically focuses on decoding and "learning to read," Moss argues that "reading to learn," that is, using informational books as a means for learning to read helps to prepare students better for the expository texts that dominate student learning later on. Statistics show that among low-income families, there is a significant drop in reading scores from third to fourth grade (Moss 46). This change from "learning to read" to "reading to learn" without any transition or preparation may result in exhaustion, boredom or a sense of being overwhelmed and may explain such drops in achievement testing (Moss 46-67).
Second, Moss says that offering students information texts as alternatives to traditional narratives is a motivation for increased reading. Statistics support Moss' claim, especially with relation to boys and children in first, second and third grades (49).
Finally, Moss asserts that the 21st century requires students to develop deep knowledge about a particular topic -- a knowledge domain. Informational texts provide students with the opportunity to develop such in-depth knowledge (Moss 49).
Moss is absolutely right in her assessment that children need to be exposed in the classroom to a wide variety of texts and engage in multiple sensory a...