Disciplinary Literacy in Action: Teaching with Thinking in Mind

The foundation for disciplinary literacy is built in the elementary years. As students learn to read, they can also begin to read with purpose—interpreting, analyzing, and thinking across subject areas. Grounded in a well-established body of research, this session explores how young learners can engage with texts not just to decode, but to build knowledge, develop academic language, and make meaning in increasingly complex ways. Educators will explore a Disciplinary Literacy Teaching Framework and its role in an integrated curriculum, while discovering practical strategies to cultivate thinking habits that help students become thoughtful, confident readers who engage deeply with rich content across subjects.