How can literacy instruction be integrated across science and social studies in EMC classrooms?

• A. Teach literacy only within science and social studies through directly embedded quick quizzes
• B. Use content-specific literacy routines (note-taking, summarizing, question generation) during science/social studies, integrate nonfiction texts, and write to explain concepts
• C. Exclude nonfiction texts from science and social studies
• D. Focus only on narrative storytelling in all content areas

Answer: (B)

Integrated disciplinary literacy in EMC classrooms means teaching students to read, write, and think within science and social studies. The best approach blends content and literacy by using routines that fit the discipline—note-taking to capture key ideas, summarizing to distill information, and generating questions to drive inquiry—during science and social studies lessons. Including nonfiction texts as core sources helps students practice navigating headings, diagrams, captions, and evidence-based claims, which are essential for understanding these subjects. Having students write to explain concepts, using information from texts to justify ideas and conclusions, strengthens both content knowledge and academic language.

This approach builds ability to access complex informational material and to communicate understanding clearly, mirroring how experts read and communicate in these fields. It’s more effective than relying only on quick quizzes embedded in the content, which don’t develop ongoing literacy practices; excluding nonfiction texts, which deprives students of authentic disciplinary reading; or focusing solely on narrative storytelling, which doesn’t align with how science and social studies convey and explain information.