Content Area Reading: Literacy and Learning Across the Curriculum

by Richard T. Vacca, Jo Anne L. Vacca, Deborah L. Begoray

The market leader for twenty-five years, this text is an ambitious exploration of content literacy, while maintaining its reputation as workable and sensible. This text is designed to be an active learning tool, complete with real-world examples and practices from which students can work. This organization reflects an integrative approach to literacy. Content area reading has grown into a reflective exploration of content literacy – the ability to use reading, writing, speaking, and listening processes to learn subject matter across the curriculum. This text's organization reflects this interpretative approach to literacy.

Genres: Education, Textbooks, Nonfiction, Teaching, School, Academic, Grad School

496 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1981

Reviews

[Anna · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a really useful resource for middle and high school teachers. I think the middle chapters are probably most useful because they actually tell you what to do Before, During, and After reading. The beginning was a bit too "overview-ish" for me (too much fluff). The final section also seemed a bit redundant. But overall very good!

[Heather Rauch · Rating 3 out of 5]

There is some useful information here, but after a while it felt like I was reading the same ideas under a new subtitle. The book could have been half as long.

[Erin McDonnell-Jones · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'll be using this text in my EDUC 360: Reading and Writing Across the Curriculum class this upcoming fall and I really enjoyed it. The author's opened up with a good point about the evolving definition of literacy but spent a majority of the book discussing important reading and writing strategies that can be used in all curriculum areas.

It was easy-to-read, well-organized, and accessible for all levels of learners. It also helped refresh some of my own ideas that could be used in a classroom. I would recommend this book to any teacher, at any level, who is looking for new ideas to implement in his or her classroom.

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read the twelfth edition of this textbook. The edition I had was loose leaf. I think the best part of this textbook is the reading strategies presented with examples. I am mainly interested in reading within the English classroom but this textbook is definitely helpful for other content areas as well with examples for history, math, physical education, science, art, and music. I think some of the textbook is repetitive and could be shortened, so this is why I did not think it deserved five stars.

[Joanna · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a pretty good overview for middle school teachers that (like the title suggests) teach in the content areas. As an elementary EL teacher, it was so-so. Most of the strategies it uses are pretty well known, so if you have no clue what you are doing then this book would be a good place to start.

[John Hill · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a fantastic book for anyone who currently teaches in the middle and high school grades or who is going to become a secondary teacher.

The information within is excellent but what is what really of worth is the amount of strategies any content area teacher can implement in their classroom!

[Christine (Tina) · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is such a user-friendly textbook...as it should be when used for educational purposes related to content-area study.

I will be keeping this one as a reference throughout the rest of my teaching career and will look forward to updated versions in the future.

[Penelope Winkle · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this for a grad school course, and I thought that it has some fantastic resources I can use for my students. It even has a bunch of graphic organizer examples in the back. Great for any grade level or subject area.

[Ellen Deckinga · Rating 3 out of 5]

Definitely some points to ponder.

[Sarah Lillo Kang]

Strength: lots of examples from subject areas where literacy might seem more distant (e.g. PE, math)

[R Zavala · Rating 2 out of 5]

Really? It's a physical thing for me. The words are too small; the book itself is too heavy; the layout is convoluted. Blech.

[H.C. Myers · Rating 3 out of 5]

The units usually went into examples before explaining what something was at a basic level, making it hard for learners to grasp meaning.

[Mandy Botlik · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some useful strategies to use reading in any classroom, but dense and boring. Required class reading.

[Sammy]

Crushed another textbook 💪🏼

[Peyton]

Read for Grad School

[Cody · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read for a summer class in grad school. Lots of good content, but after teaching for 8 years, I feel like I was already doing most of it; however, it was nice to pick up a few more strategies.

[Megan Holland · Rating 5 out of 5]

Grad school text book monotony lol

[Michelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was part of my graduate coursework. As a high school English teacher, I found it to be a solid resource that’s helped improve my teaching, but it wasn’t the most useful book I've come across in my studies.

One of the strongest aspects is how it emphasizes the importance of teaching reading strategies across all content areas. Literacy isn’t just an English class responsibility—every teacher has a role in helping students become better readers. The book breaks down practical strategies easily implemented in any classroom. I already adapted some of them for my own students, particularly those who struggle with reading comprehension.

While the strategies are helpful, I did find the book somewhat broad in its approach because it covers a wide range of topics. As someone with years of teaching experience, I was hoping for more advanced or specialized strategies for working with high school students, particularly multilingual learners or struggling readers, who make up a big portion of my classroom. In comparison to other texts I’ve used in my coursework, this one felt more like an overview rather than a deep dive into complex literacy issues.

This is still a valuable read as it’s packed with research-backed strategies. I would recommend it to teachers, especially those newer to literacy instruction. For veteran teachers or those looking for more specific or innovative approaches, this might not be the most groundbreaking text, but it is certainly useful.

[Rebecca Radnor · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a student in a teacher's training program, I can only WISH that the rest of my textbooks were this good (they aren't). Our teacher on giving us the book said, 'you're going to want to use this as a resource for classroom exercises for the rest of your careers... I go back to it for ideas all the time.' Basically the textbook completely makes the argument for how teaching reading is ALL of our problems (even the P.E. teachers) and offers suggestions of how to teach it in your classrooms.

The book, and the course, gave me religion and set me to reading EVERY Young adult historical fiction novel I can find, in order to be able to find ones to integrate into my history classroom. The fact is literacy is key, and kids today don't read anywhere as much as they used to on their own which is why what is considered at grade level is constantly dropping south... what used to be considered grade school level reading is now Jr. High, and many high school kids aren't able to read at what used to be middle school level, so we as teachers have to get them reading and keep them reading. This book explains HOW to work it into every kind of classroom

[J · Rating 1 out of 5]

Over promised and under-delivered.

It is busy, over populated with 'reading aids' ostensibly edited and re-edited that the final irony is that this book fails as a reading book that claims to be a guide for teaching students how to read. All the boxes, aqua green colored inserts, shading, side-bar commentary and peppering with - references dating back to 1979 - only interferes with whatever the authors are trying to get across.

This tenth edition tome should have been retired a few editions ago. The material is dated and little of significance has been added since 1997. For $140.00, this required text is nothing short of a ripoff. It is a perfect example of what is wrong with academic texts.

Buy this 33 year-old hot potato used, and get rid of it as soon as the course is over. It is not a keeper and you don't want to get stuck with it. There are far better books for one fifth the price.

[Rebecca Radnor · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's a text book *shrug* but as text books go.... I'm actually learning stuff that might be useful and it's chock full of resources that I might actually access again once I'm teaching, which is more than you can say for the average text book. The authors seem to think of it as sort of a cookbook for classrooms, full of recipes for things to do, and ingredient suggestions in the way of good books that kids might like and how the books can be integrated into different content areas... it also includes places to go (organizations, etc) to find more books. It's my opinion granted, but if you really dredge the pages for that sort of information, the book is more than worth its price tag. I'm already using it compile a shopping list of books to find at thrift stores for my classroom library.

[Jessica Lynn · Rating 4 out of 5]

This text was one of the required readings that I had to complete for a recent graduate course I took on reading and writing in the content areas. I think that this book is a great resource for teachers and it covers several areas to consider from instructional planning, to student engagement, to assessment, and how to help special populations. There are several examples of activities, graphic organizers, and assessment ideas that can be easily adapted to any content area and can be used by teachers across grade levels. It's also an excellent resource for learning more about why incorporating reading and writing instruction in content areas courses is so important for improving student outcomes.

[Richard · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book has many great ideas on ascertaining students' reading levels and on ways to engage students more in reading, which I began to incorporate in my teaching as I read along. But I found the book, itself, tedious. Ironic, given that it is a book that explores the difficulties of teaching with texts. I think this is because I was reading it in the context of a class, so I felt compelled to keep track of a lot of extraneous information. As a resource I can reach for when I need it, it will be much better.

[Kelli Perkins · Rating 3 out of 5]

Vacca and Vacca’s book, Content Area Reading: Literacy and Learning across the Curriculum, provides teachers with a balanced view of theory and practice so they may assist their students to become better readers. The book offers suggestions for making content texts more accessible, and equips teachers with the tools to make it happen. Recommended for new and established educators who would like to increase student achievement in all curricular areas.

[JwW White · Rating 2 out of 5]

This text--that I have assigned--is full of good information. The bad thing is that the authors seldom take their own advice. The book is WAY too dry. One of their theses is that to get students interested in reading, we need to try to make the readings relevant to them, to problematize the text, to give anecdotes or funny stories that exemplify the point. Not so with Vacca & Vacca (now in its 10th Edition). I'm tired of this text and doubt I'll use it--at least in its entirety--ever again!

[Julie Miller · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty dense. Very current (2011 copyright). Loaded with strategies and activities for teaching reading in any content area, and at different grade levels.

Read for college summer class. Lots to learn from this text. Some activities/assessments/evaulations could be incorporated into my classroom, but mostly a teacher's learning tool.

[Kristin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although this book definitely reads like a dull textbook at times, it is still a valuable resource for content area teachers K-12 looking to implement more reading resources and strategies into their classrooms. It has many useful examples, activities, and teacher anecdotes along the way and a detailed appendix in the back.

[Gena Lott · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great resource for teachers to understand how to incorporate reading strategies into every stubject in the curriculum. Includes study skills, comprehension strategies and lots more. The biggest downfall of this book is that it is geared to secondary school. But even so, it can be adjusted to meet many needs of elementary teachers.

[Joe · Rating 2 out of 5]

This text is incredibly redundant and elementary. The concepts outlined by the text provide either a surface-level understanding, or represent ideas that are difficult to connect in the classroom with relevance.

That being said, there is always something to take away from a book like this, and it does offer some pertinent information (hence the two-star rating).

[Mark Schlatter · Rating 4 out of 5]

Of the education textbooks I have read, this is far and away one of the most readable. (Perhaps no surprise there....) Lots of good information with digressions and introductions that were actually meaningful. It still suffered from the excessive list making I see in education texts, but I did not fear the reading as with some texts.