Disciplinary Literacy: A Secondary Teacher's Guide

Disciplinary literacy is the teaching of the specialised reading, writing and communication practices used to develop and evaluate knowledge within a subject. Vocabulary is part of that work. A history teacher models how to judge a source. A science teacher shows how a claim relates to an experiment's method and results.

In Year 8, power can mean the rate of energy transfer in physics. In history, it can mean the ability to influence people or events. Ask learners to explain which meaning fits a sentence. Knowing the everyday word does not establish that they understand either subject meaning.

Shanahan and Shanahan (2008) used think-alouds with historians, chemists and mathematicians to identify differences in how experts read disciplinary texts. The Education Endowment Foundation (2019) recommends teaching both general and subject-specific literacy in its secondary literacy guidance. For teachers, the practical starting point is a text, question or explanation learners will use next lesson.

Use the whole-school vocabulary planning pack to record those words, compare meanings and plan a shared teaching routine.

Teach the vocabulary each subject needs

Choose vocabulary from the content you are about to teach. Include words needed for reasoning, such as compare, alongside technical terms such as evaporation. Our guide to Tier 2 and Tier 3 vocabulary explains this distinction. Neither category automatically takes priority over a word that the current lesson depends on.

Some words appear in several subjects with different meanings. Compare them to show that difference. The examples below show how to teach this; they are not reports of real classes.

Three words to compare across subjects

Word	Subject meanings	Teacher prompt
Volume	Maths: the space a three-dimensional object occupies. Music: how loud or quiet a sound is.	“Which meaning fits: calculate the volume of this cuboid?”
Power	Physics: the rate of energy transfer. History: the ability to influence people or events.	“Explain why watts belong in one meaning, but not the other.”
Source	History: material used as evidence about the past. Geography: the place where a river begins.	“Show which source you would investigate in each lesson.”

In primary school, the same approach can begin with concrete comparisons. In Year 5 science, distinguish a force acting on an object from being “forced” to do something. Butlin (2024) describes explicit teaching of words with new subject meanings as one starting point for disciplinary literacy in primary school.

Teach useful word parts when they clarify meaning. Show that evaporation and condensation name different changes, then match each to an observation. Word parts support an explanation; they cannot replace teaching the process. A Frayer Model example can help learners separate a concept from a plausible non-example.

Beck, McKeown and Kucan (2013) describe vocabulary tiers as a rough guide, with blurred boundaries. Apply that judgement to your own curriculum. A science class may need evaporation before it can explain the water cycle. Teaching a general word first would not remove that need.

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Model how a subject expert reads

Show learners what to look for in the text, rather than asking them to “read carefully”. In Year 9 history, look at a speech's author, date and audience before reading its claims. Say: “This speaker wanted support for a policy. I will compare that account with another source.” Learners then find a claim that needs checking.

For a subject question that needs several accounts or formats, see our curriculum-linked text sets guide.

In Year 8 science, read an experiment report beside its graph. Show how you find the variables, units and evidence for a claim. Ask learners to match one sentence to the right part of the graph. Check what the results show and where the evidence is unclear, rather than treating every printed claim as a fact.

In maths, compare “three more than” with “three times as many”. Ask learners to represent each phrase before calculating. General reading comprehension strategies still help. Explain how the task changes what learners attend to, rather than telling them that strategies from another subject never work.

Shanahan and Shanahan (2012) distinguish general study strategies from the specialised reading and writing practices used to create and evaluate knowledge within a discipline. Ask a history class to summarise a letter, then examine its author and purpose to judge which claims it supports. Model both decisions. Naming the strategy alone does not show learners how to use it.

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Connect reading, reasoning and writing

Use a short model to show what learners need to include when they explain an idea. In Year 8 geography, underline a cause, a consequence and the evidence in a paragraph about flooding. Ask learners to use the same structure with a different example. Our guide to subject writing frames shows how to give a starting structure.

Teach the sentence choices that express the subject's reasoning. In a history explanation, compare after with because. The first puts events in order. The second asserts a cause that needs evidence. Model a supported causal sentence, then ask learners to explain which source supports the connection. Butlin (2024) recommends combining subject reading with explicit instruction in how the subject is written.

Make useful word parts visible as well. Show predict, prediction and predictable in a science text. Identify the shared base and the changing endings. Ask learners to explain the whole word in its sentence. This is a brief morphology routine, rather than a substitute for teaching the concept.

Use a diagram to show the links learners need to explain. Show how arrows connect rainfall, surface runoff and river discharge. Ask learners to turn one arrow into a sentence. Choose a graphic organiser template that fits the task, and teach how to read it before learners use it on their own.

Give learners time to prepare an explanation before an extended response. They can rehearse with a partner, arrange key words beside a diagram, or draft one sentence. Use classroom scaffolding according to the barrier in the task. Reduce support when learners can use the structure themselves.

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Worked lesson: power in Year 8 science

A worked lesson connects a word's meaning with the evidence learners must read and explain. In this science example, the target word is power. Learners compare two short descriptions, calculate an average rate and explain the difference. The numbers below are teaching examples, rather than results from a reported class.

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Prepare the meaning and the task

Explain that power describes how quickly energy is transferred. The Institute of Physics glossary defines power as the rate of energy transfer, measured in watts (Institute of Physics, n.d.). Write “average power = energy transferred ÷ time taken”. Check that learners can distinguish energy, measured in joules, from time, measured in seconds.

Prepare two descriptions: “Device A transfers 60 joules in 3 seconds.” “Device B transfers 60 joules in 6 seconds.” Ask which device has greater average power. Both transfer the same amount of energy, so the question requires attention to time.

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Model reading and reasoning together

Underline 60 joules in each description, then circle the different times. Say: “The energy is the same. I need to compare how quickly it is transferred.” Work through 60 ÷ 3 = 20 watts and 60 ÷ 6 = 10 watts.

Ask learners to match each calculation to its description. If someone chooses A because it transfers “more energy”, return to the two equal quantities. This response reveals a confusion between an amount and a rate. Repeating the definition would not identify it.

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Check a short written explanation

Model: “Device A has twice the average power of B because it transfers the same energy in half the time.” Ask learners to explain the comparison themselves. They can first point to the quantities or rehearse the explanation with a partner.

Check the scientific meaning and the reason separately. A response with 20 watts but no explanation needs a follow-up question about the times. A response that explains the rate but misspells power needs a spelling check. Those are different teaching decisions.

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Worked lesson: sources in Year 9 history

In history, vocabulary teaching should help learners judge what a source can tell them. Choose a short letter, speech or account already used in your unit. Teach source, evidence and purpose through the question learners are answering. Use a real curriculum text, with its author and date retained.

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Read the source details aloud

Display the author, date and intended audience beside the extract. Ask learners what each detail could help them decide. An account written during an event may differ from a later recollection. Its date alone does not tell you which account is more accurate.

Model a cautious claim: “This account tells us how the writer described the event to this audience.” Then identify a sentence relevant to the lesson question. Explain why it is useful evidence. Avoid treating every primary source as accurate or every later account as unreliable.

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Compare an account with another source

Give learners a second short source addressing the same issue. Ask them to find one agreement or difference. A writing prompt can begin: “Both accounts state…” or “The accounts differ about…”. Learners must complete it using details from the texts.

Finish by asking what remains uncertain. Two sources that agree may share an author, purpose or information. Encourage learners to identify what further evidence would help. Check whether they use source to name the material and evidence to explain how it supports a claim.

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Plan vocabulary together in fifteen minutes

A staff meeting needs a small, useful decision. Bring the next text or task from two subjects. Use the pack's blank word map to agree what each department means by a shared word. Plan where it will be taught and used, while keeping each subject's meaning clear.

1. Two minutes: identify words learners need for the next sequence of lessons.
2. Four minutes: compare subject meanings and likely misunderstandings.
3. Six minutes: prepare a definition, example and check of understanding.
4. Three minutes: agree when to revisit the words and review ordinary learner work.

For example, a maths and music teacher can plan separate uses of volume. Each teaches their own meaning, then refers to the other context. A curriculum knowledge organiser can hold agreed definitions. The teaching still happens through subject tasks.

If the school uses Word Aware, connect these decisions to its existing vocabulary routines. The Word Aware STAR approach provides another way to organise word teaching. The shared planning pack supports coordination; it does not replace that programme or its guidance.

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Check meaning through subject work

Check whether learners use a word to explain the content. After teaching source, show a river diagram and a historical letter. Ask learners to identify the relevant meaning and give a reason. Use classroom questioning strategies to expose the difference between recognising a word and understanding it.

Return to a word during a later task. In a short retrieval practice activity, ask learners to choose the right meaning and use it in a new example. Accept speech, writing, pointing or a labelled diagram when these show what learners know. Check whether a learner understands the word, even when handwriting or speaking to the class is difficult.

After two weeks, compare a few pieces of normal classwork with names removed. Look for the right meaning, an example that fits and a sound reason. If learners repeat a definition but misuse the word, teach it again in the task where they were confused. Use the review to decide what to teach next.

Sort the responses by the next teaching action. A correct definition with the wrong example calls for a comparison of meanings. A sound explanation with weak spelling calls for work on the written word. A blank answer calls for another way to check understanding before judging the subject knowledge.

Ask a learner who cannot start the flooding paragraph to explain the diagram aloud. Use that response to decide whether they need vocabulary, a sentence starter or more subject teaching. At the next staff review, bring the original task beside the work. Colleagues can then see what the response was meant to show.

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Limitations of disciplinary literacy

Subject-specific teaching cannot replace support with decoding, fluency or general reading strategies. Faggella-Luby et al. (2012) argue for combining disciplinary approaches with general strategy instruction for adolescents who struggle. A learner who cannot read a science paragraph may need supported reading alongside its vocabulary. Their difficulty is not evidence that they cannot understand science.

A completed word map does not show what learners have learnt. The pack is based upon the evidence from the EEF on teaching literacy through the curriculum. Check what learners understand in lessons, and adjust the support. Keep teaching subject spelling and sentence structures where they matter, alongside the school's wider literacy work.

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References

Beck, I. L., McKeown, M. G., & Kucan, L. (2013). Bringing words to life: Robust vocabulary instruction (2nd ed.). Guilford Press. View publisher.

Butlin, C. (2024, May 16). EEF blog: Sowing the seeds of disciplinary literacy. Education Endowment Foundation. View source.

Education Endowment Foundation. (2019). Improving literacy in secondary schools: Guidance report. View report.

Faggella-Luby, M., Graner, P., Deshler, D., & Drew, S. (2012). Building a house on sand: Why disciplinary literacy is not sufficient to replace general strategies for adolescent learners who struggle. Topics in Language Disorders, 32(1), 69-84. View publisher.

Institute of Physics. (n.d.). Power. IOPSpark. View glossary.

Shanahan, T., & Shanahan, C. (2008). Teaching disciplinary literacy to adolescents: Rethinking content-area literacy. Harvard Educational Review, 78(1), 40-59. View publisher.

Shanahan, T., & Shanahan, C. (2012). What is disciplinary literacy and why does it matter? Topics in Language Disorders, 32(1), 7-18. View publisher.

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Next lesson, model how you read one subject paragraph, then ask learners to use its key vocabulary in a short explanation.