Sense-Making in the Disciplines: Literacy Resource for Interrogating Past and Future As Teacher Pedagogical Tool

Session Type: Symposium

Abstract

**Abstract (120 words):**
Amid today’s social and political challenges, civic reasoning is vital for preparing students to engage with complex issues. This study, informed by the *Educating for Civic Reasoning and Discourse* report (NAEd), examines the design and use of the Sense-Making in the Disciplines (SMD) tool to support close reading and critical analysis of texts in literature and history for grades 6–12. These disciplines offer rich opportunities to explore civic, cultural, and personal complexities. Addressing persistent gaps in reading and civics achievement, the project emphasizes reasoning processes over rote outcomes. Grounded in learning science, SMD supports teacher autonomy and provides strategies for teaching disciplinary comprehension and argumentation. Findings highlight professional learning impacts on both teacher practice and student civic engagement.

Sub Unit

• Division K - Teaching and Teacher Education / Division K - Section 01: Teaching and Teacher Education in the Content Areas

Chair

• Elizabeth Birr Moje, University of Michigan

Papers

• Sense-Making in the Disciplines: Literacy Resource for Interrogating Past and Future As Teacher Pedagogical Tool - Carol D. Lee, Northwestern University

• SenseMaker as a Tool for Literary Reasoning - Yolanda J. Majors, Northwestern University

• The SMD Tool for Disciplinary Reasoning and Design for Identity Development: A Teachers View - Leslie A. Russell, Northwestern University

• Shifting Mindsets: SenseMaker as a disciplinary literacies and reasoning - Mariya Yukhymenko, California State University - Fresno

Session Organizer

• Yolanda J. Majors, Northwestern University

Discussant

• Elizabeth Birr Moje, University of Michigan