Upload
national-writing-project
View
1.073
Download
0
Tags:
Embed Size (px)
DESCRIPTION
A panel of children's literacy and science education experts were on Capitol Hill to champion a new approach to STEM education that will make these critical disciplines more accessible to young people. Introducing The Curious Adventures of Sydney and Symon in: Water Wonders, a new STEM-meets-literacy resource for children ages 6-8, the National Writing Project, Reading Is Fundamental, and FableVision outlined the importance of their collaborative effort, and provided examples of how Water Wonders is currently being used in children's literacy programs nationwide.
Citation preview
READING, WRITING AND SCIENCE: SYNERGISTIC LEARNING
OPPORTUNITIES
Inverness Research March 30, 2011
A Briefing for the STEM Caucus
www.inverness-research.org
MAIN MESSAGES
• EARLY LEARNING IN SCIENCE, WRITING AND READING ARE ALL IMPORTANT
• EARLY SCIENCE LEARNING IS BEING PUSHED OUT OF THE SCHOOLS
• GREAT POTENTIAL FOR SYNERGISTIC STEM LEARNING OPPORTUNITIES – IN SCHOOL – OUT OF SCHOOL
• OPPORTUNITIES DO NOT REALIZE THEMSELVES; THEY NEED INFRASTRUCTURE SUPPORT
EARLY SCIENCE LEARNING IS IMPORTANT
Finis Origine Pendet
Meaningful engagement with science in early years is a critical influence on the academic pathways studentschoose in middle and high school.
(Tai, Liu, Maltese, & Fan, 2006)
Finis Origine Pendet
“Encouragement of interest and exposure to the sciences should not be ignored in favor of an emphasis on standardized test preparation…*
Tai, R.H.; Liu, Chrinstine Qu Liu, Maltese, Adam V.; Fan, Sitano. (2006). Planning Early for Careers in Science. Science (312)1143-1144
Contributions of Early STEM Learning
Potential Benefits of Early Science Learning Experiences• Foundation to further science learning• Foundation to further intellectual development• Fostering “activation” -- further engagement and
excitement in school/out of school STEM activities • Providing a broader contribution to literacy
ELEMENTARY SCIENCE IS DISAPPEARING FROM THE SCHOOLS
THE IMPORTANCE OF LEARNING TO WRITE AT AN EARLY AGE
“Writing, properly understood, is thought on paper…The reward of disciplined writing is a mind equipped to think.
“Writing education will never realize its potential as an engine of opportunity and economic growth until a writing revolution puts the power of language and communication in their proper place in the classroom.”
- The National Commission on WritingIn America’s Schools and Colleges
“. . . in today’s workplace writing is a ‘threshold skill’ for hiring and promotion . . . .
Writing is a ticket to professional opportunity . . . .
Employers spend billions annuallycorrecting writing deficiencies ….”
Writing: A Ticket to Work…or a Ticket Out – A Survey of Business LeadersConducted by College Board
“Effective writing skills are important in all stages of life from early education to future employment.”
- National Center for Education Statistics (U.S. Department of Education), The Condition of Education, p. 70
THE IMPORTANCE OF LEARNING TO READ AT AN
EARLY AGE
• (Can you read this powerpoint?)• (Did it matter that you learned how to read
at an early age?)
RES IPSA LOQUITUR
The Potential for Synergy
SCIENCEMATH
ENGINEERINGTECHNOLOGY
WRITING READING
Science Literacy
Inquiry science, which promotes students’ construction of meaning through exploration of scientific phenomenon, observations, experiments, and hands-on activities, provides an authentic context for language use.
(National Research Council, 1996)
Science Literacy
Cultivating science skills within literacy development can be a powerful way to build reading students’ skills and learn science content at the same time.
(Carnegie Corp. of NY and Institute for Advanced Study Report, 2007)
Science Literacy
As children engage in scientific activities, they use and learn academic language that accomplishes a range of scientific purposes, e.g., description, formulating scientific hypothesis, proposing alternatives, classifying, inferring, interpreting, predicting and generalizing. In addition inquiry based science environments provide children with a meaningful and engaging context for learning language.
(T. Stoddart, A. Pinal, M. Latzke, D. Canaday, 2002)
Science Literacy
“Hands-on, investigation-based science is an effective context for the teaching and learning of expository writing. Writing fosters thinking about and internalization of concepts through language; science experience generates important, compelling content about which to write.”
-Finding, 2003 Inverness Research evaluation
Writing In Elementary Science Can Raise Science Achievement And
Help Shrink the Achievement Gap
Seattle Public Schools out-performed WA average in 5th grade State Science Assessment in 2003-4 and 2004-5
– District demographics predicted lower scores, but science scores were higher
Shrinking the achievement gap– Higher science scores in lowest-SES schools correlated
to teacher participation in Science-Writing Program
Two-year Evaluation by National Center for Research on Evaluation, Standards and Student Testing, UCLA
EFFECTIVE INTEGRATION DOES NOT HAPPEN AUTOMATICALLY
A Need for Research on Design and
Implementation
Although there is strong support for the use of science and literacy strategies at the elementary level, little research has been conducted on the issues that teachers encounter as they incorporate these new practices into their instruction. Pegg, Jerine (2010). Integrating Literacy into Elementary Science: Teacher Concerns and their Resolutions. Electronic Journal of Literacy Through Science, v. 9. http://ejlts.ucdavis.edu/sites/ejlts.ucdavis.edu/files/articles/Pegg_EJLTS_final.pdf
An I3 Project
Integrating English Language Development and Science: A Professional Development Approach
The framing hypothesis for this project is that strategically designed professional development focused on integrated ELD and science will increase the percentage of highly effective teachers, as measured by both teacher performance and student achievement in English language development and in science
The Exploratorium and the Sonoma Valley Unified School District
Integration – A topic of study
The Electronic Journal of Literacy through Science (EJLTS) will be devoted to addressing science education by focusing on "Literacy through Science" in the areas of:
1. Language Development (Reading and Writing) and Science Education 2. Bilingualism and Science Education 3. Scientific Literacy for All
A Need for Infrastructure as well as “Projects”
• The National Writing Project • Reading is Fundamental • The National Science Project, Math Project,
Reading Project…?
THE FEDERAL ROLE IN EDUCATION IS TO HELP DEVELOP AND SUPPORT STABLE NATIONAL “IMPROVEMENT INFRASTRUCTURES” THAT CAN SUPPORT IMPROVEMENT AND DISSEMINATE INNOVATIONS ON AN ONGOING BASIS …
Dr. Mark St. John…
A need for materials, books, activities, kits,
tools…
Materials designed for a range of venues and audiences:• Schools• After school programs • Informal science settings (museums, camps,
nature centers…) • Families• Youth (autonomous)
Books: “The Boy Scientist”
• The need for the chance to assume and try on roles, identities and habits of mind… to try things and see what happens… to use the imagination
Supporting the enthusiasm of the next
generation