Writing in the SCIENCE content

District Learning Day July 6, 2015

TIME & Room (TBA)3rd -5th Grade Departmentalized (Science)

DO NOW

• On the index cards in front of you answer the following questions

• WHAT IS YOUR: • Name• School• Grade• Email• Cell phone (Optional)• What your expectations this year?

Know:• The elementary science professional development sessions for K-5 science teachers are designed

for teachers to know how to instruct students in writing for evidence of logical conclusions, justification of answers and processes, and the use of facts to explain their thinking.

Understand:• If teachers use literacy in science instruction at least 15-20 minutes (a couple of times each

week), students reading levels will increase and performance in the science content will improve significantly.

Be able to Do:• Use inquiry activities where students analyze immediate, concrete data to develop ideas and

content for a particular writing task. • Provide opportunities to read, analyze, and emulate models of good writing. • To apply science concepts to real world application using investigations, and inquiry based

learning.

Objectives

Norms•Be present and engaged

•Be respectful of differences in perspective while challenging each other productively and respectively

•Monitor “air time”

•Make the most of the time we have

•Stay focused on students

Literacy in the Content Areas

• Models and reinforces metacognitive strategies, e.g., self-correction, questioning, visualization, annotation, connections/PK, summarization, graphic organizers

• Acknowledges each content area has its own literacy norms, text structures, and challenges (e.g., genres, vocabulary, concepts, and topics)

• Includes explicit instruction (including modeling) and practice in the literacies and content of each discipline

• Appreciates vocabulary is strongly related to general reading achievement; includes both direct, explicit instruction and indirect, learning from context (e.g., listening, other reading instruction, reading) to support vocabulary and comprehension

• Focuses explicit vocabulary instruction on words that fall between two tiers--words that students already know and those that are so rare as to be of little utility—and are used across content areas (academic vocabulary)

• Leverages writing as a means to learn and develop—how students make sense of, synthesize, summarize, and evaluate their learning (not just to assess content learning)

• Uses discussion and writing prompts to reflect on current understandings, questions, and learning processes help improve content-area learning

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Academic Language • Used in textbooks, classrooms, assignments, and tests

tends to use more complex text than spoken English• Different in structure and vocabulary from everyday

spoken, social English; many who speak English well have trouble w/ academic language used in high school and college

• Allows students to acquire knowledge and academic skills, and successfully navigate school policies, assignments, expectations, and norms

• Associated w/ academic performance

Goals for the Day

• Learning TargetsI can explain the rationale for using science notebooks as an instructional toolI can scaffold instruction to support student learning for data analysis and writing explanationsI can utilize Writing in Science to purposefully plan instruction that improves student learning

Science

Notebook

Initial (Informal) Assessment

Minding Your P’s and Q’sThroughout this session, we

will be referring to Writing in Science. This book covers the session topics in more depth, and can thus serve as a valuable resource for you in the future.

Preview Writing in Science by asking yourself (and answering) the two questions on the following slide as you skim through the text.

Science Notebooks

• Is a science notebook different from a science journal or log?

• How have you used science notebooks in the past?

Where is the trouble?

Does it lie with content

or with communication?

How would these comments help improve your communication in student writing?

Add more detail

Give more support

What is the evidence?

Your conclusion needs to be stronger

How does this relate?

You need to be more clear

Comment of your choice

What is the data trying to say?

Five Big Assumptions

• Students are motivated to learn new concepts and skills when they are engaged in meaningful learning experiences, such as those in inquiry-based science units.

• The ultimate goal is for students to develop an understanding of science concepts, and to do so, they must learn how to think scientifically.

…Assumptions (cont.)

• Students also need to learn specific scientific skills (e.g., making observations and interpreting data) and forms of expository writing (e.g., data analysis and conclusions) to help them construct their understanding of concepts and develop their ability to think analytically. Science notebooks serve as a tool in this learning.

…Assumptions (cont.)

• Students need scaffolding and modeling to help them learn science concepts, scientific thinking and skills, and expository writing.

• Elementary students have limited time and energy for making entries in their science notebooks, so their entries should focus on expository writing that will deepen their conceptual understanding and/or develop their scientific skills and thinking.

Science Notebooks• The science notebook is not a product that

looks good, but it is a product to support learning and to develop expository writing skills.

• The science notebook is not about what students did, but it is about helping them to make meaning of what they did.

• Avoid having students write about how they felt, what was their favorite…,what they did, or a generic, “What did you learn today?

• Notebooks should be for formative rather than summative purposes and, therefore, should not be graded.

Writing in Science:How to Scaffold Instruction to Support Learning

Science Session• Engagement

Date and Focus Question

• Active InvestigationRecord data, take notes, make illustrations or diagrams

• Shared Reflection• Application

Writing Session• Shared Review

Questions about shared reflection of conclusions based on focus question

• Shared WritingModel structure

• Scaffolding• Independent Writing

Use scaffolding to complete notebook entriesFulwiler, B.R. Pg. 152

Engagement

• Write the date in numerals on the first page of your notebook entry.

• Write the focus question on the top line of your notebook entry page. How many drops of each different liquid will a penny hold?

Shared Reflection• Discuss investigation

What does your data show?How does your data compare with other groups?

• Introduce vocabulary words“Students must learn scientific vocabulary after they have had a concrete

experience.”

“Ideas develop from experiences, and technical terms develop from the ideas and operations that are rooted in those experiences. When terms come first, students just tend to memorize so much technical jargon that it sloughs off in a short while.”

Organize the words conceptually, rather than randomly or alphabetically.Write “generic” science vocabulary in a different color than you will use for the unit words. The “generic” word cards can be reused with any/every science unit.

Application

• How does the investigation connect to other observations or experiences that you have had? This is the “SO WHAT” of the exploration

• What are other questions that you have as a result of the investigation?Where would you encounter different liquids?What are the properties of a liquid?Are the properties of all liquids the same?

Writing Session

Shared Review

• Focus is on processing what was learned from the investigation.

• Question students about the shared reflection of conclusions from the science session.

• Remember, this is usually done the next day so this review is important!

• The deepest sin against the human mind is to believe things without evidence. Science is simply common sense at its best.

Thomas Huxley

Shared Writing

• Model structure as the students provide the content.

• Focus of writing will be on:Comparing and contrastingCause and effectReasoningData analysisDrawing conclusions from data

ScaffoldingData Analysis Writing• Introductory/topic sentence:

This graph/table shows…• Summarize the data:

Qualitative data• More/less; longer/shorter

Quantitative data• Actual quantities/measurements

• Concluding statement(s):Therefore, I think…

• Outliers, inconsistent dataSome data were inconsistent. I think this happened, because…

• Connection to the real worldThis information could be important because…

Now Let’s Write

• We do:Using the data provided by the teacher, let’s work through a writing session together.• Water—60• Alcohol—58• Glycerin—40

• You do:Use scaffolding to write in science notebooks using your own data from the activity

Share With a Partner

• Considering your thoughts at the beginning of this session and your experiences today, have your thoughts about science notebooks changed? If so, how? If not, why?

Literacy in Science• With your district team, examine the CCR

Standards for Writing • How might the type of writing that you did

during the “science session” begin to prepare students to meet these standards?

• Highlight specific standards that were addressed or partially addressed.

Take Home Message

• We want students to think scientifically and to communicate their thinking through writing.

• In order to be successful, students must be explicitly taught how to do this.

• This requires time! Practice and Modeling are essential.

Remember . . .When supporting Exceptional Students (SPED) and English Second

Language (ESL)

• Work collaboratively with your Exceptional Children teacher in

your school.

• Try ability grouping. Have a few peers that can support the student.

• Keep lessons concrete. Use visual and concrete materials as much

as possible.

• Give repetition and clarification regularly.

Goals for the Day

• Learning TargetsI can explain the rationale for using science notebooks as an instructional toolI can scaffold instruction to support student learning for data analysis and writing explanationsI can utilize Writing in Science to purposefully plan instruction that improves student learning

Evidence Reasoning

Next Steps

TASK – back to school level groups:• Reflect upon the effective writing practices

• Identify basic steps additional resources, and obstacles to your implementation.

Questions/Comments/Concerns

• Terilyn McChriston, Ed.S• mcchristontj@scsk12.org• 901-416-7986- desk• 901-416-4557- fax• www.scssciencedepartment.weebly.com• Password: energy