Literacy Strategies in Science to Support

Student Achievement

Helping students become better observers, readers, and communicators!

Wendy DeMers

Consider this….•How small IS small?

Perspective is Part of the Equation

• Everyone brings their own “personal eye-view” to the table

• So How do we, as teachers, level the playing field for our students as the need for reading for comprehension and providing evidence takes center stage in all content areas?

Hmmmmm?

Draw a diagram of (your) clothespin and

make sure to include all parts. A side-view is preferred.Now! Explain clearly and concisely what is involved in order to use this object to clip and hold other objects? You may need to run tests to collect

evidence!Be prepared to explain your

reasoning; orally, through a diagram, or through an expository composition.

“Present information, findings, and supporting evidence so that listeners can follow the line of reasoning and the organization, development, and style are appropriate to task,purpose, and audience.”

As educators we need to be divergent thinkers in our approach to using resources, to engaging our students at a higher cognitive level, and in holding students accountable through assessment.

Instructional VisionTo meet the raised expectations, we must heighten our focus on what our students need. Specifically, we must ensure this year that our students utilize all opportunities to strengthen their skills.• In Science / ELA

• Recognize and attend to details in text, charts, maps, and diagrams

• Comprehend (access) meaningful, on-level texts • Speak and write in response to meaningful texts • Speak and write to explain their reasoning using evidence and examples

Teacher Leader Summit: Day 1 Ready!This Summit will prepare teachers to make these shifts beginning the first day of the 2014-15 school year. This will include focused training on:

• Student Learning Targets • Assessment • Standards, curricula, and instructional strategies

CLAIM

EVIDENCE

REASONING

Start at the beginning of the year shaping expectations for student responses…

PERFORMANCE RUBRIC (ORAL and/or WRITTEN)

100

Gives a 90 point response and connects the answer to the supporting evidence, gives relevant examples, and uses academic language

90Gives an 80 point response and includes supporting evidence and examples (from the text or from experience)

80Uses full sentences to clearly and correctly answer the question using a question stem

70Uses full sentences to correctly answer the question

Using the rubric …

• Examine the following graphic and answer this question:• What is the difference between Gamma rays and Radio waves?

• Use the rubric to craft your best response!

“Write informative/explanatory texts to examine and convey complex ideas and Information clearly and accurately through the effective selection, organization, andAnalysis of content.”

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“Visual Literacy”“We are a visually illiterate society. … Three R’s are nolonger enough. Our world is changing fast—faster than

we can keep up with our historical modes of thinking andcommunicating. Visual literacy—the ability to both readand write visual information; the ability to learn visually;to think and solve problems in the visual domain—will, as

the information revolution evolves, become a requirement for success in business and in life.”

• Dave Gray, founder of visual thinking company XPLANE

Copyright 2012, ISTE ® (International Society for Technology in Education), Media Literacy in the K–12 Classroom, Frank W. Baker.

All rights reserved. Distribution and copying of this excerpt is allowed for educational purposes and use with full attribution to ISTE.

20 BOXES• Great for providing a guide to help students identify the most important information to take away from their science reading

• Provides another opportunity for multiple (close) readings

• Assists students in building concise, effective summaries

Making 20 boxes work for you!

Sample reading 20 boxes

“ Choose language that expresses ideas precisely and concisely, recognizing and eliminating wordiness and redundancy.”

Suggested “How To”• Read the handout• Go back and mark (with a pencil) all words that you

think are needed in order to understand what the writer is telling us

• List the words on the back of the 20 Boxes page• Mark out any words that you think really don’t support

understanding• Use the remaining words to compose your 20 word

statement• Re-read and decide if your sentence(s) completely cover

the writer’s intent (How many points would you get?)• If composing your statement is difficult, important

words may be missing!

Alternatively….

• If you are working with younger students or students needing accommodations, you may want to have them use index cards instead of listing and confining them to a small box.

• Any improvements or other ways to use this organizer?

Start at the beginning of the year building opportunities for students to improve their responses (written and

oral).• Create opportunities for students to collect data over a

long time period and to make sense of that data.• Assign tasks that involve sorting and classification so

that students attend to details and develop science observation skills

• Keep an eye open for relevant current events in the newspaper and other sources to provide students an opportunity to practice reading for information.

• Incorporate daily check-ins / exit tickets to allow students regular opportunities to practice writing clear and concise responses (on sticky notes, in journals, chart paper, index cards,…)

I hope this session has provided strategies to assist you as you develop better observers, writers, and communicators!

If you would take a moment to provide feedback, your time and input would be greatly appreciated!

• Enjoy the rest of the Summer Summit

• Wendy DeMers• Hynes Charter School• Middle School Science• New Orleans, La. 70124• 2ydnew2@gmail.com