Why science and literacy are a great match

I am so excited to share with you my video presentation from my summer adventures.  My science coordinator, Mike Pratte, nominated me for the Robert E. Yager Award for Excellence in Education from the NSTA.  I was honored to be selected as the recipient for District VIII (Kentucky, West Va. and Va.) As part of this award, I was asked to attend the NSTA Congress in Omaha Nebraska.  My family and I decided this would be a great opportunity for a road trip and so we loaded up the car and off we went.  Today, the NSTA posted our videos on their website.  I was nervous to watch myself, but was actually pleased with the results.  This was going to be my next blog post anyway..so why not just show the video instead?

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Word Lanyards for science

So once we determine the words that we want to focus on, what do we do to ensure the students learn them? I know we introduced the words and then had the kids write them in a vocabulary journal.  They even used research methods online to find the synonyms, antonyms and prefixes/suffixes on their own. That's very empowering and engaging...but it is not enough. What do we do next?

In the past, we may have scoured the internet (or even the teacher's store) searching for games, worksheets even crafts that may be "cute" and "fun" for the kids.  However, even with all that extra work and effort, the kids often didn't make the connections or remember the meanings.

Word Nerds  gives a lot of suggestions that we have tried and used in our classroom.  Our favorite is the Word Lanyards. 

With the lanyards, we type up the six key words along with synonyms, antonyms or words with prefixes or suffixes added to the base word.  Our team takes turns typing up the lists and we print copies for each classroom.  Then we cut out the words and put them in the lanyards.  (In my case, I have a few late bus kids cut and put them in the lanyards!)

Each day, students take one lanyard to wear throughout the day.  We use the words during transitions (if you have a synonym for ____, line up), brain breaks and morning meeting games.

Here are some ideas: 

Scramble - By the time I get to 5 find all the words that are related. They should get into six groups with the synonyms or antonyms together with the key word.  Check to make sure they are correct. Once finished, sit down!


Word Dude and Checking Dude – Split class into two groups – Word dudes on one side of the room and Checking dudes on the other.   Then say by the time I count to 5, get into a group of two.  Word dudes have to give a sentence with their word in it while checking dude checks to see if they are right.  If they use the words correctly, they should give a silent cheer, do a silent dance move and then go back to their side of the room.  Then student jobs switch and repeat the process. Should take 5 minutes.

Pictionary – choose one of the 22 words and draw a picture on the whiteboard.  Have students guess what it is.

Create a tableau using the words. A Tableau is a "freeze picture" that acts out the word. Google it for more information!

We have found that our fourth graders have done these activities without any problems - as long as it is quick, fun and move on!

Hope this helps your day...

 

 

 

  








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Purposefully planning vocabulary in the Science Classroom

Have you ever wondered why we continue to teach the same thing over and over again...even when we know it isn't working for 80% of the kids? We hear "we've always done this".  "It covers the standards."  But if it isn't working, then why do we continue to waste time on it???

This summer I noticed a lot of chatter on Pinterest about the book Word Nerds. I figured I needed to read this book!

Guess what?  I loved it! When my team and I got together to plan for the upcoming year, we discussed the ideas in the book and decided it was worth a try.

First idea: Vocabulary should not be random words.  Instead they should be purposefully picked to tie into the curriculum in your classroom during the two week vocabulary cycle.  I also feel strongly that the words need to be experienced in order to connect meaning - rather through a science investigation, a math activity or a social studies role play.  Together, we searched through our curriculum to find words that would overlap in science, social studies and math content.  Words such as position, rapidly, current, prior and more.  We pick six words for the week.

Second:  Once we choose the words, we create a vocabulary guide sheet for the teachers. This is really powerful for us. It helps keep vocabulary consistent in each room as well as the skills we want to address.  As you see, we also add antonyms, synonyms, prefixes and suffixes to our basic six words.

Third:  The students are finally introduced to the words.  First present cloze sentences in which the students predict what the words will be.  Next, share the words (I do it one at a time) while the students guess which words fit in which sentences. (Oh yes, that would be context clues!) Next the kids are given a vocabulary journal that is full of Frayer Model graphic organizers.  I bought this vocabulary journal at TPT for just $1.00.  It's a great buy! We are lucky to have laptops that we share as a grade level. Students work as pairs to search for the new vocab word, find antonyms (if there are some), synonyms, and a definition in kid friendly language.  Then they draw a picture and write a 7 up sentence (with at least 7 words). The kids like the ownership of searching for the words themselves.  Sites we use include www.dictionary.com and www.yourdictionary.com .

Fourth: Now, we meet up again and share words that the kids have found.  We add them to our class chart (and anymore that we have found in the planning phase) and post the chart in the room.     All of these parts take about three days to complete.  So what do we do for the rest of the two week cycle? Oh that will be another post! 

 

Science and Literacy...a Natural Connection

Where have I been? Busy teaching in my classroom!  Between the start of the new school year and the duties of parenting a teenager and a ten year old (sports, band, etc..) I haven't had time to sit down and work on my blog.  It is something I miss terribly...especially with all the amazing connections we have made this year in science.  I'd like to share a few things we have been working on.

First, all of my science lessons start with a hands-on activity.  Our first unit was Environments - a FOSS third edition unit that explores environmental factors and how they influence organisms.  We have looked at conditions such a light with isopods, salt with brine shrimp, and temperature with mealworms. The kids have observed these organisms thrive and die.  We have watched the mealworms go through their life cycle already in the span of six weeks!

Many of you know that I have fought for science instruction in the elementary school and have made a case for at least 45 minutes of instruction.  We have worked really hard to integrate our reading/math lessons to tie in elements of graphing, equations, data collections and literacy.

Here are some ways that I have included vocabulary instruction in my science classroom. I have found that by introducing a topic with concrete materials and then moving on to the conceptual level most children are able to "hook" on to the vocabulary.  What do you think?

PS...I HATE my white walls.  My principal had them painted this summer and I absolutely HATE them.  I have two autistic students and finally realized that the bright white walls, white ceiling, and white tile floor combined with the fluorescent lighting was not a good combination! Luckily I have two sets of lights and have taken to only turning one on (dimmer setting) and that has helped.  I am thinking of at least painting a long rectangle between the bulletin board where those posters are to accent my posters.  Of course, that takes time!  ha ha!

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Drawing Conclusions

I know I am not the only teacher out there who when asking how to draw a conclusion, gets the response "you need to draw a picture."  In my case, it makes perfect sense! I teach the kids all year to draw to show your understanding of a concept.  However, when they see that as a test question - drawing a picture is not an option, right?

So to address this idea, my teammates and I decided to start with the fact that draw is a multiple meaning word.  I started with a graphic organizer with the word draw in the top box.

Then, we brainstormed all the meanings of draw - to draw a picture, to draw a card, to draw blood, to draw the blinds, etc... One of my kids said "underwear...you know drawers!"  Ha ha.. don't worry I cleared it up!

We talked about the fact that draw means to pull out in many situations.  The same is true when you draw a conclusion. You are pulling out information from an experiment that you have finished or a text you have read.

Example from the classroom...



We have been working on conductors and insulators in my science class.  We started with a question:  What materials conduct electricity or insulate electricity?

I predefined what the science terms mean with a science word chart.

Science words	What they mean
Conductor   insulator	Allows electricity to flow  through it   No electricity flows through it

Then they were given a baggie of materials to test in the circuit. The materials would be placed one at a time where the switch connects to complete the circuit.  These were the same objects we tested as being attracted to a magnet by the way and so many kids were convinced the same materials would work as conductors.  Of course, that was not the case.

They explored and tested and recorded their data on a T chart. They were surprised that all metals worked in the circuit - not just iron and steel.

When we finished it was time to "draw a conclusion".  To help them with this idea we looked back at our question and our data.  I wrote a sentence frame for students who felt like they needed extra support (ESL, SPEC ED, ADHD, etc...)  We also talked about the fact that wood does not complete a circuit, but also would not be a good insulator due to fire risks.  They got that pretty easily!

I conclude that ________________ materials conduct electricity.  Insulators can be made of __________________________________________. 


Hope this example helps you out! 

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Vocabulary Connections

If you have ever read my blog before, you know that I am passionate about including vocabulary connections in my science classroom.  What you may not know, is that I am passionate about including natural vocabulary connections in all curricular areas! 

For the past several years, with the help of my wonderful mentor Kip Bisignano from Delta Education, I have implemented these strategies into my classroom. What has been the result?  Well, not only have my science scores risen but my math, reading and social studies scores have risen as well.  I am NOT putting more time into reading instruction - but instead am putting more reading, language and writing into my content areas.  One hour is enough for guided reading!

In thinking about the new year, I thought it would be great to have a planning guide with proven structures listed and ready for me to pull from and plan.  I have created a list of 20 tried and true structures, many of which I have already blogged about.  For the ones I haven't yet blogged about, well...look for them in the future!

The actual planning sheet includes a spot for the topic you are teaching.  For example, the next topic we are teaching is force and motion.  I would write that general topic in the star. 
Next, I would purposefully plan what content words I would teach - like push, pull, gravity, speed, acceleration, deceleration, stop.  Third, there is a spot for Science Process words or Critical thinking.  We always compare and contrast in this unit as well as predict, conclude and observe.  I included Related Books to remind myself to read "Rollercoaster" by Maria Frazee as well as other nonfiction books.

The last box is the place where I can dump my ideas for connections to the topic - word wall, guess my word game for morning meeting, concept maps, jigsaw activities for reading nonfiction text to clarify force and motion concepts, drawing diagrams of a roller coaster to label where we see forces at work, and highlighting vocabulary words in our science notebook itself. 

I hope you can use this FREE resource for many lessons - not just in science.  Please drop me a note to let me know if you used it and how it worked for you!

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