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Next Generation Science Standards

Teaching Reading and Writing

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Bryan Mahaffey Bryan Mahaffey 217 Points

How do you teach reading and writing skills in a high school science classroom?

I am teaching freshman physical science (chemistry). 

Shannon Navy Shannon Dubois 1039 Points

This is a really loaded question. You will likely need to teach literacy skills alongside science content. I would model a lot of reading and breaking down of questions through think-alouds. I used RAFT (role, audience, format, topic) strategies in my classes to incorporate literacy with the content. PBL units are also good ways to incorporate literacy.

Rachel Blackwood Rachel Blackwood 105 Points

In my classroom I like to give articles on current events that match the content we are learning. I try to do this once every two weeks. I always require a writing assignment when we do this. Some times I have the students write an arguement on whethere they think the results in the article are valid or what experiment they could do to further the research. This gives them a chance to think critically about the real world application of the science and a chance for me to help them with their skills. I work with 7th grade integrated science and they really like doing these types of assignments. 

Sidney Baumgartner Sidney Baumgartner 335 Points

Hi Bryan! I think that it is essential to create cross-curricular lesson/unit plans that pull into all different types of subjects. Incorporating reading and writing can be tied into science quite well. For example, creating a journal to write observations on a longer experiment can implement writing for students. Another writing skill you can bring into chemistry is lab reports, summaries, graphic organizers, or picture of the day (have science write down all the observations they see). Starting your lesson with an article that relates to either the lesson you are going to teach or a reading that relates to something that is relevant to science now can be a way to incorporate reading standards. Another reading skill that you can incorporate may be summarizing what they read, either from their text or reading article. 

From my science methods class, creating cross-curricular lesson plans actually help students make more connections, build on their prior knowledge, explore new information, and apply their learning to the real-world. I would just find creative ways to include literacy skills within labs!

- Sidney Baumgartner, preservice teacher at Wartburg College

Nicole Anthony Nicole Anthony 702 Points

I am a student teacher, I agree with Shannon Dubois. One way my clinical supervisor teaches reading and writing in the science classroom is by having the student work on critical responses, she instructs the students they need to write in complete sentences and gives them guidelines on what they need to include in their response. There are many ways to incorporate reading and writing in a science classroom, even when they are doing a short reading of their notes and having students create annotations is a great way to improve reading and writing skills.

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