Getting students actively involved in reading

The authors present ways to help students to interpret and interact with textbook language. These are methods that English teachers commonly use for lessons, so I imagine they would work per... See More

The authors present ways to help students to interpret and interact with textbook language. These are methods that English teachers commonly use for lessons, so I imagine they would work perfectly well in science. And I know of teachers who already use student generated raps to help learn science concepts. I found the simulations and performing expository materials similar to what I do in class anyway to keep students interested - I just never thought to get them involved with developing it themselves. With the group of at-risk students I have this year, I can see some of them really getting interested in these types of activities and I will be integrating them into my lesson plans.

Performing Science To Understand Science

This article is a different and interesting way to address comprehension in science texts. In essence the authors of this article provide steps and examples of how an important informationa... See More

This article is a different and interesting way to address comprehension in science texts. In essence the authors of this article provide steps and examples of how an important informational passage in a text can be converted to a ‘Found Poem’, ‘A Rap or readers Theatre Script’, and/or a ’Performance Simulation’ and then performed. The authors say that doing these activities in a performance setting addresses middle school students need to be both social and energetic. This sounds intriguing but I wonder how much comprehension the students acquire through this process.