article review 1

Kaylee Rasbury Dr. Taylor ELED 4314 3-23-2020 NSTA Journal Article Reviews Article 1: Scientific Journals: A Creative Assessment Tool 1. Why did you choose to put this article in your collec... See More

Kaylee Rasbury Dr. Taylor ELED 4314 3-23-2020 NSTA Journal Article Reviews Article 1: Scientific Journals: A Creative Assessment Tool 1. Why did you choose to put this article in your collection? - I chose this article because I love the idea of having students record their own thoughts and findings. This article does a great job of outlining some ideas on how too about doing that. 2. What new information did you learn? - I learned that journals can really help a teacher understand the students and where they are in the learning process. 3. What TEKS would it go with and how could you use this information in your classroom? 3.3 Scientific investigation and reasoning. The student knows that information, critical thinking, scientific problem solving, and the contributions of scientists are used in making decisions. The student is expected to: (A) analyze, evaluate, and critique scientific explanations by using evidence, logical reasoning, and experimental and observational testing; (B) represent the natural world using models such as volcanoes or the Sun, Earth, and Moon system and identify their limitations, including size, properties, and materials; and (C) connect grade-level appropriate science concepts with the history of science, science careers, and contributions of scientists. 3.4 Scientific investigation and reasoning. The student knows how to use a variety of tools and methods to conduct science inquiry. The student is expected to collect, record, and analyze information using tools, including cameras, computers, hand lenses, metric rulers, Celsius thermometers, wind vanes, rain gauges, pan balances, graduated cylinders, beakers, spring scales, hot plates, meter sticks, magnets, collecting nets, notebooks, and Sun, Earth, and Moon system models; timing devices; and materials to support the observation of habitats of organisms such as terrariums and aquariums. 3.2 Scientific investigation and reasoning. The student uses scientific practices during laboratory and outdoor investigations. The student is expected to: (F) communicate valid conclusions supported by data in writing, by drawing pictures, and through verbal discussion. 4. Based on your experience, is there anything in the article that you agree with? Disagree with? Have questions about it? - I thought this was a really cool article. It gave a lot of ideas on how to incorporate journaling, and I like that journaling allows students to think freely and yet it keeps them on task. This is a great way for teachers to monitor students learning and the way they think. You can also use these journals to incorporate other subjects into science as well.

Future Classroom

I found this article very interesting and a good way to incorporate other subject areas into the science curriculum we are using. I never thought about using a scientific journal as a way to... See More

I found this article very interesting and a good way to incorporate other subject areas into the science curriculum we are using. I never thought about using a scientific journal as a way to form and assessment but I think this is a great idea. I know this was written about a 3rd grade level but I feel like I could incorporate it into a younger grade level by altering the expectations. This article talked about using essay’s, poetry, and letters in the students science journal and for the older grades I think this is a great tool to use for many reasons. It helps the students work on their different styles of writing, allows for them to get down on paper what they just discussed or researched, and this can also be used as a tool for teachers to determine any gaps the students still have in their learning. This helps us to know what the students have learned, what concepts they are still struggling with, and allows us as teachers to be able to go back and fix those gaps. I think I could even do this in the younger grades with allowing them to maybe draw pictures and use a word wall to “write” what they learned. I feel like it would be simpler with the younger grades because they would not be writing a whole lot but seeing if they can explain what they have drawn we can still get the concepts they have grasped or the ones they are struggling with. This is also a good way to work on students writing and see where they need help and where their strengths are. I feel like this is a good assessment tool to take back into my future classroom and use not just with science curriculum but with any subject area as well.

Excellent Ideas!

I found this article to be so inspiring! I can see my students getting excited about being "authors" and having their writing "matter" and possibly be published as a collection at the end of... See More

I found this article to be so inspiring! I can see my students getting excited about being "authors" and having their writing "matter" and possibly be published as a collection at the end of the year. I know as a preservice teacher that there are many ideas out there, but this is one I will definitely incorporate into my plan.

Wonders of Scientific Writing

Most teachers would agree that there is not enough time to accomplish everything that is required in a day. Larissa Beckstead has a solution. She combines scientific conceptual learning wit... See More

Most teachers would agree that there is not enough time to accomplish everything that is required in a day. Larissa Beckstead has a solution. She combines scientific conceptual learning with proper written communication. She begins by teaching her students proper essay techniques and then moves on to writing scientific essays for a class journal. She also explains how to use a friendly letter to assess the students' knowledge of scientific content. Additionally, she uses poetry to explore the world of science through the student observations. The science notebook was key in all the writing tasks. She was able to assess the students and inspire a love of science. These are tips that I can certainly put into practice with my own third grade scientists!

Creative Assessment Tools

This article shows many excellent way for teachers to incorporate many aspects of language arts into a lesson. Connecting science and language arts is a great idea, and encouraging students... See More

This article shows many excellent way for teachers to incorporate many aspects of language arts into a lesson. Connecting science and language arts is a great idea, and encouraging students to show their understanding through creative writing is much more meaningful than just a typical assessment such as an exam or test. I enjoyed reading about how students constructed their own poems, or wrote letters to scientists. This helps students to find a meaningful connection with the topics being discussed, and I can't wait to include these kinds of activities within my future science classroom.

Review

I really liked this article because I thought the teacher did a great job of integrating science and language arts. In this class, the students would write their own science journal articles... See More

I really liked this article because I thought the teacher did a great job of integrating science and language arts. In this class, the students would write their own science journal articles in their science notebooks. Oftentimes in the younger elementary grades, teachers tend to leave science completely out of the curriculum, or only touch on it briefly throughout the year. I thought the students’ science notebooks were a great tool for assessment, but also because it was something they were proud of, and could show their previous teachers and parents. I think this is an easy and effective method that many teachers could implement in their classrooms. The teacher provided the students with an outline and a rubric to follow to help them get started with writing their own scientific journals. This made it easy for the teacher to read through their work and see which students understood the content and which ones did not. I also like this method because it can work for a multitude of lessons and is easily adaptable. I would love to use this method in my future classroom.

Scientific Journals

I love the idea of a creative assessment tool. Scientific journals are a great way for students to reflect on their understanding of an activity. The author describes that her class science ... See More

I love the idea of a creative assessment tool. Scientific journals are a great way for students to reflect on their understanding of an activity. The author describes that her class science journal are composed of articles that the students have written about their science investigations; using the actual data they collected in their studies. Students write articles, stories, and poems about the science concepts they have learned. This is a great idea for how to incorporate science and literacy into the elementary classroom.

Science Journals

I think that this article was extremely insightful when it came to explaining how to set up science journals within the classroom. I like how the author gave many specific examples of how sh... See More

I think that this article was extremely insightful when it came to explaining how to set up science journals within the classroom. I like how the author gave many specific examples of how she uses the science journals within her classroom as well as what unit she usually starts them on. I think that science journals are an excellent tool and find them helpful even now being a college student. I want to be able to take this article's information and incorporate it into my future classroom someday. The way the author explained setting up science journals and how to use them makes me want to follow her lead someday in my own classroom.

Science and Language Arts Integration

As a pre-service elementary teacher about to begin her student teaching, this article makes me so excited to have a classroom of my own to try this out on. This article seamlessly integrates... See More

As a pre-service elementary teacher about to begin her student teaching, this article makes me so excited to have a classroom of my own to try this out on. This article seamlessly integrates language arts and science by having students write science journal articles for their class journal. I really love this idea because in many lower elementary classrooms, science instruction is put on the back-burner due to the emphasis of math and language arts. It is my hope that this assessment tool will allow more science instruction at the lower levels because of the integration. Students are able to express their scientific knowledge in a variety of creative writing outlets. I think that this will help engage more learners because it reaches students who are really interested in writing and hesitant about science as well as those really interested in science and hesitant about writing. Overall, I think that this is an innovative and creative assessment strategy that could be adapted for use at any grade level.

How to Assess

When it comes to assessing students in science, it will be slightly different than other subjects. The author touches on the fact that proper grammar and science terminology must be taught ... See More

When it comes to assessing students in science, it will be slightly different than other subjects. The author touches on the fact that proper grammar and science terminology must be taught before any assignment is given. This is absolutely true because a student cannot be expected to do a full science report without having enough science background. This is especially true for young students. As students get older, they will have a little more science background knowledge but young students do not. In addition to this, the author touches on having enough material. This means that the teacher cannot expect the students to write essays without enough evidence and information. Making sure that the students have enough material to write about will make it much more easier and enjoyable for the students to complete their project/report. My favorite thing about the author was that assessment can come in many forms as opposed to just an end of the chapter test. You can have your students write a letter, poem, essay with picture etc. The forms of assessment should be switched up seeing as every students learn differently they also must be assessed differently.

Great idea for "publishing" writing

Beckstead tells about how her class of third-graders uses their scientific notebooks to record observations and their scientific thinking but then takes it to the next level of publishing a ... See More

Beckstead tells about how her class of third-graders uses their scientific notebooks to record observations and their scientific thinking but then takes it to the next level of publishing a "journal" of writing about science. Students write articles, stories, and poems about the science concepts they have learned. This is a great idea for how to incorporate science and literacy into the elementary classroom. She emphasizes the need for proper preparation (not just telling kids to write, but teaching them HOW to write), support, fun, and learning.

A Dynamic Duo--Science & Language Arts

What a great way to integrate science with language arts! The author uses writing to help her assess her students’ understanding of science concepts. The author describes her class science... See More

What a great way to integrate science with language arts! The author uses writing to help her assess her students’ understanding of science concepts. The author describes her class science journal composed of articles that the students have written about their science investigations, using the actual data they collected in their science journals. Although the author scaffolds the writing assignments, and after students have learned writing and grammar skills, they apply their science concepts to articles, letter-writing and writing poetry.