New Hampshire STEM Educators, Y3

1. Provide a specific quote and annotation about something that stood out as very important to you.

When reading is not conceptualized as inquiry, texts are complex, students’ reading skills are weak, and teacher knowledge is uncertain, teachers often resort to telling students about science rather than actively engaging students in making sense of it… Instead of confronting reading problems head on, it breeds student dependence on the teacher for science knowledge and places the learner in a passive role (460). Yes! This is me. This is why this project speaks so loudly to me!

2. Provide a specific quote and annotation about something that stood out as shifting your mindset.

Teachers, for their part, are often not well educated in science (at the elementary level) or in scientific-specific modes of literacy instruction (at the secondary level). (pg. 460). This makes me realize that I have some gaps in my training that will really lead me to valuing the skills of my librarian.

3. Provide a specific quote and annotation about something that stood out as something you want to explore more.

Of particular interest in the CORI research is the pivotal role that motivation, in all of its instantiations (interest, self-efficacy, and achievement motivation), plays in learning both science and literacy. (pg. 461) This makes me think about the role that essential questions can play in creating student interest.

1. Provide a specific quote and annotation about something that stood out as very important to you.

"Finally, it is important to note that all of the professional development in the world will have little impact if we cannot also create more balanced assessment portfolios for our accountability systems." (p462)

With the laws and legislation put in place by NCLB, focus shifted to students being able to regurgitate the information they learned in class.  Assessment portfolios will also demonstrate what students have learned and can foster a more inquire based education.

2. Provide a specific quote and annotation about something that stood out as shifting your mindset.

"The body of evidence demonstrates the promise of integrated approaches to literacy and  science instruction." (p462)

While reading about the different programs that strive to join science and literacy, it is evident to me that they are not seperate entities.  Just because you may know all of the words you are reading in a paragraph, does not mean that you can take away the meaning of the paragraph.  Reading a specific subject textbook or article is a skill in itself that must be developed.

3. Provide a specific quote and annotation about something that stood out as something you want to explore more.

"Changes of this magnitude will require rethinking teacher preparation, professional development, and curriculum."(p462)

The evidence has shown the benefit of combing science and literacy.  Lookig at what successful programs have done and combining the best methods of each to create a new curriculum is needed.  After the curriculum is created, pre-service and in-service teacher will need to be trained in how to teach it to their students to foster learning of both science and other literacy skills.

1.    Provide a specific quote and annotation about something that stood out as very important to you.

Both science and literacy educators agree that text-only science is weak science instruction, but most recognize that doing science involves reading and writing print and other symbol systems and graphic representations (7, 26). Scientists cannot conduct scientific investigations or represent their findings without text-based inquiry tools (10, 14).

Science teachers need strong, non-fiction text to help students understand the concepts that they are teaching.  Students can “do” science, but if they don’t have a strong understanding of the concept to back it up, the lab won’t be meaningful. 

2.    Provide a specific quote and annotation about something that stood out as shifting your mindset.

A new generation of materials takes a different approach, assuming that science learning entails and benefits from embedded literacy activities and that literacy learning entails and benefits from being embedded within science inquiry. Further some new curricula provide resources to learn needed science content, literacy practices, and pedagogies that support student learning (59).

Blending literacy into the curriculum is very important to the science learner.  They will be empowered with the knowledge that they need in order to then explore the concepts.

3.    Provide a specific quote and annotation about something that stood out as something you want to explore more.

They do not expect to teach science reading and writing to students, yet they are confronted with students who do not comprehend science texts, their specialized language, or the many ways science ideas are conveyed through print, diagrams, images, models, graphs, and tables. Greenleaf and colleagues (58) have developed programs designed to challenge teachers’ misconceptions, transforming them into more robust conceptions of science reading and its role in learning. Confronting teachers with highly advanced texts that place them in a struggling position (not unlike the texts their secondary students confront daily) helps them realize that reading is neither automatic nor straightforward. They typically emerge with a new appreciation for the challenges their students face and insights about how they can help students cope with those challenges.

If teachers feel the struggle that their students feel, they may step back and take a new approach to their teaching.  Perhaps making the teacher the learner again may empower the student.

1. Provide a specific quote and annotation about something that stood out as very important to you.

Just as literacy tools and artifacts can enhance the acquisition of knowledge and inquiry in science, so too can science provide an ideal context for acquiring and refining literacy tools (p460).  This is what I try to do as a librarian when science classes come to the library, work with students and teachers to integrate literacy tools with the subject at hand.

2. Provide a specific quote and annotation about something that stood out as shifting your mindset.

Many science teachers hold misconceptions, or at the very least, limited conceptions, of literacy teaching and learning; they tend to think of reading and writing as basic and universal skills that are developed in elementary or middle school or down the hall in the English department (p462). I do observe this sometimes and wonder how this being addressed in teacher preparation at the college level.

3. Provide a specific quote and annotation about something that stood out as something you want to explore more.

The inclusion of challenging performance tasks—tasks that involve extended inquiry (over several days), analysis of findings, and public reports of student work—would help to promote the very sort of inquiry that research documents as effective (p462). This encourages me to expand on how I can become more involved as a librarian in the assessment of student work of classes coming to the library.

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Provide a quote that stood out as very important: 

“No scientists simply walks into a lab and starts manipulating materials, tools, and phenomena. Investigations are always framed by other investigations”

I thought this quote was important as many people think science is just playing and doing hands on activities. I do a lot of hands on activities but they are backed with lectures and book notes to support what we are doing in the lab. If I were to let students loose in the lab safety concerns would come up and equipment could break. As much as I encourage hands on lab work, the students need to be educated on how to work the equipment to successfully complete the lab.

Provide a quote that stood out as shifting your mindset: 

“however, as long as low-challenge, multiple-choice test serve as the primary metric for measuring students learning sonf teacher quality, not only in science but in literacy as well, it will be difficult for teachers to take the risk of promoting genuine inquiry in their classes.”

I personally hate multiple choice test, some students are very good guessers other students become over whelmed with all the options. I do not think it tests their recall and allows them to apply what they actually have learned. When I give an inquiry based activity the students have a very difficult time with this as they are used to guided reading and multiple choice, where they can always find the answer. I think we need to change are thoughts on multiple choice and bring in more inquiry  and problem solving skills to the students

Provide a quote that stood out as something you would want to explore more:

“Teachers, are for their part, are often not well educated in science (at the elementary level) or in scientific-specific modes of literacy instruction (at the secondary level).

Why are elementary teacher not well educated in science? Is it not covered in the undergrad or graduate work load? If so why no? Is it because all the required testing in Math and Language Arts that there is no time for science? Or is it because teachers do not like it so do not incorporate it into their classroom. As far as secondary teachers, science is an area of critical shortage so if they find teachers with any hint of a science background they will be hired. They are required to complete a plan to gain more science experience but is this not watched carefully?

“teachers often resort to telling students about science rather  than actively engaging students in making sense of it”

With lack of funding and supplies I know many teachers who opt to show science in demos instead of hands on learning. To fund complete labs for hundreds of students costs a lot of money, but showing demos cuts the costs drastically. As a teacher I try to do many labs and often I am funding these labs. If there is a way to gain more money for funds or let teachers know about grants would be beneficial.

Hi Everyone,

The article highlighted the importance of literacy and writing across content areas, specifically science, and the need for professional development for both pre-service teachers and current teachers. Of the different models presented,   Reading Apprenticeship seems like an amazing experiment that could really improve instruction and learning.

I believe that it is important for teachers to try to complete the same work as their students.  As Pearson, Moje, and Greenleaf state, "Teacher learning is most profound when teachers can employ the very same inquiry processes for their own professional learning that they aspire to enact with their students" (462).  Too often teachers may assign a reading or assignment that is difficult to complete or the teacher forgets what it is to be a learner.  Placed in the learning or inquiry process, teachers can consider how to best help students think, learn, collaborate, question, and/or experiment.  

As I read, I also could not help but think of how enriching it is to teach in a team. However, team teaching at the high school level is often for humanities classes. Creating a team composed of a science and English teacher team would be interesting because "science provides a setting in which students are intellectually obligated to make sense of data, draw inferences, construct arguments based on evidence, infer word meanings, and of course, construct meanings for text - the very dispositions required as good readers and writers" (460).  As library media specialists, we can certainly help develop lessons that help build these skills. But it could be amazing to have a team of teachers working closely on these skills, especially at the high school level, in order to move away from the misconceptions that "reading and writing [are] basic and universal skills that are developed in elementary aor middle school or down the hall in the English department" (462).

With that quote in mind, I am intrigued by the professional development aspect of this initiative and would like to explore that aspect more.  How can ongoing, long term professional development be created in a school district so that literacy skills are developed and valued across the curriculum?

I look forward to discussing and exploring these ideas more in the upcoming days.

A quote that stood out as very important

When literacy activities are driven by inquiry, students simulaneously learn how to read and write science text and to do science. p, 459

               For several years I have been doing inquiry based biology labs with my upper level students. In doing so I have implemented a writing component to communicate data.  I have used the Cothron model (Students in Research) to help my students understand what is needed in a literature review before they begin their investigation. In their writing their laboratory introductions and conclusions they are required to cite their text, notes and outside resources as they both propose connections or to explain their results.  Furthermore, in their conclusions they must develop improvements for new studies which may be prompted by what they read when developing their introduction or literature review.   Additionally for my AP students I start the year by having them analyze articles from a variety of scientific journals so they can identify the components of formal papers. 

A quote that stood out as shifting your mindset.

Avoiding the challenge of engaging students with texts may seem efficient, yet it ultimately undermines student learning. Instead of confronting reading problems head on, it breeds student dependence on the teacher for science knowledge and places the learner in a passive role. p, 460

Although I do assign articles from scientific journals and readings from the textbooks for my APbiology students, I have struggled with how to do so effectively with my freshmen biology course where many have reading difficulties. Generally I do fewer inquiry based labs for ninth graders and become more of a conveyor of information. Many of their labs are cookbook in that they just verify what I told them or teaches a skill, such as microscope use.  It has been manageable and increases the chances that they do have some hands-on eperiences in a laboratory setting. When I implement the few inquiry based labs I have developed with the freshmen they definitely benefit, but those activities take more classtime to complete and often require more independent work, including reading for students which many of my lower performing students fail to finish. 

A quote that is something to explore more. 

However, promising projects at various grade level employ literacy tools, including text, to support rather than supplant the acquisition of knowledge and inquiry in science. p. 461. 

              I am interested in the CORI strategies as by Gunthrie as described in the article. It seems to implement resources that may be of high interest for students and may encourage outside reading to support their learning.

1. Provide a specific quote and annotation about something that stood out as very important to you.

Instead, teaching literacy in scientifically specific ways requires deep conceptual change for teachers to help them adopt new ways of thinking and acting in the classroom. [462]  Finding time to "adopt new ways of thinking" is a luxury in the midst of the multitude of intense demands of teaching.

2. Provide a specific quote and annotation about something that stood out as shifting your mindset.

When reading is not conceptualized as inquiry, texts are complex, students' reading skills are weak, and teacher knowledge is uncertain, teachers often resort to telling students about science rather than actively engaging students in making sense of it. [460]  This statement reframed my thinking about the complexity of what we're asking teachers to develop proficiency in.

3. Provide a specific quote and annotation about something that stood out as something you want to explore more.

... building understanding of the disciplinary practices supported by reading, writing, and reasoning, rather than treating literacy methods as a separate subject. [462]  One of the GSC fellows developed a module last year on how each discipline has its own rhetorical conventions, requiring different types of writing for different disciplines. Once stated, the idea is obvious, but little to no attention is paid to these differences. It strikes me they could be intriguing to explore and to engage students in practicing.

1. Provide a specific quote and annotation about something that stood out as very important to you.

"Promising projects at various grade levels employ literacy tools, including text, to support rather than supplant the acquisition of knowledge and inquiry in science. The are embedded in inquiry-based science investigations ... they bring together teams of literacy and science experts, and they require extensive teacher learning through professional development (461). This project holds much promise with a team approach!

2. Provide a specific quote and annotation about something that stood out as shifting your mindset.

"The inclusion of challenging performance tasks --tasks that involve extended inquiry (over several days), analysis of findings, and public reports of student work -- would help to promote the very sort of inquiry that research documents as effective." (462). We need to rethink assessment portfolios in light of ESSA and evidence-based practices.

3. Provide a specific quote and annotation about something that stood out as something you want to explore more.

"This body of evidence demonstrates the promise of integrated approaches to literacy and science instruction. Attend to the needs of struggling readers within science class, where they simultaneously acquire subject matter knowledge and inquiry skills."  (462). This project needs to explore how we will support integrated approaches.

A quote and annotation  that stood out as very important to me:

"Students struggle with the abstract concepts, with a

challenging scientific lexicon and set of dis-

courses, and with complex images, graphs, and

charts" (22, 28, 29). p.460

So true in the student population I teach.  One of my students recently said "Mrs. Sohm you could teach Spanish afterall what you teach (Biology) is like a foreign language!" 

A few quotes and an annotation about something that stood out as shifting my mindset:  

"teachers often resort to telling students about science rather than actively engaging students inmaking sense of it (30, 31).... Avoiding the challenge of engaging students with texts may seem efficient...it breeds student dependence on the teacher for science knowledge and places the learner"  

"Teachers are so often entertainers hoping that students engage in the learning process. My dream is that my students will leave my classroom with the tools and yes the desire to be life long science learners.

A quote and annotation about something that stood out as something I want to explore more:

27). Science teachershave little access to well-designed texts that readers can understand given their developing knowledge base and varying reading skill levels (27).  HELP!