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Title: Science and Literacy: Exploiting the Synergie


1
Science and Literacy Exploiting the Synergies
P. David Pearson, GSE Elizabeth Stage, LHS UC
Berkeley
Slides and LOTS OF OTHER STUFF available at
WWW.SCIENCEANDLITERACY.ORG
2
Goals
  • Acquaint you with our approach to integrating
    science-literacy-language in the Seeds and Roots
    program at Lawrence Hall of Science
  • Illustrate the principles that underlie our work
  • Give you an opportunity to participate in some of
    our grade 2-3 activities

3
Useful PDFs
  • Cervetti, G., Pearson, P. D., Barber, J.,
    Hiebert, E., Bravo, M. (2007). Integrating
    literacy and science The research we have, the
    research we need. In M. Pressley, A. K. Billman,
    K. Perry, K. Refitt J. Reynolds (Eds.), Shaping
    literacy achievement (pp. 157-174). New York
    Guilford.
  • Cervetti, G. N., Barber, J. (in press). Text
    in hands-on science. In E. H. Hiebert M.
    Sailors (Eds.), Finding the right texts. New
    York Guilford.
  • Tilson, J. L. (2007). Discourse circles
    Promoting scientific language use in elementary
    classrooms. Connect, 21(1), 5-7.

Pre-Print available at WWW.SCIENCEANDLITERACY.ORG
Ppearson_at_berkeley.edu
4
Some preliminaries
  • I am not a science educator
  • Literacy and language do their best work--for
    themselves and their curricular cousins when they
    are de-center
  • More like learning
  • Less like science or social studies
  • Tools to support knowledge acquisition and
    inquiry processes
  • Means not ends

5
Some more preliminaries
  • Legitimate threats to science education from
    literacy dominated curricula
  • Text domination
  • Word domination
  • Well take care of it for you

6
Science educators are rightfully suspicious of
literacy, especially text-driven science
curriculum.
  • Apprehensions about text
  • Declarations of fact not the scientific
    enterprise
  • Misrepresentations
  • Eclipse inquiry

7
Many science educators are apprehensive about
vocabulary instruction
  • Apprehensions about vocabulary
  • Science as memorizing words (N 3500)
  • Words as the final goal
  • How words get in the way of concepts

8
Well take care of it for you!
  • Well teach the students how to decipher content
    area texts
  • Not your responsibility as a science teacher.

9
Learning from our predecessors
  • Integration is promising
  • Can travel both ways
  • Lead with literacy, follow with science (Guthrie
    and CORI)
  • Lead with science, follow with literacy
    (Palincsar Magnusson)
  • Making a virtue out of the Second and First Hand
    Investigations Palincsar Magnusson
  • Literacy can gain from science Romance and
    Vitale
  • Tackling the discourse issue head on (Moje)

10
Context for Our Work
  • NSF-funded Seeds of Science/Roots of Reading
    Project
  • Collaborators UC-Berkeleys Lawrence Hall of
    Science and Graduate School of Education
  • Revision of GEMS units to integrate literacy with
    firsthand science
  • Curriculum development and research

11
Our Entire Seeds and Roots Team
  • Literacy
  • Marco A. Bravo
  • Gina Cervetti
  • Megan Goss
  • Elfrieda Hiebert
  • Carolyn Jaynes,
  • Dvora Klein
  • P. David Pearson
  • Lisa Sensale
  • Jennifer Tilson
  • Jill Castek
  • Science
  • Jacqueline Barber
  • Josiah Baker
  • Lynn Barakos
  • Kevin Beals
  • Lincoln Bergman
  • Mary Connoly
  • Jonathan Curley
  • John Erickson
  • Catherine Halversen
  • Kimi Hosoume
  • Suzanna Loper
  • Carolyn Willard
  • Suzy Loper

12
Progress to Date
  • Built a model of science-literacy integration
  • Applied that model to the development of 3 units
    for 2nd-3rd grade students and assessment system
  • Applying it to another 9 units at grades 2-5
  • Built a model of text accessibility
  • Developed and produced 27 non-fiction student
    readers that embody this model
  • Another 56 are in various stages of the editorial
    process

13
Topics
  • 23s Gravity and magnetism
  • 23s Designing mixtures
  • 23 Soil Habitats
  • 23 Shoreline Science
  • 34s Digestion and body systems
  • 34s Variation and adaptation
  • 34 Light energy
  • 34 Weather and water
  • 45s Chemical changes
  • 45s Models of matter
  • 45 Aquatic ecosystems
  • 45 Planets and moons

S short (4 wks) already trialed
14
Progress, continued
  • Developed and integrated an approach for
    accommodating language learners
  • A national, quasi-experimental research study
    involving 87 classrooms in 21 states
  • Planning a new national field trial in 160
    classrooms in even more states
  • Engaged in several separate research studies
    regarding science-literacy integration
  • Genre (narrative and straightforward
    informational)
  • Lexical and syntactic complexity
  • Spontaneous use of new vocabulary in writing
  • Nature of the discourse in a lesson that cooks

15
Guiding Principles and Curricular Guidelines
16
Three Pillars of Integration
  • Engage students in firsthand and text
    investigations
  • Employ multiple modalities
  • Capitalize on synergies between science and
    literacy

17
Firsthand and Text Investigations
  • Premise Text and experience can play a set of
    dynamic roles in the inquiry process and the
    learning cycle.

18
First and second hand investigations
  • Conduct Snail investigations about preferred
    environments and food
  • Read a plausible narrative in which other
    students conduct similar investigations
  • Compare results and account for discrepancies
  • Mirrors what scientists do when they build on
    the scholarly traditions within which they work.

19
Multiple Modalities
  • Science-Only (GEMS)
  • Learn from first hand experiences and reflection
  • Doing
  • Talking
  • Science/Literacy (Seeds/Roots)
  • Learn through multiple learning modalities
  • Doing
  • Talking
  • Reading
  • Writing

20
Applying multiple modalities
  • Apply it to all activities/synergies
  • Vocabulary
  • Use is the ultimate standard
  • Knowledge
  • Inquiry-Comprehension

21
Synergies
  • Science knowledge/conceptual vocabulary Words
    are fundamentally conceptual
  • Science inquiry/reading comprehension Science
    and literacy share core meaning-making strategies
  • Nature and practices of science/oral and written
    discourse Science entails a discourse about the
    natural world

22
Synergy 1 Words are fundamentally conceptual
  • Definitions dont make it
  • Context of use helps, but not always
  • Words are surface labels for semiotic potentials
    words are not the point of words (ideas are!).
  • Concentrate on the conceptual context--how does
    this concept relate to all of its siblings?
  • Semantic networks
  • Family resemblances

23
Lots of visual and verbal activity
Transmit Transparent Translucent
Photo Photograph Photosynthesis
24
Vocabulary
  • Commit to a small set of core science words that
    together (and in combination with firsthand
    experiences and talk) help build a rich
    conceptual network
  • Print-rich environment (both reading and writing)
  • No gratuitous singletons
  • Increasing depth of knowledge
  • Awareness
  • Acquaintanceship
  • Ownership
  • Use it and manipulate it
  • Best accomplished by RWTD

25
The language of science
  • We have been able to identify, across a range of
    K-5 science texts, a set of high utility
    science words
  • Words that while not highly frequent in general
    discourse, recur with great regularity in science
    texts
  • We look for opportunities to use these words
    again and again in all of these language and
    experiential modes.
  • We also promote the deliberate use of specialized
    science terms

26
Promoting Scientific Language
27
Apply the multi-modal filter
  • At every opportunity in every part of the
    curriculum.
  • Read it
  • Write it
  • Talk it
  • Do it

28
Synergy 2 Capitalizing on the cognitive
synergies between inquiry and comprehension
29
Check the appropriate box
30
Some Shared Strategies
Activating Prior Knowledge Establishing
Purpose/Setting Goals Making and Reviewing
Predictions Drawing Inferences and
Conclusions Recognizing Relationships
D
31
How do we know that these are really similar
across science and literacy?
  • First, we cede the point that the nature of the
    evidence is fundamentally different
  • But
  • Can we see a fundamental cognitive similarity
    between the processes widely used in science and
    literacy?
  • Can you use the same rubric to score activities
    in science and literacy

32
(No Transcript)
33
Can the same rubrics be used to evaluate student
performance in both domains?
D
34
Making Predictions
  • Makes prediction with no apparent reasoning
  • Provides prediction supported by unrelated
    evidence
  • Provides prediction supported by related evidence
  • Is able to revise prediction to take into account
    additional evidence
  • Assesses the nature and quality of evidence

D
35
Evidence-based Explanations
  • 1. Explanation does not refer to evidence
  • 2. Cites some evidence to support explanation
  • 3. Cites multiple pieces of evidence to support
    an explanation
  • 4. Synthesizes evidence to create explanations
    beyond what the students have been taught
  • 5. Assesses the nature and quality of the evidence

D
36
Operating Theory Comprehension Strategies are
Inquiry Strategies!!
  • Comprehension and inquiry are the accepted
    meaning making strategies in science and literacy
  • Comprehension and inquiry share goals and
    strategies

D
Constructing meaning from experience
37
Synergy 3 Science is a Discourse
  • Science is all about languagebut is more than
    words
  • Instead of avoiding scientific terminology and
    register, need to embrace it
  • Hands-on science is a venue for bringing the
    language of science to bear on experience

G
38
Postman, 1979 quote
  • Biology is not plants and animals, it is a
    language about plants and animals.
  • Astronomy is not planets and stars. It is a way
    of talking about planets and stars" (p. 165).

39
Teaching Discourse
  • Environment rich in language of science
  • Select generative vocabulary
  • Use everyday language as a conceptual bridge
  • Immerse students in investigations to bind
    language to activity

G
40
Teaching Discourse
  • Discourse circles
  • talk about experiments
  • Deal with challenging conceptual problems Is
    this sand old or new? What does the evidence tell
    us?
  • a place to practice talking science
  • A place to learn something about the nature of
    science
  • Communicate with one another
  • Disagreement can be functional
  • Gather evidence to adjudicate competing claims
  • Reflect on our learning
  • How are we doing?
  • How were we acting like scientists?
  • How compelling is our evidence?
  • What do we need to work on?

41
Writing Writing as Scientists Do
  • Observing and recording
  • Writing reports to communicate findings
  • Writing procedural texts
  • Writing descriptive texts

42
With important discourse elements, including
vocabulary
  • Read it
  • Write it
  • Talk it
  • Do it

In any order and any combination
D
43
The Authentic Roles of Text in Science
Scientists read to situate research in broad
social themes
Provide Context
Scientists read to acquire new knowledge etc.
Deliver Content
Scientists replicate others procedures and
experiments
Modeling
Supporting Second-hand Investigations
Scientists read and interpret others data and
findings
Supporting Firsthand Investigations
Scientists use reference books to do their own
work
44
Providing Context
Students learn about the natural habitat of
butterflies
From the Trade Literature
45
Providing Context
Interview with chemist connects the students'
work with mixtures and solutions to what chemists
do
From FOSS
46
Providing Context
  • Invite students to engage with the context
  • What if Rain Boots Were Made of Paper?
  • Introduce domain and/or context
  • Walk in the Woods
  • Connect to the world outside the classrooms
  • Black Tide

From the Seeds and Roots
47
Students seek out information about internal and
external structures of the bat
Delivering Content
From the Trade Literature
G
48
Delivering Content
This page shows info about atoms and molecules,
including hydrochloric acid -- too small to see
and not safe to work with, so good use of text to
deliver content
From FOSS
49
Delivering Content
  • Deliver science information
  • All About Roots
  • Provide information and explanation about
    unobservable phenomena
  • Solving Dissolving

From Seeds and Roots
50
Students read a model of systematic observation
and recording over time
Modeling
From the Trade Literature
51
Modeling
A story about two students doing an
investigation models important aspects of the
inquiry process like questioning, measuring
carefully, etc.
From FOSS
52
Modeling
  • Model inquiry processes
  • My Nature Notebook
  • Model literacy processes
  • Sea Otter Report to their own reports
  • Model nature of science
  • Habitat Scientist/Jellybean Scientist
  • Biographical sketches of scientists at work

From the Seeds and Roots
53
Books can also model different genres of writing
for student writing
Modeling
From Student Work
54
Students draw conclusions about the function of
specific animal structures
Supporting Secondhand Inquiry
From the Trade Literature
55
Supporting Secondhand Inquiry
From FOSS
Data from the same investigation used as the
"Modeling" example, for students to analyze and
draw conclusions.
56
Supporting Secondhand Inquiry
  • Provide text-based experience with data
  • Snail Investigations
  • In the same unit, they also plot their own data.

From the Seeds and Roots
57
From second to first hand inquiry
Supporting Secondhand Inquiry
From Student Work
58
Students use this book as a field guide to
identify evidence of animals they see on a nature
walk
Supporting Firsthand Inquiry
From the Trade Literature
59
Supporting Firsthand Inquiry
A reference-book like page about ways to classify
leaves, designed to use with a first-hand
investigation in which students classify leaves
From FOSS
60
Supporting Firsthand Inquiry
  • Provide information that facilitates firsthand
    investigations
  • Handbook of Interesting Ingredients
  • Support students in making sense of firsthand
    investigations
  • Garys Sand Journal

From the Seeds and Roots
61
After reading Jess Makes Hair Gelthey had to try
it for themselves!
Supporting Firsthand Inquiry
Back
From Student Work
62
Bottom line
  • Difficult journey
  • Well worth the effort
  • Improved literacy
  • Improved science
  • Increased efficacy for
  • Students
  • Teachers

63
Reading and writing are better when they are
tools not goals
  • If we dont realign the current curricular
    imbalances, science and social studies may
    suffer
  • but ultimately reading and writing will suffer
  • reading and writing are not about reading and
    writing in general
  • they are about reading and writing particular
    texts that are grounded in particular experiences
  • they both depend upon the existence, the
    acquisition and the utilization of knowledge
    (note the comprehension revolution!)
  • not knowledge in general but knowledge of
    particular disciplines, domains of inquiry,
    topics, patterns, concepts, and facts
  • In short, the very stuff of subject matter
    curriculum!

PDP, NY Times, Tuesday, March 28, 2006
64
This is the model I dont like
  • Science
  • Social Studies
  • Math
  • English Language Arts

65
A model I like Tools by Disciplines
Academic Disciplines..
Language Tools
66
Early Tools dominate
Academic Disciplines..
Language Tools
67
Later Disciplines dominate
Academic Disciplines..
Language Tools
68
Weaving
Language
Writing
Reading
math
literature
Social studies
Science
69
So what is the bottom line in the
science-literacy interface?
  • Read it

In any order and any combination In every order
and every combination!
Write it
Talk it
Do it
Do it
Talk it
Write it
Read it
70
How to Ease the Literacy-Science Tensions in the
Current Educational Context
  • Literacy is eating up the school day-it has
    become the curricular bully
  • Literacy doesnt have to put science off the
    curricular stage-it can become a curricular buddy

D
Only a small phonological and orthographic shift
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