Science the Write Way

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Science the Write Way

• Laurie Boulden
• Vero Beach Elementary School
• Project Child Science and Writing
• 3-5

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Funding for this program originally sponsored
by Toyota Tapestry Grants, 2005
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Vero Beach Elementary School

• Title 1 urban school
• Population 500 students, Pre-K to 5th Grade
• Free and Reduced Lunch 80

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Why Science and Writing?

• Time is of the essence- curriculum must be
  integrated to fulfill state and district mandates
• Science and Social Studies make wonderful
  curriculum areas for integrating reading and
  writing process skills
• Brain Research shows that applying real
  situations helps improve learning and retention

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Writing Program

• School adopted program- Direct teaching of
  strategies based on Melissa Forney and other
  resources, team teach with writing coach, 1 hour
  four days a week, focus is fourth grade before
  March and third grade after March
• Teaching and learning is disengaged from
  academics, how can we bring writing into the
  academics?

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Applying Writing

• Use science experiments and conceptual learning
  as a basis for teaching writing process skills
  for expository and narrative writing in the
  fourth and fifth grades
• Can be used as an assessment/culminating activity
  at the end of a unit

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The Writing ProcessA look at Narrative
Prompt Write an adventure story with a rock
character
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Review Narrative Elements

• Middle
• Transitional phrases
• Seeing sentences
• Saying sentences
• Doing sentences
• Mystery sentences

• Ending
• Back to reality/home
• Fantasy, lesson learned, challenge reader

• Beginning
• When, Who, Where
• Work from the Prompt
• Mystery

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Science Review

• Types of Rocks
• Characteristics of Rocks
• How Rocks move and change

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Writing Brainstorming

• Clever Character Names
• Clever Phrases
• Clever Places
• Character Traits
• Synonyms/Figurative Language

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Writing Process

• Mapping story
• Rough draft
• Edit and Revise
• Illustrate and Publish

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Assessing Writing

• Focus
• Organization
• Conventions
• Supporting details
• 6 point scale
• http//apps.sdhc.k12.fl.us/sdhc2/elementary/langu
  agearts/fcat_writerubric.htm

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Assessing Science Content

• Imbedded facts and supporting details
• 4 points has a few errors and shows some
  understanding of science content
• 5 points has less errors and shows greater
  understanding of science content
• 6 points has almost no error and loaded with
  science content

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The Writing ProcessA Look at Expository
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Review Expository Elements

• Hook- grab the readers attention

Conclusion- review, reflect, and pose further
questions
Introduction- whats it all about?
3 or more main ideas- with supporting details
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Making it Flow

• Transitional words
• Interjections and author speak

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What we used to get

• In Roman mythology, Saturn is the god of
  agriculture. The associated Greek god, Cronus,
  was the son of Uranus and Gaia and the father of
  Zeus (Jupiter). Saturn is the root of the English
  word "Saturday" (see Appendix 5).
• Saturn has been known since prehistoric times.
  Galileo was the first to observe it with a
  telescope in 1610 he noted its odd appearance
  but was confused by it. Early observations of
  Saturn were complicated by the fact that the
  Earth passes through the plane of Saturn's rings
  every few years as Saturn moves in its orbit. A
  low resolution image of Saturn therefore changes
  drastically. It was not until 1659 that
  Christiaan Huygens correctly inferred the
  geometry of the rings. Saturn's rings remained
  unique in the known solar system until 1977 when
  very faint rings were discovered around Uranus
  (and shortly thereafter around Jupiter and
  Neptune).
• In Roman mythology, Saturn is the god of
  agriculture. The associated Greek god, Cronus,
  was the son of Uranus and Gaia and the father of
  Zeus (Jupiter). Saturn is the root of the English
  word "Saturday" (see Appendix 5).

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Helping Students Succeed

• Guide their research using questions
• Model and practice
• Allow adequate time
• Edit and Revise

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Space Project

• Pairs of students were assigned a planet
• Research using books, not the Internet
• Books have questions that guide students through
  collecting information
• Cut out questions and answers
• Group by main ideas
• Tape together and write
• Model and practice together first

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Types of Writing Prompts

• Energy Super heroes
• Webbes- http//www.realebooks.com/
• Space Planet Report
• Animal Adventures
• Science Report
• Science Fair Abstract
• Group Story telling projects

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The end is only the Beginning

• Consider this to be a jumping off point. Many
  children will use this basic formula to get used
  to writing, but never limit a child to using it.
  Writing is a necessity, a skill to be learned,
  and a talent.

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Prompts used this year

• 5th Grade Energy Superhero
• Study of energy including force and motion,
  electricity, solar energy, magnetism, and heat
• They had to develop a character that would have a
  super power related to energy electricity,
  light, heat, etc.
• Their story had to have a problem that needed to
  be solved, either environmental or caused by a
  villain

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• 4th Grade Rock Stories
• Rock Cycle and Changes to Earth study
• They developed a character based on a type of
  rock- igneous, metamorphic, or sedimentary
• There had to be a problem to be solved
• They had to embed details about their rock in
  their story

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• 3rd Grade Simple Machines arent just a Fairy
  Tale
• After studying simple machines and reading
  different fairy tales, the students had to
  develop characters and places for their story
• They had to have a problem involving a simple
  machine, either causing or solving

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• 3rd, 4th, and 5th Grade Space Stories
• students studied different aspects of space and
  used nonfiction trade books to research 2 planets
• Prompt You and a friend travel to a planet and
  meet something. How did you get there? Where did
  the ship come from? What happened when you met
  the alien?
• Students were given different levels of support
  for this prompt. Some were able to develop their
  stories with very little structure, a few others
  needed more details and direction in order to be
  successful.

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Standard Writing Stations

• Writing Station- prompt rough draft
• Teacher Station- editing
• Computer Station- typing the final draft for
  publication
• When students finish their final draft, they move
  to one of the other stations. Every other week
  there will be a new writing prompt. Some students
  will get every one complete, others will not. Not
  all prompts have embedded science concepts being
  applied.

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For the Future

• In order to make writing significant, apply
  science content in a variety of situations and
  build connections. Dont limit yourself, continue
  to build between multiple facets of academia
  What else can be done
• the Write Way

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Where to Find it All

• http//www.indian-river.k12.fl.us/vbe/
• Look on the left side of the page for a link to
  Science Presentations.