HUNTER O. JOLLEY

Content Conscious: Ways to Increase Literacy Within

Content Area Classrooms.

“I teach students, NOT subjects.”

Essential Questions

What is the importance of literacy within my content area?

How do I bridge the gap between fiction and scientific writing?

How can I improve literacy without subtracting time from my class?

What are some methods I can utilize within my classroom to engage students and support literacy efforts?

The four languages of communication

ReadingSpeakingListeningWriting

“Reading and writing are the major tools for learning any subject. They help us learn how

to learn. So these tools must be used in every classroom, at ever grade level, and in every school to provide the application and practice necessary for students to become

effective learners.”

Significant improvement in both science and reading scores occurred when the regular basal reading program was replaced with reading in science that correlated with the science curriculum (Romance and Vitale, 2001).

Teachers should help students recognize the important role that prior knowledge plays and teach them to use that knowledge when learning science through reading (Barton and Jordan, 2001).

Most students arrive at the science teacher's classroom knowing how to read, but few understand how to use reading for learning science content (Santa, Havens, and Harrison, 1996).

The same skills that make good scientists also make good readers: engaging prior knowledge, forming hypotheses, establishing plans, evaluating understanding, determining the relative importance of information, describing patterns, comparing and contrasting, making inferences, drawing conclusions, generalizing, evaluating sources, and so on (Armbruster, 1993).

Retention

Talking +Writing=Improved Retention of Science Learning (Rivard and Straw 2000)

“Best non fiction writing emerges from topics the writer knows, cares, and wonders about and wants to pursue.” Harvey, 1998

Using Fiction in Science

RelatableLead-Ins

Less intrusiveReadability

Daily Reading TimeLibrary

Student Choice

Fiction Ideas

Non-analytical writing

UniqueStudent ChoiceLess stressorsAllows student’s to put work in their own

terms. Great Ways to Start Writing

Community/SafetyDoesn’t Coincide with scientific writing

Ode To A Proton

Oh proton, how your positive charge makes me blush!I watch you from a distance, and my heart just turns to mush...

If only I was a neutron, we could frolic for awhile,and then my dear I'm sure, I would wear a permanent smile.But alas, I'm an electron, and I must watch you from afar,

so far from where you are.

It seems to me that my fate is sealed, but how can my love not be revealed?

My mass will not be complete until you are mine,so give me this chance, and show me a sign.

Some day our gazes will meet, and I'll see your eyes,and we will meet together and neutralize...

so until that day, farewell my opposite attract,my love for you will always stay intact.

What are some ways you have students present their thoughts in an original fashion, yet still maintain details they read or listened to in

class?

Each table has been equipped with a science article. As a group you must utilize your

creativity to express the main points of the piece with the rest of the class. This can be done in any method of your choosing. You may create songs/raps, children’s books,

skits, or anything your imagine can conjure.

Content Specific Literature

Teach the form you expectMatch your tone to your audienceDifferent Expectations

“I write the way I speak.”

Reading and Writing Like a Scientist

Observation. Science begins with observations of objects and events; these observations lead to the asking of questions. Crucial to scientific inquiry is the ability to ask the right question and to make selected observations relevant to that question. Past experience influence observations. Observations often involve instruments (microscopes, telescopes, oscilloscopes, etc.), and require careful recording and description. Surprising or unexpected observations occasionally contribute new and important knowledge.

Measurement. Measurement involves assigning numbers to objects or events that may be arranged in a continuum according to a set of values. Expression of observations in quantitative terms adds precision and permits more accurate descriptions.

Experimentation. An experiment is a series of observations carried out under special conditions. The distinction between observation and experimentation is slight. An experiment always consists of observations, but it is more than that because the observers usually interfere to some extent with nature. Experimentation is the hallmark of good science, whether it comes at the beginning—as a gathering of facts—or at the end in the final test of a hypothesis.

Communication. Communication is the means by which purpose and usefulness are given to scientific investigation. Scientists are obligated to make the information from observation and experimentation available to the scientific community for independent confirmation and testing. Discussion and critical analysis of findings are the key means by which science advances.

Critical Thinking Skills. Critical thinking skills are part of the common pattern of scientific investigation. These include inductive reasoning, formulation of hypotheses, deductive reasoning, and a variety of mental skills such as analogy, extrapolation, synthesis, and evaluation

Analytical Writing

Case StudiesMedical ResearchLaboratory Development

http://ublib.buffalo.edu/libraries/projects/cases/teaching/novel.html

An Ancient Scientist’s Perspective

"If you are out to describe the truth, leave elegance to the tailor.” ---Einstein

“To write a poem, you have to read 100 poems first”- Katie Wood Ray

A New Age Scientist’s Perspective

Bridging the Gap

Noticings KWLCategorizingLGLScaffoldingScience SignsContinual QuestioningPre-Read QuestioningMentor Texts

Trying it out!

LGLWriteRead for MeaningReflectShare

Everyday VS. Scientific

Ways to Use Daily

Daily reading/writing timesScience NotebooksEntrance/Exit SlipsThematic StudiesCreate Songs/Raps/StoriesOut-of-the-Box

Immersion Methodology

Using fiction to encourage, using non-fiction to learn research strategies. A year long approach.

Works Cited

Benjamin, Amy. Writing in the Content Areas. Larchmont, N.Y.: Eye on Education, 2005. Print.

Moje, Elizabeth B., and LeeAnn M. Sutherland. "Integrating Literacy Instruction into Secondary School Science Inquiry." Web. 20 June 2010. <http://www-personal.umich.edu/~moje/pdf/MojeEtAlScienceLiteracyTeachingStrategies2010.pdf>.

Ostlund, Karen. "Skills and Strategies at Work." Electronic Journal of Science Education (1998). Print.

Park, Travis D. "Reading Strategy Instruction in Secondary Agricultural Science Courses: An Initial Perspective." Career and Technical Education Research 32.1 (2007): 45-75. Web. 22 June 2010. <http://scholar.lib.vt.edu/ejournals/CTER/v32n1/pdf/park.pdf>.

Richardson, Judy S., Raymond F. Morgan, and Charlene E. Fleener. Reading to Learn in the Content Areas. Belmont, CA, USA: Wadsworth, 2009. Print.

Stone, Ellen. "SCIENCE AND LITERACY." Utah State Office of Education - USOE - Welcome. 5 Jan. 2002. Web. 19 June 2010. <http://www.schools.utah.gov/curr/Science/ReadScience/NEF Sci and Lit.html>.