Literacy+in+Science

Literacy in Science By: Heidi Lappi Literacy in Science is a major area that needs more attention. The Regent’s Board assumes that students have a certain vocabulary and reading comprehension skills for their Science Regents. I feel the students are very weak in literacy across the board, but especially weak in reading science articles and understanding the main parts.

For this, I have spent this year trying to polish my student’s reading comprehension skills and science vocabulary. Each week we read an article pertaining to our current area of study. They are to underline words they know, look up words they don’t know and outline the article in preparation for a quiz at the end of the week. It may take away from my current content, but I feel the benefits are too strong to stop having weekly articles.

Some websites that I have found of great use: 1. [|www.sciencedaily.com] 2. [|www.sciencenewsforkids.org] 3. [|www.nytimes.com] A second method to strengthen vocabulary started recently in class. A colleague and I went through the most recent Regents and created a list of every Biology Vocabulary word or concept they needed to recall. We made this list into a table with a column for the definition and an example column to write either examples or words that come to mind when we read this word. Our goal is to have students be able to pull key words out of the questions and pre-think the answer before they read the given answers.

For example, we just finished Plants and Photosynthesis. Their vocab word could be Photosynthesis. Their examples could include: occurs in a plant cell, needs light, produces oxygen and glucose, using water and carbon dioxide.

Leaves of green plants contain openings known as stomates, which are opened and closed by specialized cells allowing for gas exchange between the leaf and the outside environment. Which phrase best represents the net flow of gases involved in photosynthesis into and out of the leaf through these openings on a sunny day? (1) carbon dioxide moves in; oxygen moves out (2) carbon dioxide and oxygen move in; ozone moves out (3) oxygen moves in; nitrogen moves out (4) water and ozone move in; carbon dioxide moves out

Here, the word photosynthesis is used. That key word lets them know they are looking for something about carbon dioxide going in and oxygen coming out.

Using articles and the vocabulary sheets strengthened my students reading comprehension. They also have served as transition points from one unit to the next or an introductory article to a certain topic we will cover in the future. Throughout class, we have referred to certain articles to strengthen the discussions and vocabulary on our current topic.

- Heidi Lappi

Questions for this page: 1. How do you promote literacy in your curriculum and discipline? 2. Why is literacy important? 3. What are some other methods to promote literacy then the ones listed above?

Students are more motivated to learn and try new things if they are given real world situtations on topics that they are being taught in school which will have real relevence for them. A site that does just that is the [|Web-based Inquiry Science Environment (**WISE**)]. At this site students are given real world situtations and problems that they have to research and solve. It may make science and the vocabulary more exciting and relevent for them as well as increase their learning. (Dave Telgheder)

Why is literacy important? As a mathematics teacher, put into a nutshell, as math students move up the ladder, many of the applications in mathematics if not most are the applied sciences. The arithmetic is never too difficult especially since scientific and graphic calculators perform the operations in seconds; its the reading and comprehension of problem that can stump the student. Having a rich vocabulary should include a running list of regular everyday english words that may be presented in a word problem that day in class in conjunction with the content vocabularly. If the school is technologically equipped like it should be, having students write a blog where the vocabulary learned that day is utilyzed, may help to bridge the comprehension gap at an earlier age where as students can feel more confident tackling the word problems at the higher end of the scale. (Brett Cohen)

I also teach Living Environment Regents and I have found a couple of sites with all the vocabulary that NYS requires students to know for the regents test. The site are : http://teacherweb.com/NY/Arlington/Siebert/vocabulary_topical.pdf or http://www.angelfire.com/ny4/itjhs106/lipivocab.html

I have used it often and make sure my students use it too. I agree with you that a real problem with the test is that many of my students can not read the test or know the key words in the question to answer it correctly. This is a hugh problem in my district. Words like accumulate, encounter and contaminate are words used in the questions that many of my students have trouble with. If they can not read the test, how can they pass it. JP Lang

As an elementary school teacher with a self-contained classroom, I have the same students for all subjects. One of the advantages of this is that I am able to plan cross-curricular projects for my students. To promote literacy in science (and social studies) I occasionally design projects such as writing research reports, creating brochures, making and describing models, or reading and summarizing content-specific articles. This is a chance to teach literacy skills such as main idea, clear written self-expression, vocabulary, and citing sources in an authentic format. Studies show that cross-discipline connections promote retention of subject matter. These projects also boost my students' motivation, as they are not just practicing literacy skills for their own sake, but using literacy skills in a project that they are proud of. (Julie D) I totally agree- literacy in science is a problem. Traditionally science is taught with a minimum of grammar-'efficiency' as it is known in science. However, this ultimately leads to difficulty in communications- an essential skill needed in examinations, and the real world. One way in which I try to address this is 'Weekly Literature review'. Students are required to read a science article from a variety of source, eg online, newspaper, magazine, and then make a summary, according to a given format. Also I always emphasize that students should write a lesson summary, in their own words, at the end of each class. Louis Morgan

This is all great information! Thanks! I was just informed today that next year I will not only be teaching math, but I will also be teaching 2 sections of science. I am Elementary certified, but I have only ever taught math. I've have done my best over the years to incorporate literacy into my math lessons and I realize that it is just as important to do so in my science lessons next year. These are great resources. (Ryan Speer)