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Writing Strategies that Promote Understanding and Inquiry in Elementary Science

3/29/2012. MSTA, Lansing MI. 2. The role of writing in elementary science learning. Students' writing can be a window on their thinking allowing multiple forms of assessment.Here we will focus on using it as a pre-assessment.Writing structures and prompts can develop student knowledge promote stud

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Writing Strategies that Promote Understanding and Inquiry in Elementary Science

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    1. 3/30/2012 MSTA, Lansing MI 1 Writing Strategies that Promote Understanding and Inquiry in Elementary Science Mark Enfield Jennifer Wright Michigan State University

    2. 3/30/2012 MSTA, Lansing MI 2 The role of writing in elementary science learning Students’ writing can be a window on their thinking allowing multiple forms of assessment. Here we will focus on using it as a pre-assessment. Writing structures and prompts can develop student knowledge promote students’ inquiry. Here we will consider one structure that supports an inquiry cycle.

    3. 3/30/2012 MSTA, Lansing MI 3 Recent legislation and mandates increase demands on school curriculum. “No Child Left Behind” and “Reading First” make demands of classroom time and curricular attention. The Michigan Curriculum Framework Benchmarks in Science establishes that students should: Develop strategies and skills for information gathering and problem solving. (MCF I.1.E5)

    4. 3/30/2012 MSTA, Lansing MI 4 What we hope to do in this session: We will share different forms of writing useful in science learning. You will experience using those strategies in the context of an activity. We will discuss opportunities and challenges with writing in elementary classrooms. You will leave with some ideas about how to use writing to build understandings and promote inquiry with your students

    5. 3/30/2012 MSTA, Lansing MI 5 How can we use writing to assess students’ knowledge? Pre-Assessment Discussion Exercise Post-Assessment

    6. 3/30/2012 MSTA, Lansing MI 6 One example of a writing prompt to assess students knowledge DART – Directed Activities Related to Text Scientific concepts from the curriculum are split into two phrases. Students attempt to match phrases to make complete and accurate sentences. When molecules are heated ----- they begin to move more rapidly.

    7. 3/30/2012 MSTA, Lansing MI 7 Try to complete some sample DART sentences On your handout, match the sentences about Astronomy.

    8. 3/30/2012 MSTA, Lansing MI 8 How do you construct writing prompts to assess prior knowledge Use If-Then statements Give extra choices Make sure that all endings can semantically fit any beginning Make sure that each ending can only fit one beginning to correctly state a science idea

    9. 3/30/2012 MSTA, Lansing MI 9 What are some benefits of language activities in science learning? Familiarizing students with the expository nature of scientific text Learning text features without needing to manage construction of conceptual ideas Getting students to notice that scientific texts communicate facts about the concepts they are learning Catalyst for scientific discussion

    10. 3/30/2012 MSTA, Lansing MI 10 Activity for this presentation: Modeling Our Solar System

    11. 3/30/2012 MSTA, Lansing MI 11 Instructions for the activity Arrange your planets (M&Ms) on the planet orbit sheet. You will want to record which color is which planet. Look back at the picture. Place your Earth (Mint colored ˝ black) on the third orbit. The black side is away from the Sun, representing night. Look at your model. Which planets are potentially visible from Earth now?

    12. 3/30/2012 MSTA, Lansing MI 12 How can we support students’ inquiry using writing? We all agree to the benefit of having students engage in and pursue their own inquiries. One potential is to encourage students to think and write about their questions. This is not always easy; students need help.

    13. 3/30/2012 MSTA, Lansing MI 13 Providing structure can help students when they write

    14. 3/30/2012 MSTA, Lansing MI 14 Example using 4-square with the Solar System The writing starts with a question. The writing ends with a question. Students have chances to apply their knowledge, engage in inquiry, and have a structure that supports their thinking. What could we do to help this student design an investigation around his or her question?

    15. 3/30/2012 MSTA, Lansing MI 15 Try it out – what comes next?

    16. 3/30/2012 MSTA, Lansing MI 16 Questions and Discussion How does the nature of language and writing have important roles in science learning? How does learning discourses, the practices that support students learning science, impact learning subject matter knowledge? What are benefits and drawbacks to learning discourses out of the context of subject matter?

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