Transcript Reading in the Secondary Science Classrooom

What do good readers do?
Good readers monitor their comprehension.
Good readers use prior knowledge (schema) to make
sense of text.
Good readers ask questions about the text.
Good readers create sensory images.
Good readers notice what is important.
Good readers use “reading repair strategies” when
comprehension stalls. (Kenfield, 2008)
“Take out your textbooks!”
What response do you usually get?
The Challenges of Reading in the
Secondary Science Classroom
Scientific language, or the language used to
construct scientific knowledge, is distinct from
the social language, or the language that
students use every day. (Fang, 2006)
“Fourth grade slump” – from narrative and
dialogue to expository texts
The Challenges of Reading in the
Secondary Science Classroom
Technical vocabulary
Lengthy nouns
Words with multiple
meanings
Complex sentences
Prepositions,
conjunctions, and
pronouns
Omission of words,
phrases or clauses
Interruption construction
Passive voice
(Fang, 2006)
Strategies for Promoting Student
Understanding of Science Language
Vocabulary building
Paraphrasing
Noun expansion
Sentence stripping
Sentence completion
Signposts
(Fang, 2006)
Sentence Completion/
Cloze/Gap Fill Exercise
Sentence completions requires the student to
synthesize information from the previous text.
Example:
After the seeds have been formed, they are usually
scattered, sometimes far from where they were produced.
__________ is called seed dispersal. (Fang, 2006)
Web resources: Jefferson Lab and Gallaudet’s ESL
Lessons
Spontaneous and Cued
Retelling
Students list the main ideas of a text they have
just read. This activity can be done in pairs.
Spontaneous retell is what the first student
recalls from memory.
Cued retell is what the second student recalls
from the cues of the first student. (Rohac, 2009)
Signal Words/Connectives
Signal words give the order and meaning of the
writing and emphasize the purpose of the
writing.
Web Resources: Literacy in Science and
Kathleen Kenfeild
Quests
Quests scaffold student reading by providing a guide
wherein students search for important items within a text.
Textbook quests can be used for the entire textbook to
help students get familiarized with its features – table of
contents, sequence of chapters, appendices, glossaries,
etc.
Quests can be done in pairs. (Kenfield, 2008)
Web Resource: Science Webquests
Resources
Fang, Z. (2006, April 14). The Language Demands of
Science Reading in Middle School. International Journal
of Science Education, 28(5), 491-520. (ERIC Document
Reproduction Service No. EJ734633) Retrieved June 10,
2009, from ERIC database.
Kenfield, K. (2008) http://kathleenkenfield.com
Rohac, R. (2009) http://rohac.com
Jefferson Lab: Reading Comprehension Passages
http://education.jlab.org/reading/index.html
Resources
Gallaudet’s ESL Lessons:
http://depts.gallaudet.edu/ESL/index.htm
Lancashire Grid for Learning: Literacy in Science
http://www.lancsngfl.ac.uk/nationalstrategy/ks3/scie
nce/index.php?category_id=13&s=!B121cf29d70ec8
a3d54a33343010cc2
Teachnology: Science Webquests http://www.teachnology.com/teachers/lesson_plans/computing/web_q
uests/science/
Special thanks to:
ChemMatters, a publication of the American
Chemical Society, for their generous donation of the
April 2009 issue to the participants of this
conference (www.acs.org/chemmatters)
Science News, magazine of the Society for Science
& the Public, for their generous donation of various
issues to the participants of this conference
(www.sciencenews.org)