Reading in the Secondary Science Classroom Marianne Torales

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)

What response do you usually get? “Take out your textbooks!”

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 Words with multiple meanings Prepositions, conjunctions, and pronouns Omission of words, phrases or clauses Lengthy nouns Complex sentences Interruption construction Passive voice (Fang, 2006)

Strategies for Promoting Student Understanding of Science Language Vocabulary building Noun expansion Sentence completion Paraphrasing Sentence stripping 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 Jefferson LabGallaudet’s ESL LessonsJefferson LabGallaudet’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 Literacy in Science Kathleen KenfeildLiteracy in Science 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 Science WebquestsScience Webquests

Resources Fang, Z. (2006, April 14). The Language Demands of Science Reading in Middle School. International Journal of Science Education, 28(5), (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. EJ734633) Retrieved June 10, 2009, from ERIC database. Kenfield, K. (2008) Rohac, R. (2009) Jefferson Lab: Reading Comprehension Passages

Resources Gallaudet’s ESL Lessons: Lancashire Grid for Learning: Literacy in Science nce/index.php?category_id=13&s=!B121cf29d70ec8 a3d54a cc2 nce/index.php?category_id=13&s=!B121cf29d70ec8 a3d54a cc2 nce/index.php?category_id=13&s=!B121cf29d70ec8 a3d54a cc2 Teachnology: Science Webquests nology.com/teachers/lesson_plans/computing/web_q uests/science/ nology.com/teachers/lesson_plans/computing/web_q uests/science/ nology.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 ( Science News, magazine of the Society for Science & the Public, for their generous donation of various issues to the participants of this conference (