LITERACY-BASED DISTRICT-WIDE PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT Aiken County Public School District January 15, 2016 LEADERS IN LITERACY CONFERENCE

Literacy in the STEM Classroom Amy Edwards Stephanie Hammond LEADERS IN LITERACY CONFERENCE

Contact Information Amy Edwards 5 th Grade teacher at Mossy Creek Elementary School Stephanie Hammond Principal at Mossy Creek Elementary School

Learning Objectives Teachers will understand… the components of STEM why incorporating Literacy in STEM lessons are important how to incorporate literacy components in the STEM classroom. Teachers will also receive resources and new ideas to use in their classroom

What is STEM? STEM stands for a cluster of careers in the fields of: S cience T echnology E ngineering M at h

In other words… STEM can be applied in any field or career that creates, discovers, or applies new knowledge to make life better for all.

Why STEM? “To succeed in this new information- based and highly technological society, students need to develop their capabilities in STEM to levels much beyond what was considered acceptable in the past.” (National Science Foundation)

STEM Jobs Search for new information, methods, and ways to do and understand things better. Works to effectively and efficiently solve the world’s problems. Require you to innovate, create, and discover. Require you to ask why and how about things that need to be built, invented, and designed.

STEM Jobs Electrical and electronic engineering Technicians- $53,240 Civil engineering technician-$44,290 Areospace engineering and operations technicians- $55,040 Biophysicists- $82,840 Microbiologists- $64,350 Zoologists- $55,290 Computer and information scientists- $97,970 Computer systems design and related services- $99,900

The Research Says… Science learning gives literacy an authentic context. Students learn science concepts and comprehend text best while engaging in authentic inquiry experiences combined with reading, writing, and verbal communication. While many students learn science content through inquiry and classroom instruction alone, students who read, write, talk about science go beyond what is presented in class.

The Research Says… Reading to explore science topics, combined with firsthand investigation and discussions, can help students acquire reading strategies even better than direct instruction in those strategies can. (Hapgood & Palincsar, 2007)

The Research Says… Science inquiry is a powerful motivator for learning to speak, write, and read effectively. Students find compelling occasions to use writing in the context of scientific inquiry. (Hapgood & Palincsar, 2007)

The Research Says… Science texts offer numerous opportunities to expand student vocabularies, an important benefit given the relationship between vocabulary knowledge and reading achievement. (Hapgood & Palincsar, 2007)

The Research Says… Content-oriented instruction and writing yield higher gains in reading comprehension than does most strategy- oriented instruction. (Hapgood & Palincsar, 2007)

The Research Says… Inquiry-based science instruction can give students a reason for communicating in different genres and forms (for example, graphs, diagrams, tables, and prose). Knowing how and when to use various ways of representing ideas is a fundamental literacy skill. (Hapgood & Palincsar, 2007)

Scientists VS Readers ScientistsReaders Activate background knowledge ♦♦ Observe ♦♦ Ask questions ♦♦ Search for information ♦♦ Note details ♦♦ Compare and contrast ♦♦ Sequence events ♦♦ Distinguish fact from opinion ♦♦ Make inferences and predictions ♦♦ Link cause and effect ♦♦ Use language to communicate their findings ♦♦

What does a STEM lesson plan look like? It can take the format of any lesson plan that you are currently using.

Characteristics of a Great STEM Lesson STEM lessons… focus on real-world issues and problems. immerse students in hands-on inquiry and open- ended exploration. involve students in productive teamwork. apply rigorous math and science content your students are learning. are guided by the engineering design process. allow for multiple right answers and reframe failure as a necessary part of learning.

Skills that need to be incorporated in science instruction Asking questions Making predictions Searching for information Testing hypothesis Summarizing and representing findings Monitoring understanding

Strategies and Tools Double entry journals Students post questions, make observations about the text, summarize and make connections.

Strategies and Tools KWL Chart A graphic that helps students identify prior knowledge, establish a purpose for reading, and summarize or synthesize what they have learned.

Strategies and Tools Graphic Organizers Help the students understand the text’s structure and/or to map out relationships of semantic knowledge needed to understand vocabulary.

Strategies and Tools Anticipation Guides Helps students identify key ideas and reasoning in the text.

Strategies and Tools Coding or annotation Helps students pose questions, mark main ideas, making predictions, mark reactions.

Strategies and Tools Journaling Helps students organize their thoughts and questions, make predictions, write notes, mark reactions, and record progress.

Something to think about Merely assigning reading and writing is not adequate. Students need to be taught, through teacher modeling and instruction, how to do journal writing, state a claim, do think alouds, write reports, ask questions, conduct research, gather relevant information, create graphics, do oral and visual presentations, all of which can be done in the context of science learning. Students need to understand the importance of the conventions of written and spoken language, just as they learn the conventions of scientific investigation.

How do I make it work? Review the standards, pacing guide and textbook Divide materials into larger units of study Pull all available resources and divide them into units For each unit Identify all possible standards create a problem the students can solve Identify all of the knowledge and experiences the students need in order to master the standards and solve the problem. Find videos that relate to the topic that would draw the students attention. Create PowerPoints putting all of it together.

STEM Ideas Design an air plane that will travel the farthest. Connections: Science- aerodynamics, forces and motion Technology- air tunnels, breaking the sound barrier Engineering- airplane design Math- measuring, graphing Social Studies- history of flight and pilots Reading- DK Big Book of Airplane design

STEM Ideas Design a boat out of a piece aluminum that would hold the most pennies. Connections: Science- buoyancy, density, float/sinking Technology- evolution of boat design Engineering- boat designs Math- measuring, graphing, volume Social Studies- history of boat/ship design, boating disasters Reading- “The Boy who Built a Boat” by: Ross Mueller

STEM Ideas Create the tallest tower using newspaper and tape. Connections: Science- forces and motion Technology- evolution of building materials Engineering- skyscraper designs, earthquake proofing buildings Math- geometric shapes, measuring, graphing Social Studies- tallest building, how has tall building effected the cities? Reading- “From Mud Huts to Skyscrapers” By: Christine Paxmann

STEM Ideas Create the bridge that will span a foot and hold the most weight. Connections: Science- forces, compression, tension, load Technology- bridge design Engineering- civil engineering Math- geometric shapes, measuring Social Studies- how have bridges impacted people’s lives Reading-

Learning Objectives Teachers will understand… the components of STEM why incorporating Literacy in STEM lessons are important how to incorporate literacy components in the STEM classroom. Teachers will also receive resources and new ideas to use in their classroom

Contact Information Amy Edwards 5 th Grade teacher at Mossy Creek Elementary School Stephanie Hammond Principal at Mossy Creek Elementary School

Resources science science Hapgood, S., & Pallincsar, A.S. (2007). Where Literacy and Science Intersect. Education Leadership, 64 (4), science.html science.html