1. Today’s Learning Goals Literacy: Main Idea, Cause and Effect Science activity Literacy in Science

2. EQs How are strategies for reading comprehension used in Science Content? How can main idea activities help students comprehend Science Topics? How can cause and effect activities help students comprehend Science Topics?

3. Discovering Main Idea Get the GIST http://youtu.be/SzkrQj36_i0

4. Your Turn GIST Activity

5. Main Idea http://youtu.be/afXpOzgIwQc

6. Main Idea ? Direct instruction initially to get the concept across Group work as students become skilled at choosing the main idea. One strategy - sticky notes to record three to five key details of the paragraph or the passage. Independently or small groups or whole class. Teachers can assist students by creating an anchor chart of learning. Anchor Chart: “What is this passage mostly about?” or “What important overall idea is the author writing about?”

7. Literacy in Science Learn through observation, recording, and reflecting on experiences. Gain accurate information from a variety of texts, and visuals. Construct meaning with vocabulary, concepts, and information by drawing and writing to make learning visible. Investigate questions that invite discovery and add to learning. Investigate how natural phenomena impact society--environmental, medical, health issues, etc. and develop informed opinions.

8. Science Journals To introduce students to descriptive writing, scientific habits and way of thinking.

9. Anchor Charts ….document thinking and how it evolves. How: Begin with student thinking about subject. Could be students, questions. As students learn/explore topic…add to the anchor chart. Anchor Charts work best when created as a visual of student thinking and learning.

10. Anchor Chart

11. Anchor Charts

12. Noticing New Learning When students encounter new concepts and information in science, ask them to read and notice their new learning. How: Examples Anchor Chart: How I use to think How I think now. Notebook with column: Old thinking New thinking

13. Features of Informational Text Photographs, diagrams, close-ups, cut-aways, maps, charts, tables, graphs….

14. Text Features Activity

15. Cause and Effect

16. Much information in Science is centered around cause and effect or problem solving format.

17. Note-taking Strategies >>>merge thinking with new information. Could be confusing for students…Teach students what is important…to write about.

18. Create Posters, Projects, Murals, Mobiles

19. Summarizing and Synthesizing Mind maps- collaborative efforts to illustrate thinking. Example: Topic in center, arms contain pictures or information. When map is complete, children share how they organized their thinking.

20. Mind Map

21. ? What 3 things could you share with a teacher who does not use content literacy in a classroom after today’s learning?