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Science presentation
- 1. Using Science to Engage Writers. OR Howto get ‘em writing AND develop the elusive notion of Voice.
- 2. Karakia Timatanga (Thanks Dave!) Hehōnore, he korōria 1 Maungārongo ki te whenua Whakaaro 2 pai e Kingā tangata katoa Ake ake, ake ake Āmine Te Atua, te piringa, Toku oranga Honour, glory and peace to the land May good thoughts come to all men for ever and ever,for ever and ever. Amen. The Lord is the refuge and my life. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EIw73tvLrUI
- 3. Whakatauki He kai keiaku ringa. There is food at the end of my hands. Said by a person who can use his basic abilities and resources to create success.
- 4. Acknowledgements Learners @Anchorage Park School – Room 6 Lynne Keohane (Principal at the “best little school” in the world) Susan Heeps (Cognition Advisor & Mentor) Ally Bull (Dr – NZCER researcher) Colleagues – past and present Therese and Peter Baker (Ma and Pa)
- 5. Crucial Elements Talk “In the beginning is dialogue.” Roger Shuy “ Talk is the sea upon which all else floats.” James Britton (1983) Experiences A library of them!
- 6. Disclaimers I amnot a Science expert. Scientists don’t work alone (and they’re not all mad). The Aim, Equipment, Method, Results and Conclusion structure is NOT reflective of the scientific process!
- 7. Links between talk, experiencesand writing. Science Experiences+ Talk = Writing (eventually!) Science Journals – the key to it all.
- 8. Monday Mornings inRoom 6
- 9. Some talk Whatdo you know about this object? Kagan Structure: “Rally Robin” 30 seconds each. Learners record their thinking on a Padlet.
- 10. What do younotice? Carefully pull off the label… What do you notice?
- 11. What’s inside? Draw whatyou think is INSIDE the party popper.
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- 15. A cross section(By any other name) Cut open the party popper. Take the pieces and stick them in your book. Label the parts.
- 16. Same and Different Listthe things that were the SAME. List the things that were DIFFERENT.
- 17. Pop ‘em! Thepart you have been waiting for! I noticed that…
- 18. Questions I heard I have heard YOU (yes you!) ask the following questions. 1. Is it gunpowder? 2. How do they join the two parts together? 3. How far does the string-stuff travel? 4. How loud is the pop?
Editor's Notes
- #3 1. This is derived from the angel's words to the shepherds when Christ was born; "Kia whai kororia te Atua i runga rawa, kia mau te rongo ki runga ki te whenua, me te whakaaro pai ki nga tangata." "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace and good will toward men." (Luke 2:14) 2. Whakaaro is pronounced whaka-aro, with doubled short "a" sounds. It is not whakāro, with one long "a" sound. My favourite Karakia!
- #4 Whakataukī (proverbs) play a large role within Maori culture. They are used as a reference point in speeches and also as guidelines spoken to others day by day. It is a poetic form of the Maori language often merging historical events, or holistic perspectives with underlying messages which are extremely influential in Maori society. The children's’ innate abilities combined with the resources (Science experiences) to create successful writers.
- #5 I am here because (in spite of!) of the skills, knowledge and trust of others. A special thanks to my parents – the ultimate encouragers!
- #6 Language, in other words, is how we think. It's how we process information and remember. It's our operating system. Vygotsky (1962) suggested that thinking develops into words in a number of phases, moving from imaging to inner speech to inner speaking to speech. Tracing this idea backward, speech—talk—is the representation of thinking. As such, it seems reasonable to suggest that classrooms should be filled with talk, given that we want them filled with thinking! Library of Experiences Talk is the cornerstone of my Science progamme. I use many Kagan structures in my classroom. I will model some of these for you today – a totally worthwhile way of encouraging worthwhile talk in the classroom space. Just “google it”. TOTALLY worthwhile and can be used @ all levels.
- #7 I feel faintly fraudulent today. I am a learner & I fully expect to learn with you today. Science was not my “thing” at school. Mrs. Bogue would be very startled to see me now. (My long-suffering biology teacher in Year 12). Scientists are expert collaborators – they HAVE to be. To be credible, scientists have to communicate their thinking and be prepared for the scrutiny of peer review. Being locked away isn’t conducive to good thinking. The scientific process we “did” @ school ISN’T what scientists actually do. It’s like comparing a babysitter to a teacher!
- #8 Science experiences provide the context for talk. NOT just any old talk mind you… Scientific talk. This form of talking lends itself very nicely to writing. Scientists have to write down what they say to remember their ideas(predictions/thesis) and what has happened (observations) and what they will do next. Young children have the intellectual capacity to learn science. Contrary to earlier ideas about child development, recent research shows that children’s thinking is surprisingly sophisticated. Children can, for example, demonstrate causal reasoning and distinguish between reliable and nonreliable sources of knowledge. Recent advances in cognitive science suggest that children think and learn in quite similar ways to adults, but differ from them only in that they have less experience to draw on when making sense of what they encounter. Children bring a range of experiences with them when they come to school, and it is these experiences that affect children’s “readiness” to learn, not fixed age-related stages of development. Adults play an important role in young children’s development by directing their attention and structuring their experiences. Young children have the intellectual capacity to learn science. Contrary to earlier ideas about child development, recent research shows that children’s thinking is surprisingly sophisticated. Children can, for example, demonstrate causal reasoning and distinguish between reliable and nonreliable sources of knowledge. Recent advances in cognitive science suggest that children think and learn in quite similar ways to adults, but differ from them only in that they have less experience to draw on when making sense of what they encounter. Children bring a range of experiences with them when they come to school, and it is these experiences that affect children’s “readiness” to learn, not fixed age-related stages of development. Adults play an important role in young children’s development by directing their attention and structuring their experiences. Increasing the opportunities students have to talk about science has many benefits. It provides opportunities for teachers to learn about the knowledge students already have and makes students’ thinking visible. In this way it is an important tool for formative assessment. Talk, however, does much more than just make thinking visible: it actually supports the development of thinking. A large number of studies have shown that structured classroom talk produces deeper engagement with the content under discussion, and develops subject-specific reasoning. From http://www.nzcer.org.nz/system/files/primary-science-education-21st.pdf
- #9 A non-traditional Monday morning! No homework, spelling etc. Experience in the Science realm – 9.00-10.29am. Challenge that was given to me by a science facilitator. It revolutionised my practice.
- #10 This gets the excitement about the part popper out of their systems. Prior knowledge is activated. I would share 3 of these. Learners signal a connection through their use of an agreement talk move. You are demonstrating that scientists collaborate in this way and that connections are expected and valued. There are always those cherubs that want to keep talking (even thought you have moved on) – GREAT! Allowing the opportunity for learners to add those nagging thoughts throughout the lessons. Again, this is what a scientist does. Thoughts occur to them throughout therir process. They need capturing.
- #11 I deliberately used the work NOTICE! Look has been overused. Bring in here that scientists use equipment to help them notice carefully. Pull out magnifying glasses. Don’t explain too much! Let ‘em work out how to use it.
- #12 Time to bring in how scientists draw here. Scientists use labels or annotations to show what they see. Draw what you think is inside the party popper. Use some annotations to explain what each part is. You can use colour if you want, or not. My learners @ the beginning got very tied up with what it should look like. They weren’t happy with “Draw it however you want to”. Some learners will need more guidance. In a school survey, some of my cherubs said that didn’t like Science. I got quite upset, but used it as a learning opportunity. They explained that they weren’t sure what I wanted. My goal freeing their midset hadn’t quite got there yet.
- #13 If you take a look at what learners are reading Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Treehouse, Amelia and Horrible histories, pictures are an integral part of the text. Our kids are visual consumers. Exploit it!
- #14 If you take a look at what learners are reading Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Treehouse, Amelia and Horrible histories, pictures are an integral part of the text. Our kids are visual consumers. Exploit it!
- #16 You watch their faces - I watched yours. Enough said! Introduce the idea of their drawing being a cross section. A cross section is the shape we get when cutting straight through an object.
- #17 Let’s go back to what we thought was in a party popper…. Now the cherubs are LISTING. You can introduce the use of headings. Next time, use a table. The time after that, a Venn diagram. PHEW.
- #18 You have built the anticipation. Now it’s time to let rip! Line the cherubs up outside – use the courts. Paper, scissors, rock it who goes first. The two lines face each other. 1-2-3. The partner NOT firing needs to NOTICE and REMEMBER. Good Scientists record what they have seen. I use sentence starters consistently. This is an important scaffold for ALL learners. The learners that can, will discard these starters. The learners that need the support will use them. You will see them appearing in their written work! The partners swap and repeat. QUICK – write down what they saw. Put some urgency in this matter. Communicate that their observation are so important they must be written down IMMEDIATELY.
- #19 This experience and the others you will take your cherubs through generate questions. Oh heck, they are writing AGAIN! Use an I Wonder wall. Sparklebox resource. (Acknowledge issue around criminality of creator)