The following are articles I have read to enrich my lessons. They have given me better explanations as to how to adapt certain strategies to teaching biology. Summaries of the article content is included below the reference. Following the summary, I also write how I would use that information in my classroom and what it means to me as a science teacher.
Adolescent Literacy
Reference: Alliance for Excellent Education (2011). Adolescent Literacy. FactSheet, December 2011. pages 1-4. Summary: This article raises awareness about the lacking of literacy skills of students in America. The author(s) call it a crisis in which will be improved by the adoption of the English Language Common Core standards for all learning areas. Students must improve their literacy skills in order to become successful and functioning members of society; particularly if they want to be hired in a job since there is a 59% increase in demand for advanced literacy skills. American adolescents are 14th in line behind many other developed countries and must improve this state to improve and maintain our country’s economic, political, cultural and social wellbeing in a “fast-paced global economy.” Classroom Recommendation: In college, I notice that professors place a strong emphasis in research and reading and criticizing scientific papers. What I believe is the best practice for my students in a biology classroom is to write research papers from time to time. Not only are they honing their research skills, they are reading and writing for analysis, comprehension, and comparisons in a given topic. By doing this every few months, students can improve their literacy skills and also improve at reading scientific texts and learn independently. Many times I have noticed that for research projects teachers make the option of the end product open to Power Point presentations and creative posters, but this does not always show the student’s literacy skills. English Language Learners Reference: J.R.R. (2009). Best Practice for English Language Learners. Educational Leadership, April 2009. pages 32-37. Summary: Adolescent English language learners (ELLs) have many obstacles ahead of them besides just the language barrier. Some concerns are if educators in schools assume a shared responsibility for the progress of ELLs, if there is a curriculum that encourages success in the students’ literacy in English as well as overall academic requirements, and if there are supportive and unified classroom communities so that the ELL is not isolated. Another general concern is that many schools do not welcome ELLs because they may have limited resources and funds as well as the risk of being closed down due to the EL students failing to achieve AYP. The author pushes her readers and colleagues to work together in all areas of a school (from counseling to ESL workshops to specific content area classes) to help ELLs grow academically as well as make them feel at ease and confident of their skills with not only a new culture and place, but particularly with English literacy. ELLs are diverse in culture, formal schooling background, and socio-economic status, among other factors. An important fact to remember is that some ELLs are native born and are the second or third generation in their family to be born and raised in the U.S. These students may effectively communicate English orally but can be a senior in high school and have a fifth grade reading level. Throughout their academic career, ELLs must have their progress recorded in a way that makes it easy for an educator to track their developing skills. Classroom Recommendation: To prepare a curriculum that integrates English language learning with students who either do not speak the language or have poor English literacy skills, there should be an emphasis on vocabulary. In biology, many times what is considered a “vocabulary word” can be paired with a picture or diagram. Also, assignments done in groups during class may also help the ELL’s comprehension of material, especially if he or she is paired with a peer that speaks the same language and is at a higher level of learning that the ELL. However, I think that students that are new to the country and do not speak much or no English should still be formally introduced to the class when they arrive, or at the beginning of the semester/term. This should be done to initiate integration of the ELLs and native English-speaking students so that linguistic segregation can be reduced or avoided. The more that the EL students work with their native English-speaking peers, the easier it will be for them to assimilate into the language and culture. I think that in order for an ELL to effectively learn English and advance in literacy is to speak first, then read, and then practice writing. Thus, the learner may engage in discussion or speaking with his or her peers, perhaps have an easier time reading the content material independently, and feel more at ease when it comes time to write. The cluster model, in which a class is made up of at least twenty-five percent of ELLs, and the rest being native English-speakers, can be used along with the help of classroom aides to further facilitate learning for the student(s). The Adolescent Brain Reference: P.W. Pat Wolfe (2012). The Adolescent Brain – A Work in Progress. Mind Matters Inc. Summary: Physically and chemically, the adolescent’s brain is changing rapidly, being influenced by hormones set off during puberty. The frontal lobes, particularly the prefrontal cortex are not completely developed until a person reaches their mid-twenties. Because the emotional part of the brain is already matured unlike the part that controls rational thinking, the emotional part has more influence on the teen’s behavior, which is why teens tend to react before they think and act impulsive. Drugs and substance abuse negatively affect the brain during adolescent development, especially lowering memory and learning abilities. Affecting the brain and its abilities are also sleep patterns, in which research shows that adolescents need more sleep than they did as children because their circadian rhythms are set later than children and adults. Overall, these theories are supported by evidence and research, but are not agreed upon by all scientists and educators to be facts, since many also believe that teens do have a good degree of self-control. Ultimately, adolescents learn most effectively when they are motivated directly and exposed to things that relate to their lives. Classroom Recommendation: I would use this information to my advantage by integrating technology in my lesson plans, first and foremost doing a lesson on how to use the Internet and other computer sources (Microsoft Office applications). I would do this because much of the younger generations’ world has to do with technology; students younger than me text more and interact on the computer more, and this trend is probably going to increase when I am a teacher. I expect most students to feel comfortable in front of a computer or laptop screen and know how to type and be familiar with basic programs although not many know how to use them to their academic advantage. For example, learning how to make a PowerPoint presentation more than a series of slides with facts on them and using those techniques to display a research project, a debate or experiment in a biology class. What Makes Teens Tick Reference: C.W. Claudia Walker, K.D. Kristina Dell (2004). What Makes Teens Tick. Time. Monday, May 10, 2004. Pages 1-9. Summary: Scientists believe that teens’ inconsistent and sometimes erratic behavior is due to the brain not being fully developed, as well as raging hormones changing the entire body. The human brain is not fully developed until at least twenty-five years old. Teens should not be punished to the extreme for their behaviors, since the part of their brain that makes decisions has not even been developed yet. Children at this age need to make their own mistakes, because that is how they learn. These students need structure, organization, understanding and a lot of patience from the adults in their lives. Classroom Recommendation: Because students at the adolescent age cannot necessarily make their own decisions and need to make mistakes to learn, I think that hands-on learning techniques are necessary at this point. There are certain lab experiments that I have observed during my field experiences that I feel would motivate a student and have him/her actively engaged; such as observing a goldfish’s blood flow in the tail when learning about the circulatory and respiratory systems in biology. Many students have or have had a pet fish, or know someone who has. In addition, providing clear structure and organization proves to be beneficial for adolescent learners. I can provide this in my classroom through graphic organizers during direct instruction, such as concept maps or lotus flower organizers. Adolescent Learning in a Safe and Warm Environment. Reference: L.I. Linda Inlay (2005). Safe Schools for the Roller Coaster Years. Association for Supervision & Curriculum Development. April 2005. Pages 41-43. Summary: During adolescence, the emotional part of the brain has already been developed whereas the decision making part of the brain has not. During this time, teens’ brains double the capacity to make connections, which means they need to use the essential academic skills they already have and/or learn new ones. These students also need to experiment to make the connections for what works best. To support teens and encourage them to do well, schools need to have safe and friendly environments all around campus; however, they also need to be encouraged to take risks, make mistakes, and improve their learning by stepping out of their comfort zone with teachers who are willing to guide them though that. Adolescents also need special attention to relating material to their lives so that they engage in meaningful learning. Classroom Recommendation: I can promote a safe and friendly learning environment in my classroom by assigning seats, and engaging the students in group work during lab experiments and some classwork, although they will still be encouraged to be autonomous by submitting individual assignments. Also, if there are students below the standards, in addition to having on-on-one time with them in and out of the classroom, it may greatly benefit the student to be tutored or helped by their peers. I think this can provide motivation for improvement. School Connectedness Reference: R.W.B. Robert W. Blum. A Case for School Connectedness (2005). Association for Supervision & Curriculum Development. April 2005. Pages 16-20. Summary: Students need to feel connected to school, and those that do show statistics that they are more likely to graduate and succeed academically. Feeling connected to and with the class in a classroom setting is also important and cooperative learning strategies are encouraged. Mentorship programs, integrating different level learners, and proving service and community learning are a few ways to connect students together in and out of the classroom. Teachers must also make learning meaningful, such as being able to connect the outside world with the material being taught in the class. Classroom Recommendation: My classroom should have an atmosphere of community. Some ways to ensure this would be for everyone to know each other’s names. Also, to prevent social cliques, seats should be assigned so that students can get to know all of the peers and not be confined to social cliques. Making learning meaningful does not have to restrict the classroom only to school grounds. Bringing in spokespeople from community organizations or taking the students on a field trip to experience science outside of the classroom is one of the best and effective ways to motivate students and make their learning meaningful and personal. An Introduction to Analytical Text Structures Reference: A.R.S. Amy R. Stempel. An Introduction to Analytical Text Structures (2010). Compose Yourself! A Guide to Critical Thinking & Analytical Writing in Secondary School. 2010. Summary: This introduction includes the different types of expository writing performed in secondary education. There is an emphasis on the definition of these writings because they usually involve higher-level thinking (particularly analysis), which they are not used to doing when writing narratives, the more common form of writing for younger students. Students in middle and high school need help structuring their thoughts and connecting information when writing to explain, analyze, etc. This introductory section of the book, Compose Yourself! A Guide to Critical Thinking & Analytical Writing in Secondary School helps give a clear but brief understanding on how the different forms of expository writing (compare-contrast, cause/effect, problem-solution, concept definition, procedural and persuasive) can be approached and gives examples in topics of various contents. Classroom Recommendation: I think that all of these forms of expository writing can be applied to learning biology. Compare/Contrast essays are often given in tests to compare two different but similar concepts. For example, specifying the differences and similarities of the processes of mitosis and meiosis. Asking the student why these processes are important to development, which incorporates concept-definition into the essay, could expand this question to a higher level of thinking by connecting themes. Before students are assigned expository writing, they should be told how to write it. For example, I was not sure how to write a formal lab report before college and that was because no one taught me. Before assigning a lab report in class, it would be helpful to give the students guidelines and tips for writing a lab report. For this, the scientific method should have already been explained, so students can expect each part of the scientific method to be incorporated in the report. In addition, during the first lab experiment, I would walk around and announce and (probably write on the board) when each stage of the experiment corresponded with a part of the scientific method to reinforce what will be expected on the lab reports. |
Literacy Construction in the Content Areas
Reference: R.H. Rafael Heller, C.L. G. Cynthia L. Greenleaf. Literacy Instruction in the Content Areas: Getting to the Core of Middle and High School Improvement (2007). Alliance for Excellence Education, June 2007. Summary: The text claims that the new goal for middle and high school students are to strengthen their literacy skills through the content area, not to teach literacy at the basic levels. According to the National Assessment of Educational Progress, by providing special attention to this matter as well as the necessary resources, learners can significantly increase their reading skills, which have been shown at the middle school level. However, in the high school level, many freshmen come in with middle school or lower reading levels. American students are also fifteenth in the international rank of English speaking industrialized countries Program of International Student Assessment in Reading. The article suggests that all teachers (math, science, etc.) involve their students in reading and writing in their content area, including ways to improve reading fluency, comprehension and extend the vocabulary. When focusing literacy learning on the content areas, teachers must include the specific details of their content’s reading such as the purpose of the selected text, the audience it was intended for, and the sources used. At the high school level, students should already have the basic literacy levels and teachers need to the strengthen them use their content, regardless of the learning level of the student. Classroom Recommendation: For students to strengthen their literacy skills, teachers need to pay special attention to the reading and writing assignments that are given in their classrooms. One way to ensure that reading in the content area is done in my classroom (because many students merely skim or do not fully read the material from textbooks) is to assign weekly or bimonthly summaries of scientific articles that relate to the current topic students are learning. By doing so, the students are reading in the content area as well as being aware of current topics in the news. This would be helpful because even at the college freshman level students are asked to find and summarize scientific articles. In addition, a student (regardless of level) may be able to read the text, but not necessarily comprehend it. However, before any type of reading for information is done, whether it is an article or material from the textbook, students should be given instruction on how to read these types of texts. I learned this from observing in the research literacy ninth grade course from the Bronx High School of Science. The teacher gave a handout with guidelines on how to annotate a scientific article for stronger comprehension. In my future classroom I plan to do a similar lesson. In the beginning of the term students will be given a similar handout as well as direct instruction on how to use context clues when reading for information and then how to strengthen understanding by annotating, underlining key words (define key word) and looking for specific details of the text. Summaries are Essential in Comprehension Reference: R.J.M. Robert J. Marzano (2010). Summarizing to Comprehend. Educational Leadership, March 2010. pages 83 – 84. Summary: This article states that in order for teachers to know that their students comprehend the material, the students should be able to summarize. By summarizing to comprehend, students increase learning by 19%, according to research. The top summarizing strategies are Clarify What’s Important, which highlights key information for students, such as the main ideas, events and/or characters in ELA. Next, the strategy Familiarize Students with Multiple Text Structures enforces comprehension through summarizing by teaching students to identify the structure of what they are reading. The different structures consist of description, generalization, argument, definition, and comparison and problem/solution structures. If students can recognize the structure of the text, they are better fit to analyze and comprehend the material. A similar strategy is to Help Students Recognize Layers, which allows students to recognize the different layers in a type of text structure before they can begin to summarize the content. The strategy Encourage Graphic Representation supports students to summarize what they have learned by creating a visual representation. Many times this is done in math and science by graphing results. The last strategy discussed in the article, Review Essential Terminology emphasizes the importance of vocabulary to the comprehension of text. Students need to know the specific terms and what they mean before they can read something that revolves around those terms. Students need to be able to comprehend what they are reading for learning to take place. Summarizing is a key way for teachers to assess the level of comprehension of a subject a student has. Classroom Recommendation: I agree with the article and think that all strategies apply to biology. For example, the strategy Encourage Graphic Representations will always be essential when the students create their lab reports. Graphs and charts are visual representations of the data that the students acquire. Before they begin to make these graphs, the students need to fully comprehend the data and everything else that goes with that particular experiment. Then after they make the graph or chart, students should be able to explain it. If they can summarize a graph, let alone their own graphs, it will show full comprehension. However, before I would have students creating their own graphs, I would expose them to scientific articles (that have numerous graphs, charts or diagrams) so that they could read over the article, and be able to summarize the text and the visual representations. Another strategy that I think is essential in summarizing to comprehend in biology is the last one, Review Essential Terminology, becausevocabulary is very important in this content. Many content areas claim they have their own language, for example, the mathematics area has their own way of words (pi, radius, factoring). In biology, an entire new world is exposed to the students, and hence, an entire new set of vocabulary words should be learned to understand this world. I would prefer to have this be a routine in my classroom. For every time my class and I move on to a new topic or material (for example, at the beginning of every week) I would have a set of vocabulary words up on the board. In my eighth grade math class, my teacher used vocabulary words the way they were practiced in elementary school and they worked wonders on me learning them. I learned so much from that class that when I started high school and my teacher asked our class if we knew the definition of a math word and I answered it, he looked around the room to see where I had possibly read the definition! Depending on how far the students get through in a material, I would give the vocabulary words after the first lesson. For example, if I were teaching a lesson on mitosis, after the first day or two I would list the vocabulary words that were already mentioned in the lesson for the students to write a sentence with them by using them each in 5 different examples Another strategy I like is familiarizing students with text structure. In reading scientific articles, students need to look for the scientific method to get a better understanding of it. I have mentioned in the previous article that was read on how I would introduce and familiarize students with the scientific method. (PLEASE READ ABOVE!) Representing Knowledge Non-Linguistically Reference: R.J.M. Robert J. Marzano. (2010). Representing Knowledge Nonlinguistically. Educational Leadership. May 2010. Pages 84-86. Summary: This article discusses the importance of teaching and learning using nonlinguistic strategies. Nonlinguistic ways of processing knowledge go beyond just visual imagery. They require that students represent what they have learned without language or as little use of words as possible. Studies have shown a 17% point gain in student achievement through use of nonlinguistic learning strategies. Nonlinguistic representations come in many forms and can be applied to different content areas and teaching strategies as long as they identify the most important information. Students should be able to explain the nonlinguistic representation, whether it is their own or a diagram given to them. On the other hand, creating their own nonlinguistic representations helps students deepen their understanding on a subject. Because nonlinguistic representations also act as taking notes, they should be revised when the time calls for it, just like their notebook; an ongoing revision of information, along with annotations. The only negative aspect of nonlinguistic representation is that it may take a long time. Classroom Recommendation: In my future classroom, nonlinguistic representations to support learning would be presented often. In biology, most concepts cannot be understood simply through words. For example, pictures, diagrams and physical models are key to understanding the human body. At the end of the body unit in a high school biology classroom, I would anticipate taking the students to the Bodies Exhibit in downtown New York City. Here, a student can truly see what is inside his or her own body from almost every stage of life. It is very interesting and would appeal to any student at the high school level considering they are still physically developing at this time too. On another note, students can build their own physical models when learning about cell structure. This is a popular activity among freshman high school biology classroom and works well to allow the student to remember the components of a cell and their functions. It can also be entirely creative since the students can just draw a two-dimensional cell on a piece of paper and color it in, or create a 3D structure out of specific materials including clay or play-doh. Another main point that comes to me from this article is the use of graphs. Science is directly connected to math, and graphs are diagrams that rarely use words (if only to label) to describe and analyze a phenomenon, trend, pattern, etc. In my next lesson plan that uses nonlinguistic strategies, I plan to have my students perform an activity where they need to measure the rate of their partner’s heartbeat (students would work in pairs) during a flight or fight response. To provoke this response (or imitate it since the students already know the physical effects it would have on the body) the students will take turns jogging in place for about 1-2 minutes and then record heartbeat by counting beats per minute. They would ultimately display their results through a line graph, which would have to be demonstrated before they try it on their own. Cues, Questions, & Advance Organizers Reference: Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory (2005). Focus on Effectiveness. Summary: This excerpt from the Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory in Oregon suggests that all teachers use cues, questions and advance organizers to increase learning in their classroom. An advance organizer such as the KWL chart allows students to review what they know, ask questions on what they would like know, and then at the end of class, state what they have learned. It facilitates learning by letting the student be aware of each time he or she advances to a new stage of learning while moving along the material. When teachers use questions, they must ask questions on content that is most important and not on what students would find interesting. In addition to emphasizing the most important information, teachers must ask higher-level questions that require the student to analyze and think critically rather than regurgitate information. Students should be given some “wait-time” when asked a question so that there is more thinking and student-to-student interaction and feedback. Using cues to hint to the next part of the topic also allows students to anticipate what is to be learned. Overall, the information given to students should be given in different modes; showing diagrams, research or news articles, etc. All of these methods have been shown to increase student learning and gives teachers back the effort and time spent into planning their lessons. Classroom Recommendation: My signature pedagogy is inquiry. To teach science, one must ask specific questions that involve students using their prior knowledge to make connections to the current material to be learned. Inquiry-based learning is also the basis of constructivist views on teaching, and according to my experience so far, this is the most effective for students to learn science. Considering that the scientific method is almost like a series of questions itself, I would do my best to incorporate the scientific method in my lessons by using specific vocabulary to do so. For example, if I were demonstrating something, I would specifically ask the students for their “observations” instead of what they simply saw. I would ask them to “hypothesize” what would happen if ______ then ask them to “predict” what would happen next. Vocabulary specific to the scientific method such as those allows the students to get into the mindset of scientific and critical thinking. Students need to know information such as facts to connect key ideas and concepts, but this is not enough to let the teacher know that they have learned the material. Questioning is not enough in class; this needs to be consistent in and outside of the classroom and all assignments given will include higher-level questions that involve scientific thinking by going back to the scientific method. Diagrams are important in biology and are a form of nonlinguistic representations. Providing a visual of what the students are actually learning help to solidify the information and connect words with real life, also helping the students to remember the information better. A specific example of this could be a diagram of cellular respiration where students could be asked to look back at the diagram and (starting with a lower level question) asked to trace the flow of pyruvic acid throughout the process. The next level of this would be asking the students to hypothesize the effects of not having pyruvate and then asking them to analyze or reflect on the importance of this substance in the process of cellular respiration. WebQuests Reference: T.M. Tom March. (2004). The Learning Power of WebQuests. Educational Leadership. January 2010. Pages 42-47. Summary: This article discusses how WebQuests increase learning for students. A WebQuest is defined as an inquiry-oriented activity in which some or all of the information that learners interact with comes from resources on the Internet (Dodge, 1995.) These activities directly and constantly keep the student engaged. Many times they are done in groups. Some characteristics of WebQuests are scaffolding, asking open-ended questions, In order for a task to be qualified as a WebQuest, the information retrieved from the Browser must show some type of alteration that shows the student summarized in his or her own words and reflects learning. The Internet resources to be used must be interactive, media-rich, contemporary, contextualized and in different perspectives. Of course, these resources must be legit and accredited sources of information. One key element to remember when assigning students WebQuests is that students must have background knowledge on the topic before becoming individual experts during the assignment. In addition, the heart of learning in this activity occurs by giving the students only a certain amount of information at the starting point and then having the students do more each time on their own, eventually processing the information into a more sophisticated understanding. Classroom Recommendation: WebQuests seem essential to a science classroom because they use scaffolding. If I were to create a WebQuest based on my current theme and content area, I would make it on a group research project on phobias. The introduction would define what a phobia is and make them aware of how phobias can affect people’s daily lives. The introduction would also state the purpose, which may be something creative such as “you plan to be an intern at a psychiatrist’s office and will be assigned specifically with patients that receive therapy to conquer their phobias. In order to be prepared for how to handle these patients as well as be familiar with what, if any, medications they must be prescribed, you must be aware of the different phobias.” The task would be that each group must investigate a different phobia using credited sources on the Internet. The process would be to briefly discuss how it affects the body and mind, using vocabulary already learned in class in a group of four. (Phobia, symptoms, effects, and treatment.) They would also present their findings through a visual way (either PowerPoint presentation or Poster) and this would be evaluated by a rubric for each. The conclusion would be the students reflecting on the severity in impact of life from the fear, the physical, psychological and/or mental damages it does, and what may be done to prevent and treat the phobia as well as why the fear is even considered a phobia. The students would also be given a worksheet where they would be required to answer a list of thought questions as well as answering the questions the task would require, as previously mentioned. |