Vocabulary Pt. 2

This past week my students completed 2 vocabulary strategies in the science classroom. Today I'm going to discuss one of these strategies to teach vocabulary. One of the hardest things for my students to do is to learn material where they don't understand the vocabulary. Who's with me? Student's have to understand the vocabulary being used before they can understand the content being taught.

Today's vocabulary strategy was the student's completed a science foldable. Now, I had heard about sciene foldables when I was taking an undergraduate course. Of course it slipped my mind, but was brought back to my mind after I took ELED 506- Elementary Science. This was a graduate course that was one of the quickest and hardest that I've EVER taken! This class was a 3 week course, but it also felt like the longest 3 weeks of my life. During this class we had one day devoted to science foldables. Science foldables are great visual tools for students. My students seemed to have a great gasp of the vocabulary as they were completing them. A sample vocabulary foldable is below:

The students took 4 pieces of construction paper to create their science foldable. After writing the words on the outside of the foldable the students then had to write the definition, write a sentence, and draw a picture of the word.

If you would like more information on science foldables please e-mail me at lindsey.bunch@metcalfe/kyshools.us

Word Sorts

Word sorts in Science? Word sorts in the 4th grade? Both of the answers to these questions is yes! Word sorts can be as easy (Kindergarten level) or as difficult (College level) as you want. It all simply depends on what the students are having to do with them. In my classroom today, students had to take words about force and motion and build sentences. Once the students had built sentences they then had to read an informational text and check their sentences. If their sentences weren't correct then they had to redo them. Once they were correct they could then glue them down on a piece of construction paper. I took a picture today, but I accidentally deleted it. If I can find it on my school computer I'll try to post it. Want more information about word sorts? E-mail me: lindsey.bunch@metcalfe.kyschools.us Thanks! Lindsey

4 Block Vocabulary- VOCAB PT. 1

Today in class students will be completing a vocabulary 4 block. Within this 4 block students place the vocabulary word in the middle, they have to come up with a synonym/antonym, definition, draw a picture, and write a sentence using the word. Below is a sample 4 block.

If you would like the template that I use for 4 block, please e-mail me at lindsey.bunch@metcalfe.kyschools.us.

THANKS!
*Lindsey

K-W-L Charts

Today before we began class we completed a K-W-L Chart. I know what you're thinking, you've completed K-W-L charts before, but how many times do you let your students write about what they think will happen before they read a text? Most of the time we use them as a graphic organizer that's made up of thoughts. Have you ever thought about making them write whole sentences? After discussing with Aimee the benefits of reading and writing it's been proven that reading and writing should go hand in hand. I remember back to my first year of teaching when we were reading our reading story. There were multiple times when my students would read a text and they would never write about it. When assessment time came for those stories my students wouldn't do well, at all. I realized that to help them understand the story they had to write about it. When the students wrote about what they thought would happen next, or what they wanted to learn about the story the student's comprehension went through the roof! So, I encourage you whether it be fiction or non-fiction get your students writing and reading! Student's can process more information if they write it down.

Teacher Survey Results

Wow! Thank you to the three teachers who e-mailed me your survey responses. The main conclusion that I can draw from the information is that we all need TIME! Time is a big struggle due to the fact that we as teachers have to spend so much time on reading and math. With that being said, if we incorporate more reading skills in our sciene time aren't we killing two birds with one stone? Should reading only be taught during reading time, and should science only be taught during science time? That's my question to you. I wonder what will happen when I start integrating more informational text along with reading strategies in my science classroom? How beneificial will it be? Honestly, it can't hurt. Students will be receiving additional reading classes each day while still receiving the science content too. I can't wait to see how this goes.

Teacher Survey

The next few blogs are going to be about Reading strategies that I am completing in my classroom to help my students. If you have time please complete this survey and e-mail it to me at lindsey.bunch@metcalfe.kyschools.us. Thanks! *Lindsey Teacher Survey 1. How comfortable do you feel with incorporating informational text in the physical science classroom? 2. How much time do you spend in the SCIENCE classroom discussing strategies on how to read informational text? 3. Approximately how many times throughout a science unit do you incorporate different reading strategies? 4. Have you ever received formal trainings on how to incorporate informational text in the physical science classroom? 5. How likely is it for your students to read a non-fiction book on their own (leisure reading)? Please explain your answer. 6. Is there anything you need as a teacher to help you incorporate more informational texts and reading strategies in the science classroom?

Reading Strategies

Today I met with Aimee (our Reading Recovery Teacher) and we discussed what Reading Strategies that I should focus on while blogging to you all. The ones that we have come up with are as follows: vocabulary (foldables and 4-blocks), qustioning strategies, go back and reread, writing before, after, and at the end of text. There will be probably be more as I go, but for right now this is what the focus will be. *Lindsey