Caitlin Neely
RDNG 672
February 12, 2015
The Integration of Science and Reading in the Classroom
Reading is a critical part of learning science, however many science teachers
refrain from teaching reading in their classrooms. This is creating a generation of
students who are illiterate to reading expository texts. This is a hindrance to students in
science classes because literacy is essential to scientific thinking. Reading is
foundational to conducting research, developing informed inferences, and making
reasoned arguments (D'Alessandro et al., 2014). The incorporation of reading
comprehension strategies allows students to dissect readings in order to gain the
necessary background knowledge to construct meaning from experimentation and labs,
which are essential to inquiry-based instruction. “The ability to comprehend texts can
also help students substantiate, modify or refute conclusions made from science
experiments” (Ediger, 2009). This skill is especially important for the technology age
that we live in today. Students are exposed to more information than ever before, so it is
important to teach students how to read, evaluate, and filter this information. In order to
promote science literacy, teachers must begin incorporating reading comprehension
strategies in their classrooms. In this paper I will discuss how instruction and
implementation of various reading comprehension strategies has improved student’s
academic success in science class.
The first step to address the literacy crisis in the science classroom starts with
the teachers. Teachers must overcome the negative perceptions and experiences
related to reading science textbooks. Many science teachers have negative perceptions
of science textbooks because many textbooks to do not fully address standard- based
principles for concept learning. In the standard driven educational system of today,
teachers are pressured to address all of the necessary standards before testing. If those
standards are not addressed in their textbooks, they are less likely to use them
(Radcliffe et al., 2004). Also, many science teachers value project-based learning, and
do not value reading (Radcliffe et al., 2004). Science teachers regard reading
comprehension strategies as “un-teachable” because many lack knowledge about
reading instruction, and struggle to effectively incorporate reading comprehension in
their classrooms (Concannon-Gibney & McCarthy, 2012). For this reason, it is
necessary to provide professional development in reading instruction for content area
teachers that address the importance of reading, and also useful ways to incorporate
reading comprehension instruction in science. Concannon-Gibney and McCarthy (2012)
found that after teaching professional development course on reading comprehension
strategies, teachers saw that students were more engaged in reading and more active
in discussions about reading. There was an increase in test grades which teachers
attributed to the instructional model they implemented based on their training. These
results reflect the importance of professional development of reading comprehension
strategies for content area teachers and its impact on student achievement.
After science teachers are equipped with the necessary skills to teach reading
comprehension strategies, they then need to incorporate beneficial reading
comprehension strategies in their classrooms. Research shows that some of the most
beneficial reading comprehension strategies involve metacognitive strategies
(Concannon-Gibney & McCarthy 2012; D'Alessandro et al., 2014;Ediger, 2009;
Radcliffe et al., 2014). One beneficial reading comprehension strategy is using graphic
organizers. Graphic organizers are great for building reading comprehension because
they are metacognitive in nature and allow one to think about one’s thinking while
reading texts. Graphic organizers have been shown to improve students’ reading
comprehension by allowing students to express key concepts and relate them in writing.
More specifically, concept maps have been shown to improve reading comprehension
because they require students to think about how concepts relate to each other by
creating links with descriptors for each concept. By relating concepts to each other
students comprehend specific text structures that are used in their textbooks (Radcliffe
et al., 2004). Another metacognitive strategy is previewing the reading to look for
vocabulary words. This aids in reading comprehension because students are able to
assess their prior knowledge of the material (D'Alessandro et al., 2014). Assessing prior
knowledge is a key component to reading comprehension because it allows students to
connect the known with the unknown, and thus, build on their background knowledge
(Radcliffe et al, 2004; Ediger, 2009). Having students rehearse what has been learned
can also incorporate metacognition. This allows students to notice any gaps in their
knowledge and skills (Ediger, 2009). In summary, metacognition strategies give
students the opportunity to assess and monitor their own comprehension of scientific
concepts, and thus, aids in a better understanding of scientific text.
Another essential strategy for teaching reading comprehension is outlining or
taking notes of what is read (Radcliffe et al, 2004; D'Alessandro et al., 2014). This task
gives students the ability to confirm their prior knowledge and address the concepts
they do not understand. Once again, engaging prior knowledge is a key component to
successful reading comprehension strategies. Another important process for extracting
meaning from scientific texts is summarizing what is read (D’Alessandro et al., 2014;
Radcliffe et al, 2004). Writing a summary encourages students to synthesize the content
in a way that connects everything they have read. In addition to summarizing what is
read, students also should be able to provide examples by relating what is read to real
life situations. This is a critical component to reading comprehension because it “helps
form a bridge between their current understanding and the new material” (D’Alessandro
et al., 2014). It is also critical for teaching science in general because students need to
know how to apply scientific understanding to their everyday life. This application is
what creates meaning to what is learned.
As a result of incorporating reading comprehension strategies in the science
classroom, there have been many reports of positive impacts to student’s success and
teacher’s perceptions of reading in science. Students reported that they no longer saw
their science textbooks as their enemy. They also reported reading more since the
implementation of reading strategies (Radcliffe et al., 2014). Teachers also report
having a change from a negative perception of reading to a positive perception of
reading after implementing reading comprehension instruction in their classrooms
(Radcliffe et al., 2004). Not only did both students and teachers have a change in
perspective, there was an improvement in student’s comprehension of the text.
Teachers have expressed improvements student engagement in classroom discussions
and labs (Concannon-Gibney & McCarthy, 2012; D’Alessandro et al., 2014). Many
teachers feel that incorporating reading comprehension strategies has helped with the
student’s comprehension of scientific concepts because they saw students become
more active in reading and participating in classroom activities.
In conclusion, incorporating reading and science begins with proper teacher
training on teaching reading comprehension strategies that are helpful to students.
Those beneficial reading comprehension strategies include identifying prior knowledge,
constructing outlines or graphic organizers to represent and relate key concepts,
summarizing and synthesizing what is learned, and relating that new knowledge to real
world situations. Incorporating all of these strategies will help students gain the
necessary skills needed to construct meaning and think critically about scientific
concepts.
References
Concannon-Gibney, T., & McCarthy, M. J. (2012). The explicit teaching of reading
comprehension in science class: A pilot professional development program.
Improving Schools, 15(1), 73-88.
D'Alessandro, J., Sorensen, T., Homoelle, B., & Hodun, T. (2014). Vocabulary, concept,
evidence, & examples. Science Teacher, 81(4), 45-51.
Ediger, M. (2009). Reading comprehension in the science curriculum. Reading
Improvement, 46(2), 78-80.
Radcliffe, R., Caverly, D., Peterson, C., & Emmons, M. (2004). Improving textbook
reading in a middle school science classroom. Reading Improvement, 41(3), 145156.