Florida Association of Science
Teachers Conference
Writing in Science Made Simple:
Engaging Strategies for Student Success, Part I
Vocabulary & Building Background Knowledge
Kathleen Kopp
Teacher on Special Assignment, Citrus County Schools
Author and Presenter: Maupin House Publishing
koppk@citrus.k12.fl.us
http://www.citrus.k12.fl.us/fre/kopp/ContentAreaWriting.htm
Today’s Objectives
 Review of CCSS ELA writing standards as they apply to
science
 Phenomenal, easy-to-implement writing activities to help
students learn essential vocabulary
 Fun, creative, and motivating writing strategies to start
students thinking about what they already know.
 Engage thinking
 Build background knowledge
Resources for Science Teachers
 All these strategies and more in Everyday Content-AreaWriting
and Strategies forWriting in the Science Classroom (Maupin House
Publishing, Inc.)
Comparisons
 Complete this thought:
Writing in Science is like _____________________
because_________________________________________.
Word Bank:
storming a castle
jet skiing
munching an apple
shopping
NASCAR
a day at the beach
Analogies
 WRITING is to LEARNING IN SCIENCE as
_____________________ is to __________________.
Writing Standards for Literacy in
Science and Technical Subjects, gr. 6-8
Production and Distribution of
Writing
Text Types
and
Purposes
Standard
Description
1
Write arguments focused on discipline-specific content.
2
Write informative/explanatory texts, including the narration of historical
events.
3
NA
4
Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development,
organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience.
5
With some guidance and support from peers and adults, develop and
strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising, editing, rewriting, or
trying a new approach, focusing on how well purpose and audience have
been addressed.
6
Use technology, including the Internet, to produce and publish writing
and present the relationships between information and ideas clearly and
efficiently.
http://www.corestandards.org/
Writing Standards for Literacy in
Science and Technical Subjects, gr. 6-8
Range of
Writing
Research to Build and Extend
Knowledge
Standard
Description
7
Conduct short research projects to answer a question (including a selfgenerated question), drawing on several sources and generating additional
related, focused questions that allow for multiple avenues of exploration.
8
Gather relevant information from multiple print and digital sources, using
search terms effectively; assess the credibility and accuracy of each source;
and quote or paraphrase the data and conclusions of others while avoiding
plagiarism and following a standard format for citation.
9
Draw evidence from informational texts to support analysis reflection, and
research.
10
Write routinely over extended time frames (time for reflection and
revision) and shorter time frames (a single sitting or a day or two) for a
range of discipline-specific tasks, purposes, and audiences.
http://www.corestandards.org/
Writing Strategies to Develop
Science Vocabulary
Mine, Ours, Theirs
Frayer model
Graphic organizers from http://freeology.com/graphicorgs/
Student-generated cloze (story, paragraph, or sentence)
Before Reading: Mine, Ours, Theirs
PLATE TECTONICS
The multi-million dollar seismic equipment was helpful. But, the geologist relied more
on her understanding of plate tectonics to help predict the next major earthquake.
My Definition
My Neighbor’s Definition
Glossary Definition
How these definitions compare______________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
Before Reading: Mine, Ours, Theirs
OBFUSCATION
The senator’s continuous, disorganized, and irrelevant prattle left his
fellow elected leaders in a state of obfuscation.
My Definition
My Neighbor’s Definition
Glossary Definition
Total confusion or
opaqueness so as to
be difficult to
perceive or
understand
How these definitions compare______________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
Before Reading: Frayer Model
Definition
Characteristics
Total confusion or opaqueness
so as to be difficult to
perceive or understand
Obfuscation
Confusion
Lost
In a fog
Ignorant
TESOL Conference
Wise old owl
?!?!?!?!?!?!?!
My dad
Examples
Non-examples
Vocabulary Development
Using Graphic Organizers
http://freeology.com/graphicorgs/
Vocabulary Cards Graphic Organizer
Vocabulary Word Cluster Graphic
Organizer
Vocabulary Sketch Graphic Organizer
“Cognitive Dictionary Graphic Organizer
Check for Understanding of Essential
Terms: Cloze
 Have students write sentences, paragraphs, or stories using






all their vocabulary words before or during learning.
Collect the students’ work.
Select the best sentences, paragraph, or story.
Type them using a word processing program.
Insert blank lines (_____________) for each vocabulary
term.
Provide copies of the cloze student activity sheet and terms.
Have students complete this activity to assess their
understanding of the vocabulary presented in the reading
selection.
Choose one word.
Write a sentence.
Insert a blank line for your word.
 bacteria
 energy
 carbon dioxide
 nitrogen
 decompose
 obfuscation
 fixation
 process
Sample Cloze
Dirk studied the alien life form on the autopsy table. Then, he
turned his attention to the cells in the microscope. He was
looking for the _____________ markers that made the beast
look as it did. The unfortunate part was, he only had the one
body to study. How was he going to determine the
_____________ and _____________ traits of this species
using only one sample? He had to identify the right
_____________ sequences! He made notes about the pairs of
genes, or _____________, he had identified so far. He set
out to find victims related to his specimen to fall prey to his
alien death hose. He would not stop until he discovered all
there was to know about alien _____________.
gene
dominant
DNA
recessive
allele
heredity
Writing Strategies to Engage Students
and Build Background Knowledge
PMI (Plusses, Minuses, and Interesting)
Engage thinking with activities or investigations, articles, facts, short
videos, pictures, guest speakers, or objects. Be sure students follow
up by writing using “I” stems:
What I did
How I felt
Where I was
What happened to me
How I felt
Conversations (and written follow-up)
PMI
YES _____
PLUSSES
“Pluto should be readmitted as a planet.”
MINUSES
NO _____
INTERESTING
Engage Thinking with Pictures:
“What happened here?”
Observations
Inferences
Engage Thinking:
Activity
 Hands-on investigation: “How
strong is your chocolate?”
 Mechanical properties of matter
 Write procedures, data, and
outcomes.
 Online interactive activity: “Shape
It Up”
 Challenge students to identify the
forces that shape the earth’s surface
and the relative speed with which
they act
 Write personal reflections
comparisons, or summarize learning.
 Physical Activity: Go Bowling
 Write a story, “A Day in the Life of a
Bowling Ball.”
 Brainstorming: Animals
 List animals, then compare their
traits or characteristics.
http://www.kineticcity.com/mindgames/warper/
“Open Mind” Making Connections
Thinking Stems:
• I wonder…
• This makes me think about…
• This reminds me of…
• This relates to…
• I imagine
• I predict…
• I remember when…
Conversations
(and written
follow-up)
Write Now!
 Writing engages students’ thinking.
 Writing allows students to make predictions.
 Writing documents initial thoughts and ideas.
 Writing helps students acquire (internalize) essential
vocabulary.
Thank you for spending time with
me!
Be sure to stay for Part II of “Writing in Science Made Simple”
• Use writing to bring meaning to learning
• Use writing to formally and informally assess students
koppk@citrus.k12.fl.us
http://www.citrus.k12.fl.us/fre/kopp/ContentAreaWriting.htm