Science Note-booking
and Science Literacy
Rosalind Franklin STEM Elementary
Agenda for 8-6 and 8-7
Day 1
• 8:00 – 9:00
• 9:00 – 11:00
• 11:00 – 12:00
• 12:00 – 1:00
• 1:00 – 4:00
Science Note-booking (STEM Emphasis) Part 1
and Science Literacy that corresponds.
PLC Work Time
Lunch on your own
Science Note-booking (STEM Emphasis) Part 2
and Science Literacy that corresponds.
PLC Work Time (Daily Reflection)
Day 2
• 8:00 – 9:00
• 9:00 – 11:00
• 11:00 – 12:00
• 12:00– 1:00
• 1:00 – 4:00
Science Note-booking (STEM Emphasis) Part 3
and Science Literacy that corresponds.
PLC Work Time
Lunch on your own
Science Note-booking (STEM Emphasis) Part 4
and Science Literacy that corresponds.
PLC Work Time (Daily reflection)
Science Note-booking Objectives:
• Understanding of construction of a Science
Notebook with the different entry types.
• To discuss the importance of students
understanding the NGSS Standards being taught
and the Performance Expectations for each of
them.
• To learn about and discuss Common Core
Reading, Writing, and Literacy skills that can be
incorporated into the notebooks.
• Discuss the importance of a student Making
Meaning Conference and continuous Review.
Science Note-booking Objectives:
• To have participants use foldable’ s in Science
Notebooks.
• To allow work time for teachers to create an
Teacher Science Notebook for a unit of study.
• To express the importance of reviewing the
student notebooks by students at least once a
week.
• Integrating STEM concepts into each and
every unit as creatively as possible.
Literacy Objectives
 To look at how Science skills and Reading skills are so
similar.
 To look at how Science skills and Writing skills are so
similar.
 To discuss the importance of Performance Expectations
and how Students and Teachers both benefit
 To discuss the importance of Student Metacognition
and strategies that will help students understand how
they can improve in this area.
 Look at lessons or units and allow for grade level
discussions and development of some take home
strategies you can use in the classroom.
What Do Scientists Do?
• 80% of their time is devoted to reading and writing!
(Palincsar & Magnusson, 2000)
Research shows:
If teachers use literacy in the content
area strategies 15-20 minutes (a couple
of times each week), students increase
reading levels and significantly improve
performance on content area
standardized testing.
Science and Writing Skills
Science
Writing
•Interpreting data and graphs
•Annotated diagrams and
drawings
•Procedures/processes
•Inferences
•Hypotheses
•Explanations/justifications
•Conclusions
•Focused free writing
•Compare and contrast
•Analysis
•Persuade and convince
•Cause and effect
•Problems and solutions
•Descriptions and observations
•Summaries
Comparison of Skills:
Science and Reading
 Science











Observing
Predicting
Inferring
Comparing & Contrasting
Communicating
Classifying
Collecting & Organizing
Data
Interpreting Data
Linking Cause & Effect
Formulating Conclusions
Reading










Note Details
Predicting
Inferring
Comparing & Contrasting
Communicating
Sequencing
Summarizing
Recognizing Main Ideas
Recognizing Cause & Effect
Drawing Conclusions
Performance Expectations
• Classroom performance expectations should
be one of the most important presentations
you give to your students on a weekly, if not
daily, basis. These need to include all areas of
content along with listening and
communicating. Clear, concise expectations
help students to better understand their role
in what they are learning. This will lead to
better student metacognition.
FYI Science
In metric measurement:
1 gram = 1 cm3 = 1 cc = 1 ml;
1 in = 2.54 cm;
1 meter = 39.25 in
1 quart = .946 liters
Science Note-booking
and Science Literacy
(STEM Emphasis)
Part One
Big Idea: Standard being addressed
• Describe the enduring understanding, discuss
the standard(s) being taught during this
lesson/unit in language students understand.
Discuss the expectations you desire and how
students can attain those expectations. (These
should be posted or written on the whiteboard.)
• Include all aspects of your STEM Lesson (Science,
Technology, Engineering, Math, Reading, Writing,
Listening, Communicating)
Lesson Content Goals – Guiding
Questions
• What lesson goals do you want the students
to attain? How can students demonstrate
understanding? Have great guiding questions
to help them realize those goals. (Goals are
based on all standards being taught for this
unit: Disciplinary Core Ideas, Science and
Engineering Practices, Crosscutting concepts).
(Students may desire to write these in their
notebooks.)
Science Probes
• Science Probes (by Page Keely) are great pre
and post formative assessment tools to help
you as a teacher to determine your students
understanding of the big idea you are
teaching.
• Science Probes also allow the teachers to see
a students reading and writing skills along
with their reasoning skills.
FYI Science
•How to mix a 10% saline
solution: 10 grams of
salt to 100 mls of
distilled water.
Interpreting Visual
Representations
• This strategy guide introduces an approach
for teaching students about interpreting
visual representations. Teaching students
how to interpret visual information can
enhance reading comprehension and is
particularly important for understanding
science texts.
(CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RST 6-8.7; 9-10.7; 11-12.7)
Interpreting Visual Text
Roles of Visual Representations
1. Exemplify: Gives an example of something from the text
2. Contextualize: Helps you understand how something
happens
3. Clarify: Shows something that is hard to explain with
words
4. Extend: Adds new information
(Do foldables activity)
USING TEXT FEATURES
This strategy guide introduces an
approach for teaching students how to
identify informational text features, such
as bold print, headings, and captions.
Using text features facilitates
comprehension and enables readers to
locate information in text.
(CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RST 6-8.5; 9-10.5; 11-12.5)
Using Text Features
Text Features can help readers:
1.Identify the most important ideas in a text.
2.Anticipate what’s to come.
3.Understand challenging ideas.
4.Find information they are looking for.
(Read Mining in Peru story)
FYI Science
• Purple cabbage juice is an
great acid – base indicator.
Science Note-booking
and Science Literacy
(STEM Emphasis)
Part Two
Engaging Scenario
(Optional, but always works great!)
• This is a great way to hook your students into
the lesson or unit you are about to begin.
Make or create a situation that has them
looking at the unit as a personal venture or
quest, that will challenge them to solve a
problem, create a product, or inform an
audience about an important social issue.
ABOUT CONCEPT
MAPPING
This strategy guide introduces an approach for
teaching concept mapping to help students
understand information presented in content-rich
texts. Concept mapping supports students in making
connections between known information and new
information. By creating concept maps, students
clarify their understanding of the topic and integrate
new ideas into their thinking.
(CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RST 6-8.7; 9-10.7; 11-12.7)
Concept Mapping
Focus Question
• This is a question generated by the student,
based upon the information they have
received about this lesson or unit, that will
help them understand what it is they need to
know and understand at the end of full
activity.
• K-2 students will require assistance with the
creation of a focus question.
Hypothesis/Prediction
• A hypothesis/prediction is a statement created
by the student, based on information or
experience they may have, about the outcome
of an investigation they will be doing. (Sample
language frame: Based on
________________________, my hypothesis
is___________________________________.)
• Teachers guidance is usually required in the
beginning, but release to students should come
relatively soon.
FYI Science
• pH paper, for 0 – 14 pH,
with color indicator
placards.
TEACHING ABOUT THE
NATURE OF SCIENCE
This strategy guide introduces an approach for
teaching about the nature of science. Learning about
the nature of science helps students understand that
science is a process for inquiring about the world.
Students learn about the scientific enterprise when
they read about how scientists pose questions and
engage in investigations.
(CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RST 6-8.3; 9-10.3; 11-12.3)
Teaching About the Nature of Science
Practices of Science
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
f.
g.
h.
i.
j.
k.
Ask questions
Design new things
Make predictions or hypotheses
Read about the work of other scientists
Work with other scientists
Make observations
Use tools, models, and computers
Record and organize data
Make explanations from evidence
Create solutions to solve problems
Talk and write about investigations
Planning Steps
• Each student needs to (whether it be in pairs
or groups) create an investigation plan that
includes materials needed, a step by step
procedure, and how they are going to gather
data from their investigation.
TEACHING PROCEDURAL
WRITING
This strategy guide introduces an approach for
teaching students how to write scientific
procedures. Learning to write scientific
procedures enables students to communicate
about investigations the way that scientists do.
(CCSS.ELA-Literacy.WHST.6-8.2; 9-10.2; 11-12.2)
About Procedures
Characteristics of a Procedure
A procedure:
Tells how to do something.
Has a title.
Lists materials at the beginning.
Has numbered steps.
Includes specific measurements.
Includes details that help the reader know exactly
what to do.
Uses command verbs.
FYI Science
• Simple Supplies that make everyday science
easy: pint jars; small bowls; balloons; string;
straws; craft sticks; marbles; ramps (wood or
Styrofoam); coffee filters; funnels; large paper
clips or small hex nuts; small magnets of
various shapes and sizes; plastic 1 liter and 2
liter bottles with caps; tape; scissors, rulers.
Data Organizing and Planning
• Students need to be able to write down all
data they create while doing the
investigation. Here they need to plan what
their tables might look like, how they want to
display the data they collect, if they want to
use the data to make graphs or charts, etc.
Task
• It is at this point in the lesson/investigation
that the student does the complete
investigation based on his/her procedure.
The testing, experimenting, manipulation of
variables happens and is recorded in this
step. Encourage students to write down each
and everything that they do, also encourage
them to write down questions that arise
during their investigation.
TAKING NOTES BASED ON
OBSERVATIONS
This strategy guide introduces an approach for
teaching students to take notes based on
observations. Making observations and recording
them in a systematic way is a very important part
of the scientific process.
(CCSS.ELA-Literacy.WHST 6-8.4;9-10.4;11-12.4)
Taking Notes Based on Observations
Taking notes based on observations:
1. Focus your attention on what you are observing.
2. Use as many of the senses as possible to observe (sight, hearing,
touch, smell).
3. Write down only what you observe, not what you imagine.
4. Use scientific language (e.g., thorax instead of body).
5. Be specific and detailed in order to create a picture with words.
6. Include the date and time of your observations and and
measurements you took.
7. If possible, draw a detailed picture of what you observe and
include labels.
FYI Science
• Used Books, Magazines,
and articles that are
science related for students
to pull information and
pictures from.
Science Note-booking
and Science Literacy
(STEM Emphasis)
Part Three
Content Learning Moment
(including Foldables)
• This is a great place to inject content that will help
students understand what it is you are asking them to
learn. One can use non-fiction text (newspaper
articles, magazine articles, content readers, etc) to
help with understanding. A teacher may at this point
realize that students need another approach at the
content being taught, so another teaching strategy
could be used here. (This is a great place to do a
foldable activity.) A series of questions targeted at the
learning, with open discussion, may be used to
enforce students understanding.
Student Worksheet (s)
• This is a great spot to insert a worksheet related
to the lesson/unit that you are working on. It
must reinforce the standards you are teaching.
It may also reinforce their understanding of the
lesson/unit you are covering. The worksheet
may be used for grading, but is a great formative
assessment to check student comprehension.
The worksheet should become an insert taped
into their notebook. (Also a great place to use a
foldable activity to strengthen content
understanding.)
Student Metacognition
• Student metacognition is the necessary link
between performance expectations and
strategies for explicit teaching. They are the
tools that students can use to help themselves
not only achieve the performance standards
but become independent, lifelong learners.
Making Meaning Conference
• In metacognition all learning is deliberate and active: the
learner is conscious of his learning, checking himself and
his degree of understanding, explaining the material to
himself through writing and speaking, re-working the
concepts to ensure his mastery. Students need time
approximately half way through a lesson/unit to make
sure they are understanding what it is you are wanting
them to learn. Using specific questions or sentence
frames guides their efforts in writing about what they
have learned and understand. Allowing student groups to
also have discussion round-tables allows for better
learning and understanding. Thus the Making Meaning
Conference.
Examining Your Data
• Students need time to look back at the data
they collected while doing their
investigation/experiment. Two or three
guiding questions, created by the teacher,
will help students review their data for better
understanding. This will also help them with
the next portion of the process,
hypothesis/prediction revisited.
FYI Science
• A field observation and
collection Journal.
(we will make one!)
Hypothesis/Prediction Revisited
• Students need to now take another look at
their original hypothesis/prediction. Was it
correct or incorrect? The student needs to
explain why his/her hypothesis/prediction
was correct or incorrect. This is also a great
time to explain to students that it is OK if
their hypothesis/prediction was incorrect.
90% of a scientists hypothesis are usually
incorrect, this is how they learn and improve
their testing to find more answers.
Reflection
• This section is all about the student writing
on what the lesson was about, what they
learned while doing their
investigation/experiment, and how they
would share their data with others. This is
also a great spot for them to write down
questions that they may have about anything
in the lesson or unit.
TEACHING SUMMARY
WRITING
This strategy guide introduces an approach for
teaching students to distinguish main ideas from
supporting details in order to write a summary.
Summary writing is often used in science to distill
important ideas from a text and represent them in a
shortened form.
(CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RST 6-8.2; 9-10.2; 11-12.2)(CCSS.ELA-Literacy.WHST 6-8. 8; 9-10.
8; 11-12. 8)
FYI Science
• Classroom Science Experts: Students that
are chosen by the teacher to help with
the distribution and collection of
materials for given activities and
investigations. The teacher reviews with
these students the next day’s lesson and
how they will help accomplish its
success.
Science Note-booking
and Science Literacy
(STEM Emphasis)
Part Four
An Important Section: Word Wall
(Vocabulary understanding)
• Students should have a section in their
science notebook that has new content
vocabulary written so they understand it.
This may involve pictures, drawings, or other
forms of recognition that will help students
understand and remember new words
associated with the lesson/unit. It needs to
be reviewed on a daily basis during the
lesson/unit and again weekly and monthly
thereafter.
CONNECTING SCIENCE WORDS AND
EVERYDAY WORDS
This strategy guide introduces an approach for
helping students learn to use the language of
science—the specialized language that scientists use
to communicate about ideas and processes. Teaching
students to connect scientific words with everyday
words is one way to help them acquire this important
academic discourse.
(CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RST 6-8.4; 9-10.4; 11-12.4)
Connecting Science Words and Everyday Words
PROMOTING WORD
CONSCIOUSNESS
This strategy guide introduces an approach for
promoting word awareness as students read science
texts. Students who are word conscious are aware of
the words around them and appreciate the power of
words as a means of communicating ideas in a
precise manner.
(CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RST 6-8.4; 9-10.4; 11-12.4)
Promoting Word Consciousness
Ways to Promote Word Consciousness
1. Create a classroom environment that encourages curiosity about
words and their meanings.
2. Provide repeated opportunities to identify, explore, and use new
words found in text.
3. Encourage precision with language in discussions and writing.
4. Foster an awareness about words through the study of prefixes ,
suffixes, and roots.
5. Help students see relationships between words.
6. Involve students in conducting investigations as a context for
learning and using new words.
TEACHING VOCABULARY WITH
SCIENCE TEXTS
This strategy guide introduces an approach
for teaching vocabulary with science texts.
Knowing specialized vocabulary is necessary
for understanding important concepts in
content-rich texts.
(CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RST 6-8.4; 9-10.4; 11-12.4)
Teaching Vocabulary with Science Texts
Guidelines for selecting vocabulary to teach
with Science Texts.
1. Select words that convey the most important ideas from a text.
2. Choose words that can generate many examples (e.g., planet,
invertebrate) rather than specific examples (e.g., Jupiter, centipede).
3. Choose words that relate to other words you are teaching (e.g.,
erosion, rock).
4. Focus on two to three words from each text. It is better to help
students gain a deep understanding of a few words than to try to
teach long lists of words.
FYI Science
•Magnifying glasses of
various sizes and
magnifications.
Non-fiction Reading Moment
• Now is a great time to bring a non-fiction
article into the mix to reinforce what they
have been learning about. A short story that
will spark their memories about what they
just accomplished is ideal. Have some
“think” questions that will help guide them
towards the standard(s) they are learning in
this lesson/unit. Make sure they write about
this small reading moment as it is an
excellent formative assessment.
USING ROUNDTABLE
DISCUSSIONS
This strategy guide introduces an approach for
teaching students to discuss ideas using a
Roundtable Discussion format. Roundtable
Discussions are student-led, evidence-based
conversations about challenging questions.
(CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.6-8.1; 9-10.1; 11-12.1)
Roundtable Discussions
Roundtable Discussion Directions:
1. The person who is the leader for question #1 reads the
question aloud.
2. The leader asks the group for ideas.
3. Everyone else in the group shares ideas, and the leader
takes note as needed.
4. The leader makes sure that everyone contributes.
5. When everyone has shared ideas, rotate to the next
leader and the next question.
Roundtable Discussion Questions:
1. What is Science Literacy?
2. What is being Scientifically Literate?
3. How important is knowing Science vocabulary words?
4. Why are writing and Science Notebooks synonymous?
5. Communicating what one learns to others is important. Why?
6. Is it important to teach good listening skills? Why?
ANALYZING PART-TO-WHOLE
RELATIONSHIPS
This strategy guide introduces an approach for
teaching students how analyzing part-to-whole
relationships enriches understanding of science texts.
Part-to-whole relationships are particularly important
for understanding systems, a foundational concept
that spans many topics in science.
(CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RST 9-10.2,5,9; 11-12. 2,5,9)
Analyzing Part-to-Whole Relationships
Final Write
• Basically a list of questions that a student needs to
answer with good thought and complete sentences:
What was I supposed to learn from this lesson/unit
and what were the expectations? What is this
investigation/experiment all about and what is the
problem or question about that I am supposed to
answer? What were the materials needed and what
was my procedure for this investigation/experiment?
What scientific testing did I do and was the data I
collect sufficient? What did I learn from my teachers
instruction and what did I learn from conducting my
investigation/experiment?
Final Write (continued)
• Did I support my hypothesis/prediction or not? Why
or why not? Is there something (a new hypothesis) I
can do differently that will help me understand the
lesson/unit better? What is the best way I can
explain what I have just done to my peers? Is there
something else I still have a question about? Do I
understand all the new content vocabulary and if I do
not, what can I do to help me learn it so I will
remember? Did I learn anything about how this is
used in the real world and if so what was it? Is this
something my family needs to know and how will I
explain it to them? “Did I” or “Did I Not” enjoy the
learning in this lesson/unit? Why or Why Not?
Final Write (continued)
• (The list of questions above are a guideline for you
the teacher to use as you see fit for your classroom
and skills of your students. Kindergarten through 5th
grade students should have progressively more to
write about, 6th through 8th grade students need to do
as many as possible, they may give you the old adage
that this is not a language class but you can retort
with a sound “We support the CCSS Reading and
Writing standards in Science also,” and “70 to 80% of
all a Scientist does involves writing and
communicating about what they are doing.”)
FYI Science
• Mysterious objects, that most
students have no idea what
they are, that can be used to
help guide them through the
scientific process.
Teacher Only: Feedback Guide
• During the entire lesson/unit, you, as the teacher, need to
be assessing how everything is going. Write down notes
about different things that went good, things that did not
work out well, little things that may need to be changed
just a little to make it better, things to discard or replace
with something new, ways to improve the presentation or
how to set up materials, if students overall got the
information, if they were having trouble in a certain area
so you can review it and make some changes. Give the
students a simple questionnaire about the lesson/unit to
attain their responses to how well they liked or disliked it.
Anything that you can jot down that will help you improve
instruction in the future should be part of this section.
Review Objectives:
• Understanding of construction of a Science
Notebook with the different entry types.
• To discuss the importance of students
understanding the NGSS Standards being taught
and the Performance Expectations for each of
them.
• To learn about and discuss Common Core
Reading, Writing, and Literacy skills that can be
incorporated into the notebooks.
• Discuss the importance of a student Making
Meaning Conference and continuous Review.
Review Objectives:
• To have participants use foldable’ s in Science
Notebooks.
• To allow work time for teachers to create an
Teacher Science Notebook for a unit of study.
• To express the importance of reviewing the
student notebooks by students at least once a
week.
• Integrating STEM concepts into each and
every unit as creatively as possible.
Review Objectives
 To look at how Science skills and Reading skills are so similar.
 To look at how Science skills and Writing skills are so similar.
 To discuss the importance of Performance Expectations and how
Students and Teachers both benefit
 To discuss the importance of Student Metacognition and strategies
that will help students understand how they can improve in this
area.
 To discuss and do strategies that will reinforce the Common Core
Reading, Writing, Listening, and Communicating standards.
 Look at lessons or units and allow for grade level discussions and
development of some take home strategies you can use in the
classroom.