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Final Blog Post

on December 04, 2019

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Throughout all of my school experiences, elementary, middle, and high school, I do not recall focusing on literacy outside of my English/Language Arts classes. During this course, I have learned the importance of literacy not only in an English class, but in all other content-area specializations. For me, as a preservice science teacher, I never thought about teaching my students reading strategies or focus on literacy until after this class. I learned that literacy is just as important as any other additional science content. Literacy can be defined as a multitude of things, but a huge part of literacy is texts. Texts can vary from print, video, audio, visuals, and more. In science, it is likely that students will see all these texts throughout the year. So, how well do students comprehend these texts? Students can be taught reading strategies to break down texts to get a better understanding. "Reading is about comprehension and thinking" (Subjects...

Resource Blog #2

https://phet.colorado.edu/ The link provided is a website created by the University of Colorado Boulder, “founded in 2002 by Nobel Laureate Carl Wieman, the PhET Interactive Simulations project at the University of Colorado Boulder creates free interactive math and science simulations. PhET sims are based on extensive education research and engage students through an intuitive, game-like environment where students learn through exploration and discovery.” The website provides helpful tools for both teachers and students. Teachers have access to simulation-specific tips, video primers, resources for teaching with simulations, and activities shared by our teacher community . PhET is relevant for my content-area because it has several science-related simulations that my students and I can work with. I have used many of the simulations for earth science, chemistry, and biology. The science simulations are interactive ways to sh...

Podcast: Stuck in the Middle

https://soundcloud.com/mikesilver87/lled-podcast

Help for Struggling Readers: Synthesis Blog #2

Reading is intertwined into every subject: math, science, history, language arts, etc. and with reading comes difficulty. I can relate to this heavily because I have never been a strong reader and unfortunately, I hardly ever have any interest in reading. It has been something that I have always struggled with whether it is reading aloud or trying to comprehend difficult texts. After reading chapter 11 of Subjects Matter, I was able to gather several useful tips that will help me as a future educator. I really enjoyed reading Jennifer Hernandez's steps she takes which is located on page 282. "If students experiencing difficulty are going to take the risk and give math or science or foreign language a new try, they need to know what you'll be there to help, and that they're in a safe place where they won't suffer further hurt if they don't succeed on the first attempt" (280, SM). This quote is important to take in and understand because...

Synthesis Blog #4 - Historical Fiction in English and Social Studies Classrooms: Is It a Natural Marriage?

Summary: Social Studies and ELA teachers form a study group to develop understandings of disciplinary literacy and make connections across content areas. Social Studies and ELA teachers read both historical fiction and nonfiction texts while approaching the readings from both disciplines; pairing historical fiction with nonfiction has value related to promoting historical understanding and thinking in both ELA and social studies classroom. Teaching historical fiction in both disciplines helps fully contextualize a historical period along with promote historical empathy. Make connections: This article focuses on bringing ELA into other subject areas; I knew this article would be similar to the other article I read, Tearing Down the Wall: Literature and Science . I can connect the information in the article to my primary area of emphasis, science, by coming up with ways to being ELA into my classroom. It is extremely important that I stress the importance of bringing...

Synthesis blog #3 - Chapter 6: How should I use a textbook in my class?

I remember lugging around multiple textbooks when I was in elementary, middle, and high school. The word “textbook” has a negative connotation whenever I think of it. I always hated using textbooks whether it was being forced to read chapters from one or being assigned homework out of it. Textbooks have always overwhelmed me because I feel that they have way too much material in them. Not to mention, I have never read through an entire textbook in my life. Subjects Matter provided useful tips on how to use textbooks more effectively. In my classroom, I will never revolve around a textbook; textbooks will be used as resources and extra help when necessary. I do not believe assigning chapters and homework from the textbook is beneficial for students. Not only is it incredibly difficult for students to comprehend the material in these textbooks, but relying on a textbook to guide a class is the most boring, uninteresting way to go about teaching and learning. “Have em...

Synthesis Blog 1

After reading chapter 2, it made me think back to when I was younger when I had difficulties comprehending what I was read. As I got older, I improved in reading, but I still find myself having to read the same thing more than once in order for me to get a clear understanding. In Subjects Matter, t he paragraph about cricket was extremely difficult to understand because I had no prior knowledge about the game, therefore I was not sure what I was even reading. I was not able to absorb what was being read. I could physically read it, but was not able to understand the meaning of the text. This chapter allowed me to think about the different struggles my students might have when given something to read along with coming up with strategies to help them with those struggles. When my students have to read science textbooks, articles, and directions for experiments, it is my job to make sure they are able to comprehend the reading material. "Reading is about comprehension and thi...

Resource Blog #1

https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED501353.pdf Scientific literacy is the knowledge and understanding of scientific concepts and processes required for personal decision making, participation, and productivity. People may not think literacy and science are related, but you cannot have science without literacy. It is a part of the foundation of science. The article linked above is an interview about scientific literacy in the classroom. Carol Brewer is a college professor who is being interviewed and he explains some key points about scientific literacy along with a few strategies to use when teaching science in a classroom. Brewer says, "One of the most important skills that we can teach our students is how to ask a question, which is really at the root of scientific literacy." This quote is so important because questions keep learners engaged, offer opportunity for discussion, and they build a foundation for new knowledge. A few examples Brewer discusses in his intervie...

Resource Blog #4

https://www.sciencenewsforstudents.org/ As educators, it is important that our students stay up to date with what is going on in the world. The website I provided is made up of science news for students. Science News for Students is an award-winning online publication dedicated to providing age-appropriate, topical science news to learners, parents and educators. SNS aims to bring new developments to a younger audience. This website provides twelve different broad topics that are decomposed into several subtopics. There is so much interesting information for students to learn and read about! I love that SNS publishes award-winning journals because not only can students learn about the earth by keeping up with what is going on in the world, but students get to read and practice their literacy skills. In my class, I will use this website to get my students thinking and learning about the science that occurs outside of the classroom. I will have my students read article...

Book Club Pitch

• https://www.amazon.com/Evolution-Calpurnia-Tate-Jacqueline-Kelly/dp/031265930X

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