Page 29 - THE Journal, April/May 2017

VIEWPOINT
Ann Lorey
Integrating Literacy into STEAM Lessons
Both Common Core and NGSS emphasize the importance of speaking, listening and communicating about mathematical and scientific concepts. Integrating literacy tools into STEAM subjects does more than help students and teachers fulfill objectives. Better literacy helps students identify and more thoroughly understand key concepts.
HEN I FIRST started teaching middle school science, I noticed
that many children approached reading from two extremes.
On one end of the spectrum, some would read through a piece and
struggle to achieve any understanding at all. On the other end, students would highlight nearly the entire text and sometimes rewrite it word for
word as they took “notes.” In both cases, they were unable to identify impor- tant points. The struggling readers didn’t understand enough to pick out basic ideas, and the heavy-highlighters needed a better filter to separate the important concepts from the rest of the text.
Students’ writing often reflected their struggles with reading. The writing samples for these students would be vague, unclear, or demonstrate a lack of understanding.
As I identified these challenges, I realized I wasn’t just in the classroom to teach sci- ence, but to teach students how to read about it, learn about it and even pick it apart.
Today, after teaching middle school physics, chemistry and astronomy for 10 years, I’m an instructional coach supporting teachers in both Common Core and Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS). Common Core and NGSS require teachers to integrate lit- eracy into their lessons, and that’s a good thing. Students need to know how to communi- cate about science and math to truly master the concepts.
Connecting Literacy and STEAM
Most teachers agree that better literacy skills lead to better STEAM learning. But putting concrete skill-building tasks into practice can be difficult. Here are some ways that I work with teachers to integrate reading and writing tools into STEAM lessons.
Reading
● Add to your resource list. Build your own library of age-appropriate materials such as online news sites, magazines and jour-
nals. Look for resources that demonstrate real-world implications of student lessons. Videos are OK, but interactive resources can easily be found on the internet. My district also uses the K–5 curriculum from TCI’s Bring Science Alive! that has engaging, live-classroom activities as well as online simulations. The curriculum will be available for grades 6 through 8 in fall of 2017.
● Try humor and fiction. Science isn’t always dry non-fiction. The Disappearing Spoon by Sam Kean is a fascinating and often funny behind-the-scenes look at the scientists who contributed to the periodic table. The Giants of Science: Isaac Newton by Kathleen Krull is an excellent biography that makes teaching physics more engaging and accessible. Graphic novels are another popular resource, such as The Solid Truth about States of Matter with Max Axiom by Agnieszka Biskup.
continued on page 30
APRIL/MAY 2017 | 29
Becris; Stan Fisher/Shutterstock/THE Journal staff