Agenda Opening activity (15 min) Updates on science talks in schools & questions on assignment...

Agenda

• Opening activity (15 min)• Updates on science talks in schools &

questions on assignment (10 min)

• Science talk analysis• More ideas on talk in the classroom (30

min)• Small group work (20 min)• Whole class discussion (10 min)

• I-AIM• Reviewing framework (15 min)• Sound activities (30 min)• Discussion (20 min)

Opening activity: In the Field Chain Share

Share something from the field.The teacher steps aside and listens as each person talks to the group. Each person shares one thing. The next who chooses to talk makes a comment or suggestion on the previous person’s ideas and then shares their own thought with the group. **Remember to protect confidentiality by masking names and identifying details.

You might share:• interesting technology, materials, or curricula• a ‘light bulb’ moment you witnessed• a pedagogical idea, technique or strategy• a classroom norms/community building strategy• something you are wondering about.

Science Talk Assignment

Due Nov 15

4 parts: Classroom culture, science talk, analysis of talk, and lesson plan

• The lesson plan should be a draft of your “big lesson”• Can be done with a partner• Should build on what you learned in the science talk• Should follow the common planning guide

Questions or Insights?

Thinking about talk in the classroom

“In schools, talk is sometimes valued and sometimes avoided, but—and this is surprising—talk is rarely taught. It is rare to hear teachers discuss their efforts to teach students to talk well. Yet talk, like reading and writing, is a major motor—I could even say the major motor—of intellectual development. (Calkins, 2000, p. 226)

How can we teach our students how to talk and conduct productive science conversations that lead to increased

understanding and learning?

“…not all talk sustains learning or creates intelligence. For classroom talk to promote learning, it must have certain characteristics that make it accountable.

Accountable talk seriously responds to and further develops what others in the group have said. It puts forth and demands knowledge that is accurate and relevant to the issue under discussion.

Accountable talk uses evidence in ways appropriate to the discipline (for example, proofs in mathematics, data from investigations in science, textual details in literature, documentary sources in history).

Accountable talk follows established norms of good reasoning. Accountable talk sharpens students’ thinking by reinforcing their ability to use knowledge appropriately.

Lauren Resnick (1999, Effort-Based Education and Learnable Intelligence: Principles for Teaching and Learning)

Using Talk Stems to Scaffold Student Conversations

Work together with others at a similar grade level. Create an ‘anchor poster’ you could hang in your classroom to scaffold your students’ use of accountable talk in whole class and small group conversations.

Examples of talk stems:Your poster should:

• match the developmental level of your target learners.

• have an organized, colorful and appealing appearance.

• support and scaffold your students’ age-appropriate use of accountable talk.

TEACHER Talk Moves

Analyzing a science talk

• Group 1: 1st graders dropping a book and a piece of paper (transcript 1)

• Group 2: 1st graders dropping a book and a piece of paper (transcript 2, scenes 1-3)

• Group 3: 3rd graders discussing bubbles (scenes 4&5)• Group 4: 2nd graders discussing magnets (scenes 1-3)• Group 5:2nd graders discussing magnets (scenes 4-7)

Making sense of science talks

• Assign roles & read transcript.

• Use manipulatives if it helps you to think through the science activity on which the talk is based!

• Think about STUDENT talk and TEACHER talk

Student talk• Guiding questions:

What science conceptions come up? What is your evidence?

What funds of knowledge come up? What is your evidence?

• Suggestions for how to do this: Use two colors of highlighters or pen

(i.e., pink and yellow) Highlight every line where students

bring in their funds of knowledge (yellow)

Highlight every line where students explicitly make science claims (pink)

You can use both colors on some lines What patterns do you see? How does

this help you see connections between students’ cultural knowledge and experiences and making sense in/of science?

Teacher talk• Guiding questions:

What EVIDENCE OF ‘ACCOUNTABLE TALK’ did you find in the students’ contributions to the conversation?

What ‘talk moves’ did the teacher use to encourage her students to consider and respond to each other’s ideas?

• Suggestions for how to do this:

Highlight when the teacher makes “a talk move:.

Think about how the talk move guided the particular students towards considering different points of evidence and revising their ideas?

Think about how the talk move guided students who seemed ‘stuck’, confused or unsure?

What kinds of talk moves helped the students to: develop their science

thinking?

Reminder

• FOK categories – Family knowledge and experience – Community knowledge and experience– Popular Culture– Peer activities – Talents and interest

• Youth genre categories– Sense-making through experimenting– Reciprocity– Sense of community identity– Argumentative stance– Banter– Exaggerating– Playfulness– Movement– Teasing– Intensity– Interest in popular culture (acting like their sports, music and film heros)

Look closely again at the transcript

What science conceptions came up in the discussion?

Do you think the students understand the content? What is your evidence (point to lines in transcript)

What resources do students draw upon to talk about their ideas? (again point to specific lines in transcript)

Teacher talk moves

Ex: Weight (mass) plays a role in how a pendulum works.

A little. Jeff compares what happens to keys and the washer and uses that difference to build an explanation. He understands that mass matters but doesn’t quite know how.

Jeff relates the washer to keys

The teacher asked “Jeff, what are the keys doing”

Whole class sharing

• Most important insights:– Students science conceptions– Students funds of knowledge– Teacher Talk moves

• What will you do as a teacher in your science talk?

Sequencing Lessons to reflect the work of scientists

• EPE/I-AIM Instructional Approach

Tailoring lessons to reflect the resources your students bring to learning

• Strengths-based approach: – Science conceptions– Funds of knowledge– Youth Genres

Learning Goals: GLCEs

Planning a lesson• Lesson objectives

• Overview of activities• Assessment of learning

Planning Instruction

What is Science?“the process of looking for patterns in experiences and then testing and re-testing possible explanations that account for those patterns. These explanations are then applied to help to explain additional experiences.”

EXPERIENCES PATTERNS EXPLANATIONS

Blowing whistles

Observing drums

Making rice drums

Exploring tuning forks (one tuning fork & two tuning forks)

Exploring cup phones

Things that vibrate make sounds

One thing vibrating can make another thing vibrate

When a drumstick hits a drum, the drum vibrates. The vibration makes the air between the drum and our eardrum vibrate. The air makes our eardrums vibrate and that vibration sends a message to our brains.

Experiences Patterns Explanations

Dozens of patterns in experience

A fewexplanations

Millions of experiences in the material world

Inquiry:

Learn

ing from

Experie

nce

Application: Using

Knowledge

Scientists’ Science

Experiences Patterns Explanations

A few specificexamples

Fewer patterns (laws, generalizations, graphs, charts)

Extensive explanations, models, theories

School Science

• What is different about these two models?• Should school science look so different from scientists’ science?• What do you think school science should look like?

A few specific

examples

Fewer patterns (laws, generalizations, graphs, charts)

Extensive explanations, models, theories

Traditional School Science

Dozens of patterns in experience

A fewexplanations

Millions of experiences in the material world

Scientists’ Science

Experiences Patterns Explanations

Dozens of patterns in experience

A fewexplanations

Millions of experiences in the material world

Inquiry:

Learn

ing from

Experie

nceApplication: Using

Knowledge

Scientists’ Science

I-AIM Model for Science Teaching

Inquiry and Application Instructional Model

Ideally during a science unit you will bring your students through one or more I-AIM cycles.

Not all individuals lessons will have all 4 components of the I-AIM model - some lessons may cover only one aspect, some may cover more or even all 4

Lessons should be sequenced to bring students through the complete I-AIM cycle.

When you plan a lesson you should think about the “strategic function” of your lesson:

• Question• Explore & Investigate• Explain• Apply

Experiences

In groups, rotate across each of the “noise and vibration stations”

– Station 1: tuning fork

– Station 2: telephone

– Station 3: stereo hanger

– Station 4: drums

– Station 5: Adams Apple

Make as many observations as you can about noise and vibration. Record them on your experiences and observation sheets at each station.

Experiences

Station 1: tuning fork

Station 2: telephone

Station 3: stereo hanger

Station 4: drums

Station 5: Adams Apple

Experiences Patterns Explanations

Station 1: tuning fork

Station 2: telephone

Station 3: stereo hanger

Station 4: drums

Station 5: Adams Apple