Writing for Science
Ultimately, we want our students to be able to write for a certain discipline, as writing takes on many forms in the different subject areas. In order to be college and career ready, students should be able to communicate in science class the way scientists communicate.
Beyond writing in the third person perspective, students of science should be able to construct a scientific argument. The term "scientific argument" is nothing new to scientists; it is simply the terminology that is being used to address the issue of improving students' writing abilities in science class. We are implementing writing programs in our classroom to help accustom each and every student with effective science communication.
In the classroom we implement these literacy standards in two major ways - through lab reports and in close reading activities. Oftentimes, in class, students participate in labs to deepen their understanding of an abstract concept by having a tangible experience with it. Through the lab process, students are reading, as they follow a multi-step procedure (CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RST.6-8.3). Students complete a lab report, and in doing so, must practice writing a conclusion to summarize what they have done. Although all of the experiments we engage our students in are repeatable and have known, or at least expected, outcomes, it is a good practice to add an opinion-based question at the end of the lab report. This allows the student to process the new information and frame an opinion. Students then develop their argument writing, aligned with the Common Core State Standards as they introduce their argument(CCSS.ELA-Literacy.WHST.6-8.1a), support with data and observations from the lab (CCSS.ELA-Literacy.WHST.6-8.1b ), write with cohesion and organization(CCSS.ELA-Literacy.WHST.6-8.1c), and write a concluding statement (CCSS.ELA-Literacy.WHST.6-8.1e). The methods of science writing can be taught by referencing the ACE Method students were taught in elementary school and are arriving to 6th grade with as background knowledge. The method stands for "Answer, Cite Explain" and can be used to teach students the importance of basing their argument in facts and observations.
Sometimes there are experiments that would not be feasible to conduct within the classroom. When this is the case, we engage students in a close reading activity. At the college level, students would read the scientific literature directly. For now, we involve students by providing them with science news articles from sites such as ScienceDaily (for other reading resources, click the tab Reading Difficultues). Sometimes, we edit and modify these articles for students of different reading levels below the 6th grade lexile level in order to decrease their frustration with the material and make it more accessible and meaningful to them. Close reading lessons often take about a week with 6th graders, although the time spent is well worth the effort. Close reading activities can be bolstered by involving more than one text. Either way, students are asked to construct meaning of new terms using context clues and other resources in the classroom (CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RST.6-8.4), determine the main ideas of the text (CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RST.6-8.2) and cite evidence from the text (CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RST.6-8.1) in their response.
Beyond writing in the third person perspective, students of science should be able to construct a scientific argument. The term "scientific argument" is nothing new to scientists; it is simply the terminology that is being used to address the issue of improving students' writing abilities in science class. We are implementing writing programs in our classroom to help accustom each and every student with effective science communication.
In the classroom we implement these literacy standards in two major ways - through lab reports and in close reading activities. Oftentimes, in class, students participate in labs to deepen their understanding of an abstract concept by having a tangible experience with it. Through the lab process, students are reading, as they follow a multi-step procedure (CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RST.6-8.3). Students complete a lab report, and in doing so, must practice writing a conclusion to summarize what they have done. Although all of the experiments we engage our students in are repeatable and have known, or at least expected, outcomes, it is a good practice to add an opinion-based question at the end of the lab report. This allows the student to process the new information and frame an opinion. Students then develop their argument writing, aligned with the Common Core State Standards as they introduce their argument(CCSS.ELA-Literacy.WHST.6-8.1a), support with data and observations from the lab (CCSS.ELA-Literacy.WHST.6-8.1b ), write with cohesion and organization(CCSS.ELA-Literacy.WHST.6-8.1c), and write a concluding statement (CCSS.ELA-Literacy.WHST.6-8.1e). The methods of science writing can be taught by referencing the ACE Method students were taught in elementary school and are arriving to 6th grade with as background knowledge. The method stands for "Answer, Cite Explain" and can be used to teach students the importance of basing their argument in facts and observations.
Sometimes there are experiments that would not be feasible to conduct within the classroom. When this is the case, we engage students in a close reading activity. At the college level, students would read the scientific literature directly. For now, we involve students by providing them with science news articles from sites such as ScienceDaily (for other reading resources, click the tab Reading Difficultues). Sometimes, we edit and modify these articles for students of different reading levels below the 6th grade lexile level in order to decrease their frustration with the material and make it more accessible and meaningful to them. Close reading lessons often take about a week with 6th graders, although the time spent is well worth the effort. Close reading activities can be bolstered by involving more than one text. Either way, students are asked to construct meaning of new terms using context clues and other resources in the classroom (CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RST.6-8.4), determine the main ideas of the text (CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RST.6-8.2) and cite evidence from the text (CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RST.6-8.1) in their response.
Useful Resources
- Argument Writing Scoring Rubric - used by BMMS Science Department
- Common Core State Standards - for writing in the middle grades
- Common Core State Standards - for literacy in the sciences and technical subjects
- ACE Format for Science Writing