The Integrative Use of Multiple Texts and Writing to Support Knowledge Building in Science

• In Event: 30.029 - Integrating Literacy and Science to Promote Equitable Opportunities in Project-Based Learning: An Interdisciplinary Effort

Abstract

The third-graders were investigating the role of weather and climate in growing plants for food. One learning goal was to address the topic of “hazardous weather” and how engineering solutions can be used to mitigate the effects of hazardous weather on plant growth. This was the conceptual challenge the developers had in mind as we designed literacy and science activities that would advance the students’ understanding of the intersection of weather/climate/growing plants for food and also advance their engagement in foundational literacy skills. In this paper, our objectives are to: (1) describe how the use of multiple texts and writing activities supported these learning goals and (2) trace how a subset of 15 students (diverse with respect to their reading and writing profiles) engaged in the use of the scaffolds that were provided and with what outcomes.

The data for this paper were drawn from one lesson (conducted over 3 days, 150 minutes) in which students read a (modified) newsletter from a local orchard describing the harsh winter they experienced and its adverse affects on their apple crop. The children then read about the weather and climatic requirements for growing apples, and they read an interview with a plant scientist who engineered a potential solution that would prevent fruit trees from budding when there was unseasonably warm weather. The students then composed letters to the orchard owners suggesting ways they could protect their apple trees from unseasonable weather. Students were supported to compose these letters with writing scaffolds that guided them to: (a) identify important information about the growing needs of apples, (b) make inferences about the unfavorable conditions experienced that year, and (c) evaluate possible engineering solutions for protecting fruit crops from unseasonable weather.

The data used to construct case studies of individual students (Maxwell, 2012) were derived from one 3rd grade classroom. In these case studies, using video and audio transcripts, we: (1) trace how the teacher used the text sources and scaffolds in her enactment, (2) analyze how the writing scaffolds that were embedded in the lesson supported students to develop content knowledge, and (c) analyze evidence regarding how students differentially chose to use this knowledge when composing their letters. With the aid of a set of rubrics, we analyze complete sets of writing from 15 students who represent a range of literacy achievement levels (ranging from grade 1 to grade 4) for evidence of: uptake of the supports in the final written product and transformation of the science and engineering information into declarative knowledge.

The results are useful to informing the development of written and verbal scaffolds to support students’ comprehension of text, development of disciplinary knowledge, and generation of informational text at the elementary level. In addition, the results speak to the importance of supporting teachers to maintain a dual focus on students’ acquisition of disciplinary knowledge and conventional language literacy skills, especially when the children are in the elementary grades and mastering conventional literacy skills.

Authors

• Meredith Baker Marcum, University of Michigan - Ann Arbor

• Miranda Fitzgerald, University of Michigan - Ann Arbor

• Kirsten D. Edwards, Michigan State University

• Annemarie S. Palincsar, University of Michigan