For students, writing is a key means of asserting and defending claims, showing what they know about a subject, and conveying what they have experienced, imagined, thought, and felt. To be college- and career- ready writers, students must take task, purpose, and audience into careful consideration, choosing words, information, structures, and formats deliberately.

Though some science teachers may require a research paper for their class, many high school science teachers do not include this in their curriculum, and I do not think that it is the intent of the core standards to push for term papers in every class. I do, however, believe it is their intent to encourage writing as an everyday learning tool.

Students in my AP class are familiar with the “Free Response” questions I include on every test, but I don’t think it is enough to just have one essay on a test and think that satisfies the common core requirement.  The problem with the “one essay per test” format is that it gives students no opportunity for feedback and revision which are important components of the writing process.

So what can we do as science instructors to add a writing component to daily (or weekly) lessons that are related to the current topics and have authentic purposes?  I do not want to add essays and writing that are meaningless, so I’m actively researching ways to incorporate writing as a daily activity.  One thing I added this year to my AP biology class was an online social component, using Edmodo.   Occasionally, I would post interesting photos or questions and ask the students to make comments on them.  Edmodo is a great tool for sharing information,  having asynchronous discussions, and posting assignments, but it did not meet my needs for establishing writing as part of daily lessons, the format was too informal and there also was no opportunity for thoughtful writing and revision.

Another teacher recommended I look into books by Kelly Gallagher and loaned me “Teaching Adolescent Writers.”    There is an amazing amount of helpful information for teachers wanting to add more writing, some of which I am currently trying.   The idea of on-demand writing is particularly appealing, since I already have my students answer “free response” questions on their tests.  After reading this book, I realized I was doing my students a disservice because I had never really taught them how to approach the free response question, I just expected that they already knew how to write.  The reality is that some students can put together a good essay, but most stutter and stammer through it, not fully understanding the question or how to answer it.     While I don’t plan to change the test structure,  I am adding weekly on demand writing prompts to help my students practice writing.

On these practice questions, I will use Kelly Gallagher’s model to teach students specific strategies for dealing with essay questions.   Strategies that will help them not only with the Free-response question on the AP exam, but can be useful in other classes and even with job interviews or job-related tasks.    This week, students are learning about genetics and DNA, and I know there will be an essay question on their test.  Consider Kelly Gallagher’s model  of the ABC’s of on demand writing when faced with the following prompt:

“DNA was not always known to be the molecule of heredity, biologists had to establish which molecule within the cell, be it a protein, carbohydrate, or nucleic acid held the genetic code.  Scientists seeking to determine which molecule is responsible for the transmission of characteristics from one generation to the next knew that the molecule must (1) copy itself precisely, (2) be stable but be able to be changes, and (3) be complex enough to determine the organisms phenotype.  Explain how DNA meets each of the criteria listed.”

A =  Attack the Prompt

The first step to helping your students with this essay would be to show them how to determine what the question is actually asking.   The first part of the prompt is giving you some background information and some clues about things you might want to think about.  The second part is the important section, show students to cross out the beginning background information and just focus on what the question is asking.   Circle words that ask you to do something, in this case, such as EXPLAIN and then separate things you are supposed to address.  Write these out in simpler terms.

B = Brainstorm Answers

Show students how to make a mental map of the essay, tossing out ideas and concepts that could potentially be included.  It is important at this point to not try to edit or remove any items, brainstorming gets our minds to think about all the possibilities, pruning can occur later.

C = Choose Order

This is often the easiest part for science essays because the question often determines the order of your response.  On this essay, there is a clear, part one, part 2 and part 3, however within each section, you may want to ask the students to number how they will answer it. The brainstorm map can be numbered so that you have an idea of which order to include your concepts.

This image shows the brainstorming and ordering phase of the writing process:

D = Detect Errors

The last step after writing the essay is to proofread it for grammatical errors.   This step can also be skipped if time is short.  For the on-demand writing in class, I like to use a little timer and give them 10 minutes (or 5) to answer the question, the responses remain brief and contain only information required of them, and it keeps the paperwork I need to grade, or respond to, minimal.  I do not always grade the practice essays, unless it is just a basic rubric.   I may even allow them to revise the essay to fix major problems.   Remember that the goal is to give them practice before they answer the high-stakes question on a test, AP exam, or college application.

Related Articles:

• 3 March 2012 : Project Based Learning
• 8 November 2011 : Common Core Tips – Literacy in Science
• 10 October 2011 : Dissecting Science Literacy Standards
• 1 October 2011 : Why the Common Core Standards Are Good For Educators

Inquiry Science, Project Based Learning, Webquests, Real World Learning….all of these education buzzwords have one thing in common:  they are intended to shift the focus from the teacher imparting information to students to the students developing and creating their own content and learning experience.   These models have been around since I started teaching, and we have probably all used variations of them.   Technology has allowed a significant increase in the number of resources available for teachers wanting to use this type of learning system.

The early days of the internet had limited resources and many of the projects involved sending students to a website and having them read information there and answering questions.  I still use this format for reinforcing concepts and terms, such as this page on the cell mitosis, where students view a couple of different websites and answer questions.   This worksheet is fine for helping students learn the details of cell mitosis, but I wouldn’t call it particularly challenging, nor does it promote higher order thinking.

As content on the web became more robust, the webquest became a popular idea and tool for teachers to promote higher level thinking.  These quests would often require students to work in teams, address a problem and develop a solution together.  A webquest follows a set format (introduction, task, process, analysis, and conclusion).  I found a comparable mitosis webquest through a search at webquest.org.  There are many of these quests, covering a variety of topics, and you can even make your own to share with others.

I think the webquest model is somewhat dated, and I’ve been modernizing many of my old webquests.  I’ve eliminated the introduction-task-process model because it seems a little clunky now.   The term “webquest” also seems a bit dated, because there is so much more out there than just websites, there are apps for your phone, collaborative learning tools, concept maps, and community initiatives, so I’ve rearranged the furniture and relabeled some of  these old webquests.   Now, you’ll find many of them under the category “projects” and most will include an extra component that requires students to create an artifact and publish or share it in some way.   This is taking advantage of many of the new tools that allow collaboration and sharing and social networking, and is meant to align with the  Common Core Standards.

Web Based Projects allow students to address real-world problems, or investigate a past problem or scientific discovery.  I would love for my students to understand that science is a process, but too often they only get the end of that process, the fact, law or the theory that someone years ago in a musty lab somewhere.    I want my students to be enthusiastic about discovering things themselves, or seeing new patterns and making connections.  Have you ever observed your students when they are in the computer lab and are allowed to freely surf the web?   They bounce from one place to the other, look for pages on their hobbies, favorite bands and games.  The internet is about discovery, and there must be a way for educators to channel that energy.

I had great success with a project on epidemics:  Outbreak: A Webquest on Epidemics  which required students to investigate an epidemic or disease of their choice and publish a website or presentation about the disease.   They really seemed enthusiastic about this project, and many of the publications exceeded my expectations, take this website a student made about The Black Plague.     I would like to add more of these types of projects in the future, and I have one in the works for spring that involves locating and identifying trees in their area.  In “Getting to Know the Trees“, students will use their phones or cameras to photograph trees and post the images and identifications on a shared bulletin board.  The end result will be a large collection of local trees from their area all organized into one board.

Social networks can also be useful in projects, check out Edmodo for a safe social network for your class.  In an early assignment designed to help students become familiar with Edmodo, I had them post a photograph of an unusual animal and tell the class something about it.   What was interesting about the assignment is how much energy they put into finding that one animal that was going to be the most unique animal of all, we had photos of axolotls, echidnas, red pandas and carpet sharks.     The intent of the assignment was just to get them to use Edmodo and learn how to post and share information, but they students went way beyond that and spent a week trying to find that perfect animal.

In the end, projects I design  are about manipulating  information, synthesizing  knowledge, and sharing that information with others.    I really believe the NCLB has stunted students’ intellectual growth.  In the mad dash to cover every single topic that could be on the test,  we’ve lost the time and resources to truly challenge these kids and provide them with an academic environment that fosters the learning of complex  skills such as critical thinking, communication, and problem solving.

This article is going to focus on standard 2,  which states “Determine the central ideas or conclusion of a text; summarize complex concepts, processes, or information presented in a text by paraphrasing them in simpler but still accurate terms”

Let’s break this down into what is really expected of students.   Based on this standard, students should be able to:

1.  determine the central ideas of a text

2.  summarize complex concepts, processes, or information in a text

3.  paraphrase text

 To address this standard, students should be reading their textbook, news articles, essays, novels, and short stories.    Standard 1 requires them to locate specific information, but this standard is more general, where learners must summarize, draw conclusions, or make inferences.   This is the trinity of literacy:   Cite,  Summarize, Infer.    Here are some strategies for dealing with Standard 2.

1.   Post-It Summaries

In this strategy, students take a large chunk of text, perhaps from a textbook or from an article and place post-it notes in the margin, they write in their own thoughts, summaries, or questions they have about what they are reading.    This process can be made more involved by adding symbols and specific tasks.  For the nonfiction book “Stiff”, by Mary Roach, students are required to include post-its in the margins with a symbol.  For example, the question mark indicates where the reader had a question.  A star symbol on the post-it would indicate something about the text that grabbed their attention.   At the end of the assignment, post it notes are gathered and taped to paper (to turn in) and students finish with a timed writing exercise.  The full assignment can be seen at “Stiff by Mary Roach“.

The assignment described above is something I do with advanced biology, and it is not something I would do with every class or even on a regular basis.    I replaced my original Stiff assignment with this one to facilitate more summarizing and synthesis of information.  The original assignment had basic questions about the chapters that required students to find specific information (citing), but very little thought required.  Sadly, I also noted many students just copied other students answers.  The post-it method is open-ended enough that no two projects should look alike, since students have the freedom to quote, ponder, and summarize any part of the text they are reading.

Post-its can be used in the same way for student textbooks, articles or other basic reading material you area already using in your class.  It is not necessary to go buy a classroom set of a nonfiction book.

2.  Pair and Share

You have probably heard this phrase before, though context vary the general idea is usually the same.  In this case, take an article or section of reading and ask students to work on their own to write down THREE MAIN POINTS of the text.   Then they compare their three points with the person sitting next to them, and are asked to discuss between the two which is the most important point.  The pairs are then to combine or alter their original three points into a single MAIN IDEA.   As an extension, you can then expand by asking them to share all the single points with the class and decide as a class what is the main idea of the text.

3.  Highlight

In this strategy, ask students to read text that they can write on, like a news articles or copies of texts.  Ask them to highlight areas of the text that are confusing to them.  As a class (or in small groups),  discuss why the text is confusing, and model strategies for  figuring out what the author means.  Modeling reading strategies is something teachers rarely do with students, as we assume they come to us with reading skills.   However, you may notice that students can read the words, but often don’t understand what they are reading.  Model the text by reading it out loud, skipping over words that you aren’t sure about and making guesses about what the words (or phrases) mean within the context of the text.  You would be surprised how many students give up reading the text entirely when they encounter a phrase or word they don’t understand.    Reassure students that even adult,  college-educated readers stumble over difficult texts, but can still get the jist of what the author was trying to say.

4.  Cause and Effect

Create a table with CAUSE in one column and EFFECT in another.  Ask students to identify causes and effects from the text they are reading.  This may not work for all reading assignments but can be modified.  For instance, in a science class you might instead use procedure/outcome  or  hypothesis / data / conclusions  or  fact / opinion.    The chart method does rely heavily on you determining what headings work best for the particular reading, so this one may require some advance planning.

5.  Concept Mapping

Concept mapping has been a favorite strategy of mine in advanced biology class because it forces students to think of difficult ideas in nonlinear ways.  They must first decide what are the main ideas, then connect the main ideas to small support details and show how all the concepts relate to each other.  In this sample, students read text about DNA and created a concept map.   While this is not exactly a summary, it does require students to synthesize and organize information, and the main ideas of implied in the map’s main concepts, linked from the center.  Students can use concept maps to organize a news article they read or information in their textbook.   There are many programs (www.gliffy.com) out there to assist students with mapping and it is a good idea to model concept mapping on the board before assigning one.

A combination of these techniques can be used with articles, such as this article about Satellites with questions at the end for students to answer.   In this case, students read the text and cite specific information, they highlight parts that are confusing, they make inferences about what the article does not say, and finally write a short summary about the overall article.   Be proactive with finding news articles.  I place news feeds from science sites in my social network so that I get a constant supply of interesting things to share with students.