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.

Superficial Observations

The science literacy standards are numbered one to ten, then divided into two sections:  9th and 10th followed by 11th and 12th.  It looks like a lot to take in, but upon closer observation, the #1-10 standards are the same, just slightly modified for difficulty as you go to the 11th and 12th grade sections.   If you care to go even further down the rabbit hole, you may find that the  standards will follow a child all the way back to kindergarten, the wording and difficulty level being modified for each age group.  When a child reaches the 6th grade, there are new standards called Literacy in History/Social Studies, and Science and Technology.  (See Common Core Anchor Standards)

For example, at the 9th grade, RST (Reading for Science and Technology) states:  Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of science and technical texts, attending to the precise details of explanations or descriptions.

At 11th and 12th grade, the same standard reads:   Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of science and technical texts, attending to important distinctions the author makes and to any gaps or inconsistencies in the account.

For someone like me, with several mixed classes, it is important to remember that the standards are essentially the same for all grade levels, with a ramped up difficulty within advanced classes.   Seniors may be exposed to more difficult text than 9th graders, but the goal is very similar for both groups.

Going Deeper

While it’s not a bad idea to read all of the standards, it’s probably more practical to take each standard one at a time, and brainstorm ways you can add or modify your current curriculum to include the common core goals.   Many of the standards are already being addressed in your classroom and may just require minor tweaking of content or spending more time reading, and teaching kids how to read.   We assume that when we hand students a textbook, or an article, or even notes on an overhead that they can read what it says.   For the most part, students can read the words, but they don’t always *understand* what they are reading.    They may have difficulty tying what they read to broader principles, connecting ideas, or even analyzing a specific word or phrase that doesn’t make sense to them.

Focus on  RST  Standard #1

In this section, I want to look at  a single standard and describe ways you can modify your current documents or add simple activities to your current curriculum.    This is no way implies that everything you do needs to be changed; some worksheets, activities, and labs will be a better fit for this goal than others.   RST standard #1 states:

 Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of science and technical texts, attending to the precise details of explanations or descriptions.

Stategy 1 :  Add a Cite Section

Do you have your students read the chapters, or sections in the text?   I have a collection of chapter worksheets that students fill in as they read a section, such as this worksheet on the cell.    I do not plan to completely eliminate these worksheets, but I see that with minor adjustments we can change them to address standard 1.   At the end of the worksheets, I can simply add a section that requires students to find page numbers and paragraphs where certain information can be found.  This requires students to actually look back to the information they just read to find information they may have skimmed over the first time they read it.     A simple addition to the bottom of the worksheet now requires students to CITE sources in their textbook, as seen in the new worksheet, the addition simply says:

Part II: Reread the section and find the exact spot that addresses each of the topics/questions.
Indicate page number, and paragraph number.

1. Which type of cell has a nucleus: page ____ paragraph _____
2. What type of microscope is used to see cells: page ____ paragraph _____ .....

Seems simple enough?   Citing and locating information in text is something we already require students to do, but chances are we didn’t refer to it as “citing”.   Students should become familiar with this reading strategy:  looking at text, finding specific information and indicating where that information can be found.

Strategy 2:   Highlight Information in Articles

Science is a great subject to teach in this age, as new discoveries occur every day.   I use many news articles in my class to supplement the textbooks, which are seven years old and already showing their (information) age.    Most of the articles I assign include questions at the end for students to answer to show me they have read it.    Usually I assign this article as they leave and expect it to be completed for discussion the next day.     Here is an example of an article my anatomy students read about the body farm:  ”The Remains of Doctor Bass” where at the end is a collection of questions.  I have modified the questions to also cite specific areas of the text, but since this is an article students can write on, the assignment requires them to circle, highlight, put a star next to…etc… areas of the text that address specific questions.

 Strategy 3:  Paragraphs on the Overhead

You can also show text on a paragraph to be displayed to the class.   One source for short, interesting paragraphs is Wikipedia’s featured article page.  Usually the featured article has a short introductory paragraph that contains a lot of information about what the article is about. You can put this on an overhead and ask students to read it and to CITE specific words or ideas.   This is also a good opportunity for you to MODEL how to read complicated text.  Show students that sometimes you don’t know every word you read, but you can make a guess about what it means.   Show students that it’s okay to read something twice to find the answer.

Storage and Disposal

RST #1 is one of 10 standards we will be looking at, though there is some amount of overlap with the strategies.   As you can see from the strategies above, it should not be necessary to throw away all of your old worksheets and projects, but certainly this is a good time to give them another look and consider revisions that align more closely to the science literacy standards.   I am pretty sure that not a day goes by that you don’t have your students read something, whether it is notes on the board, an article,  a section of text,  or laboratory procedures.     Go over the instructions and ask students to CITE a particular part of the instructions where it tells you what to do with your equipment or dead frog.   How often do you hand a worksheet to your students and the first thing they ask is “what page is this on?”   Tell students to find the page on their own next time.    With these tiny little changes, you have addressed RST #1.

Resources:

English Language Arts Standards for Science and Technology 9th and 10th Grade
English Language Arts Standards for Science and Technology 11th and 12th Grade

Coming Soon:  Dissecting Standard #2

For the state of Illinois, the science standards were so expansive a student would need to take biology, chemistry, earth science, physics, and health in order to cover each goal.  They would need to take these subjects all before the test their junior year.   To compensate for lack of time, teachers would speed through content or artificially implant unrelated content into their curriculum in an attempt to hit each of the topics required by the standards.  The result was a curriculum a mile wide and an inch deep.  Students didn’t retain much of what was tossed at them, test scores showed very little improvement.    District staff development would often focus on ways we could shove all this content into three years.  I know some schools even changed their class sequences to try to accommodate so many subjects.

The new standards scale back this mad rush for content learning.  It appears that someone finally got the memo that discreet units of information are not that important in an age when people carry computers in their pockets and can access any information with a click.    This doesn’t mean that you stop teaching your subjects core ideas, but it means you can spend more time going into depth with topics, allowing for students to explore and develop their own understandings of difficult ideas.

2.  Allows for flexibility

I think what most teachers fear when rumblings of new standards are heard in the distance is that their curriculum, their worksheets, their favorite topics are going to be on the chopping block.   The new literacy standards are actually very flexible, and are designed to work within any topic or subject area.  (I have yet to see the science specific standards).   For instance, you can still keep teaching your favorite unit on the cell or on evolution, but the standards will require you to add goals related to reading for information and understanding.   This actually fits well with most biology topics because you can find articles and news about almost all topics we cover.     You will have more time because you won’t need to cover everything in the history of science  as discussed in #1.

3.  The same standards apply across all grade levels (scaffolded).  By the time you get the students in high school, they should be very good at the standards.

Every literacy standard is repeated at each grade level, with the intent to make things more difficult as students go up in grades.   The final goal or outcome is for students to  be able to read and evaluate difficult  text.   For instance, one goal states that students will be able to  ”cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of science and technical texts”.   These kids have the internet at their fingertips, with answers, articles, and video on any topic they can imagine.  Our job is to help them be able to read and critically evaluate this information.   If you start at kindergarten and work on it every year, it is not difficult to imagine that students can achieve mastery by the time they graduate.

4.   Less emphasis on memorizing facts and minutia  (is this a sacred cow?)

At my last department meeting, we discussed what words we were going to post for our “Word of the Week”.  This idea stems from the observation that students often see words in everyday texts, or on tests that they don’t know what they mean.  We are picking words such as “omit, spectrum, diversity” to post each week and make sure the students know.  These words are not necessarily specific to science, and there was some discussion over which words to include in the list.  The group was divided on whether to include the terms weight and mass.

Regardless of how the discussion ended, the discussion itself illustrates how we all have our sacred cows – the topics and ideas we feel are absolutely important for students to know and leaving them out would be akin to a crime, these are non negotiable and you can always identify a sacred cow by the fervor with which a teacher defends the teaching of the topic.   For instance, my sacred cow is evolution. I would feel any biology class would be incomplete and disjointed without its inclusion.

Luckily, the new common core will not touch your sacred cow, you can leave your most important favorite topics where they are and not change a thing.  In fact, you may have more time to work on that special project, that lab or that discussion because the  new standards will place less emphasis on memorizing a broad range of facts and figures.   It seems, at least in these preliminary days, that we are moving toward a more holistic view of education, where we will teach students skills that will transcend the subject matter.

5.  The standards just make sense.

To reiterate, the science specific standards have not been published, but the science literacy standards seem very workable.   When I started teaching there was not a computer in my classroom, but times have definitely changed, and the current standards seem woefully outdated and obsolete.   These new standards appear to have longevity because they tackle the problem of rapid change while keeping core values intact.   We cannot predict how science will change in the future and textbooks take years to print to account for new information.   The amount of information available to students is staggering, and as a teacher, the idea of trying to teach *everything* is not only daunting, but perhaps misguided.  Students don’t need to know everything, but they do need to have the tools to find and evaluate all the information that is so readily available to them.    I was particularly inspired by this video:

Teaching in the 21st Century

Stay tuned for more entries on the common core standards, changes in documents that I write for my classes, such as powerpoints, worksheets and labs, and a DISSECTION of each of the standards.    Don’t be afraid, for the first time in a while, I’m actually excited about the changes that are coming our way.