We often think of literacy and science as academic opposites. (鈥淧hysics for Poets,鈥� anyone?)
But scientists can鈥檛 do their jobs without reading, writing, listening, and communicating.听
That鈥檚 why thoughtful science instruction is literacy-rich science instruction.
Language and literacy in science education: why it makes sense
All scientists use literacy skills in order to obtain, evaluate, and communicate information about the natural world. They use oral and written explanations and arguments to share their ideas. Scientists rely on claims, evidence, and reasoning鈥攋ust like anyone who needs to communicate or convince.
鈥淪cience needs literacy, and literacy needs content. So these two subjects are a natural fit,鈥� says Rebecca Abbott, professional learning lead for the Learning Design Group at UC Berkeley’s Lawrence Hall of Science.
They鈥檙e a natural fit鈥攁nd when they converge, they enhance each other.听
Science and literacy integration helps students:
- Understand that reading and communicating are crucial to science.
- Develop ways of thinking that support the scientific approach.听
- Refine sense-making skills that are key to both disciplines.
- Find a great reason to read鈥攖hat is, to keep up with the latest scientific studies and discoveries!
Look ahead at the standards that guide instruction in grades 6鈥�8. You鈥檒l see that in several ways and places, literacy and science are integrated. That is, certain Common Core ELA standards intersect with the Next Generation Science Standards ().听
To cite just a few examples, the Common Core requires students to be able to:
- Cite text evidence to support analysis of science/technical texts. (RST6-8.1)
- Follow a multistep procedure. (as in an experiment) (RST6-8.3)
- Integrate quantitative information expressed both in words and visually. (RST6-8.7)
But we can start earlier than that. And we should. So what about science and literacy in the elementary classroom? Grades K鈥�5 provide the opportunity to lay the groundwork for those skills鈥攅ven for teachers not fully grounded in science instruction.听
Integrating literacy and science: Challenges and solutions
How to integrate science and literacy?听
Abbott that science and literacy integration can seem challenging for educators. She notes that many elementary schools understandably prioritize ELA and require substantial literacy blocks. The common mindset: 鈥淚f I teach literacy, I don鈥檛 have much time for science.鈥澨�
The solution? A mindset shift from 鈥渆ither/or鈥� to 鈥渂oth/and.鈥澨�
What does that look like? Well, what if we were simply to combine literacy and science? What if, for example, we dedicate some of those literacy blocks to reading science-related texts?听
Unfortunately, that approach鈥攚hile a fine activity鈥攄oesn鈥檛 meet the larger goals. It鈥檚 incidental, so it doesn鈥檛 get students engaged in deep knowledge- and vocabulary-building over time. And it doesn鈥檛 get students deeply involved in figuring out a scientific phenomenon.听
A 鈥渂oth/and鈥� approach doesn鈥檛 just connect science and literacy鈥攊t prioritizes them both at the same time, so that they reinforce each other.听
A literacy-rich science classroom听
In an ideal scenario, a school or system could make a top-down change so that literacy is infused into subjects across the school day.
But there are other ways to 鈥渦se literacy in the service of science,鈥� says Abbott. For example, students in an elementary science classroom could explore why it鈥檚 daytime where they are but night somewhere else. As they build explanations, they can consider the word 鈥渂ecause鈥� and its relationship to the concept of cause and effect.听
Similarly, elementary students can learn new vocabulary in service of scientific concepts. In this , you鈥檒l see kids using Amplify Science learn the word 鈥渄isperse鈥� as they learn how seeds travel.
And all along, they鈥檙e communicating, using evidence-based argumentation, and building background knowledge through text.听
For the teacher, it鈥檚 less about delivering scientific information and more about helping students use and develop literacy skills to figure science out.听
Amplify Science is designed to deliver exactly that experience. Read to find out more about literacy-rich science instruction.
