Writing in ScienceFall MDSD – First Grade

Please sign in. Find a table labeled with your current science kit, and talk to teams from other buildings about the kit. Share the resource/idea your team brought today.

Goals for Science Today

• Share ideas and resources for science units with other building teams

• Provide hints and tips for teachers that teach your current unit later in the year

• Understand the importance of modeling and scaffolding in science writing

• Learn a compare and contrast scaffold strategy to use with students

Sharing Time• Work together to brainstorm hints and tips

to pass along to teachers who have your unit later in the year , and record on chart paper.

• All of the resources, hints, and tips will be collected and shared on Connect for teachers to access when planning science lessons.

• If you have an electronic version to share, please email it to Angela Morrison.

Writing in Science• Visual scaffolding is critical in helping

students master scientific vocabulary and write like scientists.

• A word bank allows students to access vocabulary they need during writing time.

• Display two word banks: one for specific terms for the unit and one for general science words and phrases to use in scientific writing.

Science Terms Word Bank

Word Bank Tips• Use pocket charts with word cards.• Introduce words as students need to know

them, AFTER having a concrete experience or investigation with the new term.

• During science discussions, point to the words or remove them from the pocket chart to hold up as visual reminders for students.

• Allow students to take words (on small cards) to their seats as needed during writing time.

Writing Scaffolds• Students need to see models of how to write like

scientists.• Scaffolds for writing include phrases and sentences

used during a shared-writing lesson.• Once you finish the shared-writing as a class,

remove the modeled writing and replace it with a writing frame or sentence starter for students to use as they write independently.

• The frame provides a structure for their writing. Students provide the content.

Writing Scaffolds

Student Writing

Final Thoughts

• Avoid using typed fill-in-the-blank writing frames.

• Allow students to write in their notebooks, using the scaffolds posted in the room.

• Student notebooks are valued because of the students’ scientific thinking and not because of the appearance of the entries.