In the beginning of this chapter, which is also the beginning of this unit, we find out together what we already know about our universe - no reference books allowed, only the ideas in our combined heads. There is a wonderful opening activity in the textbook that works to get the students digging into what they have stored in their memories, what they have absorbed over time and what they can collectively in their triads put together as a poster to share with the class.
We use a textbook for science, Nelson Science Probe 7(1997). Together as we work through the year we look at the many literacies involved in reading, writing and representing in this genre. We strategize ways to use this textbook, (and hopefully other textbooks in our future studies), as a resource. We find ways to improve/expand our speaking, writing and representing within a scientific register. This is no easy task, when considering the vocabulary and knowledge base required to accomplish it.
After this first activity our brains are warmed up and our confidence is building we move into looking at what the scientific world has believed in the past and work through the ideas of developing theories, technologies and discoveries.
We connect the development of technologies, to discoveries and also to the creation of theories. The concept that what we believe today as 'scientific truth' may change, or that in the future they might be developing new theories is quickly within their realm of believable.
Science & Technology Timelines
As we progress I read the textbook aloud, stopping frequently to point out my thinking (metacognition), clarify key points, highlight text features, ensure class understanding and create space for active participation; as they follow along in their own copies. Sometimes we begin with questions, to guide our reading. Sometimes we begin with the pictures, to predict what the reading will be about. Sometimes we ask questions from the titles and subtitles, to organize the big ideas and sort out the details. Often we review and speculate how all of these ideas are interrelated and layered back upon each other, in the lesson, in the chapter, in the unit, in the subject and between subjects. When a particular strategy has been employed I will often ask, "Why did I do that?", to get the students thinking about how their learning is being directed.
Reading a science textbook is different than reading a novel for a novel study, or a social studies textbook, or a math textbook, or a webpage. Each piece of text requires its own strategies, but there are also similarities and connections to be made - in the variations on content and in the variety of contexts.
When the time comes to answer questions, which challenge our understanding of the text, images and diagrams we have been reading we begin orally, then move to writing, then to oral reading of our writing, in hopes of developing conversation as a practice in our groups and in our habits of mind when writing answers to questions and using our science discourse.