Tag Archives: literacy

In last week’s post, I gave ways to help students learn within a Comprehension Model science classroom. This week, I will give tips for how to assess students’ knowledge of science without penalizing them for a lack of reading comprehension. In a few weeks, I will post about alternative assessments in a science class. ThisContinue reading “Assessment: Comprehension Style”

In the Comprehension Model of teaching science, students learn science by reading the textbook and learning the vocabulary words. If students can be successful in those two areas, they will do well in their science class. Reading a science textbook is not as intuitive as it seems. Informational texts have special features to help themContinue reading “Learning: Comprehension Style”

Imagine this scene. Your students go to their desks and open their textbooks. You introduce the week’s vocabulary words and put students into pairs to begin reading through today’s chapter. You bring the class back together to summarize what they have read and highlight the most important ideas from the reading. What subject are youContinue reading “The Comprehension Model”

I hated science when I was in school. There, I said it. Science always seemed dysfunctional to me as a student because I could not figure out how it was asking me to learn. English asked me to memorize rules and concepts. Math asked me to learn processes and solve problems. Science could not decideContinue reading “Two Models of Teaching Science”