Articles
A number of articles have been written for teachers by members of the Seeds of Science/Roots of Reading team. These articles elaborate on aspects of the Seeds of Science/Roots of Reading approach, explain ways of supporting science inquiry with classroom books, how to engage students in disagreeing like scientists, and much more.
To read more articles, go to Research and Publications.
Bringing Back Books
How can you connect, supplement, and extend students’ firsthand investigations? Look toward your bookshelves for a clue. Books and other textual materials can serve the following roles in support of scientific inquiry: providing context, modeling, supporting firsthand inquiry, supporting secondhand inquiry, and delivering content. Each of these roles are described in this article, and examples that demonstrate how trade books can support students’ (a) involvement in inquiry experienced, (b) grasp of science concepts, and (c) understanding of the nature of science.
More Than One "Right" Answer
In this article, the authors present a sequence of activities from a curriculum about light for third and fourth graders that supports students in learning to disagree like scientists. This sequence of activities helps students discuss reasons for the discrepancies in their data, use the language of argumentation in classroom discourse, and get a more accurate picture of science as a way of understanding the world, rather than just a collection of right answers (Driver, Newton, and Osborne 2000).
Discourse Circles: Promoting Scientific Language Use in Elementary Classrooms
Through highlighting a classroom discussion routine called a Discourse Circle, this article illustrates how science can be a rich context for purposeful literacy learning. The Discourse Circle provides an opportunity for students to synthesize the ideas they have been learning, gather evidence from multiple sources, apply their newfound science knowledge to a compelling .issue, and discuss important science content
with peers in a meaningful way.
