Finding a Focus

As I wrote before I have always had this idea going around my head about reading. As part of the physics curriculum, students have to read a variety of science texts: about the Earth’s surface (i.e. minerals, rocks), Matter and Energy (i.e. states and properties of matter), Waves (i.e. types of waves) and Space (i.e. solar system and the Universe).

Therefore, reading is at the core of the course and success at reading will undoubtedly mean success at the end of the school term. However, fifth grade students (the focus group of this research) struggle at constructing meaning, they usually copy or say the exact words appearing on the textbook.

Several factors such as students’ language level, lack of knowledge regarding how to read science texts, alignment between learners’ needs and the goals of self-access materials used, and the instructional design of the lessons can explain why students are not able to understand a science text, and their results at reading comprehension exams.

The need described above is the one I want to work on; I am interested in helping kids develop their reading strategies to increase their understanding of science texts. In addition, I want to include the language component in my classes as current studies (De Graaff, R. et al. 2007) have shown that the relationship between language and content can lead to more successful teaching practices. This issue is challenging both content-based and language teachers to start implementing strategies that enhance their learners’ learning process considering content and language.

This is a "wordle" I created (http://www.wordle.net/) considering what I have mentioned here:

To see it bigger, please go to this link

http://www.wordle.net/show/wrdl/1863683/Finding_a_Focus

Reference:

De Graaff, R. et al. (2007). An Observation Tool for Effective L2 Pedagogy in Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL). International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism 10/5, 603-624. Retrieved September 27, 2009 from http://igitur-archive.library.uu.nl/ivlos/2008-0103-200946/UUindex.html