LITERACY DESIGN COLLABORATIVE: APPLICATIONS IN THE SCIENCE CLASSROOM Shelia D. Banks: Jefferson Parish School Support Specialist

CCSS=Literacy taught in content areas Literacy Teachers Technical subjects Social Studies Science “While the English language arts classroom has often been seen as the proper site for literacy instruction, this document acknowledges that the responsibility for teaching such skills must also extend to other content areas.” “While the English language arts classroom has often been seen as the proper site for literacy instruction, this document acknowledges that the responsibility for teaching such skills must also extend to other content areas.” In addition to ELA Teachers:

 LDC is a FRAMEWORK for implementing CCSS in the classroom  Science, Social Studies, and Technical teachers have not necessarily been trained to teach and assess literacy  LDC is a way to seamlessly implement the Literacy standards into these classrooms without losing content A Blueprint for Instruction

 Teachers choose the content, the skills, the instruction, and the product  Teachers choose the length of the module (usually weeks)  Teachers choose when to implement (beginning of year, middle, etc.) LDC is designed to give teachers the freedom to choose how skills are taught and what content is embedded

 Teachers create modules- analogous to unit plans  Focus is on literacy skills related to content  Skills vary depending on grade level, content, and product required  Teacher decides how to teach those skills (called “mini-tasks”) How are LDC lessons Structured?3 Main Categories for Modules Informative Argumentativ e Narrative

 The module is the complete plan consisting of:  The task  The skills  The instruction  The results

 LDC contains a collection of Template Tasks  These are fill in the blank prompts  Words should not be added or deleted from the template-only fill in the blanks  Think about what kind of product you want  Essay?  Lab report?  Editorial?  Abstract?  Think about what text(s) the students will read

The texts embedded into the task are essential. Qualities of a Good Text Rigorous and contains complex vocabulary Related to the content taught Necessary to write the product (essay or other) Rigorous and contains complex vocabulary Related to the content taught Necessary to write the product (essay or other) Task 2 Template (Argumentation/Analysis L1, L2, L3): [Insert question]. After reading _____ (literature or informational texts), write an _________(essay or substitute) that addresses the question and support your position with evidence from the text(s). L2 Be sure to acknowledge competing views. L3 Give examples from past or current events or issues to illustrate and clarify your position.

The essential question or research topic is critical. Qualities of a Good Essential Question Intriguing and motivating Guides the student through the module Can only be answered by reading the text(s) Is interesting to the students Opens the door to design and inquiry Is purposeful and meaningful Intriguing and motivating Guides the student through the module Can only be answered by reading the text(s) Is interesting to the students Opens the door to design and inquiry Is purposeful and meaningful

Does Eiseley’s explanation of how evolution in nature affects us make scientific sense? After reading “How Flowers Changed the World” by Loren Eiseley on evolution, write an essay that argues the causes of natural beauty and explains the effects on the human psyche from the author’s point of view and address the question. Should cryobiology techniques be used to preserve living matter for future use? After reading texts on cryobiology, write an article that addresses the question and support your position with evidence from the texts. What combination of market and command systems do you believe creates an ideal mixed economy? After reading informational and opinion texts, write an essay that addresses the question and support your position with evidence from the texts. Be sure to acknowledge competing views. When should the United States become involved in foreign wars? After reading informational and argumentative texts on foreign wars, write a letter to the President that addresses the question and support your position with evidence from the texts.

 After researching forces on the structure and function of bridges by reading informational texts, using technology as a resource, developing a hypothesis, and conducting an experiment examining live load forces on bridge stability, write a laboratory report that explains your procedures and results and confirms or rejects your hypothesis.  After researching essays and articles on existentialism, write a report that defines existentialism and explains its impact on Franz Kafka’s work The Metamorphosis.  After researching various websites and informational texts on current countries in crisis, write a report that analyzes the human rights violations in that country by applying the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, providing evidence to clarify your analysis.

 Task engagement  Task and rubric analysis  Pre-reading  Active reading  Note taking  Bridging conversations  Initiation of task  Planning  Development  Revising and editing  Task engagement  Task and rubric analysis  Pre-reading  Active reading  Note taking  Bridging conversations  Initiation of task  Planning  Development  Revising and editing Skill Clusters

Adding Skill Cluster for Science  You have the freedom to create your own skills cluster  In the Building Bridges module, a “Active Reading Through Research” skills cluster was created  The cluster included skills necessary to gather background information in a variety of formats:  Journal article  Documentary  Hands-on activity  Cluster was created because the skills I felt were necessary for scientific investigations were not addressed in the LDC templates-this solved my problem

 Mini-tasks=lessons aligned to each skill  2 types:  Focuses on literacy skills  Focuses on content Mini-Tasks The Teacher Decides How to Teach the Skills Graphic organizers? Writer’s notebook? Outlines? Cornell note taking? Templates?

More Freedom!  Align to skills  Skill: Mini-task (one to one ratio)  Teacher designed-you teach the skill the way you want  Use your existing lessons and develop new ones that align to skills and CCSS  Serve purpose of increasing capability of students to complete the teaching task

What types of lessons are CCSS compliant?  Require some sort of reading/writing  Short quick-writes  Read and respond (text-dependent questions)  Generate ideas  Prep questions for Socratic seminar  Rigorous-require reading higher levels of text with complex vocabulary  To address speaking & listening standards: can include presentations, Socratic seminars, discussions, etc.  Include communication with peers (i.e. peer editing, feedback, etc.)

Skill Cluster Type of task Length Expectations How task was taught Accommodations

 Requires reading the texts to complete  Can be assessed using the LDC rubric  Serves the purpose of the teaching task (does it answer the essential question?)  Requires reading the texts to complete  Can be assessed using the LDC rubric  Serves the purpose of the teaching task (does it answer the essential question?)  This is the major writing product that is constructed after completing mini-tasks  Depends on which template task was used  Essay, lab report, editorial, abstract, proposal-whatever the teacher chose  This is the major writing product that is constructed after completing mini-tasks  Depends on which template task was used  Essay, lab report, editorial, abstract, proposal-whatever the teacher chose

 Templates allow students to stay organized  Gives students a vision of how to format final product  If you don’t provide scaffolded guidance, then they will invent their own format Consider providing a template

Some teachers elect to create a writer’s notebook- contains all mini-tasks For science modules, these are similar to science notebooks Also includes room for notes & initial drafts

Implements the Common Core State Standards seamlessly Teacher retains creative rights to his or her instruction Lessons are planned, outlined, and prepared for at least 2 weeks of instruction and student work Builds relationships between students and teachers and raises the bar of cognition Literacy Design Collaborative in a Nutshell

Funding for LDC