This is Just the Discussion Question

Communication is the foundation for sharing information. For scientists to research and share their findings, they must have well-developed reading and writing skills as well as the processes used for thinking critically. In this module’s application assignment, you designed a lesson plan for physical science. In this discussion, respond to the prompts below about your lesson and upload your lesson plan as an attachment to your original response. Then, use the prompts to critique the lesson plans of two colleagues.

• How does the integrating of reading and writing into the lesson foster a deeper understanding of science content for students?
• How does the lesson plan demonstrate the application of inquiry-based science and literacy strategies?
• How does this lesson integrate the use of trade books to encourage reading?
• How does the lesson plan use Response to Instruction to accommodate the needs of all learners?

Respond 1

In the virtual lab that students will be engaging in, they must read a section on specific factors that affect erosion of soil by water. They must also write about these factors and provide detail for the formative assessment aspect of the lesson. Being able to read informational texts, derive meaning, and apply that information in a summary format helps foster a deeper understanding of the concept of erosion of my students. After watching a video to introduce the lesson, students can come up with questions and key facts about erosion during the class discussion. Students must also be able to identify the main idea from the passage in the virtual lab and provide a summary with evidence from the text to support their answer. My lesson incorporates the three levels in the Response to Instruction model: I stated the main focus of the lesson was understanding the concept of erosion and being able to provide examples in detail of erosion; I gave the general instructional strategy as independent work in a virtual lab; and I arranged monitoring by being able to walk around to see student progress and assess understanding.

Respond 2

Reading and writing are very importance piece to learning science in a modern classroom. Science texts can be very difficult for students and need to be presented in a way to enhance and engage student learning such as using trade books to motivate students, allow them to work in small groups or as a whole class, and creating excitement and interest in the science content (American College of Education, 2019). My lesson plan has students create their own habitats in small groups and used science texts to gain knowledge on what kind of adaptations they needed to survive in those habitats. I also had to students watch informational videos based on science text that helped them gain a better understanding of each environment and their differences. My lesson was created using the Universal Design for Learning (UDL) to meet the needs of all the learners in the class. Since I focused on the UDL model, I also incorporated each Response to Instruction Tier. We worked as a whole class, then as a small group, and then allowed time for those students who needed one-on-one assistance in their habitat creation. I used RTI to “insure all students received direct, focused, research-based instruction” (American College of Education, 2019), as well as creating a lesson that got the students excited about their animals and taught them a lot about the usefulness of science text. Without them, we would not have been able to understand what adaptations the animals needed to survive in each environment.

American College of Education (2019). Part 1: Response to Intervention. Retrieved from https://a19-94690397.cluster19.canvas-user-content.com/courses/1603091/files/94690397/course%20files/course-content/module-content/03-module/m3-04-video-01.html (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.

American College of Education (2019). Information Literacy and the Common Core. Retrieved from https://a19-94690384.cluster19.canvas-user-content.com/courses/1603091/files/94690384/course%20files/course-content/module-content/01-module/m1-04-video-04.html (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.

American College of Education (2019). Literacy in Inquiry-Based Science Lessons. Retrieved from https://a19-94690384.cluster19.canvas-user-content.com/courses/1603091/files/94690384/course%20files/course-content/module-content/01-module/m1-04-video-03.html (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.