Sunday, February 22, 2015

Framing Our Reading - Part 2 (Guiding Thinking)

ED 620 Module 4 

Text Citation or Link
Rationale for Choosing
Text Frame(s)
Strategies Used and Resource
Guided Thinking Example
Answers the frequent student question, “When are we ever going to use this?” Shows how chemistry relates to real-world applications. Everyone has used paper before and by reading the article, we can see how science and technology have propelled our world forward. The article would be good to read after doing an experiment on redox reactions to solidify and wrap up the learning or even before starting the redox unit to generate discussion about the topic.
Goal/action/outcome
KWL/KWLS (McLaughlin, p. 78)


The great thing about the articles from the Science News for Students website is that at the end of every article, there is a list of vocabulary words, and their definitions, straight from the article called “Power Words.” One great strategy a teacher can use is frontloading the student learning by giving this “Power Words” vocabulary list before reading the article. Instead of the teacher having to search for the words herself, the website makes it easy by providing the word list already in the dictionary format. There are several ways to present the vocabulary words to the students. My initial thought was to have the students discuss the words and then use a dictionary to find the true definition of the words and compare to the definitions given at the end of the text. (Assuming that some students will know some of the words and other students will not know any of the words, the students will learn from each other through their discussion of the vocabulary, first in small groups and then sharing out to the entire class.) I could hand out note cards and have the students make flash cards for the vocabulary words. By writing them down, the students will reinforce their knowledge of the words. To incorporate technology, the students could enter the words into a website like “Quizlet.com” to create virtual flash cards and complete online activities such as spelling tests or definition/word match-ups. However, after this week’s readings and video watching, I think it is a better idea to try to find visual images of each vocabulary word so that the students can make a clearer connection to the words before they read the meanings, especially helpful for visual learners. Students could also use the Quizlet website to find their own online images to match up to the definitions that they enter into the site.

The particular article that we chose, “Rewritable Paper: Prints with light, not ink” initially seemed like a very interesting and engaging article. The readability score is 6.5 so sixth graders who are on grade level should find the reading comfortable. However, the article is also appropriate for older students who can supplement the article’s low reading level by doing more advanced critical thinking activities such as combining reading strategies. The fact that we all use paper for some reason or another makes the article relatable in a personal way for almost everyone and the article is especially relevant to the chemistry classroom because redox (reduction and oxidation) reactions make up a unit in the chemistry curriculum. I can see how a teacher could either end the unit with this article after having the students conduct a redox experiment in class or even begin the unit with the article to initiate discussion about redox reactions. The current events-nature of the article supports real-world application of chemistry, which students might not always be able to see through typical classroom activities. Students often ask, “When will we actually use the information we are leaning in class?” By reading the article, the students no longer have to ask that question and they can see how chemistry is a valuable tool in our lives which can support growth in the area of technology.                                                                                                                             
KWLS
Topic: Rewritable Paper
K
(What I know or think I know)
W
(What I want to know)
L
(What I learned)
S
(What I still want to know)
I have heard of rewritable discs (CD-W), but never of rewritable paper.
How does one print with light on paper?
Areas on the paper change from blue to clear based on whether the molecules of the dye lose or gain electrons.

I have heard of making homemade invisible ink using lemon juice and then applying a heat source to make the writing appear.
How is rewritable paper similar to vanishing/invisible ink? Do they use similar concepts?
The article does not address this, but after doing further research, I learned that acid/base reactions (what causes invisible ink to work) are not the same as redox reactions. Acid/base consist of switching atoms, but no electrons are gained or lost, unlike redox reactions where elections are gained and lost. So no, they do not use similar concepts.
How is rewritable paper similar to vanishing/invisible ink? Do they use similar concepts? (See “L” section to left)
I know that lasers are sometimes used to etch words into strong surfaces.
How long does the rewritable paper last – forever or does it have a finite life span?
One can reuse the rewritable paper for up to 20 times.
Each image lasts for two days. However applied heat will speed up the erasure process (5 minutes at the right temperature), if people want to reuse the paper right away.

Redox reactions, also known as reduction and oxidation reactions, are a major part of basic chemistry class.

The chemical in the paper undergoes a color change, which is the reduction and oxidation (redox) reaction.
Oxidation steals one or more electrons from a molecule.
Reduction, the opposite of oxidation, results in the addition of one or electrons.


What is the paper made of? Is it wood or some other substance?
The “paper” from the study consisted of a clear plastic, but one could use other material such as glass or traditional paper made from wood pulp. The only condition is that the material contains the redox dyes and other chemical components.


What tool will the user need to use in order to get the letters that they want to show up on the paper?
To print, scientists use a sort of stencil made of the “paper” atop a clear base attached to the words or image they desire to transfer onto the “paper.” Then they expose the covered surface to ultraviolet (UV) light. The light ignites a reduction reaction on sections of the paper where there is no printing. The light removes color from those sections.


What ramifications will this concept have on the public?
By using rewritable paper, the world could save a considerable amount money and greatly reduce the amount of waste dumped in landfills. Diminished paper usage could promote forest preservation as well as lower the amount of chemical pollutants.


When will the rewritable paper be available to the public?
There is still a long way to go before the rewritable paper is available to the public.
Specifically, when will the rewritable paper be available to the public?

As I read the article, using the K-W-L technique (what I know, what I want to know, and what I learned), it still seemed very confusing at times to try and visualize what exactly the scientists did to make the rewritable paper work as well as to understand the actual chemistry behind the concept. In hindsight, I think I would be more likely to assign my students the “Photographs of the Mind” technique (or possibly even combine this technique with KWL) for this particular article. The “Photographs” technique would force the students to really think about the underlying science and how the scientists use it to implement the rewritable paper. The “Photographs of the Mind” strategy requires that readers divide the text into four sections and draw images for each of the four sections of the text. I think creating and seeing the images of how everything fits together would further solidify understanding of the concept of redox reactions, especially for middle school students who might have less prior knowledge about the subject.

I did find some value in using the KWL technique, however. I like that the strategy forces the reader to take time before reading to stop and brainstorm about everything she already knows about the topic (accessing prior knowledge). (McLaughlin, 2015) I found that I knew very little about the topic before reading, but I was able to express that in my KWL chart. The next great aspect of the KWL guided reading strategy is that the reader must consider and ask herself what she might like to know about the topic. This sets up a purpose for the reading and helps to maintain focus throughout a long text. Finally, after the reading, the KWL technique allows the reader to come back and describe the information that she learned from the text, by listing it in the “L” (what I learned) section. In doing so, the reader can glance over the whole chart and analyze how what she thought she knew before the reading compares to what she actually gleaned from the reading.

The KWL technique is adaptable to the KWDL (D = what I did, L = what I learned) and the KWLS technique which I used. The KWDL technique proves extremely helpful in science classes where students conduct a laboratory experiment. The “what I did” component compels students to think critically about how they carried out their experiment. I preferred to use the KWLS strategy instead of the basic KWL technique for this particular article because I liked the fact that the “S” (what I still want to know) will serve to generate discussion in the classroom. Students may determine that even after reading the article they still have unanswered questions. The discussion can lead the reader to make inferences about what they think are the answers to their questions. Any strategy that leads the students to think critically is good. Students may have different perspectives on the possible answers to the lingering questions and can enlighten each other by sharing these insights. After the discussion, students can take it a step further and do more research to find out the answers that still plague them or see how well their peers’ explanations matched up to actual research in the scientific field.

What I found while completing my KWL chart is that the reading caused me to ask more questions, which also helped solidify understanding.

The text frame for the KWL reading strategy is “goal/action/outcome.” Before they even get to frame the text, students must first determine where they are and assess what they already know. (“K”) Students set a goal by asking themselves what they want to learn (“W”) in the KWL chart. Students then take action by reading the text for the purpose of answering their pre-written questions. The “outcome” aspect of the text frame is when the student discovers what she actually learned and how it relates to what she thought she knew before the reading.

Chapter 5 of our weekly reading from the McLaughlin text explains the KWL strategy as a multiple-pronged approach which commences with teacher modeling of the process with a short, introductory text. Then, revisiting the technique by having the students work in small groups using a different article (as we did for our ED 620 assignment) and guiding the students through discussion after they complete the KWL chart together. Finally, allowing students to work independently on yet a different text to implement the strategy. Upon completing the practice step on their own, they summarize their learning and share their findings with a partner. (McLaughlin, 2015) After the class works through the entire process together, we can all reflect on how the KWL technique has enlightened us in our more thorough comprehension than just reading without a guided reading strategy. We had the chance to ask ourselves questions, check and summarize the text. 

After finishing this exercise as a class, we could guide the class to use the Cornell note-taking strategy on the third text they read, just as Mr. Randy Clyde did in the “Close Reading” video. (San Bernadino City Unified School District, 2014). Students should have an easy time writing Cornell notes since they completed most of the work in their KWL chart. The more times that the students revisit the text, the more familiar they become with the material, making the work easier and increasing their vocabulary and higher-level thinking skills. In addition, they get extra practice with the reading strategies.  All of this makes for a stronger reader because of the self-awareness and self-analysis.


References

Buehl, D. (2014). Classroom Strategies for Interactive Learning (4th ed.). Newark, DE: International Reading Association.
Cortright, D. D. (2012). Making Science Relevant with Current Events. Retrieved from The Teaching Channel: https://www.teachingchannel.org/videos/teaching-science-with-current-events#
Kowalski, K. (2015, January 15). Rewritable paper: Prints with light, not ink. Retrieved from Society for Science & the Public- Student Science: https://student.societyforscience.org/article/rewritable-paper-prints-light-not-ink?mode=topic&context=104
McLaughlin, M. (2015). Content Area Reading: Teaching and Learning for College and Career Readiness. Upper Saddle River: Pearson.
San Bernadino City Unified School District. (2014, September 16). Close Reading of Informational Science Text. Retrieved from YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o_7MY8khBag 



My teammate Amanda Slonaker read the same article using the "Bookmarking" Technique. http://amandasteachingjourney.blogspot.com/2015/02/rewritable-paper-prints-with-light-not.html. While my other teammate, Christine Betley, read the same article using the "Anticipation guide" strategy. http://chesapeaceful.com/2015/02/22/framing-our-reading-part-2-guided-thinking-2/

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