How do we teach science through literacy?

Shared Best Practice at Canterbury Science Week workshops. 
Lisa M, Shane B, Urmi S, Hannah M - Brilliant presenters from Merrin School

What was going on?
ALL
Primary schools criticised for not teaching science well

Wanted to achieve: 
motivate stimulate and excite children especially reluctant writers
sustainable
improve teacher practice
explicit teaching of science
building relationships with monitored students
provides clear specific steps
parents involved - notified with fish and chip evening and experiments. Explaining how we teach.
students come to value 1-1 time and small group teaching

Experiments must have ...
- WOW fact
- a little bit naughty
- targeted mostly to boys
- smelly, noisy colourful
- doing not showing or telling
- fun
- new

Improving Teacher Practice..
- research great sites
- focus on writing reading was part of researching
- keep reading program going for lower level readers
- Frame experiments through conjectures and inquiry mindset
- visuals to support text student created - explain everything app
- video and pics created greater involvement and ownership
- developing oral language through apps
- Had expectation that there would be progress
- layout of classroom was important to access visuals
- Monitored students around teacher desk
- Growing and dev t knowledge concepts and big ideas
- Skilled up to ask the right questions prior to the learning.

Process 
Whanau intro and gain support
select 15 experiments
send out google form for students to select top 10 developing student agency

Making it sustainable - 
- meeting Monday to ensure success for all
- reflected on issues to modify and to extend and make easier
also on how can we use this approach in other areas of the school
- creativity embraced
- explicit teaching of Science
see slide 

Mon - model and conduct experiment, set and review goals. Slow and deep modify designs, what if....
Tuesday - Discuss experiment revisit review things done, bring in conceptual vocab, modelling books, develop action command verbs (get is toxic and grab), concept words, nouns in one colour, verbs in one colour, etc, must be visual procedural process, group work for those who need it or modelling,
Thurs - review scientific explanation and write conclusion. Don't give answers get them to research it. Always ask How can we make the world a better place now that we know this.
Fri - publish


Must See Science Websites 
You tube clips
Royal Society - top 20 science primary activities
science kids
www.sciencebob
stevespangler
nanogirl

Goals 

One piece of writing published a week on blog

draft edit publish must use technology 

assessed own writing

used google docs to write collaboratively - peer feedback 

Apps to support surface features - 

TDLR - ext in google docs

Grammarly

Speech function on google docs

conjectures - google topic