Something Different

From now on, the objective of this blog will be a little different. Instead of documenting my analysis of our weekly readings each week, I will be reporting on my experience developing a unit of study that brings literacy and science together. I will be teaching my unit for five weeks with the fifth graders at Still Waters Elementary. My unit will focus on ecology, specifically organisms that are producers, consumers, and decomposers.   

One aim of my unit is to deepen student knowledge of ecological science, of course. Another equally important goal, however, is to affect students' capacity for communicating their ideas about ecology. To accomplish this goal, I plan to incorporate a variety of literacy tasks into my curriculum. One assessment I am particularly excited to apply has students recreating our ecology lessons for younger grades. How will they use their own words to transmit their science knowledge? What format will their transmissions take? How, if at all, will technology play a role?  

Five weeks is not a long time. I know this. But my ambitions are high, and the teachers and students have enthusiastically embraced my ideas so far. Now to set some concrete plans on paper…

My unit will address the following Indiana Science Standards for Grade 5:

SCI.5.3 2010 - Life Science

Observe, describe and ask questions about how changes in one part of an ecosystem create changes in other parts of the ecosystem.

SCI.5.3.1 2010

Observe and classify common Indiana organisms as producers, consumers, decomposers, predator and prey based on their relationships and interactions with other organisms in their ecosystem.

SCI.5.3.2 2010

Investigate the action of different decomposers and compare their role in an ecosystem with that of producers and consumers.

Literacy Standards next week!