What is the Science a Middle School Science Student should know?
According to the Common Core Standards for Middle school science (As retrieved from http://www.corestandards.org/ELA-Literacy/RST/6-8/#CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RST.6-8.1) Students are expected to:
Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of science and technical texts.
Determine the central ideas or conclusions of a text; provide an accurate summary of the text distinct from prior knowledge or opinions.
Follow precisely a multistep procedure when carrying out experiments, taking measurements, or performing technical tasks.
Determine the meaning of symbols, key terms, and other domain-specific words and phrases as they are used in a specific scientific or technical context relevant to grades 6-8 texts and topics.
Analyze the structure an author uses to organize a text, including how the major sections contribute to the whole and to an understanding of the topic.
Analyze the author's purpose in providing an explanation, describing a procedure, or discussing an experiment in a text.
Integrate quantitative or technical information expressed in words in a text with a version of that information expressed visually (e.g., in a flowchart, diagram, model, graph, or table).
Distinguish among facts, reasoned judgment based on research findings, and speculation in a text.
Compare and contrast the information gained from experiments, simulations, video, or multimedia sources with that gained from reading a text on the same topic.
By the end of grade 8, read and comprehend science/technical texts in the grades 6-8 text complexity band independently and proficiently.
Determine the central ideas or conclusions of a text; provide an accurate summary of the text distinct from prior knowledge or opinions.
Follow precisely a multistep procedure when carrying out experiments, taking measurements, or performing technical tasks.
Determine the meaning of symbols, key terms, and other domain-specific words and phrases as they are used in a specific scientific or technical context relevant to grades 6-8 texts and topics.
Analyze the structure an author uses to organize a text, including how the major sections contribute to the whole and to an understanding of the topic.
Analyze the author's purpose in providing an explanation, describing a procedure, or discussing an experiment in a text.
Integrate quantitative or technical information expressed in words in a text with a version of that information expressed visually (e.g., in a flowchart, diagram, model, graph, or table).
Distinguish among facts, reasoned judgment based on research findings, and speculation in a text.
Compare and contrast the information gained from experiments, simulations, video, or multimedia sources with that gained from reading a text on the same topic.
By the end of grade 8, read and comprehend science/technical texts in the grades 6-8 text complexity band independently and proficiently.
Why is it important to focus on teaching Vocabulary in Middle School Science?
A student's vocabulary is their knowledge of words (http://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/vocabulary). As a student continues through school they start increasing their Academic Vocabulary (Miller & Veatch, 2012). The students Academic Vocabulary includes words that are specific to learning in the content areas (2012). They can be grouped into Content-Specific academic vocabulary which encompasses words associated with just science in this case of Content-general academic vocabulary which includes words that occur across domains. Words such as "evidence" and "describe" (2012). In order to understand more vocabulary in the area of Science, I will be using the following strategies to teach vocabulary in a way that will help the students build full concept knowledge, learn words in a meaningful context, and begin to use these vocabulary strategies independent. Specifically, I will focus on the following 5 strategies:
Concept of Definition Map
Semantic Feature Analysis
Pre-teaching Vocabulary
Vocabulary Visit
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Semantic Feature Analysis
Pre-teaching Vocabulary
Vocabulary Visit
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