69传媒

The 4th graders in Mason A. Kuhn鈥檚 classroom recently wrapped up an unusual assignment: Write a science-themed book and make the target audience not their teacher but 2nd graders at Shell Rock Elementary in northeastern Iowa.

One student wrote and illustrated a cartoon about a feline named Space Kat trying to figure out how to power up her rocket ship to get back home. Along the way, the story explored concepts such as gravity and friction.

At Lewis County High School in Vanceburg, Ky., science teacher Sara M. Poeppelman asks her chemistry students to closely read and analyze an essay Albert Einstein penned in 1946 for a popular science magazine.

The two science-related assignments dovetail with the call in the Common Core State Standards to teach literacy across the curriculum. The adopted by all but four states specifically highlight the teaching of reading, writing, and other literacy objectives in science, history/social studies, and technical subjects.

Around the nation, education leaders are grappling with how best to help teachers and schools reflect this cross-disciplinary dimension. If not exactly a new idea, educators and experts say the standards offer a clear articulation of the notion鈥攊ncluding detailed learning objectives鈥攁nd may well spark an expanded and more deliberate emphasis in schools.

In fact, the standards say students should read equal amounts of fiction and nonfiction 鈥渋nformational texts鈥� in elementary school, and by high school, the balance should tip to 70 percent nonfiction.

In a sign that word is getting out, more than two-thirds of some 400 science teachers who replied to a recent online survey from the said they鈥檙e being asked by administrators to spend class time on the common core鈥檚 objectives for reading in science.

Mr. Kuhn sees a natural nexus. 鈥淪o much of science is reading and writing and communicating about what you discover,鈥� he said.

Kathleen A. Hogan, a social studies coordinator for the Lexington-Richland district, near Columbia, S.C., said she welcomes the attention in the common core to her discipline.

鈥淲e鈥檝e been doing this all along if we were doing good social studies teaching,鈥� she said.

Last month, the South Carolina education department hosted a best-practices seminar on teaching literacy across the curriculum under the common core.

Lewis E. Huffman, an education associate for social studies at the state agency, said one challenge is helping to clarify 鈥渨hat鈥檚 going to be expected and required鈥� of social studies and ELA teachers, noting that he sees some misunderstanding among those who teach both subjects.

鈥淚f we can get more of that cross-fertilization between English/language arts and social studies teachers, this is going to be beneficial to both disciplines,鈥� he said.

But he admits it won鈥檛 be easy, noting that, oftentimes, teachers in those disciplines don鈥檛 collaborate. 鈥淚t鈥檚 going to require some sitting down and working together,鈥� he said.

Hundreds of Examples

The common standards for English/language arts espouse a vision of literacy instruction that involves virtually all teachers.

鈥淭he standards insist that instruction in reading, writing, speaking, listening, and language be a shared responsibility within the school,鈥� the document says.

In grades K-5, the literacy objectives across disciplines are embedded with the rest of the ELA expectations. But for grades 6-12, there鈥檚 a special seven-page section, 鈥淪tandards for Literacy in History/Social Studies, Science, and Technical Subjects.鈥�

For example, it calls for students to compare and contrast treatment of a topic in several primary and secondary sources, and determine the meaning of symbols, key terms, and phrases as used in a scientific or technical context.

The standards document has an appendix with nearly 150 examples of informational texts, or 鈥渢ext exemplars,鈥� that might be used, organized by subject and grade level, such as Lincoln鈥檚 鈥淕ettysburg Address,鈥� Thomas Paine鈥檚 鈥淐ommon Sense,鈥� and an article, 鈥淎musement Park Physics,鈥� from Scientific American. There鈥檚 even an excerpt of federal guidelines for home insulation with a table of information.

Several educators praised the appendix as a valuable resource to help teachers get started.

Ms. Hogan from the Lexington-Richland district said that at a recent meeting of school department chairs in the social studies, 鈥淚 pulled out all the exemplars that match the social studies standards.鈥� She wanted those attending to 鈥渉ave a whole list of the kinds of informational texts, the kinds of primary sources that the common core is expecting kids to have an opportunity to ... do a close read on,鈥� she said.

Under revisions to South Carolina鈥檚 social studies standards finalized last year, Mr. Huffman said, one addition was a suggested set of social studies literacy skills, some of which were derived from the common core.

At the same time, a set of common science standards being developed by 26 states鈥攊n collaboration with educators and experts鈥攁re expected to reflect an emphasis on literacy goals.

A framework for the standards, crafted by a National Research Council panel, spotlights the issue and explicitly references the common core. 鈥�69传媒, interpreting, and producing text are fundamental practices of science in particular,鈥� the NRC says, 鈥渁nd they constitute at least half of engineers鈥� and scientists鈥� total working time.鈥�

Science reading is often challenging for several reasons, the NRC says, including the use of unfamiliar 鈥渏argon,鈥� complex sentence structure, and different modes of representation, such as diagrams, charts, and symbols. From reading to writing, the NRC says, 鈥渆very science or engineering lesson is in part a language lesson.鈥�

贰=惭颁虏

Several science education experts say they鈥檝e encountered resistance from some secondary science teachers to the notion that it鈥檚 also their job to teach reading and writing.

But Ms. Poeppelman, the Kentucky science teacher, said it鈥檚 nothing new to her. Literacy, she explained, has long been viewed as a schoolwide affair for her school and district.

鈥淓ven before the common-core standards, we had that mindset in our building,鈥� she said. 鈥淏ut now with the common-core standards,鈥� she added, teachers are taking it 鈥渦p a notch.鈥�

One big change, she said, is that students are expected to tackle a higher level of text complexity than before. 鈥淵ou鈥檙e basically bumping up things by two years in a lot of cases,鈥� she said.

That鈥檚 what led her to introduce Einstein鈥檚 article for Science Illustrated magazine, 鈥湻�=惭颁虏: The Most Urgent Problem of Our Time.鈥�

Using the text is 鈥渙ne of the best ways that we have found鈥� to address content goals in a unit on nuclear chemistry, Ms. Poeppelman said, while also 鈥渋ncorporating and weaving in common-core-standards goals.鈥� In particular, she identified two reading standards, one on analyzing text structure, the other on author鈥檚 purpose.

She typically spends four to five classroom periods on the article, which is read along with another piece published on the PBS website in 2005 about the legacy of 贰=惭颁虏.

To help students with the Einstein article, she engages the class in a close-reading approach that asks them to read one paragraph at a time and summarize it before moving on.

But Ms. Poeppelman is strategic about when to introduce such texts. 鈥淲e try to be judicious and smart about it,鈥� she said.

She also spends considerable time on writing. A recent chemistry assignment explored the use of X-ray scanners in airports to combat terrorism. Each student researched and wrote a paper making the case for or against the technology, focusing on scientific debates over potential health risks and alternatives.

鈥淭hey鈥檙e coming up with their thesis and supporting their claim with evidence and using citations, which is all in the common-core standards,鈥� Ms. Poeppelman said.

In Mr. Kuhn鈥檚 4th grade class in Shell Rock, Iowa, a recent science unit culminated with the writing assignment for a younger audience.

鈥淭hey have to break it down and explain it in a way their audience would understand,鈥� he said. 鈥淪cience has such difficult vocabulary, and a kid can memorize vocabulary words and match them up on a quiz and completely forget.鈥�

The task is informed by his participation for several years in a project to promote the , or SWH, an approach that uses language and argumentation to teach science, and that promotes critical-thinking skills. Recent state and federal grants have supported the SWH, including a U.S. Department of Education award in 2009 of $4.8 million to field test it in 48 Iowa elementary schools.

Brian M. Hand, a professor of science education at the University of Iowa and a co-developer of the SWH, said Mr. Kuhn鈥檚 technique in the assignment fits with this approach to writing as 鈥渁n act of learning.鈥�

He explained, 鈥淲e use writing as a learning tool, not writing as a recording tool.鈥�

Mr. Kuhn is now sharing his experience with the SWH with fellow teachers in the 2,300-student Waverly-Shell Rock district.

Bridgette Wagoner, the district鈥檚 director of educational services, said the SWH is the focus of one of the four strands of professional development that her district currently offers teachers as they work to implement the common core.

She said she likes the approach because it is 鈥渓iteracy intensive鈥� and embraces 鈥渁n inquiry-based science approach鈥� that engages students 鈥渁s scientists in the work of asking and answering questions.鈥�

In Boise, Idaho, history and social studies teachers recently got a dose of professional development to get a firmer grasp on the common core鈥檚 literacy objectives.

鈥淲e expect all of our history and social studies teachers to implement [them],鈥� said Russ Heller, an education services supervisor for the 25,000-student district.

One goal of the workshop was to ease teachers鈥� anxiety about the common core, he said, noting that most of the district鈥檚 history and social studies teachers already bring a literacy focus to instruction.

鈥淚t鈥檚 not a matter of doing these things, but doing them with diligence,鈥� he said, 鈥渋ntentionally, consistently, and in the right way.鈥�

Mr. Heller highlighted the standards鈥� explicit reference to such matters as fostering close reading, understanding the difference between claims and evidence, building persuasive and reasoned arguments, and communicating clearly.

鈥淭he effort is to create a culture in which every day, a teacher walks into the classroom ... conscientiously applying these principles,鈥� he said.

鈥楬istorical Context鈥�

Fritz Fischer, a past president of the National Council for History Education, said the common core meshes well with a push in history education over the past 15 to 20 years to focus more on the ability to understand primary and secondary texts and the differences between them, and on making use of them in writing to provide evidence and argument.

鈥淚鈥檓 glad they鈥檝e given a nod to history, and at least recognized its importance and the fact that it is unique,鈥� he said.

At the same time, Mr. Fischer, a history professor at the University of Northern Colorado in Greeley, has concerns with the standards.

鈥淭hey are much too narrow and incomplete鈥� when it comes to literacy in history, he said. 鈥淭here is so much more to reading historical texts than is in that section, and some of it leans too much toward literacy and not enough toward issues of historical context.鈥�

Another concern Mr. Fischer has is whether teachers who lack history expertise will get the support they need to effectively teach more history texts, such as the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.'s, 鈥淟etter from Birmingham Jail,鈥� which is cited as a text exemplar in the appendix.

鈥淚鈥檓 afraid that an elementary teacher who doesn鈥檛 have any training in or understanding of history will just go to Wikipedia, and that will be their historical context,鈥� he said.

Several other experts also offered cautions about implementation.

鈥淲ith science and literacy, don鈥檛 force the issue,鈥� said Christine A. Roye, a professor of science education at Shippensburg University in Shippensburg, Pa. 鈥淭here will be natural places where it will be a great match. ... Maximize those [rather than] trying to make everything connected."Dennis L. Schatz, a program director at the National Science Foundation who is on leave from the Pacific Science Center in Seattle, said he hopes the standards don鈥檛 lead some teachers to move away from valued science practices.

鈥淭he basic idea is great,鈥� he said of the science-literacy connection in the standards, 鈥渂ut the reading [focus] could easily make people think, 鈥極h, I don鈥檛 have to do hands-on science.鈥� 鈥�

More broadly, he said: 鈥淚t鈥檚 easy to talk about integration, but the challenge is making that model come alive.鈥�