TEACHERS′ INTEGRATION OF LITERACY STRATEGIES IN GEOSCIENCE EDUCATION: A MULTIDISCIPLINARY INITIATIVE

Literacy strategies are hypothesized to support and enhance students' understanding of science. Specifically, reading and writing are two basic means by which students demonstrate their knowledge, comprehension, ability to organize information, and changes in thinking. Although reading and writing strategies support students' learning, students can not know or use those strategies by themselves. They need teachers to help them learn how, when, and why to use reading and writing strategies. A training program was designed to prepare science teachers to infuse literacy strategies into science instruction. Ten middle and high school science teachers from the Midwest participated in a year-long professional development program. The program was centered around a geoscience field experience in Northern Illinois and in Mexico. Prior to and following the field experience, the teachers participated in workshops that integrated geology, literacy strategies, adolescent identity, and teacher action research. This presentation will focus on the literacy strategies component.

Effective reading and writing strategies for science were described and explanation were given regarding why these strategies are effective for improving students' science achievement. Teachers engaged in exercises designed to help them explain, model, guide, and scaffold the literacy strategies for their students. The teachers also designed lesson plans that integrated both their knowledge of Mexican geology and literacy strategy instruction. A checklist of literacy elements was used to determine the extent to which the teachers used the strategies in their lesson plans. We also analyzed the teachers' written reflective comments in their field notes.

Results suggest that the teachers used more strategies for writing than for reading assignments. They did not, however, explain how they intended to teach the intended reading or writing strategies. Teachers' reflective comments revealed that they were not aware that strategy use is not the same as simply directing students to “read” or “write” in class. They also were resistant to practicing new forms of science instruction that they had not learned in their teacher education classes.