Literacy Instructional Practices
Throughout the webquest students will be directed to use a variety of literacy practices that will strengthen their ability to read informational text, draw conclusions and key ideas from text, summarize key ideas in writing, and write short paragraph expository text. Students in this webquest will be challenged to begin developing the English Language Arts Science and Technical Subjects literacy skills for grades 6-8. These standards are listed below:
Integration of Knowledge and Ideas
• CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RST.6-8.7 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).
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RST.6-8.9 Compare and contrast the information gained from experiments, simulations, video, or multimedia sources with that gained from reading a text on the same topic.
Key Ideas and Details
• CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RST.6-8.1 Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of science and technical texts.
• CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RST.6-8.2 Determine the central ideas or conclusions of a text; provide an accurate summary of the text distinct from prior knowledge or opinions.
• CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RST.6-8.3 Follow precisely a multistep procedure when carrying out experiments, taking measurements, or performing technical tasks.
First, students will practice integrating knowledge and ideas by learning to make the connection between informational text and a visual form of the information such as a flow chart etc. Students will perform this in individual activity 5, through converting the information that they read about Benjamin Franklin’s experiments into a lab report. The students will extract key information and display this visually in a lab report. Next, students will learn to compare information learned about the ocean in videos or media with that read in articles with the focus being on making connections between the two. During team activity 3 students will compare information learned in the currents experiment with the reading in the textbook, and see how the information is connected.
Students will also learn how to extract key ideas and details from the activities as they progress through the webquest. The use of science journals will be the primary mode that students use to learn this technique. Students will determine the central ideas and create summaries of readings such as in individual activity 4 where students are asked to read 2 articles and write a one paragraph summary for each article in their science journals summarizing the big ideas. Finally students will follow multistep procedures in carrying out experiments in many of the team activities. They will learn to follow directions closely through reading the directions on the webquest website.
For students with special needs possible modifications can be made to scaffold literacy learning. First for students who may have trouble pulling the big ideas out of informational text the articles can be printed. For example in individual activity 4 you can direct these students to print the articles so that they have a paper copy of each. Then instruct students to highlight the key ideas with a colored marker or highlighter. This will help students to visually extract the key points of the text. They can then piece these points together when writing their summaries in their science journals.
Integration of Knowledge and Ideas
• CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RST.6-8.7 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).
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RST.6-8.9 Compare and contrast the information gained from experiments, simulations, video, or multimedia sources with that gained from reading a text on the same topic.
Key Ideas and Details
• CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RST.6-8.1 Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of science and technical texts.
• CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RST.6-8.2 Determine the central ideas or conclusions of a text; provide an accurate summary of the text distinct from prior knowledge or opinions.
• CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RST.6-8.3 Follow precisely a multistep procedure when carrying out experiments, taking measurements, or performing technical tasks.
First, students will practice integrating knowledge and ideas by learning to make the connection between informational text and a visual form of the information such as a flow chart etc. Students will perform this in individual activity 5, through converting the information that they read about Benjamin Franklin’s experiments into a lab report. The students will extract key information and display this visually in a lab report. Next, students will learn to compare information learned about the ocean in videos or media with that read in articles with the focus being on making connections between the two. During team activity 3 students will compare information learned in the currents experiment with the reading in the textbook, and see how the information is connected.
Students will also learn how to extract key ideas and details from the activities as they progress through the webquest. The use of science journals will be the primary mode that students use to learn this technique. Students will determine the central ideas and create summaries of readings such as in individual activity 4 where students are asked to read 2 articles and write a one paragraph summary for each article in their science journals summarizing the big ideas. Finally students will follow multistep procedures in carrying out experiments in many of the team activities. They will learn to follow directions closely through reading the directions on the webquest website.
For students with special needs possible modifications can be made to scaffold literacy learning. First for students who may have trouble pulling the big ideas out of informational text the articles can be printed. For example in individual activity 4 you can direct these students to print the articles so that they have a paper copy of each. Then instruct students to highlight the key ideas with a colored marker or highlighter. This will help students to visually extract the key points of the text. They can then piece these points together when writing their summaries in their science journals.