An Engaging Read-Aloud makes Science Fun!
Linking Literacy and Science with Stanley's Party (Virtual Tour)
Stage of Literacy Development:
Stage 3: Literacy for GrowthAges:
8-12
Grade Range:
3rd 4th 5th 6thFood Groups:
Primary: Vocabulary, Knowledge Building, Motivation for Literacy Secondary: Text Structures & Genres, Writing Processes & Strategies
Transcript
Behind me you can see our science-learning wall. This wall changes based on what were studying in science. Currently, were studying electricity. We began the unit by looking at different electrical devices. Part of this meant building vocabulary. The students defined terms like energy source, battery, electrical device, and conducting material. They learned the symbols for these words and how to use these symbols in making technical drawings. Stanleys Party is a really great book. Its about a dog that misbehaves when his owners leave the house. His owners leave the house and at first, he jumps on the couch. He jumps off just before they get home and theyre none the wiser. The next day, he decides, "Why not open the fridge? He opens the fridge, he eats all the food he wants, closes the fridge, cleans-up before they get home, and again, no trouble. The third time, he decided to invite all of his friends over. They have a gigantic party, in the middle of it, his owners get home. Finally, they found out. So, once I read the book to the class, we talked about what the problem was. They quickly identified that the problem was that when Stanleys owners went out, he broke the rules. Then I presented them the challenge: design an electrical device using all of the knowledge and vocabulary youve learned in the unit to keep Stanley off of the couch or out of the fridge. The students designed devices and created advertisements for them. They had to ensure that they included the technical instructions for how each device worked. To do this, we looked at how technical writing is done. We looked at manuals for things like DVD players, remote controls. We looked at specifically how you write instructions. The students included a 1-page written explanation with their advertisement. The students created catchy slogans for their products and colorful posters to advertise them. Some of them had very detailed technical instructions that came with them. They used all the vocabulary that they had learned in the electricity unit and they really did a great job with their procedural writing.
Related References
Activity Objective
The goal of An Engaging Read-Aloud makes Science Fun!: Linking Literacy and Science with Stanley's Party (Virtual Tour) is to illustrate how to launch a science project and combine it with literacy instruction by reading aloud an entertaining book, in this case, Stanley's Party. This teacher uses the read-aloud to motivate students to apply the vocabulary in an electricity unit as well as to inspire science-related procedural and persuasive writing. Students listen to the teacher read the book to the class, they identify the problem, and they set out to design an electrical device to solve the problem. In the process, they build their knowledge of electrical circuits and of specific vocabulary words they encountered throughout the science unit.
Quick Tips
Additional Comments:
- Dont underestimate the power of read-alouds for any age group. They are a great way to keep students engaged and because read-alouds are less common at late elementary and middle school, they can provide a fresh, and highly motivating, approach to instruction. - This teacher also integrated art into the lesson by having students create an advertisement for their product. This extension provided students with a motivating opportunity to illustrate their knowledge in an artistic way. Consider displaying their projects in the hallway to motivate students to do their best work and to share their creative ideas with the rest of the school.
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