LEARNING COMMUNITY INQUIRY PROJECT

Lindsey ReevesTE 804

Spring 2011

ISSUE Many students have trouble discussing their

ideas or findings in partners or small groups while engaging in experiences with scientific phenomena.

QUESTION How can I help students increase their

ability to discuss their ideas or findings about scientific phenomena in partners or small groups?

HYPOTHESIS If students are assigned roles during partner

or small group work, then they will learn more while still having individual accountability for their learning.

Strategy SuggesterEncourager

Mistake Manager

Summarizer

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

Partner Work Reader’s Workshop Writer’s Workshop

Small Group Work Math Workshop Strategy Groups

Where’s the science??

PROFESSIONAL RESEARCH Conversations with my mentor teacher

and grade-level team Dorothy Simpson; Collaborative

Conversation: Strategies for Engaging Students in Productive Dialogue

Ready, Set, Science; Chapter 5 – Making Thinking Visible: Talk and Argument

Reggio Emilia Approach

STRATEGY IMPLEMENTATION Strategy Suggester: Challenges the partner

or group members to try other methods/explore other ways to investigate the phenomenon.

Encourager: Probes their partner or group members with questions/comments such as what do you think? Can you add to that? Etc.

Summarizer: Summarizes partner or group members thoughts, ideas, and findings to the whole group

Mistake Manager: Examines their partner’s or group’s work and makes sure all ideas were covered, included that their evidence matches their findings.

DATA COLLECTION Interviews & Discussions

Observations/Clipboard Cruising

Student Work Samples

Photographs

SCAFFOLDING & GUIDANCE Reminders

Modeling Practice Rotating Roles

Strategy Suggester

Mistake Manager

Encourager Summarizer

FINDINGS & RESULTS

What properties of liquids did you observe? How are some liquids different than others?

FINDINGS & RESULTS“Look, the water turned the rocks clear!” – JM“I think it’s crystallizing…” – GM“What?” – ZB“Crystallization, it’s what happens to salt when it sits in water for a little.” - GM

“Ew they are so squishy!” – ST“Look, it’s turning the water cloudy too!” – KC“Oh yeah. Maybe the raisin juice is going into the water.” – ST“Maybe. I wonder if the water tastes like raisins now!” - KC

“The water turned pink!” – OR & AA“The red on the candy is doing that.” – OR“Yeah look you can even see the red going from the candy to the water.” - AA

FINDINGS & RESULTS

Working with a partner or individually to separate corn starch, rice, mung beans, and lima beans, using three different sized screens.

What’s gonna work? TEAM WORK!

CHANGE OVER TIMEScientific Explanation: How do

the Seasons Change?

Sharing the illustrations they created with a partner to the whole class.

CONCLUSIONS Scientific Phenomena + Partner/Group Talk =

Science Learning & Understanding

+ =

IMPLICATIONS Implementing

assigned roles across the curriculum: Reader’s Workshop Writer’s Workshop Math Workshop Social Studies

Design the classroom to facilitate group work by using tables or grouping desks together

BIBLIOGRAPHY "Google Images." Google. Web. 27 Mar. 2011.

<http://www.google.com/imghp>. Michaels, Sarah, Andrew W. Shouse, and Heidi A.

Schweingruber. "Chapter 5 – Making Thinking Visible: Talk and Argument." Ready, Set, Science!: Putting Research to Work in K-8 Science Classrooms. Washington, D.C.: National Academies, 2008.

Reddy, M. "Creating Scientific Communities in the Elementary Classroom." (1998): 18-32.

Reggio Emilia Approach Simpson, Dorothy. "Collaborative Conversation:

Strategies for Engaging Students in Productive Dialogue." (2000): 177-83.