Science Teaching Inquiry Project Plan

Planning a Strategic Approach to Improving your Students Science Learning

Name: Sarah Hundt
Date: 2/8/15
Grade level: 2nd
Area of Concern: Students werent listening to each other.
During all instruction time there are always the students (usually those that
sit in the front of group) who are more focused on the conversation than their
peers. Their peers, meanwhile, are usually sitting in the back of group and
typically are talking with the person next to them, daydreaming and staring into
space, or playing with their clothes/accessories. They do this when my mentor or I
are speaking or even when their peers are sharing their ideas. This means, that if
theyre called on, they have no idea whats going on most of the time. They then
get nervous and will sit there, hoping that the teacher will move on.
Spoken discourse is usually instantaneous. The listener must process it
online and there is often no chance to listen to it again (Richards, 3.) My goal is
to teach my students how to process what is being said in the moment. So if
anything, I want to teach my students how to be good listeners, no matter who is
talking.
By implementing this expectation in all areas of our discussions, we will be
more effective in science as we will be able to build upon each others ideas easily.
Not only will it help build our discussions and deepen their understanding, but it
will also hold students responsible for their learning and show that they respect
their peers thoughts. If they can learn that skill then I would want to move on to
teaching them to contribute to a conversation in a positive way.
Richards, J. (2008). The Teaching of Listening. In Teaching listening and speaking:
From theory to practice (p. 3). New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.
Inquiry/Action Research Question:
How can I help students increase their use of listening skills during a class
discussion?
Strategy for addressing the area of concern.
To promote active listening within my classroom during the day, but
especially during science instruction I plan to first reiterate and rebuild our rules
and expectations (from the beginning of the year) within our classroom. First, I will
ask students to sit in a circle on the carpet so that we can all see each other
clearly. Have students offer reminders of
classroom expectations before asking:
What does it mean to be a good
listener? I expect students will offer the
usual ideas: eyes on the speaker, dont
blurt out, etc. At this time I will
introduce students to a new poster that
will be in the class to help us remember
how to be a good listener.

Science Teaching Inquiry Project Plan

Planning a Strategic Approach to Improving your Students Science Learning
After finding several similar posters that simply listed actions to be a good
listener, I decided I wanted to make my own poster. These 5 lines can be repeated
easily once students have seen it, used it, and said it several times. So if, during
instruction, I notice that students are ignoring those that are talking, I will begin by
asking for everyone to say our listening poem. This short poem and cue reminders
will help students remember what they should be doing during a discussion or
when someone else is speaking.
Heath, J. (2014, November 5). Engage Now - Student Interactions - teacher heath.
Retrieved February 5, 2015, from
https://sites.google.com/site/teachermrheath/home/engage-now---studentinteractions
Who can repeat or rephrase is a foundational talk move that many teachers
dont use, even though it can elicit some great understanding and further a
conversation amongst students. In order to expose students to this new strategy
and to maximize respectful listening I will need to begin by explaining that in our
discussions well be doing something new. From now on [Ill] be asking someone
to repeat what someone else has said so that everyone gets better at explaining
their thinking and listening hard to one another. After explaining this I might ask
students to think about a question, it doesnt have to do with the unit at hand, but
could be relatable if it will help students brainstorm. I will make it a simple
question that wont be too difficult to answer (ex. Why is the snow cold? Why is
the carpet soft?) I will ask a student to share out. When they have finished their
explanation, I will ask if someone else can explain what the student just said, but in
their own words. By modeling this talk move in this way, when there isnt any
added pressure, students will see that its a way to build on what they thought, it
expands and helps to clarify everyones understanding.
Talk Strategies: Goal 1 - Share, Expand and Clarify. (2011). Retrieved February 5,
2015, from
http://inquiryproject.terc.edu/prof_dev/resources/video_cases/video_case.cfm
?case_type=st&case_num=2&case_return=library
Talking Point: What is productive talk? (2011, January 1). Retrieved February 6,
2015, from
http://inquiryproject.terc.edu/prof_dev/resources/video_cases/video_case.cfm
?
&case_type=st&case_grade=4&case_num=2&case_return=library&case_ste
p=step2
To go further and build upon their new listening skills, I plan on introducing
students to a science talk. I will explain that during a science talk, the teacher
might only ask the first question. Students can talk freely to answer that question,
but they cannot interrupt someone else when theyre talking. They need to stay
on topic regarding the question, but its okay if they have a new question about
something someone said. If you have a question about something someone else
said, you can ask them. Or if you have something to add, you can use one of our

Science Teaching Inquiry Project Plan

Planning a Strategic Approach to Improving your Students Science Learning
active listener sayings. Science Talks help us build upon what we know by using
each others knowledge to make us smarter and learn new things.
Plan a way to gather evidence of how your strategy is working.
To be able to report on how effective my strategy to boost active listening in
the classroom, I first need to collect some data before any instruction is given on
listening. Therefore, before my science unit begins, I will look at student listening
during a literacy/math lesson. This will either be video recorded or I will use an
record system while teaching where I can take notes of who has their eyes on the
speaker, who is offering ideas, etc. This will give me some data to look back at
after my science unit has begun and we have worked on our listening skills as a
class.
Before our first activity of the unit (Property Sort) I will explain to students
about a new goal for us to meet being active listeners during discussions. Then,
during my first lesson (Property Sort) I will video and audio record each part of the
lesson. Through the video I will double check to see that students are showing
their peers theyre listening through their eyes and comments made during the
discussion. A table will be used to keep track of these signs of active listening and
may look something like this:
Student
Date: 2/11/15

Number
1
Eyes on
speaker, asked
questions
2
Played with
shoes, did not
ever look at
speakers
3
Eyes on
speaker, then
talked to
neighbors
when speaker
was talking
4
Eyes on
speaker,
nodded, silent
connection
signal
5
Stared blankly
into space

Throughout the rest of my unit I will observe students and take notes during
activities and discussions to see how they are showing they are listening. I will use
this data at the end of my unit to see if students listening increased and if it
benefitted our discussions did students participate more and offer their
ideas/opinions more than they did before we put our new strategy into place?