TEACHING ENGLISH

THROUGH THE
SCIENCE CLASS
Manhattan Bridges High School
Mirza Sanchez-Medina, principal

Marangelitza Rivera, presenter
mrivera@manhattanbridgeshs.org
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MANHATTAN BRIDGES HIGH SCHOOL
Established in 2003.
Consistently received A
on the NYC Progress
Report since 2009.

US News Gold Seal 2014
National #51 (19,400)
State # 7 (1,147)
NYC # (407)
We provide all CR-Part 154
STEM focused career
academies
4 years / Regents Science
4 years / Regents Math
Technical courses with
opportunity for industry
certifications
Individual program based on
student achievement =
improved college readiness
Advanced Placement
Courses: Calculus, Statistics,
Economics, English,
Spanish Literature,
Spanish Language.
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ABOUT ME
Certifications
Biology
Bilingual Spanish
Extension
TESOL
School Building
Leadership
10 years teaching at
Manhattan Bridges
High School
Science Department
Coordinator since 2005
Career and Technical
Education and NAF
Academies Coordinator
since 2009

Relevant training and
professional
development
UBD
QTEL
Differentiated
Instruction
National Academy
Foundation Career
Academies
Internet and Computing
Core Certification
Teaching with
technology in a blended
learning environment
Teacher Mentor
Educators for Social
Responsibility

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PURPOSE OF THE PRESENTATION:
This presentation will focus on strategies that I use
during my science class to help the students
develop the skills needed to write and read in the
science class.
I will discuss how to write conclusion paragraphs
in their lab reports, and a common core task for
argumentation.
In terms or reading I will show how the Question
Answer Relationship strategy supports readers in
developing comprehension.


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ARGUMENTATIVE WRITING IN THE
COMMON CORE
Not only for a debate,
energy better spent in:
Interpretation of
experimental data, be it
published or self generated
to support or to reject their
predictions
Argument of the utility of a
2D or 3D model in explaining
a specific structure or natural
phenomena

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5
CONCLUSION PARAGRAPHS
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CONCLUSION PARAGRAPH SENTENCE
FRAME
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7
Teacher prompt

What was the purpose of this

lab?

What was your prediction?

Was your prediction correct?

Why or why not?

Explain the relationship

between size of the molecules
and ability to diffuse across a
membrane.

State two similarities

between diffusion and
osmosis.

State one difference between

diffusion and osmosis.
Student sentence frame
The purpose of this lab is
_______________________.
My prediction is
________________________.
My prediction was (correct /
incorrect) because
_________________________.
If the molecules are (large /
small) they will diffuse across
the membrane because
____________________________.
Two ways that diffusion and
osmosis are similar is
____________________________
______________________.
Diffusion is different from
osmosis in
____________________________
______________________.
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8
Conclusion: Complete the following paragraph using
the data you gathered.
The purpose of todays lab was
_____________________________.
To meet our objective we had
to______________________________.
The variables that affected this experiment were
________________.
Based on data analysis, we can concluded that
my hypothesis was (correct/incorrect) because
_________________________________.
In conclusion, this lab helped me better
understand______________.
This lab could be made better
if______________________________.
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11
MODEL EXPLANATION
Students are provided a model
and they make predictions.
Students have to create their
own models of the specified
structure, they have to describe
the utility of the model in
explaining the assign structure.
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EXAMPLE OF MODEL MAKING AND
ARGUMENTATION
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Instructions:
1. After you choose the situation that you like. Draw a
diagram explaining with as many details as possible how the
body maintains homeostasis. Be creative. In your diagram
you have to include the following:


H. Explain the importance of maintaining homeostasis by
writing a paragraph. In your explanation include:
1. M - Define homeostasis
2. E - Relate to the situation you selected. Make direct
connections.
3. A - What if the body loses its balance in this situation?
How could balance be regained?
4. L Why is your diagram the best explanation of
homeostasis?




ARGUMENTATIVE WRITING IN SCIENCE
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Performance
Task like
RAFTS
Writing Process
through
Scaffolding
Assessment by
rubrics
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Performance
Task like
RAFTS
RAFTS
R stands for Role What is the writers role?
(Ex: news reporter)
A stands for Audience - Who is the writers
audience? (Ex: people in the community)
F stands for Format - How should the writer
present the information? (Ex: news article)
T stands for Topic - What is the author writing
about? (Ex: Genetically Modified Organisms)
S stands for Strong verb What is the voice
and purpose of the document?

RAFTS EXAMPLE FOR ARGUING ON A
MODEL
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RAFTS EXAMPLE FOR ARGUING ON A
MODEL
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YOU CHOOSE HOW MUCH
WILL YOU EXTEND THE
ASSIGNMENT.
Not all
writing
assignmen
ts need to
end at the
publishing
phase.
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Pre write
Reading
Graphic
organizers
Background
information
Draft
Writing
Templates
Get
feedback
and revise
for content
Peer
Revisions
Teacher
corrections
Editing
Feedback
and
revisions for
language Publish
and Share
Evaluate
and
Reflect
Writing Process
through
Scaffolding
AS YOU PLAN THE PERFORMANCE TASK HELP
THE STUDENTS SUCCEED BY PROVIDING THE
TOOLS THEY NEED.
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READING COMPREHENSION USING QUESTION
ANSWER RELATIONSHIPS
Green plants are the source of all our food. Like a very efficient
factory, the green plant is constantly producing nourishment in the
form of sugar, starch, fat and protein. The raw materials it uses are
carbon dioxide from the air and water from the soil. Photosynthesis
is the process in which the energy of light is captures by the green
plant and stored as the energy of food. Energy to run the factory
comes from sunlight. The special machinery doing the work is the
chloroplast. The waste product of the plant factory is oxygen. In
these slides we shall see how this remarkable food factory works. The
magnification given, For example, 110x for Slide 1 Green Leaf
means that the microscope was set at that power when the
photograph was taken.
Key ideas and details: Answer the following questions using your
knowledge of biology and the reading.
1. Right There: What is photosynthesis?
Think and Search: What is the purpose of this lesson?
Author and me: The author of this text is comparing the job a plant
does with a factory. Think back to previous lessons where we
compared the cell by doing analogies. What is an analogy?
On my own: In your opinion, working on analogies is a useful learning
technique because ___________________
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4 types of questions per passage:
Right There Questions: Questions whose
answers can be found in the text.
Search and Think Questions: Answers are
gathered from several parts of the text and put
together to make meaning.
Author and You: Questions based on
information provided in the text but the student
needs to relate it to their own experience.
On My Own: Student must use their
background or prior knowledge to answer the
question, not the reading.
READING COMPREHENSION USING
QUESTION ANSWER RELATIONSHIPS
QUESTION ANSWER RELATIONSHIPS -
SCIENCE
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22
Right There



Involves direct
observations
Define essential
content
Search and Think



Requires the use of at
least two different
sources of
information (text and
diagram)

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23
Author and You (Me)




Perfect moment to
include graphic
organizers
Compare contrast
Organize given
information (or
collected) in a
different way





Own My Own




Helps make content
relevant to
themselves
Make connections to
self; other sources of
information; the
world

QUESTION ANSWER RELATIONSHIPS -
SCIENCE