Assessing reading in the science curriculum

College Student Journal, March, 2005 by Marlow Ediger

Reading, as one learning activity in science lessons and units of study, needs to be assessed to notice needs of pupils. The science teacher needs to be thoroughly grounded in science content and methodology and yet also needs to be an instructor of reading. For pupils to do well in reading science subject matter, there needs to be continuous appraisal of how well a pupil is doing and of what is left to be done. A variety of procedures need to be used to evaluate pupil achievement in order to provide data on achieved and unachieved objectives.

Science emphasizes a hands-on approach in learning. This is an important way of learning. Reading is another method to acquire scientific information in knowledge and skills.

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Using Basal Science Textbooks and Library Books

One problem in the science curriculum is to integrate reading with pupils doing related science experiments and demonstrations. First, pupils do need to be able to read from the basal/library books in the curriculum. Important ways of assisting pupils to read well and comprehend science content need to be in the offing. When pupils are to read a given selection from the basal/library book, there need to be approaches in helping pupils in word recognition. The teacher or a pupil may pronounce an unknown word to learners without further assistance. The argument given for this approach is that a pupil may continue to read without interruption if the unknown word is pronounced at once. The pupil needs to raise his/her hand at once to let the helper know that a word is not recognized.

In contrast, the argument given against immediately pronouncing an unknown word to the reader is that this does not emphasize a future time to identify an unknown word independently. Thus, context clues may be stressed. Help is then given to the reader in using a technique to identify an unknown word. The teacher assists the pupil to notice surrounding words and guides the reader to put in place a word which makes sense. Sometimes while reading science content pupils will substitute a meaningless word for the unknown. By substituting a meaningful word for the unknown word, the pupil is more likely to zero in on a rightful word. If the word given is still not correct, the teacher might assist the pupil to look carefully at the initial consonant of the unknown word. Most words begin with consonants and they are quite consistent between symbol and sound. Being able to sound out the initial consonant plus context clue use should do it for the pupil. However, in doing these word recognition techniques, the reader may lose out momentarily on the trend of sequential thought.

Much phonics may be emphasized in reading science content. These learnings would be stressed for those who might benefit from phonics instruction, but only to comprehend science subject matter better. Rightfully, phonics, if taught, belong in the reading curriculum, but is taught in science when stressing reading across the curriculum. There are graphemes (symbols) which relate directly to their corresponding phonemes (sounds). The question then arises, "How much phonics should be taught in reading science subject matter?" In addition to emphasizing initial consonants along with context clues for the pupil to identify unknown words, the pupil may also benefit from looking at ending letters of unknown words to assist in word recognition. As in initial consonants, the ending consonants must be equally consistent to emphasize phonics instruction. Vowel letters individually can vary much in sound such as the long "a," the short "a," and the "a" governed by the letter "r.". If words or word parts are not spelled consistently between symbol and sound, they should be taught as basic sight words in science.

It is up to the teacher if he/she wishes to teach syllabication skills in reading science content. There are valuable syllabication skills to teach such as the prefix "un," which is used very commonly in reading science subject matter. The science teacher needs to determine how much time is available for teaching word recognition and comprehension skills.

Being able to identify words is important only if it helps pupils to read fluently and thereby comprehend what is printed. One kind of comprehension is to read for facts. These facts must be meaningful and are useful for higher levels of cognition. Facts should be useful in school and in society. Sometimes a pupil, on his/her own, desires to remember facts for the sake of doing so and this is commendable.

Second, reading to develop concepts is very valuable in terms of comprehension. A concept is a single word or phrase. Igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic, are concepts. Inside of any concept are valuable facts. For example pertaining to sedimentary rocks, pupils should learn how they are formed, what kind of materials make for this kind of rock, and how it is used.

Third, pupils need to learn to read to develop generalizations. A generalization relates concepts, such as "Rocks may be classified as being sedimentary, igneous, and metamorphic."