This volume is of interest to science educators, graduate students, and classroom teachers. The book will also be an important addition to any scholarly library focusing on science education, science literacy, and writing. This book is unique in that it synthesizes the research of the three leading researchers in the field of writing to learn science: Carolyn S. Wallace, Brian Hand, and Vaughan Prain. It includes a comprehensive review of salient literature in the field, detailed reports of the authors' own research studies, and current and future issues on writing in science. The book is the first to definitely answer the question, "Does writing improve science learning?". Further, it provides evidence for some of the mechanisms through which learning occurs. It combines both theory and practice in a unique way. Although primarily a tool for research, classroom teachers will also find many practical suggestions for using writing in the science classroom.

Offering expertise in the teaching of writing (Kim Jaxon) and the teaching of science (Leslie Atkins Elliott and Irene Salter), this book will help instructors create classrooms in which students use writing to learn and think scientifically. The authors provide concrete approaches for engaging students in practices that mirror the work that writing plays in the development and dissemination of scientific ideas, as opposed to replicating the polished academic writing of research scientists. Addressing a range of genres that can help students deepen their scientific reasoning and inquiry, this text includes activities, guidelines, resources, and assessment suggestions. Composing Science is a valuable resource for university-level science faculty, science methods course instructors in teacher preparation programs, and secondary science teachers who have been asked to address the Common Core ELA Standards. Book Features: Provides models for integrating writing into science courses and lesson plans. Focuses on the work that science writing does, both in the development and dissemination of ideas. Addresses the Next Generation Science Standards and the Common Core ELA Standards. Includes samples of student work, classroom transcripts, and photographs that capture the visual elements of science writing. “The pedagogy described in Composing Science doesn’t only recapture the sense of the uncertainty of discovery, it also articulates and examines the social and collaborative writing practices that science uses to produce knowledge and reduce uncertainty. Without question, teachers of science will find this book inspirational and useful, college teachers for sure, but also teachers up and down the curriculum.” —Tom Fox, director, Site Development, National Writing Project “This book will be invaluable, not only for the genuinely new and wonderful ideas for teaching, but also and maybe more for the rich examples from the authors’ classes. Through the lens of writing we see students doing science—and it is truly science—in surprising and delightful ways.” —David Hammer, professor, Tufts University

In the best science classrooms, teachers see learning through the eyes of their students, and students view themselves as explorers. But with so many instructional approaches to choose from—inquiry, laboratory, project-based learning, discovery learning—which is most effective for student success? In Visible Learning for Science, the authors reveal that it’s not which strategy, but when, and plot a vital K-12 framework for choosing the right approach at the right time, depending on where students are within the three phases of learning: surface, deep, and transfer. Synthesizing state-of-the-art science instruction and assessment with over fifteen years of John Hattie’s cornerstone educational research, this framework for maximum learning spans the range of topics in the life and physical sciences. Employing classroom examples from all grade levels, the authors empower teachers to plan, develop, and implement high-impact instruction for each phase of the learning cycle: Surface learning: when, through precise approaches, students explore science concepts and skills that give way to a deeper exploration of scientific inquiry. Deep learning: when students engage with data and evidence to uncover relationships between concepts—students think metacognitively, and use knowledge to plan, investigate, and articulate generalizations about scientific connections. Transfer learning: when students apply knowledge of scientific principles, processes, and relationships to novel contexts, and are able to discern and innovate to solve complex problems. Visible Learning for Science opens the door to maximum-impact science teaching, so that students demonstrate more than a year’s worth of learning for a year spent in school.

"Kids love hands-on science. Yet too few grow up to be scientists. Kids need to be reading, writing and thinking about science as well as doing it. Writing in Science in Action propels us full throttle into both hands-on and "minds on" science. Rupp Fulwiler show us how to help kids wrap their minds around science, do science and have a blast in the process. If we really want to prepare kids for an increasingly unpredictable future, we need teachers to read this book and share the practices with the budding young scientists in their rooms." -Stephanie Harvey, author of The Comprehension Toolkit Writing in Science in Action, the highly anticipated follow-up resource to Betsy Rupp Fulwiler's landmark book Writing in Science (Heinemann 2007), offers all new field-tested materials, including 10 video episodes that show teachers as they implement her approach in real classrooms with real children. The Writing in Science in Action online resources brings the content to life by providing clear and explicit models of students talking and writing, and teachers providing the scaffolding, modeling, and conferring needed to support those students.You'll see teachers working in diverse settings with a range of learners, including ELLs, students with special needs, and reluctant writers. You'll also see groups of teachers assessing student notebooks and planning instruction based on their assessments. Focusing on science topics that are accessible and familiar, Fulwiler uses carefully interconnected video episodes, student work, and detailed classroom vignettes to take the reader into the complexity of individual classrooms and the practices of skilled teachers. Seeing her approach in action is a powerful teaching tool, and the online resources, used in combination with the practical text, takes Writing in Science to a whole new level. Seeing really is believing. Writing in Science in Action provides clear guidance and structures for classroom practice, with: * specific strategies that can be immediately used in any classroom * step by step instruction on how to use each strategy * ideas for planning, modeling, scaffolding, and assessment * samples of over 100 student notebook entries with commentaries * techniques for working with ELLs, emergent writers, and struggling students.

Engage your students in scientific thinking across disciplines! Did you know that scientists spend more than half of their time reading and writing? Students who are science literate can analyze, present, and defend data – both orally and in writing. The updated edition of this bestseller offers strategies to link the new science standards with literacy expectations, and specific ideas you can put to work right away. Features include: A discussion of how to use science to develop essential 21st century skills Instructional routines that help students become better writers Useful strategies for using complex scientific texts in the classroom Tools to monitor student progress through formative assessment Tips for high-stakes test preparation

Schools for Thought provides a straightforward, general introduction to cognitive research and illustrates its importance for educational change. If we want to improve educational opportunities and outcomes for all children, we must start applying what we know about mental functioning--how children think, learn, and remember in our schools. We must apply cognitive science in the classroom. Schools for Thought provides a straightforward, general introduction to cognitive research and illustrates its importance for educational change. Using classroom examples, Bruer shows how applying cognitive research can dramatically improve students' transitions from lower-level rote skills to advanced proficiency in reading, writing, mathematics, and science. Cognitive research, he points out, is also beginning to suggest how we might better motivate students, design more effective tools for assessing them, and improve the training of teachers. He concludes with a chapter on how effective school reform demands that we expand our understanding of teaching and learning and that we think about education in new ways. Debates and discussions about the reform of American education suffer from a lack of appreciation of the complexity of learning and from a lack of understanding about the knowledge base that is available for the improvement of educational practice. Politicians, business leaders, and even many school superintendents, principals, and teachers think that educational problems can be solved by changing school management structures or by creating a market in educational services. Bruer argues that improvement depends instead on changing student-teacher interactions. It is these changes, guided by cognitive research, that will create more effective classroom environments. A Bradford Book

"In the science classroom writing is much more than an exercise for students to document their steps during an investigation. It's an important vehicle for describing their thought processes and the evidence that supports their reasoning. Writing in Science shows you how to encourage students to grow as scientists and writers by moving beyond recounting how they completed their work and toward explaining what they learned. Writing in Science shares proven methods for supporting improvement in how students write and think about science. It provides practical guidelines for using science notebooks in grades K-5 to teach and assess science writing in a way that develops students' conceptual knowledge and expository writing abilities as well as their thinking and scientific skills. Betsy Rupp Fulwiler shares strategies for scaffolding and modeling higher-level forms of scientific writing such as: observations, cause and effect, comparisons, data analysis, and conclusions." --