Sense-Making In Science Classrooms
Junior high teacher Nikki Luckin joins Jennifer Weibert to discuss how sense-making happens in a classroom using Weibert Science Strategies.
Topics Discussed In This Feature About Sense-Making:
How templates help to scaffold assignments thus creating better student ownership of content
Using large whiteboards to engage students and allow for academic discourse
How group work done on whiteboards successfully gets into individual student notebooks
Sense-making in a science classroom is an important skill for students to learn. Templates paired with large whiteboards is one of the best strategies to get students accessing content in order to sense-make.
Using templates to scaffold student work in a science classroom is a great way to provide structure and guidance to students during their assignments. They can be as simple as lines and boxes to show how to use the space on a whiteboard or paper. By providing students with a template, they can focus on the content of their work and not be overwhelmed by the structure. It also helps to keep students on task, as they can refer back to the template as needed.
Large whiteboards-the 2x3 foot ones- are the tool most recommended for getting your students thinking made public. They are safe to erase and easy to change thoughts before going final on paper. Large whiteboards will forever change your science teaching! Giving students a template to use for getting their thoughts organized on a large whiteboard guarantees success.
Once sense-making has played out in groups on large whiteboards using a template, it is time for students to work independently in their own notebooks. Science notebooks are great for fostering a sense of ownership over the work. They provide a way for students to document their process and show their progress, which encourages engagement and encourages creativity.
Want to go deeper in your learning on templates, whiteboards and notebooks? Check out the resources below and get trained on new strategies to increase student engagement!
Resources Mentioned:
Large Whiteboards-Get students processing in groups.
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