Tuesday, December 15, 2009

Integrating Language Arts and Science by Ellen Lawrence Pesko, Teaching Assistant, University of Michigan

The language experience approach has always involved engaging students in brainstorming and dialogue, in having students collaborate and interact on using their ideas and information they gather and on a question/problem solving approach to communication of ideas. To use this with science content means adding the role of scientist, that is, observer, former of hypotheses, information organizer, evaluator and conclusion maker.
When students study content areas such as Science, it is critical that they organize and connect what they have experienced and already know with new information (Santa, Havens & Harrison, 1996).
Specifically nutrition-related topics, like sampling food, changes the classroom atmosphere because it invites social interactions such as sharing of common experiences, and it sets the stage for learning activities built on conversation and discussion of a shared experience.The topic of food and nutrition encompasses a wide range of science explorations and activities that may be integrated with other topics, such as food preservation, analysis and testing, product development, marketing and advertising, additives, weighing and measuring, ecology, geography, and natural resources.


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