The Lawrence Hall of Science

The public science center of the University of California, Berkeley.

Literacy

Sunstones at The Lawrence

Articulating a Transformative Approach for Designing Tasks that Measure Young Learners’ Developing Proficiencies in Integrated Science and Literacy

As early elementary classrooms shift to implementing Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) instruction, high-quality assessments are essential for providing teachers with information about where students are in the process of developing proficiency in science. In this paper, we introduce an approach […]

Children playing on the DNA sculpture at the Lawrence

Assessment at the intersection of science and literacy

The authors of this article, all of whom have been a part of this effort to assess argumentation in literacy-rich science curriculum, have struggled with our attempts to build 3 argument-related assessments—understanding, critiquing, and constructing arguments about scientific phenomena in both oral and written modes.

Two children and a staff member are working together during a science activity.

The Effect of the Seeds of Science/Roots of Reading Curriculum (Planets and Moons Unit) for Developing Literacy through Science in Fifth Grade

This is an evaluation which examined the Planets and Moons unit of the Seeds of Science/Roots of Reading® curriculum to determine the efficacy of the curriculum on general education students and ELL students.

The Lawrence Hall of Science

Evaluation of Seeds of Science/Roots of Reading: Effective Tools for Developing Literacy through Science in the Early Grades. The National Center for Research on Evaluation, Standards, and Student Testing (CRESST) at UCLA

The National Center for Research on Evaluation, Standards, and Student Testing (CRESST) at the University of California, Los Angeles conducted a study on the grades 3–4 unit Light Energy. The study compared student learning from the Light Energy unit with that of students who experienced the usual science curriculum for the same topics.

Children playing on Pheena the Whale

Exploring the Influence of Science Writing Instruction on Fourth Graders’ Writing
Development

This paper, presented at the National Reading Conference in December 2009, examines the affordances of an integrated science-literacy curriculum on students’ writing development. As part of the efficacy study on the Seeds of Science/Roots of Reading® unit Light Energy, students were given a writing prompt that was scored on several dimensions, including science content, vocabulary, and clarity. Students in Seeds of Science/Roots of Reading classrooms outperformed students in control classrooms on all but two dimensions of science writing.

Students in front of The Lawrence

Integrating Literacy and Science: The Research We Have, the Research We Need

In this chapter, the authors review the research base that informs the Seeds of Science/Roots of Reading® curriculum, and trace the development of the Seeds of Science/Roots of Reading® model. Each guiding principle of the curriculum is discussed, along with preliminary assessment results that point to the advantage of integrating science and literacy. The chapter closes with questions around the science-literacy interface that merit further research.

A young person looks through a telescope of the view at The Lawrence.

Reading and Writing in the Service of Inquiry-Based Science

This paper presents a working model of the science-literacy interface. The authors include insights gained from developing theSeeds of Seeds of Science/Roots of Reading® program, and guidance for educators in shaping an appropriate and supportive role for text and for literacy practices in inquiry-based science.