Science Scope Journal

Supporting Science Access For All Students

In the article, Science Scope Journal Supporting Science Access For All Students, it

discusses an approach for creating a connected set of supports to make science curricula more

accessible to students with learning disabilities, as well as other who struggle. I think teachers

should tend to the students needs and learning goals in their classroom. Based off of my

teaching inquiry my question is, how can teachers use differentiation in a science classroom to

meet the learning needs and goals of every student? In this article, I see a pattern with my own

way of teaching in the classroom and how I teach my science standards to my fourth-grade

science class. There are three key steps this article talks about that Science teachers might benefit

from by translating general learning strategies into science-specific content enhancements.

Content Enhancements are instructional strategies and materials that do not change but rather

enhance the curriculum, making the goals and processes of science activities more connected

and explicit. (Puttick & Mutch-Jones, 2015, p. 33)

Process for creating Content Enhancement three key steps:

1. Identify learning disability challenges preventing access to science content.

2. Identify big ideas that is, the essential science concepts represented in the

investigations of the unit, and documented the units narrative story line.

3. Create concept maps to identify the unit activities that built toward the big ideas.

(Puttick & Mutch-Jones, 2015, p. 33)

Using these three key steps of Content Enhancement teachers can use a Cloze Sheet to

connect reading and comprehension by asking students to fill in key information, using a
provided word bank. Students can also use a graphic organizer which can help students see the

relationship between the science content and the big ideas of the science unit. Content

Enhancement support students in improving reasoning skills, understanding the big ideas of the

unit, and working on investigations with greater confidence. Here are ways teachers can use

content enhancement in their science classroom:

1. STEP 1: Analyze your unit and take stock of the science challenges. Analyze the unit

you are going to teach. Example: What are the connections from lesson to lesson?
2. Step 2: Identify all the places where your students with LD will struggle. Think about

what is likely to be challenging. Example: Are there readings where students need to:

identify or summarize main points?

Help match the specific function with a type of Content Enhancement that supports the

function. (Puttick & Mutch-Jones, 2015, p. 34-35)

When I am creating my lesson plans for my Science class I look over the State Standard and

see if there is any way I can differentiate my lesson plan to help every individual student for that

science unit. I have a few students that are auditory learners and have a problem with putting

their thoughts on paper. When working in a small group this student will not complete his

assigned worksheet but will tell me the answers to each question with no problem before his

group every gets to those questions. For this specific student, I know I have to do a formative

assessment by interviewing him on our contents big ideas. In this article teachers noted that the

Content Enhancement supported students with and without learning disability. Teachers also

reported that the Content Enhancement was easy to incorporate, not overly time consuming, and

kept students engaged in activity and focused on the big ideas in both units. (Puttick & Mutch-

Jones, 2015, p. 36)

In this article, it discusses Carol Ann Tomlinson four ways of differentiating: content,

process, product, and environment. Content, or what is intended to be learned can be

differentiated by providing materials at varied ability or grade levels in one classroom. Process

differentiation (how the content is taught and hopefully learned) refers to use of diverse

activities that are varied to meet student interests or preferences for learning. Differentiating via

product means that students have some choice in how they will show the teacher, class, or other

audience what they have learned. Altering the methods of instruction or organization of the

classroom to facilitate learning are other common means of differentiating the environment to

help learners be successful. (Sondergeld & Schultz, 2008, p. 35)

The primary focus of this article is to tier a teachers lesson plan to meet

the needs of every student based on their knowledge level. Students are

grouped by ability and each group worked through their unit based on their

teams pace. Once one group is done with their tier they move to the next

tier. The students who understand the lesson and are in the highest tier

move more quickly and experience an in-depth exploration.

1. Tier 1 Knowledge level activity

2. Tier 2 Application level activity

3. Tier 3 Exploration and evaluation activity

Reading this article, I was able to better understand Tiers. In my internship elementary

school, they have RTIs which is Response to Intervention Tiers and at first I had no idea what

RTI was. They grouped students into three different tiers and after reading this article I can see
how grouping these students into different tiers for thirty minutes a day can benefit every student

in the subject material they need specific help on. Students are able to content Science and

literature through their readings and worksheets. They have to be able to find the main idea of

their text content and once they find their main idea and understand the knowledge they can

move onto the next tier.

Instruction, Teaching, and Learning an Attempt at Differentiation

In this article, the main question is Can teaching take place without learning? (Eisner,

1964, p. 115) Teaching and learning were to be considered reciprocal processes, something like

buying and selling. Surely one could not buy something unless somebody was willing and able to

sell- and one could not sell unless someone bought. (Eisner, 1964, p. 115) I like how this article

stated this concept because it takes two to create optimal learning experience. I can stand or walk

around a classroom and teach all day, if the students come to school and do not want to learn

how can knowledge be transferred? Every Thursday I attend my internship fourth-grade math

and science class and there is one specific student who comes to school and just does not want to

learn. I try to reach out to him with one on one, small group, whole group, and pairing work.

Nothing seems to work. My Collaborating Teacher has had several conferences with his parents

but this does not work either. In this article it states, learning is the desired response, teaching is

the act of systematically presenting stimuli, instruction is the tool stimulus setting within which

systematic stimuli and desired responses occur. (Eisner, 1964, p. 118) This statement answers

my teaching wondering on how to get this specific student to learn, he has to have the desire to

learn. How do I reach this student and give him desire to learn? In this article teaching,

instruction, and learning go hand in hand with one another. One cannot learn if teaching does not
occur and teaching cannot occur if there is no instruction. Teaching activities are the portion of

instructional activities which is effective in moving pupils toward the attainment of educational

objectives and which therefore, results in learning. Teaching is what occurs when teachers by

virtue of their instructional activities succeed wholly or in part in enabling pupils to learn.

(Eisner,1964, p. 119)

Connection

Throughout these three articles I have noticed that a lot of the work is on the teacher and how

they can instruct their lesson to reach every student. How can teachers use differentiation in a

science classroom to meet the learning needs and goals of every student? In these articles

teachers have to redirect their lesson plans to make sure they are reaching every student. This

includes content enhancement from Science Scope Journal Supporting Science Access For All

Student, using tier grouping from Science, Standards, and Differentiation: It Really Can be Fun,

and connecting instruction, teaching, and learning into a classroom from Instruction, Teaching,

and Learning An Attempt at Differentiation. It is the job of the teacher to make learning fun and

to try to engage every student into their lesson. When I teach, I like to use different techniques

which include auditory, visual, and tactile teaching. I teach to these learning strategies so I can

make sure that every student is obtaining the content I am trying to teach. I believe every student

learns in a different way and it is my job as a teacher to find what clicks for every individual

student. They are puzzle pieces and it is my job to put the pieces together.

References:
1. Eisner, E. W. (1964). Instruction, Teaching, and Learning An Attempt At Differentiation.

The Elementary School Journal, 65, no. 3, 115-119. Retrieved February 25, 2017, from

http://www.jstor.org.ezproxy.lib.usf.edu/stable/pdf/999353.pdf

2. Puttick, G., & Mutch-Jones, K. (2015). Supporting Science Access for All Students:

Using Content Enhancements to Create Pathways to the Big Ideas. Science Scope,

038(9), 32-37. doi:10.2505/4/ss15_038_09_31 http://ezproxy.lib.usf.edu/login?

url=http://search.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.lib.usf.edu/login.aspx?

direct=true&db=edsgao&AN=edsgcl.420325140&site=eds-live

3. Sondergeld, T. A., & Schultz, R. A. (2008). Science, Standards, and Differentiation: It

Really Can Be Fun! Science, Standards, and Differentiation: It Really Can Be Fun!,

31(Winter 2008), 1st ser., 35-40. Retrieved February 25, 2017, from

http://eds.a.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.lib.usf.edu/eds/detail/detail?vid=1&sid=763f519b-

964d-4868-888f-00c7dfe5e1ec

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