Amplify Science

A disciplinary literacy approach to learning science

Literacy is an integral part of science. Scientists read, write, listen, and speak in order to obtain, evaluate, and communicate information about the natural world. They explain their findings, conduct research, connect to the work of other scientists, and communicate ideas to a variety of audiences. In the Amplify Science program, students learn to read, write, and speak as scientists do as they acquire facility with the academic language and vocabulary of science. Through the seamless integration of science and literacy instruction, students also learn that reading, writing, and talking are essential practices of science, and that all scientists use these practices to gather information, communicate claims, leverage evidence, draw conclusions from data, and share their ideas through oral and written explanations and arguments.

Situating literacy instruction in a content area like science has several benefits. First, it helps students develop ways of thinking that are characteristic to the discipline. Second, building background knowledge in a discipline also helps students access complex content in texts that can be difficult to grasp. Finally, situating literacy in a content area like science provides an authentic reason for reading, writing, and talking — to better understand the science ideas under study. Reading, like science, can be an act of inquiry when there are genuine questions to be investigated.

The following are the guiding principles for disciplinary literacy in the Amplify Science program:

• Students can acquire literacy expertise through the pursuit of science knowledge and by engaging in scientific and engineering practices.
• Attention to disciplinary literacy instruction should begin as soon as students enter school and should continue throughout the grades.
• Participation in a community is key to acquiring disciplinary expertise and literacy.
• Argumentation and explanation are the central enterprises of science and, thus, these practices are the focus of reading, writing, and speaking in science.

Reading in Amplify Science

Amplify Science provides students with well-written, grade-level appropriate informational texts alongside explicit, embedded instruction on reading in science. Throughout the program, students are apprenticed into reading like scientists – that is, reading actively, curiously, and critically, with a focus on making meaning and using the text as a source of evidence. As students read science texts in conjunction with other multimodal experiences around a topic (doing, talking, visualizing, writing), they increase their skill in accessing these complex texts, as well as their understanding of the importance of text for finding information. Reading informational text is inexorably linked to students’ investigations in each unit. Firsthand investigations provide background knowledge and context for students’ reading, and, in turn, the text provides information, evidence, and support for investigations in progress. In addition, the program includes many books and articles that introduce diverse scientists currently working in the field to highlight science and engineering as a vibrant and viable career choice for students.

Reading in Amplify Science is approached from an inquiry stance – students ask questions, make connections, evaluate information, search for evidence, and clarify difficult concepts as they read. This approach focuses on the practices and processes by which experts in a field obtain, evaluate, and communicate information, including arguments, explanations, data, and visual representations used to explain scientific concepts. Across the program, the teacher models, and students practice, reading like scientists while using reading strategies and approaches that are appropriate to the task, purpose, and grade level. Along with explicit instruction, teachers model strategic reading by thinking aloud as they read, asking questions, and linking the information in the text to their class’s investigations. Students are then provided with multiple opportunities to read and discuss ideas with peers, using the text as a resource for information and evidence. Reading and discussing texts in these ways builds students’ capacity to read strategically while simultaneously building their understanding of science content. The scaffolded reading experiences at each grade level help students learn to approach complex texts in systematic ways and will aid them as they read other science texts throughout their school careers.

TEXT DESIGN AND ACCESSIBILITY Each Amplify Science unit includes custom-written informational texts. In K–5, there are five student books (four informational books and one reference book) per unit; in grades 6–8, there are multiple student articles per unit. These informational texts are designed to support students’ understanding of science ideas, practices, and crosscutting concepts, as well as to showcase the work of diverse scientists. An important goal of the Amplify Science program is to provide appropriately complex science texts for students that support, link to, and expand their firsthand science learning. To accomplish this goal, it is critical that the texts are accessible to as many students as possible. All Student Books, articles, and other student materials are reviewed for accessibility and readability using the three-dimensional model of text complexity (qualitative, quantitative, and reader-and-task considerations) set out by the Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts (CCSS-ELA).

The qualitative dimension of text complexity focuses on the purpose, structure, language conventions, and knowledge demands of a text. Books and articles were written, reviewed, and edited by members of the Lawrence Hall of Science team of professional educators and science writers during the development of each unit. They are tailored to address concepts students are learning in the unit, and use the same language and vocabulary throughout so students encounter consistent terminology across modalities of learning (reading, writing, doing investigations, discussing).

The texts also include carefully created or selected visual representations such as diagrams, photographs, and illustrations that support and/or provide additional information. The placement of each book or article within the instructional sequence is carefully designed and classroom-tested so that the text is supportive of student content learning in a variety of ways, and provides just-in-time information, reinforcing key ideas or introducing new ones within the unit.

On the quantitative dimension, each book and article was designed and reviewed using internally developed criteria for each grade. Each book or article was analyzed against a list of commonly used words, as well as criteria for calculating the difficulty of decodable words. The number of unique hard words in each text was controlled, with the percentage of hard words varying based on the grade level. At the same time, a small set of core science vocabulary words related to the science ideas students are learning was repeatedly used across a set of books or articles because repeated encounters with words in context is one way that students learn and internalize them. In addition to our internal approach to readability, each book or article in grades 1–8 was analyzed by MetaMetrics and assigned a Lexile Measure. This allowed us to ensure that books and articles fall within recommended Lexile Measures found in the updated Text Complexity Band in Supplemental Information for Appendix A of the Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts and Literacy: New Research on Text Complexity.

Reader and task considerations are related to whether a particular text is appropriate for particular students and particular tasks. The placement of books within the Amplify Science program of instruction was carefully considered as part of unit design. Books were strategically placed within the sequence of instruction to ensure they are appropriately tied to what students are learning and that students are adequately prepared to read them with appropriate support. Sometimes this means that students read a text before conducting a firsthand investigation because it serves the purpose of activating and enhancing students’ background knowledge about a topic and sparking an interest in a scientific idea. At other times, students read a book after they have had a chance to investigate and develop ideas about the phenomenon firsthand because reading will help them generate more evidence to support claims. We cannot know all the individual learning needs of every reader the program reaches; however, the design and placement of the books was also informed by survey data from field trial teachers. These teachers were asked to evaluate field trial versions of the books and accompanying lessons based on several criteria, and to comment on how well the instruction and respective text worked for different readers.

More information on reading in Amplify Science available through in-person professional learning and within the Program Guide included with purchase.