MAKING SENSE OF MATERIAL ACTIVITY (I.E. SENSE-MAKING)

(instructional activity)

Science Pedagogy

UNDERSTANDING SENSE-MAKING OPPORTUNITIES

�  Vocabulary: �  Sense-making vs. wrap-up

�  This is largely absent from most classrooms. �  Talk is central to the meaning making process. �  These activities are not spontaneous; they must be purposefully planned

for. �  If you are not clear on what the big ideas are and how what you did

relates, they will not be either. �  This shifts the work of making sense of the material to the students (in

an environment structured by the teacher). �  These activities take time. (but they save time later in re-teaching!)

GOALS

�  To ensure students understand why the activity makes sense to do at this point in the unit (answers students’ questions “Why are we doing this? What gaps does this help me fill?)

�  To help students bridge the activity with a larger scientific idea (answers the question “What in the natural world does this activity help me understand, and how?). Students should be able to explain this activity in terms of some scientific idea.

�  To support the development of students’ academic language, using the activity as a context. One aspect of academic language support is helping students understand the conventions or symbolism used to represent the phenomena (typically in written of drawn form), as well as vocabulary and science-specific rhetoric.

WHEN TO INCLUDE SENSE-MAKING ACTIVITIES

�  When you are engaging students in a meaningful activity in order to build content knowledge and understand a phenomenon.

�  Not designed to “puzzle” students.

�  By activity, I mean…

IMPORTANT VOCABULARY

�  Purposeful activity (aim for this!) �  Supports the development of the big ideas.

�  Inquiry

�  Verification lab

�  Discovery lab

�  Lab

�  Material work

�  Intellectual work

�  Ratio of intellectual work to material work.

Material work

Intellectual work

BEFORE AND AFTER THE ACTIVITY

�  Building background knowledge (readings, media, lectures, demos).

�  Activity and sense-making conversation

�  Building upon students’ partial understandings by now having them do a key reading or activity that targets a gap in their explanations.

CONVERSATIONS WITHIN THE LARGER DISCOURSE

Orien&ng  students  to  the  concepts

Back-­‐pocket  ques&ons:  observa&ons  and  pa9erns

Back-­‐pocket  ques&ons:  connec&ng  ac&vity  to  the  big  idea

Whole  class:  coordinate  student’s  ideas  &  their  ques&ons

Analyze  student  responses  to  inform  further  instruc&on.  

BETH’S CHEMISTRY CLASS

�  11th grade Chemistry

�  2nd year teacher

�  Topic: Gas laws

�  Days 3, 4, 5 – Explaining pop can crushing

�  Previous day – phenomenon of imploding oil tanker

�  Goals. Students will understand:

�  Rapid Survey of Student Thinking tool (RSST)

WHICH DID YOU SEE?

Orien&ng  students  to  the  concepts

Back-­‐pocket  ques&ons:  observa&ons  and  pa9erns

Back-­‐pocket  ques&ons:  connec&ng  ac&vity  to  the  big  idea

Whole  class:  coordinate  student’s  ideas  &  their  ques&ons

Analyze  student  responses  to  inform  further  instruc&on.  

JANET – DAYS 4, 5, & 6

�  2nd year teacher �  7th grade Life Science �  Topic: Metabolic processes in fungi

�  Big idea: interrelationships of four fungi life processes (decomposition, reproduction, digestion, cellular respiration)

�  Phenomena of interest: decomposing strawberries �  Lesson: Making sense of yeast activity & building initial model of

digestion and respiration �  To watch today:

�  Interactions with student groups

�  Whole class discussion (23:56)

JANET’S LESSON – YEAST EXPERIMENT

�  Yeast experiment round one. Students investigate a model organism to apply ideas about extracellular digestion and to speculate about what happens after extracellular digestion? How do fungi use sugars? Janet begins by asking what yeast need to live. Then moves to demonstrating how to set up a yeast investigation with yeast, starch and warm water in a flask with a balloon on top of the flask to capture the gas produced. Students are asked to repeat the set-up and make a list of observations and inferences. Janet facilitates a short discussion on the difference between the two. As students are examining their yeast experiments Janet asks the following questions: �  When they say yeast rises, what is that referring to? When bread is made, it double in

size...why? �  If we could magnify what was happening inside the flask, what could we see happening? �  What's happening to the balloon? How is this different from 10 minutes ago...why? What

might happen if you observed this balloon over an hour? �  What is the "stuff" you see all over the inside the flask and bubbling up on top of your

yeast plus starch solution? �  Where is the gas coming from? �  What is that energy used for?

JANET’S LESSON – WHOLE GROUP

�  Warm-up. On day 5 students discuss the question: How is the yeast experiment we did yesterday different from doing one with baking soda and vinegar? This is in response to some students skipping the step of describing gas production as a metabolic bio-chemical reaction.

�  Adding inferences. Students observe the balloon and flask the following day and add to their lists of observations and inferences. Janet asks all students to consider the following questions as they add to their lists: �  What are the things you started off with? Think about things you can’t see. �  Why didn’t the balloon get bigger? �  Why is the balloon inflated?

�  Whole class conversation of inferences and building an initial model of digestion & respiration. Janet reviews observations and inferences and directs students to attend to gases not to features of the balloon and challenges students to reconsider ideas about heat rising as an explanation for the balloon filling with gas. Has students compare yeast to peppers and strawberries that also produced a gas and inflated a Ziploc bag: What else do fungi do besides extracellular digestion? Janet uses this conversation to launch a conversation about an initial model.

YOUR ACTIVITIES

� Challenges or comments on… �  Choosing purposeful activity

�  Using discourse tool

�  Crafting questions

�  Etc.

� Peer-review tool & questions

YOUR TASK

�  Choose an appropriate purposeful task: �  Doable in class in a shortened form (~10 minutes?)

�  Is not a verification activity but allows students to gather and/or analyze data that leads to understanding of the concept. Has a high ratio of intellectual work to material work.

�  Prepare a 30-minute maximum peer rehearsal

�  You will be coached/evaluated on: �  Discourse moves

�  Questioning

�  Enactment of 4 stages in discourse tool

THINKING THROUGH THE TASK �  1 – Orienting students to the concepts

�  Addresses anticipated challenges in doing the activity. �  Focuses students on important observations and inferences. �  Focuses students on “unobservables” without telling them the answer. �  What other aspects of an introduction to an activity need to be present?

�  II – Observations and patterns �  Question students to recognize important observations and patterns. �  Help students utilize academic language.

�  III – Connection to the big idea �  Question students to recognize connection of observations and patterns to big idea. �  Help students utilize academic language.

�  IV – Whole class coordination of student’s ideas & their questions �  Question students to bring together observations and patterns. �  Question students to connect

�  Conduct sensemaking discussion that does not stop at the correct answer.

LAST THING

�  Begin preparing a second lesson plan to turn in next Wednesday.

�  Create lesson plan around the same purposeful activity.

�  If it stretches over multiple days, turn in multiple lesson plans.

�  How should this IA translate to a lesson plan?

�  Who will rehearse when? �  Monday –

�  Wednesday -