How Do I Use a Textbook?
While reading the chapter, I couldn’t help but to think back to an activity we have recently been discussing in our science methods class. The activity from the science class involves the process of deciding what vocabulary words, in the same way the book was saying what topics and ideas, are most important to teach and which ones might not be as important. I found a connection between what the book was saying and what the science activity was teaching because deciding which vocabulary words to teach will play a large role in deciding which topics and ideas will be taught. Front-loading activities could be an effective way to “Help kids get started.” By using front-loading activities, like vocabulary word sorts and other pre-reading activities, they make it a possibility for educators to spend less time on the major, important concepts and ideas. This would allow more time during the school year to dive deeper into topics that may need more time spent, or ones that would be skipped if time was still a factor. This gives students a better and fuller understanding of whatever content is being taught and can actually prepare them for future classes where they have already interacted with some of the material. Something I really want to try in my classroom one day is the guide-o-rama. I think this strategy is great for not only science textbooks, but a lot of other science materials.
239
239
What a great way to tie the reading with what we are covering in science methods! I think in science it is especially important to filter which topics to go more in depth with and which ones to briefly cover especially since science has a lot of different concepts. In my experience a lot of science teachers unfortunately solely rely on the book and fail to focus on the topics that are most important. Word count: 74
ReplyDeleteSam, thanks for a thoughtful response. I had also just done the curriculum assignment for science so when I started reading Subjects Matter, I was drawn to the vocabulary section as well. I focused on which vocabulary to keep and why. I love that you brought up “front-loading,” this could be really helpful when discussing vocabulary that is applicable in multiple different content areas. Students may be thinking of a work in a different context than what you are going to teach so an activity on the front-end to reorient their mind may be very helpful.
ReplyDelete96
I really agree with your post! Vocabulary is such an important part of any reading and the way we present terms in our classroom can make such a difference. I think it is such a good idea to allow students to work together to discover meanings of terms and the use of front loading would be such a good way to refresh students' minds and motivate them to want to do the reading.
ReplyDelete73