Strategies
I am designing this unit to supplement my regular 8 th grade science units on physical chemistry, concentration and toxicity. My intention is to reinforce the concept that chemicals are the source and reason for all cellular and functions of organisms. I want them to understand this is also true of the human organism. As additional preparation for this unit, I will support a framework for non-fiction reading with anchor charts and lessons on how to read non-fiction material. Additionally our school is focusing on collaboration in the classroom. Too often we ask our students to work in groups, but we do not give them the training and expectations of their behavior in those groups. Our school is focusing attention through teacher lead study groups, classroom lessons, and collaboration practice and activities as part of our regular activities.
The beginning of the unit will reinforce basic cellular concepts, while focusing on how chemical reactions provide functions in human biology. I will do this with a series of individual units on the major topics listed in the background information. I envision the individual units to begin with a short explanation of the topics followed by activities, which support those units. There will be assessments after several units and some of the activities will also act as assessments. Special care will be given to building vocabulary and understanding of the concepts taught. Among the activities there will be included reading source documents on daily lessons and preparing sharing activities from the readings (Think-pair-share). The goal will be to build a better understanding of the taught concepts, but also how to read non-fiction and gather, share and retain information from the readings. To facilitate understanding at this level our class will include KWL charts (Know-Want to know-Learn), Guided Reciprocal Peer Questioning and Structured Learning Group team Roles. 39
Important parts of the unit include source reading of the content area. I will include articles on the background units from periodicals and the internet. Our school has made a commitment to non-fiction content area reading. Our middle school teachers participated in a study group looking at the book "Subjects Matter - Every Teacher's Guide to Content-Area Reading" by Harvey Daniels and Stephanie Harvey. We have looked at strategies for our students to help them read non-fiction books such as pre-reading headings, examining captions, pictures and graphs, and asking questions as you read. We additionally support our students with anchor charts, mini-lessons and inquiry circles that reinforce good practices in reading non-fiction. This year we will be focusing on collaboration in the classroom, also with anchor charts and mini-lessons, so the group work is important in supporting the inquiry circles. Items included here will include group roles, responsibilities, and practice of opening lines to facilitate communication.
One of the reasons for group projects in the unit is to use students with multiple learning styles to be able to show an understanding of the concepts using learning styles where they are more comfortable. Students that are artistic, vocal, or possess other ways of communication can demonstrate mastery of the material. The groups will need to focus on all the students in the group and collaborate, because seldom do students possess all the talents needed for both presentations. The students should be exposed to cognitive, psychomotor, and affective learning. Remembering and understanding are supported by increased vocabulary and functional understanding of cell structure and function. They will be analyzing and applying information from cell function to larger issues of addiction and toxicity. Finally students will need to be creative in preparing non-standard presentations and demonstrations. My intention is to provide the rigor from using the higher order thinking skills, and allow students to demonstrate it in their most appropriate learning style, while they collaborate and work together.
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