A current trend observed by our team and others in the field of elementary education involves an increased focus on knowledge building as an important part of literacy instruction. There is strong evidence to suggest that knowledge of the natural and social world positively influences students' reading comprehension beyond what listening comprehension, decoding, and vocabulary can explain. A focus on knowledge building in schools has great potential to support students' literacy development and overall learning.
Many districts and publishers have attempted to address the role of knowledge building by integrating science topics into reading instruction. For example, ELA units might focus on reading about animal life cycles or learning about what plants need to thrive. If we think of content integration as a dance, this approach positions ELA goals such as increased genre knowledge, vocabulary, or sentence analysis as the lead with science serving in a background role.
Reading about science topics during ELA instruction can be useful, but it is insufficient if our ultimate goal is to help students build a rich scientific knowledge base. This is because an ELA-centered approach to integration usually explores science content topically rather than systematically. A topical approach can result in core ideas in the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) being overlooked, especially if districts eliminate instructional time for science inquiry under the assumption that science is already addressed in the ELA curriculum.
Even if all the core ideas recommended by NGSS were explored in ELA, a topical approach ignores larger concepts that cut across the science disciplines, such as energy being transferred, transformed, and conserved within systems. These cross-cutting concepts help students deepen their understanding of core science ideas to construct a coherent scientific knowledge base of the world from which they can utilize and continue to build upon in various literacy experiences.
In addition, an ELA-centered approach can mean students miss out on opportunities to build scientific knowledge through the use of science practices, such as designing and carrying out investigations and constructing explanations and arguments from evidence they collect and analyze.
The benefits of leading with science
What if teachers were given permission to flip their integration approach and lead with science? What if the core ideas, practices, and concepts of science within puzzling or interesting phenomena served as the central focus of knowledge building? Leading with science helps teachers move students beyond surface-level knowledge to engage in 3D science.
In 3D science, students build deep conceptual understanding of core ideas and cross-cutting concepts over time by engaging in science practices. It is only by engaging in these practices and discourses that students develop and clarify their understanding of scientific and engineering ideas.
Reading, writing, and discussion are a core part of these practices. Numerous literacy goals—such as constructing explanations or engaging in argument from evidence—can be richly contextualized for students during authentic scientific inquiry. In addition, a variety of different text types can be utilized as children explore scientific phenomena:
- Informational texts
- Lab notebooks
- Narratives connecting science ideas with cultural traditions
Furthermore, when science goals drive the focus of instruction, students' reading and writing capture forms authentic to science. For example, students might formulate specific questions prior to reading or learn to recognize and use the language of procedural text. They might also learn to recognize evidence-claim relationships or construct their own. Thus, opportunities for disciplinary literacy can be developed.
Finally, leading with science inquiry offers a motivational aspect of integration that would be hard to mimic in an ELA unit. It allows space for children to ask questions about the world around them; read to figure out what others have already learned; document their data collection; explain their findings; and even write persuasive proposals to support policy changes. This kind of reading, discussion, and writing is motivational.
If content integration can be viewed as a dance, we argue there is greatest potential for rich knowledge building if we allow science to serve as the lead.
Foundational principles to knowledge building through science
To shift to a more science-centered approach to knowledge building, consider these four basic yet foundational principles:
- Start with science standards, grounding the unit in science and engineering practices. Beginning with a puzzling phenomenon or problem drives the learning and gives literacy learning purpose.
- Use a variety of written and digital sources to support students' inquiry and problem-solving. Using texts authentic to science provides opportunities to practice a wide range of literacy skills.
- Encourage communication of ideas, explanations, and conclusions for authentic purposes. Science-based purposes and audiences expand literacy learning.
- Support students in building disciplinary language as they actively work to make sense of and communicate their science learning. All students benefit from the chance to use and apply academic discourse in the context of meaningful use.
When science leads, students build rich knowledge that supports contextualized literacy learning and richer, deeper, and more coherent scientific understanding.
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