Exploring Science thru Newsboard

Last Wednesday Anne Barker Project Leader (Primary Science Education) Te Toi Tupu came into Whetu and modeled a Newsboard rich in literacy and science. The article she shared was Mystery Lake in Tunisian Desert Causes Both Joy and Concern from the Dogo News Site. The Achievement Aim she drew from was Understanding about Science and the purpose of the session was exploring the process of science and science capabilities. 

My AHA moment was the realisation that there is observing and inferring and the use of questions to clarify thinking. By teasing out observation and inference the learners thinking was challenged and they became more aware of what they were thinking. I had never put much thought into observing and inferring being different but also part of one another and then wondered how often I have used both to explain when I really should have been focusing on one.

I began to think more about

• the way in which I question...why? what if?  How do you know that? What makes you think so? How could you check that?
• the language I use...expressive, topic specific or scientific 
• how I can use questioning to challenge thinking What is your evidence?
• using graphic organisers more effectively through learner purpose and choice.Learners choose the best graphic organiser suited the purpose, evaluating whether worked and why.

As a team we valued the way Anne challenged our learners thinking in a supported environment and was a great model of doing this in a way that was not threatening but encouraging.