Science Vocabulary Content

 Science Vocabulary Content

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I have seen a variety of strategies used in my classroom.  My teacher has a word wall with science terms posted over most of the back wall on laminated squares.  These squares are colorful, neat, and informative.  They all contain an example or have a drawing that describes the term. Here is a picture of the wall (I apologize for the quality of the picture).

The kids regularly look back at the wall during science instruction and try and find the term they are looking for.  Most of the students have difficulty spelling these word and use the word wall to assist them in the spelling of these words.  She also had the students make flash cards to help them with the meaning of the terms and the spelling.

She has the students play bingo.  They get to pick a prize if they get bingo.  Last week she called it “Hingo” instead of Bingo because they were going over heat, radiation, convection, and other terms involved in this portion of the science lesson.  This really motivates the students because if they do not know the terms, they will never get bingo.  Several students thought they had bingo, but they had incorrectly identified some of the terms.  They were going to play again the next day, and I am sure the students that did not know a lot of the terms went home and studied so they could win a prize. 

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I think the students would benefit greatly from using the Time to Talk strategy.  It is difficult for students to understand the meaning of the word if they cannot use it in a conversation.  Giving them the opportunity to use the words in their colloquial language will aid them in understanding the concept.  It also gives the teacher the opportunity to show them how to make the transition into using the word or concept in more conceptual way.  

It might also benefit them to use graphic organizers.  It is more visual and can help to display words with a range of contextual information.  Students have different learning styles.  Using a graphic organizer can make the data seem less overwhelming and complex just because of how it is displayed.