Snapshot 7.6. Reading Like a Scientist
Integrated ELA/Literacy and ELD in Grade TwelveAt Mandela School for International Studies, twelfth-grade environmental science teacher
Ms. Fontana supports her students to read science texts by scaffolding their ability to analyze
the language in the texts in order to get at the meanings the language is conveying. The
project-based unit in which the students are currently engaged addresses the health of the Los
Angeles River. Students are currently reading the following text.Water Quality
Environmental plans are underway to increase the Southland’s use of this reclaimed water
for landscaping and industrial uses, which would help reduce the county’s dependence
on imported water. Unfortunately, this would also reduce the amount of water flowing
into the river. If the reclaimed water were to be diverted for other uses, the river channel
would become drier than it is today. This proposed reduction in volume will, hopefully,
proceed with care in order to ensure that the habitat now supported by the river does not
unduly diminish.Ms. Fontana explains to her students that the some of the science articles they will read
during the unit are challenging and were written the way they were because of the way the
discipline of science has evolved over the years. In science texts, students will find that a lot
of information is packed tightly into long noun phrases, and technical vocabulary and abstract
language are often used to convey complex ideas to an audience who is already familiar with
the subject matter. In addition, passive voice and nominalizations are often used because the
individual people who participated in actions are not relevant. Ms. Fontana will examine some
of these linguistic features with her students over the course of the unit; today, she focuses on
the long noun phrases.
Before she explores the language in the text with students, she places students in
heterogeneous triads, taking into consideration students’ particular learning needs. For
example, she places an EL student at the Emerging level of English language proficiency in
a group that has another EL student at the Bridging level who speaks the student’s primary
language so that the first student has a language broker who can translate or provide other
types of linguistic support. She asks the triads to read the first page of the article together and
to discuss the meanings they derive from the article. She also asks them to note any confusing
vocabulary or passages and discuss what they think the words mean.
After the triads explore the text together, Ms. Fontana facilitates a conversation about
the meanings the students made, and she begins a chart of vocabulary words and phrases
that students found difficult, along with brief explanations of the terms, which the students
themselves offer and Ms. Fontana clarifies. The students note that some of the longer chunks
of text were confusing, and Ms. Fontana explains that these longer chunks are noun phrases,
that is, phrases that contain a noun with a lot of information around it that is sometimes
difficult to disentangle. Using the document camera, she underlines the noun phrases in the
excerpt and asks students to do the same in their copy of the article. Next she writes some
of the noun phrases in listform so that the students can see them better. She underlines the
main noun (or the head noun) and asks students to discuss in their triads what additional
information the words around the main noun are providing:770 | Chapter 7 Grades 11 and 12