Comstock Park — Kindergartner Max Rodriguez-Contreras focused intently as he lined up the paper wrecking ball, aiming to knock over three red cups without hitting the paper houses behind them.
However, the goal of this experiment wasn’t just for Max to understand how force impacts an object — it was also about his ability to discuss and explain what he discovered.
“When I pushed it hard, it knocked the houses down,” he said. “When I pushed it softer, the houses were safe.”
The approach to get students doing science and talking about it in depth is part of the Kent ISD Science and Literacy Integration Collaboration, led by Kent ISD early literacy consultant Sonali Deshpande and Kent ISD science consultant Wendi Vogel. The collaboration demonstrates how teachers and coaches can create time for science instruction by embedding literacy within it, said Deshpande, who has been working with a team of Comstock Park educators.
Students learn to use scientific vocabulary, which helps in reading comprehension and writing skills, said kindergarten teacher Riley Callaghan. They develop communication skills by working together to solve experiments and explain reasons and results, she said.
“We start with a question and then, through that, we are encouraging the students to do some deeper thinking and then explain their thoughts in more complete, fuller sentences,” Callaghan said.
Knocking down Two Subjects at Once
“Lack of time is one of the reasons cited for why science instruction doesn’t happen,” Deshpande said. “Students in elementary grades need to be taught foundational science concepts in order to understand the natural phenomenon occurring around them and in order to find success in middle and high school when learning about science or STEM.”
By weaving in a literacy focus on academic talk, vocabulary, text sets and writing, the collaboration is helping schools expand science instruction, Deshpande said.
School teams choose a focus area from Early Literacy Essential Instructional Practices that connects with Science and Engineering Practices. The Comstock Park team’s focus is on academic productive talk, said Curriculum Director Katie Austin.
At Stoney Creek, the kindergarten lesson started with a mix of science and words. Students discuss with partners how to bring down a wall and building.
The general consensus: with “a wrecking ball,” students said. Talk then centered on how such a heavy steel sphere uses force to demolish a wall.
Then came the challenge: “How could you take down a wall without affecting the houses near it?” Austin asked.
Students headed to the gym where several stations had a ruler taped on an angle to a chair. Paper wrecking balls dangled from strings attached to the rulers. Each station also had three red cups with paper houses behind them.
Students were tasked with knocking down the cups without hitting the houses. If a student hit a house, they had to go to the back of the line and try again.
Evidence and Results
Within 10 minutes, Max’s group, including classmates Zoey Ingalls and Adam Habeeb, discovered that how far back they pulled the wrecking ball determined how hard it hit the cups.
“You have to move it a little backward so it goes a little forward,” Adam said as he demonstrated the movement, knocking down a cup but not hitting a house.
Zoey expanded on Adam’s observation by saying if you swing the wrecking ball back just a little and then simply let it go, versus pushing it, it would hit just the cups.
Continuing to build in literacy skills, students discussed their finds using sentence stems, which are starting points for speaking and writing. They began with, “My claim is …”
“My claim is if (the wrecking ball) had too much energy and hit (the cups), they would move around a lot and hit the houses,” said classmate Christopher Castrillo-Perez.
Students also discussed evidence as to when the cups hit the houses using the stem, “My evidence is …”
“My evidence is the wrecking ball went really fast,” said Mason Keeling as the class talked about why the cups hit the houses.
By the end of the lesson, they are able to use the stems in other content areas throughout the school day, Deshpande said.
Callaghan said the kindergartners are demonstrating noticeable improvements in reading and writing.
“They have some awesome vocabulary,” she said. “They are using that vocabulary in talking and they are asking a lot of good questions and demonstrating good comprehension of what the change in force is.”
Read more from Comstock Park:
• For real, she dances a fine reel
• Creating science magic with a plate, a market & some water
