What do you notice?
What are some similarities and differences between the plants you see here and the plants we have at school?
Why do you think the plants have these particular features?
Through these questions, she is modeling the language that she would like students to use in the discussions they will have about cactuses.
After they have drawn several cactuses, the students gather together and in pairs share their observations and their theories about why the cactuses have the features they do. In this activity, they are engaged in analytical practices. The students use formulaic expressions they have learned in class in other contexts, such as “I noticed that . . . ,” “my prediction is that they have these features because . . . ,” and “what makes you say that?” Ms. Cardenas listens in on the conversations so that she can hear the kinds of questions they are asking each other, note the language they are using, and determine their level of background knowledge related to the function of the desert plants’ external structures. She will use this information to assist students in developing their ideas and language during their study.
Developing questions
Back in the classroom with their drawings, the students respond to Ms. Cardenas’s question, Based on your observations, what would you like to know or are unsure of about desert plants? Each child writes his or her question on a large sentence strip, and then all the students share their questions, in turn, with their classmates. As a whole class, they then discuss all twenty-eight of the questions they created and begin categorizing them according to the focus of the question, or, as one student said, “by what the question is asking.” During this process, the students agree and disagree about where different questions belong. Below is an excerpt from the students’ discussion as they consider the questions:
“Why some cactuses have hair on them?” and “Why cactus has [sic] sticks and not leaf?”—They want to know about how cactus is on the outside.
Even though “Why can cactuses survive with less water than plants here at school?” is a question about cactus, it is different from the first two questions because it is asking not so much about how a cactus looks, but about what it needs to survive.
I disagree because the hairs on a cactus and the reason they don’t have leaves might be because that [sic] they don’t get enough water.
I see what you are saying, but since we don’t know that for sure, I think it goes in a different category.
Notice the variations in English proficiency represented in these examples. There are some grammatical errors, which Ms. Cardenas does not correct on the spot. She wants her students to feel confident in using English at whatever level they have acquired, realizing that in order to learn English her students need to use it. She pays attention to the grammatical errors (e.g., “Why cactus has [sic] sticks and not leaf”), and in subsequent interactions with this student—and other students who make the same errors—she models the correct use of the grammatical structure (“Why do cactuses have . . . ?”) and prompts students to incorporate this language in her interactions with them.
Categorizing questions
At this point, Ms. Cardenas introduces three category questions: inch, foot, and yard, shown in the classroom chart (figure 1.1), and engages the students in a discussion about what makes them different from each other. As a whole class they discuss the question categories (inch, foot, yard) and decide that their first research question will be a yard question, Why do cactuses have spines?
FIGURE 1.1 Question category chart
The students revisit their initial sketches, and, engaging in analytical practice, they write predictions about why they think cactuses have spines. Figure 1.2 shows an example of one student’s prediction on a sticky note, which he places on his drawing in his sketchbook.
After they have written their individual predictions, they meet in pairs to share and discuss each person’s response. These paired discussions give Ms. Cardenas the chance to listen to their language and ascertain what evidence they used to support their thinking about the prediction. After participating in the discussion, some students revise their ideas and note their revisions on a sticky note in their sketchbooks. Figure 1.3 shows one student’s revised thinking.
FIGURE 1.2 Student’s prediction
Research and synthesis
To begin their research, the students read a variety of text passages about desert plants that Ms. Cardenas has carefully chosen from a range of sources. In prior lessons, students have learned about the structure of informational text and how to use certain features such as headings, subheadings, and illustrations. They have also learned how to identify key details in a text. Ms. Cardenas has modeled how to highlight key information related to a specific question and to make notes from the highlighted text, and she has conducted think-alouds about what to do with “tricky” words or a “tricky” part of the text.
FIGURE 1.3 Student revision
Ms. Cardenas has taught her students to read “with the question in mind,” and to support this process, she has provided them with a set of questions:
Does this fact from the text help answer my question?
What about this fact helps answer my question?
How do I know?
What words and sentences in the text help me think that?
During the time that children are reading, highlighting their text, and making notes, Ms. Cardenas has brief individual conferences with each student. The purpose of the conferences is to assess how well the students are capturing relevant information through their highlighting and note taking, and to take account of the words and phrases they are finding new or challenging. At the end of each conference, she provides the student with feedback that helps him or her improve his or her reading and information-gathering strategies. Here is an example of the feedback Ms. Cardenas gives to one student:
I see you have gathered plenty of valuable information about desert cactuses. I’m wondering if all this information is necessary to help answer the question, Why do cactuses have spines? What do you think?
And to another student:
Can I suggest that as you continue to gather information, you take a moment to revisit the question and ask yourself, does this help answer the question? If it doesn’t, maybe you can organize your notes by highlighting these facts in a different color, so you know where to find other information about cactuses. Maybe this will help organize your information and keep you focused on the research question. What do you think?
As they collect the information relevant to their question, the students regularly discuss their findings with a partner, compare notes, and provide each other with feedback. As we have seen, feedback is something the teacher models as a routine practice with students. Below is some of the feedback excerpted from the students’ conversations during their peer-assessment sessions:
Nico: I like how you are using key words when taking notes and not copying