ERIC ED368200: Integrating Mathematics, Science and Language: An Instructional Program. Volume 1, Grades K-1.

400 Pages·1993·6.5 MB·English

by  ERIC

DOCUMENT RESUME
ED 368 200
FL 021 981
Integrating Mathematics, Science and Language: An
TITLE
Instructional Program. Volume 1, Grades K-1.
INSTITUTION
Southwest Educational Development Lab., Austin,
Tex.
SPONS AGENCY
Office of Educational Research and Improvement (ED),
Washington, DC.
PUB DATE
93
CONTRACT
RI68D016690
NOTE
405p.; For volume 2, see FL 021 982.
PUB TYPE
Classroom Use Teaching Guides (For
Guides
Teacher) (052)
EDRS PRICE
MF01/PC17 Plus Postage.
Curriculum Guides; *English (Second Language); Grade
DESCRIPTORS
1; *Interdisciplinary Approach; Kindergarten;
Mathematics Curriculum; *Mathematics Instruction;
Primary Education; Science Curriculum; *Science
Instruction; Second Language Instruction; *Spanish
Speaking
ABSTRACT
The curriculum and resource guide is designed to help
elementary school teachers organize their classroom and instructional
activities to increase achievement of pupils whose first language is
Spanish. The guide offers a curriculum plan, instructional strategies
and activities, suggested teacher and student materials, and
assessment procedures focusing on acquisition of higher-order
thinking skills, integration of science and mathematics concepts,
acquisition of content knowledge, and language skill development.
Motivational strategies compatible with the pupils' own social and
cultural environment are incorporated into the materials. This, the
first of two volumes, contains six instructional units, three for
kindergarten and three for grade 1, Each unit contains 7-10 lessons.
The 3 kindergarten unit topics are: the 5 senses; spiders; and
dinosaurs. The first-grade unit topics are: plants and seeds; the
human body; and good health. An introductory section gives an
overview of the materials and some suggestions for using them. An
additional section provides a Spanish translation of the basic unit
and lesson summaries. The detailed units and lessons follow.
(Contains 26 references.) (MSE)
***********************************************************************
Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made
from the original document.
***********************************************************************
Integrating Mathematics, Science And Language: An Instructional Program
Developed through
SEDL Paso Partners Project
Betty J. Mace-Matluck, Project Director
Norma G. Hernandez, On-Site Coordinator
Southwest Educational Development Laboratory
211 E. 7th Street
Austin, Texas 78701
[phone]
U S DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
Ofhce of Educational Research and Incproyomnnl
EDUCATIONAL RE SOURCES INFORMATION
CENTER (ERIC,
'this document has been reproduced as
received from Me pe,son or organization
oginatrni, it
r Minor changes have been made to Improve
reproduction Quality
Pointe of clew or opinions slated in this d
mem do not necessarily represent official
y
OE RI Positron or pole
Copyright SEDL 1993
This publication is based on work sponsored wholly, or in part, by the Office of
I.S. Department of Education, under
Educational Research and Improvement,
I
Grant Number R168D00166-90. The content of this publication does not neces-
sarily reflect the views of the Office of Educational Research and Improvement,
the Department, or any other agency of the U.S. Government.
pr
2
r
It:
,
Preface
Of the 42 million schoolchildren in the United States, about 1.5 million are in
programs for Limited English Proficient students, and perhaps another 3.5 mil-
lion qualify for such assistance. The majority of these students are Hispanic, and
they face the double challenge of mastering academic subject matter and learning
a new language at the same time. To attack the problem of poor mathematics and
science achievement among Limited English Proficient Hispanic students in
grades K-3, the Southwest Educational Development Laboratory (SEDL) orga-
nized Paso Partners
a partnership of three public schools, an institution of
higher education and staff from SEDL's Follow Through Program.
The Paso Partners Project was a three-year project funded by the Dwight D.
Eisenhower National Mathematics and Science Program, administered by the
Office of Educational Research and Improvement of the U.S. Department of
Education. It combined SEDL's Follow Through Model with the best emerging
strategies and materials for teaching and integrating mathematics, science and
language development; it trained teachers; and it provided technical assistance to
help the teachers implement improved strategies and materials in K-3 classrooms
in three primarily low-income Hispanic school districts on the U.S.-Mexico bor-
der near El Paso, Texas. During the first year, teachers from the districts received
graduate college credit for special mathematics and science curriculum courses
taught by faculty from The University of Texas at El Paso. Faculty from the
University and SEDL Follow Through staff provided technical assistance in the
development of curriculum materials for the integration of mathematics, science
and language.
The Paso Partners Project produced this two-volume curriculum and re-
sources guide to supplement existing teaching materials for use with young stu-
dents, particularly Limited English Proficient Hispanic children. A regional con-
ference, professional presentations and integration of the concepts into other
federally funded SEDL service projects have given regional and national expo-
sure to the project and to this curriculum and resources guide.
3
Acknowledgements
Integrating Mathematics,
Many people have contributed to the development of
curriculum and resources
Science and Language: An Instructional Program. The
from each of the
guide was developed through a joint effort by representatives
three school districts
consortium members: The University of Texas at El Paso,
Southwest Educational
(Canutillo ISD, San Elizario ISD, Socorro ISD) and the
Development Laboratory.
mathematics and science
Dr. Norma G. Hernandez and Dr. James P. Milson,
guided the selection
teacher educators from The University of Texas at El Paso,
and provided inservice
and preparation of the mathematics and science content
served as the Project
training for the participating teachers. Dr. Hernandez
of the project, directed the
Coordinator. She managed the day-to-day operation
substantial portions of
development and preparation of the content and authored
project, typed various drafts of the
the guide. Ms. Rosa Gomez, Secretary for the
throughout the project.
materials and provided invaluable support services
in advisory
Administrators and supervisors from the school districts served
assisted by planning the
and support roles. Teachers from the school districts
materials in their class-
guide, by drafting materials and by testing drafts of the
the invaluable contributions made by the fol-
rooms. We gratefully acknowledge
lowing school personnel:
Canutillo Independent School District
Wilson P. Knapp
Superintendent:
Edgar Bullock; Velia Minjarez
Principals:
Vodene Schultz
Mathematics Coordinator:
Marge Gianelli
Bilingual Coordinator:
Amy Craig; Sheila Britton; Mary Brockett;
Teachers:
Margaret Gonzales; Inez Lopez; Irene
Mendoza; Linda Ochoa; Majorie Rodriguez;
Carmela Sanchez; Consuelo Trujillo
San Elizario Independent School District
Beatriz Reyna Curry
Superintendent:
Robert Langoria
Assistant to Superintendent:
Norma Valdivia; Rafaela Pitcher
Principals:
George Augustain; Max Padilla
Assistant Principals:
Martha Amayua; Cathy Barnes; Glynanne
Teachers:
Edens; Dora Garner; Nora Guerra; Bernie
Hernandez; Rosa Hernandez; Terry Jurado;
Maria Lorentzen; Mary Mendiola; Diana
Noriega; Nora Rueda; Adriana Velez, Maria
Zuniga
Acknowledgnmonts
Socorro Independent School District
R. Jerry Barber
Superintendent:
Elfida Gutierrez; Al Cardenas; Mary Ross
Principals:
Juan Aranda; Jesus Melero; Alfredo Solis
Assistant Principals:
Director of Special Populations: Ann Garrett
Berit Ahumada; Helen de Anda; Martha
Teachers:
Hernandez; Terry Jaime; Elsa Medina;
Socorro Esparza Nava; Sandra Rios; Tina
Vasquez; Gloria Vega
Southwest Educational Development Laboratory (SEDL) organized the Paso
Partners consortium and administered the project. Dr. Betty J. Mace-Matluck
served as the project director and manager. She was responsible for overseeing
the preparation and publication of the materials and for the dissemination activi-
ties, She also assisted in editing the final draft. Ms. Maria Torres provided guid-
and assisted in writing the materials.
ance in developing the language component
She also assisted in providing inservice training for the teachers. Ms. Cris Garza
and Ms. Suzanne Ashby of SEDL's Follow Through Program provided inservice
training in language development and instructional strategies during the early
contributed her expertise
stages of the project. Ms. Rosalind Alexander-Kasparik
in the area of format and design and worked with the graphic artist, design spe-
cialist, technical editor and publisher to create the final product.
Dr. Neil Devereaux, Angelo State University, prepared the Spanish language
translation. Dr. Mary Ellen Quinn, Our Lady of the Lake University, and Dr.
for
Rudolfo Chavez Chavez, New Mexico State University, reviewed the materials
the accuracy and appropriateness of the content. Ms. Miriam Kuznets edited the
final draft of the manuscript. Mr. Peter Szymczak created the design of the guide,
formatted the materials, assisted with the editing and worked tirelessly to create
the final product. Ms. Amy Young rendered the illustrations and assisted in the
design of the cover.
5
Thble of Contents (Volume I. Grad(? s K-1)
7
Table of Con ten ts
(Volume 1, Grades K-1)
Preface
Acknowledgements
Introduction
Traducciones en Espariol
Unit K: Five Senses
Lesson 1:
The Five Senses
Sight
Lesson 2:
Lesson 3: Hearing
Lesson 4:
Touch
Lesson 5:
Smell
Lesson 6:
Taste
Altogether, Now
Lesson 7:
Unit K: Spiders
Spiders! Scary or Nice?
Lesson 1:
Spiders Have Special Characteristics
Lesson 2:
Spiders Catch Prey
Lesson 3:
The Spider's Life Cycle
Lesson 4:
Lesson 5: Spiders Have Naturai Enemies
Spiders Live Everywhere
Lesson 6:
Lesson 7:
Now We Know Spiders
Unit K: Dinosaurs
Lesson 1:
Long Ago
Extinction
Lesson 2:
Lesson 3:
Fossils
Types of Dinosaurs
Lesson 4:
Meat and Plant Eaters
Lesson 5:
The Dinosaur's Life Cycle
Lesson 6:
Lesson 7: Nature and Change
'Mtge of Contents (Volume 1, Grades K-1)
8
Unit 1: Plants and Seeds
Plants Are Living Things
Lesson 1:
Using the Sun's Energy
Lesson 2:
Flowers, Roots, Stems and Leaves
Lesson 3:
Plants Reproduce
Lesson 4:
from Flowers to Fruit
Pollination
Lesson 5:
Seeds
Lesson 6:
Plants Provide Many Human Needs
Lesson 7:
Unit 1: The Human
Body
Humans Grow and Change
Lesson 1:
Tiny Units of Growth and Change
Our Cells
Lesson 2:
A Complex Form
The Body
Lesson 3:
The Nonstop Pump
The Heart
Lesson 4:
A Gas Swap Meet
The Lungs
Lesson 5:
A Magnificent Machine
The Muscles and Bones
Lesson 6:
The Stomach and Intestices The Food Processors
Lesson 7:
The Great Eliminators
Liver, Kidneys, Skin
Lesson 8:
The Master Computer
The Brain
Lesson 9:
A New Human Begins
Reproduction
Lesson 10:
Unit 1: Good Health
Good Health Equals Good Living
Lesson 1:
You Are What You Eat
Lesson 2:
Popeye Is Right
Lesson 3:
R-S-R for Good Health
Lesson 4:
The Suds
Our Friends
Lesson 5:
Exercise Is for Life
Lesson 6:
Practicing Safety Helps Our Health
Lesson 7:
The Health Professions
Lesson 8:
Introduction
Integrating Mathematics, Science and Language: An Instructional Program is a
two-volume curriculum and resources guide designed to help elementary school
teachers organize their classrooms and instructional activities in order to increase
achievement of Hispanic primary-grade children whose first language is not
English. The guide offers a curriculum plan, instructional strategies and activi-
ties, suggested teacher and student materials and assessment procedures that
focus on the acquisition of:
higher-order thinking skills to apply newly learned knowledge and under-
standing;
understanding of relations between mathematics and science concepts;
knowledge, i.e., specific items of information and understanding of relevant
concepts; and
language to gain and communicate knowledge and understanding.
Motivational sifategies and materials compatible with the students' own social
and cultural environment are incorporated into the instructional materials to
develop and enhance positive attitudes and values toward mathematics, science
and language learning.
Assumptions Underlying the Materials
A number of assumptions about teaching and learning have guided the develop-
ment of the materials.
Assumptions about Learning
All children, even the very young, learn mathematics and science concepts by
1.
developing cognitive structures through interactions with the environment.
In the process of learning mathematics and science, students "experience"
2.
instructional activities as an integrated whole, i.e.. as an affective, cognitive
and relevant activity.
Language development is an integral aspect of the acquisition of mathematics
3.
and science concepts and skills. It becomes an even greater factor in cognitive
growth and development for children whose first language is not the same as
the language of school instruction. Effective learning occurs when the student
acquires language in the context of academic instruction as well as in social
interaction.
Children learn mathematics and science constructively, i.e., children build or
4.
construct meaning by using their own experience and previous knowledge as
a guide.
Children acquire language within the context of everyday experience.
5.
Language concepts and skills are not learned in isolation, but rather as a con-
sequence of interaction within a setting that is compatible with the experien-
tial and cultural background of the students.
Iniroduclion
10
Students construct concepts through experiences that involve using manipu-
6.
latives, pictures, verbal interactions and other models representing the con-
cepts to learn.
allow
Mental structures effectively develop through educational activities that
7.
students to explore, investigate, apply and solve problems related to "tenta-
tive constructs" that students modify during the learning process.
8.. In learning mathematics and science, as well as in acquiring and developing
language, the students assimilate experiences into a construct that is available
the meaning of the repre-
to them through subjective representation. However,
of related
sentation must be consistent with experience, with the meaning
by others.
constructs and with conventional meanings constructed
Assumptions about Teaching
include
The design and the implementation of an effective instruction activity
1.
in
cognitive, affective and relevant aspects of the social and cultural context
which the science, mathematics and language concepts develop.
and lan-
Teachers help create effective and appropriate mathematics, science
2.
of approaches that include:
guage constructs through a variety
suitable questions,
spontaneous opportunities that provide and provoke
conflicts, material and explanations to induce inquiry;
inductive and deductive sequences that provide students relevant exam-
ples to help them extract the common features and important ideas of a
concept or generalization; and
pragmatic or practical opportunities for students to grapple with and
and the
solve real-world problems that students discuss with their peers
teacher in order to verify and affirm their thinking.
and language con-
To assist students in developing mathematics, science
3.
structured examples
structs, teachers provide many carefully selected and
Also, teachers
that facilitate abstraction of common features to form a concept.
Teachers use manipulative's,
present interesting and challenging problems.
learning.
pictures, graphs and verbal interactions to support and encourage
by chil-
Teachers facilitate acquisition of mathematics and science concepts
4.
devel-
dren whose first language is not English through appropriate language
in which students
opment strategies that assume a language-rich environment
(e.g., Spanish) or English or both to com-
may use either the home language
municate knowledge and understanding.
give specific atten-
For children whose first language is not English, teachers
5.
mathematics, in this
tion to the development of specific concepts (science and
English language devel-
case) within the overall context of both Spanish and
opmerit.
Structure of the Guide
materials for use in
The guide is bound into two volumes. Volume One contains
students
Kindergarten and Grade One. Materials in Volume Two are for use with
academic backgrounds and
in Grades Two and Three. Depending on the students'
provide a
local curriculum expectations, the materials for each grade level may
introductory section
full academic year of instruction. Each volume contains an
and three units for each grade level.
Introduction
11
Structure of each Unit
Each unit is designed to assist teachers in offering up-to-date science and mathe-
matics content, along with appropriate language usage, through teaching and
learning strategies that will excite children about the world of mathematics, sci-
planned to
ence and language. The selection and arrangement of the material is
engage children's natural inquisitive nature and to stimulate them to investigate,
explore and learn. Teachers are helped to create dissonance in familiar situations
in order to stimulate questioning, hypothesizing, exploring and problem solving.
Each unit contains three types of materials: (1) unit overview materials and
background information for the teacher, (2) the lessons and (3) an annotated bibli-
ography and list of teacher reference/resource materials.
Spanish language translation. Preceding each complete unit in English is a
Spanish version of background information for the teacher, as well as a Spanish
version of the formal introductory portion of the lesson cycle.
Unit overview materials and background information for the teacher.
Presented first in the unit is a recommended list of content and/or skills students
should have as Prior Knowledge before initiating unit activities. Next Specific
Mathematics, Science and Language Objectives are listed followed by a Topic
Concept Web. The web shows relationships among the various science content
elements that teachers will present in the unit. In turn, the web prompts the iden-
tification of two major ideas, one in science and one in mathematics, that the
class will develop in each lesson. It also encourages teachers to view teaching as
providing children opportunities to develop cognitive structures that are more
global and complex than those that students can demonstrate by performance on
objective-defined tasks. Therefore, the application, or problem-solving, phase of
it allows the
the lessons takes on a specific character and increased importance
student and the teacher to look for dimensions in understanding that go beyond
the level that can be universally required of all students. There is no vertical or
horizontal "cap" or "ceiling" in thinking that circumscribes the students' progress.
Next is a list of key Vocabulary items, in both English and Spanish, that the
teacher will use in presenting the unit. The students will gain an understanding
of the terms and may incorporate some, or most, of them into their active vocabu-
laries.
The Teacher Background Information section, which follows the Vocabulary
section, contains science and mathematics content. This content, also in both
English and Spanish, is provided as a ready reference for teachers to draw upon
as they implement the unit.
Next is The Lesson Focus that lists each of the Big Ideas presented in each of
the lessons. Each Big Idea is stated as an overarching concept, or principle, in sci-
activities. The Big Idea is what
ence and/or mathematics that generates the lesson
each student is to construct. The construct has many other ideas that relate to it,
both in mathematics and science, thus forming a web of ideas. The construct,
in
either in English or Spanish
however, develops within a language context
order to formalize the concept. Once assimilated, the Big Idea can facilitate stu-
dents' future learning in related content areas. Thus, the Lesson Focus, togetiler
with the array of objectives, gives the teacher a view of the extent and direction of
development of the Big Idea in each lesson.
Following The Lessen Focus is an Objectives Grid displaying the unit objec-
tives by content area and by lesson activity. Objectives, in and of themselves, can-
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