To prepare for the lesson, you will
be aware of some academic words
that do not have a comparable everyday
word. These are often the
name of a piece of equipment or part
of a structure. Language and science
objectives will help identify these
and prepare to supply or reveal the
scientific word for the student. For
example, you will need to introduce
the concept and vocabulary of “fair
test” and help students establish
“base line data” for comparison. As
students measure the sand (Figure
2) needed in the stream table, reveal
the technical name for the pan balance
while you describe how to use
74 Science and Children
it. These technical terms are situated
within the lesson as the students
need them.
Replace
As children use everyday words
that have a corresponding scientific
word, replace everyday words with
academic words. For example, you
could hear students describing the
action they saw occurring in a stream
table (a way to model the effects of
different variables as factors causing
erosion) by saying that “sand was
left behind.” The strategy that you
use is to acknowledge that the observation
was accurate and then inform
the student that there is another way
to say left behind and replace the everyday
language with deposited. The
replace feature is a simple substitution
of word for word.
Reposition
Each time you use the new academic
word, reposition the language into a
form that is more like “talking science”
(Lemke 1990). Repositioning
involves modeling the unique semantic
patterns of scientific language
and allowing students to use “science
talk” for its intended purposes.
For example, if a student says, “We
poured water and the sand moved
down. I see the sand at the end of
the gully,” you could reposition the
statement by replying, “Yes, erosion
resulted in the alluvial fan forming
at the base of the gully.” The following
is another example of repositioning.
The student says, “It got bigger.
I see it.” You could reply with “The
deposition became observable.” The
unique structure of science language
can be seen in the way science textbooks
are written. Students can speak
and write in ways that are common to
the scientific community.