Running Head: Writing Like Scientists

Writing Mini-Lesson:
Writing Like Scientists
Gretchen Krieg Mathews
Teachers College

Running Head: Writing Like Scientists

Mini-Lesson Writing Like Scientists

Objective / Overview
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As a part of a unit on scientific writing, students will practice considering and

writing out a question or problem they need to solve, and making a hypothesis
about how to solve it.

Lesson Sequence
-Hook / Connection to Prior Knowledge (2 minutes)
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Teacher will begin the lesson by saying, Writers, earlier today

we read the text, Iggy Peck, Architect, during Read Aloud. Who
can give me a recap (this was a word of the day we have been

practicing using over the past few weeks) of the story?

Once the teacher has called on a student, she will note, Yes,
Iggy Peck came across a problem (the broken bridge), and then
came up with a plan, and used that plan to build something no
one thought was possible in order to solve the problem. The
reason we read this book today, was to get our minds thinking
about problems, and how we might create plans to solve these
problems. This is the kind of work scientists do, and today were
going to start a unit on how we can use our writing skills to act
like scientists and solve problems.

-Setting up the Teaching Point (1 minute)

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Shell then introduce the teaching point (which will also be posted on a
SmartBoard slide) by saying, Today were going to begin to explore

Running Head: Writing Like Scientists

how scientists dont just conduct experiments (the question of

the day during Morning Meeting will ask, What do scientists
do?), they carefully write out the question they want to explore,
and write out what they think will happen, before even beginning
to test out their ideas. Just like writers do when they sketch and
outline their stories before actually writing, scientists need to
plan and think about their experiments before actually
conducting them.
-Teach / Practice (5 minutes)
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The teacher will continue, Today, we are going to get a problem just like Iggy
Peck, and think about how we might solve that problem. Instead of just jumping
in, and trying out different ways to solve the problem, we are going to act as
scientists and use our writing to carefully lay out our question/problem and then
predict a solution. Or, in scientific terms, we call this prediction of a solution a
hypothesis. Can everyone say hypothesis with me? (The class will say

hypothesis together.)
The teacher will continue, Scientists use a specific type of writing in order to
help them solve problems, this type of writing is often referred to as a lab report
and it looks like this (shell hold up a lab report). Its where the scientist records
everything in an experiment from the question or problem, to the hypothesis, to
actual observations and conclusions the scientist makes when experimenting with
these ideas. While we are eventually going to get to complete the entire lab report,

Running Head: Writing Like Scientists

today we are just going to focus on our problem, and our hypothesis, or thoughts
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about the solution to the problem.

Let me show you what I mean. Today our problem for our experiment is going to
be, how can we build the tallest tower using only the materials in our plastic
bag? (Shell hold up the bag, which includes a piece of tin foil, a paper cup, a
rubber band, a popsicle stick and a straw.) The tricky part of the problem,
however, is that our bag doesnt include any staples, glue or tape to help us hold
the materials together. Just like Iggy Peck, we are going to have to be really
creative and think about how we might build a tower only using the materials we
have. So, our planning and thinking is going to have to be really important as this

is not an easy problem to solve.

Using the Elmo to show the first page of the lab report, shell note, To help us
plan, our lab report has specific sections for our question (shell point to the
question section) and for our hypothesis or prediction (shell point to the
hypothesis on the lab report) of how we might solve the problem. Today, were
going to look at our materials and begin to fill out these two sections of our lab
reports. First well watch Ms. Mathews fill out her report, then you will all have
the chance to fill out your own report. Remember all scientists have different
ideas, its important not to tell anyone that their idea is bad or not correct, as its
all these different ideas, even the ones that arent necessarily right, that help us

learn more.
So, scientists, weve already begun to think about our question, so now I need to
write down what my question is so I can continue to think about my solution or
hypothesis. Alright, here goes, (she speaks as she writes) my question is how do I
create a the tallest tower using only a piece of tin foil, a paper cup, a rubber band,

Running Head: Writing Like Scientists

a popsicle stick and a straw? Do you think your question can be slightly different
than Ms. Mathews? (Shell call on a student.) They can absolutely be different.
You just need to make sure you have enough information to make your
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experimental question clear.

Alright, now I have my question. Now I can begin to think about my predicted
solution or my hypothesis. (She picks up the baggie and looks at the materials).
Hmmm Well, because I want it to be tall, so in order to make it tall, I think I
need to put the biggest or tallest materials on top, so it stands extra tall. So, I am
going to plan this out using a sketch, just like I do in writing my stories. Shell
begin to draw, so, first I want the small items on the bottom in my tower. I think
the best solution or hypothesis would have the rubber band on the bottom. Nod if
you see how I am drawing and labeling my drawing? (She will wait for students
to nod.) Then, after the rubber band, I think Id have a ball of tin foil, which I
could stick the straw into. On top of the straw, Id stick the popsicle stick (she
continues to draw as she talks). Then, on top of that, Id place my biggest item,
the cup. Wow! That is a tall tower! Once I have my drawing, I can write out my
hypothesis. And the best part is my sketch shows me exactly what I need to

write.
Reading her writing as she writes, shell note, I think the biggest materials

should go on top because stacking the materials this way will make it extra tall.
Wow, scientists. Did you see how writing out my question, and drawing out and
writing my hypothesis really made me think about the question? Do you think
youre ready to give it a try?

--Active Engagement / Link to Reading (4 minutes)

Running Head: Writing Like Scientists

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Awesome! Before we head back to our tables to begin writing out our own lab
reports, lets do some brainstorming. You are on the rug sitting next to your
partners for this experiment. While you each will be writing out your own report,
you are ultimately going to build the tower together, so youll want to make sure
you have similar questions and hypotheses. Take a minute and think about what
your question is. The teacher will give students a minute to really think.
Now turn and discuss your question with your partner. The teacher will listen in
to a few groups, she will bring the group back together, and highlight a few
noticings she had around the questions. Then, shell ask students to think about

their hypothesis, and again, will allow them to turn and talk with their partners.
Scientists, shell continue once shes shared a few noticings from the hypothesis
discussions, I think you are definitely ready to be write out your questions and
hypotheses. Paper passers will pass out the lab reports, and I will come around
and hand out the bags with materials to guide your thinking. But, just like Ms.
Mathews did, keep the materials in the bag as you write out your ideas, as today
we are only thinking about our question and hypothesis, we wont start exploring
them until tomorrow.

-Independent Work (10 minutes)

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Students will work with their partner to write out their question and hypothesis.
The teacher will travel around the room to answer questions from individual
groups.

-Mid-Workshop Share (2 minutes)

Running Head: Writing Like Scientists

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10-15 minutes into independent work, the teacher will stop the class and note
work from a specific partnership. She will emphasize how this partnership not
only wrote out their question, and sketched their hypothesis, but they also
included because in their written hypothesis to explain why this was their
predicted solution. The teacher will encourage other students to go back and do
the same in their own hypotheses.

-Independent Work (5 minutes)

-Closing (2 minutes)
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To end the lesson, the teacher will emphasize what wonderful work students did
today, shell note, Scientists, you guys did a great job really thinking about your
question and hypothesis today. This is important because it helps us gather our
thoughts before we start experimenting, just like we plan out and sketch our
thoughts before we start writing stories. Tomorrow, we are going to continue our
experiment and consider the steps we have to take to conduct our experiment,
which is called our procedure. You should be proud of what wonderful scientific
work you are doing.

Reflection
Coming out of my writing mini-lesson, I felt that students had a sense of how
scientists begin the experimental process (i.e., with a question and hypothesis). I noticed
that students were able to generate informative questions in their lab reports, as well as
come up with creative hypotheses to address the question. I even felt that students were

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excited about using their writing skills in scientific lab reports. While this writing tryout
presented many opportunities for reflection, however, there were three major takeaways I
will focus on in my practice moving forward.
First, I will continue to consider the benefits of connecting mini-lessons with
other disciplines during the day. Reading Iggy Peck, Architect earlier in the day, for
example, allowed students opportunity to get their minds by beginning to think about the
scientific process. Additionally, it gave me a jumping off point for connecting the lesson
to prior knowledge. Further, incorporating a question into Morning Meeting about what
scientists do also started preparing students for the lesson. Making them consider their
current schema of scientists, helped me better build upon that schema when introducing
the mini-lesson. Moving forward, I will continue to utilize similar strategies to make my
lessons more worthwhile for students.
Second, I noticed that the teach portion of my lesson was slightly longer than I
would have liked. While students seemed engaged throughout, I could have contemplated
breaking up the teach of the question and hypothesis with active engagement. While
I refrained from doing this initially to avoid wasting time moving and back and forth
from the rug, I could have had students bring their clipboards and lab reports to the rug,
and allowed time for students to turn and talk with their partner after introducing and
teaching each section of writing. As I think about future lessons, this might be a strategy
to try out to improve my practice and make the structure of my mini-lessons more
seamless and engaging.
The last major takeaway I have from my writing mini-lesson is in regards to
modeling during the teach. While students came up with different hypotheses than the

Running Head: Writing Like Scientists

one I modeled (as I purposely wrote an incorrect hypothesis to demonstrate how incorrect
hypothesis are helpful in a future lesson), their questions were very similar. I wonder
whether it would have been better for me to model a slightly different experiment to
avoid this issue, and ensure students understood the point of the question. While I had
decided to model the same experiment as this was the first lab report of the unit, I have
always been impressed with how much students can accomplish when given the
opportunity. Moving forward, I should consider how much I am modeling to students.
Though I definitely want to ensure students are clear on what they are supposed to do, I
definitely dont want to take away their creative license.
Once again, reflecting on my mini-lesson demonstrated areas of strength, and
areas for improvement when it comes to my mini-lessons. While there were certainly
some positives and some negatives, however, the process was entirely beneficial.
Throughout the entire course, and my time at Teachers College, Ive come to realize that
one will never be perfect. But, if one is able to be a perfectionist in continually reflecting
and improving upon ones practice, one comes to about as close to perfect as one can be.
Thank you for asking us to engage in reflection about our tryouts. This process has given
me the tools to take with me, and continually reflect upon my practice.