Which Science texts should my students read?

With the Next Generation Science Standards reading comprehension in Science seems more important than ever, particularly as reading is the key to accessing knowledge and to employment.

But why do so many students struggle to read and comprehend scientific texts? 

A student can read from a textbook or article, proceeding clearly from sentence to sentence, only to reach the end with little comprehension of what he or she has just read. Even children who read quickly books or blogs, novels or news stories, often seem to struggle with scientific prose.

To a teacher, these struggles raise important questions:

Which texts should my students read?

What should I do if they struggle to understand?

Am I teaching a text too quickly? Or too slowly?

Therefore, it is a teacher’s responsibility to address such concerns, giving students the confidence and to help students read for understanding in science.

 A student must be able to trace the steps of key processes, and cite evidence to draw inferences, formulate hypotheses, and support or critique arguments which are skills that lie at the very heart of scientific learning.

Honestly, implementing these skills in a classroom are often exceptionally challenging to share with our students at the primary and secondary levels. Why?

It is simply because the language of science is unique and highly specific. It can be used to communicate rapidly enormous quantities of information. The same features which make it so useful also make it uniquely challenging to learn.

We, as a science teacher, Should be well positioned to help our students comprehend the language of science texts. . We should examine the selection of useful science texts; see specific strategies for supporting student comprehension before, during, and after reading; learn how to recognize the unique challenges posed by science texts and how to help students overcome them.