Teachers' Perspectives on Children's Talk in Science. Working Paper.

This document features the experiences of three science teachers who video and audiotaped classroom proceedings in order to go back over what was said in classroom events, to explore the intentions and ideas that were perhaps not fully understood at the time. Mary DiSchino, who teaches 3rd and 4th graders, teaches a science curriculum which she organizes around questions her students ask about the world. She tells the story of her students' investigation of one question, "Why do bees sting and why do they die afterwards?" Laura Sylvan has searched for ways to introduce "authentic" discussion into her 7th and 8th grade science classroom, discussion in which students are both respectful and genuinely engaged. She presents two discussions which she felt were particularly fruitful and explores what the students were saying and what she learned about them from their talk. Chris Whitbeck, who teaches middle-school science, describes an investigation he did with four students from his class on how bicycles work; he explores the deeper view he gained on how the students thought about bicycles and on what experiences influenced their thinking. (AA)