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Critical Literacy in Action: Multimodal Texts on Global Warming
|Grades||6 – 8|
|Lesson Plan Type||Standard Lesson|
|Estimated Time||Four 45- to 60-minute sessions|
- Learn how specific comprehension strategies apply to multimodal texts in science by using and reflecting on these strategies as they read websites, scientific illustrations, photographs, and more
- Analyze how some types of representation are better suited than others for conveying particular types of scientific content
|1.||Show students the first two pictures of South Cascade Glacier, taken in 1928 and 1979, and have students apply comprehension strategies (e.g., using connections, predictions, questions, background knowledge) to these photographs as part of a whole-class discussion. Questions that may be helpful in the discussion include:
|2.||Show students the third picture of South Cascade Glacier, taken in 2003, and ask them to check their predictions from the whole-class discussion.
|3.||Have students work in pairs to complete the handout entitled Scientific Investigations in South Cascade Glacier. Ask a few of the pairs to share their answers with the class.
|4.||Show students additional pictures of glacial melting around the world and ask them to make connections from their investigations of the South Cascade Glacier to other bodies of ice. Explain that students are going to investigate the causes and effects of this phenomenon, and then see how their explanations compare to other scientists' explanations.
|5.||Distribute index cards and markers and ask students to write a question they want to have answered about the causes or effects of glacial melting. Have students tape their questions to a classroom wall, and explain that these questions will serve as a guide for the unit. If students have not raised the following questions, you may want to add them:
|1.||Ask students to write for five minutes using the following prompt: Please describe a time you had a different opinion from someone else. After five minutes, ask a few people to share their answers. Then ask the class how, in the case of a disagreement, we can tell who is right. In some instances, of course, we may never be able to tell definitively whose opinion is "right."
|2.||Ask students how they think this writing prompt relates to the discipline of science. Explain that when scientists have different opinions and perspectives, it may be difficult to tell whose ideas are "right"-in other words, whose explanations most accurately fit what is actually occurring. As the class offers suggestions on how to evaluate different scientific perspectives, write a list of their answers on the board under the heading Indicators of Credibility. Students' responses might include the following:
|3.||Distribute the handout Evaluating Scientific Credibility and review the instructions. Model for students how to read and evaluate a website (e.g., where you might find the credentials of the author; how you can use headings and links to different places on the webpage to locate information). Briefly fill out an overhead transparency of the handout with students as you model your own thinking process.
|4.||Ask students to complete the handout as they evaluate two of the websites listed. After students have completed the first eight questions, have them discuss their answers with a partner-preferably someone who chose a different website-and then decide which position they think has more credibility.
Ideally, for this session, each group of three or four students will have access to a computer that they can share. If this is not possible, you can show the Internet sites to the entire class on an overhead projector.
|1.||Distribute copies of the Representing Global Warming Discussion Guide and the Representing Global Warming Discussion Self-Evaluation Rubric.
|2.||Introduce the Representing Global Warming Discussion Guide, explaining that it will lead students through a process of examining, discussing, and evaluating different representations of global warming. Show students how to access the links you have provided (see Preparation, Step 4), and have students work in their assigned small groups to complete the Discussion Guide.
|3.||Groups that finish early can look for additional representations of global warming, then discuss these sites to determine which is their favorite and why.
|4.||After students have viewed and discussed the websites in their groups, hold a whole-class discussion in which students share the key insights from each of their small-group discussions.
|5.||Ask students to evaluate their participation in the group discussions using the Representing Global Warming Discussion Self-Evaluation Rubric.
Before beginning this session, tape a blank piece of paper underneath each of the questions that was posted on the wall during Session 1.
|1.||Distribute the Global Warming: Tying it All Together handout to students. Explain that they are going to debrief and discuss what they have learned. Ask them to choose five different questions on the wall, and using their marker, write one answer to each of the questions on the piece of paper taped underneath it. Students may not write an answer that has already been written, and if they see a long line in front of one of the questions, they should move on to another one.
|2.||Give students time to complete the Global Warming: Tying it All Together handout. Afterward, lead them in a whole-class discussion of their answers. Ask students to add on to their answers when they hear a classmate share a response that they hadn't thought of. For the question on comprehension strategies, you may want to make sure that students bring out the following strategies: evaluating the credibility of sources; evaluating the strengths and weaknesses of representations; predicting and checking predictions; asking questions; monitoring comprehension; rereading/reviewing; making connections to other representations and to your own experiences; discussing with others; and making inferences.
- Have students conduct a mock trial of a hypothetical oil company, based on the premise that the oil companies are responsible for selling a deadly product, much like the successful suits brought by smokers against cigarette vendors. As part of the activity, students create multimodal representations that try to sway the jury and the judge to their side. The handouts below provide a structure and sequence for a mock trial on the topic of global warming, and they can be used either in part or in their entirety.
- Global Warming Trial
- Global Warming Trial Persuasive Argument: Witness Statement
- Global Warming Trial: Persuasive Argument: Opening Statement
- Global Warming Trial: Outline for Persuasive Argument
- Global Warming Trial Persuasive Argument: Self-Evaluation Rubric
- Global Warming Trial: Instructions for the Judge
- Global Warming Trial: Instructions for the Bailiff
- Global Warming Trial: Instructions for the Attorneys
- Global Warming Trial: Instructions for the Jury Chairperson
- Global Warming Trial: Jury Member's Record of Witnesses
- Ask students to create a publication (informational pamphlet, website, children's book, bulletin board in a local gym) that informs people about the causes of global warming and steps they can take to prevent it. Ask students to choose an audience (e.g., children at a local elementary school, adults at a local community center) and to create representations and explanations that will would interest the intended audience and make the content easy to understand. Students can use the ReadWriteThink Printing Press to publish their work.
- Have students write a letter to the editor of a newspaper encouraging local actions that could help reduce greenhouse emissions. They can use the online Letter Generator to write and print their letters.
- Have students work in small groups as "advisors" to state or national legislators. What legislation would they propose to reduce greenhouse emissions? Remind them that they can consider both legal prohibitions and economic incentives, and debate which would be more effective.
- In Session 3, students evaluate their discussions on the different forms of representation using the Representing Global Warming Discussion Self-Evaluation Rubric. You can also informally assess students’ participation in these discussions and use the responses to the questions on the Representing Global Warming Discussion Guide to assess students’ participation.
- Assess what students have learned by looking at their handouts, including Scientific Investigations in South Cascade Glacier, Evaluating Scientific Credibility, and Global Warming: Tying it All Together.