- Think engaging stories to spark curiosity and wonder about our world and discourse moves to encourage more active listening and speaking.
Credit: http://www.freepik.com
- Think sequencing a STEM-based book and then removing an element from the sequence and discussing the cause/effect.
Credit: elementarylibrarian.com
- Think segmenting, sorting, and categorizing words from the text.
By Elizabeth Everett, 2025 Conference Presenter
I used to think that integrating literacy meant starting my science units with a book while using my usual read-aloud routine of predicting, inferring, and questioning.
But integrating literacy during science can go well beyond this.
Let’s take a closer look at how these three literacy integration ideas might look within an early education classroom.
Imagine you are teaching a series of science lessons about the sun.
- You read-aloud the book This Is the Sun (Everett, 2022), encouraging students to predict the next animal in the food chain.
Credit: sciencenaturally.com
You dive deeper into food chains by asking the following open-ended questions:
- In this book, the fox is at the top of the food chain. What does it mean to be at the top of the food chain?
- What does it mean to be at the bottom of the food chain?
During your discussion, you strengthen students’ listening and speaking skills with targeted teacher discourse moves designed to help students listen carefully and make their ideas public. (MacDonald, 2017)
Credit: wida.wisc.edu
- As you continue discussing food chains, students sequence the story by cutting out paper strips and gluing them together to create a paper chain. (Albelbaisi et al., 2023)
Credit: sciencenaturally.com Credit: projectsforpreschoolers.com
You “break” the chain by tearing off the paper link for “tree”, discussing what might cause a tree to be removed (chopped down, fire, disease, etc.) and how its effect impacts the rest of the food chain.
Or maybe students sequence using this circular pattern to help them draw conclusions about the importance of the Sun to all living things. (Albelbaisi et al., 2023)
Credit: sciencenaturally.com
- Students complete a word study identifying other “sun” words such as:
- sunglasses
- sunflower
- sunrise
- sunk
- sung
- tsunami
Students then sort and categorize the words:
- compound words
- nouns/verbs
- number of syllables
Or maybe students sort and categorize words (or pictures) from the story, allowing for the organic discovery of rich, science vocabulary such as:
- producer/consumer
- herbivore/omnivore/carnivore
- predator/prey
Credit: elizabetheverettbooks.com
These integration ideas can be used with the science books you already have, including traditional nonfiction texts—though you may find sequencing easier with narrative nonfiction books. Check out the National Science Teachers Association’s list of Best STEM Books 2024, where you’ll find a variety of fun, engaging formats for all grade levels, including biographies, narratives, and graphic novels. (Best STEM Books 2024, 2024)
Credit: nsta.org
For those of you who like technology, you may also like the website Wonderopolis which is full of high-interest, kid-friendly, questions and answers. For each answer, there are vocabulary words already identified and defined, as well as a word challenge and quiz. The site also offers an immersive reader option and can be shared with students via Google Classroom. (National Center for Families Learning, n.d.)
Credit: wonderopolis.org
Wherever you are in your literacy integration journey, I hope that something in this post resonates with you—whether it’s a different teaching approach to try in your classroom or a new STEM book to read to your students. Thank you for all that you do and may this be your BEST SCHOOL YEAR YET!
References
Albelbaisi, L., Burnham, C., Brooks, M., Romine, C., Stark, S., & Thelen, H. (2023). This Is the Sun Teacher’s Guide. Science Naturally. https://www.sciencenaturally.com/_files/ugd/59efe8_32f69031e57545f9a97fd8e50dd00c3a.pdf
Best STEM Books 2024. (2024). National Science Teachers Association. https://static.nsta.org/pdfs/STEM_2024_print.pdf
Everett, E. (2022). This Is the Sun. Science Naturally.
MacDonald, R. (2017). WIDA Focus on STEM Discourse: Strengthening Reasoning, Strengthening Language (R. Holmes, Ed.). Wisconsin Center for Education Research. https://wida.wisc.edu/sites/default/files/resource/FocusOn-STEM-Discourse.pdf
National Center for Families Learning. (n.d.). Who’s at the Top of the Food Chain? Wonderopolis. https://wonderopolis.org/
About the Author
Elizabeth Everett spent 16 years as a public school teacher in Maryland. She’s taught elementary school, middle school, high school, and at the collegiate level where she worked with aspiring teachers as part of an Urban Teachers Masters Program at Johns Hopkins University. She now homeschools her son and writes books for kids. She is the author of four STEM-based picture books and has several more picture books on the way. You can find her online at elizabetheverettbooks.com and on social media @elizabetheverettbooks.
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