Jonte Lee is a chemistry teacher who transformed his kitchen into a classroom. The information in the series ‘Try this at home: Science experiments for all ages’ is not directly related to literacy. However, once a student can decode and encode, background knowledge is a key factor in comprehension and writing.
Some literary suggestions for using these videos.
- Transcribe the key steps in the experiments. Students can then read the instructions and conduct the experiment rather than following it on YouTube.
- After students have conducted the experiment, they can write:
- Their own instructions.
- Describe in writing what they found interesting, difficult, boring, etc. about doing the experiment. This could be in the form of a structured report, a letter to a grandparent or friend, an email to parents, etc.
- Explain in their own words the ‘science’ behind the experiment. This could be in the form of a diagram.
- Design another similar experiment using a different object or ingredients.
- Brainstorm ideas for using the finished product. Choose one of these ideas and expand.
- Read more about the phenomenon described using library and internet resources.
- Script and then record their own video of an experiment. It could be the same one as presented by Jonte Lee or their own original experiment.
- Use some of the key terminology and explore the morphology. Check out the Subject Specific Vocabulary post for ideas. Use this as a starting point to create some word webs.
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