belief paper

Science Literacy
Student’s Name
Institutional Affiliation
Science Literacy
The primary feature of instruction in science learning and teaching is that of actively engaging or involving the students in the lecture. I find it best to actively engage the students, especially in their learning by guiding them even in the discussion groups. Laboratory experiments, investigation on the real world and understanding based on inquiry are also essential for students to master various concepts in science as well as enhancing the active learning process. The use of various assessment methodologies is an effective feature that should be employed by the science teacher which facilitate learning through the integrated instruction of science. Such methodologies of assessment include summative and formative. Other features include adjusting instructions and making a close connection between the teacher and students and among students themselves and to the world in general among others. In inquiry-based instruction, it is the students themselves who are asking a question and the role of the teacher is just to guide them in finding answers among themselves through various suggestions. In the process, the students would be raising questions and answering for themselves with the guidance of the science teacher. According to my experience in teaching science in the classroom, I have always given students central questions a day before the class lesson. In so doing, the students would go and research on the questions, and everyone would be having something to say and even raise more questions related to the initial question.

At the time I would form groups of five students and provide every group with questions to present in the next class.
I have taken such course as communication skills, phonemics, and English literature. Through communication skills, pronunciation and alphabets are emphasized for effective communication to be made. Phonemics would be the best strategy for English teacher to provide background knowledge on the relationship between spelling and pronunciation of words especially among the beginners and even the intermediate learners. These disciplines have also been of great importance in providing explicit instruction and modeling of the learners from beginners to the advanced ones. Communication skills are recommendable for all learners since they help them understand well other subjects or units in a class apart from English and also enhance their interaction among themselves. Vocabulary building and learning have also been enhanced through reading various comprehension passages in literature. Strategically, English literature would be necessary for all students, from beginners to the advanced ones, to appreciate the different cultures and first language of one another (Marzano, 2007). It is through phonemics whereby I have been able to help the beginners learn how to read and write well and build proper sentence structures. The other course I have taken that has helped me teach English language learners is linguistics. This course is essential especially for English language learners in comprehending the psychology, use, and structure of language in general. It also helps them understand how language changes over time and how young children acquire language through brain processing and storage as well as different dialects. Science could be taught to ELLs by the use of visualization methods like use of graphs and charts. They may also learn through laboratory hand-on activities whereby they are taught on the application of chemistry and biology in real life situations. Other strategies that may be used include demonstrations, reading, and writing, listening to video tutorials and learning science vocabularies among many others (Marzano, 2007). 
Literacy practices of science include writing laboratory reports, projects and research and investigation into real-life phenomena. Through inquiry-based science, for example, students are required to research, read and write answers to research question by using science tools. In this case, they are given an opportunity to employ and share their critical thinking through communication and eventually come up with their ideas by expressing it using written words, demonstrations and even graphics. This literacy skill improves scientific reasoning. It is through language literature that students can clarify their ideas by making claims, making arguments as well as recording and presenting the findings. Scientific literacy has been manifested by the students whereby they ask questions and go further to find and look for answers due to their ever-rising curiosity about everyday experiences such as ill-health and diseases like obesity. I have found out that most students in the class can describe, explain and even predict different environmental phenomena. Most of them have been reading science articles and fictions and engaging themselves in conversation through the argument of the validity of conclusions of such scientific phenomena. Through debates among different schools and even in the classroom, students have always chosen topics related to science (Gerde et al., 2017). Additionally, students in my classroom have been very concerned with scientific issues which have been trending locally and nationally and the decisions that have been made concerning such matters. Through discussion, they have been able to take positions which are technologically and scientifically informed. They have been evaluating the quality of scientific information by considering its source through research and also evaluate the methods that were used to conclude. It means my students can pose and even evaluate scientific arguments using scientific tools on evidence and eventually come up with an appropriate conclusion.
References
Gerde, H. K., Pierce, S. J., Lee, K., & Van Egeren, L. A. (2017). Early Childhood Educators’ Self-Efficacy in Science, Math, and Literacy Instruction and Science Practice in the Classroom. Early Education and Development, 1-21.
Marzano, R. J. (2007). The art and science of teaching: A comprehensive framework for effective instruction. Ascd.