Elaine Woo shares a report that has been recently published on the Seattle School District's Expository Writing and Science Notebooks Program. "Its aim is to improve the teaching and learning of both science and writing through a structured approach to having students write in their science notebooks as part of their science instruction. The program includes writing curriculum linked to each science unit and a series of professional development classes for teachers."
"This evaluation report addresses the following questions: How and to what extent do the classroom approaches of the Expository Writing and Science Notebooks Program contribute to student learning in ways that are significant to the Seattle Public Schools and to the broader science education reform community? To what extent are elementary teachers in Seattle Public Schools implementing the district's science program and the writing component of the program? What are the benefits - to students, teachers, the district, and the field - of the Expository Writing and Science Notebooks Program when it is implemented to the degree that it is, as part of the district's elementary science program? What questions and opportunities remain for the program and for the district?"
