Introduction
Teaching primary students science is now becoming more important than ever before due to the fast pace of scientific developments. Setting a strong foundation of scientific knowledge, encouraging curiosity and developing skills necessary for future science learning are all goals of science classes in primary schools. However, preparing students for learning about more complicated concepts is impossible without developing essential literacy skills. An integration of literacy skills and knowledge into science learning is a must in order to enhance comprehension, critical thinking skills, communication skills and help students to understand the connection of science with the real world.
Developing Literacy Skills in Primary School for Better Science Learning
Comprehension Skills
Primary students often struggle to understand scientific concepts that are entirely new to them. They might have encountered some concepts before, but the explanation was simplified to suit the level of comprehension of preschool children. Primary school is the period in which students must become prepared to study more complex ideas (İlhanBeyaztaş & AşkınTekkol, 2023). Therefore, it is at this point when it is necessary to help them improve their comprehension skills as well as writing and speaking. New vocabulary and terminology might be hard to grasp if students’ literacy skills are not developed enough. When teachers integrate literacy development into science classes, students learn to think, read, write, and speak in a more advanced way, which gives them a solid foundation for the continuation of their learning journey.
Critical Thinking Skills
The development of critical thinking skills is another important part of primary school literacy development. It is also a necessary asset when it comes to science learning. Primary school is the first step in the development of critical thinking; it is extremely important for teachers at this stage to help students start learning to think independently and draw their own conclusions (De Franchis et al., 2017).
Students must learn how to interpret scientific concepts and ideas on their own or with little assistance from teachers or parents, as this is a part of the preparation for science learning in secondary education (Liston & Hennessy, 2018). Students can be asked to analyze and interpret scientific texts, write scientific reports, and discuss their findings with their peers. They can also be asked to reflect on what they have learned orally or in written form. This kind of integration of literacy development and scientific learning integration enhances students’ progress as well as helps students to understand why science is important (Suryanti et al, 2018). These types of exercises also often allow students to develop their own personal interest in certain scientific topics.
Communication Skills
Primary students also begin to develop their communication skills at this stage. Communication skills are the basis of one’s successful learning and a successful life overall. Therefore, they must be integrated into all classes, including science learning. Communication skills can be integrated by encouraging students to participate in classroom discussions.
Helping students formulate their ideas, communicate them to their peers effectively, and learn to understand and answer their classmates’ ideas is necessary for students of this age in general (Majorano et al., 2021). These skills are particularly important in science education as well (Dragoş & Mih. 2015). Students who know how to communicate their understanding or misunderstanding of an issue and students who know how to ask questions and how to answer them are more likely to have better academic performance. They are also more engaged in the learning process, which makes them more interested in science overall.
Incorporation of Literary and Interdisciplinary Skills
Finally, it is necessary to create a link between science class, other subjects, and real-life concepts that the science class reflects. It is the incorporation of developing literary skills and interdisciplinary learning that helps children understand these links and see why they are studying what they are studying (Zhai et al., 2013). It has been proven that students are more motivated, engaged, and interested in the learning process when they connect scientific concepts to the real world around them (Anggriani et al., 2020). Moreover, building these connections in the minds of a student can be enhanced by fostering critical and independent thinking in them. Therefore, teachers must help students to see these connections and use their literacy skills to further advance this understanding.
Conclusion
To conclude, integrating literacy skills and knowledge into science learning of primary students is a must for primary teachers. Firstly, it helps students to understand more complicated scientific concepts that require a high level of reading comprehension, writing, and speaking skills. This also prepares them to continue their scientific learning on a more advanced level.
Developing critical thinking skills is also essential in the primary classroom, as students need to learn to interpret scientific knowledge independently. Communication skills are an important part of increasing students’ engagement in the learning process and making them more curious about the subject. Finally, integrating literacy skills development in the science class helps students to see the connection between science, other subjects and real life, which makes them more interested in the topic that is being studied.
References
Anggriani, A., Sarwi, S. & Masturi, M. (2020). The effectiveness of guided discovery in distance learning to improve scientific literacy competencies of primary school students. Journal of Primary Education, 9(5), 454-462. Web.
De Franchis, V., Usai, M. C., Viterbori, P., & Traverso, L. (2017). Preschool executive functioning and literacy achievement in Grades 1 and 3 of primary school: A longitudinal study. Learning and Individual Differences, 54, 184–195. Web.
Dragoş, V., & Mih, V. (2015). Scientific literacy in school. Procedia – Social and Behavioral Sciences, 209, 167–172. Web.
İlhan Beyaztaş, D., & Aşkın Tekkol, İ. (2023). A journey from preschool to primary school literacy process. IJEC. Web.
Liston, M., & Hennessy, N. (2018). An integrated approach in promoting the development of literacy and scientific skills in the primary science classroom. Teaching Science, 64(4), 22-31. Web.
Majorano, M., Bastianello, T., Bodea-Hategan, C., Fantuzzi, P., Fontana, G., Hoste, E., Lombardi, M., Standaert A., Talas, D., Trifu, R., Vescogni, L., & Persici, V. (2021). Early literacy skills and later reading and writing performance across countries: The effects of orthographic consistency and preschool curriculum. Child & Youth Care Forum, 50(1), 1-23. Web.
Suryanti, Ibrahim, M., & Lede, N. S. (2018). Process skills approach to develop primary students’ scientific literacy: A case study with low achieving students on water cycle. IOP Conference Series: Materials Science and Engineering, 296. Web.
Zhai, J., Jocz, J. A., & Tan, A.-L. (2013). “Am I Like a Scientist?”: Primary children’s images of doing science in school. International Journal of Science Education, 36(4), 553–576. Web.
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