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Core Text:

Many Kinds of Matter: A Look at Solids, Liquids and Gases by Jennifer Boothroyd

Published in 2011

This book gives a brief description of the differences between solids, liquids, and gases. It then explains how matter can change from one state to another.

I chose this book as my core text because I teach the different states of matter within my classroom. As mentioned in Lanin’s article Multimodal Text Sets to Use Literature and Engage All Learners in the Science Classroom, “Reading and writing can help all learners to engage in the science classroom and develop scientific knowledge” (Lanin, et al., 2020). I believe that utilizing this book as a core text would help students engage more with the content of states of matter within our science unit. This book breaks down the three types of matter in a way that is understandable for second graders. It also provides photographs to help students have a visual of the different states of matter. Further, I liked how this book went further into the explanation of how states of matter can change and also provides readers visual examples of what this looks like when the states of matter change. Finally, this book also uses several nonfiction text features which is an important literacy skill I teach students when they read nonfiction texts. Using this book would be a great way to reinforce students understanding of these nonfiction text features.

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Lexile Level: 410L-600L

This text is generally good for independent reading levels between 2nd and 4th grade. Therefore, I could have some students read this independently however, it may be challenging for several of my students to do so. Especially those who are below grade level.

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This core text is an informational text. It will be necessary to set the purpose of reading the text with students ahead of time. This is necessary because the purpose of reading the text could differ depending on how it is to be used by a teacher. For example, if the teacher is using it just to teach conceptual knowledge, the purpose may be to respond in a notebook about what the main idea of the text was. However, if the teacher is planning to use the text to contribute to a science experiment involving the states of matter, the purpose would change. The structure of this text is pretty straightforward. It starts with an overall explanation of what matter is and then derives into the three states of matter-solid, liquid and gas. It may be beneficial to provide graphic organizers for students however, it is not imperative to do so. Students should be able to follow/understand the text without the graphic organizers. It may be beneficial to look at images ahead of time but also is not necessary to the understanding of the overall text. The images/graphics enhance the text, but do not provide any additional or different content. The text has very straightforward language-there is not abstract, figurative or ironic language. However, it would be beneficial to review certain vocabulary words prior to reading this text. For example, the word “matter” is frequently used in this text to refer to the states of matter. However, the word matter is also used conversationally when someone asks “what is the matter?” if they feel someone is upset about something. Reviewing and distinguishing the difference between these two words would be helpful to students, especially language
learners. The book is a pretty introductory level for the states of matter. It explicitly teaches what matter is then breaks down the three types of matter (solid, liquid and gas). It then explains how matter can change from one state to another. There is really not much background knowledge that needs to be introduced that will not come up within the book itself. However, if you wanted to extend students understanding, it would be possible to teach about physical and chemical changes and how that contributes to the changing of the states of matter.

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This core text has many strengths. It easily breaks down and defines what matter is and explains and three states of matter. Each page uses photographs to provide visuals of what the text is describing. This helps enhance a readers understanding of the text, especially for multilingual learners. The text even provides a section of at home experiments students can try to engage in a hands-on way with the information they have learned in the text. This book does have a few challenges as well. Some challenges are that the book does have some tough words such as “compress”, “recycling”, “container”, ect. As I teach second grade, I know many of my students would have a lot of trouble decoding these words independently. The other challenge of this core text is while it is very visual with colorful font and images, it also is very “busy” looking. There is a lot going on in each page. This could be difficult for students to read, especially lower readers as it is very distracting. This book would be great to teach students what the states of matter are. It could be used for a very introductory lesson of the three states of matter. It also could be used in literacy to teach nonfiction text features. Further, this text could be used to teach main idea and supporting details in reading and writing. As this text is very much science based, it would not be a good text to teach anything in social studies. It also would not benefit in the teaching of any learning objectives within fiction. To address the challenges of this text, there are a few things I could do to help my students. First of all, this book is available on Epic! Books. Therefore, I could assign it to them to listen to instead of reading it independently. This would help alleviate the concern that some students wouldn’t be able to access the text based on their decoding skills. As far as the text looking busy, I could retype the text on a separate document and provide that to students before actually reading the book. This way they are focused on just the content of the story before they are exposed to all the colors and fonts of the actual text.

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Mini Text Set: BrainPop Jr-Changing States of Matter

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Mini Text Set: BrainPop Jr-Changing States of Matter

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This video recaps the three states of matter and spends more time explaining how one state of matter can change to another. The video highlights vocabulary related to the states of matter and provides meaningful images to accompany the spoken words. I chose this video as a supplemental text because it aligns with the information presented in the core text. Further, my students are very engaged by BrainPop videos. I appreciate that this video spends more time focusing on how states of matter can change from one form to another. While it is part of the core text, the video reinforces the concept with more specific examples.

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BrainPOP Jr. - Animated Educational Site for Kids - Science, Social Studies, English, Math, Arts & Music, Health, and Technology

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Mini Text Set: PebbleGo "What is Matter?"

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Mini Text Set: PebbleGo "What is Matter?"

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This multimodal article provides an interactive experience with reading about the different states of matter. It also provides an activity for students to try, a video for students to watch and related readings. I chose this as a supplemental text because it provides an interactive experience for students to independently read about the states of matter. The website has an option to read to the students allowing every reader to access its content.

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This supplemental text is a digital platform that allows students to independently explore the different states of matter. It is engaging for students because it is interactive, reads to them, has photos on each tab and a video about the states of matter. My students love science. This text sets them up for conceptual understanding of the states of matter. Further, this article provides a hands-on experiment students can do (with adult support) in order to experience the information they are learning from the text. Due to the scientific nature of this text, it does not provide much opportunity to serve as a window. However, I could make the connection that the states of matter exist in all societies, within all groups of people. This would have to come from teacher prompting though as it is not explicitly stated in the text. The platform has the option to translate the text to spanish which is many of my students’ native language. This helps students access the text in the language they are most comfortable with.

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My students love BrainPop Videos. They often will request them before we start a lesson. They are very engaged by the format of the videos and love the robot Moby. Further, BrainPOP provides extension activities such as quizzes, games, word play, and coding activities that accompany the video. Most of my students will be able to access and interpret this text. BrainPOP provides visuals throughout the video and defines academic vocabulary words. Further, the text that is said in the video is written out for students to read along with as the video progresses. Annie is a racially ambiguous character. While she does not specifically identify as a certain race, many students will be able to see themselves in her due to her ambiguous features. Making the connection to the changing states of matter, specifically the climate change in the arctic, could show students the negative effects of how a solid turning into a liquid is having damaging effects on our world. This could inspire students to advocate for ways to help the Earth and slow down climate change.

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Boothroyd, J. (2015). Many kinds of matter : a look at solids, liquids, and gases. Lerner Publications/Lerner Classroom.

BrainPOP JR. (2024). Brainpop.com. https://jr.brainpop.com/topic/changing-states-of-matter/

Dew, T., & Teague, S. (2015). Using Disciplinary Literacy Strategies to Enhance Student Learning. Science Scope, 038(06). https://doi.org/10.2505/4/ss15_038_06_33

Dyches, J., Boyd, A. S., Baker, K., & Kaulfuss, A. (2024). Power tools: 30 Critical Disciplinary Literacy Strategies for 6-12 classrooms. Myers Education Press.

Lannin A, Juergensen R, Harper C, Abdelnaby H, van Garderen D, Folk W, Pinkston L, & T, P. (2020). Multimodal Text Sets to Use Literature and Engage All Learners in the Science Classroom. Science Scope, 44(2), 20–28. https://doi.org/10.1080/08872376.2020.12291370

Lent, R. C. (2016). This is disciplinary literacy : reading, writing, thinking, and doing ... content area by content area. Corwin.

Lupo, S. M., Hardigree, C., Thacker, E. S., Sawyer, A. G., & Merritt, J. D. (2022). Teaching disciplinary literacy in grades K-6: Infusing content with reading, writing, and language. Routledge.

PebbleGo. (n.d.). Pgoplayer.pebblego.com. https://pgoplayer.pebblego.com/articles/2104

Thomas Devere Wolsey, & Lapp, D. (2017). Literacy in the disciplines : a teacher’s guide for grades 5-12. Guilford Press, A Division Of Guilford Publications, Inc.

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I found this strategy from the article Using Disciplinary Literacy Strategies to Enhance Student Learning; Dew, T., & Teague, S. (2015). Using Disciplinary Literacy Strategies to Enhance Student Learning. Science Scope, 038(06). https://doi.org/10.2505/4/ss15_038_06_33

This strategy addresses the area of comprehension.

A concept map is a comprehension strategy used to summarize the major concepts in an informational text. It shows the connections between concepts within an area of study. I chose this strategy because I think it would be a realistic way for students to share their understanding of the different states of matter in a visual way.

I plan to implement this strategy after students read the core text.

This strategy supports my students' linguistic needs. By producing a concept map, students practice using the vocabulary surrounding the major concepts of the states of matter. Further, they must demonstrate their understanding of each state of matter and how it changes. Doing this through a concept map helps visually show students that the states of matter are all connected.

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https://www.twinkl.co.th/resource/t-l-5230-new-concept-map-template

https://www.slideshare.net/slideshow/vocabulary-selfcollection-strategy-vss/48724522

https://annaclemens.com/blog/story-telling-scientific-paper/

https://www.freepik.com/premium-vector/colorful-jigsaw-puzzle-clipart-cartoon-style-vector-illustration_328549335.htm

https://www.weareteachers.com/kwl-chart-printables/

https://educators.brainpop.com/printable/venn-diagram/

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Strategy #2: Vocabulary Self-Selection Strategy Plus 

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Strategy #2: Vocabulary Self-Selection Strategy Plus 

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I found this strategy in the article Choosing the Right Words: Instruction That Supports Academic Vocabulary Use in the Disciplines; Thomas Devere Wolsey, & Lapp, D. (2017). Literacy in the disciplines : a teacher’s guide for grades 5-12. Guilford Press, A Division Of Guilford Publications, Inc.

This strategy is addressing the area of vocabulary.

In this strategy, students work together to reinforce their understanding of specific vocabulary words. They do this by creating a dictionary definition that can be accessed by their classmates. This includes the word, the definition relevant to the reading, an image, rationale recorded as a podcast and a semantic web. For second-grade purposes, I would have students create a visual image with the word and definition that could be presented to the class and then hung up for future reference.

I plan to implement this strategy during and after reading. Students would find the definitions while reading but create their image/visual after they have completed the reading.

This strategy supports students firstly through the work of collaboration. Students learn better when they can work with peers, especially when learning new vocabulary words. Further, having students create an image helps them better understand the concept better. Lastly, taking time to define important vocabulary words, especially in science instruction, is beneficial for all students but especially those who are language learners.

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Strategy #3: Write a Story About States of Matter

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Strategy #3: Write a Story About States of Matter

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I found this strategy from Writing Within the Disciplines; Lent, R. C. (2016). This is disciplinary literacy : reading, writing, thinking, and doing ... content area by content area. Corwin.

This strategy is addressing the area of writing.

This strategy allows students to combine their knowledge of the states of matter with their creative writing skills. Using what they know about the states of matter, students will work in partnerships or small groups to write a story that is representative of the states of matter and how they change forms.

I plan to implement this strategy after reading.

This strategy will support my students' interests because they have such creative minds. Too often creative writing is pushed aside to make time for math or reading instruction. This strategy will allow students to have an outlet for their creative writing that is directly tied to content they are learning in science.

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I found this strategy in the article Learning to Talk and Talking to Learn; Lupo, S. M., Hardigree, C., Thacker, E. S., Sawyer, A. G., & Merritt, J. D. (2022). Teaching disciplinary literacy in grades K-6: Infusing content with reading, writing, and language. Routledge.

This strategy addresses the area of speaking (and listening).

Jigsaw is a strategy in which students are put into groups and each member of the group is responsible for a different area of "expertise". After finding the necessary information, each person reports back to their group their findings. In learning about the states of matter, I would have students jigsaw in groups of three. Each person would be responsible for either solid, liquid or gas and how that state of matter changes forms. Students would then report back and share out their findings.

I would implement this strategy after reading.

This strategy supports my students because it gives each of them the opportunity to be an expert within their group. This inspires confidence in shier students and requires listening from students who are always participating. Further, this strategy lends itself to practicing and using academic language.

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I found this strategy in the book Power Tools : 30 Critical Disciplinary Literacy Strategies for 6-12 Classrooms.; Dyches, J., Boyd, A. S., Baker, K., & Kaulfuss, A. (2024). Power tools: 30 Critical Disciplinary Literacy Strategies for 6-12 classrooms. Myers Education Press.

This strategy is a critical disciplinary strategy.

Venn Diagrams are used to compare and contrast ideas within a concept. In the states of matter, I would have students pick two states (solid, liquid or gas) and use a venn diagram to see what is similar and different between these states. I would have students complete this with a partner. Collaborating on a Venn Diagram will require that students write, use vocabulary, demonstrate comprehension and talk to one another about their ideas. Further, comparing and contrasting is a higher order thinking skill and will push students to think and connect more deeply with the material.

I would implement this strategy after reading.

This strategy supports my students because it pushes students to practice using academic vocabulary and use higher order thinking skills. Further, collaborating with a partner gives Language Learning students a chance to practice using academic vocabulary in a low-stakes scenario.

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I found this strategy in the book Power Tools : 30 Critical Disciplinary Literacy Strategies for 6-12 Classrooms; Dyches, J., Boyd, A. S., Baker, K., & Kaulfuss, A. (2024). Power tools: 30 Critical Disciplinary Literacy Strategies for 6-12 classrooms. Myers Education Press.

This strategy is a critical disciplinary strategy.

KWL (Know, Wonder, Learn) is a way for students to organize and chart their thinking when learning a new concept. Students start by brainstorming what they already know about a topic. In this case, they would brainstorm what they already know about the states of matter. Then, students ask questions/wonders they don't know or want to learn about the concept. Finally, after reading the text, students write what they learned about the concept.

I would implement this strategy before, during and after reading.

This strategy supports my students because it allows students to explore what they are most curious about in regards to the states of matter. Some students may have wonders about solids while others are curious about how the different states change. Using a KWL chart allows students to keep track of their individual learning and promotes engagement because students explore what is most thought-provoking to them.