Digital Resource Review: Science News Explores for supporting language learners

One of my cohort members in the Moreland University M.Ed. program recently brought to my attention a resource he has considered using for students in his ESL classes who are interested in science, and thus might benefit from opportunities to develop their English language skills in the context of a topic they are interested in. As a biology and chemistry teacher, I wanted to check it out and consider how I might use this for the ELL students in my classroom. Science News Explores (https://www.snexplores.org/) offers a number of features geared towards supporting and finding resources for students at different levels of proficiency. Here is a look at some of those features. 

Different article types: Science News Explores publishes a large variety of different article types, such as news stories, longer features, explainers and experiments. In particular for language learners, they offer a weekly feature called “Scientists Say” which focuses on a new vocabulary term every week, and Each term is defined, used in context and accompanies an audio clip of how it is pronounced. Another useful article type is the “Analyze This” series, which is focused on data, graphs and visualizations. Useful for skill development for any science learner, this article type provides language learners with ways of interacting with information based on other modalities besides text. 

“Power Words” and “Word Find” with each article: each article on the website contains a list of “power words” at the end, which is a glossary of terms that learners might not know off the top of their heads. This feature can support language learners with the acquisition of subject specific vocabulary in the context of what they are currently exploring. In addition, the feature-length articles and articles in the “Let’s learn about” series contain “word find” puzzles that incorporate the article’s power words. 

Readability Scores: each article is tagged with a different readability score that quantifies the reading level targeted for grades 6-9, and teachers can filter articles based on readability score (6.0-9.0) on the Flesch-Kincaid grade-level scale.

Comprehension and discussion questions: Many of the articles published in the last three years contain links to a series of  comprehension questions, discussion prompts, and activities. The questions are broken into groups to be answered before, during and after reading. These would be great to both focus language learners during a reading task, or to be used for think-pair-share discussions that allow language learners to discuss subject content with peers and develop their speaking skills. 

Individual interest and real-world connections: important in the language learning process is giving students the opportunity to explore topics of interest to them and increase motivation through student centered activities. Science News Explores aids in this objective through publishing articles on somewhat “wacky” science topics with titles such as “How would a mermaid sound underwater?” and “The science of ghosts.” Articles also cover important real-world themes like climate change, psychology, health and wellness. Two of their article types include “Cool Jobs” and “Invention and Innovation” to both inspire students and think about ways in which science applies to their lives and possible future careers.

For all of these reasons, this is a resource I look forward to using in the coming school year!