Workbook
This workbook is designed to be used alongside your BFSU science lessons as a review and writing practice. It is inspired by activites in the Writing Revolution (TWR). Each session has two pages: a passage page and an activity page.
The Passage Page
Before or after your science lesson, read the passage aloud to your students. They do not need to read it themselves. The passage covers the key ideas from that session's lesson and is written to be listened to. You can read it once straight through, or read it a second time while students follow along. The passage is what all the activities pull from, so students should hear it before they work.
The Activity Page
After the read-aloud, students complete the activities on the second page. Each session has two activities. Here is a quick guide to each activity type:
You do not need to do both activities in one sitting if your session is short. The activities are designed to be quick, so most students should finish one page in about 10 to 15 minutes. For younger or struggling writers, you can do activities orally or have students dictate their answers while you or an older student writes. The answer key has sample answers for every activity and notes on what to accept for open-ended responses.
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The Passage Page
Before or after your science lesson, read the passage aloud to your students. They do not need to read it themselves. The passage covers the key ideas from that session's lesson and is written to be listened to. You can read it once straight through, or read it a second time while students follow along. The passage is what all the activities pull from, so students should hear it before they work.
The Activity Page
After the read-aloud, students complete the activities on the second page. Each session has two activities. Here is a quick guide to each activity type:
- Because / But / So — Students complete the same sentence stem three different ways using because, but, and so. Each completion should use ideas from the lesson. There is no single right answer as long as the content is accurate.
- Fill in the Blank — Students use the word box to fill in blanks in sentences. The word box is always visible on the page. Every word in the box is used once.
- True / False — Students circle True or False for each statement. False statements are written to target common misconceptions from the lesson.
- Fragment Repair — Students are given a fragment and must turn it into a complete sentence. The fragment always comes from lesson content. Accept any sentence that is complete and accurate.
- Three Key Words — Students write three key words or phrases from the passage. This works well as a quick recall activity right after the read-aloud. Accept any words that are genuinely important to the lesson.
- Scrambled Sentence — Students unscramble a set of words to form a correct sentence. There is one right answer for these.
- Which Detail Doesn't Belong — Students read four details and identify which one does not belong in a paragraph about the lesson topic. They also write a brief explanation. The odd-one-out always comes from a different lesson.
- Single-Paragraph Outline (SPO) — Used only twice, toward the end of the semester. Details are provided. Students write only the topic sentence and closing sentence.
You do not need to do both activities in one sitting if your session is short. The activities are designed to be quick, so most students should finish one page in about 10 to 15 minutes. For younger or struggling writers, you can do activities orally or have students dictate their answers while you or an older student writes. The answer key has sample answers for every activity and notes on what to accept for open-ended responses.
BFSU_Semester1_Workbook.pdf by Selene