Snail Investigation

Gennifer prepares her students for their snail investigation by having them discuss, in small groups, plans that they’ve previously recorded in their notebooks. This simple step creates an additional opportunity for students to practice language in the context of their investigation. 

Gennifer constantly moves from group to group, making sure students are ready to begin. Watch as the students in one table group negotiate roles and work out differences. They know that organizing their investigation is up to them. They also know that Gennifer trusts them to succeed, and so feel ownership of the process. This understanding makes it more likely that they will work together to solve problems and support one another.

In the classroom, having students speak in small groups can be balanced with whole-group discussions, both to maintain attention and develop skills in each setting. The skills of interacting one-on-one are different from the skills needed to interact during large-group discussions. Both are important, and both require practice.

Students are excited to begin, but Gennifer knows that without strong management and clear guidance, the result is likely to be confusion and chaos. The hands-on nature of inquiry science, in particular, means that a room can get messy and seem disorganized as students pursue their own investigations. Here, good classroom management mitigates these issues.

Before work begins, Gennifer focuses student attention and goes over instructions in detail. She tells students exactly what they can expect of her, as well as what she will expect of them. The instructions are simple and concise, and have been broken down into small enough steps so that students can remember them.

Even though these few minutes of preparation are largely procedural, the process students go through is heavily language-oriented. When Gennifer talks, students listen. They read from their notebooks, talk with—and listen to—each other, and even recite along with Gennifer, anticipating the words she will use. She has students repeat the instructions out loud with her, ticking them off with a three-finger count—a “total physical response” (TPR) strategy that helps orient and guide English language learners.

Gennifer has set up a materials table in one area of the classroom. As students approach the table, she reminds them to use their notebooks to follow their plans. In this case, Gennifer has chosen to have all the students in a group gather the materials together, but she might also have chosen individuals to take on this responsibility. Over the school year, Gennifer has tried a number of approaches, giving students the opportunity to gain a range of skills. At this point, they are comfortable taking on different roles depending on the work at hand.

Students are excited to be actively involved in handling live specimens, so Gennifer finds that she needs to refocus their attention on the work at hand. She goes from table group to table group, reminding students that they are looking for evidence of what the snails are eating, and encouraging a balance between their enthusiastic interest and the expectations of the inquiry.

This is an opportunity for Gennifer to repeat the activity’s focus question—the main question driving the investigation. Her task is to maintain student interest while also modeling the scientific practice of asking questions.

Once she’s sure students are on track, Gennifer pushes the group’s thinking further by asking questions about their observations. As students offer explanations for their snail’s behavior, Gennifer reminds them to watch for evidence of their ideas. Her role is essentially as a facilitator, advising students to watch carefully, challenging them to think about what’s happening, and encouraging them think—and talk—about why.

In this clip, Gennifer casually gives a hand lens to one student in each group. The tool, which helps them see their snails up close, creates new interest in the activity and focuses students on the evidence for which they are searching. Gennifer encourages students to share the hand lens, and then lets them experiment and explore on their own. The magnifying glass is familiar to students, but they may never before have used it as a scientific tool.

Sometimes a new material can be added when student interest is flagging, or when there’s a lull in an activity. If the investigation requires time to wait for something to happen (waiting for snails to choose something to eat, for example, can require both time and patience), any prolonged span of inactivity can end up offering unexpected distractions. Introducing new materials can help students refocus on their goals and discover new dimensions to their work. It’s also important for students to learn that scientists use tools to support the work they do.

As she checks in with students, notice that Gennifer is deliberate in evaluating their understanding and helping them engage in the investigation. She asks “What did you notice?” and “Why do you think that?”—questions that re-energize students to look more closely and begin to construct explanations for what they are observing. The hand lens gives them a new way to engage with their investigation.

One student interacts with another in Spanish, then quickly shifts back to English. Moving back and forth between primary and secondary languages is a common and accepted occurrence in Gennifer’s classroom. It allows students to express themselves freely and keeps their focus on making meaning when their communication needs exceed their English language abilities. 

Gennifer goes from group to group making sure students remember that they’re looking for evidence of what their snails are eating. Once she’s sure they’re on track, she pushes student thinking further by asking questions about their observations. As students begin offering their thinking to explain their snail’s behavior, Gennifer challenges them to watch for evidence of their ideas.

When it’s time for students to record their observations, Gennifer offers ways to help students gather their thoughts and compose their sentences. By scaffolding this activity with a sentence starter (“I notice that…”) and a suggested procedure (“Say it out loud to yourself…”), Gennifer offers these scaffolds to students who need extra support.

This group is engaged and motivated. They’re watching carefully and sharing observations with each other, and with their teacher.

But watching snails eating is slow work. Students are excited, but they need help staying focused. Gennifer prompts them to go beyond their observations, asking them specific questions about the conclusions they are drawing. When students note that their snail is “on the cheese,” Gennifer asks if that means the snail is actually eating it. After a moment of more detailed observation, one student says “no”—until another notices a bite mark, changing the group’s thinking and refocusing everyone’s attention.

Gennifer encourages students to draw pictures of what they’re seeing. This activity will keep them involved with the process, while also prompting them to think more deeply about their observations.

Notice that, as Gennifer talks with students, she uses the word “evidence” several times in context. “Do you see any bite marks?” she asks, “—any evidence?” By using the word casually in conversation, Gennifer gives students a chance to hear the term used correctly, become familiar with it, and think about what it could mean. As part of their expanding scientific vocabulary, the word “evidence,” in particular, will become more important as the lesson goes on. 

In one group, snails are eating pasta. One student suggests they might like it because it’s a bright color—then realizes that there are other brightly colored foods on the plate (strawberry, turkey). Interactions like this one give students ownership of ideas, and opens the way for thinking beyond the scope of the original investigation.

Science investigations give students an opportunity to have authentic, personal experiences while doing science. But in the excitement of the moment, it can be easy for them to forget to record their thoughts and findings. Here, Gennifer asks students to write and draw what they are thinking and doing. She reminds them to use labels as they work on their drawings, making sure that students have an opportunity to use vocabulary in context, practicing their language and writing skills, and connecting words to experiences.

Careful documentation of scientific investigation is a crucial tool for any scientist, and is essential in the classroom as well. Recording data for later use, keeping records, and writing down thoughts and observations can help students expand their thinking beyond an initial experience—in this case, watching snails eat. 

In Gennifer’s class, students all have notebooks of their own, allowing them to record their data, as well as their personal thoughts and ideas. The notebooks will become more and more important as the lesson continues, helping them show their evidence and recall their experiences when they share with others. Besides giving students the chance to practice their writing and drawing skills, the task of recording data also adds a physical element, helping them better connect with the results of the investigation. 

One snail is marked by the dye from an M&M candy, but students know it cannot get to the chocolate inside. One student thinks that if they break apart the candy the snail might eat the chocolate. Gennifer turns his attention back to the current experiment, but honors his idea—and thus encourages individual thinking—by suggesting they do a follow-up experiment.

Gennifer visits the students in this table-group and calls their attention to the possibility that one of their snails might be showing some interest in eating the tomato on their plate. As soon as she walks away, one student calls out that the snail is, indeed, eating the tomato, but Gennifer has moved on. Alone in this moment with his peers, he communicates the exciting information in a burst of Spanish, and then switches back to English.

As you will see in other classroom clips, momentarily shifting between languages is a common occurrence, which Gennifer accepts without comment. In a classroom where students are at different grade levels and have mixed English language capabilities, working in carefully matched pairs or small groups can offer important peer support.

For students unsure of themselves, in particular, having a peer who can translate questions, comments, and instructions, or even just help communicate from time to time, can keep them engaged and oriented without calling attention to their difficulties.

For some students, school is the only environment in which they regularly speak English. For teachers to establish the norm that a student’s primary language is honored is an important part of creating a classroom culture where students feel safe to take risks and communicate their ideas.

One student notices her snails prefer bananas to spinach, but has written an unfinished sentence. Gennifer breaks the work into two steps, first encouraging her to come up with an explanation (“Can you tell me how you know? Because…”), and then scaffolding her attempts to write in her notebook (“Try to say the words; then get them onto your paper”).

The students in this table group are working together to write a sentence about their observations. One has assumed the role of facilitator, and the other students are accepting of her help as they work. As a strong English speaker, she is helping to model the use of language within the group as they talk together about what needs to be written in their science notebooks.

These students seem to be working well with one another, but the group makeup was not accidental. Gennifer has carefully thought out how to put students together so they will work well with one another. When she assigns groups, she evaluates their needs on a number of levels, including their language abilities, social roles, developmental levels, and communication styles. Her aim is for all her students to find some way to participate successfully in the classroom.

After writing in their notebooks, this group gets into a discussion about what they have observed, offering a variety of explanations for what they’ve seen in their investigation. All the students in the group are actively involved and feel comfortable talking with one another, though they are all at different levels of English language proficiency.

Gennifer goes from table group to table group, checking in with students as they work in their notebooks. When one student gets stuck, she gets him talking, then reminds him that he can “talk to the paper.” By suggesting a simple, familiar action, she helps the student transition into another way of expressing his ideas.

This is a typical scenario. Most students will need a scaffold to be able to write in their science notebooks following an investigation. Scaffolding provides important support that can lead to independence, but a teacher must determine what kind of scaffold is appropriate given the particular needs of each student. 

As Gennifer circulates, she challenges observations and prompts student thinking by asking questions. The wording of these questions is intentionally designed to elicit both content and confidence.

At one table, students indicate that their snails are showing an obvious preference for one food over all the others. Gennifer asks, “What makes you say the snails like the banana best?” Her question prompts them to use detail in describing their observations, helping them develop a practice of expressing evidence to support their explanations.

When students respond to Gennifer’s prompts, she is careful to be supportive of their efforts, encouraging them with praise—but then challenging them to go further: “I love that sentence. Can you tell me some ‘Why?’”; “I think that’s a great observation. Can you please write that down?”

Gennifer’s questions ask students to make meaning of what they are observing. The students are capable of doing the thinking, but they need opportunities to put their thoughts into words. By asking for verbal responses, Gennifer makes sure the students are not only using language, but are also listening to it being used by others. At the same time, her questions prompt students to think more deeply about what they are seeing and writing, encouraging new interaction within each group.

For those students who are still learning to express themselves in English, Gennifer asks occasional “yes” or “no” questions: “Do you agree?” “Is that what you are seeing, too?” These choice questions give students an opportunity to communicate their understanding, even though their English may be limited. Gennifer knows that the pressure of answering more completely can be intimidating, and keeps the interaction low pressure, while also keeping students engaged and listening. Even if they cannot express themselves fully, they are participating and succeeding.

For English-proficient students, Gennifer asks questions that do not demand right or wrong answers. Instead, she wants to know what they’re thinking and why. By focusing on open-ended questions, Gennifer can gauge student understanding while also keeping language flowing at every level of learning.

Gennifer begins a discussion that allows students to share what they’ve discovered during their investigations. She starts the conversation by asking, “What did you notice today?” This open-ended question gives all of Gennifer’s students an opportunity to answer, since it asks for their personal experiences—there is no need for students to worry about getting anything “wrong.”

Notice how interested students are in sharing their observations and explanations. This is an opportunity for them to look back at their notes, think about their experiences, and do some reflecting about their investigations. One student talks about watching her snail making bubbles (an observation that continues to draw comments during the conversation) and offers her thoughts about this puzzling behavior. Another student shares that he has discovered an answer to his own earlier question about whether snails eat chocolate. “The snail does like chocolate,” he says, “but didn’t like the outside of the M&M.”

As the discussion progresses, and the students talk more about their discoveries, they repeat the terms and ideas they are learning about. This repetition is particularly important for English language learners. Hearing academic language over and over again helps them become familiar with new words, and can eventually give them the confidence to use those words themselves—during the next day’s class Science Talk, for instance. This quick share-out helps bring closure to the investigation by focusing on each student’s discoveries, allowing them express their learning in their own words.

After the verbal review of their investigations, Gennifer gives students time to add final thoughts by drawing or writing in their notebooks. This is a valuable opportunity for them to express thoughts they might not have said out loud, capture new information, or add details to their notebooks—valuable resources for upcoming work.

Science notebook writing and small-group discussions help students prepare their thoughts and language for an upcoming Science Talk. As Gennifer goes from group to group, she helps frame the conversation so that some English language learners, who might be hesitant about participating, can share ideas among their peers.

Science notebook writing and small-group discussions help students prepare for an upcoming Science Talk. As Gennifer goes from group to group, she helps frame the conversation so that some English language learners, who might be hesitant about participating, can share ideas among their peers.

It’s a new day in Gennifer’s classroom, and students are getting ready to share what they’ve learned during their snail investigations. Gennifer takes some time to prepare students, step-by-step.

First, she asks students to look in their notebooks and reflect on earlier work. This gives them time to orient themselves and review useful ideas and words they might need for their upcoming Science Talk.

Next, she has students talk with their partners about what they might want to say during the Science Talk. This gives students a chance to practice among themselves, working out what they are planning to share. An activity like this can be particularly important for English language learners, who might not feel confident participating without preparation and peer support.

Finally, she has everyone sit in a circle, making sure students are seated so they can work without distraction. While students might want to sit next to a best friend or popular student, Gennifer knows that’s not always a productive arrangement for them.

At this point, Gennifer takes one more step, reminding students that she expects them to abide by the guidelines the class has been using. “What are some things we should remember during Science Talk?” she asks, and students reply by sharing four expectations:

• You don’t have to agree with your friends; be your own person
• When someone is talking, look at them
• Respect that they are talking
• Don’t interrupt

Having students remind each other of these previously agreed-upon norms focuses their attention before the Science Talk begins and reinforces an atmosphere of mutual respect.

With the preliminaries done, Gennifer begins the Science Talk by asking students to take turns sharing what they saw during their investigations.

One student shares that when her snail encountered a piece of Takis (a spicy corn tortilla chip popular with the students), it began creating bubbles. When she tries to explain this behavior, she has trouble finding the words she wants. Gennifer recognizes that this student is struggling to figure out how she wants to express her ideas in English and asks if she would like to express her thoughts in Spanish. Her encouragement is a recognition that this student’s ideas have value in any language.

Gennifer also offers her more time. This is an acknowledgment that the student is capable of figuring out how to express her idea in English, and it is fine for her to take more time to prepare to do this. Ultimately, the student decides to think about how to say what she wants to share, and a few minutes later finds a way to express her thoughts.

Gennifer has begun this Science Talk by asking students to simply share what they saw during their investigations, which students begin to do. But when one shares that her snail produced bubbles after nibbling on some spicy Takis chips, the conversation takes an unexpected turn, focusing attention on this intriguing detail. When a second student brings up the idea that the bubbles may have come from the snail’s mucous gland, other students pick up on this possibility and continue the discussion.

Gennifer tries to direct the class back to sharing what they saw, but students have realized that this bubbling behavior is familiar, and very much like their own experiences producing saliva when they eat something spicy. They have happened upon a circumstance they have all observed and an experience they have personally shared, so suggest that something similar may be happening to the snail. Not only have students made their own discovery, but have found a way to explain it, as well.

Ultimately, Gennifer sums up what has been said and reframes the theory about the bubbles in order to support students in elaborating their thoughts. They share their observations with a clarity that allows them to compare, examine, and extend each other’s ideas. They use levels of detail that allow them to develop explanations for their observations and look for associated evidence.

Gennifer continues a class Science Talk by refocusing on a main question. She asks, “What did the snail do when it reached a food?” This is a question that students can answer from their own experiences. An emerging English language learner is able to respond with a one-word answer. Students more proficient in English give more detailed feedback, but many students participate. 

Gennifer’s students have been thinking about what they did see. When Gennifer asks them about what they did not see, the group begins a new thread of discussion.

When one student volunteers that his group’s snail did not eat bacon, students begin offering ideas to explain why the snail avoided the bacon: because it’s meat, they decide; it’s unfamiliar; it smells bad.

Another student describes how her group’s snails ate only pasta, and avoided everything else. When Gennifer asks why that might have happened, the student has nothing more to add. Rather than press her further, Gennifer asks if help could come from someone else in the girl’s investigation group, and allows her to call on one of her partners. She turns to another student in her group who does have something to say, and he proposes his own thoughts. In this way, the Science Talk functions as a practice for both individual and collective sharing.

When one student suggests that a snail ate pasta because it likes grains, another disagrees and shares observations of snail behavior as evidence for his claim. Gennifer facilitates the conversation so other students can share their ideas and the evidence from their observations.

After discussing their snails’ food preferences, Gennifer asks, “Did someone see anything else?”, opening the discussion to additional information. When she points out that the snails are eating foods from different food groups, a whole new set of vocabulary is reviewed (“vegetable,” “grain,” “fruit”), taking class thinking to another level of complexity.

As the discussion continues, students form claims largely by associating snail behaviors with their own behaviors around food. This is a developmentally appropriate way for them to make sense of their observations. 

One student focuses on the characteristics of Takis, suggesting that the chips may have smelled too spicy to attract their snail, and been too hard for it to bite. This explanation leads to an interesting debate about whether a snail has a nose. Students use evidence from their experiences outside the investigation (“Is a snail a bug?”), as well as from classroom study (“The nose is in its shell…”, “…because of the breathing hole”) to talk about this possibility.

 This clip ends with a student sharing her disagreement with the idea that snails don’t eat Takis: She has evidence, she says, that the snail in her group did eat it. This is an interesting moment, revealing an understanding of claims and evidence by this student, and the adoption of some of the scientific vocabulary introduced by this investigation.

At this point, students have heard observations from all the groups and have shared most of their own ideas. When Gennifer challenges them to think more deeply about why their snails ate some things, but not others, they begin discussing each other’s observations—a shift in focus that leads one student to ask another about her observations, rather than addressing the teacher or the group.

This exchange sets up a wonderful observation from another student, who suggests that snails are “like bad beetles that eat your plants.” Bringing in this prior experience creates a pivotal moment that reveals how thinking about science and using everyday language are intertwined. Another student makes a very general statement from his own prior experiences, saying “Humans like different things, so maybe it’s the same thing with snails; they like different things.” 

Gennifer tries to refocus the conversation by asking about more general ideas, but students are not quite ready at this point to generalize outside the context of their particular experiences. Interestingly, the last student to comment acknowledges that he has no explanation for another observation he’s made: Even though he knows snails like tomatoes, his group’s snails didn’t eat their tomato, only their lettuce. Gennifer ends the discussion with some well-deserved praise for the thinking and depth of conversation in this part of the Science Talk.

When Gennifer asks “Do snails have senses?” she opens a new line of thought for students and gets them thinking about snail anatomy.

Students begin to reflect on their own experiences—both in the classroom and out—to try and make sense of how a snail might experience the world. One suggests that snails can feel and taste; another notes that there is physical evidence for a mouth and eyes. Finally, a student who has never before participated in a Science Talk points out that the snail anatomy diagram in their notebooks might help answer some of their questions. Having her notebook available as a reference allows her to more comfortably participate in a whole-group setting.

A few of the students had already begun to leaf through their notebooks, but now the whole class turns to this drawing, and in that moment they reconnect with the science investigation they’ve just experienced. Having this written record of the data they’ve been working on gives them a shared focus, which brings up new thoughts and ideas.

At this point, in addition to facilitating the content shift going on in the discussion, Gennifer is also aware of different levels of student participation. For instance, she can see that some students, who might not be talking, are attentively listening. She is also aware that several students who rarely participate in large-group discussions have begun to interact, and is careful to call on them as soon as they show interest in adding their ideas to the conversation. 

Students draw upon representations of snail anatomy in their notebooks as evidence to support their questions about snails’ body parts and their functions. Conversation keeps flowing, and new thoughts and ideas are entertained.

With their notebooks open in front of them and data available for students to consider, new questions begin to come up. Gennifer affirms the validity of each question by letting students know that they will be added to the class Question Board, one of several student-driven pieces of environmental print displayed in the classroom. She will either address the questions herself in a later session, or have a visiting expert come in to talk with students.

The practice of capturing student ideas in print and posting them in the classroom for all to see (environmental print) is an important way to create a literacy-rich environment for students and honor student thinking. Environmental print that is continuously available throughout a science unit serves as a reference for students to draw upon, helping them remember ideas and language as they engage in science talks and writing.

Gennifer continues to support student questions, allowing follow-up when students continue thinking about snail anatomy, a strategy that keeps the Science Talk on track. One question about snail tentacles prompts a discussion about snail vision. The conversation progresses as students discuss their thoughts by referencing their observations and personal experiences. 

One student, who has now had a chance to look more closely at her diagram, volunteers that she has changed her idea of where the snail’s mouth is located. Gennifer acknowledges that the student has “changed her thinking,” accepting it as a natural part of the Science Talk. This kind of casual support can allow students to correct themselves or one another without feeling judged.

Gennifer focuses discussion around a potentially distracting question into a positive conversation about snail anatomy. Her careful facilitation in the moment leads to a useful interaction and whole-class participation.

As Gennifer nears the end of the class Science Talk, she asks students to write down any final questions they might have. By having students record new thoughts, she prompts them to think beyond their immediate conversation, extending their scientific curiosity. By giving them the opportunity to write in their notebooks, she extends their language use.

Gennifer has arranged for a content expert to visit the class, so promises that unanswered questions will be added to the class Question Board and addressed in an upcoming session. By inviting an expert to address students in an upcoming class, Gennifer is adding a new resource—a specialist who can add new knowledge and understanding.

The Question Board, which is posted in the classroom, is one example of environmental print: written language that keeps terms and ideas visible for the class to see, and is always available to prompt memories of earlier work.