As Roger C. Schank declares, "There is no remembering without retelling." It is in the nature of science as an interpretation of reality and a phenomenon of culture to be a thought-process that can be communicated. It has been estimated that scientists spend one-fourth of their professional time communicating in writing.

There is a way to look at science as a story. Perhaps the over-arching purpose of science as a human endeavor is to tell the story of the universe. Learning science is a function of matching the technical script (what we teach) to what we have experienced and stored in our brains. All processes have a beginning, middle, and an end-a story. The level of sophistication of the student will determine the number of events that can be described in the storyline.

*Tell the story of the life cycle of a star.
*Tell the story of an electron as it moves through a circuit, lights a bulb and heats up.

Everyday your science lessons can be retold as a story. Your lessons have a beginning, middle, and end. Be sure the students realize that this story is non-fiction, informational text. The end of the story may be where the teacher provides closure to the lesson by insuring the students understand the "big idea." Personal narrative or friendly letters are good modes of writing to retell or summarize a lab experience.

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Elementary teachers have received language arts GLI posters created by Loretta Jones.
Social Studies will soon be out and they were done by Annette Roth.

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