Reading and Writing About Science Heroes for Upper Elementary Students

Students learn about science heroes as they build their reading comprehension skills reading these curated stories using the links on the right.

Activate Prior Knowledge: What do students know about the hero they are going to read about? Conduct a class discussion if students are going to read the same story. Using a K-W-L Chart is another way to achieve this. Students write what they already know about the hero, what they want to learn and after reading, what they learned.

Evaluate Comprehension: Two students read the same story, then do a Think, Pair Share. Each student writes down why this person is a hero and what they learned about him or her. Then the two students share with each other what they wrote and decide together what they want to share with the class about this hero. 

Students are invited to share the story of a science hero with MY HERO using the Create Program.

One way to integrate this activity with science is to have upper elementary students read a biography of someone they consider a science hero. Have students take notes or provide a graphic organizer for note-taking. After reading the book, students write a paragraph or multi-paragraph story about this hero. This is a great way for an interdisciplinary unit combining science with language arts. 

Hero Scientist Stories

Katherine Johnson

Barbara McClintock

Margaret Mead

Therese Koutnik