Mon Sep 17, 2018 6:32 PM
ELA & Science: A Match Made in HeavenIf you are "biting at the bit" because your principal doesn't see any value in teaching science, this article will help him/her see how you can "kill two birds with one stone". Students conceptualize everyday phenomena and make their thinking visible while practicing English and language arts strategies. The author relies heavily on interactive notebooks where students practice their reading and writing as they engage in critical thinking skills, apply their learning to new situations, and connect prior knowledge to new phenomenal occurrences. The article is an outstanding example of how to document student thinking and understanding, too. When interactive notebooks are used throughout the school year, you have student-generated data at your fingertips to show students' continuing growth in reading, writing, and reasoning skills. What more could a principal ask for?
Sat Jan 13, 2018 8:59 AM
MORE: Scaffolding Model-making & Reflecting
Whether one uses the well established 5 E learning and teaching model (Engage, Explore, Explain, Extend, Evaluate), MORE, or some other inquiry structure to frame lessons, best practices (like accessing prior knowledge, uncovering misconceptions, checking for understanding, etc.) should be strategically included. The Model-Observe-Reflect-Explain (MORE) thinking frame does just that for students needing practice in modeling and reflecting. If your students need to practice the skills of conceptualizing through making models and reflecting, MORE is a good learning framework to incorporate. The authors include a grading rubric that compares students’ initial and refined models.
Sat Jan 13, 2018 8:18 AM
Practicing Scaffolding to Do Science
Discover how instructors at an Academy designed an environmental course for undergraduates that introduced the nature of science and the scientific method as a way to consider and solve real world problems through observation, hypothesizing, data collection and analysis. The students gained an understanding of how scientists do science by becoming scientists, too. The article shows how the instructors used scaffolding of lessons (both in-class and out-of-class assignments) to prepare students for their projects. One of the hooks for engaging students was the use of Myth Busters program segments. Whether you are teaching elementary, middle, or high school students, this article has great ideas for how to scaffold learning, involve students in phenomena of every day life, help them to distinguish between good and bad science, and practice those processes that research scientists, engineers, ornithologists, environmentalists, etc., engage in each day.
7 Resources
Looking for ideas to give your students opportunities to collect real data that will help researchers and perhaps awaken a desire to help our planet survive and thrive? Here is a collection of resources from the Learning Center.
Citizen Scientists
Type: Journal Article
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Citizen Science: Testing the Water: World Watering Challenge
Type: Journal Article
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17 Resources
Several Learning Center articles provide strategies for helping students learn and understand vocabulary terms important to science concepts/content. Here is a collection highlighting several ideas.
Picture-Perfect-and-Common-Core.pdf
Type: User uploaded resource
Teaching Science to English-as-Second-Language Learners
Type: Journal Article
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5 Resources
Discover ways to integrate SEPs into elementary science lessons with the articles and other resources in this collection.
Engineering Encounters: Building a Spaghetti Structure
Type: Journal Article
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Engineering Encounters: An Engineering Design Process for Early Childhood
Type: Journal Article
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