At NSTA’s recent fall conferences in Portland and Charlotte, NSTA Press author Bill Robertson led teachers in refresher courses on physical science topics such as sound, light, and force and motion. Robertson’s bestselling book series, Stop Faking It! Finally Understanding Science So You Can Teach It, has been a reliable resource for teachers looking to deepen their content knowledge on selected topics. In the November 2013 issue of Book Beat, we focus on NSTA Press resources that teachers find particularly helpful when they’re looking to strengthen their own science backgrounds.
Stop Faking It! Series
Bill Robertson’s thinking behind his popular and award-winning Stop Faking It! series is that science can be both accessible and fun if information is presented so that people can readily understand it. Download the free chapter “Newton’s First One” from Force and Motion: Stop Faking It! for a lighthearted but substantive introduction to the basic principles of motion. To see more topics Robertson covers in his books, visit the Stop Faking It! series page on the NSTA website, where you can download more sample chapters and activities..
Teacher Learning Opportunities in December
We still have spaces available in our one-day preconference workshops on Wednesday, December 11, 2013, in Denver. Learn how to use formative assessment to transform instruction while simultaneously supporting learning at Page Keeley and Joyce Tugel’s Science Formative Assessment Preconference Workshop. Gain deeper understanding of how to integrate science and reading in your elementary instruction and learn new lessons at Emily Morgan and Karen Ansberry’s Picture-Perfect Science Preconference Workshop. Emily Morgan will also lead an online short course, Moving Toward NGSS: Connecting Science to Common Core With Picture-Perfect Science Lessons, with web sessions on December 2, December 9, and December 16, 2013.
The Science Store Is Open 24/7
To learn more about new resources for science teachers, visit our online Science Store, where you can browse by subject area and download sample chapters from NSTA Press books. Our digital catalog provides another easy way to connect to books and ebooks for teachers of science for kindergarten through college. Be sure to also check out NSTA’s brand-new and highly interactive ebooks, which provide a professional development experience that includes engagement with animations, simulations, and videos on topics from the nature of light to interdependence of life.
To read previous issues of NSTA’s Book Beat and to sign up to receive this monthly enewlsetter, visit the Book Beat archive page on the NSTA website.