The National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) offers a growing collection of resources around the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS). While many of our products and services to date more generically target the whole K–12 spectrum, we do have resources designed specifically for elementary school educators.
NSTA’s upcoming full-day virtual conference (August 6 from 10 am to 6 pm EDT) on literacy and NGSS—Connecting Literacy and Science With NGSS and Common Core—will be particularly helpful to elementary teachers, who may be under the greatest stress to incorporate both the Common Core and NGSS in their classrooms, and includes an elementary-focused breakout session.
This fall, NSTA will continue the NGSS web seminar series with sessions dedicated to the new standards by grade level. The first, on September 17, will discuss kindergarten standards. Succeeding web seminars will tackle 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th grades. Additional details will soon be available on our website.
In addition, NSTA Press has produced a number of books on the NGSS. The most elementary-specific of the collection is Science for the Next Generation: Preparing for the New Standards. Other key resources are Introducing Teachers and Administrators to the NGSS: A Professional Development Facilitator’s Guide, Translating the NGSS for Classroom Instruction, The NSTA Reader’s Guide to the Next Generation Science Standards, and The NSTA Reader’s Guide to A Framework for K–12 Science Education.
The NSTA Learning Center, which offers just-in-time, just-for-me professional learning models, also includes materials that support the NGSS. These can be by grade band and include e-chapters, e-articles, archived NGSS web seminars, and more. Plus, NLC-moderated community forums include both elementary science and Next Generation Science Standards, as well as STEM, general science and teaching, and more.
Finally, the Mickelson ExxonMobil Teachers Academy is a unique learning experience designed for elementary teachers in grades 3–5 that focuses heavily on the NGSS scientific and engineering practices. The Academy helps teachers improve student learning experiences by enhancing grade appropriate mathematics and science content knowledge; demonstrating the interrelationships between scientific inquiry and mathematical problem solving; using the math tools to build understanding and connections to science concepts; and modeling “best practices” in teaching and learning. Registration is now open for the 2015 Academy.
A comprehensive list of NSTA resources on the Next Generation Science Standards—which include videos from our National Conference in Boston, a full archive of our NGSS web seminars, books, journal articles, handouts, and more—is most easily accessed via the NGSS@NSTA Hub.