By Howard Wahlberg
Posted on 2010-07-19
Highlights of stimulating conversations taking place right now on our listservs:
In NSTA’s online professional learning communities, we welcome our 13 new users this past week.
On our “core site” (www.nsta.org): learn about how NSTA is involved with National Lab Day and check out our web news digest, which is active with stories on the elusive Higgs Boson particle and how body shape may affect mental acuity.
On Facebook, science educators are discussing weather warnings, chemical disposal, and NASA’s Cassini Scientist for a Day program.
On LinkedIn, more direct posts from NSTA’s Career Center, and discussions about bluebirds and wood ducks.
And of course, on our Twitter stream, science educators are tweeting and re-tweeting about several freebies that NSTA offers, the upcoming national San Francisco conference, and more!
Renew Your Membership!
Now is the time to insure that you don’t miss a single journal issue or one minute of the time you use to network and build professional connections here in these online communities. Click the link above to renew your membership and insure that NSTA stays in your corner for your science education career!
Highlights of stimulating conversations taking place right now on our listservs:
By Mary Bigelow
Posted on 2010-07-17
I am a science specialist and I teach students in first through fifth grades. My school is becoming the resource room building in the district. I expect to have large class sizes, 25–30 students, with mixed ability levels. I could have as many as 12 special education students in one class. I’d like to try differentiated inquiry science instruction. Can you suggest some resources?
—Jane, Waltham, MA
In an online interview, Carol Ann Tomlinson, a teacher and author of many publications on the topic, says differentiated instruction is a result of a teacher “acknowledging that kids learn in different ways, and responding by doing something about that through curriculum and instruction. A more dictionary-like definition is adapting content, process, and product in response to student readiness, interest, and/or learning profile.”
Many teachers have been differentiating without ever attending a workshop on the topic. They have realized one-size-fits-all instruction doesn’t work with the diversity of students in their classrooms. Strategies such as flexible grouping, cooperative learning, learning contracts, learning stations/centers, tiered assignments, independent study, direct instruction, authentic and alternative assessments, multimedia, inquiry, and problem-based learning can be used skillfully and purposefully to fit the many needs and varied interests of their students.
On Tomlinson’s website, you can find out more about the topic. I would recommend her book The Differentiated Classroom, an easy-to-read discussion of the topic with examples and suggestions. On YouTube, use the phrase “differentiated instruction” to find videos of what this can look like in real classrooms, where students are engaged in the learning process through a variety of activities. It’s also encouraging to see how students are taking more responsibility for their learning in these classrooms.
For your science classes, consider the book Differentiated Instructional Strategies for Science, Grades K-8 available through NSTA’s Science Store with many sample lessons and assessment activities. You could also look at the February 2010 issue of Science Scope, which had differentiated instruction as its theme. Some of the ideas in the articles could be used in your upper grades.
The resources noted at the end of this response have more suggestions for planning and implementing differentiated instruction. An important consideration is to relate the instructional activities to the learning goals of your curriculum and state standards. I observed a class in which some of the “differentiated” activities included coloring pages and find-a-word puzzles. I would certainly question their value in helping students learn science content and skills.
Your teaching assignment sounds like a challenging one. You mentioned in a follow-up note that you will see the students once a week in your role as science specialist. If the classroom teachers also provide instruction in science, it will be important to communicate with them to help students make connections between the lab and classroom activities. A quick glance at a few science notebooks would let you know what the students have been doing since their last visit to your lab. And the homeroom teacher can see what projects the students are doing with you.
With your special education students, you may have the opportunity to co-teach with a special education teacher or to work with a paraprofessional. Having another adult in the classroom to work with the students can be a valuable resource for your differentiated instruction. I’m hoping you also have planning time with them to learn more about the students and their learning plans.
Last month, a colleague in a similar situation asked about cooperative learning roles in the lab. The blog also has suggestions for organizational strategies and procedures in a lab situation.
Additional resources:
Photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/fontplaydotcom/504443770/
[links updated 2019.08.19]
I am a science specialist and I teach students in first through fifth grades. My school is becoming the resource room building in the district. I expect to have large class sizes, 25–30 students, with mixed ability levels. I could have as many as 12 special education students in one class. I’d like to try differentiated inquiry science instruction. Can you suggest some resources?
—Jane, Waltham, MA
By Mary Bigelow
Posted on 2010-07-14
By Peggy Ashbrook
Posted on 2010-07-13
By Mary Bigelow
Posted on 2010-07-09
By Peggy Ashbrook
Posted on 2010-07-09
Take a look at The ChildCare Information Exchange’s current “Insta-Poll” (a casual poll of readers) on their views on the Highest Priority Teacher Training Topics. “Connecting children with nature” is fifth in priority today when I looked at the poll, mentioned by 19% of the 263 people who had so far responded and “Science” is 42nd, tied with “Art” as mentioned by 3% of respondents. The Exchange publishes books, the Child Care Information Exchange magazine and the online ExchangeEveryDay daily early childhood newsbrief, and founded the independent non-profit organization, the World Forum Foundation, which runs a yearly conference on early care and education.
I think science walks and explorations, and making art would be excellent ways to connect children with nature. Perhaps taking nature walks would be a good first step in strengthening the science curriculum in early childhood programs.
The “Into the Woods” Teaching through Trade Books column by Karen Ansberry and Emily Morgan (Science and Children April/May 2007) describes how a class can explore a natural area outdoors, record their observations, and create a class book containing their own questions and answers about local wildlife (available at no cost online to NSTA members and to non-members after registration—scroll down to search). “A Walk in the ‘Tall, Tall Grass’” by Kathryn Kaatz (Science and Children February 2008) describes an inquiry-based lesson (inspired by Denise Fleming’s 1991 book entitled, In the Tall, Tall Grass) that takes kindergarteners out on a nature walk to make observations and record them (available at no cost online to NSTA members and for $0.99 to non-members—scroll down to search).
Children are thrilled by the smallest discoveries, such as a critter on the sidewalk or an interesting cloud. I’m wondering, can every walk can be a nature walk in early childhood or should some be specially for observing?
Peggy
Take a look at The ChildCare Information Exchange’s current “Insta-Poll” (a casual poll of readers) on their views on the Highest Priority Teacher Training Topics. “Connecting children with nature” is fifth in priority today when I looke
By Peggy Ashbrook
Posted on 2010-07-08
In planning for the school year, I check for safety considerations on the National Science Teachers Association website, at www.nsta.org/portals/safety.aspx#elem
Of course, each class of children is different, and I won’t know until September if any of the four-year-olds still put small objects in their mouths, or if any of the children have allergies. I’ll use the links to find safety guidelines, but once I know my class I’ll be able to know which hazards particularly apply to my students. Wearing safety goggles when working with substances such as Borax solutions which might splash and get into children’s eyes is good practice but requires teacher vigilance to make sure children keep them on!
Some of the dangers I’ve seen occur (which I did not predict) are:
I hope you’ll share some safety tips with all the Early Years readers by commenting below.
Washing hands after handling dirt, or other substance which may have harmful bacteria, viruses, or molds, or animals such as guinea pigs or slugs, is one of the easiest safety precautions to put into use, but it does take time. It makes sense to have a sink in every early childhood classroom and two or three might be even better! Can you suggest ways to make hand-washing go faster or an activity to do while waiting to wash?
Peggy
In planning for the school year, I check for safety considerations on the National Science Teachers Association website, at www.nsta.org/portals/safety.aspx#elem
By Howard Wahlberg
Posted on 2010-07-06
Highlights of stimulating conversations taking place right now on our listservs:
In NSTA’s online professional learning communities, we welcome our 20 new users this past week, and forum posts involving rates of reaction are being discussed.
On our “core site” (www.nsta.org): our web news digest is active with stories on teachers getting training on oil spills, and cotton candy, and roller coasters.
On Facebook, NASA and classwish.org are posting links to various programs for science educators.
On LinkedIn, more direct posts from NSTA’s Career Center, and discussions about springtime ferns and next generation education.
And of course, on our Twitter stream, science educators are tweeting and re-tweeting about several freebies that NSTA offers, the upcoming national San Francisco conference, and more!
Renew Your Membership!
Now is the time to insure that you don’t miss a single journal issue or one minute of the time you use to network and build professional connections here in these online communities. Click the link above to renew your membership and insure that NSTA stays in your corner for your science education career!
Highlights of stimulating conversations taking place right now on our listservs:
By Peggy Ashbrook
Posted on 2010-07-03
This past year I didn’t communicate well enough with some of the classroom teachers I work with so some science activities that might have been used sat on the shelf instead. Putting my efforts into doing science with the classes of children has introduced their teachers to many activities but has not developed the teachers’ knowledge of science inquiry as fully as I had hoped. So next year I plan to…..(“calm” is relative—at least the summer pace of re-thinking my science work, planning family gatherings and summer school attendance is less hectic than the weekly gathering of materials for upcoming activities and parent meetings that occur during the school year.)
Now I have more time for reflection on where I want to make improvements to the science instruction at the preschool programs I’m involved with. One school has already sent out an email requesting ideas for strengthening the curriculum for the upcoming school year. I would like to do a training in science inquiry with the classroom teachers so they can experience the process themselves away from children. Taking a professional development course about science inquiry in early childhood myself at the University of Northern Iowa is one way I’m going to develop my skills. My summer reading list has a few teaching-related items on it, including the short piece How to…Ask the Right Questions by Patricia E. Blosser, a guide to evaluating your use of questions in the classroom and how the amount of time you wait for students to answer, and how long you wait to reply, affect the students’ learning. And I’m going to look for ways to collaborate close to home so I can learn all year long—your comments on the NSTA blogs and the discussions on the NSTA email lists always inform, and planning time with the other teachers in the school helps me reflect on what and how I teach. See the Summer 2010 issue of Science and Children for more ideas about how to make professional development work for you.
Peggy