This era of AYP (annual yearly progress) and the pressure to meet AMAOs for English Language Learners (ELLs) has fueled our current focus on academic language goals, often framed as vocabulary or discrete elements of grammar. But this narrow focus can result in missed opportunities to seek out and build on student-centered cultural and linguistic resources. Teachers need to focus on developing and honing their pedagogical skills to solicit student ideas and link students’ cultural experiences to the classroom. When we’re able to do that, science class becomes the optimal place to build on the prior understandings and language skills and language-rich practices that all of our students have developed at home and in their communities.

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The Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) offer a way to start the journey of reflective teaching and raise the bar of science learning for all students. Appendix D—All Standards, All Students is accompanied by seven case studies of diverse student groups and addresses what classroom teachers can do to ensure that the NGSS are accessible to all students. The introduction states: “The chapter highlights practicality and utility of implementation strategies that are grounded in theoretical or conceptual frameworks. It consists of three parts. First, it discusses both learning opportunities and challenges that the NGSS present to student groups that have traditionally been underserved in science classrooms. Second, it describes effective strategies for implementation of the NGSS in the classroom, school, home, and community. Finally, it provides the context of student diversity by addressing changing demographics, persistent science achievement gaps, and educational policies affecting non-dominant student groups.”

I was honored to have taken the lead for Case Study 4: English Language Learners and the Next Generation Science Standards and provide the classroom vignette. In this unit, I engage ELLs with three-dimensional learning, in part, by bridging home and community with school. I use a homework assignment to validate the science knowledge in the home and develop comprehensive understanding of the science ideas, which compels a new driving question.

I have students take the Driving Question, “Is all soil the same?” to their families as an “interview.” The students solicit their families’ experiences with soil and write down the interview responses to share with the class. As a result of the homework, many students, especially those whose families have expertise in gardening, have deep, thoughtful conversations with their family. All of the ELL students strengthen their content-specific vocabulary in their home language, and they have an opportunity to bridge the content and vocabulary learned in school with their experiences at home. For example, newcomers from Gambia and Senegal are able to make sense of the science discussions in English after the translated homework is sent home and discussed in the home language.

The extra effort to connect home and school sends a message about the high value placed on home and cultural knowledge and experiences. The students feel validated and so do their family members. One Hmong parent, Mrs. Xiong, a vegetable vendor at a farmers’ market, offers to come into the classroom and share her expertise. She speaks through the school interpreter: “It’s raining in Laos pretty much all the time so the soil is pretty much rich. It rains so much the forest holds everything together and holds the nutrients. It doesn’t wash out. Over there we don’t have sandy soil. In this area, I was so surprised to see corn growing in rows in the sandy soil.” The class is fascinated by Mrs. Xiong’s description of fertilization techniques in her home country. After presenting families’ interviews about soil to their classmates, the students frequently bring up specific comments made by members of their family. It seems that the homework assignment is a small but powerful catalyst for inclusion.

The students write the evidence from their interviews onto sentence strips and include the evidence on the class’ Evidence Wall. This is powerful for some students, who see their parents’ words elevated to the same height as the evidence from shared readings! The students then analyze the data. The class discusses the similarities among the data and look for patterns, getting out a large world map. Everyone is unanimous that soil is different around the world. This discussion leads to the next Driving Question: “Is the soil the same in different places in our neighborhood?” The students spend the next three weeks engaged with the new driving question, collecting soil and analyzing it in three different locations around the school.

The ELL case study, soon to be published in the NSTA book, All Standards, All Students: Next Generation Science Standards in the Classroom, inspires teachers to attempt some new approaches for teaching science that will lead to success for their underserved students. As ELLs engage in sense-making with others around them, they draw from the experiences and conversations they have in their home, in their home language. When teachers tap into these experiences and discussions, they open the door to amazingly rich conversations and collaborative sense-making. Through the changes brought on by the NGSS, combined with creative teaching, we will see more of our students viewing STEM as a viable option for careers and grasping the value of science for understanding the world around them. By making purposeful connections to home and community resources, teachers of ELLs can take advantage of opportunities that engage students–transferring knowledge, practices, and crosscutting concepts across languages and home and community experiences.

Today’s Guest Blogger

Emily Miller is a practicing teacher and a lead writer for the NGSS Diversity and Equity Writing Team. She has taught science as an ESL/ Bilingual Resource science specialist at a Title 1 urban school for 16 years. Emily has used the NGSS in her own diverse classroom and improved and refined teaching to the standards with her students. She is consulting with the Wisconsin Center for Educational Research to develop teacher tools to promote sense making and language learning for ELLs in science. Email her at emilycatherine329@gmail.com.

Editor’s Note

Coming soon from the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA): Look for the NSTA press publication, NGSS for All: Reaching Every Student, expected out in 2015. The book will include the seven case studies from NGSS Appendix D as well as additional chapters on interpretations and applications of the case studies for K-12 classrooms and in professional development.  To view the case studies, visit the NGSS@NSTA Hub. You can also view them on the official NGSS website. Also read a related journal article authored by Emily and her colleagues, Hedi Baxter Laufer and Paula Messina. The article, NGSS for English Language Learners: From theory to planning to practice appeared in the January 2014 issue of Science and Children.

The mission of NSTA is to promote excellence and innovation in science teaching and learning for all.

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We’re just days away from the first NSTA area conference of the year. We’ll be making ourselves at home at the Greater Richmond Convention Center in Richmond, Virginia, from October 16-18, and we invite you to join us as we Celebrate Science Inside and Out!

We kick things off on Thursday morning (October 16) with keynote speaker Brendan Mullan at 9:15am. Mullan, 2013 National Geographic Emerging Explorer, national champion of the 2012 U.S. FameLab science communication competition, and director of the Buhl Planetarium and Observatory at the Carnegie Science Center in Pittsburgh, PA, will talk about Selling the Science Story. Attendees will learn about new avenues in SETI (the search for extraterrestrial intelligence) and the types of 21st-century skills that he thinks students will need to become “interstellar archaeologists.” After the keynote, conference attendees will have an exclusive opportunity to meet Mullan in the Exhibit Hall at the National Geographic booth # 223. Our staff can’t wait to meet him personally and to thank National Geographic for sponsoring his appearance.

Programming-wise, we’ve hand-selected and vetted more than 200 unique sessions, workshops, and presentations resulting in a diverse range of professional learning opportunities with something for everyone—from classroom teachers to administrators and informal educators at all age levels and interests. You can check out all the sessions online via the Session Browser, or view the program preview (pdf).

We would like to recognize and thank our outstanding Exhibitors who have lots of exciting hands-on activities in store for you. We have more than 80 unique exhibits to visit and have put together a list highlighting the must-see activities that will take place in the Exhibit Hall over the course of the conference. But the list just shows a few, so to better plan your visit and see which goodies you’ll want to take home to your school, review all of the Richmond Exhibitors by taking a spin around the online floorplan, which includes a roster of exhibitors, a description of what they’ll be featuring, and where they’re located in the Exhibit Hall.

As part of this special conference, NSTA is hosting a Celebration of Literacy and Science, which will be on Saturday. Eight nationally renowned authors will discuss their books, meet and greet attendees, and host book signings and readings throughout the event. The event is FREE to all attendees and families who would like to join us on Saturday morning. More details are available online.

We know you’ll enjoy the conference, and we hope you’ll share your experience with us. NSTA will be holding a “groupie” photo contest via Twitter (because science teachers share so much—even their “selfies” tend to be shared with their colleagues). If you’re onsite, please use hashtag #NSTAGroupie to tweet us pictures of the conference. Participants will be entered to win drawings taking place onsite on Friday and Saturday, and prizes include airline vouchers, NSTA gear, and gift certificates to the onsite Science Store.

For the latest conference information, download the Richmond Conference App. If you’re not already registered, there is still time to join us and you can register online 24/7.  We’re excited to see you next week!

Today’s guest blogger is Jason Sheldrake, Assistant Executive Director, National Science Teachers Association. For question about the Richmond exhibits, please contact Jason at jsheldrake@nsta.org; or contact Jeffrey LeGrand, NSTA Exhibits and Advertising Associate, at jlegrand@nsta.org.

2014 Area Conferences on Science Education

Richmond, VA – October 16-18

Orlando, FL – November 6-8

Long Beach, CA (in collaboration with CSTA) – December 4-6

2015 National Conference on Science Education

Chicago, IL – March 12-15

The mission of NSTA is to promote excellence and innovation in science teaching and learning for all.

Follow NSTA

This past summer, NSTA member Naomi Beverly participated in the Mickelson ExxonMobil Teachers Academy. Since then, Beverly says that she has gone to the NSTA website and the NSTA Learning Center almost every day to participate in discussions with other science teachers, research lesson plan ideas, and increase her science content knowledge. Beverly, who teaches science to third-grade special education students, calls her NSTA membership and access to the NSTA Learning Center a “blessing.” “I get high-quality professional development at my own pace,” she says.

Beverly: I access the Learning Center so much. I enjoy using the SciPacks, SciGuides, and the Science Objects. Those are really helpful to me, because my undergraduate degree was not in education. So, I’m missing a lot of science content. I received a master’s degree in special education and the science content support I receive from NSTA allows me to properly teach science to my students. Otherwise, how could I help out some of the lowest-performing kids with the greatest needs when I don’t have a solid content base?? Through my NSTA membership, I can study the science content and fill in any gaps in my understanding.

I find quality lesson plans with tons of activities in the Learning Center. So, I don’t have to rattle my brain and try to recreate the wheel. A lot of the activities are hands-on, as well, which is so important when teaching students with special needs. Some of them fall below grade-level in reading, so they really benefit from participating in interactive activities and visual simulations that engage them. NSTA provides those activities.

For instance, I have used content from the Science Object, “Science of Food Safety: Understanding the Cell’s Importance” in my classroom. The module includes a really cool simulation that I show my students on how quickly bacteria can replicate. Just seeing that simulation and having that interactive experience is valuable to them. Now, if I ask those students “How long does it take a bacterium to replicate?” they know the answer and remember that simulation.

We’re focusing on habitats right now. Ocean habitats, for example, include plankton and other organisms that can be too abstract for my third-grade students with special needs to understand at first. They don’t have the vocabulary and the real-world experience. Showing them something interactive on the computer, though, helps. I’m going to incorporate what I’ve learned in the Coral Reef Ecosystems SciPack in my class. My students will be able to see what happens to the health of a reef when conditions change (for example, if the reef isn’t getting enough sunlight). Those sort of simulations that expose students to science and vocabulary are really valuable.

(Note from NSTA: “Science for All” is a key goal of science education. NSTA provides strategies and resources for making science accessible for all students. Not a member of NSTA? Learn more about how to join.)

Jennifer Henderson is our guest blogger for this series. Before launching her freelance career as a writer/editor, Jennifer was Managing Editor of The Science Teacher, NSTA’s peer-reviewed journal for high school science teachers.

I need suggestions on encouraging students to tell me when they don’t understand something. I ask my classes if they need any help, but no one seems to have any questions. The next day, it’s as if they never heard of the topic before! —A. from Nevada

Questions are good, but sometimes people don’t have questions or concerns until later, after they’ve “digested” the material and try to recall, use, or apply it. I did a workshop with another instructor on a technology tool for teachers and administrators. The workshop was hands-on and based on the needs of the participants. The workshop seemed to go well, and the participants gave it high ratings. But there were very few questions.

My co-instructor called me a few days later. The help desk was now getting questions from the participants. She was very upset because she thought she had done an ineffective job. I reassured her that we had done a good job during the workshop, but once the participants were on their own, they realized their knowledge was a little shaky. Or their confidence disappeared without support standing right next to them. Or they ran into unforeseen glitches. My colleague had been very supportive and so the participants felt comfortable contacting the helpdesk. I suggested that if the participants did not see the value of the tool, they would have given up.

The same is true in our classrooms. Teachers often say “Any questions? Good.” When there are no questions, the teacher assumes that everyone understands. You could rephrase your questions to provide a context or focus, such as, “Any questions about the difference between eukaryotic and prokaryotic cells?” Give the class a few seconds of wait time to think about their learning and formulate their questions. Model the type of questions the students could ask or how they could check their understanding: “When I was first learning this, I didn’t understand that…” “Tell me one thing you learned and one thing you’re still confused about.”

Is your classroom a “safe” place for them to ask questions? Do students know how to ask for assistance? Is asking considered a sign of weakness? Are students embarrassed to ask questions? No matter how trivial the question or comment, never belittle it, reply with sarcasm, or allow other students to laugh at it. I had a student who thought she would hurt my feelings if she didn’t understand something right away! (I told her that I liked questions —they helped me become a better teacher.) Having a way to submit questions anonymously may help (a slip of paper, a tweet, or an e-mail note).

Don’t wait until the end of the lesson or test time to discover what students are struggling with. Frequent formative assessments—bellringers, tickets out the door, brief quizzes, responses via clickers or white boards, and thumbs up—may also help students reflect on what they know or don’t know and give you some concrete feedback on their understanding during each lesson.

Several articles have addressed the topic with implications for teachers:

• Students’ Help-Seeking Strategies Offer Clues for Educators
• Middle-Class Children Learn to Be Squeaky Wheels
• Working-Class Kids Ask Fewer Questions In Class, And Here’s Why

Photo:  http://www.flickr.com/photos/rongyos/2686415336/

Yes, my name is Teshia Birts, and I’m an #NSTAGroupie—I have been for four years now.

I became an #NSTAGroupie when I joined the NSTA staff as Senior Manager of Chapter and Associated Group Relations back in October, 2010. I was immediately hooked because that was just in time to go to my first NSTA conference, where I met some of the most creative and interesting people I know.  The network I began to build at my first conference was strengthened and enhanced as I worked with NSTA’s nearly 300 component organizations (state/province chapters, associated groups, and student chapters).  And now my role has evolved, as I recently accepted the role of Senior Director of Membership Development and Chapter Relations where I will continue to work with chapters and associated groups, and will add member development and engagement to my list of responsibilities.

This is an awesome opportunity for me—I have loved science since I was a child and studied mechanical engineering during my undergraduate studies.  This was in large part due to the outstanding science teachers who fed my curiosity.  I am now honored to count many NSTA members among my friends, and I am eager to continue to support this important profession.

NSTA’s role has always been to provide that support, and that won’t change. But we do have exciting new plans in store to connect with our members, so we can learn how best to serve YOU!  We also want to facilitate members engaging and connecting with one another.  We know our members (and science teachers in general) love to share – they write articles in our four peer-reviewed journals; they share ideas, challenges and solutions on our 17 topic-driven listservs; they network during our five conferences; and those are just some of the ways they network and learn from one another.

Networking and learning bring me back to the experiences that made me an NSTA groupie in the first place—and much of that began at our conferences.  And  at those conferences, I haven’t seen many ‘selfies’;  science teachers want to share and NSTA wants to as well, by getting to know you up close and personally.

So, in that spirit I am announcing a ‘groupie’ contest for our fall conference season!  Starting with our Richmond Area Conference on Science Education (taking place October 16-18), and continuing at our Orlando (November 6-8) and Long Beach (December 4-6) conferences, we will hold a Twitter contest using the hash tag #NSTAGroupie. Conference attendees who tweet a photo of themselves (preferably as part of a group) with the hash tag will be entered into a contest to win great prizes, including airline vouchers, NSTA gear, and gift certificates. For more information about the contest visit the NSTA Twitter Contest page. 

This will be the first of many ways I’ll be trying to connect you with the faces at NSTA, and we hope to see lots of your faces, too! I am so excited about my new role with NSTA and will be communicating with our members more over the coming months (and years).  I also look forward to hearing from you; please do not hesitate to reach out to me.  My contact information is listed below.

Teshia Birts, CAE
Senior Director, Membership  Development and Chapter Relations
e-mail: tbirts72@gmail.com
Twitter: @teshiabirts