JoinAll NGSS resources
NSTA Press Book
Transportation in the Future, Grade 3: STEM Road Map for Elementary School
What if you could challenge your third graders to design the train of the future? With this volume in the STEM Road Map Curriculum Series, you can! Transportation in the Future outlines a journey that will steer your students toward authentic pro...
Blog Post
How NGSS and CCSS for ELA/Literacy Address Argument
In the summer of 2015, I observed an elementary science teacher from an NGSS-adopted state who made a presentation to her cohort of close to 100 K–12 science teacher leaders and administrators from schools, districts, and the state. After presentin...
By Cindy Workosky
Blog Post
Using Claim, Evidence, and Reasoning (CER) Strategy to Improve Student Learning
This past school year, I used claim, evidence, reasoning (CER) statements to show three-dimensional learning in my classroom. Several tools are available for doing this, but the one my students like is the CER Graphic Organizer and Transition Words L...
By Cindy Workosky
Blog Post
You Teach What? I’m So Sorry! Building a Better Body and Building Better Argumentation
I am always amazed at the looks on people’s faces when I tell them I teach middle school. They seem to pity me for having a position I chose and love! They inform me that middle school “tween-agers” are argumentative, stubborn, and at times, ad...
By Cindy Workosky
Journal Article
Methods and Strategies: Ask the Right Question
This column provides ideas and techniques to enhance your science teaching. This month’s issue shows how teachers can use literature and higher-level thinking questions to enhance science instruction....
Journal Article
Teacher's Toolkit: Interactive word walls: Visual Scaffolds That Transform Vocabulary Instruction
This column provides how-to strategies and practical advice for the science teacher. This month’s issue describes how middle school teachers can use interactive word walls to increase their students’ ability to learn and effectively use the langu...
Blog Post
Why Anchoring Phenomena Are Important in the NGSS Classroom
Who is Ivor Robson, and why is he associated with anchoring phenomena? If you are a longtime golf aficionado, you know that Ivor Robson had a special role at the British Open. Robson spent 41 years introducing each player on the first tee, and he nev...
By Cindy Workosky
Blog Post
When I began aligning my instruction to the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), I got lost in the details. But when I realized that phenomena could be used to anchor linked disciplinary core ideas, I started to visualize the course as a whole a...
By Cindy Workosky
Blog Post
My ‘Phenomenal’ Journey in Elementary
I am the type of educator who gets very excited about new strategies, new and innovative technology, and new activities for students. However, I was more nervous about than excited about to choosing phenomena for my science units. I felt tremendous p...
By Cindy Workosky
Blog Post
At the core of a Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) classroom is the sequence of exposing students to an interesting natural phenomenon, having students generate questions about the phenomenon, investigating student questions, then creating a s...
By Cindy Workosky
Blog Post
Introducing Crosscutting Concepts in the Elementary Grades
Four years ago, I moved from teaching middle school science to teaching grades 2–5 STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art, and mathematics) labs. One of the biggest challenges I faced was limited lab time in our elementary school. Because we ...
By Cindy Workosky
Blog Post
Planning Three-Dimensional Instruction
Knowing that content material is most engaging when students can relate to it, I always begin my year with a student survey. The questions are designed to help me design lessons to be as student-focused as possible. Knowing my students’ interests a...
By Cindy Workosky
Blog Post
Digging Deeper: Designing Solutions
This month’s Digging Deeper column for the Next Gen Navigator focuses on the practice of constructing explanations and designing solutions, and specifically the design process that addresses the engineering component of the Next Generation Science ...
By Cindy Workosky