Rise and Shine: A Practical Guide for the Beginning Science Teacher
Chapter 7: Teaching Strategies
Online Appendixes
Recommended Resources
Cooperative Learning Groups
Cooperative Learning: http://edtech.kennesaw.edu/intech/cooperativelearning.htm. This site includes information about the Johnson and Johnson model while also providing strategies to use in the groups, such as think-pair-share, three-step interview, and round-robin brainstorming.
Developing Lessons
American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). 2001. Atlas of science literacy. Washington, DC: American Association for the Advancement of Science, Project 2061.
Bransford, J. A., A. Brown, and R. Cocking, eds. 1999. How people learn: Brain, mind, experience, and school. Washington, DC: National Academies Press. www.nap.edu/openbook.php?isbn=0309070368
Duschl, R. A., H. A. Schweingruber, and A. W. Shouse, eds. 2007. Taking science to school: Learning and teaching in grades K–8. Washington, DC: National Academies Press. www.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=11625
National Research Council (NRC). 2000. Inquiry and the national science education standards: A guide for teaching and learning. Washington, DC: National Academies Press. http://books.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=9596
Differentiation
Gregory, G. H. 2008. Differentiated instructional strategies for science, grades K–8. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.
Discrepant Events
Discrepant Events: www.plu.edu/~vedrosr/discrepant.html. This site has a variety of discrepant events that are used not only as demonstrations but also as student activities.
Koballa Jr., T. R. The Motivational Power of Science Discrepant Events. http://bcramond.myweb.uga.edu/home/DiscrepantEvents.htm. You will find discrepant events in several categories, as well as an excellent brief explanation of research involving the use of this strategy with students.
O’Brien, T. 2010. Brain-powered science: Teaching and learning with discrepant events. Arlington, VA: NSTA Press.
O’Brien, T. 2011. Even more brain-powered science: Teaching and learning with discrepant events. Arlington, VA: NSTA Press.
O’Brien, T. 2011. More brain-powered science: Teaching and learning with discrepant events. Arlington, VA: NSTA Press.
Whelmers: www.mcrel.org/whelmers/index.asp. Whelmers are tools to be used by a classroom teacher to engage students and draw their attention from the incredibly busy and hurried lifestyle we all experience. This site, from McREL’s Accessible Science Series, has a variety of whelmers on many science topics.
Field Trips
Froschauer, L. ed. 2008. Science beyond the classroom: An NSTA Press journals collection. Arlington, VA: NSTA Press.
Russell, H. R. 2001. Ten-minute field trips: A teacher’s guide to using the school grounds for environmental studies. 3rd ed. Arlington, VA: NSTA Press.
Misconceptions
“Easier to Address” Earth Science Misconceptions: http://serc.carleton.edu/NAGTWorkshops/intro/misconception_list.html. These misconceptions are organized in several categories in geoscience, including Earth’s structure, plate tectonics, and earthquakes.
Earth Science Misconceptions: http://k12s.phast.umass.edu/~nasa/misconceptions.html. Misconceptions are provided here in a chart form.
Exploring and Dealing with Students’ Alternative Conceptions: http://cstl-csm.semo.edu/waterman/SE320AltCert/protected/alternativeconc.html. Myths about the nature of science, textbook misconceptions, and general alternative conceptions are identified on this site, along with misconceptions in science content areas. By clicking some of the links, you will find many more misconceptions resources.
Notebooking
Campbell, B., and L. Fulton. 2003. Science notebooks: Writing about inquiry. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.
Fulwiler, B. R. 2007. Writing in science: How to scaffold to support learning. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.
Marcarelli, K. 2010. Teaching science with interactive notebooks. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.
Science Notebooks in K–12 Classrooms: www.sciencenotebooks.org. This site provides an introduction to science notebooks, suggestions for features you may want to include in a notebook, a database of searchable examples of student work, classroom tools including lessons, and teacher resources. It is the go-to place to get started in designing your science notebook.
Science Notebooks: Tools For Increasing Achievement Across the Curriculum: www.ericdigests.org/2004-4/notebooks.htm. A review of the literature and guidelines for how to use science notebooks are features of this article.
Using Science Notebooks K–8: www.tusd1.org/contents/depart/science/notebook.asp. This Regional Science Center provides a glimpse into what one school system is doing to include the use of science notebooks as an instructional tool. The site includes a working definition for science notebooks, explains the purpose for using this tool, and provides resources.
Reading
Barton, M. L., and D. L. Jordan. 2001. Teaching reading in science. Aurora, CO: Mid-Continent Research for Education and Learning. Companion to Billmyer and Barton (1998).
Billmyer, R., and M. L. Barton. 1998. Teaching reading in the content areas: If not me, then who? Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.
English Language Roots: Word Prefixes, Suffixes & Syllables: www.prefixsuffix.com. The use and meaning of prefixes and suffixes
The Internet Picture Dictionary: www.pdictionary.com
TweenTribune: http://tweentribune.com/join. Engage, inform, and educate your students with TweenTribune and TeenTribune. These sites let students interact with the news while fulfilling requirements for language arts, computer skills, and other classes. Each weekday, TweenTribune scours the Web for age-appropriate news stories that will interest tweens and teens and invites them to comment. All comments are moderated by their teachers before they are published. (The entire website is in both English and Spanish.) You and your students must sign up for this site.
Vasquez, J., M. Comer, and F. Troutman. 2010. Developing visual literacy in science K–8. Arlington, VA: NSTA Press.
Rubrics
Assessing Projects: Demonstrating Understanding Rubrics and Scoring Guides: http://www97.intel.com/pk/AssessingProjects/AssessmentStrategies/DemonstratingUnderstanding/ap_rubrics_scoring_guides.htm. Most of the major student science fairs and competitions have scoring guidelines available online. This one is from Intel.
Doran, R., F. Chan, and P. Tamir. Science educator’s guide to laboratory assessment. Arlington, VA: NSTA Press.
iRubric: www.iRubric.com. You are required to register to use this site, but it is well worth the effort. You’ll find a variety of ready-to-use rubrics on many topics organized by grade level, subject, and type. At last count, there were more than 154,000 rubrics in the public gallery. Don’t be intimidated—it has a powerful search engine. You can use them as they are or modify in any way you would like.
Lantz, H. B. 2004. Rubrics for assessing student achievement in science grades K–12. Thousand Oaks, CA. Sage Publications.
RubiStar: http://rubistar.4teachers.org. All sorts of information about rubrics can be found on this site, including background, a tutorial, and suggestions for rubric development. Create your own rubric based on topics such as oral projects, products, multimedia, research and writing, work skills, and science topics.
Writing Rubrics: www.rubrics4teachers.com/writing.php. A variety of completed writing rubrics are available at this site, including topics such as compare and contrast, narrative writing, reflective writing, position paper writing, writing to describe, and writing to inform.
Science Fairs
National Science Teachers Association (NSTA). 2003. Science fairs plus: Reinventing an old favorite: An NSTA Press journals collection. Arlington, VA: NSTA Press.
Technology
Edmodo: http://Edmodo.com. This site provides social learning for classrooms. Create a group, give students a special code to access it, and then share information. Hand out, manage, and grade assignments. There is a location to post lessons, ideas, and files to share with other teachers. The ways that students and teachers interact with technology outside the classroom affects what happens in the classroom. You will need to sign up, but there is no fee. This user-friendly site provides a tutorial to get you started, as well as clips of classroom teachers using Edmodo with their students.
Making and Using Whiteboards in the Classroom: www.edufy.org/content/show/499. Tips for how to use dry-erase response boards in your classroom.
PhET Interactive Simulations: http://phet.colorado.edu. The University of Colorado at Boulder created and updates this site. It contains research-based simulations of physical phenomenon. This site is ideal to use on interactive boards and is organized by type, grade level, and content, and even has simulations in several languages.
Promethean Planet: www.prometheanplanet.com/en. “The World’s Largest Interactive Whiteboard Community” is the tagline for this site. The site offers professional development, resources, a discussion community, and support for those who own the product.
Wetzel, D. R. 2005. How to weave the web into K–8 science. Arlington, VA: NSTA Press. This book is a guide for how to bring the internet into your classroom.