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National Science Teachers Association Magazine

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National Science Teachers Association Magazine

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November/December 2020
The Aurora Borealis The Lives of Staph (Idea Bank) Water and Sanitation Do Not Disturb the Flow!
September/October 2020
Using Climate Models to Learn About Global Climate Change Using Pop Culture to Teach Genetics Evolutionary Relationships Argument They Really Used to Think That?
July/August 2020
Accessible Physics for All
April 2020
How Many Fish Are Really in the Sea? Is This Watershed Contaminated with PCBs? Finding the Next Diamond Mine
February 2020
Idea Bank Thinking Big Comics in the Classroom
January 2020
Investigating Land Ethics
October 2019
The Trouble with Tavy
September 2019
Migratory Patterns of Birds of Prey Watered-Down Evidence
August 2019
The Carbon Cycle and Climate Change Red Tide Food Fight
July 2019
The "Marvel"-ous Nature of Science Replicating Roaches Chemistry in the Kitchen
April/May 2019
Investigating Urban Trees The Perfect Match Genetics for All
March 2019
From Bean to Cup Do Plants Breathe?
February 2019
Using Scientific Argumentation to Understand Human Impact on the Earth Let's Invent! Proxy Climatology
January 2019
A Forest in Motion Making and the 5E Learning Cycle
November/December 2018
Solarize Your School The Teal Spruce What's Hidden Beneath? Virtual Oceanography
October 2018
Motion Machines A Better Way of Farming Why Not STEM?
September 2018
The Bold Fold Data Jams Creative Visual Representation
August 2018
From DNA to Proteins Making Science Relevant Learning from Failed Experiments Could Your Feed Be Contaminated?
July 2018
Decoding Careers in DNA Who Tagged the Bench?
April/May 2018
Love the Lab, Hate the Lab Report? Using the Land Bringing Life Processes to Life
March 2018
Boom. Bust. Build. The Activity Summary Board A New Take on "Tried and True" There's Something in the Water
February 2018
Arguing Over Life and Death Grouping Minerals by Their Formulas
January 2018
A Polarizing View
December 2017
Idea Bank: Using Apps That Support Scientific Practices Idea Bank: The Art of Chemistry Learning Lichens
November 2017
Secrets of a Mass Grave The Science of Little Boy Working as a Team
October 2017
Is the Climate Changing Where We Live? From Global to Local What's Inside a Termite's Gut? How Quickly Do They React?
September 2017
Reasoning From Models Modeling Periodic Patterns Learning Iteratively
Summer 2017
The Story of Inventions
April/May 2017
Supporting Students With Autism Students as Environmental Educators
March 2017
Total Eclipse Better Formative Assessment
February 2017
Experimenting with Extinction
January 2017
Idea Bank Short-Form Science Text Savvy
December 2016
Health Wise Measuring CO₂ Turning into Ice
November 2016
Materials Science and the Problem of Garbage Learning from the Fruit Fly Settling the Score The Microscopic World of Diatoms Idea Bank: Measurement By the Numbers
October 2016
The Art-Science Connection Getting an A in STEM Sculpting the Barnyard Gene Pool
September 2016
Find Your Center Separating a Mixture Scaling Up
Summer 2016
Modeling DNA Explaining Ramps With Models Computer-Aided Drug Design
April/May 2016
Which Comes First-Language or Content?
March 2016
Science's Super Star Does It Mix? Building a Greener Future
February 2016
A Virtuous Cycle Shedding Light on the "Science of Small" Making Critical Friends Uncovering Wildlife
January 2016
How Do Siamese Cats Get Their Color? Salamander Saver Assessment as Learning
December 2015
Wired for Controversy Clearing the Air The Learning Portal
November 2015
Hummingbird Citizen Science Sewing Up Science
October 2015
Chemical Solitaire A Cool Controversy Teaching the Manhattan Project
September 2015
Health Wise The E-mail Lab
Summer 2015
Health Wise Thinking Big
April/May 2015
Making Molecular Movies
March 2015
Sampling in the Snow Policy, Literacy, and Energy Our Town Fields of Fuel
February 2015
Doing the Data Walk
January 2015
Near-Space Science Global Warning Treating Pompe Disease The Community Connection
December 2014
Catching the Wrong Species Engineering Design Challenge An Engineer Does What Now? Make Room for Engineering
November 2014
The Graph Choice Chart Reflecting on Data Demystifying Data
October 2014
Health Wise Adapting to the Environment Scientists at Work Next Generation Botany
September 2014
Using Mobile Devices in Field Science Going Viral Supporting Newly Hired Teachers
Summer 2014
Idea Bank Discovering Our Stellar Neighborhood Graphing the Past Striding Through Time
April/May 2014
The New Teacher's Toolbox Upstream, Downstream Beyond "Hitting the Books"
March 2014
Pinpointing Watershed Pollution on a Virtual Globe Using Infographics in the Science Classroom Health Wise
February 2014
Learning by Sorting: Labels Health Wise
January 2014
A New Take on the Field Trip
December 2013
Classification Health Wise Where's That Dolphin?
November 2013
Editor's Corner Toying Around Physics Portfolios Inexpensive Equipment for the Physics Classroom
October 2013
All Screwed Up Theories, Laws, and Hypotheses Antarctica's Pine Island Glacier: A "Climate Canary"?
Summer 2013
The Language of Argumentation Hook, Line,and Sinker New Teacher Toolbox Health Wise
March 2013
The Ethanol Project Health Wise: Unplug to Power Up
February 2013
Reading the Ice Stromatolites Health Wise: Look Better, Feel Better
January 2013
A Science That Saves Lives Design Practices and Misconceptions Health Wise: Curbing Texting While Driving
December 2012
Flying Into Inquiry Citizen Science in Your Own Backyard Project Citizen Be Your Own Groundhog
November 2012
Make Your Own Phylogenetic Tree Chemistry Cook-Off It's All in the Particle Size Health Wise: Better Grades Through Sleeping?
October 2012
Complexity From Simplicity All Things Being Equal Scientific Discoveries the Year I Was Born
September 2012
A Virtual Tour of Plate Tectonics Now You're Cooking
Summer 2012
Making the Argument Current Research

Bodzin, A.M. 2011. The implementation of a geospatial information technology (GIT)-supported land use change curriculum with urban middle school learners to promote spatial thinking. Journal of Research in Science Teaching 48 (3): 281-300.

Carlone, H.B., J. Haun-Frank, and A. Webb. 2011. Assessing equity beyond knowledge- and skills-based outcomes: A comparative ethnography of two fourth-grade reform-based science classrooms. Journal of Research in Science Teaching 48 (5): 459-485.

Karelitz, T., E. Fields, A. Jurist Levy, A. Martinez-Gudapakkam, and E. Jablonski. 2011. No child left unqualified: how teachers and principals respond to the highly qualified mandate. Science Educator 20 (1): 1-11.

Levin, D., and J. Richards. 2011. Learning to attend to the substance of students' thinking in science. Science Educator 20 (2): 1-11.

Marshall, J., J. Smart, and R. Horton, R. 2011. Tracking perceived and observed growth of inquiry practice: a formative plan to improve professional development experiences. Science Educator 20 (1): 12-22.

McElhaney, K., and M. Linn. 2011. Investigations of a complex, realistic task: Intentional, unsystematic, and exhaustive experimenters. Journal of Research in Science Teaching 48 (7): 745-770.

Quigley, C., K. Pongsanon, and V. Akerson, V. If we teach them, they can learn: Young students views of nature of science during an informal science education program. Journal of Science Teacher Education 22 (2): 129-149.

Rushton, G.T., C. Lotter, C., and J. Singer. 2011. Chemistry Teachers' Emerging Expertise in Inquiry Teaching: The Effect of a Professional Development Model on Beliefs and Practice. Journal of Science Teacher Education 22 (1): 23-52.

Scalise, K., M. Timms, A. Moorjani, L. Clark, K. Holtermann, and P.S. Irvin. 2011. Student learning in science simulations: Design features that promote learning gains. Journal of Research in Science Teaching 48 (9): 1,050-1,078.

Yerrick, R., J. Schiller, and J. Reisfeld. 2011. "Who are you callin' expert?": Using student narratives to redefine expertise and advocacy lower track science. Journal of Research in Science Teaching 48 (1): 13-36.

Zwiep, S. G., W.J. Straits, K.R. Stone, D.D. Beltran, and L. Furtado. The integration of English language development and science instruction in elementary classrooms. Journal of Science Teacher Education 22 (8): 769-785.

April/May 2012
Las Rocas Nos Cuentan Su Historia [Rocks Tell Their Stories] Hands-On Hydroponics Taking the Leap
March 2012
Rock On! What's Missing?
January 2012
Writing and Science Literacy
December 2011
It's Your Fault! Going Underground Investigating Continental Margins
November 2011
The Science Fair: A New Look at an Old Tradition
October 2011
Science in the 21st Century: More Than Just the Facts Secret in the Margins: Rutherford's Gold Foil Experiment
September 2011
Adopt-a-Dino What Students Really Want in Science Class Avatar in the Science Classroom
Summer 2011
Hydrogel Beads: The New Slime Lab? A Scientific World in a Grain of Sand It's Elemental! Chromonoodles: Jump Into the Gene Pool Simulating Science
April/May 2011
Fire and Ecological Disturbance The Reasons for the Seasons Science 2.0: Stop-Motion Mitosis
March 2011
Creating a College-Going Culture
February 2011
Antigenic Shift and Drift Modeling Natural Selection A Tale of Four Electrons One Fish, Two Fish, Redfish, You Fish!
January 2011
The Affective Elements of Science Learning How Much Carbon Is in the Forest? Beyond Grading
December 2010
Wolves in the Wild A Life Cycle Assessment of Biofuels The Hudson River Plume Why Do Athletes Drink Sports Drinks?
November 2010
The Inquiry Matrix Exploring Osmosis and Diffusion Model-Based Inquiry
October 2010
Self-Regulated Learning Idea Bank: Skyping Science Juan's Dilemma
September 2010
Supporting Right-Brained Thinking What Microbe Are You?
Summer 2010
A Virtual Circuits Lab Generate an Argument: An Instruction Model
April/May 2010
Students for Sustainable Energy Talk Like a Scientist Leaving Their Legacy Idea Bank: Lunar "Space Weather" Action Center
March 2010
Who's in the Zoo? Community-Based Inquiry Lessons Make Your Own Digital Thermometer!
February 2010
Investigating Aquatic Dead Zones Meet Us Outside
January 2010
Writing Better Lab Reports Laboratory Notebooks in the Science Classroom
November 2009
Argument-Driven Inquiry Examining Student Work
October 2009
Hurricane Katrina: A Teachable Moment Idea Bank: Earth Systems in Silence
September 2009
Shrinking Our Footprints What Happens to Cemetery Headstones? The Science Behind Nanosunscreens Teaching With Crystal Structures
Summer 2009
Idea Bank: Start a Classroom Library! Helping New Science Teachers
April 2009
The Big Sky Inside Stories in Science Idea Bank: Vector, Vector-That's Our Cry!
February 2009
The Interdisciplinary Study of Biofuels The Potential Da Vinci in All of Us Rev Your Engines!
December 2008
The Art of Physics: "Life" in Movies:
October 2008
The Quiet Skies Project: Teaching the Anatomy of a Scientific Journal Article:
September 2008
Whole-Class Inquiry Assessment: Enzyme Inquiry:
January 2008
Thinking Like an Ecologist:
December 2007
Recycled Insect Models:
October 2007
Nemotodes: Model Organisms in High School Biology:
September 2007
A Cooperative Classroom Investigation of Climate Change:
March 2007
Scientific Discovery for All:

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The Aurora Borealis The Lives of Staph (Idea Bank) Water and Sanitation Do Not Disturb the Flow! Using Climate Models to Learn About Global Climate Change Using Pop Culture to Teach Genetics Evolutionary Relationships Argument They Really Used to Think That? Accessible Physics for All How Many Fish Are Really in the Sea?

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Addressing Student Diversity and Equity.pdf

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Play the whole episode by clicking the play button below or finding on your podcast platform:
Co-author of Ambitious Science Teaching, Jessica Thompson, is here with us today to talk about the value of collaboration with your NGSS colleagues specifically by forming Professional Learning Communities (PLC). She gives us specific examples and resources on how to productively guide meetings, norms, and goals. PLCs can be as small as two people so we encourage you to listen to this episode and then reach out to at least one colleague and form an NGSS PLC. We are better together! Join our Facebook Group and let us know what you think of this episode. And remember, you're phenomenal!

01:30 - 07:00 Introduction to Jessica and PLCs

07:00 - 10:00 How to decide what to work on in your PLC

10:00 - 17:00 Promoting productive discourse in the classroom

17:30 - 20:30 Collecting and using classroom data in PLCs

21:00 - 25:00 Practice, Data & Theory -- three important things for PLCs to engage with

25:00 - 37:30 Foothold practices, diving into the science, and considering who to include & how to structure your PLC

38:00 - 46:00 Jennifer's advice on what to avoid when starting a PLC

"We've partnered with hundreds of teachers across Washington state in Professional Learning Communities, and we've actually seen that there's two good starting places for teams. One is around the improvement of discourse ... Most of us as teachers know that there's always challenges in classrooms around encouraging participation and making participation equitable. ... So thinking about classroom discourse is one entry point that we've seen for teams. Another one is around the idea of scientific modeling and developing tools that support kids in revising their scientific models over time. Those have been two good starting places for PLC teams." [7:00-8:00] Jessica Thompson

"What's particularly critical is that teachers--in their own classrooms or in a PLC--collect data from kids." [10:50-11:00] Jessica Thompson

"Measurement is the most powerful when it's kids giving you feedback, which is not the same as saying 'how much did kids learn?' It's saying 'how did kids experience?' It's just a slight twist, but it then involves students in a different way. They're not just the recipients of something external practiced on them. They are really contributors towards the evolution of your teaching." [21:00-21:30] Jessica Thompson

"It is important, even if you start [your PLC] within grade bands, to then think about 'how do we go across the whole school?'" [32:45-32:50] Jessica Thompson

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We'd love to feature NGSS or Framework teachers and experts on our podcast. Contact us at [email protected] .

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Episode 048: Forming a Productive NGSS PLC with Jessica Thompson

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Co-author of Ambitious Science Teaching, Jessica Thompson, is here today to talk about the value of collaboration with your NGSS colleagues specifically by forming Professional Learning Communities (PLC). She gives specific examples & resources on how to productively guide meetings, norms & goals.

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Help to honor student thinking, identify misconceptions, and track student learning in the 5E sequence.

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KLEW Chart Know, Learn, Evidence, Wondering Chart Template

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Practice Brief 46 -- Topics: Implementation Instruction

How to define meaningful daily learning objectives for science investigations

Teachers should have the authority to design instruction by involving students in developing daily objectives.

District Staff & PD Providers should help teachers learn how to define and sequence 3D learning performances across the units they teach that culminate in students understanding performance expectation bundles.

School Leaders should learn how to see and support science instruction that engages students in making sense of phenomena and should consider how daily learning objectives might be different in a 3D instruction classroom.

What Is The Issue?

Many schools require teachers to post the day's learning target, objective, or standard on the board. However, displaying the target concept to be learned-the disciplinary core idea that is the focus of instruction-"gives away" what students should actually be figuring out as they make sense of phenomena by engaging in the science and engineering practices. Many teachers face a dilemma when they try to meet their administrator's requirements. It is important for teachers and administrators to come to consensus around developing and using objectives that are consistent with 3D learning.

Authors:

WILLIAM R. PENUEL, MICHAEL NOVAK, TARA MCGILL, KATIE VAN HORNE & BRIAN J. REISER | MARCH 2017

Reflection Questions

Teachers: What shifts might be needed in your teaching for you to develop learning objectives focused on student questions?

Building Administrators: How can you support student-driven learning goals and investigation while learning about classroom learning objectives?

District Leaders: How do your district's frameworks for observing teachers support or interfere with 3D science teaching and learning?

Things to Consider

Conceptual understanding takes time and effort. It takes multiple lessons for students to understand an educational standard-i.e., a 3D performance expectation (PE) from the NRC Framework. Students should not be expected to master a PE in a single lesson. A lesson-level 3D learning performance is a more appropriate focus.

Don't short-circuit deep learning. PEs describe the science concepts students are learning, so posting it "gives away" the thing to be explained, possibly reducing student motivation to learn and their ability to explain with any depth what and how they know. Students should be able to say what they are trying to figure out in their own words-and come to use formal science terminology once they have gotten a feeling for it after multiple investigations.

Investigations should help students construct understanding. The NRC Framework vision is about students seeing that science and engineering practices are ways that can help them make sense of and change the world. Students should be deciding together what they need to investigate each day, based on what they've already figured out and what they need to learn to explain or design. They shouldn't know the outcome of an investigation ahead of time.

All three dimensions of any PE are in service of answering questions (in science) or designing solutions (in engineering) related to natural phenomena, so students' should generate questions to investigate or define problems to solve as part of any learning objective.

Attending to Equity

Schools that have been historically underresourced or that serve populations facing the most barriers to equitable education may face more pressure and direct supervision/evaluation of teaching practices. It is crucial to provide all students with meaningful instruction and maintain high educational goals.

All students should be able to understand why they are doing what they are doing in class. Students should help define learning objectives-where the class is headed as part of an unfolding investigation. You can build an objective for the next day by eliciting student responses about what they figured out and what they need to figure out next at the end of class. Aim to include many student voices in this process, rather than letting the most vocal students consistently set the agenda.

Recommended Actions You Can Take

Invite your administrator to visit at a time when students are developing a consensus model of a phenomenon through classroom discussion. They'll see students engaging in evidence-based argumentation and sophisticated understandings being articulated.

Co-construct the daily objective with students at the beginning of class to post on the board, as an answer to the question: What do we need to figure out today to help us answer our driving question/solve our design challenge? It should ideally be a question (e.g., "Today we are trying to figure out: Why don't antibiotics work like they used to?"), but it could also be a piece of a model needed to explain a phenomenon or a step needed to develop a engineering solution.

Prepare a one-pager to hand to a visiting administrator or colleague. It could be: (a) a short explanation/model from your unit storyline showing how an explanation of the phenomenon will help students master the PEs, (b) the culminating product that students will produce in the unit, (c) research supporting an equitable 3D instruction approach, or (d) a 3D learning performance for the lesson.

ALSO SEE STEM TEACHING TOOLS

STEM Teaching Tools content copyright 2014-19 UW Institute for Science + Math Education. All rights reserved.
This site is primarily funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) through the Research + Practice Collaboratory (Award #1238253). Opinions expressed are not those of any funding agency.

Work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 Unported License. Others may adapt with attribution. Funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF). Opinions expressed are not those of any funding agency.

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How to define meaningful daily learning objectives for science investigations :StemTeachingTools

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Practice Brief 46 -- Topics: Implementation Instruction Teachers should have the authority to design instruction by involving students in developing daily objectives. District Staff & PD Providers should help teachers learn how to define and sequence 3D learning performances across the units they teach that culminate in students understanding performance expectation bundles.

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This video provides more information on the Next Generation Science Standards. More information is at https://www.nextgenscience.org

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Extreme Makover NGSS, Episode 2: Crater Lab

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Science and Engineering Practices in K-12 Classrooms

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Science and Engineering Practices in K-12 Classrooms

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Understanding A Framework for K-12 Education

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Article: Scientific and Engineering Practices by Roger Bybee

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NGSS SEP Crash Course (Elementary Version)

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Why and how to use phenomena.

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Icebreakers and energizers can be used as tools to help participants to transition into the proper headspace for what lies ahead, and to re-focus during the learning experience.

Why Do Icebreakers With Adult Learners?

When you are the facilitator, the responsibility of focusing everyone's attention on the session's topic and setting the tone for the professional development (PD) starts as soon as the first participant walks through the door. This article draws on research to explore how icebreakers and energizers focus participants' attention, raise the energy of the room, and establish community.

Tried and True Activities We Love

Help teachers translate their own learning experience into new ideas and strategies to use with their students.

It's important to be cognizant of both the similarities and differences in how adults and children learn.

When planning a new PD at the Academy, how do we start? We've outlined our steps in graphic organizers for you!

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Find out how icebreakers and energizers can help participants get ready to learn and focus on the content.

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Administrator Tools: Post Observation Conference Worksheet

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Video: NGSS EQuIP Rubric: Evidence of Student Learning | Next Generation Science Standards

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This video highlights part three of the NGSS EQuIP Rubric: Evidence of Student Learning. Learn more about the EQuIP rubric here .

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Video: NGSS EQuIP Rubric: Using Phenomena | Next Generation Science Standards

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BSCS 5E Instructional Model | BSCS Science Learning

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The BSCS 5E Instructional Model has its origins with the work of earlier science educators, in particular the Karplus and Thier learning cycle developed for the Science Curriculum Improvement Study (SCIS). The findings reported in the National Research Council research summary How People Learn supports the design and sequence of the BSCS 5E Instructional Model.

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Tools for

Ambitious
Science
Teaching

Companion Book available now on Harvard Ed Press

Pressing for evidence- based explanations

Planning for engagement with important science ideas

Supporting on-going changes in thinking

Eliciting students' ideas

What is Ambitious Science Teaching?

Great teaching can be learned. This web site provides a vision of ambitious science instruction for elementary, middle school and high school classrooms. Ambitious teaching deliberately aims to support students of all backgrounds to deeply understand science ideas, participate in the activities of the discipline, and solve authentic problems.

We feature 4 core sets of teaching practices that support these goals. These core sets make up the Ambitious Science Teaching Framework. The framework has been based on classroom research from the past 30 years-research that has asked, "What kinds of talk, tasks, and tools do students need in order to fully engage in meaningful forms of science learning?"

If you are a member of a group of science educators committed to the improvement of teaching, the vision, practices, and tools here will furnish a common language for you about teaching. You will be able to identify "what we will get better at" and how to get started.

Become Part of a Community That Shares a Common Vision of Excellence in Teaching.

Because ambitious science teaching focuses on doing four things really well in the classroom (the core practices), members of our community can speak a common language about how to continually improve instruction and support student learning. We can frame problems together and work towards solutions with help from each other. The expertise of our community comes from our members (teachers, instructional coaches, teacher educators) as well as from extensive empirical classroom research. On this site you can explore how other professionals are using core practices and the tools that go with them.

Explore New Tools That Support Student Learning

This site provides a constantly evolving set of tools to help improve student participation and learning. Some of these tools will help you plan for student engagement with "big" science ideas. Some will help students reason publicly with each other about science ideas. Others will help students engage in scientific modeling, explanation and argument with evidence. Still others will scaffold science-specific writing and talk. We have unique sets of tools for teachers, instructional coaches, and teacher educators.

But here's what is really important about our tools-they belong to the community, meaning that they need to be continually tested under different classroom conditions in order to be improved and diversified.

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Pressing for evidence- based explanations Planning for engagement with important science ideas Supporting on-going changes in thinking Eliciting students' ideas Great teaching can be learned.

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Part 1

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Engaging Students in ADI Online, Stages 1-4

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Why focus on science and engineering practices--and not "inquiry?" Why is "the scientific method" mistaken? : StemTeachingTools

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For decades science education has engaged students in a version of science inquiry that reduces the investigation of the natural world to a fixed, linear set of steps-sometimes devoid of a deep focus on learning and applying science concepts. Rigid representations of a single "scientific method" do not accurately reflect the complex thinking or work of scientists.

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This section includes two additional resources that cut across the four elements: 1) Strategy Guides and 2) Extended Classroom Videos.

These Strategy Guides are text based resources providing teachers with lesson plan ideas about how to effectively integrate argumentation into their science lessons. ​

These unedited classroom videos are between 2 and 20 minutes long. They include students actively engaging in argumentation across a variety of activities (e.g. science seminar, card sort) and student configurations (e.g. small group and large group).

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This section includes two additional resources that cut across the four elements: 1) Strategy Guides and 2) Extended Classroom Videos. These Strategy Guides are text based resources providing teachers with lesson plan ideas about how to effectively integrate argumentation into their science lessons. ​ These unedited classroom videos are between 2 and 20 minutes long.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
This section includes two additional resources that cut across the four elements: 1) Strategy Guides and 2) Extended Classroom Videos.

These Strategy Guides are text based resources providing teachers with lesson plan ideas about how to effectively integrate argumentation into their science lessons. ​

These unedited classroom videos are between 2 and 20 minutes long. They include students actively engaging in argumentation across a variety of activities (e.g. science seminar, card sort) and student configurations (e.g. small group and large group).

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
This section includes two additional resources that cut across the four elements: 1) Strategy Guides and 2) Extended Classroom Videos. These Strategy Guides are text based resources providing teachers with lesson plan ideas about how to effectively integrate argumentation into their science lessons. ​ These unedited classroom videos are between 2 and 20 minutes long.

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Are you preparing to lead professional development for educators on the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS)? Need a little help with your planning? Explore this toolkit to find resources that will help you prepare to lead your own PD experience for educators.

A Toolkit for Training Teachers

We've compiled a professional development toolkit to share what we've learned while running Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) trainings for thousands of teachers throughout the Bay Area. The tools and activities included here:

are not intended to be an individual learning experience or self-guided course.

are not intended to be classroom activities for K-12 students.

ARE designed to help you facilitate successful NGSS training for a team of educators.

All of these activities are flexible and modular. You can use them all together, or just pick and choose a few that meet your needs. You can combine them with your own materials, adapt them to suit your specific audience, or just use them as they are. While suggestions for sequencing are provided, you can easily create your own learning pathway for your group of teachers.

However you choose to use these resources, the teachers you work with will gain knowledge, insight, and confidence about the NGSS!

Elevate Your Facilitation

What does really good professional development look like?

Explore the foundations of successful teacher professional development. Learn best practices for setting group norms, designing PD for adult learners, and more. You will also find practical planning tools to help you set your PD goals and craft your agenda.

Since 2013, we've been recognized for professional development around the NGSS. Our introductory and intermediate courses have served over 600 teachers, many of whom lead training for school teams.

Each Academy workshop includes relevant science activities, thoughtful discussions, and the opportunity to connect with other educators. Please join us for some fun and meaningful professional development!

At the Academy, we take feedback seriously. Read some of the feedback-both positive and constructive-that our teacher professional development team received in 2015.

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Customize your professional development by borrowing free activities from our toolkit for training teachers on the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS).

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Why Use Science Stations?

Science stations are a staple in my classroom and have made the biggest impact on student mastery. I'm a firm believer in student-led learning in any subject, but in science it is so important that hands-on exploration is part of the learning process.

Teacher led demos are a fantastic tool to get kids engaged about a particular topic, but science station labs allow students to immerse themselves in the topic. They allow students to experience science on their own and then reflect back on their learning. Through this process the students get to participate with the content.

I've always felt that science is one of the most active teaching jobs. Many states require a certain percentage of the curriculum to be hands-on learning and science stations fit the bill very nicely. Once the science stations have been setup one time it is very easy to plug and play new information into the setup. This keeps lab prep times much more manageable and allows the teacher to breathe.

One nice byproduct of station labs work is the teacher is able to become the facilitator in the room rather than the direct instructor. This is better for student achievement, and your administration will also love it.

Science station labs can also be easily modified for students with IEP's or those who need extra help.

I've created a massive series of science station labs for the classroom, but this article will focus on how you can setup your own station labs effectively.

What are Science Stations?

Science stations or centers mean something different to many people. The station labs in my room are setup for students to use several different learning styles to explore new information and reflect on their learning.

Science stations are truly differentiated learning. I'm sure the word "differentiated" makes your head spin when you start to think about all different levels of students in your classroom. Stations allow you to present information using many different learning styles.

I setup eight different stations around the room. Four of the stations are for exploring new information about the concept, and the other four stations help students to reflect and assess their learning.

Students will be in groups of 2-3 and will each have a lab sheet that goes with them around the room. The teacher will assume the role of facilitator and ensure students are on task and understanding the new information rather than feeding it to them.

What Does Each Station Look Like?

Each station is setup with a different learning style in mind. This helps to differentiate the content. Below is a list of each of the different stations I use in my class.

Input Stations

1. Explore It! - At this station students will get to explore the concept with hands on learning. This station is meant to get the students thinking about the topic being taught. You can relate it to previous knowledge, use a demonstration, or have the students do an activity that helps explain the concept. The point of this station is to allow students to explore.

2. Research It! - This station allows the student to get online and research the topic being taught. I usually hunt for interactive activities, or grade-level articles for this station. I incorporate technology at this station because I've found students are much more engaged when technology is present.

3. Watch It! - At the watch it station students will watch a video about the content. Videos are the medium that students are familiar with and how many of them receive their information (good or bad). A 5-minute video can be extremely more productive than a student having to listen to a teacher lecture for 45 minutes.

4. Read It! - The read it station is setup to allow students to gain information from a traditional reading passage. The reading is generally a one page article which is relevant to the content. I always include 4 reading comprehension questions that come from the reading.

Output Stations

1. Write It! - This station will challenge the student to write out responses to open-ended questions. This provides the students the opportunity to write in complete sentences while reflecting on the information.

2. Organize It! - This is a hands-on station which allows students to work with a manipulative in order to show mastery of the concept. I often use card sorts at this station. Vocabulary and definitions are an easy go-to, but I would suggest something that applies the knowledge rather than resorting to memorization.

3. Assess It! - This station is setup as a set of traditional multiple choice questions and answers. At the end of the day I need students to be able to apply their new learning to this type of questioning. This station provides yet another opportunity prove mastery.

4. Illustrate It! - One of my favorite stations allows students to connect their learning with a sketch or illustration. This station is not only for creative students. I've seen many students benefit from drawing their reflection and making those connections.

At each station I use small baskets that contain all of the cards (instructions for the station) and any materials that are needed. You can download all of my signage for free. This format makes it very easy for students to understand. It also makes it very easy for the teacher to clean up and setup the next station lab.

Tips and Strategies to Setup Science Stations

The first time you try this format for the station lab you're likely going to be nervous. Is this going to work? Are kids going to get it? This next section will address all of those fears and will set you on the path to having a great experience with the station labs.

I highly suggest requiring each student to turn in a lab sheet to ensure everyone is working on something within the group. I allow them to work in groups of 2-3, but have found that 4 is just too many for a group. I would also highly encourage you to choose the lab groups. This is a far more effective method for quality work.

In my classes I allowed students to move to the next available station when they finished a station. This stops a lot of the nonsense that comes with downtime, and generally speaking there will be different time requirements at each lab station. I had 45 minute class periods, and most students were able to complete a lab in that time period.

What about classes that have 30+ students in them? There's a simple solution for that. You need to double up the stations. If you were really ambitious you could double every station, but I only duplicated, or even triplicated, the input stations. I would highly suggest having students start off at the input stations. These are the stations that new information is gained. It doesn't make sense for students to start with the output stations if they don't know anything yet.

My paraprofessionals who worked with students with modifications loved the station labs because they could easily modify the assignment. I would typically have them do the Explore, Research, Watch and Assess stations, but you could do any combination of input/output you wanted.

Students aren't going to need much help with the station labs if they are setup properly, but I always found it most effective to hangout by the Explore and Organize stations (put those two together). At the explore station you can help students to process new information and at the organize station you can visually determine if they understand the content.

Don't think technology is a requirement for this type of lab setup. You could easily substitute textbooks or supplemental materials at these stations. Don't forget you likely have a SMART board or teacher computer that could be used for one of the stations.

At the technology stations make sure the students leave the webpage up that is required for that station. You will save a lot of time if each student doesn't have to go to a new webpage every time. Also, use URL shorteners like goo.gl or bit.ly to shorten long website names. These are generally case-sensitive and you would want to note that to your classes.

The reading passages don't have to suck! I always try to write or pick a passage that is relevant to the topic, but it doesn't have to specific and factual information about that concept. What would be engaging to students?

I required the write it stations to be done in complete sentences. This is an area that you can modify, but middle school students really need practice in this area.

If you have a question or comment about the setup please let me know in the comments section below. I'll be glad to answer them

Grading Science Stations

I know you're probably thinking about grading a stack of lab write-ups but this doesn't have to be a difficult process. The goal for students is mastery of a particular piece of content. I can easily verify this by grading only the Read, Assess, and Illustrate section. I know immediately if the concept was obtained.

What about students that eventually figure out that you only grade a few sections? Don't let them see behind the curtain and change up your grading! My point is this doesn't have to be a difficult 5-hour job. Make it easy on yourself.

Those students that didn't perform well on the lab can easily be identified and are ideal candidates for extra help or tutoring.

You Don't Have To Do It Alone

Setting up science stations are something that you could do by yourself, but if time is a concern I've done all of the work for you.

I've created 100+ science station labs that cover a huge variety of common science concepts. You can buy each lab individually, as a unit bundle, or save a massive amount buy buying the entire lab bundle.

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The Complete Guide to Setting Up Effective Science Stations - Kesler Science

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Science stations are a staple in my classroom and have made the biggest impact on student mastery. I'm a firm believer in student-led learning in any subject, but in science it is so important that hands-on exploration is part of the learning process.

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Facilitator’s Guide for ACESSE Resource D

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OUSD Secondary Science Instructional Toolkit - Core Instructional Strategies

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ACESSE Resource E: Selecting Anchoring Phenomena for Equitable 3D Teaching : StemTeachingTools

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This pair of workshops is designed to introduce you to the process of selecting phenomena that can anchor an entire unit that supports students' 3D science learning or that can serve as a basis for a multi-component assessment task. This resource can also be used by individuals wanting to refine their teaching practice around phenomena based instruction.

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Article: NGSS for English Language Learners by E. Miller, H. Baxter Lauffer, and P. Messina

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Article: Engaging Students in Scientific Practices: What does constructing and revising models look like in the science classroom? by K. Krajcik and J. Merritt

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Engaging Students in the Scientific Practices of Explanation and Argumentation

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Engaging Students in the Scientific Practices of Explanation and Argumentation

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Article: Engaging Students in the Scientific Practices of Explanation and Argumentation by B. Reiser, L. Berland, and L. Kenyon

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Assessing Science Practices: Moving your Class Along the Continum

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Assessing Science Practices: Moving your Class Along the Continum

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Article: Assessing Science Practices by K. McNeill, R. Datsh-Singer, and P. Pelletier

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Robust and effective classroom discussions are essential for providing students with opportunities to simultaneously engage in science practices while learning key science content. Using numerous examples and science learning tasks, the authors show how teachers can plan the lesson to encourage students to not only learn science content but employ disciplinary practices as well. This volume outlines the five practices teachers need for facilitating effective inquiry-oriented classrooms:

Anticipate what students will do what strategies they will use in solving a problem Monitor their work as they approach the problem in class Select students whose strategies are worth discussing in class Sequence those students presentations to maximize their potential to increase students learning Connect the strategies and ideas in a way that helps students understand the science learned

The 5 Practices framework identifies a set of instructional practices that will help teachers achieve high-demand learning objectives by using student work as the launching point for discussions in which important scientific ideas are brought to the surface, contradictions are exposed, and understandings are developed or consolidated.

About the Authors:

Jennifer Cartier is the director of teacher education and a member of the science education faculty at the University of Pittsburgh. Her work focuses on the design and facilitation of learning contexts for pre-service and early career teachers.

Margaret Smith holds a joint appointment at the University of Pittsburgh as professor of mathematics education in the School of Education and as Senior Scientist at the Learning Research and Development Center. Her research focuses on what teachers learn from the professional education experiences in which they engage.

Mary Kay Stein holds a joint appointment at the University of Pittsburgh as professor of learning sciences and policy and as Senior Scientist at the Learning Research and Development Center. Her research focuses on mathematics teaching and learning in classrooms and the ways in which policy and organizational conditions shape teachers practice.

Danielle K. Ross is a teaching fellow and doctoral candidate in science education at the School of Education of the University of Pittsburgh. Her work focuses on teacher learning and the design of learning contexts for beginning teachers. She was previously a biology and ecology teacher at Leechburg Area School District in Leechburg, Pennsylvania.

Reviews and Endorsements for 5 Practices for Orchestrating Productive Task-Based Discussions in Science:

One of my biggest challenges as a science teacher is how to both engage students in the practices from the Next Generation Science Standards and teach the content from my curriculum. Before, I sometimes felt that I had to choose between the two. However, 5 Practices provides clear examples and very concrete guidelines for how to orchestrate student-centered discussions that also support sense making. Now my students and I can experience the excitement of argumentation while still staying true to our curriculum. This is my new bible for facilitating student discourse! Austin Deaver, Science Teacher, Montgomery Village Middle School Montgomery Village, Maryland

Planning for and engaging students in meaningful scientific reasoning and adapting instruction in response are simultaneously the most difficult and the most important tasks science teachers face. This book provides both new and experienced teachers with a road map to continually improve their ability to do this work. Nicole M. Gillespie, Executive Director, Knowles Science Teaching Foundation Moorestown, New Jersey.

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5 Practices for Orchestrating Task-Based Discussions in Science

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Robust and effective classroom discussions are essential for providing students with opportunities to simultaneously engage in science practices while learning key science content. Using numerous examples and science learning tasks, the authors show how teachers can plan the lesson to encourage s...

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Academic Discourse: Why they're important for EL's

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Academic Discourse: Why they're important for EL's

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Research/Data: Why Are Academic Discussions So Important For ELL Students?.pdf

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Academic Discourse: Why they're important for EL's

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Academic Discourse: Why they're important for EL's

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(Article)

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Research/Data: Why Are Academic Discussions So Important For ELL Students?.pdf

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Academic Discourse: Protocol for class discussion accountability and norms.

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Academic Discourse: Protocol for class discussion accountability and norms.

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Thought starters

1. How does using this structure affect students' discussions?

2. Why does Ms. Nguyen scribe what students say?

3. How does Ms. Nguyen track students' participation?

School Details

Westlake Middle School
2629 Harrison Street
Oakland CA 94612

Data Provided By:

Teachers

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Participation Protocol for Academic Discussions

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Thought starters How does using this structure affect students' discussions? Why does Ms. Nguyen scribe what students say? How does Ms. Nguyen track students' participation? School Details Westlake Middle School 2629 Harrison Street Oakland CA 94612 Data Provided By: Teachers

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Academic Discourse: Why conversations are important in NGSS.

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Academic Discourse: Why conversations are important in NGSS.

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(Video)

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Elementary students explain, predict, and conduct investigations to examine the effect of water flow on different types of surfaces in the school yard, including black top, soil, and wood chips. As a group, students use the data to develop an initial model that explains the relationships between water flow and the changes that occur on the surfaces.

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Academic Discourse: Text Graffiti Strategy

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Academic Discourse: Text Graffiti Strategy

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Watch the video to see it in action: https://www.teachingchannel.org/videos/preview-challenging-topics

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(Video)

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Setting Norms for Academic Discourse - TeacherTube

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In this video, the teacher is setting the stage for academic discourse. These are the norms she puts into place to create a culture of academic discourse.

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Professional Development for Science Teachers

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Professional Development for Science Teachers

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Plan better lessons for your students in critical subjects such as algebra, reading comprehension, and the life sciences with free resouces from world-class teachers.

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Engaging learners in scientific practices related to obtaining, evaluating and communicating information

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Article: Exploring the Science Framework by Bell et al.

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Exploring the Science Framework- Making connections in math with Common Core State Standards

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Exploring the Science Framework- Making connections in math with Common Core State Standards

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Article: Exploring the Science Framework - Making connections in math with the Common Core State Standards by R. Mayes and T. Koballa

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Exploring the Science Framework- Making connections in math with Common Core State Standards

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Exploring the Science Framework- Making connections in math with Common Core State Standards

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Article: Exploring the Science Framework - Making connections in math with the Common Core State Standards by R. Mayes and T. Koballa

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Free book download

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Contributors

Description

Assessments, understood as tools for tracking what and how well students have learned, play a critical role in the classroom. Developing Assessments for the Next Generation Science Standards develops an approach to science assessment to meet the vision of science education for the future as it has been elaborated in A Framework for K-12 Science Education (Framework) and Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS). These documents are brand new and the changes they call for are barely under way, but the new assessments will be needed as soon as states and districts begin the process of implementing the NGSS and changing their approach to science education.

The new Framework and the NGSS are designed to guide educators in significantly altering the way K-12 science is taught. The Framework is aimed at making science education more closely resemble the way scientists actually work and think, and making instruction reflect research on learning that demonstrates the importance of building coherent understandings over time. It structures science education around three dimensions - the practices through which scientists and engineers do their work, the key crosscutting concepts that cut across disciplines, and the core ideas of the disciplines - and argues that they should be interwoven in every aspect of science education, building in sophistication as students progress through grades K-12.

Developing Assessments for the Next Generation Science Standards recommends strategies for developing assessments that yield valid measures of student proficiency in science as described in the new Framework. This report reviews recent and current work in science assessment to determine which aspects of the Framework's vision can be assessed with available techniques and what additional research and development will be needed to support an assessment system that fully meets that vision. The report offers a systems approach to science assessment, in which a range of assessment strategies are designed to answer different kinds of questions with appropriate degrees of specificity and provide results that complement one another.

Developing Assessments for the Next Generation Science Standards makes the case that a science assessment system that meets the Framework's vision should consist of assessments designed to support classroom instruction, assessments designed to monitor science learning on a broader scale, and indicators designed to track opportunity to learn. New standards for science education make clear that new modes of assessment designed to measure the integrated learning they promote are essential. The recommendations of this report will be key to making sure that the dramatic changes in curriculum and instruction signaled by Framework and the NGSS reduce inequities in science education and raise the level of science education for all students.

Topics

Suggested Citation

National Research Council. 2014. Developing Assessments for the Next Generation Science Standards. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. https://doi.org/10.17226/18409.

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Division of Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Developing Assessments for the Next Generation Science Standards

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Assessments, understood as tools for tracking what and how well students have learned, play a critical role in the classroom. Developing Assessments for the Next Generation Science Standards develops an approach to science assessment to meet the vision of science education for the future as it has been elaborated in A Framework for K-12 Science Education (Framework) and Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS).

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Instructional Leadership for Science Practices

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The text-based case studies include: Exemplar and Conference Case Studies. Each case study has various elements to help support understanding, including vignette transcripts, annotations, and...

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Instructional Leadership for Science Practices

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Video Case Studies

The video case studies are intended to provide real-life examples of classroom instruction to practice using the ILSP tools. Each case study has various elements to help support understanding, including example video, initial observation forms, and post-observation forms. Some videos were recorded before the release of NGSS and were therefore aligned with the closest performance expectations and science practices. ​

Description

2-ESS2-1: Compare multiple solutions designed to slow or prevent wind or water from changing the shape of the land ​

Planning and carrying out investigations, Engaging in argument from evidence

3-PS2-1: Plan and conduct an investigation to provide evidence of the effects of balanced and unbalanced forces on the motion of an object.

1-PS4-1: Plan and conduct investigations to provide evidence that vibrating materials can make sound and that sound can make materials vibrate.

Asking questions, Planning and carrying out investigations

4-PS3-2: Energy: Make observations to provide evidence that energy can be transferred from place to place by sound, light, heat, and electric currents.

1-PS4-1 Waves and Their Applications in Technologies for Information Transfer: Plan and conduct investigations to provide evidence that vibrating materials can make sound and that sound can make materials vibrate.

Developing and using models, Constructing explanations

3-PS2-3. Ask questions to determine cause and effect relationships of electric or magnetic interactions between two objects not in contact with each other.

Planning and carrying out investigations, Analyzing and interpreting data, Constructing explanations

5-PS1-1. Develop a model to describe that matter is made of particles too small to be seen.

Analyzing and interpreting data, Constructing explanations

​​​3-5-ETS1-2: Engineering Design: Generate and compare multiple possible solutions to a problem based on how well each is likely to meet the criteria and constraints of the problem.

3-5-ETS1-3: Engineering Design: Plan and carry out fair tests in which variables are controlled and failure points are considered to identify aspects of a model or prototype that can be improved.

Planning and carrying out investigations, Analyzing and interpreting data, Constructing explanations

MS-LS3-2: Develop and use a model to describe why asexual reproduction results in offspring with identical genetic information and sexual reproduction results in offspring with genetic variation.

MS-LS4-5: Gather and synthesize information about the technologies that have changed the way humans influence the inheritance of desired traits in organisms. ​

Analyzing and interpreting data, Engaging in argument from evidence

MS-LS1-6. Construct a scientific explanation based on evidence for the role of photosynthesis in the cycling of matter and flow of energy into and out of organisms.

MS-LS1-7. Develop a model to describe how food is rearranged through chemical reactions forming new molecules that support growth and/or release energy as this matter moves through an organism.

Analyzing and interpreting data, Constructing explanations, Engaging in argument from evidence

MS-LS2-3: Develop a model to describe the cycling of matter and flow of energy among living and nonliving parts of an ecosystem.

Constructing explanations

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The video case studies are intended to provide real-life examples of classroom instruction to practice using the ILSP tools. Each case study has various elements to help support understanding,...

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The professional learning outlined in this facilitator's guide is designed to increase educator proficiency in applying the EQuIP Rubric for Science v3.0 while also deepening their understanding of the NGSS. It is organized as a series of 10 modules with guidance to adapt the professional learning to meet the needs of educators of varying knowledge of the standards. Successful use of this guide will result in educators being equipped to review science lessons and units, to provide effective feedback and suggestions for improvement to developers and users of these instructional materials, to identify model or example lessons and units, and to inform the development of new instructional materials.

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EQuIP Professional Learning Facilitator's Guide

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The professional learning outlined in this facilitator's guide is designed to increase educator proficiency in applying the EQuIP Rubric for Science v3.0 while also deepening their understanding of the NGSS. It is organized as a series of 10 modules with guidance to adapt the professional learning to meet the needs of educators of varying knowledge of the standards.

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Video: NGSS EQuIP Rubric: 3-Dimensional Learning | Next Generation Science Standards

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This video highlights part one of the NGSS EQuIP Rubric: 3-Dimensional Learning. Learn more about the EQuIP rubric here .

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SHORT COURSE: How to Develop 3D Formative Assessments for the Science Classroom

Posted on April 05, 2016

This short course will help you learn how to develop and use 3D formative assessments in the classroom.

Background

Formative assessment in the classroom is crucial because everyone engaged in complex learning benefits from timely and focused feedback from more expert others. The process also promotes important processes of self-explanation, reflection, and learning. One powerful approach to formative assessment is to develop short tests of student understanding that get embedded into an unfolding curriculum unit-allowing for instruction to shift to support student understanding of specific learning goals.

The new vision for K-12 science education calls for a new three-dimensional model of science learning. From this 3D integrated perspective, research shows that students learn science best by engaging in science and engineering practices (SEPs) as part of sustained and meaningful investigations as they learn and apply disciplinary core ideas (DCIs) and cross-cutting concepts (CCCs). This integrated approach to learning has major implications for how formative assessments should be developed and used.

Here are some activities with linked resources that can help you learn how to develop or refine 3D formative assessments. The sequence assumes that you are familiar with the basics associated with the new vision and the associated equity goals for science education.

Formative Assessment Activities

Activity 1: Getting Oriented (30 min)

To learn more about the overall approach to assessment for K-12 science education, read about Designing an Assessment System that Measures Three-Dimensional Science Learning and think about what parts of the recommended "system of assessments" that you will be working on.

Activity 2: Learning about Formative Assessment (15 min)

If you need some background on formative assessment, skim this report on Attributes of Effective Formative Assessment and think through how the definition for formative assessment and five attributes relate to the work that you do or could do.

Activity 3: Learning About the Very Idea of 3D Assessment (20 min)

To get oriented to 3D assessment development, read about How teachers can develop formative assessments that fit a three-dimensional view of science learning and explore the embedded examples. How similar or different are they to the formative assessments you are familiar with?

Activity 4: Learning How to Build 3D Assessment Clusters (20 min)

To get started developing 3D assessment items, read How can assessments be designed to engage students in the range of science and engineering practices? and start to map out an assessment cluster you would like to build.

Activity 5a: Engaging in a Procedure to Develop 3D Assessments (30 min to orient plus ongoing work)

To get detailed guidance on a process you can use to develop assessment clusters, sink into Steps to Designing a Three-Dimensional Assessment and use the five steps to guide the development of your assessment cluster.

Activity 5b: Learning How to Design Assessments for All Practices (ongoing)

To design assessment items for the range of science and engineering practices in the new vision, use these Task Formats for Science & Engineering Practices to scaffold your design of specific assessment items. This tool get used in Step 3.

Formative Assessment Extension Activities

The following materials come from teacher workshops focused on the development of 3D formative assessments. The slides and resources are worth exploring and leveraging in your own work.

Building on students' prior content knowledge is a key strategy for promoting deep learning in the classroom. The NRC Framework for K-12 Science Education -- that guided development of NGSS -- highlighted how it is equally important to build upon students' prior interests and identities during science instruction. Research has shown that building on student interests and experience can make science more relevant, help them identify with science, and learn how science is a human endeavor that has an important role in society. In this workshop, participants will learn how to use different formative assessment approaches to support interest-driven learning in their classroom. These general strategies help students make meaningful connections between the science concepts they are learning and the application of those ideas to their own lives and to other everyday situations -- including the many careers and pursuits that leverage STEM knowledge and practices. The approaches you'll learn in this workshop can be used with any curricula, at any grade level, and in all subjects of science and engineering.

How is assessing three-dimensional science learning different than we how we have thought of science learning in the past? How can we design assessment tasks that elicit the core ideas, practices, and crosscutting concepts in the NGSS performance expectations (PEs)? There are very few examples of elementary and middle school assessments completely aligned to NGSS, so people will need to adapt the ones that exist. Performance expectations also under specify the nature of evidence needed to draw inferences about student learning. This workshop aims to help participants identify assessment components that focus on individual practices, core ideas, or crosscutting concepts, and understand how, taken together, the components can support inferences about students' three-dimensional science learning as described in a given performance expectation. We guide participants through an analysis of common assessment tasks to identify components and qualities of these tasks that support assessment of practices, crosscutting concepts, and core ideas. Tasks examples will will be drawn from all four domains of disciplinary ideas linked across elementary and middle school. Through this activity, participants will review tasks that aim for assessing PEs, discuss strengths of these tasks and gain practice with adapting them to better elicit three dimensional science learning.

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SHORT COURSE: How to Develop 3D Formative Assessments for the Science Classroom

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Posted on April 05, 2016 This short course will help you learn how to develop and use 3D formative assessments in the classroom. Formative assessment in the classroom is crucial because everyone engaged in complex learning benefits from timely and focused feedback from more expert others.

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Below you can choose from a series of videos that demonstrate ambitious teaching. If you have not yet viewed the Orientation Series, we urge you to do that first, before looking at others. For each of the classroom series, we've shot an entire unit of instruction so you can see how ambitious science teaching unfolds over time.

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Below you can choose from a series of videos that demonstrate ambitious teaching. If you have not yet viewed the Orientation Series , we urge you to do that first, before looking at others. For each of the classroom series, we've shot an entire unit of instruction so you can see how ambitious science teaching unfolds over time.

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All books offer possibilities for talk about science in the illustrations and text once you know how to look for them. With Sharing Books Talking

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Anatomy of the Disciplinary Core Ideas | NGSS Demystified

The Disciplinary Core Ideas (DCIs) of the NGSS prioritize moving away from the "mile wide, inch deep" model of science learning. Instead, the emphasis is on making room for teachers to support students in building deeper understanding. In this activity, participants will learn more about the criteria used to determine the DCIs within each discipline and will examine a K-12 progression for one Component Idea, a specific concept within a DCI.

Watch the video to get an overview of this professional development activity, and use the detailed lesson plan listed in "Support Materials" to lead this exercise for your team of educators. You'll find more PD ideas in the NGSS Demystified collection.

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Anatomy of the Disciplinary Core Ideas | NGSS Demystified

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The Disciplinary Core Ideas (DCIs) of the NGSS prioritize moving away from the "mile wide, inch deep" model of science learning. Instead, the emphasis is on making room for teachers to support students in building deeper understanding.

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Play the whole episode by clicking the play button below or finding on your podcast platform:
Co-author of Ambitious Science Teaching, Jessica Thompson, is here with us today to talk about the value of collaboration with your NGSS colleagues specifically by forming Professional Learning Communities (PLC). She gives us specific examples and resources on how to productively guide meetings, norms, and goals. PLCs can be as small as two people so we encourage you to listen to this episode and then reach out to at least one colleague and form an NGSS PLC. We are better together! Join our Facebook Group and let us know what you think of this episode. And remember, you're phenomenal!

01:30 - 07:00 Introduction to Jessica and PLCs

07:00 - 10:00 How to decide what to work on in your PLC

10:00 - 17:00 Promoting productive discourse in the classroom

17:30 - 20:30 Collecting and using classroom data in PLCs

21:00 - 25:00 Practice, Data & Theory -- three important things for PLCs to engage with

25:00 - 37:30 Foothold practices, diving into the science, and considering who to include & how to structure your PLC

38:00 - 46:00 Jennifer's advice on what to avoid when starting a PLC

"We've partnered with hundreds of teachers across Washington state in Professional Learning Communities, and we've actually seen that there's two good starting places for teams. One is around the improvement of discourse ... Most of us as teachers know that there's always challenges in classrooms around encouraging participation and making participation equitable. ... So thinking about classroom discourse is one entry point that we've seen for teams. Another one is around the idea of scientific modeling and developing tools that support kids in revising their scientific models over time. Those have been two good starting places for PLC teams." [7:00-8:00] Jessica Thompson

"What's particularly critical is that teachers--in their own classrooms or in a PLC--collect data from kids." [10:50-11:00] Jessica Thompson

"Measurement is the most powerful when it's kids giving you feedback, which is not the same as saying 'how much did kids learn?' It's saying 'how did kids experience?' It's just a slight twist, but it then involves students in a different way. They're not just the recipients of something external practiced on them. They are really contributors towards the evolution of your teaching." [21:00-21:30] Jessica Thompson

"It is important, even if you start [your PLC] within grade bands, to then think about 'how do we go across the whole school?'" [32:45-32:50] Jessica Thompson

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We'd love to feature NGSS or Framework teachers and experts on our podcast. Contact us at [email protected] .

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Episode 048: Forming a Productive NGSS PLC with Jessica Thompson

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Co-author of Ambitious Science Teaching, Jessica Thompson, is here today to talk about the value of collaboration with your NGSS colleagues specifically by forming Professional Learning Communities (PLC). She gives specific examples & resources on how to productively guide meetings, norms & goals.

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Podcast NGS Navigators

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Play the whole episode by clicking the play button below or finding on your podcast platform:
Subscribe to our Newsletter for updates and blog posts right in your inbox. Meet pre-service teacher Tamashi Hettiarachchi. She shares with us her experiences & resources she finds helpful in learning how to teach NGSS. Her passion and energy is contagious. Listen and then check the show notes for links to the resources mentioned in the show. Join our Facebook Group and let us know what you think of this episode. And remember, you're phenomenal!

03:05 - 05:25 Meet Tamashi and learn why she decided to become a teacher

05:25 - 08:35 AntU professional development resources

08:35 - 10:45 What it's like to be a pre-service teacher today

10:45 - 21:10 5 Practices for Orchestrating Task Based Discussions in Science

21:15 - 23:00 Applying the 5 Practices to teaching Chemistry

23:00 - 25:00 Tamashi's other favorite resources

"I think it's a really valuable experience to be able to be in a classroom so early as an education student and with that I think I've learned some things that I think my fellow students could benefit from. And some students who are mentor teachers or future cooperating teachers, definitely one thing that I think is really important is to try to create a relationship of trust in setting expectations between both parties just so that there isn't any confusion or miscommunication. I think something that's really valuable is for the in service teacher to, as much as possible, try to make their thinking as visible as possible." [08:45-09:45] Tamashi Hettiarachchi

"In the end, the goal is for the class discussion to become an evidence-based explanation for whatever phenomena you present to the class. And I think especially in this kind of productive talk is something that's new to the classroom, and it's important to remember that this type of talk is new for your students and new for you as a teacher, so the transition takes time. Setting discussion norms is definitely really useful in this kind of setting, and just framing questions in terms of students work." [16:25-17:05] Tamashi Hettiarachchi

Find us on iTunes

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Be sure to subscribe to this podcast so you stay up to date on all our future episodes. Or sign up for email notifications of podcast episodes.
Find us on Stitcher

Find us on Spotify

We'd love to feature NGSS or Framework teachers and experts on our podcast. Contact us at [email protected] .

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Episode 054: 5 Practices for Orchestrating Task Based Discussion

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Meet pre-service teacher Tamashi Hettiarachchi. She shares with us her experiences & resources she finds helpful in learning how to teach NGSS. Her passion and energy is contagious. Listen and then check the show notes for links to the resources mentioned in the show.

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We're right in the middle of changing, challenging times, and most industries are feeling it. Often, change comes with some resistance. It's not always comfortable. When the Blue Wahoos baseball stadium was built on Studer Education's property in downtown Pensacola about a decade ago, Quint Studer, who led the effort, faced tremendous resistance to change.

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Falling 101 - Follow up to conceptual change

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Falling 101 - Follow up to conceptual change

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Professional Learning Guide: https://ssec.si.edu/sites/default/files/GT_PD_105_Falling%20101.pdf

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Bransford, J., Brown, A., Cocking R. R., & National Research Council (U.S.). (2000). How People Learn: Brain, Mind, Experience, and school: Expanded Edition. Washington, D.C.: National Academy Press.

Loucks-Horsley, S., Stiles, K. E., Mundry, S., Love, N., & Hewson, P.W. (2010) Designing Professional Development for Teachers of Math and Science. Thousand Oaks, CA.: Corwin.

National Research Council. (2012). A Framework for K-12 Science Education: Practices, Crosscutting Concepts, and Core Ideas. Washington, D.C.: National Academies Press.

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Our Teacher Professional Development Principles

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Bransford, J., Brown, A., Cocking R. R., & National Research Council (U.S.). (2000). How People Learn: Brain, Mind, Experience, and school: Expanded Edition. Washington, D.C.: National Academy Press. Loucks-Horsley, S., Stiles, K. E., Mundry, S., Love, N., & Hewson, P.W. (2010) Designing Professional Development for Teachers of Math and Science.

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Teacher Professional Learning Materials

To support key instructional shifts in the Next Generation Science Standards, we have developed professional learning materials to accompany the instructional materials. These materials take into consideration important findings of best practices in supporting teacher learning (National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, 2015; National Research Council, 2015). All OpenSciEd materials are open educational resources (OER) licensed to be free for anyone to use, share, redistribute, adapt, transform, and build upon for any purpose, even commercially. If you are interested in getting support with facilitating OpenSciEd professional learning, visit our page with OpenSciEd Professional Development Providers.

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Access the Professional Learning Materials - OpenSciEd

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To support key instructional shifts in the Next Generation Science Standards, we have developed professional learning materials to accompany the instructional materials. These materials take into consideration important findings of best practices in supporting teacher learning (National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, 2015; National Research Council, 2015).

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Professional Learning Guide https://ssec.si.edu/sites/default/files/GT_PD_101_Conceptual%20Change.pdf

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Smithsonian Science Education Center (SSEC)

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Good Thinking! — Conceptual Change: How New Ideas Take Root

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Culturally Responsive Teaching: 4 Misconceptions | Cult of Pedagogy

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In some cases, teachers think they’re practicing culturally responsive teaching, when in fact, they’re kind of not. Zaretta Hammond helps clear things up.

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We appreciate your feedback and any suggestions on additional resources.

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This school year, I have the privilege of working shoulder to shoulder with teachers who are rolling up their sleeves and asking hard questions about how they can better serve their under-performing students who are disproportionately English learners, poor students, and students of color. They are working to incorporate culturally responsive practices into their classrooms.

I believe culturally responsive teaching (CRT) is a powerful method for accelerating student learning. But truth be told, most educators are not really sure what it is or what it looks like. For some, it seems mysterious. A number of leaders discount it because it seems too "touchy feely" or only focused on raising students' self-esteem, when they need to raise achievement levels. But CRT is so much more than that. It's the reason why I wroteCulturally Responsive Teaching and the Brain. ( Brief podcast on CRT)

Two of the biggest challenges I see teachers struggle with when first embracing CRT, is understanding the role culture actually plays in instruction and how to operationalize culturally responsive practices. They worry that they have to learn 19 different cultures -- everyone's individual customs, holidays, foods, and language. This simply isn't true. Here are four other big ideas about culturally responsive teaching to keep in mind:

1. Culturally responsive teaching isn't the same as multicultural education or social justice education. Too often we use the terms culturally responsive teaching and multicultural education interchangeably, when they're different things. They are related, but only culturally responsive teaching focuses on building students' learning power. It's important to remember that CRT isn't about diversity training, but about helping students reach deeper levels of understanding.

2. Culturally responsive teaching builds students' brain power by Improving information processing skills using cultural learning tools.This isn't an aspect of CRT we talk about a lot. Instead, educators like to focus on the affective elements. Keep in mind one way that the achievement gap manifests itself is by creating dependent learners who find it hard to do critical thinking or independent learning. When we focus on using culture as a cognitive scaffold, then we're able to leverage students' neural pathways that make learning easier.

3. Culturally responsive teaching is grounded in social and cognitive neuroscience. Neuroscience is giving us new findings every day that support why culturally responsive practices work. For example, social neuroscience reminds us that relationships are the on-ramp to learning, meaning if a student doesn't feel heard or seen, then it leads to increased stress. Stress hormones like cortisol impair the brain's executive function. So in order to create a learning environment conducive to all students learning, we need to lower stress hormones by building those relationships.

4. Culturally responsive teaching requires teachers to recognize the cultural orientation we call "collectivism."Teachers are often confused about how culture plays a role in culturally responsive teaching. They think they have to mention race, ethnicity, or cultural artifacts like ethnic food, music, or literature all the time for every different group. Instead, a key starting point to making cultural responsiveness manageable is to organize instructional activities around collectivist cultural principles -- group harmony and interdependence. Vygotsky talks about this as "socio-cultural learning" and highlights that it is necessary to move students into their zone of proximal development.

Here's another important point to make: Culturally responsive teaching isn't a program or set of strategies. First and foremost, it is a mindset. That means that it's equally important to do the ongoing "inside-out" work to build your social-emotional capacity to work across social, linguistic, racial, and/or economic difference with students and their families. Too often I hear educators say that they are "color-blind" or don't understand the socio-political issues that lead to inequities in education -- like disproportionate discipline outcomes for boys of color or low achievement data for English learners, poor students, and students of color in general.

We have to make it our personal business to build our emotional stamina to address our own blind spots and biases. One of the nation's leading implicit bias scholars, Patricia Devine of the University of Wisconsin, compares implicit bias to habits that, with intention and practice, can be broken. Her research has found that three conditions need to be in place for individuals to successfully "de-bias":

1. Intention: You have to acknowledge that you harbor unconscious biases and are motivated to change.

2. Attention: You have to pay attention to your triggers and know when stereotypical responses or assumptions are activated.

3. Time: You have to make time to practice new strategies designed to "break" your automatic associations that link a negative judgment to behavior that is culturally different from yours.

"De-biasing" requires a level of metacognition. In this case, you're not thinking about your thinking, but thinking about your unconscious reacting. Remember, it isn't about getting rid of our biases, it's about rewiring our brains to not respond unconsciously to the negative dominant narratives about the learning capacity of poor students, students of color, and English learners. We have to tame our amygdala, our brain's fight or flight defense mechanism, and take advantage of neuroplasticity - our brain's ability to change itself and respond differently to emotionally charged situations, like talking about race, culture, and inequity.

At the end of professional development sessions with teachers, I usually share this quote from Atul Gawande, author of the Checklist Manifesto: How to Get Things Right: "Better is possible. It does not take genius. It takes diligence. It takes moral clarity. It takes ingenuity. And above all, it takes a willingness to try." Operationalizing CRT may seem overwhelming, but start with something small but high leverage, and grow your comfort and skill level. We can do this!

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Culturally Responsive Teaching & The Brain

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This school year, I have the privilege of working shoulder to shoulder with teachers who are rolling up their sleeves and asking hard questions about how they can better serve their under-performing students who are disproportionately English learners, poor students, and students of color.

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Find out how to create and use a good set of norms for professional learning to build trust and encourage risk taking within a collaborative group.

What Are Norms and Why Do They Matter?

Have you ever been in a meeting or a workshop and felt frustrated by not being able to get a word in? Have you noticed colleagues hanging back from participating and made assumptions about why? Have you ever felt attacked by criticism instead of supported by constructive feedback? What are norms and how can they avoid these pitfalls?

This brief article draws on research-based resources and shares a few examples of specific norms and how they build capacity for productive collaboration.

Co-create Your Team Norms

This activity provides a step-by-step guide for co-constructing a set of norms with your team that will help build trust and encourage productive participation!

Tips for Supporting Norms

These tips for supporting norms during short or longer-term collaboration will help you make the most of any "social contract" you choose for, or co-create with, your team.

The Norms Library

It's not always necessary to create your own norms from scratch! This curated collection of existing sets of norms is in no way meant to be comprehensive, but the examples included have been created for a variety of professional learning settings and situations. Choose norms directly from one or more of these resources, or use them as inspiration for you or your team.

Find out how icebreakers and energizers can help participants get ready to learn and focus on the content.

It's important to be cognizant of both the similarities and differences in how adults and children learn.

When you are the facilitator, the responsibility of focusing everyone's attention on the session's topic and

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Learn about how to use norms to support working groups and avoid some of the pitfalls of ckise collaboration.