NGSS Resources and News for Science Teachers

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NSTA
February 2018
How Teachers Are Choosing and Adapting Instructional Materials
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This issue of the Next Gen Navigator picks up where we left off in January—on the topic of instructional materials.

 

The need for three-dimensional classroom resources is huge so we wanted to ensure sure we explored it from all angles. This month we examine this topic through the practitioner's lens. While few fully three-dimensional classroom resources exist, teachers are finding and adapting existing resources to make them more compatible with the NGSS goals. In this issue, some exemplary teachers share their hard work to test and retest, tweak, and explore the new approaches they used to transition to 3-D teaching.

 

Enjoy this issue, and let us know if any of these ideas work for you: Drop us a note at nextgennavigator@nsta.org

 
Enjoy!
Kathy Renfrew
Field Editor, Next Gen Navigator
Choosing Instructional Materials: Lessons Learned
Achieve Inc's Director of Science (and former science teacher) Matt Krehbiel reflects on the process he undertook as an educator to select instructional materials and recommends tools teachers can use to choose NGSS-aligned materials. Learn about his steps and the ideas that he thinks are important for locating the best materials. Read More
Why Don't Antibiotics Work Like They Used To?
High school teachers Holly Hereau and Wayne Wright used the Next Generation Science Storyline Project with their 11th-grade students. They share their experiences and highlight the need for using productive talk, a driving question board, and support in the form of professional development and access to quality materials. Read More
Seeds of Science, Roots of Reading Program Helps Students Develop Explanations
Preservice educator Jim McDonald describes how he used Seeds of Science/Roots of Literacy to help students construct explanations and design solutions (one of the critical, sensemaking science and engineering practices in the NGSS). Read More 
And the Search Continues....
Former elementary teacher Kristen Crawford understands where K–5 teachers are in their transition to NGSS instruction. She describes how she works with other elementary teachers in a subject area in which they are most confident—literacy. She builds on their knowledge base in literacy to change their science instruction and work toward the NGSS goals by using the NSTA Press book Picture-Perfect Science. Read More 
NSTA
NSTA
CLASSROOM RESOURCES
These classroom resources are vetted by our teacher curators, who recommend ways they can be adapted to more closely reflect the vision of the NGSS. 
Quality Examples of Science Lessons and Units
Achieve's EQuIP Peer Review Panel for Science (PRP) uses the EQuIP Rubric for Science to evaluate instructional materials and identify lessons and units that best illustrate the cognitive demands of the NGSS. Explore this featured resource for middle school: An Ocean of Plastics.
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NSTA
Improving Practice
Dive Into 3-D Instruction at NSTA National Conference, March 15–18
You still have time to register for the science teacher event of the year—the NSTA National Conference in Atlanta—to explore three-dimensional teaching and learning. Special standards-related events and sessions include professional learning institutes, two-day workshops on three-dimensional instruction, NGSS@NSTA Forum, NGSS@NSTA Share-a-Thon, featured presentations, short courses, and NSTA Press sessions. Learn more.
STEM Teaching Tools
NSTA
GOOD READS
Nurture curiosity and joy in the youngest scientists. The 24 inquiry-based lessons in this new publication from NSTA Press are organized into sections on animals, plants, and nature walks. Rather than merely presenting science facts to 3- to 7-year-olds, you'll prompt them to make discoveries of their own. They'll explore critter camouflage, probe pumpkin insides, make bird feeders, and more.
A Head Start on Life Science
Finding Three-Dimensional Inspiration
With adoption and subsequent implementation of the NGSS in her state of Rhode Island, teacher Carolyn Higgins has taken the last few years to shift to three-dimensional lessons that focus on conceptual learning. Read about her journey and where she finds inspiration.
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NEWS & VIEWS
Idaho Schools to Adopt New Science Standards (Associated Press, Feb. 22, 2018)
 
PBS Program Explores Efforts to Downplay Teaching of Climate Change (Public Broadcasting Service, Feb. 20, 2018)
 
 
Visit the NGSS@NSTA Hub to read all the latest NGSS news
 
Do you have questions or a submission for the Next Gen Navigator? Contact us at nextgennavigator@nsta.org.
National Science Teachers Association
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Copyright 2017 National Science Teachers Association
 
The Next Gen Navigator is a monthly e-newsletter
delivering information, insights, resources, and professional learning opportunities for science educators by science educators on the Next Generation Science Standards and three-dimensional instruction.
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