NGSS Resources and News for Science Teachers
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| | February 2018 | | How Teachers Are Choosing and Adapting Instructional Materials | | | 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 |
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| | | | | | | 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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| | | | 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. |
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| | | | A Head Start on Life Science | | 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. | |
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| | 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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