According to Dr. John Hattie, incorporating literacy instruction in science has a 0.98 effect size making it one of the most high impact methods of instructing students. I often hear from science teachers that they are not "reading" or "writing" teachers. I understand that perspective. You feel like you haven't been trained to teach your students how to read and write. However, while your training may not have explicitly been in literacy, you have been trained to to be literate in your discipline. Disciplinary literacy may use different vocabulary but the skills are the same: reading, writing, and speaking. For example, our GSE standards ask you to have your students make a claim backed by evidence. This same language appears in our ELA standards across the grade levels. Incorporating more literacy skills in your classroom doesn't have to be difficult. Check out this article from ASCD or this presentation I did for the Georgia Science Supervisors Association meeting to see more.

This phenomenon graphic organizer shared by Christy Fogel, 5th grade teacher at Arbor Springs Elementary, makes it easy to focus your students when they're exploring a new phenomenon. Students observe a new phenomenon drawing or describing what they saw. The labels are important to help you understand what your students are thinking. Students then document questions they have about the phenomenon and what they would need to know to help figure out what happened. Students then share their ideas verbally with explanations for the phenomenon based on the evidence they have gathered. Students can agree or disagree with other students using evidence they have gathered. The emphasis is on the evidence and respectfully disagreeing when evidence doesn't match up. Students are allowed to change their ideas based on new evidence. Want to know more? I'll be happy to come show you what this looks like in any classroom! Schedule Your Appointment Here!

NE Georgia RESA has created an assessment bank of items designed to help teachers implement and assess 3D science in their classrooms. There are 85 items written by specially trained Georgia educators and can be sorted by grade level, subject, and standard. More than just multiple choice questions, these items come complete with correct answers and rubrics for scoring the items. Access is free but you'll need to request the password from NEGARESA. Use this link to access the item bank's main page and find the link to request the password.

Don't miss out on new resources and freebies! Join the Science Google Classrooms! Use the class codes listed below.

Elementary: uz7l4 (that's a lowercase L...not a 1)

Middle: wumkvdb

High: s0ei0d (those are zeros...not Os)

Are you interested in obtaining or renewing your Coweta STEM Recognition? The process is simple!

1) Teach 5 STEM lessons. A STEM lesson typically includes some sort of design challenge for your students. Designing a poster or Google Slide presentation does not count as a design challenge. Teachers may collaborate on lessons together. For example, if your STEM lesson calls for writing (which it should!), partner with an ELA teacher to help!

2) Fill out the STEM Activity log. Briefly describe the 5 lessons on this form.

3) Post one exemplar lesson with student work samples. Pictures or videos of student work so other teachers and students can understand what the assignment leads to using this http://bit.ly/CCSSSTEMRecognition form.

4) That's it! Now sit back and enjoy the admiration of your colleagues and community.

If you have more questions or would like to discuss lesson plan ideas, contact donald.white@cowetaschools.net or michelle.clarke@cowetaschools.net. You can also find more info at www.cowetastemrecognition.weebly.com

Looking for ideas for your STEM/STEAM lessons? Check out some of these!

https://www.teachengineering.org

http://www.novelengineering.org

https://www.eie.org

http://www.stemcobb.com/lesson-links.html Elementary STEM Lessons

http://www.stemcobb.com/ms-stem-lessons.html Middle School STEM Lessons

239 STEM Resource Websites

If your school hasn't gotten on the Science World Tour Calendar, email me! I have resources to share and can help your school meet its goals in science and literacy. I'll come visit during your planning period or before/after school or during a planning day. We can talk collaborating on a lesson plan or co-teaching. We can look at your school science data and more! Don't miss out!

Schedule Your Appointment Here!

Please contact Dr. Donald White with any questions or comments.

Email: donald.white@cowetaschools.net
Website: bit.ly/CCSSScience
Location: 167 Werz Industrial Boulevard, Newnan, GA 30263
Phone: 770-254-2800
Twitter: @dwhitesciguy