Partnering to Progress K-5 September 20, 2007 Blue Licks State Park Welcome! Please help yourself to some refreshments and make sure you have signed in.

Meet Your Facilitators Kim Zeidler, Associate Director Partnership Institute for Math and Science Education Reform (PIMSER), University of Kentucky Martin Brock, PhD –Eastern Kentucky University Diane Johnson –Lewis County Schools Julia Rawlings –Fleming County Schools Becky Smith –Regional Teacher Partner, PIMSER

Group Norms Start and end on time Put cell phones on silent Be respectful of all comments Everyone participates Exercise the rule of “two feet” Come prepared for each meeting Keep side conversations to a minimum

Roadmap for the Day

Grant Highlights Why this proposal? A recent survey (May, 2007) of K-5 teachers in both districts revealed that of the 25 teachers responding, 12 different sources of curricular materials were used to teach the three-targeted topics of this proposal. Respondents said they were forced to teach in an unsettlingly piecemeal manner. An examination of primary curriculum documents tended to have little distinction in what was to be taught in kindergarten versus the third grade. 45% of the teachers surveyed reported never participating in a professional development focused on physical science 1/4 th of the responding teachers indicated they never had a PD in science content or science instruction or assessment. Of the teachers responding to the survey, 80% were somewhat or not very comfortable in “designing assessments to uncover students thinking in order to develop an instructional plan to meet students ‘needs in science.’

Goals Enhance physical science content knowledge of K-5 teachers Enhance instruction to lead to effective learning in the physical sciences Enhance/develop administrators’ knowledge and skills to provide effective instructional feedback and support high quality science teaching and learning

Teacher Component Build content knowledge in three areas of physical science: Force and Motion; Heat and Temperature; and Properties of Matter Advance pedagogical knowledge Enhance assessment skills Utilize effective technology integration Products: Develop, Field Test, and Construct learning progressions and assessments (diagnostic, formative, and summative).

It’s Pre-Assessment Time! For data interpretation purposes, as your ID number, use the last 4-digits of your phone number. Please complete the pre-assessment.

Roadmap for the Day

Writing in Science: How to Scaffold Instruction to Support Learning Science Session Engagement –Date and Focus Question Active Investigation –Record data, take notes, make illustrations or diagrams Shared Reflection Application Writing Session Shared Review –Questions about shared reflection of conclusions based on focus question Shared Writing –Model structure Scaffolding Independent Writing –Use scaffolding to complete notebook entries

Science Notebooks The science notebook is not a product that looks good, but it is a product to support learning and to develop expository writing skills. The science notebook is not about what students did, but it is about helping them to make meaning of what they did. Avoid having students write about how they felt, what was their favorite…,what they did, or a generic, “What did you learn today?” Notebooks should be for formative rather than summative purposes and, therefore, should not be graded.

Science Notebook “Rules” Date, in numerals, the first page of the entry. Write a focus or investigative question for each lesson. Write something about each science session. Write legibly (not necessarily their “best handwriting”).

Science Session

Engagement Write the date in numerals on the first page of your notebook entry. Write the focus question on the top line of your notebook entry page.

And Everyone Shouted, “Pull!” What are 3 facts and 1 question you have from the book?

Active Investigation

Shared Reflection Discuss investigation Introduce word bank –“Students must learn scientific vocabulary after they have had a concrete experience.” –“Ideas develop from experiences, and technical terms develop from the ideas and operations that are rooted in those experiences. When terms come first, students just tend to memorize so much technical jargon that it sloughs off in a short while.” –Organize the words conceptually, rather than randomly or alphabetically. –Write “generic” science vocabulary in a different color than you will use for the unit words. The “generic” word cards can be reused with any/every science unit. –Add an icon or simple diagram to help students remember the term’s meaning. –Make multiple copies of the words and place on word bank or in envelopes, so when it is time to write in their science notebooks, students can have a copy at their desks.

Application How does the investigation connect to other observations or experiences that you have had? What are other questions that you have as a result of the investigation?

Writing Session

Shared Review Focus is on processing what was learned from the investigation. Question students about the shared reflection of conclusions from the science session.

“You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to think like a rocket scientist.” –Gerry Wheeler, NSTA Executive Director

Shared Writing Model structure as the students provide the content. Focus of writing will be on: –Comparing and contrasting –Cause and effect –Reasoning Data analysis –Drawing conclusions from data

Scaffolding Data Analysis Writing Introductory/topic sentence: –This graph/table shows… Summarize the data: –Qualitative data More/less; longer/shorter –Quantitative data Actual quantities/measurements Concluding statement(s): –Therefore, I think… Outliers, inconsistent data –Some data were inconsistent. I think this happened, because… Connection to the real world –This information could be important because…

Independent Writing Use scaffolding to write in science notebooks

Roadmap for the Day

Curriculum Topic Study (CTS) “ Helping educators make the bridge between national standards and research and their local efforts to achieve high standards.”

Going Through the Process There are 6 parts to the CTS Today we will do parts 3, 4, and 6 You will need the following resources: –Science Curriculum Topic Study (SCTS) –Benchmarks for Science Literacy –National Science Education Standards –Making Sense of Secondary Science –KY POS and CCA (Combined Document) –Graphic Organizer for note taking

Going Through the Process Using the organizer and the guiding questions on pages 38 in the SCTS book, do section III of the CTS “Describing Position and Motion” pg At this time, you will only be concerned with material K-8. Please disregard the following pages: –National Standards—pg Please add the following pages: –Benchmarks—pg

Section III Debrief What information did you gain from this section? How can the information gained improve your instructional practice? How can the information gained improve understanding for your students? What are some pros and cons of this section?

Going Through The Process Now, let’s do section IV of the CTS on page 207. Use the guiding questions on page 38 of your SCTS book. Please add the following pages: –Making Sense of Secondary Science pp and

Section IV Debrief What information did you gain from this section? How can the information gained improve your instructional practice? How can the information gained improve understanding for your students? What are some pros and cons of this section?

Going Through the Process Continue the CTS, by completing section VI on pg Use the KY Combined Document for this section and the guiding questions on SCTS page 39. Focus your reading around Primary-8 th grade.

Section VI Debrief What information did you gain from this section? How can the information gained improve your instructional practice? How can the information gained improve understanding for your students? What are some pros and cons of this section?

What is a Curriculum Topic Study? A systematic study of readings from a core set of professional science education resources. Helps improve content background. Helps improve understanding of pedagogical implications of particular content. Helps teachers translate formal course content into a context that is appropriate for students.

For Next Time Please complete sections II and V. Focus your reading around K-8 th grade. Use your current organizer to record your thoughts. Refer to pg. 37 and 39 for guiding questions. You may also visit where you will find updates and additional resources.

At the Next Meeting We will complete section I. The whole group will synthesize the entire CTS and make generalizations about instruction and assessment.

Take Home Messages Things move in many different ways, such as straight, zigzag, round and round, back and forth, and fast and slow. The way to change how something is moving is to give it a push or pull. Changes in the speed or direction of motion are caused by forces. The greater the force is, the greater the change in motion will be. The more massive an object is, the less effect a given force will have. Understanding the “big ideas” and enduring understandings of the standards as well as areas of learning difficulty is essential for developing effective learning experiences for students.

Next Meeting Next meeting date: October 23 Complete Sections II and V of the CTS for K-8