This is session 1 of 4 in the PL Committee CCCs conference course. It is designed to support K-12. This session is an opportunity for members of NSTA's PL Committee to recruit and connect with fellow NSTA members. Attendees will be introduced to topics included in the conference course highlighting how CCCs are used as tools in service of DCIs and SEPs, student sensemaking, and assessment of CCCs to guide further instruction. Using the Framework progression documents and STEM Teaching Tools, attendees will have the opportunity to collaborate with fellow participants to uncover vertical progressions of CCCs and have tools to use within the classroom to elicit student sensemaking. The PL Committee will utilize research from Jeffery Nordine and Okhee Lee's book, "Crosscutting Concepts: Strengthening Science and Engineering Learning," to ignite the call to action for realizing the power of CCCs.

TAKEAWAYS:
This session is a call to action for realizing the power of CCCs. Attendees will have an opportunity to connect with NSTA's PL Committee, collaborate with fellow science leaders, and leave with an invitation to continue the conference course to further understandings of sensemaking and CCCs.

SPEAKERS:
Rebecca Abbott (The Lawrence Hall of Science: Berkeley, CA), Kimberley Astle (Washington Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction: Olympia, WA), Sharon Cates (Phenomenon Science Education: Amherst, MA), Zoe Evans (Bremen City Schools: Bremen, GA), Leah Litz (Omaha's Henry Doorly Zoo & Aquarium: No City, No State)

This is session #2 in the NSTA Professional Learning Committee's CCCs Conference Course and is designed to support K-12. Attendees will explore the Framework progression documents to understand what is appropriate for their grade level. They will learn about and engage in hands-on activities paired with talk strategies and protocols that focus classroom talk on making sense of observations and data using the Crosscutting Concepts. Attendees will have the chance to talk with fellow participants about how they might use these strategies and tools in their classroom or role and how they can be differentiated to be used at different grade levels. Participants will leave with a virtual toolbox of resources they can take home and apply right away in their sphere.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will leave with discussion strategies and tools they can implement right away in classrooms to support student discourse and sensemaking anchored in the Crosscutting Concepts.

SPEAKERS:
Rebecca Garelli (Arizona Science Teachers Association), Kimberley Astle (Washington Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction: Olympia, WA)

This is session #3 in the PL Committee CCCs Pathway and is designed to support K-12. Participants will explore the Framework progression documents to understand what is appropriate for their grade level in relation to the Crosscutting Concept of Patterns. They will learn about and engage with a few effective instructional strategies, including the I2 Strategy from BSCS (Identify and Interpret), and how to use a “slow reveal” approach to help students make sense of data and graphs. Attendees will also have the opportunity to explore a variety of online sources for obtaining data for students to analyze and interpret. Participants will leave with a virtual toolbox of resources they can take home and immediately apply in their classroom.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will leave with sensemaking strategies for engaging students in the Science and Engineering Practice of Analyzing and Interpreting Data, through the lens of the Crosscutting Concept of Patterns, that can immediately be implemented with students!

SPEAKERS:
Kimberley Astle (Washington Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction: Olympia, WA), Rebecca Garelli (Arizona Science Teachers Association)

The crosscutting concepts provide a consistent language for student communication. When teachers’ assessment prompts are designed with the crosscutting concepts, the focus of student thinking can be directed to key aspects of the phenomenon or, the system being investigated. Patterns may be used as evidence to support explanations or arguments for the causes of a phenomenon. Participants will explore the progression of Crosscutting Concepts throughout a student’s K-12 career. They will consider phenomenon and discuss several appropriate prompts that bring different CCCs to the forefront (patterns, scale, systems). Participants will review and evaluate sample prompts and responses which employ different crosscutting concepts.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will leave with resources that guide their development and use of Crosscutting Concepts to focus student sensemaking on assessments. These can be integrated with assessment prompts which are aligned to Science and Engineering Practices and Disciplinary Core Ideas.

SPEAKERS:
Rebecca Abbott (The Lawrence Hall of Science: Berkeley, CA), Sharon Cates (Phenomenon Science Education: Amherst, MA), Leah Litz (Omaha's Henry Doorly Zoo & Aquarium: No City, No State)