Science ignites students’ excitement and curiosity about the world! Explore research and discuss how to build your toolbox for engaging others in prioritizing phenomenon-based instruction in the curricular experiences of elementary students; go beyond mere special activities.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will leave with strategies to make the case for making science as much a part of students’ elementary classroom experience as ELA & Math.

SPEAKERS:
Yanira Vazquez

Experience how classroom agreements can create productive and safe spaces for elementary students to share their ideas, let those ideas change and grow, and engage with each other as a community of learners.

TAKEAWAYS:
Elementary students can co-construct classroom agreements that support an environment where they recognize that science can be done in many ways, feel safe and compelled to share their ideas and questions, listen/look/respond to others' ideas, and let their ideas change and grow.

SPEAKERS:
Susan Gomez Zwiep, Janna Mahfoud

Explore the storyline of a newly released OpenSciEd unit and see how students leverage connections to ELA and math as they investigate and make sense of a puzzling phenomenon.

TAKEAWAYS:
OpenSciEd Elementary units provide significant opportunities for students to explicitly connect with grade-level mathematics, reading, writing, speaking & listening, and language standards in service of their science sensemaking.

SPEAKERS:
Susan Gomez Zwiep

Explore the storyline of a primary-grade OpenSciEd Elementary Unit and see how students use science ideas they have figured out to design, build, and test solutions to a local problem.

TAKEAWAYS:
Engaging in engineering to solve a problem that is relevant to them gives young students a meaningful opportunity to use their science ideas.

SPEAKERS:
Gail Housman

Engage in an OpenSciEd Elementary unit and see how classroom discussions can support ALL students’ in using their ideas, experiences, and evidence for collective sensemaking.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will learn about how to engage elementary students in classroom discussion to share initial ideas, build understanding and come to consensus about the phenomenon they are trying to collectively figure out.

SPEAKERS:
Susan Gomez Zwiep, Guy Ollison

Experience and explore how OpenSciEd Elementary’s free high-quality units are designed to support teachers in making time to engage their students in 3D science.

TAKEAWAYS:
OpenSciEd Elementary lessons are organized in four components: Navigate, Explore, Connect, and Synthesize. These components support teachers in understanding the purpose of each part of a lesson, allow for more flexible timing, and can be implemented in various parts of the school day.

SPEAKERS:
Gail Housman, Guy Ollison

How can assessments support three dimensional sensemaking? Explore how the OpenSciEd Elementary assessment system illuminates the brilliance and strengths of students, teachers, and classroom communities as they figure out science ideas.

TAKEAWAYS:
OpenSciEd Elementary curriculum units have three-dimensional assessment opportunities woven throughout the unit. Five different assessment types work together as a system to support teachers, students, and the classroom community in responding to ideas, reflecting, and checking progress.

SPEAKERS:
Janna Mahfoud, Gail Housman