Are you looking for connections between science and literacy? Join this session to discuss the design of a science and literacy task to leverage reading and writing in context. Then take an in-depth look into examples that can be put into action in the classroom.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will learn about designing lessons or tasks that assist students in utilizing reading and writing skills while engaging in 3-dimesional science. This session will, also, provide some sample lessons that can be used in K-5 classrooms.

SPEAKERS:
Laura Canepa-Redondo (Science/ESOL Program Specialist), Renee Shirley-Stevens (Science Program Specialist)

This session will highlight the coaching up of intentional literacy instruction during science time for coaches and teachers. School districts select goals based on their district improvement plans to support writing, reading, and/or academic productive talk. Facilitation guides provided.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will engage in a model for cross-disciplinary work during science instruction to take to their districts, supporting both instructional coaches and teachers.

SPEAKERS:
Jackie Presson (Early Literacy Coach: Muskegon, MI), Christi Gilbert (Literacy and EL Coach), Wendi Vogel (Kent Intermediate School District: Grand Rapids, MI)

Is your science time getting squeezed? In this interactive workshop, learn how to use the NGSS K-5 Engineering Standards to find the STEM in ANY storybook to get your students excited about science and engineering through reading in the elementary classroom.

TAKEAWAYS:
In this interactive session, participants will learn how to plan lessons and units that integrate science, engineering, and other content areas into your reading time by starting with any storybook.

SPEAKERS:
Kevin Hill (Wicomico County Public Schools: Salisbury, MD)

Creating primary and intermediate STEM-focused classrooms can be challenging. This session will highlight strategies and examples to incorporate STEM and science activities into their classrooms. Resources that use trade books to teach Science/STEM concepts will be modeled and discussed.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will engage in example activities that make connections between quality children’s literature that support STEM topics, STEM investigations, and reading strategies.

SPEAKERS:
Christine Anne Royce (Shippensburg University: Shippensburg, PA)

This intervention combined purposeful planning and innovative academic vocabulary instruction. Easily replicable classroom strategies and examples will facilitate implementation and demonstrate how to make science accessible to all students, including minorities, economically disadvantaged, English

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will strategically target academic vocabulary, visually display connections between inquiry activities and vocabulary, and explore opportunities for students to experience vocabulary in context, actively process word meanings, and practice using vocabulary to speak and write sentences.

SPEAKERS:
Julie Jackson (Texas State University: San Marcos, TX)

Presenters will share two units in which science is integrated with ELA, math, and social studies. This session will share the process of unit creation and how incorporation with other content areas strengthens science instruction. Two units will be shared-one for kindergarten and one for 3rd grade.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will learn how to integrate multiple content standards to strength science instruction as well as leave with two examples of fully integrated elementary units. In addition to the sharing of the units, presenters will share the creation process so participants can engage in this work.

SPEAKERS:
Chelsie Byram (Central Rivers Area Education Agency: Cedar Falls, IA), Mandie Sanderman (Central Rivers Area Education Agency: Cedar Falls, IA)

Engaging in scientific investigations can motivate students to read, write and participate in productive discourse. This session provides educators with lessons and resources to support teaching three-dimensional hands-on scientific investigation that motivates student learning.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants leave the session with insights into how to use engaging hands-on investigations to motivate students to read, write, and engage in discourse. They will receive a complete set of lesson plans for their NGSS state grade-level standards.

SPEAKERS:
Brett Moulding (Partnership for Effective Science Teaching and Learning: Ogden, UT), Candace Penrod (Salt Lake City School District: Salt Lake City, UT)

Gardening in a school setting provides an authentic learning environment filled with wonder for students and teachers alike. From small outdoor flower pots to raised beds, these spaces transform not only the environment, but gives all involved a new perspective on where our food comes from.

TAKEAWAYS:
Students gain hands-on experiences with their environment while making connections between what they have planted and the food that goes into the cafeteria. Learn how we transformed an unusable space to create a school garden/outdoor classroom that has had unexpected benefits.

SPEAKERS:
Shelly Butcher (Tozer Primary School, Weld RE-4 School District)

Do you struggle with integrating your local habitat with science and literacy? Engaging K-3 students in content-integrated outdoor learning can be difficult for a variety of reasons. However, engaging students in environmental education outdoors is vital for developing scientific literacy.

TAKEAWAYS:
Using appropriate children’s literature, lessons were developed that emphasize the role of streams, water, and the local watershed allowing teachers to focus specifically on aspects of the stream that are relevant to the standards in their grade level. These will be shared with participants.

SPEAKERS:
Ann Catherine Cox (Carrollton Elementary School: Carrollton, GA), Brent Gilles (University of West Georgia: Carrollton, GA), Stacey Britton (University of West Georgia: Carrollton, GA)

Leaders from the Washington Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction and The Lawrence Hall of Science will share insights from the K-5 Project for Content Integration with Science as the Anchor. Participants will learn about the essential features for mutually supportive content integration and the tools, and strategies explored in the project. Participants will discuss their prior experiences with content integration and consider the research-based models used to ground the work of the teachers in this project, who come in from a variety of contexts and with a range of knowledge of NGSS, much like the diverse attendees of NSTA. We will focus on entry points for furthering implementation by introducing an Organizational Tool for planning with NGSS-designed science materials. Participants will reflect on how the resources can apply in their own context as an instructional leader supporting multiple teachers or a teacher using these ideas for their grade level or classroom.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants in this session will gain insight into the principles and definitions of content integration and take away resources, tools and strategies for how these ideas apply in their K-5 educational context.

SPEAKERS:
Diana Velez (The Lawrence Hall of Science: Berkeley, CA), Sarah Pedemonte (The Lawrence Hall of Science: Berkeley, CA), Vanessa Lujan (The Lawrence Hall of Science: Berkeley, CA), Kimberley Astle (Washington Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction: Olympia, WA), Rebecca Abbott (The Lawrence Hall of Science: Berkeley, CA)

In this session, participants will be introduced to the Touch-Talk-Text interdisciplinary instructional model for teaching science and literacy. Participants will develop interdisciplinary science lessons using NGSS-based lesson resources aligned with the 5E lesson format.

TAKEAWAYS:
Using strategies presented in the Touch-Talk-Text interdisciplinary instructional model, participants will analyze and plan NGSS-aligned elementary science lessons that integrate literacy and science practices.

SPEAKERS:
Briana Trager (Graduate Student: , NC), Danielle Scharen (North Carolina State University: Raleigh, NC)

Participants will learn about many different books and resources to integrate multiple subjects into their units, lesson plans, and project-based learning units. Teachers will also have the opportunity to see integrated units and some of the planning materials used to build these units.

TAKEAWAYS:
Learn how to use a variety of picture books to build lessons, pbls, and units. This session will give resources and materials to help you quickly and easily find books and other resources to use in your classroom.

SPEAKERS:
Kahlilah Pagan (Teacher: College Park, GA)

Interested in authentically weaving culturally relevant hands-on Science and rigorous literacy into your kindergarten classroom? Come learn how to use close reading to support NGSS-aligned science explorations and create rich, deep learning experiences for your students. Free resources provided.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will learn how to integrate deep authentic science explorations with standards-based literacy instruction for kindergarten students. They will explore how the use of close reading (to collaboratively inquire about and make meaning of texts) can mirror how students make meaning in science.

SPEAKERS:
Janet MacNeil (Cambridge Public Schools: No City, No State)

Looking for an innovative way to bring to life the science vocabulary your students need to know? This session will cover a strategy to enhance the ol' word wall of the past into an engaging learning experience that is low prep for the teacher with maximum benefit for the student.

TAKEAWAYS:
Teachers will leave with the ability to create an engaging visual representation wall, knowledge of current brain science behind building vocabulary memory, and factors to consider when prioritizing key vocabulary words.

SPEAKERS:
CHRISTINA SPEARS (Director of Teaching Academy: Comfort, TX)

This session is presented by members of the Georgia Science Teachers Association Board of Directors and shares ways to incorporate literacy in science lessons using inclusive teaching strategies. The session will be a panel presentation that addresses using a broad range of analogies, a mix of textual and visual representations, inclusion of examples that include both women and ethnic minority groups, students with disabilities, use of funds of knowledge, a variety of learning exercises and assessments and the use of rubrics. Justin Harvey (GSTA Director) is submitting this proposal on behalf of the GSTA Board, but he is not one of the presenters. The panel of presenters include: Teresa Massey, GA District 10 Director Robert Bice, GA District 1 Director Jane Reed, District 2 Director Michelle Thompson, District 8 Director Kathryn Mullen, District 12 Director Melissa Niemi, GSTA President-Elect

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will see how the need to consider diversity is important for all students learning science. Participants will gain research-based strategies for integrating diversity in science lessons that meet the needs of all learners.

SPEAKERS:
Teresa Massey (Graduate Student), Michelle Thompson (Effingham College and Career Academy: No City, No State)

This session provides a “snapshot” of how to use the 5E model of instruction, along with children’s literature while learning the process of coding different bots.

TAKEAWAYS:
Prepare to focus your lens with highlighted lessons in ELA, Math, and Science. This session puts the “T" in STEM into action.

SPEAKERS:
Mary Headrick (AMSTI-University of Alabama, Huntsville: Huntsville, AL), Charles Holloway (The University of Alabama in Huntsville: Huntsville, AL), Cayce Perry (AMSTI-University of Alabama, Huntsville: Huntsville, AL), Shundra Morris (AMSTI-University of Alabama, Huntsville: Huntsville, AL)

Former teacher and host of the freely-available Tumble Science Podcast for Kids Marshall Escamilla will guide science educators in the nuts and bolts of creating a classroom podcast. We'll cover the very basics of getting set up and sharing your content with the entire community.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees at this session will learn the very basics of how to create a classroom podcast from a professional podcaster.

SPEAKERS:
Marshall Escamilla (Tumble Media Production: Greenfield, MA)

Elementary teachers—This session has it bagged up. Let's read some awesome books and pair those books with opportunities to connect with students’ families and share an appreciation of our natural world. The session shares a collection of environmentally-themed children’s books and activities and in

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will learn the value of using the Outstanding Science Trade Books to review, explore and create engaging, standards-based, hands-on activities to develop an appreciation of the natural world.

SPEAKERS:
Melissa Parks (Stetson University: Deland, FL)

Participants will explore data literacy through guided activities create, analyze and interpret data and explore creative and innovative ways to represent data.

TAKEAWAYS:
Data literacy in more in important than ever in our world. Showing teahcers how to help students understand data in a creative way allows all students access to knowledge gained from intepreting data.

SPEAKERS:
Anna Suggs (Teacher: Las Cruces, NM)

Students challenged by the concept of time? Hard time understanding the processes that have shaped the Earths’ surface? Explore using science-based trade books to support young students’ conceptualization of time and their ability to communicate around earth’s changing features.

TAKEAWAYS:
Teachers will explore how they can address NGSS & Common Core ELA standards by using science-based trade books and modeling to support young students in conceptualizing and communicating how changes in the Earth’s surface occur over time.

SPEAKERS:
Kristin Rearden (The University of Tennessee, Knoxville: Knoxville, TN), Amy Broemmel (The University of Rhode Island: Kingston, RI)

Come experience how “Tub People” can be used to deepen young learners’ understanding of subtraction under 10 and how rapid prototypes help solve compelling engineering challenges. We’ll explore how this text and other literature can be an anchor for hands-on early mathematics and engineering.

TAKEAWAYS:
1. Great mathematics and engaging engineering challenges can be found in children's literature; 2. Learners of all ages benefit from identifying patterns and discovering multiple ways to represent their understanding; and 3. Whether it be in solving mathematical expressions or finding engineering so

SPEAKERS:
Kate Burton (Trinity School: Atlanta, GA)

Experience ways to incorporate fiction and nonfiction in science that support students at all levels. Explore books that engage and motivate students to enjoy literature while providing opportunities to make sense of science concepts.

TAKEAWAYS:
We will provide resources to show how we weave science fiction/nonfiction text into science lessons integrating literature and science in phenomena, SEP, NGSS, CCC alignment.

SPEAKERS:
Tiffany Jones (South Cobb High School: Austell, GA), Stephanie Westhafer (West Jackson Elementary School: Hoschton, GA), Amanda Buice (Executive Director: Kennesaw, GA), Marlee Tierce (Retired Educator: Vonore, TN)

For teachers looking for tools to foster student achievement, participation, and growth. The key way to do this is by teaching students about a positive growth mindset and applying thinking routines to make the mindset part of the classroom's culture (free routines from Harvard's Graduate School of

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will learn the importance of focusing on student effort and growth during the problem-solving process which results in an increase in student participation and achievement.

SPEAKERS:
Diana Lockwood (Author & Executive Director)

Story Play curriculum embraces children’s storytelling, while reinforcing the writing process. This approach has roots in Montessori methods and uses STEM as a context. While the method was created to meet students’ needs after the pandemic pause, it can be used anytime to help all students learn.

TAKEAWAYS:
The importance of children's own experiences for storytelling and writing and how STEM exploration can be used as a context for both.

SPEAKERS:
Michelyn Goodin (Yonkers Early Childhood Academy: Yonkers, NY), Amanda Gunning (Mercy College, Dobbs Ferry Campus: Dobbs Ferry, NY)

Ever run out of time to incorporate science into your elementary school day? The workshop model can help you conquer that problem. This tried-and-true, research-based instructional approach provides a framework for fitting an engaging, effective three-dimensional science lesson into a 30-minute bloc

TAKEAWAYS:
The workshop model isn’t just for math and literacy—elementary teachers can use this instructional approach to fit effective, engaging, hands-on science lessons into their daily instructional routine.

SPEAKERS:
Kelly Bodner (Cobb County Schools & GSTA Board of Directors)

Engage process skills and literacy using a variety of primary resources. With the handouts provided, you'll be ready to entice students into critical thinking practices. Analyze human tools. Infer natural disasters. Observe modes of transportation. Develop questions about maps and land features.

TAKEAWAYS:
In this session, attendees will learn how to use primary resources relating to science topics for elementary students to engage critical thinking, literacy, and content knowledge.

SPEAKERS:
Laurie Boulden (Warner University: Lake Wales, FL)

This session will discuss what it means to engage in authentic integrated STEM, with a focus on Mathematics, Science and English Language Arts. Ideas for integrating Technology and Engineering will also be discussed. This integrated lesson encompasses the NGSS three dimensional learning approach to explore the concept of forces and motion. Through the use of a read aloud titled Equal Smeechqual by Virginia L. Kroll, students will engage in sequencing, reading comprehension, equal and unequal forces, and mathematical justifications. Results from this lesson conducted with a third grade class will be shared and discussed. In addition to the results of the lesson, tips for constructing meaningful and logical integrated instruction will be discussed.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will take away an NGSS based three dimensional lesson for a third grade integrated lesson on forces and motion that integrate math and ELA standards, as well as general tips for integrating instruction across content areas that are meaningful, purposeful and logical to benefit students.

SPEAKERS:
Christie Martin (University of South Carolina: Columbia, SC), Bridget Miller (University of South Carolina: Columbia, SC)

Science methods instructors will share how they engaged pre-service teachers in critical analysis of children’s STEM picture books and the design of literacy-integrated science lessons addressing equity and social justice. The critical analysis tool will be featured along with teaching implications.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will learn about the ways teachers could use the critical tool to analyze children’s science picture books, as a way to become more critical readers, facilitate equity-oriented science discussions for their students, and ultimately develop more inclusive classrooms.

SPEAKERS:
Carmen Vanderhoof (Penn State: University Park, PA)

In this 30 minute session we will explore the common constraints of elementary teachers and how to overcome some of them by using common classroom structures to support science learning.

TAKEAWAYS:
Essential Question: How can elementary teachers leverage existing classroom structures to support science learning? Answer: Through the intentional use of math and reading flex group practice to allow students to reinforce and apply scientific concepts outside of traditional “science” time.

SPEAKERS:
Russell Swanson (Instructor: , KS)

We need skilled teachers to lead from the classroom rather than leave to become administrators. Your voice needs to be heard by your local community and your state education department. Your voice Carrie’s far more weight than you realize! Come discuss recent reports and strategies to effect change.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will explore how to make their voice heard in their school, district and state. Too often teachers are frustrated by the way things are and they lack an understanding of how systems work. This session is designed to pull back the curtain and divulge a path forward.

SPEAKERS:
Shari Templeton (Maine Mathematics and Science Alliance: Augusta, ME)

What does the science of reading say about reading in science? Science knowledge directly supports reading comprehension, and students can’t afford to wait until upper grades to start learning science. Learn how to integrate science and literacy in your own classroom and how to advocate for changes

TAKEAWAYS:
Science and reading can compete for time, but students benefit when the two serve each other. Science gives purpose and meaning to reading and writing, which help students build and clarify their ideas. You can do this in your classroom and be a voice for change in your school, district, and state.

SPEAKERS:
Stephanie Westhafer (West Jackson Elementary School: Hoschton, GA), Jeremy Peacock (Jackson County School System: Jefferson, GA)