Attendees will participate in a guided walk through the process of developing inquiries to ensure students reach mastery of critical content. This will include analyzing standard(s), participating in hands on inquiry, and using a template to create inquiries for students.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will understand how to plan opportunities for students to demonstrate understanding of critical content using methods that allow educators to easily monitor student progress toward mastery.

SPEAKERS:
Ryan Carlson (Orange County Public Schools: Orlando, FL), Desiree Siegel (Program Specialist Elementary Science: Orlando, FL), Matthew Timm (Orange County Public Schools: Orlando, FL), Kimberly Seaver (Orange County Public Schools: Orlando, FL)

Discover how to build a STEM curriculum from the ground up, from ideation to final product. Design an alarm to protect your stuff, meet the STEM Quality Framework and 50+ free STEM units from Pre-K to High School, and explore amazing resources from the Dayton Regional STEM Center and DoDSTEM.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will learn the process of designing a high-quality STEM curriculum including; standards alignment, evaluation and improvement of curriculum and implementation within the classroom, along with a library of free, currently available unit plans and resources.

SPEAKERS:
Tim Carey (Xenia Community Schools: Xenia, OH)

At the elementary level, having students explain what they are observing and learning in science class can be challenging. Using a strategy such as a claim, evidence, and reasoning (CER) to guide explicit instruction and student responses can immensely impact their understanding of the curriculum.

TAKEAWAYS:
Learn how to use silly commercials to engage your elementary science students into creating detailed written responses to what they are learning in class using the CER strategy. CER will help them unlock their thinking skills in a way that can then be easily transferred to classroom content.

SPEAKERS:
Melissa Oberdorf (Big Spring School District: Newville, PA)

BYO Device to this hands-on workshop for the Next Generation Science Assessment (NGSA) project. Explore free, high-quality, multidimensional tasks, consider how to use them for formative assessment in your elementary classrooms, and view online resources in a virtual learning

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will learn to access and use two related, freely available online resources that support elementary teachers’ use of NGSS-aligned assessment and instruction: A site with tasks aligned with the performance expectations for Grades 3-5 and a virtual learning community for science teachers.

SPEAKERS:
Jeanne Di Domenico (The University of Chicago: Chicago, IL), Brian Gane (University of Kansas: No City, No State), Carla Strickland (UChicago STEM Education: No City, No State)

In this 60-minute workshop, practitioners will share best practices for engaging children in STEM learning. Participants will learn how to plan activities that invite children to explore, investigate, problem-solve, experiment, design and discover ways to improve STEM literacy and language.

TAKEAWAYS:
Workshop participants will participate in hands-on modeling of multidisciplinary best practices for engaging children in daily STEM learning.

SPEAKERS:
Meghan Marrero (Mercy University, Dobbs Ferry Campus: No City, No State), Amanda Gunning (Mercy College, Dobbs Ferry Campus: Dobbs Ferry, NY), Teresa Quackenbush (Mercy College: Dobbs Ferry, NY)

In this 60-minute workshop, practitioners will share best practices for engaging children in STEM learning. Participants will learn how to plan activities that invite children to explore, investigate, problem-solve, experiment, design and discover ways to improve STEM literacy and language.

TAKEAWAYS:
Workshop participants will participate in hands-on modeling of multidisciplinary best practices for engaging children in daily STEM learning.

SPEAKERS:
Teresa Quackenbush (Mercy College: Dobbs Ferry, NY)