Forums

I teach science content to percertication teachers in Houston. In HISD about 60% of students speak Spanish as their first langauge and there is a critical need to science resources in Spanish. I am asked about this frequently. Would it be possible to provide a page for Science in Spanish? My suggestion would be to start at the elementary level where there is the greatest number of ESL students.

Action bioscience allows users to display material in spanish http://www.actionbioscience.org/esp/ The American Chemical Society also provides some material is Spanish http://portal.acs.org/portal/acs/corg/content?_nfpb=true&_pageLabel=PP_TRANSITIONMAIN&node_id=1974&use_sec=false&sec_url_var=region1&__uuid=2592397e-d0b7-431e-80b2-c0573c236e4f

Here's a global collaboration website that has a Spanish page. Students can work on joint projects with peers from other countries. http://www.kidlink.org/kidspace/start.php?HoldNode=27302

Vernier Software and Technology also offer science in Spanish website http://www.vernier.com http://www.vernier.com/search/results.html?query=spanish&search.x=0&search.y=0&search=Search deliver this message (and in Spanish) Ciencias con lo Mejor de Vernier (Science with the Best from Ver... Spanish-speaking science education. Introducción a la Adquisición de Datos - 1 experiment Biología (Biology/Life Science) - 9 experiments Química (Chemistry) - 9 experiments Ciencias de la Tierra (Earth Science) - 9 experiments Física (Physics) - 9 experiments Calidad del Agua (Water Quality) - 5 tests Eac... www.vernier.com/cmat/cmv.html

LoggerPro is in Spanish, too. Logger Pro International Spanish German Portuguese Russian Arabic Download Logger Pro 3.8.3 installer » Two Asian language updates are available separately. Chinese(Simplified and Traditional) Korean For Logger Pro 2 Users, there are three language updates available. * Multiple language versions can exist on one computer (e.... www.vernier.com/tech/lpinternational.html

Here's a link to a NASA States of Matter student interactive tutorial in Spanish. http://www.ibex.swri.edu/games/IBEX_matter_es.html

I teach in a migrant community. On the first day of school, I could not believe how remarkable silent my 1st period class was. As the days passed, I found none of my students spoke English. I realized I was now the Ciencia (Science) miastra (teacher). One of the resources that really helped me was the Spanish version of Brainpop.Spanish Brainpop Adah, thank you for sharing your idea of the Spanish / English wordwall. Another strategy I find useful is connecting the Spanish word with the English word if possible. For example, corazón (heart) was a great link to cardiac.
What are some other strategies for a Spanish classroom?

I just read "the number of language minority students has more than doubled in U.S. schools in the past 15 years, increasing at seven times the rate of overall student enrollment" (NCELA 2006). The rate of increasing ESOL numbers really illustrates we need to find ESOL instructional methods that work.

Attachments

Supporting English Language Learners’ Reading in the Science Classroom (Journal Article)

Teaching Science to Newcomers (Journal Article)

Hey group I wasn't aware that BrainPop was available for Spanish learners. How great, they will love this opportunity. Thanks Liz

I will be teaching a 5th grade Science class of newcomers in Spanish. I am also looking for ideas to help my students succeed. I have searched and have had a not luck finding material that is aligned with the TEKS in Spanish. Any ideas?

Hi Elizabeth and welcome to the discussion thread. I typed in English language learners into the advanced search feature of the Learning Center and 78 resources popped up. the link above takes you to the advanced search feature. Then just type in the three words and hit return. Good luck. I am not sure it there will be anything you can use, but the resources might be worth your time to peruse. I hope this helps.
Carolyn

Thank you!

Although it is not about resources in Spanish, Molly Weinburgh has an article coming out in Science and Children (not certain when) about integrating language instruction into inquiry science where teaching the vocab first is antithetical. I've read her work and it's very helpful integrating a word wall as 'just in time' learning, etc. The strategies are also useful for students who have reading difficulties.

Hi Pamela -

Thanks for starting a great discussion!

I currently have several Spanish ELL students in High School Biology class. They do have great ELL resource support and wonderful ELL staff working in the classroom. However, the ELL biology text reading level in English is at a much lower science content and reading level. My concern is that they would not learn the content at the same depth as their peers, when they are fully capable of understanding and engaging in the complex science content.

I found the following resources for my classroom:
Science Safety Rules & Safety Quiz in both English and Spanish (Flinn Scientific, both High School and Middle School level) http://www.flinnsci.com/Sections/Safety/safety_contracts.asp

Our textbook has a fully digital edition and I was able to give my ELL students a Spanish edition online (the students also have a printed copy of the English text). We are fortunate to have a recent edition, 2010, with good online support.

Our text also supplied a Multilingual Glossary of Science terms (Spanish, Hmong, etc.). In addition, there is a handbook for teachers with tips for assisting ELL learners in the science classroom.

See what digital resources go along with your text, you may be pleasantly surprised!

Dorothy

Dorothy, Thanks for the call. While poking about the web for more resources for ESL students, I found this list organized by subject; chemistry, physics and biology. http://www.canby.com/hemphill/fyispn1.htm

In the USA, the number of college students with limited English proficiency is increasing. Even after successfully completing a course of English as a second language, many face both linguistic and cultural barriers in mainstream classes. Here is a resource to help "Teaching Science to Language Minority Students" Judith Rosenthal

I just found this IRIS activity available in Spanish http://www.iris.edu/hq/retm/event/918 A major earthquake occurred Tuesday in the boundary region separating the Caribbean plate and the North America plate. This plate boundary is dominated by left-lateral strike slip motion and compression, and accommodates about 20 mm/y slip, with the Caribbean plate moving eastward with respect to the North America plate.

Last eight years I have been working as an ESOL Technician in a school district with relatively small ELL population, however, my caseload is 60-70 ELLs every year. I work with students in grades K-12 and most teachers I work with expect that I will come up with a "master plan" for our ELLs no matter what grade level and subject. Until recently, I struggled with providing any substancial support in social studies and science simply for a lack of resources. Since the majority of our ELLs are Spanish speaking, teachers keep asking me for translations of their worksheets, homework, assessments, etc.. What I did not know is that teachers (especially in MS and HS) posses great resources included in their online textbook accounts. After I was given an access to one of these accounts, I was able to find tools such as chapter overviews for parents, study guides, vocabulary reviews, assessment questions, even bilingual guided reading or audio recordings of the whole textbook all in Spanish and English. I know this needs to be accompanied by effective instrucion but I am glad we will be able to do more for our students and their parents.

http://bio.sacnas.org/biography/ These pages are designed as a resource for K-12 educators who are interested in teaching their students about the accomplishments of Chicano/Latino and Native American scientists. Profiles of scientists, mathematicians and engineers have been written at the middle school and high school levels and are organized in the following ways: by scientist’s last name, by scientific subject/discipline, by grade level, and by women scientists. Please feel free to download and use any of the materials found here.

I just came across these middle school science journal available free online Looking for journals in Spanish? Click here for a list of the journals that are currently available in Spanish and links to order them for free! http://www.naturalinquirer.org/Spanish-Editions-Available-v-88.html

PASCO Also offer 61 SPARKlabs in Spanish for MS and HS sciences if you have PASCO probeware. http://pasco.com/resources/online-experiments/sparkvuelabs-spanish.cfm

I just returned from the MNT Nanotechnology in education conference. One of the projects discussed was providing educational resources in Spanish The NISE network is starting to translate their materials. Based on input from NISE Network partners, we have adapted our most popular programs for Spanish-speaking audiences! Follow the links below to explore Spanish versions of several NISE Network public programs, as well as other selected resources. We have placed the highest priority on translating products that directly serve public audiences. Professional resources, such as instructional materials and educator’s guides are only available in English at this time. http://www.nisenet.org/catalog/spanish

The Windows to the Universe website (brought to you by the National Earth Science Teachers Association - http://www.nestanet.org) at http://www.windows2universe.org is freely available in English and Spanish at three levels - upper elementary, middle, and high school (allowing students to adjust their level of reading). Use the English/Spanish graphic at the top to switch between languages on any page. The site includes 9000 pages of content on topics in Earth and space science/environmental science, including supporting physics, chemistry, and biology with arts and humanities connections. The site includes many classroom activities for teachers in the Teacher Resources section, as well as interactives. Educators can become Educators members and access a version of the site without advertising and with access to special resources and services, and can also enroll their students (classroom memberships are available).

NASA is offering a STEM Spanish Immersion Educator Professional Development Workshop!!The series is titled, 'Head in the Clouds.'

The four day online workshops are designed for educators of grades 4-8. Sessions will be presented in Spanish and start on Jan. 22, 2014. All videoconference sessions take place from 3:45-5 p.m. EST. Other sessions in the series are Jan 23, Feb 19 and Feb 20, 2014.

During the workshop series you will receive engaging,hands-on, NASA inspired activities in Spanish. You will also discover how to use clouds, climate and weather through NASA's Students' Cloud Observations Online (S’COOL) Projects have been designed to engage students in physical and earth sciences. You will also learn how to lead your students through investigations that identify the differences between Weather & Climate, the effects on Earth's sources of water, and patterns to predict the future climatological events. You will be utilizing real-time data to discover creative ways for students to collect, analyze and write their observations using science, technology, engineering and mathematics, or STEM, notebooks.

Participants who register and complete all four workshops in the series are eligible to receive five continuing education credit hours - a HUGE benefit if you are looking for Professional Development hours!!

You may register online for the workshop series and/or contact Marile Colon Robles at [email protected]

Have a great time and please post your thoughts in the forum after participation! Alyce