Jennifer Winters
Stephen F. Austin State University
TX

Picture-Perfect STEM Lessons, 3-5: Using Children’s Books to Inspire STEM Learning (Book Sample)

Sun, Oct 14, 2018 2:47 PM
Great STEM Activities

This book is filled with amazing STEM activities. It guides the user through each step of the Design Process and 5E lesson plan. It covers many standards including Science, Technology, Engineering, Math and Language Arts. The lesson include a section called Background for the Teachers. The lesson opens with a fiction book the teacher reads to the students to hook them. The lesson also includes questions to ask along the way. At the end of the lesson is a sheet for students to take home with the web address to a video they can watch at home to continue their learning. I found this chapter that includes the STEM Project "The Inventor's Secret" very helpful. It's such a great resource that I have bought one to have in my teacher's toolkit. I can't wait to implement these lessons in my classroom.

Strategies for Teaching Science to English Learners

Sun, Dec 10, 2017 11:49 AM
Excellent

Very informative. The chapter hooks the reader by beginning with a story straight from the classroom. From the very beginning of this chapter the reader is introduced to strategies to help the ELL student. The chapter introduces many strategies and expands on how to use them in your classroom. The chapter also has examples of how each strategy will look and sound as it is being implemented. As a teacher on a bilingual campus and a former pull-out ESL teacher I found this chapter to be very informative and helpful. Many of the strategies were familiar to me but many of the ideas were new. This is a must read for all teachers that teach ELL students. I particularly loved the section connecting with students. Many times we forget that these students want to belong but also don’t want to give up their culture. The authors have great suggestions for making these students feel that they belong to the classroom and can add to it while also acknowledging and celebrating their home culture. From experience I know that students learn better when they feel invested in their learning and this is an excellent way to ensure they are. The chapter contains a table of how the science process skills are related to English-language acquisition, which is perfect for us visual learners. ELL students may be learning English but that does not mean they are behind in science education. This chapters shows us how to reach these language learners while also teaching academic content.