Looking Forward to Change

There is so much here, it takes a while to really read and take in all that is involved with the new standards. For me, the most meaningful quote came in the conclusion, “Substantial act... See More

There is so much here, it takes a while to really read and take in all that is involved with the new standards. For me, the most meaningful quote came in the conclusion, “Substantial acts of reading, writing, and otherwise communicating should be embedded in students’ science and engineering investigations.” I am looking forward to the new Frameworks, from what I can see they present us as teachers an opportunity to engage students in rich and meaningful learning experiences. I think what I am most excited about is the Frameworks appear to be a constant work in progress, always searching for the next component to add to a lesson or unit that will make the learning even more meaningful for students. I love the thought of being able to implement the real-world into classroom learning through technology integration, problem based learning and engaging curriculum.

Examples to help "Obtain, evaluate, & communicate

This article focuses on one of the practices, “Obtaining, evaluating, and communicating information”, found in the current publication of A Framework for K-12 Science Education: Practices, C... See More

This article focuses on one of the practices, “Obtaining, evaluating, and communicating information”, found in the current publication of A Framework for K-12 Science Education: Practices, Crosscutting Concepts, and Core Ideas, The authors talk about instruction as a “Cascade of Practices”, meaning students should routinely participate in science and engineering investigations that support the students science learning and literary goals of the Framework. They provided an example of a Prekindergarten class using a “Research Day” to allow the students to do their own research and later share their findings with their peers. A second example involved a fifth grade class using public service announcements to communicate the results of the student’s investigations into health and illness prevention. Example three involved eighth graders using extensive use of computer and other technologies to aid in “engaging in argument from evidence”, using scaffolded sentence starters, students communicated their evidence and consensus in a classroom collaboration of ideas. The fourth and final example was with tenth graders who participated in an infectious disease project. The article provided two figures showing student examples of their work, one short student transcript, a sample research design plan, and a summary of an analysis plan. This article is very well developed and documented, providing plenty of references for further study.