Thinking Strategies for Science, Grades 5-12


Book Description

"Berman provides helpful, guided, step-by-step procedures for new and seasoned teachers to review and reassess their methods for teaching students how to collect, organize, and analyze new ideas." —Jean Eames, Chemistry and Biology Teacher Benson Polytechnic High School, Portland, OR "This book presents strategies to engage students in making meaning out of prior knowledge, texts, and specific content." —Nancy T. Davis, Associate Professor of Middle and Secondary Education Florida State University A blueprint for science lessons that develop students′ higher-level thinking skills! This inspiring look at teaching science presents a specific and creative approach designed to cultivate and strengthen students′ critical thinking skills. The author provides interactive techniques and a variety of activities that involve student reflection, brainstorming, and verbal, visual, and analytical skills. This second edition of Catch Them Thinking in Science offers easy-to-use strategies for cooperative learning and provides sample units of study that align with national science standards. The revised edition includes updated research, a new section on designing your own science activities, an expanded discussion of assessment methods, and an assortment of handy reproducibles to use with lesson plans. With the research-based rationale behind each activity and strategy, teachers will be able to help students: Make their thinking visible through graphic organizers such as webs, Venn diagrams, and matrices Gather, process, analyze, and apply information throughout the science curriculum Increase their comprehension by working in cooperative learning groups Designed to promote the development of lifelong thinking and learning skills, this practical resource offers teachers powerful techniques for engaging students and advancing their achievements in science.




Visible Learning for Science, Grades K-12


Book Description

In the best science classrooms, teachers see learning through the eyes of their students, and students view themselves as explorers. But with so many instructional approaches to choose from—inquiry, laboratory, project-based learning, discovery learning—which is most effective for student success? In Visible Learning for Science, the authors reveal that it’s not which strategy, but when, and plot a vital K-12 framework for choosing the right approach at the right time, depending on where students are within the three phases of learning: surface, deep, and transfer. Synthesizing state-of-the-art science instruction and assessment with over fifteen years of John Hattie’s cornerstone educational research, this framework for maximum learning spans the range of topics in the life and physical sciences. Employing classroom examples from all grade levels, the authors empower teachers to plan, develop, and implement high-impact instruction for each phase of the learning cycle: Surface learning: when, through precise approaches, students explore science concepts and skills that give way to a deeper exploration of scientific inquiry. Deep learning: when students engage with data and evidence to uncover relationships between concepts—students think metacognitively, and use knowledge to plan, investigate, and articulate generalizations about scientific connections. Transfer learning: when students apply knowledge of scientific principles, processes, and relationships to novel contexts, and are able to discern and innovate to solve complex problems. Visible Learning for Science opens the door to maximum-impact science teaching, so that students demonstrate more than a year’s worth of learning for a year spent in school.




Developing Critical Thinking Through Science


Book Description

Contains standards-based activities for the physical sciences that help students learn the scientific method and develop analysis skills that can be applied to science and other subjects.




Ambitious Science Teaching


Book Description

2018 Outstanding Academic Title, Choice Ambitious Science Teaching outlines a powerful framework for science teaching to ensure that instruction is rigorous and equitable for students from all backgrounds. The practices presented in the book are being used in schools and districts that seek to improve science teaching at scale, and a wide range of science subjects and grade levels are represented. The book is organized around four sets of core teaching practices: planning for engagement with big ideas; eliciting student thinking; supporting changes in students’ thinking; and drawing together evidence-based explanations. Discussion of each practice includes tools and routines that teachers can use to support students’ participation, transcripts of actual student-teacher dialogue and descriptions of teachers’ thinking as it unfolds, and examples of student work. The book also provides explicit guidance for “opportunity to learn” strategies that can help scaffold the participation of diverse students. Since the success of these practices depends so heavily on discourse among students, Ambitious Science Teaching includes chapters on productive classroom talk. Science-specific skills such as modeling and scientific argument are also covered. Drawing on the emerging research on core teaching practices and their extensive work with preservice and in-service teachers, Ambitious Science Teaching presents a coherent and aligned set of resources for educators striving to meet the considerable challenges that have been set for them.




Building Thinking Classrooms in Mathematics, Grades K-12


Book Description

A thinking student is an engaged student Teachers often find it difficult to implement lessons that help students go beyond rote memorization and repetitive calculations. In fact, institutional norms and habits that permeate all classrooms can actually be enabling "non-thinking" student behavior. Sparked by observing teachers struggle to implement rich mathematics tasks to engage students in deep thinking, Peter Liljedahl has translated his 15 years of research into this practical guide on how to move toward a thinking classroom. Building Thinking Classrooms in Mathematics, Grades K–12 helps teachers implement 14 optimal practices for thinking that create an ideal setting for deep mathematics learning to occur. This guide Provides the what, why, and how of each practice and answers teachers’ most frequently asked questions Includes firsthand accounts of how these practices foster thinking through teacher and student interviews and student work samples Offers a plethora of macro moves, micro moves, and rich tasks to get started Organizes the 14 practices into four toolkits that can be implemented in order and built on throughout the year When combined, these unique research-based practices create the optimal conditions for learner-centered, student-owned deep mathematical thinking and learning, and have the power to transform mathematics classrooms like never before.




A Framework for K-12 Science Education


Book Description

Science, engineering, and technology permeate nearly every facet of modern life and hold the key to solving many of humanity's most pressing current and future challenges. The United States' position in the global economy is declining, in part because U.S. workers lack fundamental knowledge in these fields. To address the critical issues of U.S. competitiveness and to better prepare the workforce, A Framework for K-12 Science Education proposes a new approach to K-12 science education that will capture students' interest and provide them with the necessary foundational knowledge in the field. A Framework for K-12 Science Education outlines a broad set of expectations for students in science and engineering in grades K-12. These expectations will inform the development of new standards for K-12 science education and, subsequently, revisions to curriculum, instruction, assessment, and professional development for educators. This book identifies three dimensions that convey the core ideas and practices around which science and engineering education in these grades should be built. These three dimensions are: crosscutting concepts that unify the study of science through their common application across science and engineering; scientific and engineering practices; and disciplinary core ideas in the physical sciences, life sciences, and earth and space sciences and for engineering, technology, and the applications of science. The overarching goal is for all high school graduates to have sufficient knowledge of science and engineering to engage in public discussions on science-related issues, be careful consumers of scientific and technical information, and enter the careers of their choice. A Framework for K-12 Science Education is the first step in a process that can inform state-level decisions and achieve a research-grounded basis for improving science instruction and learning across the country. The book will guide standards developers, teachers, curriculum designers, assessment developers, state and district science administrators, and educators who teach science in informal environments.




Building Thinking Skills: (MP 52.01)


Book Description

Provides an ... effective tool for implementing analysis skills ... necessary for success in all academic disciplines.







Thinking Strategies for Student Achievement


Book Description

"This resource provides a repertoire of high-effect comprehension strategies. It is important for classroom teachers and school leaders to be able to justify why they are using specific strategies and what the benefits are of a specific strategy. Nessel and Graham provide this justification." -W. Dorsey Hammond, Professor of Education Salisbury University Use these strategies to develop your students′ thinking skills and increase their learning in all subject areas. How can teachers improve students′ higher level and creative thinking? The revised edition of this handbook provides strategies and sample lesson plans to help students learn to think more effectively and to raise their achievement levels. Drawing upon past and recent research, the authors discuss the importance of actively engaging all students-including those with a history of low achievement-in higher levels of thinking. Thirty specific strategies, including K-W-L, Read and Think Math, and Reciprocal Teaching, can be readily integrated into daily lesson plans. This step-by-step guide shows teachers how to: Help students develop, refine, and extend their thinking capacities Challenge students to creatively approach complex and unfamiliar material Encourage students to bring their own perspective to class assignments Provide students at all learning levels with appropriate support With its user-friendly, practical approach, this important resource should be in the hands of every educator!




Science Detective


Book Description