When I work in different schools and talk to teachers in between sessions at conferences, I always hear something along the lines of, “there’s just note enough time for (science & social studies!!!!)”
Teachers.
I feel you. I really do.
There’s barely enough time in our day to teach the skills & objectives you need to teach in the first place!
So often, we as teachers look at our curriculum and see everything through compartmentalized lenses. If we’re teaching literacy skills, it must be done during our ELA block. If we’re teaching math, it can’t go beyond that 90 minute time frame we have carved out for it. And science and social studies…well….what’s that?!?!!
Instead of looking at our day in chunks of instruction, we really need to view it as one gigantic block of time. Instead of saying, “I have 120 minutes for ELA“, let’s shift our mindset to thinking “I have eight hours to give my kids hands-on, engaging instruction & practice in Math, Literacy, & Science/Social Studies. Instead of seeing those concepts as impossible to “fit in”, what if we used them as our starting points for instruction from which everything else is taught?!
What Is Science? / How to Think Like a Scientist / What is a Scientist?
What a Scientist Sees / Mad Margaret Experiments with the Scientific Method / I Use Science Tools
S is for Scientists / Science Safety Rules / Cece Loves Science
Scientists Ask Questions / What is the Scientific Method? / 11 Experiments that Failed
I so strongly believe in cross-curricular instruction. It just makes sense! Not only is it easier for us as teachers to “fit it all in”, but it helps our kids to create more authentic connections and recall and apply information so much faster! When we take this type of approach to teaching, we’re giving our kids an opportunity to increase their depth of knowledge and we’re working smarter…not harder. This is exactly how Abby and I have planned instruction for our teachers. Not only are we creating lessons and activities to fit into your science curriculum, but we’re incorporating math and literacy into planning and showing you that it really is possible to “fit it all in”!! Integrating instruction on a cross-curricular level.
Now that it’s August and time to go back to school, we’re thinking about those first few weeks in the classroom. What can we do to set the stage for an exciting year in ALL subject areas while maintaining the integrity of establishing routines, procedures, and expectations?!
For August, we’re keeping it simple because we know how crazy busy this first month of school can be. We designed a month’s worth of daily content (lessons & activities), but kept the activities relatively simple and repetitive so that they would be easy to explain and implement and build familiarity and confidence within our kids. We wanted to provide activities that help to establish expectations as well as excite and engage kids in science concepts.
Science for beginners!!!! We wanted to help you set the stage while teaching the basics. TONS of vocabulary, non-fiction books, posters, lessons, and activities!!!
We’ve even written and included several non-fiction texts that can be printed and placed in your reading/science center OR displayed on your whiteboard. Each of these texts is supported by an activity to extend learning and provide students with an opportunity to explore concepts with more intention.
Kids are born naturally curious and inquisitive…scientists by default. We strongly believe in providing them with lots of different opportunities to explore the world around them and support their natural inclination to wonder, observe, hypothesize, and experiment.
I know how excited I get to help teachers instruct on a cross-curricular level and in turn, my teachers get pretty excited, too! And we know that our attitudes about what we’re teaching will inevitably reflect in the way my our feel about what they’re learning. It just makes sense all the way around!!! Science is definitely one of my favorite things to teach and OH SO manageable to “fit in” when we don’t compartmentalize our day. Fitting it all in really is possible!!!!
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