Although literacy plays a large role in elementary science classrooms, one thing that offers a challenge for educators is meeting the linguistic needs of English language learners (ELLs) while also meeting their content needs. An additional challenge is ensuring that academic literacy extends beyond the classroom. This article presents ways of…

Studying pets fosters children's natural curiosity about the world around them and encourages them to use their five senses. This cross-curricular guide provides opportunities for children to build concepts by introducing them to a variety of household pets beginning with cats and dogs, and including mice, gerbils, hamsters, rabbits, guinea pigs,…

Contains two motivational tools, a Kind Award and a Pass-It-On poem, which are designed to encourage children to be kind to animals. Includes examples on how to use the tools, and reproducible masters to be used in both instances. (TW)

Parents can help ensure that their elementary school students' science programs meet their needs. The article discusses the characteristics of a good science program, explains how parents can advocate for a good science program, and looks at the role of the PTA in supporting quality science programs. (SM)

What types of instructional experiences help K-8 students learn science with understanding? What do science educators, teachers, teacher leaders, science specialists, professional development staff, curriculum designers, and school administrators need to know to create and support such experiences? "Ready, Set, Science!" guides the way with an…

"Science for Girls: Successful Classroom Strategies" looks at how girls learn, beginning with the time they are born through both the informal and formal education process. In the author's current role as professor of science education, Dr. Goetz has surveyed hundreds of female elementary education majors in their junior and senior year of…

Some children hold the belief that insects and spiders are all mere nuisances because they have never had opportunities to observe, study, and learn to appreciate how these animals live and carry out their purposes in life. Studying insects and spiders fosters children's natural curiosity about the world around them and encourages them to use…

This booklet contains simple movements and activities that are used with students in Educational Kinesiology to enhance their experience of whole brain learning. Whole brain learning through movement repatterning and Brain Gym activities enable students to access those parts of the brain previously unavailable to them. These movements of body and…

Designed for teachers of students in grades 2 through 4, this teaching guide for a self-teaching, interdisciplinary reading and activity program comprises a complete supplemental reading, science, and social studies approach to the problems of environmental pollution. Jelly Jam, a caring little animal, helps children understand how air, water, and…

Most people think of nature in the city as parks and zoos and dandelions pushing up through cracks in the sidewalk, but it is also asphalt streets, granite office buildings and mazes of underground pipes and cables. The materials of which the streets and buildings are constructed began as prehistoric jungles and ancient mountains. The systems that…

Focusing on the use of common, everyday materials that can be obtained for free or purchased inexpensively, this document was developed to provide classroom teachers, youth leaders, camp counselors and parents with ideas and activities in science. A major emphasis is placed on "starter" activities, which are designed to encourage…

Addressed primarily to elementary school teachers working with children in grades one through three and grounded in developmentally appropriate practice, this book provides a practical framework for making teaching effective and learning meaningful for children in these early grades. Chapters in Part 1 of the book each present one of six teaching…