Words are the foundation of knowledge. They are powerful tools used to express ideas, communicate with others, access knowledge, and learn about new concepts. Research shows a strong relationship between student word knowledge and academic achievement. As a result, building academic content vocabulary is an important part of science instruction.…

As a first-grade teacher in an urban school, the author was eager to bring authentic science into the classroom. She wanted students to experience various scientific processes, and wanted their parents to be involved, too. To meet this goal,she implemented a program first learned of as a graduate student in a science methods class at Texas…