Makerspaces are collaborative workplaces equipped with a variety of high- and low-tech tools and materials that individuals can use to create physical and digital products. In this article the authors take the perspective that integrating a makerspace into a school is a proactive, thoughtful, and time-consuming process. To help meaningfully…

The importance of biodiversity to human life and the benefits of a diverse ecosystem are not often obvious to young children. This column discusses resources and science topics related to students in grades preK to 2. The objective in this month's issue is to introduce children to the diversity of plant life in a given area through a plant…

The connections the "Next Generation Science Standards" ("NGSS") creates between science content and practices to literacy and mathematics are especially beneficial at the elementary level. In this article, the authors present a series of lessons a second-grade teacher taught within a thematic unit that integrated standards…

The suggestions described here to adapt instruction for English Language Learners (ELLs) are based on the concept of "sheltered instruction," a model of language-support methods for instruction for ELLs derived primarily through the Sheltered Instruction Observational Protocol (SIOP) developed by Jana Echevarria, Mary Ellen Vogt, and Deborah Short…

As the authors approached a unit on magnets with their first-grade students, they decided to incorporate more inquiry into their district's learning module, Magnets: Elementary Science and Technology Module for Primary Grades (State College Area School District 1993). By restructuring their lessons, using science talks, and listening carefully to…

Advocates the development of a teaching plan which includes behavioral objectives, new vocabulary, materials, learning activities, and evaluation techniques. (CP)