This inquiry-based lesson was inspired by Denise Fleming's book entitled, "In the Tall, Tall Grass" (1991). The author used the book and a real study of prairie grasses to teach kindergartners how to make careful observations and record what they see. In addition, they learn how to "draw as scientists." Here the author describes her class's yearly…

Writing about inquiry-based science experiences can provide students with opportunities to communicate their questions, observations, and reflections while expanding our instructional and assessment options as teachers. But how can teachers encourage and assess student writing in science? In this article, the authors describe P.O.E.T.R.Y., an…

Using multiple theoretical frameworks, reflective writings and interviews, this study explores preservice elementary teachers' emerging identities as science teachers and how this identity is connected to notions of critical agency and a stance toward social justice. The study addresses two central questions pertaining to preservice teachers'…

The learning cycle has been embraced as a teaching approach that is consistent with the goals of the "National Science Education Standards" (National Research Council, 1996). Science teacher educators may be disappointed to find, however, that preservice teachers may fail to grasp this model, even after extensive instruction (e.g., Settlage,…

This study explored how preservice teachers grew in their understanding of inquiry science through conducting an in-depth individual inquiry investigation in their science methods course. Elementary preservice teachers' understanding about inquiry investigations, their attitudes towards the assignment, and their views towards using individual…

The purpose of this study was to compare the effects of questioning "during" a read-aloud and questioning "after" a read-aloud, using science-related informational tradebooks with first-and second-graders. Three thematically-related tradebooks were used, each portraying a scientist involved in authentic investigation. Students in two first/second…

Teachers often rely on student questions, their observations of students at work, and their own intuition to monitor how well students are learning. However, the authors found that teachers learn more about their students when they use the four-step Reflective Assessment Technique that draws on guided teacher reflections to inform classroom…

This study has examined the impact of teaching certain basic concepts of astronomy through a predict-observe-explain strategy, which includes three-dimensional (3D) computer modeling and observations on conceptual changes seen in sixth-grade elementary school children (aged 11-13; number of students: 131). A pre- and postastronomy instruction…

This study examines inservice elementary school teachers' beliefs, attitudes, and practical knowledge toward inquiry-based science instruction and the influence of an inquiry-based elementary science course on teachers' beliefs, attitudes, and practical knowledge regarding inquiry. Both surveys and a case study were administered to the 14…

This research is part of a larger study of commercial reading programs used in Canada in grades 1-6. The specific purposes of the results reported here were to identify and quantify the assessment techniques suggested for the selections that contain scientific content, to show how the assessments differ by grade, to evaluate the nature and quality…

This study examined the impact of a recently revised science course that engaged preservice teachers in a scaffolded, student-directed inquiry unit on local streams. Upon the completion of the inquiry project, the teacher candidates in the stream study classes demonstrated significantly greater improvement in the personal science teaching efficacy…

This study draws upon a qualitative case study to investigate the impact of the high-stakes test environment on an elementary teacher's identities and the influence of identity maintenance on science teaching. Drawing from social identity theory, I argue that we can gain deep insight into how and why urban elementary science teachers engage in…

This study examined the effects of an extensive inquiry-based field experience on pre service elementary teachers' personal agency beliefs, a composite measure of context beliefs and capability beliefs related to teaching science. The research combined quantitative and qualitative approaches and included an experimental group that utilized the…

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…

The purpose of this study was to investigate how multimodal assessment tools enabled Grade 2 students to show knowledge and understanding of wolves. The research design was a case study across three years employing descriptive statistics to portray student knowledge and understanding associated with the use of each tool. The findings indicate that…