Science+Literary+Connections

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 * Science-Literary Connections**

PDRT Meeting 12/08/2009

 (Ellen) What I heard was a need to emphasize inquiry-based learning at all grade levels. This is very well aligned to what library teachers have been promoting and practicing. Here are some of my favorite quotes from the presentation.
 * What have you heard and how can it be applied to either your weekly K class or the work that you do with K teachers?**
 * " Students are learning // how to learn; //  building habits of mind that will last a lifetime"
 * "Students experience learning as less about right answers and more about good questions"
 * "Inquiry encourages children to question, conduct research for genuine reasons, and make discoveries on their own"
 * "You're no longer the sage on the stage; You're the guide on the side

Right Now
At Plympton kids spend a month in the fall learning how to "sell apples" to the older kids during lunch time with an advertising campaign. We start by learning about 5 senses and using these to help us describe the wonders of apples (they smell great, they go crunch in your mouth, etc). We then read about the nutritive value of apples and their ability to be incorporated into delicious pies, cider, etc. Kids then create print ads for the cafeteria and video ads to show older students.
 * What do we do right now for science teaching in Kindergarten?**

During the winter, Plympton kids spend library time looking at how “animals bodies are designed for where they live.” We talk a lot about concepts such as “adaptation” and “camouflage” and look at books, websites, and videos that cover these topics. Students spend times sorting animals into “polar, ocean, desert, and forest” creatures and have to explain why they put creatures in various places. They also design a home for a salamander. At the end of the school year, Plympton Kindergarten kids create a “museum of plants”. Kids investigate the “job” that each part of the plant has—roots, stems, leaves, fruits, seeds. Kids explore actual plant parts each week, read about them, watch videos, do experiments, and plant seeds. We record data with digital cameras and create powerpoint shows to explain our findings. Kids invite older students in to see our museum at the end of the spring and have to explain what they’ve learned.

Some science related activities I have incorporated into kindergarten library time >
 * Read aloud and discuss fiction and nonfiction books that tie into the science curriculum . Students first share what they already know (or think they know).
 * 5 Senses: Close our eyes and imagine ourselves in the setting of the book (for example a beach in the summer). What do we hear? What do we feel? What do we smell? What do we taste? What do we see?
 * Play Guessing Games with hints that incorporate science concepts such as living/nonliving, animal/vegetable
 * Compare and contrast "similarities and differences" of books on a specific subject.(e.g. books about bats. Some have photographs, some have drawings, some have colorful illustrations, some are made up stories where the bats act like people, some are made up stories where the bats act like bats, some are fact books with index and table of contents, some use easy words, some use hard words, some have few words etc)
 * "Theme of the week". What do these books have in common? How do they differ?
 * KidPix Activities (one example: students select stickers of living things and of nonliving and sort into appropriate columns)

Additional Topics
(Carol) I already know that inquiry-based learning is the most effective method for teaching students, especially science. However, I would like to develop some literature-based science inquiry projects to co-teach with the Kindergarten teachers. I find that since we provide coverage for K students, the teachers get accustomed to the "drop-off" attitude and never work cooperatively to develop lessons with me. They also don't seem at all interested in what the students learned during library time. I feel that our curriculum's should be connected to maximize student learning. As far as understanding the students, it would be useful to get to know them in another way while working along side the classroom teacher. I have repeatedly heard it suggested that the library teachers teach the K science curriculum because the K teachers never seem to have time to get around to it. While this might have some benefits I don't think it is the library teacher's job to take on the science specialist's or classroom teacher's role.
 * What opportunities can we see for additional topics we might cover in science?**

I'd love to do more hands-on-science collaborative projects with the kindergarten teachers.

Connect with students in other parts of the world to share learning on a science topic. (weather, seasons, local wildlife)

Books
Fall Leaves Change Colors (Zoehfeld) Seasons ABC (Whitehouse) Fall Leaves Fall! (Hall) Day and Night (Llewellyn) Day Light, Night Light: Where Light Comes From (Branley) Living and Non-Living (Royston) Fall Leaves Change Colors (Zoehfeld) Seasons ABC (Whitehouse) Fall Leaves Fall! (Hall) Day and Night (Llewellyn) Day Light, Night Light: Where Light Comes From (Branley) Living and Non-Living (Royston) What is Matter? (Curry) Solids (Mezzanotte) Liquids (Mezzanotte) and Gas (Mezzanotte)
 * What books do we like for science teaching with Kindergarteners?**

Salamander Room (Mazer) What do you do with a tail like this? (Steven Jenkins) Actual Size (Steve Jenkins) Grandmother Winter  Apple Unit: Apple Pie Tree (Zoe Hall), Crooked Apple Tree (Eric Houghton) and How do Apples Grow  (Betsy Maestro)


 * Changing Seasons****:** In November (Rylant),, When Winter Comes (Van Laan), A Winter Day (Florian), Mud (Ray), Summer Stinks (Kelley), Reasons for Seasons (Gibbons)

Websites

 * Some useful websites:**

Center for Inquiry Based Learning: []

PBSkids Curious George videos: [] - play one minute video clip; ask students what happened, how did it happen, why did it happen. Write down all their guesses (aka hyptheses)

BBC science clips: []

Sqooltools: []

Materials and Collaboration
<span style="color: #000080; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: normal;">Maintain up-to-date collection of resources in many different formats: print, video, audio, interactive, websites, manipulatives and artifacts
 * What opportunities can we see for providing classrooms with materials and collaborative teaching?**