I'll be honest... Science is not my thing. My Math program this year rocks, and Literacy is also swimming along nicely. Art, when I have the time to cram it in, is great fun and very enlightening for the students, as we explore many different artists and a variety of media. Oral Language and Social Justice are fully alive this year, as part of an intentional focus on rich mentor texts planned in our curriculum map last spring...
But Science? Well, not so much.
It's not that I don't believe in the importance of this subject area. Quite the contrary: I believe that fostering a sense of wonder in the natural world, and encouraging students to ask questions that examine how things work is critically important.
Alas, there are only so many hours in a day, and a good, rich science program is so labour intensive, with so many materials to prepare and organize and set up... there just never seems to be enough time!!! So, I typically resort to "integrating my science program in to my literacy program", which is edu-babble for saying we read about some stuff, but don't actually DO science, most of the time!
Not good, I know.
But the Science Police would be proud of me these days: In addition to running an experiment with celery and food colouring, we recently planted radish, pea and marigold seeds, and are looking after them in the classroom and they sprout. It's really, hands-on stuff, and the kids LOVE it: One student hugged me after planting his radish earlier this week, and exclaimed, "THANK you, Ms. Teschow, for letting us do this FUN thing!!!"
But Science? Well, not so much.
It's not that I don't believe in the importance of this subject area. Quite the contrary: I believe that fostering a sense of wonder in the natural world, and encouraging students to ask questions that examine how things work is critically important.
Alas, there are only so many hours in a day, and a good, rich science program is so labour intensive, with so many materials to prepare and organize and set up... there just never seems to be enough time!!! So, I typically resort to "integrating my science program in to my literacy program", which is edu-babble for saying we read about some stuff, but don't actually DO science, most of the time!
Not good, I know.
But the Science Police would be proud of me these days: In addition to running an experiment with celery and food colouring, we recently planted radish, pea and marigold seeds, and are looking after them in the classroom and they sprout. It's really, hands-on stuff, and the kids LOVE it: One student hugged me after planting his radish earlier this week, and exclaimed, "THANK you, Ms. Teschow, for letting us do this FUN thing!!!"
Then, today, we went outside to collect and categorise some leaves and other "tree treasures" we could find. Students also wrote descriptive riddles for their peers to solve, using the words they had collected to describe their treasures.
Yes, these "real" Science activities took some organization, several shopping trips, considerable set up, and a bit of a mess in the classroom. But it was worth it.
Now, when we read about plant growth in our guided reading groups this week, students will have some real schema to connect to!
Yes, these "real" Science activities took some organization, several shopping trips, considerable set up, and a bit of a mess in the classroom. But it was worth it.
Now, when we read about plant growth in our guided reading groups this week, students will have some real schema to connect to!
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