Teaching Science through Integrating Children’s Literature & Outdoor InvestigationsChristine Royce & Steve Rich

@caroyce @bflyguy

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What do we do?• Collaborate on two distinct

strategies for teaching science that may seem in opposition to each other

• Taking Students Outdoors• Using Trade Books to Teach

Science

How do we do it?• Determine which strategy sets the

stage best for engaging students initially.

• Utilize that strategy to generate interest and then utilize the other to build content around that interest.

Benefits of Pairing NSTA Press Resources

• Combining resources allows teachers to more completely meet the standards

• Different approaches of authors may meet varying needs of learners

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Outdoor Science Strategies/Foundations

Using Trade Books Strategies/Foundations

• Focuses on engaging students through text based structures as a way to interest them in science.

• Requires some selection of trade books based on content, as well as, readability level.

• Can be used as the springboard for engaging students or a resource to finding out new information

Click icon to add picture• Starts with identifying science standards that can be taught effectively outdoors or with materials from the outdoors

• Recognizes nearly every school yard has some useful component(s) for teaching & learning science

• Benefits student learning by making it relevant to the real world

Regardless of how tech oriented students are…

Books are still important!

Topic #1: Food Webs and Food Chains

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Set the stage with a trade book: Secrets of the Garden and begin to develop understanding by having students listen to the story about food chains in our backyard.

Expand their knowledge: Have students apply their understanding of food chains by venturing outdoors and having them locate, describe, and construct a diagram of a local food chain that they can observe.

Return to Reading: construct a food web by participating in Weaving a Food Web from the TSTTB Colum that allows students to identify what a food chain is and then practice constructing one within the classroom.

School Yard Food Chain-Outdoor Science

Figuring Out Food Chains

-Column in Teaching Through

Trade Books

Topic #2: Exploring the Outdoors with Your Senses

Can you see me now? & Do you hear what I hear?

• What do animal sounds have in common with camouflage?

• How do animals use their senses to survive?

• Is an animal sound a warning or a call to come?

• Is a color meant to attract others animals or hide from them?

• Listen to this….

Moth Madness

• Key Vocabulary Terms: Coloration and camouflage

• Story of the Peppered Moth

• Data table

• How will we look for moths?

• Discussion

An App that fits with this lesson…

• Animal Sound App

Topic #3: Describing Your Experiences

Poetry in the Great Outdoors from Outdoor Science

Exploring your Environment from Teaching Science Through Trade Books

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Exploring Your Environment

-Teaching Science Through Trade

Books

Note Booking Like a Naturalist-Column in

Teaching Through Trade Books

Poetry in the Great Outdoors

-Outdoor Science Have them take some of their observations and sketches and then write poetry such as an acrostic• Beetles are everywhere• Under rocks and in the air• Going here and going there• Sometimes I just stop and stare

Looking for bugs on a school yard walk…

• B_________________________

• U_________________________

• G_________________________

• S_________________________

Poetrees UnBEElievables

Writing Standards K: Use a combination of drawing, dictating, and writing to compose informative/explanatory texts in which they name what they are writing about and supply some information about the topic.

Writing Standards – Text Types and Purposes Grade 2: Write informative/explanatory texts in which they introduce a topic, use facts and definitions to develop points, and provide a concluding statement or section.

Creating a Collection of Children’s Literature for a unit of study

One of my Collections…

• Ten Seeds

• Seeds, Stems, & Stamens

• Our Tree Named Steve

• Plants on the Trail of Lewis & Clark

New from NSTA Kids….

Thank you for joining us today!

Christine Royce Steve Rich

@caroyce @bflyguycaroyce@aol.com bflywriter@comcast.net

http://webspace.ship.edu/caroyc/conventions.htm