Science Snippets

Think back to when you took an important test: The ACT, OSAT, a final in college. Do you remember how hard it was to wait for the score? Remember how you wanted to know EXACTLY what you did right and what could be improved? What if you never got the scores? What if you never found out? Not a comforting thought.

Students need feedback to give a sense of comfort and a goal. They need to know what they can do better and what they are doing well. Yes, it takes time, but think about how much your students can benefit from feedback.

1. Be as specific as possible. "Great job!" doesn't give the students any information. Tell them what they did well and what may need improvement.

2. The sooner the better. Numerous studies indicate that feedback is most effective when it is given immediately, rather than a few days, weeks, or months down the line. In one study that looked at delayed versus immediate feedback, the researchers found that participants who were given immediate feedback showed a significantly larger increase in performance than those who received delayed feedback.

3. Address the student's advancement toward a goal. Effective feedback is most often oriented around a specific achievement that students are (or should be) working toward.

4. Present feedback carefully. Fully explaining the purpose of any monitoring, and ensuring that learners understand how the feedback is meant to help them compete against their own personal bests rather than each other.

5. Involve the student in the process. When students have access to this information, they develop an awareness of their learning, and are more easily able to recognize mistakes and eventually develop strategies for tackling weak points themselves

Image by Ashley DeLeon © The Balance

TNT day is going to be wonderful! We have so many teachers and guests presenting wonderful sessions. There will be sessions on math, science, social studies, reading, SPED, student behavior, Edtech, RTI, along with MANY others! PK - 6th will be held at Southmoore High School.

6th Math: You will be at WHS.

A full schedule will be available soon. Looking forward to seeing you on Feb. 17th!

We have several guest speakers coming to present specifically about science, and we are so excited about their sessions. Please make plans to attend!

Greg Miller with the Science Museum of Oklahoma will be presenting Power of Connecting Science and Reading in Early Elementary. (1 hour session)

Darsha Cubstead with Plaza Towers will be presenting Music, Movement, and More: Teaching All Subjects Through Music, Movement, and Rhyme. (2 hour session)

Britny Cerda with Central will be presenting Science in Early Childhood.(1 hour session)

Julie Robinson will be presenting Science in Action: Exploring Teachable Moments in Early Childhood. (1 hour session)

Tony Pascall with Project Learning Tree and the Oklahoma Forestry Service will be coming to present lessons from their hands-on learning style of teaching earth science. This is a wonderful opportunity for all of us! We are asking 4th and 6th grade science teachers to attend this 3-hour session (9 am - noon with built in breaks). We would also like to extend the opportunity to a 3rd grade teacher from each site. We are asking 3rd grade to limit to just ONE teacher to allow the rest of the team to attend other sessions and share all the information with each other. We have 75 seats available for this session.

Please reserve your seat below.

Paige Kelpine with SREB will be working with all 5th science teachers. This session will be a 3-hour session (9 am - noon with breaks). She will be focusing on breaking down the standards, using the frameworks, and using tools and techniques for mastering OSTP science assessments. She is a wonderful presenter with lots of great information specifically for our 5th science team. Please plan to attend this session.

Academic language in science is a must! Acrostics are an excellent tool for students to practice their new science vocabulary. {Scroll down to sign up for your Sun, Earth, and Moon Acrostic Freebie.} This versatile strategy can be used in many ways:

• whole class activity (great for introducing the strategy)
• partner activity
• bulletin board idea
• Interactive Science Notebook output choice
• station
• end of unit assessment option

How can you introduce the Acrostic strategy?

1. Determine the topic or word you would like for students to use.
2. Make a list of ideas for each letter. I like to have this on hand before the activity so I don’t get stumped and can offer recommendations to students. I usually provide the list the first couple of times we do the activity, especially in my remediation groups. They can choose from it or not.
3. Make a short collaborative list of important ideas and vocabulary to emphasize within the Acrostic.
4. Model and “think aloud” for a small vocabulary term students are familiar with. Make sure students know that phrases are preferred. There shouldn’t be just one single word for a letter. They don’t need to use complete sentences, but it’s okay if they do.
5. Provide a related vocabulary term for students to work on in partners. Offer suggestions as needed.
6. Have students share their acrostics whole class or through a gallery walk. Celebrate the variety of ideas that partners came up with!

After you’ve introduced the Acrostic strategy, try:

• The class comes up with a list of letter ideas before beginning the activity.
• Students select from a list of terms for the unit for their Acrostic word.
• The class makes a list of important ideas and vocabulary to emphasize within the Acrostic.

I hope you saw the light bulbs go on with your students as they were learning through the Science Olympics Engineering Projects. I got a lot of great questions from students about what is allowed and what isn't. We have a some students looking at the details! Way to go!

What happens next?

January

• The Science Olympics Sponsor for your school will be meeting with the winners of your grade level to give them the permission forms and information about the district competitions.
• During indoor recess days, encourage your district competitors to practice. Teams that practice have a much greater success rate at the district competition. You may want to have 6th grade students practice on your gym floor since they will be competing on a wooden gym floor at the district competition.

February

• Student and sponsor T-shirts will be delivered to your school.
• Sponsors will meet with grade level teams about details of the district competitions.
• District Competitions

After the competitions:

• After the competition, please take some time to store all the reusable items together so they will be easy to locate next year.
• Special note for 5th grade: If you need platforms replaced, please complete the form below. I will be building replacements later this year and delivering them before school is out (hopefully).
• Special note for 6th grade: We bought new foam pipes this year. We will keep these for two years. We can usually replace one or two at your site, but we cannot afford to replace all 10 every year for each school. Please store the pipes so that you can use them again next year.

• MHS Feeder Schools - Feb. 11th
• SHS Feeder Schools - Feb. 12th
• WHS Feeder Schools - Feb. 13th

We are going to do things a little differently than we have in the past. We will be ordering different specimens for back-to-back grade levels. Students need to see multiple examples of the life cycle and by varying what each grade level does, we are doing just that. We will offer butterflies twice once in PK/Kinder and once again in 3rd grade.

• PK/Kinder: Butterflies
• 1st: Frogs
• 2nd: Ladybugs
• 3rd: Butterflies or Praying Mantis

New habitats will be automatically provided for the 1st grade this year. you will not need to request one.

If you need a habitat for any of the other specimens, please check with other teachers in your school to see if any are available before requesting a new one.

The deadline to order live specimens and habitats is March 7th! Orders should arrive by the first week of April.

Don't forget the plants go through a life cycle too! Plants are always fun to use in a classroom. Look below to order materials for your plant units.

It's already time to start planning your plant units. Plants are a wonderful way to show another version of the life cycle. Plus, they make great gifts for parents and guardians at the end of the year. Complete the form below if you require soil or seeds this spring. Orders are due by the end of February. Orders will be delivered by the second week of March.

Yes, it's only January, but we are already thinking about materials for next year! Please complete your grade level order form by March 13th. Each teacher will need to complete their own form. Even if you are not returning to your grade level or school next year, please order materials for the teacher in your shoes next year.

We want you to be able to start your year with all the supplies you need, and it's really difficult for us to get a kit together at the last minute at the beginning of the school year.

Take a look at some of the Science Olympics Fun at Fairview (Ms. Edelen's 6th Grade) and Timber Creek (Ms. Castleman's 3rd Grade)

This was a project done by the 2nd grade students at Kingsgate in Ms. Eubanks Class earlier this year.

After listening to the story Leaf Man, students had to create their own leaf person/animal/object and write their own story about it. Then, we used chatterkids to draw a mouth and record themselves reading their story. What a great way to blend tactile learning, science, reading, writing, and computer science!

Here is a read aloud version of Leaf Man by Lois Ehlert if you want to try this in your classroom.

Celebrate creativity for all learners January 27-February 2, 2025. Join celebrities Henry Winkler, Mo Willems, Phillipa Soo, and more, reading books they've written. There will also be hands-on art activities, awesome sweepstakes and prizes, and free learning resources.

Register for free today and enjoy seven days of creativity with your students.

Here is a a collection of fairy tale science experiments that would sit brilliantly alongside this topic. The activities include The Three Little Pigs, Jack and the Beanstalk, Billy Goats Gruff and more.

Stephanie Ellison from Plaza Towers, you are the winner this month! I will bring a prize to your classroom soon!

Complete the form below to be entered in a drawing for a prize! Good luck!

Looking for Read Alouds that work together with your curriculum? Check out the science pacing guides! In the lower righthand corner, there are some suggestions for read aloud books found in MyOn.

Did you know our science department has resources for you to have and some that you can borrow? The following are all available for check-out:

Mineral Kits
Rock Kits
Fossil Kits
Planetarium

Need some materials for a science activity? We can do that too! Please allow at least a week for common materials and longer for specialty materials.