The Science Squeeze
Posted by Amy Erickson on 13 May 2009 | Posted in: Classroom Management, Grade 1, Grades 2-3, Intermediate, Kindergarten, Preschool, Teachers and Teaching, The Mailbox
|
People often compare teaching to a juggling act. Do you think it’s a fitting description? I do. There are so many skills to fit into each day, and of course, there’s paperwork, classroom management, specials, recess, lunch, and all sorts of things that come up unexpectedly. In short, the school day is packed! It’s no surprise that it’s a challenge for teachers to fit everything into each day. I hear from many primary teachers that science sometimes gets squeezed out of their schedule. Some say the only way they can fit it in is by integrating it with literacy or math. On the other hand, there are teachers who work at magnet schools where science is emphasized. |
 |
How about you? Do you feel the science squeeze? What does science look like in your classroom? I’d love to hear if there are any science-related challenges we can help you with.
And all you first-grade teachers who integrate science and literacy, download this bee page and penguin page from the grade 1 edition of The Mailbox® magazine. They help you get more for your time by pairing science with comprehension. Just what you need to make your juggling act a bit easier!
5 Comments |
Subscribe
|
Email This
I do a workshop at ECA of Fl conference about this topic. Everything we do in Preschool is Science. My thought is always…Science is that AH HA moment. The discovery of something new. I remind my children that everyday they are scientists learning and creating something new that no one else has done…because it came from their mind, it might look like something someone else did, but it has a difference somewhere.
This way if we don’t get to a “science” experiment that day…its okay.
In our kindergarten we rotate or combine Science with Social Studies. We also integrate our Reading and Writing with it as well. Our district just had an all district Exhibition of student work. Our subject was History and Culture. Three of our 5 kinder classes combined and did Prehistoric with dinosaurs. We measured, wrote, built, had 4 dinosaur digs going and made our own fossils. It was a 6 week project and the kids loved it. We wrapped it up after the actual Exhibition night with a trip to the University of Michigan Natural History museaum where they have dinosaur and mammoth fossils.
Mailbox, you are awesome. I don’t want to admit how many years I have been using your magazine/books.
Science is the study of life and all that sustains it. How many of our students say science is their favorite subject? Science and the excitement of discovery that surrounds it keeps kids’ enthusiasm for learning alive. How can we not make teaching science a priority? The 2nd grade curricula in our classroom are designed around science and social studies ideas and immersed in a well-organized scope and sequence of language arts skills. Science is everywhere in our classroom; plants, animals, samples from the Earth, and LOADS of non-fiction books. Mailbox Magazine has been an essential tool in building the wealth of materials necessary to keep our program evolving. Please, be persistent in encouraging your administrators to let you teach science.
I absolutely love doing science with my pre-k kids! It can be hard to fit in with all of the other things we have to do, but it’s so worth it to hear their exclamations when they make a discovery. Today we had a bug hunt outside and the kids had a great time finding and catching bugs to bring inside and observe - we’re also doing butterflies and tadpoles so there’s a lot going on this time of year!
I also think that a lot of what we do in pre-k is science, but we don’t always think of it that way. For instance, experimenting with mixing different colored paint during an art activity is a form of science. Children also learn science when exploring the properties of water in the water table and when building in the block corner (physical science). Trying to build with dry sand in the sand table is hard, but when you add water, what changes? Why is it easier to build with now? Science is all around us and really should be an important part of every classroom.
I love the mailbox preschool edition for science. The experiements are always done so well. I love science so we do alot it is everywhere and in preschool I think it is easier to do. Today we planted seeds and looked at our silk worms who are spinning cacoones. And did slim and the water table.Thanks Mailbox for a great science section.