Spencer_Walker. Justification. Turn Over a New Leaf this Spring! Springtime is a season of growth, change, and renewal. The smells in the air and the brilliant sunshine make it a favorite time of year for everyone. However, it also a time when children of all ages may see changes occurring. Perhaps they no longer feel close to the best friend they have had for years. Or, maybe their teacher has started to bore them to tears. Even the playground they used to love roaming around seems confining. It’s All About Friendship While I might remember a few things here and there about my elementary school education, most of the memories I have are of social relationships, and of course, recess. For this reason, talking about friendships is a good idea: Have your pupils bring in their favorite stories about friendship and share them.Put out a box where they can put slips of paper where they have anonymously written out their problems and concerns. Stress Management is Crucial We might not always remember, but school can be stressful for children.
Justification. Science courses nearly extinct in elementary grades, study finds. The third-graders looked puzzled when asked what they liked best about science. No answer. OK, then, next question: "What is science? " a visitor asked the children in a hallway at Bessie Carmichael Elementary School in San Francisco. "Science is like art," said Manuel, 7, who let that cryptic response hang in the air as he ducked away. He might have meant that both can open the heart to beauty. Or maybe he was saying that science, like art, is something students don't get much of these days in elementary school. If it were the latter, a new survey of 923 Bay Area elementary school teachers would agree.
About 80 percent of those teachers said they spent less than an hour each week teaching science, according to researchers from the Lawrence Hall of Science at UC Berkeley and from WestEd, an education think tank based in San Francisco. Understanding science helps children learn to think and solve problems while questioning the world around them, Dorph said. "It's very rushed," she said. Justification. Science Labs in Elementary School? Traditionally, elementary school means the three Rs: reading, ‘riting, and ‘rithmetic. That tradition has been carried on by No Child Left Behind, which holds schools accountable for scores in reading and writing, leaving science on the back burner. But, that may be about to change. States are now required to test students annually in science for grades 3-5, 6-9 and 10-12. Though the penalties for low test scores in science aren't nearly as stiff for those in math and reading, some say this is an indication that the tide is turning.
And it’s about time, says Harold Pratt, a retired science coordinator, the former president of the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) and current President of Science Curriculum Incorporated. Pratt says if we want more students to consider science-based careers after graduation, we have to get them hooked in the younger grades. But laboratory instruction or “lab” isn’t just about beakers and Bunsen burners. Fettuccine Bridge is Falling Down. Justification. Managing Science in the Elementary Classroom. The primary grades are a perfect time to build on a child’s natural curiosity about the world he or she experiences daily is intense. By engaging students in authentic, scientific study, teachers can create excitement and interest about the world in which we live. So why is science not a centerpiece of weekly instruction? Science can be messy; it requires time to organize, uses technical equipment, is less familiar, and takes specific strategies to manage.
However, these issues are surmountable, especially if it is taught via a mix of whole group and center-based activities. Teachers can alleviate the difficulties that teaching science poses by organizing materials thoughtfully and carefully teaching procedures for handling science experiments and equipment modeling and teaching the conceptual skills necessary for students to engage in the scientific process {*style:<b>Whole Group Activities </b>*} Teachers can work with the whole group to lay the groundwork for scientific exploration. Justification.