Elementary Science Newsletter
December 18, 2014
Important Dates
- Fund for Teachers Travel Grants- opens October 1
- National Geographic Grosvener Teacher Fellowship- applications due January 4
- Summer workshop in New Orleans for 5th grade teachers- applications open January 15
- Fordham Street Foundation Grant- due January 15
- Ag in the Classroom grants- due January 30
- NEA Grants- due February 1
- Inasmuch Foundation Grants- due February 1/August 1
- OERB workshop- February 21
- Fluor Foundation Grants- rolling deadline
- OneOk Grants- rolling deadline
Updates from the Science Curriculum Office
Free NSTA Lesson: Exploring Insect Adaptations (2nd Grade)
Textbook Previews
Cool tech tool of the week: Newsela
Newsela is a website that features engaging articles about science topics at 5 different reading levels. You choose the level that is right for your students. You can even differentiate and assign different students the same article at different reading levels.
Instructional Strategy of the Week: Cubing and Think Dots
Cubing is an instructional strategy that asks students to consider a concept from a variety of different perspectives. The cubes are six-sided figures that have a different activity on each side of the cube. A student rolls the cube and does the activity that comes up. Cubes can also be used for group tasks as well as individual tasks.
To learn more about cubing visit http://rpdc.mst.edu/media/center/rpdc/documents/Cubing_Jigsawcenters.pdf.
Click here for more instructional strategies.
Need resources?
Safety Reminder
Please review the following documents before beginning any activity that may pose a risk to students (directions for locating these resources are in parentheses).
- Science Class Safety Information Sheet (R:\Safety Information\Internal Policies)
- Elementary Science Safety Notebook (R:\01 Elementary Resources\5th Grade\Science\Elementary Science Safety)
- Review all documents in R:\01 Elementary Resources\5th Grade\Science\Elementary Science Safety
If you have any questions at all regarding safety in the science classroom, please contact me.