NJSLS- They're coming Fall 2017!
New Jersey Student Learning Standards in Science
New Jersey Student Learning Standards ( a.k.a Next Generation Science Standards, NGSS)
A big shift in our science thinking and our approach to science teaching is on the horizon. Every few weeks you will be receiving a newsletter that delves deeper into each topic introduced here. Please spend time getting to know the NJSLS. Enjoy!
Why the shift?
Quality science education is based on standards that are rich in content and practice, with aligned curricula, pedagogy, assessment, and teacher preparation and development. It has been nearly 15 years since the National Research Council and the American Association for Advancement in Science produced the seminal documents on which most state standards are based. Since that time, major advances in science and our understanding of how students learn science have taken place and need to be reflected in state standards.
Implications of the NJSLS-S for our teaching
Active Learning
Students are figuring it out, rather than learning about it. Students are doing the cognitive work rather than passively receiving information.
Questions and Phenomena
Student work is driven by questions arising from phenomena or by an engineering design problem. Students will be engaged in authentic and meaningful scenarios that reflect the practices of science and engineering as experienced in the real world and that provide students with a purpose.
Collaboration
Students interact with each other as they conduct investigations, represent data; interpret evidence, gather additional information; and develop explanations, models, and arguments.
Performance Expectations
The NJSLS/NGSS are not a set of daily instructional or assessments tasks, but a set of expectations for what students should be able to do by the end of instruction (years or grade-bands) in order to demonstrate that they have met the standard. So, the performance expectations set the learning goals for students, but do not describe how students get there. Each grade will have performance expectations in physical science, life science, and earth and space science.
The Three Dimensions
The working together of the three dimensions to make sense of phenomena and design solution to problems is referred to as 3-dimensional learning.Three-Dimensional Learning shifts the focus of the science classroom to environments where students use disciplinary core ideas, crosscutting concepts with scientific practices to explore, examine, and explain how and why phenomena occur and to design solutions to problems. Each performance expectation incorporates the 3 dimensions. Learning experiences are also planned to incorporate the three-dimensions.
Preparing in Millburn
Millburn has teachers that have been working on learning about these new standards for a few years now. At each school a few teachers are piloting lessons and units this year that will help us as we plan for next year. A team of administrators and teachers are working to review the resources available to help us plan for next year.
Can't wait and want to know more now?
If you are interested in learning more now, please visit the Curriculum and instruction Website ( https://sites.google.com/a/millburn.org/mtps-faculty-curriculum-resources-website/ ) . Under the NGSS tab, there is a great collection of resources including videos and articles. The links below will give you the big questions for your grade level.
Event Information
Liberty Science Center Workshop
This workshop introduces the NJSLS (Science), highlighting key shifts in content and practices that the new science standards bring to classrooms. Educators will become familiar with teaching through the three strands of NJSLS (Science): Disciplinary Core Ideas, Science and Engineering Practices, and Crosscutting Concepts. Teachers will participate in sample lessons which highlight various aspects of the NJSLS-Science three dimensions of learning.
When?
Wednesday, Mar 15, 2017, 01:30 PM
Where?