This chapter was all about the science curriculum in the Kindergarten year. They state in this chapter that they use the framework that focusing on five different content areas: inquiry, life science, physical science, earth science and space science. Inquiry is a very important part about science. One of the major parts of inquiry is when children can engage in focused exploration. This is the part that teachers need to give the most support with. Finding activities and assignments that are interesting and relate to the lesson will correlate with the student’s success. Another important part is the sharing of ideas, make sure you give the students time set out in the day to just talk to each other and yourself. If you listen around the room you will gain insight on what interests them, therefore you can make more effective lessons to teach them science. Another interesting part of the chapter that stood out to me was about the attitudes and dispositions. Children are likely to be enthusiastic about learning science if you are enthusiastic about teaching it. Finding lessons that both excite you and the children will create an environment of excitement and learning. Out attitude directly affects the children we teach every day. This makes it so important for us to support the development of children through a positive attitude and authentic activities.
Autumn, I agree with your point about setting time aside during the day to for socializing, both between the students and between the teacher and the students. As you said, this is how you find out what interests them, which will only help you be able to plan better lessons that will keep them engaged. When children are interested in something, they will stay engaged in their learning, and they will likely learn more regarding the subject.
I agree that inquiry is a very important part of learning science. Teachers should find activities that children can relate with to interest them in the lesson. I also feel that science instruction should be moved outside whenever possible. This will help to engage students and will help them learn more about their environment.
Jessica, I really like your ideas about field trips and letting the children experience science in the world. It’s so important for the children to make connections from what we are doing in the classroom to what they see outside in the world. I also remember going on field trips in my early grades, they were definitely a highlight of the year for most kids. With budget cuts, teachers aren’t getting the option to leave the school and are being forced to be more creative.
Chapter #9 of the K Today text was all about science in kindergarten. I thought that the chart on page 97 that was talking about the important inquiry skills was really helpful. Due to the experiences that they will have in science the examples of skills they will develop are: 1) raising questions about objects and events 2) exploring materials, objects, and events by acting upon them and noticing the results 3) using all of their senses to make observations 4) describing, comparing, sorting, classifying, and putting into order observable characteristics and properties 5) using a variety of simple tools to extend observations 6) engaging in simple investigations 7) recording observations through multiple forms of representation 8) working collaboratively 9) sharing and discussing ideas and listening to the ideas and perspectives of others. All of these skills are incredibly important in a wide variety of subjects, not just science. To make sure that this is happening in my classroom, I would just try and be sure that they have as many meaningful experiences as possible where they get to practice these given skills. Practice is the only way they will learn, this will not be something that I can just “teach” them. I really liked the section that talked about how science should be taught. When teachers engage their class in science inquiry play, there are four things that they are responsible for: 1) designing a science-rich environment 2) guiding children’s hands-on experiences 3) deepening children’s understanding 4) using ongoing assessment to inform teaching. In order for these things to be present in the classroom, I really need to think and plan out what is going to be done. Incidental experiences are good ways for children to learn, but if I want them to be able to broaden their inquiry skills, I need to have things set up ahead of time so that we are not all just learning and completing assignments on a whim. The thing that I was made aware of that I did not really think about before was the arrangement of the room and the posters or graphics on the wall to facilitate instruction and learning and how important their placement is. I will try and arrange things that I want to hang on the wall at the children’s eye level, not only so they can see it better, but more modalities of learning and learning styles can be nurtured if they are allowed to see and touch the materials. Probably the most important thing that I learned from the reading this week was that, “The teacher’s guidance of children’s hands-on explorations is essential to the success of any science investigation,” (Gullo 102). Like I said, there is a lot to be said for incidental experiences and learning, but when the goal is to get the children to tune into why things happen; guided questions from the teacher are of the upmost importance. Children are not going to immediately know what questions to ask to further develop their knowledge; that is why the teacher is important. Throughout the chapter there were a lot of examples of the questions to ask during a given lesson and as a teacher, I will try and ask my children questions throughout our lessons to try and lead them to new knowledge and understanding of what we are discussing.
On page 97 I really liked the side chart that talked about important inquiry skills. Some things that it mentioned were that kindergarten children should develop their abilities to: raise questions about objects and events around them, use all senses to make careful observations of objects, organisms, and events... and engage in simple investigations including making predictions. When teaching science lessons it may be difficult to focus on what you want the children to learn in the end. Although at this young age it is important for the children to learn this information, but it is also very important that they learn how to organize and classify information. I will use this information in my classroom by remembering to not only teach the curriculum but focus on the smaller things such as teaching the children how to organize their thoughts and information they are collecting.
On page 100 I really enjoyed the key concepts and topics chart. I think that this would be helpful to every kindergarten teacher. It even mentions different types such as life science, physical science, earth science, and space science. When I use this in my classroom it will be easy to resort to because they are already divided out. I can go directly to the topic that I am using in my classroom at the time.
On page 102 it talks about how to create a science-rich environment. I really enjoyed this section because it very organized in different sections that can be very helpful. The first says how to select your materials, next; creating space for exploration, designing your schedule, and guiding children towards a hands-on experience. Within each of these are ideas and thoughts of how to do so. Some teachers may have troubles knowing where they should start or how to select materials they are thinking about using. This would be a great reference to refer to in my classroom if I needed to prepare a science lesson.
I too enjoyed your idea about taking children on field trips and let them physically experience science. Even if you take the children to a farm and some kids live on a farm, I think this would be a great opportunity for the children who live in a town to see what their peers lives are like. This would also be a great time for the children living on the farm to become a "teacher" and help their peers learn about their kind of life styles and the animals that are involved!
I thought this chapter was really interesting. I liked the chart on page 97 that talked about the important inquiry skills. I will definitely use this in my classroom as a guide for what students should be able to do after their science experiences. This talked about asking questions and using their senses to create observations. Also, students should be able to work collaboratively with others after science experiences. I also found the chart on page 98 to be interesting. It relates to the previous chart on page 97 because it is related to childrens inquiry. Children must first get to know the object and build some background knowledge before they can begin asking questions about it. This is chart shows the steps children take when they are learning something new. I found it very useful and will use it in my future classroom. I enjoyed reading about how science should be taught because this will help me in my own kindergarten classroom. The text states that the teacher must design a science-rich environment, which would be selecting materials, designing the schedule, and creating space for exploration. It is so important to use materials that relate to the subject being taught which means, as teachers, we will constantly be adding and removing different materials from the science area. I would also allow a lot of outdoor exploration for my kindergartners during science instruction.
I loved the chart too on page 89. I am kind of a chart girl. I need to see displays. I also enjoy the sections on how science should be taught, but I feel like it will be difficult to build a science right environment and still meet every other subject need. Finding the balance has been the most difficult.
Science is probably the next subject I least in enjoy teaching next to math. However, I do know that it can be the most fun! I really appreciate the Key concepts and topics for the kindergarten year chart. This will be helpful in future lesson plans. Also, under the How should science be taught section it talks about how teachers just feel like they have little time to be worrying about science. I have already heard this in my internship. My mentor teacher has already talked to me about how she maybe devotes 10 minutes to science, and the students are lucky if they have time to make it to center. So, I wasn’t at all surprised when I read that. Finally, I like how it offers more than just one or two strategies to utilize. Before this, all I really had to go one was the KWL and the webbing, but I love cooperative learning and the project approach. I liked this chapter, but I really liked the math chapter better. I felt like I got more out of it.
That is so sad Jonelle that your class doesn’t do much for science. It makes me worry about when I get a job, if I will not be supported in my quest for teaching more science. I wonder if the time constraints are too much and the school’s curriculum leaves no room to add it. I guess the key will be to integrate everything into everything so that science can and other subjects can always be included. I also feel that the math chapter had more information which seems to agree with the idea of it not being a focus in schools today.
Jonelle, I am the complete opposite of you. I love to teach science because of how much it allows the students to be hands on. I also think that the book gives some great references for us to use. I really wish the science was more important in more classrooms because you can incorporate so many different topics when you are learning about science. I also agree that the math chapter had more to offer.
I wasn't surprised either to learn that science doesn't get much focus in the Kindergarten curriculum in many classrooms. I think it's a shame though! If we can get children interested early and show them the fun in asking questions and looking for answers, we will create a creative and curious generation! I don't think that science is something that necessarily needs to be or should be taught separately. It should be a natural part of any thematic unit. It is definitely over whelming when we consider it from the point of view of how we learn it as we get older - having to take a science class. But in Kindergarten, we are just seeking to introduce it and get them asking questions! It can be a learning experience for teachers and students alike as we answer questions together!
Erin Flax It was very interesting to hear that most science in the kindergarten classroom usually cover living things and not physical sciences. It was very sad to hear that many kindergartens don’t teach it at all or have a simple table for it in the classroom. In my past preschool experience that was true. Thinking back we had a science table that had different things on it each week but as far as having small groups, and large group lessons, what I remember was the study of living things. I remember one week we had leaves in the basket and I just thought to ask if they thought it would fall slow or fast and then we tried it. We got different things in the classroom to see which fell faster and which were slow and then why they were that way. The lead teacher was very excited about what we were doing. I am very glad I have this book to use as a reference on how to successfully add science in my classroom. I also loved the “Key concepts and topics” on page 100. It was great at describing what types of topics are in each category: Life science, Physical science, Earth science, and Space science. I really needed to see this for it all to make sense. I love examples so I will be using this table quite a lot to come up with ideas for science and to remind me of what type of science it is. I liked how page 102 explained how you should first teach with something hands on and that they can relate to. In the text it uses plants as the example. They have the children plant the type of plants they would normally be able to see so it relates more to them. And then once they have that background knowledge base you can extend it with talk of plants they have not or may not ever see such as a giant redwood tree. I also liked on this page the discussion of how we need to connect the learning outside the classroom as well. If we only look and study gravity in the classroom and never anywhere else the children may only apply that concept in the classroom and think it doesn’t exist in other areas as well. We should take trips to other areas and also share with families how they can extend the knowledge at home.
I also thought it was sad that some classrooms don't involve a science curriculum at all. It is my opinion that science is one of the most natural subjects to teach - weather, growth of plants/tree/etc, and a variety of other everyday happenings can be so easily connected to science. Don't get wrong - I didn't like science once I was out of elementary school! But I also found the text to be a great resource for the future.
Chapter 9 was all about science in Kindergarten. I can honestly say that I love science and I enjoy teaching it. Unfortunately, science is not included in an everyday curriculum in most classrooms. I want to be able to try my best to expose my students to as much science as possible. One of the items that I found important in the text was the chart on page 97. I really like how it lays out everything that a kindergartener should be able to do in science and what skills to develop. The next part of the chapter that I liked was under 'Inquiry'. I think that this section of the reading can branch out to other subjects as well. Inquiry is about questions and how to help children learn to ask questions. The chart on page 98 is great for inquiry. I think that it would be a good model to use in the classroom. The third part of the text that I thought was important can be found on page 101. I think that attitudes and disposition can be one of the most important parts of teaching any subject. The science program in kindergarten must support curiosity, respect for life, perseverance, willingness to collaborate, seeing onself as a learner, willingness to take risks, and respect for evident. These ideas can be taken from science and not only be used in the classroom but for real life as well. The last part of the text that I found interesting was under 'Deepening children's understanding.' The section outlined things that I can do in my own classroom so that my students can have an overall better understanding of the topic that we are discussing.
I feel like so many concepts you learn to do in science, such as what you mentioned in asking questions, can roll over to other areas of school or their life. I have to agree with you, I love teaching science. It's just so hands on and fun. I also enjoyed the charts throughout the chapter. They are very helpful in knowing how to tailor a lesson for kindergarten.
Reading this chapter was about as exciting for me as the math chapter. As a student, I was more of an English and History student. Neither of these subjects were my strong suits. However, through reading the material I've been able to gather that my interpretation of what these subjects cover is so far fetched. I keep thinking of science in terms of biology ... and high school level material. Science in kindergarten? Well, frankly - that sounds fun! One of the things that stood out for me in the text was that the most important part of science for kindergartens is inquiry. Inquiry is the diverse ways that the natural world is examined. This represented the idea to me that science is completely hands-on at this level. Which leads to the next part of the material that I enjoyed reading about. On p. 102-103, the text discusses how to create an environment conducive to learning science in kindergarten. A science rich environment needs to have materials that relate to science learning goals. Materials can be gathered from nearby recycling centers - science doesn't have to be expensive! I find this to be so true when visiting classrooms. Teachers use old 2 liter bottles to create different examples of science. One thing that I see commonly is the bottles with oil and water - how easy is that? I can see how easy it would be to make sure that a classroom had science materials available. The last thing that I drew from the text was the box on p. 97. Again, kindergarten science should be based on inquiry. To do this, there are several steps that should be taken. Some of these are included in the box on p. 97 and include encouraging children to develop their abilities by: raising questions about objects and events around them, explore materials, objects, and events by acting upon them and noticing what happens, work collaboratively with others, and engaging in simple investigations including making predictions, gathering and interpreting data, recognizing simple patterns and drawing conclusions. It is so important to do everything possible to encourage science exploration. These ideas are all great!
This is another great chapter that once again really shows how all these pieces are connected and interrelated. We are not just teaching science, or math, or reading, or writing. When we are charting the growth of a plant, we are also using math, and demonstrating writing as we label the chart, and reading it back. Then we can add in some movement activities by having children pretend to be seeds and grow into a plant. Social skills can be taught as children partner in these activities. You really can't have one without the other. It just seems overwhelming when we think of them as separate subjects. I really like the inquiry chart and plan to hand that out to my prek teachers. I find that so much of the information in this text is easily transferable to younger children even.
Elizabeth, I would have to agree with you. It is awesome to see all of the concepts coming together and being used with each other. It shows the importance of teaching the children to be well-rounded in every subject because they will have to use all of them together. I love your examples of integration that you provided in your most. It definitely supported the correlation between all of them.
I like how you noticed and brought out the fact that you can involve motor skills with science. I think I must remember that just because we are teaching one subject does not mean that you cannot incorporate other ideas and subject area's to make the lessons more enjoyable and exciting for the students to promote greater learning retention. I believe i have been the one that has become overwhelmed with trying to teach one lesson without incorporating other ideas. great post helped me realize there is more to it than just science :)
The chapter in our K: Today text that focuses on science instruction was very interesting to me overall. After going to school and now studying in teacher education, I always was very curious how teachers come up with science lessons, considering their isn’t much direction in that area. I am definitely a visual learner, so most of the sections that I find most helpful in the chapters are the tables and diagrams that they provide. The first section that I thought would be very helpful in the future when coming up with science lessons was the diagram pointing out the important inquiry skills, which outlines the basic skills that kindergarteners should develop. A very important aspect that they included in the text to correlate with the diagram is the explanation that, “this is not a list of skills to be taught in isolation. Instead, it provides a practical guide for teachers to use as they design science experiences for the children.” The second section of the chapter that I found very useful and something I will probably make a copy of to use in the future is the flowchart on page 98, that outlines the phases and steps of young children’s inquiry. The first stage starts out when the children notice, wonder, and explore. After that, they take action, and extend questions, followed by a focused observation where they raise questions and clarify questions. The next step of children’s inquiry is to get engaged in more focused explorations. Once that is done, they can bring together data/ideas and formulate patterns and relationships between things. Finally they can share their ideas with others. The third section of the chapter that I enjoyed was the table that was included on page 100. This table is an easy reference to look back on to review the key concepts and topics that kindergarteners should be learning in the science area. It has ideas for lessons in the areas of life science, physical science, earth science, and space science. Accompanying the concepts is questions that should be answered while the students complete these units of study. Before I read this chapter, I was a little unsure about the subject of science and how we were supposed to teach it to children in the early childhood. It gives me a great piece of mind to have this chapter to go back and look at when I need help coming up with things to do for science in my future classroom.
I really liked this chapter, but I also love working science into a classroom! There are so many cool opportunities for kids to learn in that area. It also has to be one of my favorites because you can work so many other areas into it. Math, art, PE, music, are all so easy to somehow do during a science lesson without the kids even knowing. I really appreciated the charts that the book had. It's always nice to see a definitive list of what to teach in different areas but also different skills to work on while you're doing a lesson. It was also good that they reiterated that although you need plenty of materials, it can be as cheap as going to the recycle plant, lumbar yard, or other business who are willing to donate stuff for educational purposes. Lastly, I think it was important that they mentioned that a science lesson can go from several days, to several months. Depending what you're doing you can make it last for a long time. When I'm a teacher I would LOVE to have a science friendly classroom. I just feel like kids can learn so much from doing hands on activities and experiments.
Kristin, I also like how you can incorporate science into the rest of the unit. I also think that it is neat that a teacher can make a science project last as long as they want. There is so much to learn form science. I also think that it is awesome that you enjoy teaching science I have not had that experience yet.
I work in a 3 and 4 year old class room where we manly focus on behavior and learning the basics about school so I have never really thought about teaching science. I really liked how this suction talked about different ways of teaching science. I also liked how the book talked about different vocab words that can be incorporated in the class room. I found the section on discussion interesting. This is a great way to incorporate language in with science. Science is also a great way to have the students discover how things work. Teacher are just there to present the information and to help answer question. In my room I want to have hands on activities that the students can do their selves.
Blog # 9 science in Kindergarten Phyllis Wyatt There was no Blog available to respond to another student. This chapter was just as informative as the rest of the chapters. I am not a science fan so there were a lot of things that I learned to help me become more involved in this subject. I loved the outline that was given the young childrens inquiry this is something that I will keep in mind as I began to teach and also with my own children. My favorite part of this diagram is engaging the children in more explorations. I feel that growing up I had instructors who lacked creativity in this area. The more excited and involved the exploring and engaging I feel the more the student will want to learn of the subject. The other subject in the book that I learned from is the key concepts and topics for science in kindergarten which are Life, Physical, Earth, and Space Science. My favorite of the four is Life Science I love learning about the life cycle. I feel this particular area is important to younger students because they have a lot of questions regarding life and where we come from etc. The chapter gives us some great ideas on how to structure the science curriculum. Selecting the materials is important because they should promote the child to explore at the same time they should also be related directly to the core science learning goals that you are teaching. Along with making sure you use great materials make sure that your materials are resources that provide great facts and document facts. This information is going to be useful to me in my classroom, I will use the process of creating a desire or using my students exploration and ideas to guide me in lesson planning along with making sure that the students are engaged and learning in the classroom with great excitement. The other thing I will make sure to use a lot in science is hands on exploration I believe the more hands on the greater learning potential they will have
This chapter was all about the science curriculum in the Kindergarten year. They state in this chapter that they use the framework that focusing on five different content areas: inquiry, life science, physical science, earth science and space science. Inquiry is a very important part about science. One of the major parts of inquiry is when children can engage in focused exploration. This is the part that teachers need to give the most support with. Finding activities and assignments that are interesting and relate to the lesson will correlate with the student’s success. Another important part is the sharing of ideas, make sure you give the students time set out in the day to just talk to each other and yourself. If you listen around the room you will gain insight on what interests them, therefore you can make more effective lessons to teach them science. Another interesting part of the chapter that stood out to me was about the attitudes and dispositions. Children are likely to be enthusiastic about learning science if you are enthusiastic about teaching it. Finding lessons that both excite you and the children will create an environment of excitement and learning. Out attitude directly affects the children we teach every day. This makes it so important for us to support the development of children through a positive attitude and authentic activities.
ReplyDeleteAutumn, I agree with your point about setting time aside during the day to for socializing, both between the students and between the teacher and the students. As you said, this is how you find out what interests them, which will only help you be able to plan better lessons that will keep them engaged. When children are interested in something, they will stay engaged in their learning, and they will likely learn more regarding the subject.
DeleteI agree that inquiry is a very important part of learning science. Teachers should find activities that children can relate with to interest them in the lesson. I also feel that science instruction should be moved outside whenever possible. This will help to engage students and will help them learn more about their environment.
DeleteJessica,
ReplyDeleteI really like your ideas about field trips and letting the children experience science in the world. It’s so important for the children to make connections from what we are doing in the classroom to what they see outside in the world. I also remember going on field trips in my early grades, they were definitely a highlight of the year for most kids. With budget cuts, teachers aren’t getting the option to leave the school and are being forced to be more creative.
Chapter #9 of the K Today text was all about science in kindergarten. I thought that the chart on page 97 that was talking about the important inquiry skills was really helpful. Due to the experiences that they will have in science the examples of skills they will develop are: 1) raising questions about objects and events 2) exploring materials, objects, and events by acting upon them and noticing the results 3) using all of their senses to make observations 4) describing, comparing, sorting, classifying, and putting into order observable characteristics and properties 5) using a variety of simple tools to extend observations 6) engaging in simple investigations 7) recording observations through multiple forms of representation 8) working collaboratively 9) sharing and discussing ideas and listening to the ideas and perspectives of others. All of these skills are incredibly important in a wide variety of subjects, not just science. To make sure that this is happening in my classroom, I would just try and be sure that they have as many meaningful experiences as possible where they get to practice these given skills. Practice is the only way they will learn, this will not be something that I can just “teach” them.
ReplyDeleteI really liked the section that talked about how science should be taught. When teachers engage their class in science inquiry play, there are four things that they are responsible for: 1) designing a science-rich environment 2) guiding children’s hands-on experiences 3) deepening children’s understanding 4) using ongoing assessment to inform teaching. In order for these things to be present in the classroom, I really need to think and plan out what is going to be done. Incidental experiences are good ways for children to learn, but if I want them to be able to broaden their inquiry skills, I need to have things set up ahead of time so that we are not all just learning and completing assignments on a whim. The thing that I was made aware of that I did not really think about before was the arrangement of the room and the posters or graphics on the wall to facilitate instruction and learning and how important their placement is. I will try and arrange things that I want to hang on the wall at the children’s eye level, not only so they can see it better, but more modalities of learning and learning styles can be nurtured if they are allowed to see and touch the materials.
Probably the most important thing that I learned from the reading this week was that, “The teacher’s guidance of children’s hands-on explorations is essential to the success of any science investigation,” (Gullo 102). Like I said, there is a lot to be said for incidental experiences and learning, but when the goal is to get the children to tune into why things happen; guided questions from the teacher are of the upmost importance. Children are not going to immediately know what questions to ask to further develop their knowledge; that is why the teacher is important. Throughout the chapter there were a lot of examples of the questions to ask during a given lesson and as a teacher, I will try and ask my children questions throughout our lessons to try and lead them to new knowledge and understanding of what we are discussing.
On page 97 I really liked the side chart that talked about important inquiry skills. Some things that it mentioned were that kindergarten children should develop their abilities to: raise questions about objects and events around them, use all senses to make careful observations of objects, organisms, and events... and engage in simple investigations including making predictions. When teaching science lessons it may be difficult to focus on what you want the children to learn in the end. Although at this young age it is important for the children to learn this information, but it is also very important that they learn how to organize and classify information. I will use this information in my classroom by remembering to not only teach the curriculum but focus on the smaller things such as teaching the children how to organize their thoughts and information they are collecting.
ReplyDeleteOn page 100 I really enjoyed the key concepts and topics chart. I think that this would be helpful to every kindergarten teacher. It even mentions different types such as life science, physical science, earth science, and space science. When I use this in my classroom it will be easy to resort to because they are already divided out. I can go directly to the topic that I am using in my classroom at the time.
On page 102 it talks about how to create a science-rich environment. I really enjoyed this section because it very organized in different sections that can be very helpful. The first says how to select your materials, next; creating space for exploration, designing your schedule, and guiding children towards a hands-on experience. Within each of these are ideas and thoughts of how to do so. Some teachers may have troubles knowing where they should start or how to select materials they are thinking about using. This would be a great reference to refer to in my classroom if I needed to prepare a science lesson.
I too enjoyed your idea about taking children on field trips and let them physically experience science. Even if you take the children to a farm and some kids live on a farm, I think this would be a great opportunity for the children who live in a town to see what their peers lives are like. This would also be a great time for the children living on the farm to become a "teacher" and help their peers learn about their kind of life styles and the animals that are involved!
ReplyDeleteI thought this chapter was really interesting. I liked the chart on page 97 that talked about the important inquiry skills. I will definitely use this in my classroom as a guide for what students should be able to do after their science experiences. This talked about asking questions and using their senses to create observations. Also, students should be able to work collaboratively with others after science experiences.
ReplyDeleteI also found the chart on page 98 to be interesting. It relates to the previous chart on page 97 because it is related to childrens inquiry. Children must first get to know the object and build some background knowledge before they can begin asking questions about it. This is chart shows the steps children take when they are learning something new. I found it very useful and will use it in my future classroom.
I enjoyed reading about how science should be taught because this will help me in my own kindergarten classroom. The text states that the teacher must design a science-rich environment, which would be selecting materials, designing the schedule, and creating space for exploration. It is so important to use materials that relate to the subject being taught which means, as teachers, we will constantly be adding and removing different materials from the science area. I would also allow a lot of outdoor exploration for my kindergartners during science instruction.
Hi Leah!
DeleteI loved the chart too on page 89. I am kind of a chart girl. I need to see displays. I also enjoy the sections on how science should be taught, but I feel like it will be difficult to build a science right environment and still meet every other subject need. Finding the balance has been the most difficult.
Science is probably the next subject I least in enjoy teaching next to math. However, I do know that it can be the most fun! I really appreciate the Key concepts and topics for the kindergarten year chart. This will be helpful in future lesson plans. Also, under the How should science be taught section it talks about how teachers just feel like they have little time to be worrying about science. I have already heard this in my internship. My mentor teacher has already talked to me about how she maybe devotes 10 minutes to science, and the students are lucky if they have time to make it to center. So, I wasn’t at all surprised when I read that. Finally, I like how it offers more than just one or two strategies to utilize. Before this, all I really had to go one was the KWL and the webbing, but I love cooperative learning and the project approach. I liked this chapter, but I really liked the math chapter better. I felt like I got more out of it.
ReplyDeleteThat is so sad Jonelle that your class doesn’t do much for science. It makes me worry about when I get a job, if I will not be supported in my quest for teaching more science. I wonder if the time constraints are too much and the school’s curriculum leaves no room to add it. I guess the key will be to integrate everything into everything so that science can and other subjects can always be included. I also feel that the math chapter had more information which seems to agree with the idea of it not being a focus in schools today.
DeleteJonelle,
DeleteI am the complete opposite of you. I love to teach science because of how much it allows the students to be hands on. I also think that the book gives some great references for us to use. I really wish the science was more important in more classrooms because you can incorporate so many different topics when you are learning about science. I also agree that the math chapter had more to offer.
I wasn't surprised either to learn that science doesn't get much focus in the Kindergarten curriculum in many classrooms. I think it's a shame though! If we can get children interested early and show them the fun in asking questions and looking for answers, we will create a creative and curious generation! I don't think that science is something that necessarily needs to be or should be taught separately. It should be a natural part of any thematic unit. It is definitely over whelming when we consider it from the point of view of how we learn it as we get older - having to take a science class. But in Kindergarten, we are just seeking to introduce it and get them asking questions! It can be a learning experience for teachers and students alike as we answer questions together!
DeleteErin Flax
ReplyDeleteIt was very interesting to hear that most science in the kindergarten classroom usually cover living things and not physical sciences. It was very sad to hear that many kindergartens don’t teach it at all or have a simple table for it in the classroom. In my past preschool experience that was true. Thinking back we had a science table that had different things on it each week but as far as having small groups, and large group lessons, what I remember was the study of living things. I remember one week we had leaves in the basket and I just thought to ask if they thought it would fall slow or fast and then we tried it. We got different things in the classroom to see which fell faster and which were slow and then why they were that way. The lead teacher was very excited about what we were doing. I am very glad I have this book to use as a reference on how to successfully add science in my classroom. I also loved the “Key concepts and topics” on page 100. It was great at describing what types of topics are in each category: Life science, Physical science, Earth science, and Space science. I really needed to see this for it all to make sense. I love examples so I will be using this table quite a lot to come up with ideas for science and to remind me of what type of science it is. I liked how page 102 explained how you should first teach with something hands on and that they can relate to. In the text it uses plants as the example. They have the children plant the type of plants they would normally be able to see so it relates more to them. And then once they have that background knowledge base you can extend it with talk of plants they have not or may not ever see such as a giant redwood tree. I also liked on this page the discussion of how we need to connect the learning outside the classroom as well. If we only look and study gravity in the classroom and never anywhere else the children may only apply that concept in the classroom and think it doesn’t exist in other areas as well. We should take trips to other areas and also share with families how they can extend the knowledge at home.
I also thought it was sad that some classrooms don't involve a science curriculum at all. It is my opinion that science is one of the most natural subjects to teach - weather, growth of plants/tree/etc, and a variety of other everyday happenings can be so easily connected to science. Don't get wrong - I didn't like science once I was out of elementary school! But I also found the text to be a great resource for the future.
DeleteChapter 9 was all about science in Kindergarten. I can honestly say that I love science and I enjoy teaching it. Unfortunately, science is not included in an everyday curriculum in most classrooms. I want to be able to try my best to expose my students to as much science as possible. One of the items that I found important in the text was the chart on page 97. I really like how it lays out everything that a kindergartener should be able to do in science and what skills to develop. The next part of the chapter that I liked was under 'Inquiry'. I think that this section of the reading can branch out to other subjects as well. Inquiry is about questions and how to help children learn to ask questions. The chart on page 98 is great for inquiry. I think that it would be a good model to use in the classroom. The third part of the text that I thought was important can be found on page 101. I think that attitudes and disposition can be one of the most important parts of teaching any subject. The science program in kindergarten must support curiosity, respect for life, perseverance, willingness to collaborate, seeing onself as a learner, willingness to take risks, and respect for evident. These ideas can be taken from science and not only be used in the classroom but for real life as well. The last part of the text that I found interesting was under 'Deepening children's understanding.' The section outlined things that I can do in my own classroom so that my students can have an overall better understanding of the topic that we are discussing.
ReplyDeleteI feel like so many concepts you learn to do in science, such as what you mentioned in asking questions, can roll over to other areas of school or their life. I have to agree with you, I love teaching science. It's just so hands on and fun. I also enjoyed the charts throughout the chapter. They are very helpful in knowing how to tailor a lesson for kindergarten.
DeleteReading this chapter was about as exciting for me as the math chapter. As a student, I was more of an English and History student. Neither of these subjects were my strong suits. However, through reading the material I've been able to gather that my interpretation of what these subjects cover is so far fetched. I keep thinking of science in terms of biology ... and high school level material. Science in kindergarten? Well, frankly - that sounds fun!
ReplyDeleteOne of the things that stood out for me in the text was that the most important part of science for kindergartens is inquiry. Inquiry is the diverse ways that the natural world is examined. This represented the idea to me that science is completely hands-on at this level. Which leads to the next part of the material that I enjoyed reading about. On p. 102-103, the text discusses how to create an environment conducive to learning science in kindergarten. A science rich environment needs to have materials that relate to science learning goals. Materials can be gathered from nearby recycling centers - science doesn't have to be expensive! I find this to be so true when visiting classrooms. Teachers use old 2 liter bottles to create different examples of science. One thing that I see commonly is the bottles with oil and water - how easy is that? I can see how easy it would be to make sure that a classroom had science materials available.
The last thing that I drew from the text was the box on p. 97. Again, kindergarten science should be based on inquiry. To do this, there are several steps that should be taken. Some of these are included in the box on p. 97 and include encouraging children to develop their abilities by: raising questions about objects and events around them, explore materials, objects, and events by acting upon them and noticing what happens, work collaboratively with others, and engaging in simple investigations including making predictions, gathering and interpreting data, recognizing simple patterns and drawing conclusions. It is so important to do everything possible to encourage science exploration. These ideas are all great!
This is another great chapter that once again really shows how all these pieces are connected and interrelated. We are not just teaching science, or math, or reading, or writing. When we are charting the growth of a plant, we are also using math, and demonstrating writing as we label the chart, and reading it back. Then we can add in some movement activities by having children pretend to be seeds and grow into a plant. Social skills can be taught as children partner in these activities. You really can't have one without the other. It just seems overwhelming when we think of them as separate subjects. I really like the inquiry chart and plan to hand that out to my prek teachers. I find that so much of the information in this text is easily transferable to younger children even.
ReplyDeleteElizabeth, I would have to agree with you. It is awesome to see all of the concepts coming together and being used with each other. It shows the importance of teaching the children to be well-rounded in every subject because they will have to use all of them together. I love your examples of integration that you provided in your most. It definitely supported the correlation between all of them.
DeleteI like how you noticed and brought out the fact that you can involve motor skills with science. I think I must remember that just because we are teaching one subject does not mean that you cannot incorporate other ideas and subject area's to make the lessons more enjoyable and exciting for the students to promote greater learning retention. I believe i have been the one that has become overwhelmed with trying to teach one lesson without incorporating other ideas. great post helped me realize there is more to it than just science :)
DeleteThe chapter in our K: Today text that focuses on science instruction was very interesting to me overall. After going to school and now studying in teacher education, I always was very curious how teachers come up with science lessons, considering their isn’t much direction in that area. I am definitely a visual learner, so most of the sections that I find most helpful in the chapters are the tables and diagrams that they provide. The first section that I thought would be very helpful in the future when coming up with science lessons was the diagram pointing out the important inquiry skills, which outlines the basic skills that kindergarteners should develop. A very important aspect that they included in the text to correlate with the diagram is the explanation that, “this is not a list of skills to be taught in isolation. Instead, it provides a practical guide for teachers to use as they design science experiences for the children.”
ReplyDeleteThe second section of the chapter that I found very useful and something I will probably make a copy of to use in the future is the flowchart on page 98, that outlines the phases and steps of young children’s inquiry. The first stage starts out when the children notice, wonder, and explore. After that, they take action, and extend questions, followed by a focused observation where they raise questions and clarify questions. The next step of children’s inquiry is to get engaged in more focused explorations. Once that is done, they can bring together data/ideas and formulate patterns and relationships between things. Finally they can share their ideas with others.
The third section of the chapter that I enjoyed was the table that was included on page 100. This table is an easy reference to look back on to review the key concepts and topics that kindergarteners should be learning in the science area. It has ideas for lessons in the areas of life science, physical science, earth science, and space science. Accompanying the concepts is questions that should be answered while the students complete these units of study.
Before I read this chapter, I was a little unsure about the subject of science and how we were supposed to teach it to children in the early childhood. It gives me a great piece of mind to have this chapter to go back and look at when I need help coming up with things to do for science in my future classroom.
I really liked this chapter, but I also love working science into a classroom! There are so many cool opportunities for kids to learn in that area. It also has to be one of my favorites because you can work so many other areas into it. Math, art, PE, music, are all so easy to somehow do during a science lesson without the kids even knowing. I really appreciated the charts that the book had. It's always nice to see a definitive list of what to teach in different areas but also different skills to work on while you're doing a lesson. It was also good that they reiterated that although you need plenty of materials, it can be as cheap as going to the recycle plant, lumbar yard, or other business who are willing to donate stuff for educational purposes. Lastly, I think it was important that they mentioned that a science lesson can go from several days, to several months. Depending what you're doing you can make it last for a long time. When I'm a teacher I would LOVE to have a science friendly classroom. I just feel like kids can learn so much from doing hands on activities and experiments.
ReplyDeleteKristin, I also like how you can incorporate science into the rest of the unit. I also think that it is neat that a teacher can make a science project last as long as they want. There is so much to learn form science. I also think that it is awesome that you enjoy teaching science I have not had that experience yet.
ReplyDeleteI work in a 3 and 4 year old class room where we manly focus on behavior and learning the basics about school so I have never really thought about teaching science. I really liked how this suction talked about different ways of teaching science. I also liked how the book talked about different vocab words that can be incorporated in the class room.
ReplyDeleteI found the section on discussion interesting. This is a great way to incorporate language in with science. Science is also a great way to have the students discover how things work. Teacher are just there to present the information and to help answer question. In my room I want to have hands on activities that the students can do their selves.
Blog # 9 science in Kindergarten
ReplyDeletePhyllis Wyatt
There was no Blog available to respond to another student.
This chapter was just as informative as the rest of the chapters. I am not a science fan so there were a lot of things that I learned to help me become more involved in this subject. I loved the outline that was given the young childrens inquiry this is something that I will keep in mind as I began to teach and also with my own children. My favorite part of this diagram is engaging the children in more explorations. I feel that growing up I had instructors who lacked creativity in this area. The more excited and involved the exploring and engaging I feel the more the student will want to learn of the subject. The other subject in the book that I learned from is the key concepts and topics for science in kindergarten which are Life, Physical, Earth, and Space Science. My favorite of the four is Life Science I love learning about the life cycle. I feel this particular area is important to younger students because they have a lot of questions regarding life and where we come from etc. The chapter gives us some great ideas on how to structure the science curriculum. Selecting the materials is important because they should promote the child to explore at the same time they should also be related directly to the core science learning goals that you are teaching. Along with making sure you use great materials make sure that your materials are resources that provide great facts and document facts.
This information is going to be useful to me in my classroom, I will use the process of creating a desire or using my students exploration and ideas to guide me in lesson planning along with making sure that the students are engaged and learning in the classroom with great excitement. The other thing I will make sure to use a lot in science is hands on exploration I believe the more hands on the greater learning potential they will have