Time for Science
I love teaching science because it makes kids think. It makes them think about their own ideas and observations. I love hearing about their thought processes, as random as they might be. I love giving them the opportunity to try an idea and “fail” because these unexpected results are often the most meaningful. I love learning from my kids - their ideas are so unique. I love that science helps them make connections between their understandings of the world and how it works and with the learning taking place in the classroom. I love the fact that science is everywhere you look and there are real-world problems just waiting for students to explore. I love taking kids outside to observe, collect data, and just to appreciate nature. I love that science is active and not passive. And I love the connection to every other subject.
When you teach science, you teach literacy. Kids learn to observe, ask questions, predict, sequence, infer, draw conclusions, analyze, evaluate, summarize, compare/contrast, solve problems, and read and write in meaningful contexts. Modeling metacognition is such a big part of elementary science. We focus their attention on what is going on in their heads as they try to make meaning of situations and identifying strategies to assist in the process. This is exactly what we want them to do when they have a book in front of them. We want kids to be active participants in the learning process as they attempt to make meaning. So why is it that reading is taught during “reading” time and science it taught during “science” time or whenever teachers find the time?
Finding the time to teach science is essential. David Warlick recently blogged about the diminishing time elementary teachers are spending teaching science since NCLB took effect. David writes,
Improving reading and math skills is not the problem. The problem is how we’re paying for it.
Extra ELA time is not the answer nor is taking away recess.
Brian Crosby shares an account of how we are paying for it as he tells of students’ reactions to the recent eclipse. Students were scared, but it’s even more frightening to think about the future implications for these kids not having the opportunities to explore science in elementary school. I loved reading the comment from Doug Noon.
Teach Science. Teach Social Studies. Be a radical.
On the flip side, Jenny, a 5th grade teacher blogged about the disparity of time devoted to teaching reading between elementary and middle/high school. As in most elementary classrooms, her students devote much less time to social studies and science than ELA and math. She wrote,
I feel that my students have to be able to read, write, and do math in order to be able to truly understand social studies or science. So I don’t have any concerns about how we spend our time…
What are your thoughts about how we spend our time at the elementary level?
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