Nov16

NAEYC--early childhood and science!

Will I see you at the National Association for the Education of Young Children’s national conference in Washington, D.C. this week?

Come say “Hi” and tell me what great sessions you’ve attended. I’ll be in the Learning Galleria, Table 12, on Thursday November 19, 2009 from 10-11:30am, and at the Gryphon House Publishers booth 703 on Saturday morning until 11am.

Look ahead at the schedule for state affiliate or national NAEYC professional development coming near you next year. The learning is well worth the time and money spent.

See you later,

Peggy

Published: Nov-16-09 | 0 Comments | 0 Links to this post

Nov12

VAST-ly improved learning opportunity for elementary and preK teachers—State associations aren’t just for high school science teachers!

Learning about science curriculum and meeting more early childhood teachers than I expected were the happy outcomes of the two days I spent at the really well-run Virginia Association of Science Teachers 2009 Professional Development Institute.

Engaging workshops delighted early childhood teachers at VAST 2009

Every workshop slot had a selection of presentations appropriate for the preK-2 teacher, and the organizers really know how to build a fun program. There was food, fun (dancing and a fun-dollars auction Friday night, and Mad Science presentation and door prizes on Saturday), and food for thought. I had to choose among offerings and was only able to get to some of the sessions:

  • Discovery Tree program, teaching young children ecology by connecting literature and visual models—from University of Virginia’s Blandy Experimental Farm, http://www.virginia.edu/blandy/
  • Growing up WILD, learning about wildlife for young children and their teachers—from Project WILD, http://www.projectwild.org/earlychildhood.htm
  • Planting a Square Foot Garden (using the book of the same name by Mel Bartholomew) to set-up a school garden that is easy to maintain and can include every class, a square foot at a time, http://www.squarefootgardening.com/
  • Butterfly resources, enthusiasm for learning was infectious and the information plentiful—their favorite site is The Butterfly Website, http://butterflywebsite.com/
  • Using podcasts as a learning tool—although high school teachers presented this how-to and why-to workshop, I can see how audio and visual podcasts will be a great teaching tool to use in trainings for early childhood teachers.
  • Ecology Clubs—projects for young children, such as making a percussion instrument, a rainstick, using discarded cardboard tubes.

Teacher learning about leaf shapes

 In a workshop an early childhood science teacher tries out a  leaf-shape sit-upon. Young children pick a leaf shape to sit on,  and later look for the leaf shape in the field.

 

 Look up your state science teacher association chapter and  Associated Groups on the NSTA website and look for  professional development institutes you can attend and you can present.

 Peggy

 

Published: Nov-12-09 | 0 Comments | 0 Links to this post

Oct13

Resource sharing--websites and other places to learn

Does it seem to you that this blog needs a place to post about resources such as book and website recommendations, commercial sites for needed early childhood science supplies, and interesting articles that are not necessarily related to a particular post? As a blog it is difficult for readers to begin new threads, but here's one way we can do it:
 
Please "Comment" to add your suggestions for resources of interest on this post. Begin your post with a header/title identifying the content: book of science activities, favorite fiction with science theme, great website about seeds, place to buy pipettes, blog on teaching kindergarten, and so on. Readers can use the Search feature to find posts on particular topics (let me know if the feature does not function--scienceissimple at yahoo dot com).
Teacher reading aloud
Another forum for members of the National Science Teacher's Association is NSTA Communities where you can join a grade-specific group such as the PreK-K Group.  Looking forward to hearing from you,
Peggy
Published: Oct-13-09 | 6 Comments | 0 Links to this post

Sep27

Thinking BIG, Learning BIG: Summer reading becomes September‘s lesson plans

July is a distant memory of 6am wake up calls for my high-schooler who took PE over the summer, balanced with my getting more than five minutes of peace and quiet—time to read about early childhood and science, to think my own thoughts and get hungry for conversation. Summer school is a wonderful thing and I thank all the teachers who work it.

Thinking BIG, Learning BIG: a great resource for integrated science activiesJuly’s reading, Thinking BIG, Learning BIG: Connecting Science, Math, Literacy, and Language in Early Childhood by Marie Faust Evitt, with Tim Dobbins, and Bobbi Weesen-Baer (Gryphon House 2009—also the publisher of my book), has become September‘s lesson plans. This book of activities reinvigorated my thinking which was in limbo because a building move had one of “my” schools on tenderhooks about our opening date and the use of space. Aligned with national standards in reading, literacy, math, and science, Thinking BIG helps me see where the science activities I know and love can incorporate more language and math goals. With intriguing, classroom-tested activities which are insightful about children’s desire to explore and imagine, Evitt also meets teachers' needs for activities which are possible, teach concepts, and come with detailed directions for how to implement. Her approach expanded my thinking—although I usually think of sprouting seeds as an early spring activity, Evitt explains that children are curious about the seeds they discover in fall from flowers and inside apples and pumpkins. The playful spirit throughout the book is so enjoyable—predicting how far popcorn will fly, playing air hockey, and making a giant rainbow! The authors understand that children are attracted to all things BIG and they will remember the concepts they learn through those activities!

Marie and I became penpals before her book was published, and we collaborated on a workshop for an NSTA area conference. She’s a fun presenter—look for Marie Faust Evitt and Mr. Tim at the NAEYC national conference in Washington, D.C. this November.

Here’s what I found especially useful in Thinking BIG, Learning BIG: Movement ideas, Insights into children’s thinking, Teacher-to-teacher tips, games, book lists, skills assessments, and Discussion Starter questions.         

  • Instructions that involve movement with language—clapping when first saying vocabulary words (SCAD system of “Say, Clap, Act out, Do again”), crouching down to “become” a seed and then sprouting a root (leg), and using American Sing Language to say the new word.
  • Insights about children’s thinking are on every page. For example, when children graph, they want to remember which object they put on the graph so teachers should make the graphs big, or should I say, BIG. For example, if graphing favorite flavor of apple (green, yellow, or red), give each child an apple shape big enough for them to write their name on before they add it to the graph. The graph is poster size, made from more than one sheet of paper. In the seeds chapter, a “How Our Seeds Germinate and Grow” number line chart with days 1-12 (more age appropriate than a calendar) is used for both predicting if anything will happen with the soaked bean seeds, and recording what is actually observed each day.
  • Teacher-to-Teacher Tips are full of details, specific information to implement the activities. In the Seeds chapter, Evitt recommends using pre-cut bean shapes for children who become frustrated if they have difficulty drawing their predictions and observations, and describes steps to teach children to draw the bean shape.
  • The games and stories (used in every chapter) creatively convey concepts. Children predict which square on a grid will catch the most popcorn kernels as they fly out of the popper, and act out The Little Red Hen while learning about seeds we eat, and play a “Traveling Seeds” game to learn how seeds travel.
  • An extensive book list for every chapter (sometimes 2+ pages!) with descriptions takes the guesswork out of which book to read.
  • The useful Skills Assessments are in the form of questions directing the teacher to reflect on the children’s abilities and understanding: What kind of pencil grip does the child use? Can the child use the vocabulary? Does the child see the connection between the wheat seeds and flour? Can the child count correctly the number of dots on the card?
  • Use the Discussion Starters (in the form of questions) to “spark children’s thinking during and after the activity”. Sometimes I write such questions on an index cue card so I remember to ask specific questions, such as “How many more days is it until we think we will see leaves?”

This book is going to help me make the transition to the new physical space and to incorporating more specific math and language focus during science activities. Hope you get a chance to view it online or at a conference.

Peggy

 

Published: Sep-27-09 | 1 Comment | 0 Links to this post

Jul22

Summer science fun

The summer science activities for my children that I remember as working best (that is, holding their interest and not requiring an enormous amount of time to set-up or clean up) include mixing baking soda and vinegar and watching the resulting bubbles foam (get the big box and at least a gallon), playing “Pooh Sticks” (watching bits of sticks float under a creek bridge and out the other side), digging a (relatively) deep hole over a period of days, and making a rainbow with the sprinkler. Being able to work outside opens up many possibilities. On hot afternoons, the public library was the perfect place to regain our energy for dinner by reading and resting.

From NSTA The Early Years Blog

How about activities such as mixing colors, floating eggs, testing magnetic strength, making bubbles, or generating static electricity? Science NetLinks offers detailed directions for those hands-on activities for summer fun.   Join other teachers in sharing your ideas for summer break science activities by clicking on the word “Comments” below. Don’t be discouraged if the CAPTCHA device takes two tries before accepting your comment. It is really good at stopping automatic spam so it’s worth the difficulty it causes.

Peggy

Published: Jul-22-09 | 3 Comments | 20 Links to this post

Jul17

“I had a carrot for breakfast.”

“I had a carrot for breakfast.” No, not me, this was a young child, a participant in the Early Sprouts program. Young children’s connection between growing food and appreciating it at the table is explored in the article “’Early Sprouts’: Establishing Healthy Food Choices for Young Children” by Karrie A. Kalich, Dottie Bauer, and Deirdre McPartlin in the July 2009 issue of NAEYC’s Young Children. This article serves as an introduction for early childhood teachers who want to do a similar “from garden-to-table” project and link it to nutrition education. I’m going to get the book, Early Sprouts: Cultivating Healthy Food Choices in Young Children from Red Leaf Press where the ideas are further developed and try the recipes! Sample recipes are available at the Early Sprouts website, http://www.earlysprouts.org/

From NSTA The Early Years Blog
The author says that they teach children that taste preferences can change. They say “I like it a lot!” “I like it a little bit,” and “I don’t like it yet” to indicate strong positive, neutral, and negative or unfamiliar reactions to foods. And their students pick up and use these expressions.

Here’s my taste preference change story:

Once upon a time a friend brought me some spring rolls she made in the Vietnamese tradition, heavy on cilantro (an herb I had not yet eaten). My first bite I spit out, thinking that some non-food item had gotten mixed up in the spring rolls because I was tasting some kind of petroleum flavor. I soon had many more tastes of the cilantro leaf in Indian, Latin American, and more Vietnamese cooking--although I pushed it aside, I got small tastes. At some unnoted point I began thinking of it as a food flavor and now I love it and use it often. What exactly happened in my brain?

The Early Sprouts program is on-going, collecting scientific data on how growing food can enhance young children’s health through changing food preferences.

For more help in gardening with young children, the online newsletter, Kids Gardening News from the National Gardening Association has tips for gardening, grant searches, and workshops. Find out what is happening in your area!

I’m going to try again to garden with the children and teachers in the programs where I’m a science teacher. This time I'll try using a container with a water reservoir and plant peas and greens in September.

Peggy

Published: Jul-17-09 | 3 Comments | 139 Links to this post

Jun23

Celebrate pink!

What was your favorite color when you were five? Many young girls like pink, a stereotypically female color. Young scientist in pink, solving problems

Do girls who love pink ever grow up to be women who do work that historically has more often been done by men? What can we do to encourage all children to think of themselves as capable and support an interest in science? Remember to alternate saying “boys and girls” with “girls and boys”? Monitor who we call on and call on girls 50% of the time? Be sure to display pictures of all kinds of people, including women, doing science?

Many women scientists say they pursued a career in science because a teacher or other mentor encouraged them, and believed in their capabilities, say Ashley Campbell and Gerald Skoog in Preparing Undergraduate Women for Science Career, (The College Science Classroom, March/April 2004 33 (5):24-26). This idea is echoed in many of the life stories of women scientists on the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s the "Women of NASA" page. Dr. Deborah Amato of NASAPrint out and post some of the photos to put in a display of scientists at work to inspire and inform children. and testify to women’s presence in science. 

 

The Institute of Educational Sciences Practice Guide "Encouraging Girls in Math and Science" (2007) recommends five key practices. View it on the U.S. Department of Education website. The practical suggestions from Doing What Works are geared towards middle and high school age students but are food for thought for all of us.

A recent report from a National Research Council panel states, “women are not applying for tenure-track jobs at research-intensive universities at the same rate that they are earning Ph.D.s” although “those who do apply are interviewed and hired at rates equal to or higher than those for men.“ The report also noted that “The surveys revealed that most institutional strategies to try to increase the proportion of women in the applicant pool -- such as targeted advertising and recruiting at conferences -- did not show significant effectiveness, the report says.  One strategy did appear to make a difference: Having a female chair of the search committee and a high number of women on the committee were associated with a higher number of women in the applicant pool.”

Implicit Association Tests taken by half a million people in 34 countries revealed that the stereotype of associating science with males is held by most of the test takers in a study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Lead investigator Brian Nosek, an associate professor of psychology at the University of Virginia, said in UVA Today, "We found a general tendency, across every country that we investigated, that people on average have an easier time associating science concepts with male, rather than with female."   

Some tactics I use to try to reduce any suggestion of excluding girls from science are to be sure to call on girls at least half the time (yes, I count), use the pronoun "it" when talking about animals whose sex isn't known or alternate "she" and "he", post pictures of female and male scientists from many cultures, and ask girls as often as boys to help other children with science questions or problems. My take-away thought on this is that every early childhood teacher can do science activities with their class with eyes open to our own biases, in a way that creates a positive environment for all children for loving science. Much later in their education, some will decide not to pursue a career in science, but it won’t be because they think their gender prevents their success. 

Share your tactics by clicking on the word "Comments" below!

Peggy

Published: Jun-23-09 | 1 Comment | 1 Link to this post

May26

Standards and guidelines are great resources for lesson planning

Wanting to use best teaching practices and develop my students’ science thinking to the best of their capability, I look at what governments and curriculum developers think should be happening in an early childhood classroom, and what topics should be taught. When are children able to understand what makes a “fair test” and ready to experiment in addition to doing activities? Is learning about the solar system best taught in preK or in grade 2? What big ideas can be learned through a unit on the ever popular dinosaurs?

Do your curriculum and state standards seem as well thought out and complete as others? Do they cover the science content areas or objectives that you feel they should? Are there gaps? Are the standards appropriate for your grade? What content should be mastered before students arrive in your classroom? Standards and guidelines are great resources for lesson planning.

Look at some other guidelines to judge for yourself if you are meeting children’s needs for science learning. In alphabetical order:

Benchmarks for Science Literacy, http://www.project2061.org/publications/bsl/online/index.php  

HeadStart Child Outcomes Framework, http://www.hsnrc.org/CDI/pdfs/UGCOF.pdf 

National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) Early Childhood Program Standards, http://www.naeyc.org/academy/standards/ 

National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (National Board Certified Teachers), http://www.nbpts.org/for_candidates/certificate_areas1?ID=17&x=61&y=4 

National Science Education Standards (NSES), http://www.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=4962

 

Can you recommend any standards that you think we can all learn from, or should try to meet to the best of our ability?

Peggy
Published: May-26-09 | 0 Comments | 0 Links to this post

Apr16

Handouts about science to share with families—add your favorite resources

“What kind of science do you teach young children?!” people sometimes ask when they hear that the preschool curriculum includes science. Being able to share how the science activities are age appropriate, lay the groundwork for deeper understanding in later years, and support literacy and math learning, helps families understand that science is a natural part of an early childhood program. Including science activities does not mean that the program is only for children whose thinking is advanced beyond their years, nor does the program exclude imaginative play and artistic work.

Communicating what early childhood science is all about encourages families to support science learning at home. Here is a book and a few downloadable resources that can help.

  • What is a Scientist? by Barbara Lehn with photographs by Carol Krauss (1999, Millbrook Press)

Beginning with “A scientist is a person who asks questions and tries different ways to answer them,” and ending with “A scientist has fun,” this book’s simple statements and clear photographs describe science as children (and scientists) practice it.

 
  • From Australian government, the National Science and Technology Centre’s Questacon

A 36 page pamphlet with wonderful photos and general instructions for activities which are easy to implement at home.

http://scienceplay.questacon.edu.au/assets/scienceplay_booklet.pdf

 

 

  • TryScience: the Parent Page

Download a generic or city-specific brochure providing useful information and hints on science activities for parents and families everywhere, and listing local science resources.

http://www.tryscience.org/parents/se_2.html

 

 Will you list your favorite books or pamphlets in a comment (click on the word “comments” below)?

Peggy

Published: Apr-16-09 | 3 Comments | 0 Links to this post

Feb09

Learning about motion and appropriate restraints

Some children chafe at any restriction, including car seat straps. Doing an activity about force and motion may not make them any happier to be strapped in but it may help them understand what could happen if they weren’t restrained during an accident.

 

The March 2008 Early Years column in Science and Children

From NSTA The Early Years Blog
provides instructions for discussing child passenger safety while modeling a car and passenger using a cup and marble. Children look at me curiously when I tell them, “This is me (holding up the marble) and this cup is my car. I’m going for a drive.” They all want to ‘drive,’ and we do—after they tell me how I can stay safely in my seat in the event of another car getting in the way. They propose seatbelts which we make out of tape. First we drive without ‘seatbelts’ because this is pretend,
From NSTA The Early Years Blog
then with the ‘seatbelts’ to see what happens. The children are repeating the experiment. Through experience they understand more fully that a loose marble will continue to roll even when the cup that was holding it is stopped.

Note that not all children think of using seatbelts to restrain their marble-drivers, notably those whose families do not own a car. They still enjoy the activity and taking home an information sheet for adults. Here are websites for such information:

The Washington State Booster Seat Coalition

Download these one page informative flyers at no cost to raise awareness about booster seat basics. They are available in Amharic, Arabic, English, Chinese, Japanese, Khmer, Korean, Oromo, Russian, Somali, Spanish, Tagalog, Tigrinva, and Vietnamese.

 

The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia

Information in English and Spanish, including videos that teach the appropriate restraints according to the child’s age and size.

 

Transportation Safety Tips for Children, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

A set of 11 topics, including riding in a car, bus, on a bike, and walking, these pages fully describe the rational behind using different car seat restraints at different ages and describe child development, such as, “Children can't judge speed and they think cars can stop instantly.” Copy the pages to share with the families of your students.

From NSTA The Early Years Blog

Children enjoy exploring motion.

Peggy

 

 

Published: Feb-09-09 | 2 Comments | 45 Links to this post

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