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Authentic Content Integration in the Elementary Classroom

Riverview School District

May 2023

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Agenda

Why are we doing this work?
Why start with science?
Where have we been?
Where do we hope to go?
Where are we now?
How did we do this?
What does this look like for students?
What are our next steps?
What questions do you have?

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Purpose

Focus on collaboration and ensure that students are learning what has been identified as essential

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Why we are doing this work…

How do we do it all?

Time was the catalyst

Authentic, place-based learning for all students

Refined purpose

To create a rigorous & engaging science experience for all elementary students, connecting them to their world while immersing them in knowledge & ways of thinking across disciplines.

K-12 Vision, District Outcomes

PEI, adoption of the FieldSTEM model
Real-world connections (career, community, civics)

Partnership

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Why we are doing this work…

“Children often have disjointed experiences of the school subjects throughout the day, perhaps because they have limited opportunities to synthesize their learning across content areas or make connections among them (Stevens et al., 2005). Integrating science and engineering with the other content areas and domains [...] has the potential for addressing this issue and enhancing the amount of instructional time spent in science and engineering.” (p. 155)

Chapter 6: Potentials & Pitfalls of Integrating across Domains

National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2022. Science and Engineering in Preschool Through Elementary Grades: The Brilliance of Children and the Strengths of Educators. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. https://doi.org/10.17226/26215.

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We started with Science because…

My role, my passion
Partnership with PEI
Educational Research
Time was needed to show value

My role, my passion

Elementary science facilitator, K-5
Masters in Educational Leadership, Problem of Practice—how to support teachers and students with content integration to promote positive growth in student achievement?

Partnership with PEI

Relationship began in COVID while searching for a way to connect with our kiddos and engage them in rigorous learning, away from the screens and out in the world in a safe manner.
Lots of discussion around mental health and isolation
Field experiences were key—simple as sit spots with a focus on observation, data collection & analysis, sense-making discussions, and notebooking
Modeling engagement of STEM professionals
FieldSTEM model—a way to approach curriculum and instructional design, will come back to this a little later…
Gave us permission to step outside of the boxed manuals and really look at what was essential learning…through the lens of the standards

Educational Research

Hefty, L.J. (2015). STEM gives meaning to mathematics. Teaching Children Mathematics, 21(7), p. 422-429. https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.5951/teacchilmath.21.7.0422
Westfall, S.M. (2018). Killing two birds with one stone. Science & Children 56(2), 28-35.

Time was needed to show value

Not enough time to go deep enough and/or get it all done (sense-making discussions, true notebooking, engineering investigations)
As a district, in the valley that we live in, environmental education is important and valued, but that wasn’t being truly reflected (in PD, in classroom minutes—split time for Sci
Upon adoption knew that our curriculum (FOSS) would need to be modified, let’s start with this idea…

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Why did we Select FOSS?

NGSS alignment including engineering
Student engagement

Excited to be immersed in science
Actively discussing naturally occurring phenomena using appropriate language

Accessible nonfiction texts
Effective, embedded assessments (notebooks, plenty of authentic observational opportunities)
User friendly and familiar

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How do we do it all?

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We started with Science because…

My role, my passion
Partnership with PEI
Educational Research
Time was needed to show value

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Educational Research

Math Focus

ELA Focus

Educational Research

Hefty, L.J. (2015). STEM gives meaning to mathematics. Teaching Children Mathematics, 21(7), p. 422-429. https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.5951/teacchilmath.21.7.0422

Exactly what it sounds like, how an elementary school has reimagined part of their math and science curricula and why
Includes data that showcases their success in growing student achievement

Westfall, S.M. (2018). Killing two birds with one stone. Science & Children 56(2), 28-35.

How one teacher has transformed the way she uses science notebooking to emulate STEM professionals, to go beyond journals for recording data to create thinking tools that her students use in a variety of ways
Includes multiple examples of student work to showcase the success of integration and authentic learning

Choose the article that speaks to you, take 10 minutes to read it (feel free to turn off your camera), then come back to join a breakout room for about 5 minutes.
In breakout rooms, discuss:

What stood out to you?
What did you notice?
What do you wonder?
What doesn’t make sense or what don’t you agree with?
What might you try?
Feel free to let your conversation take you where it goes!
As groups are willing, we’ll share a few ideas.

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Discussion

What stood out to you?
What did you notice?
What do you wonder?
What doesn’t make sense or what don’t you agree with?
What might you try?
Feel free to let your conversation take you where it goes!
As groups are willing, we’ll share a few ideas.

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We started with Science because…

My role, my passion
Partnership with PEI
Educational Research
Time was needed to show value

My role, my passion

Elementary science facilitator, K-5
Masters in Educational Leadership, Problem of Practice—how to support teachers and students with content integration to promote positive growth in student achievement?

Partnership with PEI

Relationship began in COVID while searching for a way to connect with our kiddos and engage them in rigorous learning, away from the screens and out in the world in a safe manner.
Lots of discussion around mental health and isolation
Field experiences were key—simple as sit spots with a focus on observation, data collection & analysis, sense-making discussions, and notebooking
Modeling engagement of STEM professionals
FieldSTEM model—a way to approach curriculum and instructional design, will come back to this a little later…
Gave us permission to step outside of the boxed manuals and really look at what was essential learning…through the lens of the standards

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Partnership

FieldSTEM | Pacific Education Institute

Video is 3 min, 40 sec

The models are built as tools that can be flexed for the needs of the students in a given community because PEI recognizes that one-size-fits all, doesn’t actually promote student growth for all students! Having these tools and the guidance and true partnership of PEI was invaluable. They met us where we are, they listened to our challenges and goals, and truly partnered with us to create solutions for our community, for our learners.

In addition to the pedagogical models they gave us, their model of PD was inspiring—it is how I approach PD now, as a partner who is coming alongside my teachers to lift their voices, support their learning, and empower them as educators to make decisions that allow them to provide the learning opportunities necessary for their students to successfully reach standards.

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What is the FIeldSTEM Model?

FieldSTEM | Pacific Education Institute

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Tranquility Sit Spot

Unplug, quiet your mind, and point your senses outward