I do NOT like science. I didn't enjoy it as a child, and I don't enjoy it as a teacher. I don't like the subject matter, and I don't like hands-on activities in the lab. Science is an area of weakness for me as a teacher.
In my experience, science and social studies unfortunately take back seats to subjects like ELA and math. And also in my experience, because of this, science and social studies curriculums are often pieced together and not every user friendly. I have had to create, unpack, and organize science and SS curriculums in the past.
The district I am in currently thankfully has established science and social studies curriculum. We alternate teaching science and SS for weeks at at time. Unfortunately for me, we started the year off with science (I enjoy SS!). We dove head first into a world of microorganisms (my nightmare) and different types of cells. Luckily for me, I have all the lessons and materials I would need. It really makes such a difference teaching when you have an established curriculum than when you're scrambling to find materials for a subject you're note even comfortable teaching in the first place.
We are nearing the end of our microworlds unit, which means I can start teaching SS soon. As an end project, the students will be given an assessment, but at home, they have been required to create 3-D models of either a plant or an animal cell. Being 5th graders, they are very excited for this.
Here is a sample of one of the models that has come in early:
Do you teach science and social studies? What curriculum do you use? Do the students enjoy it?
No comments:
Post a Comment