Integrating Best Practices for Science Instruction

This workshop supports educators in designing science lessons that move beyond rote learning to authentic inquiry and sensemaking. It highlights how students can think and work like scientists through science notebooks, investigative practices, and problem-based learning. Teachers learn how to integrate data literacy and ELA skills into science instruction, ensuring students not only gain content knowledge but also practice communication, reasoning, and critical thinking. The session emphasizes hands-on investigations, cross-curricular strategies, and fostering student ownership of their learning.

• Science instruction that focuses mainly on facts and procedures rather than inquiry and conceptual understanding.
  
  
• Limited opportunities for students to engage in authentic investigations and problem-solving.
  
  
• Weak integration of literacy, data analysis, and communication skills into science learning, leaving students unprepared for deeper sensemaking.

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1. Using Science Notebooks and Sensemaking Approaches: Participants will learn how to implement science notebooks to make thinking visible, promote student questioning, and use sensemaking strategies (phenomena, student ideas, science ideas, and practices) to deepen understanding.
   
   
2. Embedding Data Literacy and Cross-Disciplinary Skills: Educators will gain strategies for teaching students how to collect, visualize, and interpret data, while reinforcing connections with ELA skills such as evidence-based writing, text analysis, and vocabulary development.
   
   
3. Designing Student-Centered Investigations: Teachers will practice planning lessons where students act as scientists—designing and conducting investigations, applying science and engineering practices, and using claim-evidence-reasoning to communicate findings