Science K-8 An Integrated Approach

Our intent forScience K-8: An Integrated Approachis to provide a contemporary source of appropriate and relevant pedagogy, subject-matter content, learning activities, and resources for people preparing to teach science to children of grades K-8. Others who will find it to be a useful reference are experienced teachers, administrators, and science curriculum specialists. Exemplary K-8 educational programs are rooted in celebrating and building upon the diverse characteristics and needs of young people. To become and to remain exemplary, teachers in such programs must be in a continual mode of inquiry, reflection, and change. It is no different for us as the authors of this book. In a continuing effort to prepare a comprehensive and exemplary book on teaching science to children of grades K-8, we are in acontinual mode of inquiryinto the latest findings in research and practice, inconstant reflectionas we listen to and assess the comments from practitioners in the field and from users and reviewers of the book, and insteady changeas we respond to the challenge of providing new coverage for integrating methods and resources. Organization of This Edition: An Overview Competent teaching is a kaleidoscopic, multifaceted, eclectic process. When preparing and writing a book for use in one segment of a program for teacher preparation, by necessity one must separate that kaleidoscopic process into separate parts, which is probably impossible to do in a way that makes the most sense to everyone using the book. This book continues to be divided into two parts. For the sake of clarity and sensible organization for this tenth edition, Part One was reorganized to address what we consider to be the four developmental components of teaching and learning: why--the rationale to support the components that follow what--the content, processes, and skills you will be helping children learn how--how you will do it how well--how well you are doing it Together, these four components constitute the essentials of effective instruction. The visual map above illustrates how these four components are divided. It is neither likely nor advisable that one should or could effectively learn about one component entirely exclusive of the others. The four components are inextricably intertwined, with each affected by and dependent upon the others. Indeed, teaching and learning are reciprocal processes that depend on and affect one another. For example, for the sensible organization of this book, assessment is addressed as the fourth and final component of competent instruction even though it is really an integral part of an ongoing process in the total educational arena. For example, one cannot thoroughly plan for the instruction (Chapter 7) without considering the learning objectives (Chapter 2) and the assessment strategies (Chapter 8). Our Beliefs: How and Where They Are Reflected in This Book As a teacher, your greatest resources are the children you teach and the adults with whom you work. This is not a book of recipes; we are preparing teachers, not chefs. We cannot tell you what will always succeed best with your students; you will know them better than we do. In this book we do share the best of practice, the most useful of research findings, and the richest of experiences. Integrated learning by inquiry is the cornerstone of effective science instruction for the twenty-first century.We present strategies that integrate learning and provide illustrations of how they may be used. Active learning by student inquiry and teaching for thinking are emphasized in this book. You are probably well aware that professional education is rampant with its own special jargon, which can be confusing to the neophyte. The use of the termdirect teaching(or its synonyVictor, Edward is the author of 'Science K-8 An Integrated Approach', published 2003 under ISBN 9780130988812 and ISBN 0130988812.