ENTRY 3 WHAT TEACHERS NEED TO DO/STUDENTS DO IN THIS ENTRY

What Do I Need to Do?

This entry captures evidence of your ability to plan, describe, implement, illustrate, assess,

and reflect on your teaching practice. For the purposes of this entry, “learning sequence” is

defined as a series of lessons or activities that are part of a larger unit of instruction.

In this entry, you

¡ plan and implement an integrative learning sequence designed to deepen children’s

understanding of mathematics and science concepts through unifying concepts and

processes in science;

¡ engage children in mathematical and scientific ways of observing, thinking, reasoning, and

communicating. 

For this entry, you must submit the following:

¡ One video recording (15 minutes maximum) that demonstrates how you engage all

students in your class in an integrated mathematics and science learning sequence.

¡ Instructional materials.

  Instructional Material Cover Sheet responses (three cover sheets, 1 page

maximum of responses per cover sheet).

  Instructional materials (three items, 3 pages maximum combined [1 page

maximum for each]) related to the segment featured on the video recording and

that will help assessors understand what occurred during the learning sequence.

¡ Written Commentary (11 pages maximum) that provides a context for your

instructional choices and analyzes and evaluates the teaching and integration of the math

and science instruction featured.

Read all directions for this entry before beginning to work on individual components. It can

also help to have a colleague review your work. However, all of the work you submit as part

of your response to any entry must be yours and yours alone. The written analyses and

other components you submit must feature teaching that you did and work that you

oversaw. For more detailed information, see “Ethics and Collaboration” in “Phase 1: Prepare”

(in Part 1) and the National Board’s ethics policy.

Detailed directions for developing each component follow

WHAT STUDENTS NEED TO DO.

For guidance in your choice of unifying concepts and processes and a theme, review the

section “Unifying Concepts and Processes in Science and Scientific Inquiry” on page 2-24 and

“Excerpts from National Science Education Standards” in the Appendix.

Also select an application of a mathematical concept that can be integrated into this science

learning sequence that will enhance student learning. The content you choose should be

important to the study of mathematics. Examples may include, but are not limited to, the

following: using standard and nonstandard units of measurement, estimating, performing

operations, representing data in various ways (e.g., tables, pictographs, bar graphs, line

graphs), detecting patterns or trends in data, and applying basic principles of geometry.

Selecting a Video Recording

Choose a whole-class learning experience you wish to record on video in which you show

students engaged in both science and math. Remember that the video recording is the only

direct evidence of the students’ engagement in this learning sequence. In addition, this video

recording must demonstrate how you explore scientific concepts with children and

incorporate mathematical applications into the learning experience. It should also

demonstrate how children use scientific ways of observing, thinking, reasoning, and

communicating. You want to show the portion of the learning sequence during which children

are most meaningfully engaged in learning. For the purposes of this entry, the phrase

“meaningful engagement” does not refer to sessions in which children are asked to recall

information or to generate the correct answers to teacher questions; rather it refers to

exploration, discovery, and talk among children and between you and children in which they

express ideas and respond to one another’s ideas. Make sure that it is these moments that

appear on the video recording, not the introduction to the teaching/learning or the transition

to activities. This also means that assessors need to be able to hear the children on the video

recording and not just see a wide view of the entire room. It is helpful to make several video

recordings before you make your final choice so that assessors can see the best evidence of

your practice.