How Teachers Were Empowered to Support Students Learning Science and Developing English Language Fluency
Partners in Innovation: Integrating ELD and Science
The Integrating English Language Development (ELD) and Science program, a partnership between the Exploratorium and Sonoma Valley Unified School District, offered elementary students wide-ranging opportunities to interact with and make meaning of natural phenomena through science inquiry. The program aimed to teach science content, practices and thinking skills to students, and to simultaneously stimulate, accelerate and expand their language development.
The integrated ELD and science approach combined two essentials: 1) science, taught with a hands-on inquiry-based approach, and 2) language development, viewed as a social process between learners and speakers of the language with emphasis on comprehending and expressing meaning rather than on flawless form. The pedagogy underlying this innovative approach presented a challenge to SVUSD teachers, many of whom had little experience teaching science, second language acquisition or inquiry-based learning. The following describes how participation in the professional development offered to teachers by the program supported them in expanding their confidence, knowledge, instructional practices, and professional connections.
The Contributions to Teachers – How Teachers Were Empowered to Support Students Learning Science and Developing English Language Fluency (pdf, 12 pages)
Partners in Innovation: Integrating ELD and Science
Exploratorium and Sonoma Valley Unified School District
PROJECT PORTFOLIO:
Introduction and Overview – The Innovation and Its Contributions
The Contributions to Teachers – How Teachers Were Empowered to Support Students Learning Science and Developing English Language Fluency
Student Progressions in Science and Language Development:
What follows are five separate and brief reports focusing on various aspects of student progressions in learning science and language. We suggest that reader begin with the first, “Student Progressions in Science and Language Development: An Introduction and Rationale” that describes the idea of student progressions. The construct of student progressions serves as an alternative to standardized test scores as a way to assess and demonstrate student growth and development.
Progress in Developing Positive Attitudes and Confidence
Progress in Learning Science Content
Progress in Developing Science Practices and Thinking Skills