Science Curriculum Materials Fair
I attended NEFEC's Science Instructional Materials Fair for K-5 educators, and my brain is just absolutely swimming. In the process of watching these companies present their products, I might have jumped on to Amazon and purchased Matt Miller's Ditch That Textbook. I'll be getting that soon with my 2 day free shipping.
As for these curriculum materials, WOW. There is so much out there, and to pick the BEST one for the ENTIRE district... a daunting task. Especially when I can only truly represent how I teach, and what I do, in my particular grade level.
Currently in my classroom I don't teach from a textbook. I have lots of GREAT resources available to me, usually too many. I use Discovery Education's Techbook, and I like it well enough. I don't use all the pieces and I treat it as a supplement to what the students are learning in my classroom. But as I sit an process today's experience I am coming back to the idea of, "What if I didn't have to piece together my curriculum?" What if there were actually a curriculum out there that provided me all the pieces that I wanted, with the rigor that I wanted it at, and that was engaging to my students.
I sat through many a presentation today. Some of the presenters were totally pros, great salespeople. Some were just really real. Now I have my piles of materials to really dig into. I want a deeper look into these materials. I'll keep you posted on my analysis, for what it's worth...ha
But for now, here's the quick and dirty first impressions
Teacher Created Resources: Supplemental material, looks good, but not enough
National Geographic: Pretty, bright vibrant colors, LOTS of pieces
HMH: Traditional Textbook, with digital resources
McGraw Hill: Not nearly as flashy as the other traditional textbooks, but had different enough pieces, like the Page Keeley science probes, and foldables. The animated stem kids were a bit hokey, but it seemed like a solid curriculum.
Accelerate Learning, STEMScopes: I like this one, lots of cool resources. Makes me a bit weary because its pretty much all digital and while you can print off the resources, I'm not sure all teachers will benefit from this.
As for these curriculum materials, WOW. There is so much out there, and to pick the BEST one for the ENTIRE district... a daunting task. Especially when I can only truly represent how I teach, and what I do, in my particular grade level.
Currently in my classroom I don't teach from a textbook. I have lots of GREAT resources available to me, usually too many. I use Discovery Education's Techbook, and I like it well enough. I don't use all the pieces and I treat it as a supplement to what the students are learning in my classroom. But as I sit an process today's experience I am coming back to the idea of, "What if I didn't have to piece together my curriculum?" What if there were actually a curriculum out there that provided me all the pieces that I wanted, with the rigor that I wanted it at, and that was engaging to my students.
I sat through many a presentation today. Some of the presenters were totally pros, great salespeople. Some were just really real. Now I have my piles of materials to really dig into. I want a deeper look into these materials. I'll keep you posted on my analysis, for what it's worth...ha
But for now, here's the quick and dirty first impressions
Teacher Created Resources: Supplemental material, looks good, but not enough
National Geographic: Pretty, bright vibrant colors, LOTS of pieces
HMH: Traditional Textbook, with digital resources
McGraw Hill: Not nearly as flashy as the other traditional textbooks, but had different enough pieces, like the Page Keeley science probes, and foldables. The animated stem kids were a bit hokey, but it seemed like a solid curriculum.
Accelerate Learning, STEMScopes: I like this one, lots of cool resources. Makes me a bit weary because its pretty much all digital and while you can print off the resources, I'm not sure all teachers will benefit from this.
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