Peer Reflection/kkorkidis

Response to Kathy Korkidis:
3/7/09
How does school community/culture influence instruction in science k-12?

I agree that there is a level of priority when it comes to different grade levels and teaching science. Since the implementation of the science component on the NJASK it has become "more valuable" in the elementary school setting. I know this is unfortunate, but so much emphasis is placed on core subjects and science tends to get a back burner....often taught only half of the week (social studies is even more neglected if you can believe that).

One thing that I know I can do to change this is to try to incorporate more of our science unit into our nonfiction reading unit. That way we are addressing both topics at once. The only difficulty with this would be having access to enough differentiated materials to address an entire reading class...enough to last an entire unit. Perhaps we could access the school library, shared book room, and the classroom library to help.

This is interesting to me because it actually hits on the topic covered in the article that I am presenting this week. I believe it is a controversial idea that schools will begin to supplement science time with reading/math interventions for struggling students. I am not sure that is the best decision especially since it is tested on the NJASK.