The Learning Design Group is committed to providing resources that bridge research and practice. Therefore, in addition to resources for building teacher capacity, such as professional learning opportunities and downloadable instructional materials, we also offer archived presentations, articles, and research reports to meet the needs and interests of our community.
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Middle School Strategy Guide - Analyzing Visual Representations: How Earthquakes Cause Tsunamis
This strategy guide introduces an approach for teaching how to analyze visual representations in science texts. By using the method of Active Reading, students annotate the text and visual representations to highlight important information.
Middle School Strategy Guide - Combining Simulations and Text to Support Scientific Explanations: Gravity and Orbits
This strategy guide introduces how to combine simulations and text to support students in creating scientific explanations, an approach for providing a rich, multimodal learning experience. Students can deepen their understanding about key science... more
Middle School Strategy Guide - Engaging in Argumentation with a Science Seminar: Regional Climate in the Atacama Desert
This strategy guide introduces the Science Seminar, an approach for teaching students how to engage in oral and written argumentation, which helps them begin to master ways of thinking and communicating that are specific to the discipline of science... more
Middle School Strategy Guide - Engaging in Shared-Expertise Discussions: Regional Climate
This strategy guide introduces Shared-Expertise Discussions. Students work with partners to become experts on one example of a concept and then work in heterogeneous groups to engage in a collaborative task that requires drawing upon the knowledge... more
Middle School Strategy Guide - Engaging in Socioscientific Argumentation: Increasing Oxygen in the Blood
This strategy guide introduces students to writing a socioscientific argument, which is based on scientific evidence and also brings in students’ value-based opinions. Complex critical thinking and reasoning based on scientific evidence, as well as... more
Middle School Strategy Guide - Engaging with Text Through Active Reading: Wind Currents
This strategy guide introduces Active Reading, an approach to teaching students how to read science text deeply and carefully. Through engaging in the practice of obtaining, evaluating, and communicating information from text, students can begin to... more
Middle School Strategy Guide - Focusing on Key Ideas with an Anticipation Guide: The Human Microbiome
This strategy guide introduces an approach for teaching students to focus on key ideas by using an anticipation guide. With an anticipation guide, students learn how to activate their background knowledge, focus their reading, and support statements... more
Middle School Strategy Guide - Reading for a Purpose: Molecules the Human Body Needs
This strategy guide introduces an approach for having students read reference texts for a purpose. Students learn to identify appropriate sections of a reference text to read in order to gather evidence to answer a focus question.
Middle School Strategy Guide - Reteaching Loop: Identifying Basic Components of Strong Argumentation Writing by Analyzing Student Work
This strategy guide provides students with a baseline understanding of the components of argumentation writing that they can apply to more complex arguments they will write on their own in the future.
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