This is one of the best things I have ever worked on.
Every discussion teaches kids about math—and about themselves.
Among many other reasons, discussions are important because they’re moments when the teacher assigns value to students. In a discussion, the teacher says, “Hey—I have precious little time to teach what I know. Still, I’m going to dedicate some of that time for you to share and talk about what you know.” That’s a moment when students learn about math, but also that their own ideas have value.
Discussions are difficult, and “more wait time” is rarely the reason.
There are a few reasons why discussions frequently fail, and it’s rarely because the teacher didn’t give students enough “wait time” to respond, as is commonly believed.
1. The question was hard to understand or find your way into. For a long time, I’d ask my kids at dinner, “How was your day? What happened?” And my kids wouldn’t have much to say. Lately, I ask them to tell me two things about their day that happened and one thing that didn’t, and we all guess which was which. It’s an easier prompt, one that kids can find their way into with ease and then use as a launching pad into a larger conversation.
2. There isn’t enough to talk about. If your math class consists of a lot of binary, right/wrong questions, what is there for anyone to talk about? “A lot of us got this one wrong. Here’s a pie chart that shows how wrong we were. How about I show you how to do it?” That’s fine, but it isn’t a discussion, and it’s quite often a very dreary classroom environment for children.
In Amplify Desmos Math, a curriculum I work on, kids generally have plenty to talk about. Our interactives stir a kid’s imagination for even the most abstract areas of math. For example, this submarine interactive stirs up a kid’s ideas about adding positive and negative integers.
And then we ask kids, “Hey, what do you think about the star at +5? Can you come up with something that none of your classmates do?”
Let me tell you: Kids accept that challenge.
3. There is too much to talk about.
This is a good problem to have, but it’s still a problem. In the class screenshotted below, 25 students have put 300 thoughtful words in front of the teacher, every response different from every other!
Teachers now have a problem of abundance, not scarcity. They have to decide which responses to select, and why, in an environment of cognitive overload.
This is very hard work for teachers, especially novices, especially teachers who lack mathematical content knowledge, especially teachers who are hanging onto the school year by their fingernails.
We offer teachers lots of different support for discussions throughout our curriculum—both in print and digital activities—but our new discussion support for digital activities is first-of-its-kind and best-in-class.
Discussion Moments.
- Student responses stream into the teacher’s dashboard.
- A message appears: “Analyzing Student Responses.”
- Shortly after, the message changes: “Open Discussion Moment.”
You click the message and see a classroom-ready discussion screen.
First, you see four student responses, each one authored by a student in the class, each one interesting on its own. This was not luck. Those responses were curated by a large language model at the direction of our curriculum experts. “Find three responses that capture the star in different ways,” our experts prompted the AI. “Responses that add anchors. That remove anchors. Find one response that might not capture the star.”
Next to those responses you see a question: ”Which one is not like the others?” That question feels surprisingly well-matched for this math and for those student responses. This, also, isn’t an accident. Curriculum experts made that decision.
You click the right arrow and see a suggested narration for the Discussion Moment, narration which was authored, again, by our human authors for this particular problem, to help novices learn to facilitate productive discussions in math.
That’s a “Discussion Moment.”
In the past, coaches, experts, and publishers have all asked teachers to . . .
- Select and sequence student responses.
- Construct a student-facing discussion resource.
- Lead the conversation.
Now we are asking teachers to . . .
- Lead the conversation.
In our experience, computers do quite well with the first two jobs while teachers obliterate computers at the work of leading a conversation, at connecting student ideas, at asking one kid what they think of another kid’s idea, at pulling ideas out of a kid who maybe doesn’t think they have ideas to offer. Discussion Moments delegate to humans and computers the best work for each of them.
Discussion Moments are different.
Lots of edtech companies are putting AI to work in lots of different ways. Discussion Moments are unique.
First, they’re designed to work through rather than around the teacher, during class rather than outside of class. They’re designed to support social interactions between students and teachers in the moment of instruction. This is the action.
Second, this is a classroom-ready resource. So many AI applications just output a ChatGPT-style resource. Lots of text. Several main bullets. Lots of sub-bullets. An emoji or two. And I am very sorry, but they are not useful in class. The teacher has to read all of that text, copy and paste and edit it, and then construct the student-facing resource all in the middle of class. That’s fantasyland, folks. At Amplify, we have, instead, created a one-click, classroom-ready resource.
Third, we’ve fortified these digital Discussion Moments with gallons of human expertise. Since December, I’ve worked with several of our curriculum experts—Casey Nelson, Brian Kam, and Tom Snarsky—and for every problem across several units of middle school math, they:
- Reviewed thousands of student responses to each problem.
- Identified thematic trends in the student responses.
- Decided whether or not those themes demand a discussion.
- Decided which of several discussion frames would be most appropriate, given those themes.
- Wrote an AI prompt specific to each problem to increase the odds that the large language model will curate useful student responses.
Most edtech companies would prefer to let AI lead this process from end to end, using the same prompt for every problem, even at the cost of the teacher and student experience. Meanwhile, we only ask AI to execute instructions and construct a resource. The nature of those instructions, the type of resource, and how it’s used—that is all determined by different humans and their expertise.
What do teachers and administrators think?
I ran a small-scale pilot of this feature last spring and kicked off a larger-scale pilot last week. A couple hundred teachers overall. I have never had an easier time recruiting teachers for a project than with this one. Every district math curriculum lead knows how challenging it is for teachers to lead discussions, and every one I asked was eager to support.
Two other examples of Discussion Moments.
Compare and Connect. We asked a large language model to locate responses that have one of a couple of important features but ideally not both. Then we constructed a Discussion Moment asking students to write a response that combines the best of both answers.
Critique, Correct, Clarify. Our curriculum authors noticed a frequent incorrect answer to a question. We told the LLM to watch out for it and frame it in a Discussion Moment where the class is asked to find value in the wrong answer before correcting it. Try to imagine what it does to a kid to hear their incorrect answer described as valuable.
Wait—don’t you hate AI?
I get why you might ask me that, but no. I think generative AI is perhaps the most overrated education technology of my lifetime; I don’t think the chatbot tutors or lessonslop generators are going to transform K–12 education. But I do think generative AI is neat. And look, I have tried to support discussion work with K–12 teachers for the last ten years in other ways, too. I have run in-person and remote PD. I have written math lessons and teacher supports for those lessons. I have sent nifty little customized email sequences tailored to teacher usage. None of those supports have been as promising as AI is here. None of them has moved the needle like Discussion Moments because none of them has been able to meet teachers in their moment of need, at the point of use.
That’s it. You can find Discussion Moments in Amplify Desmos Math next school year.
Amplify Desmos Math California
Welcome, K–8 Reviewers!
We’re honored to introduce you to Amplify Desmos Math California. We’re confident you’ll find this comprehensive program to be a powerful tool for bringing the vision of the California Math Framework to life in classrooms across the state.
Please start with the video on the right to learn how to navigate the program and access key features referenced within our submission. Below you’ll find additional resources to support your review.
Your Review Samples
As a curriculum that incorporates both print and digital resources, it’s important that you explore both our physical materials (delivered to you in grade-specific tubs) and our digital materials (accessible through our platform). We invite you to explore both types of resources using the instructions and tips below.
Print Samples
Your print samples should have arrived in grade-specific tubs with a copy of two Reviewer binders. The K-5 Reviewer binder is contained within the Grade K shipping box and the Grade 6-8 Reviewer binder can be located in the Grade 6 shipping box. As you begin the process of organizing your materials, please refer to the inventory checklist found inside each tub as well as within your Reviewer Binder.
Digital Samples
In order to access your digital samples, you’ll need to log into our platform using your unique login credentials found on a Digital Access Flyer inside of your Reviewer Binder. Once you have located the flyer:
- Click the orange button below to access the platform.
- Click “Log in with Amplify.”
- Enter the username and password provided on your Digital Access Flyer.
Navigation Tips
Below you will find helpful tips for navigating Amplify Desmos Math California. We recommend reading these pages alongside the program’s print materials and digital experience to gain a deeper understanding of the program.
Click the links below to read about navigating program features including:
- Navigating the print program (Grades K–1)
- Navigating the print program (Grades 2–5)
- Navigating the print program (Grades 6–8)
- Navigating the digital program
Built for California
The Amplify Desmos Math California program is designed around the vision articulated in the California Mathematics Framework to enable all California students to become powerful users of mathematics. Our program incorporates the latest research in student learning, meaning that we:
- Focus on the Big Ideas: Amplify Desmos Math California’s courses, units, and lessons are centered around the Big Ideas. Big Ideas, like standards, are not considered in isolation. In addition to each unit and lesson’s focal Big Ideas, Amplify Desmos Math California also provides connections among the Big Ideas across units and lessons.
- Center on open and engaging tasks: Amplify Desmos Math California is grounded in engaging tasks meant to address students’ often-asked question: “Why am I learning this?” Students are invited into learning with low-floor, high-ceiling tasks that provide an entry point for all. Open tasks in Amplify Desmos Math California provide the space for students to try on multiple strategies and represent their thinking in different ways, and allow student explanation and discussion to serve as the center of the classroom. All lessons offer both print and digital representations of lessons.
- Provide enhanced digital experiences: Amplify Desmos Math California includes digitally-enhanced lesson activities, incorporating interactive digital tools alongside print materials. These purposefully-placed resources allow students to visualize mathematical concepts, receive actionable feedback while practicing, encounter personalized learning support from an onscreen tutor, and engage in discussions about their thinking and approaches.
- Treat core instruction and differentiation as integral partners: The Amplify Desmos Math California curriculum provides teachers with lessons, strategies, and resources to eliminate barriers and increase access to grade-level content without reducing the mathematical demand of tasks. Every activity has multiple entry points to ensure that all students are supported and challenged. Intervention and personalized learning activities are directly connected to lesson content and offer students the individualized support as they dive into the mathematics.
Category 1: Mathematics Content/Alignment with the Standards
Standards Maps
The links below provide the Standards Maps for Amplify Desmos Math California for each grade level.
Evaluation Criteria Map
Linked here is the Evaluation Criteria Map for grades K–8. Please note that you will need to be logged into the digital platform to access the links in the Evaluation Criteria Map.
Standards for Mathematical Practice
The links below provide the alignment of Amplify Desmos Math California to the Standards for Mathematical Practice at each grade level.
Drivers of Investigation and Content Connections
Amplify Desmos Math California incorporates the Drivers of Investigation (DIs) and Content Connection (CCs) throughout the program. Throughout the year, students engage with open and authentic tasks of varying durations — from lesson activities to unit-level Explore lessons and longer course-level Investigations. Every lesson and investigation opportunity is grounded around the why, how, and what of the learning experience, and helps teachers bring mathematical concepts to life.
California English Language Development Standards
The links below provide the alignment of Amplify Desmos Math California to the California English Language Development Standards at each grade level.
California Environmental Principles and Concepts
Select lessons, performance tasks, and investigations across grade levels in Amplify Desmos Math California are aligned to one or more of the California Environmental Principles and Concepts. Click the links below to view how the California Environmental Principles and Concepts are represented in each grade level.
Category 2: Program Organization
Amplify Desmos Math California thoughtfully combines conceptual understanding, procedural fluency, and application. Each lesson is designed to tell a story by posing problems that invite a variety of approaches before guiding students to synthesize their understanding of the learning goals.
Big Ideas
Amplify Desmos Math California’s courses, units, and lessons are centered around the Big Ideas. In addition to each unit and lesson’s focal Big Ideas, Amplify Desmos Math California also provides connections among the Big Ideas across units and lessons. Please refer to Keeping the Big Ideas at the Center (linked below) for specific lesson designs and alignment with the Big Ideas for each grade level.
Program Structure
Amplify Desmos Math California combines the best of problem-based lessons, intervention, personalized practice, and assessments into a coherent and engaging experience for both students and teachers.
Lessons and units in Amplify Desmos Math California are designed around a Proficiency Progression, a model that steps out problem-based learning by systematically building students’ curiosity into lasting grade-level understanding.
In the Proficiency Progression, lessons begin by activating students’ natural curiosity and offering opportunities to generate new ideas through collaboration. Teachers are then able to refine ideas through intentional facilitation and guide students to grade-level understanding, while students retain the ability to use different strategies and methods to show their comprehension of the content. Students are provided ample opportunities to develop lasting understanding.
Scope and Sequence
Below you can view the scope and sequence for each grade level.
Lesson Design and Structure
Amplify Desmos Math California is designed with a structured approach to problem-based learning that systematically builds on students’ curiosity and allows students to grapple with the Big Ideas of the California Framework. Every lesson activity is organized into a Launch, Monitor, Connect format.
- Launch: The launch is a short, whole-class conversation that creates a need or excitement, provides clarity, or helps students connect their prior knowledge or personal experience, which ensures that everyone has access to the upcoming work.
- Monitor: As students work individually, in pairs, or in groups, teachers explore student thinking, ask questions, and provide support to help move the conversations closer to the intended math learning goal.
- Connect: Teachers connect students’ ideas to the key learning goals of the lesson, facilitating class discussions that help synthesize and solidify the Big Ideas.
Each lesson within Amplify Desmos Math California follows the same structure.
- Warm-Up: Every Amplify Desmos Math California lesson begins with a whole class Warm-Up. Warm-Ups are an invitational Instructional Routine intended to provide a social moment at the start of the lesson in which every student has an opportunity to contribute. Warm-Ups may build fluency or highlight a strategy that may be helpful in the current lesson or act as an invitation into the math of the lesson.
- Lesson Activities: Each lesson includes one or two activities. These activities are the heart of each lesson. Students notice, wonder, explore, calculate, predict, measure, explain their thinking, use math to settle disputes, create challenges for their classmates, and more. Guidance is provided to help teachers launch, monitor, and connect student thinking over the course of the activity.
- Synthesis and Show What You Know: The Synthesis is an opportunity for the teacher and students to pull all the learning of the lesson together into a lesson takeaway. Students engage in a facilitated discussion to consolidate and refine their ideas about the learning goals, and the teacher synthesizes students’ learning. Show What You Know is a daily assessment opportunity for students to show what they know about the learning goals and what they are still learning.
- Centers (K–5): Centers are hands-on activities for students in grades K–5 to play collaboratively to strengthen their understanding of key skills and concepts. In grades K–1, students have Daily Center Time built into every lesson.
- Practice and Differentiation: Daily practice problems for the day’s lesson are included both online and in the print Student Edition, including fluency, test practice, and spiral review.
Kindergarten–Grade 1
Grades 2–5
Grades 6–8
Routines
Amplify Desmos Math California features a variety of lesson routines. Instructional routines and Math Language Routines (MLRs) are used within lessons to highlight student-developed language and ideas, cultivate conversation, support mathematical sense-making, and promote meta-cognition. Both are called out at point-of-use within the Teacher Edition and Teacher Presentation Screens. Below are the types of routines used throughout the Amplify Desmos Math California curriculum:
Math Language Routines
- MLR1: Stronger and Clearer Each Time
- MLR2: Collect and Display
- MLR3: Critique, Correct, Clarify
- MLR5: Co-Craft Questions
- MLR6: Three Reads
- MLR7: Compare and Connect
- MLR 8: Discussion Supports
Instructional Routines
- Decide and Defend
- Notice and Wonder
- Number Talk
- Tell a Story
- Think-Pair-Share
- Which One Doesn’t Belong?
Category 3: Assessments
A variety of performance data in Amplify Desmos Math California provides evidence of student learning, while helping students bolster their skills and understanding.
Unit-Level Assessment
Amplify Desmos Math California has embedded unit assessments that offer key insights into students’ conceptual understanding of math. These assessments provide regular, actionable information about how students are thinking about and processing math, with both auto-scoring and in-depth rubrics that help teachers anticipate and respond to students’ learning needs.
- Pre-Unit Check: Each unit in grades 2–8 begins with a formative assessment designed to identify the student skills that will be particularly relevant to the upcoming unit. This check is agnostic to the standards covered in the following unit and serves not as a deficit-based acknowledgment of what students do not know, but rather as an affirmation of the knowledge and skills with which students come in.
- End-of-Unit Assessment: Students engage with rigorous grade-level mathematics through a variety of formats and tasks in the summative End-of-Unit Assessment. A combination of auto-scored (when completed digitally) and rubric-scored items provides deep insights into student thinking. All Amplify Desmos Math California End-of-Unit Assessments include two forms.
- Sub-Unit Quizzes: Sub-Unit Quizzes are formative assessments embedded regularly in Grades Kindergarten through Algebra 1. In these checks, students are assessed on a subset of conceptual understandings from the unit, with rubrics that help illuminate students’ current understanding and provide guidance for responding to student thinking.
- Sub-Unit Checklists: These checklists enable teachers to observe key skills and concepts that cannot be assessed on a pencil-and-paper assessment in Kindergarten–Grade 1. The checklists outline the supports students need to achieve mathematical growth and success.
- Performance Tasks: At the end of each unit in grades 3–8, there is a summative assessment performance task provided to evaluate students’ proficiency with the concepts and skills addressed in the unit.
Lesson-Level Assessments
Amplify Desmos Math California lessons include daily moments of assessment to provide valuable evidence of learning for both the teacher and student. Beyond formative, summative, and benchmark assessments, students also have opportunities for self-reflection with Watch Your Knowledge Grow. Students take ownership of their learning by reflecting and tracking their progress before and after each unit.
- Show What You Know: Each lesson has a daily formative assessment focused on one of the key concepts in the lesson. Show What You Know moments are carefully designed to minimize completion time for students while maximizing daily teacher insights to attend to student needs during the following class.
- Responsive Feedback™: Teachers have the ability to see and provide in-the-moment feedback as students progress through a digital lesson. Responsive Feedback motivates students and engages them in the learning process.
Diagnostic Assessment
Every grade level features an asset-based diagnostic assessment designed to be administered at the beginning of the year. Delivered digitally and to the whole class, our diagnostic assessment is uniquely designed to reveal underlying math thinking and identify what students know about grade-level math. With data beyond just right and wrong, teachers have the type of deeper level of insights need to take the right next step.
CAASPP-Aligned Assessment Preparation
Amplify Desmos Math is designed to support students’ mathematical development through problem-based learning, differentiation, and embedded assessments. The program’s emphasis on conceptual understanding, procedural fluency, and application aligns with the mathematical practices and content standards assessed by the CAASPP.
Amplify Desmos Math California includes a CAASPP-aligned Item Bank. This standards-aligned bank of questions allows teachers to filter and search by grade and standard to find items. Once assigned on the digital platform, students will experience CAASPP-like practice with the online digital tools.
Data and Reporting
Amplify Desmos Math California provides teachers and administrators with unified reporting and insights so that educators have visibility into what students know about grade-level math—and can plan instruction accordingly for the whole class, small groups, and individual students. Reporting functionality integrates unit assessments, lesson assessments, diagnostic data, and progress monitoring for a comprehensive look at student learning. Program reports show proficiency and growth by domain, cluster, standard, and priority concept using performance data from unit assessments, then highlight areas of potential student need to allow teachers to modify their instruction and target differentiated support.
Administrator reporting provides a complete picture of student, class, and district performance, allowing administrators to implement instructional and intervention plans.
Category 4: Access and Equity
The Amplify Desmos Math California curriculum provides teachers with lessons, strategies, and resources to eliminate barriers and increase access to grade-level content without reducing the mathematical demand of tasks. Our lessons are developed using the Universal Design for Learning (UDL) framework to proactively ensure that all learners can access and participate in meaningful, challenging learning opportunities.
Every activity has multiple entry points to ensure that all students are supported and challenged. Intervention and personalized learning activities are directly connected to the day’s content and offer students the individualized supports they need to be successful.
Each lesson and unit contains guidance for teachers on how to identify students who may need support, students who need to keep strengthening their understanding, and students who may be ready to stretch their learning. In addition, teachers are provided with recommendations for resources to use with each group of students.
Universal Design for Learning
Each lesson in the program incorporates opportunities for engagement, representation, action, and expression based on the guidelines of Universal Design for Learning (UDL).
- Multiple Means of Engagement: Students engage in both print and digital learning, and are regularly participating in discussions and hands-on activities. Students are invited to build their own challenge for other students to solve, which provides opportunities for choice and
autonomy, as well as joy and play. - Multiple Means of Representation: Students are encouraged to demonstrate their learning using mathematical representations, both print and digital, and regularly engage with their peers in analyzing multiple possible solutions. Classes engage in open-ended discussions about what individual students notice and wonder about mathematical concepts.
- Multiple Means of Action and Expression: Learners differ in how they navigate learning environments and express what they know. Students can communicate their ideas in multiple ways, including in print, sketching, uploading photos, or recording an audio response.
Accessibility
Lesson facilitation supports
Every lesson includes at least one specific suggestion the teacher can use to increase access to the lesson without reducing the mathematical demand of the tasks. These suggestions address the following areas:
- Visual-spatial processing
- Conceptual processing
- Executive functioning
- Memory and attention
- Fine motor skills
Accessibility tools
Students have the ability to control accessibility tools so that each learning experience is customized to their individual needs. In many instances, these tools can be turned on or off at any point of instruction.
- Text to speech: Reads text instructions to students in multiple languages
- Enlarged font: Increases the size of all text on screen
- Braille mode: Includes narration of digital interactions
- Language selection: Toggles between languages
Differentiation: In-Lesson Teacher Moves
Within every lesson activity, teachers can use the suggestions in the Differentiation Teacher Moves table to provide in-the-moment instructional support while students are engaged in the work of the lesson. This table can help teachers anticipate the ways students may approach the activity, and provides prompts that they can use during the lesson to Support, Strengthen, and Stretch individual students in their thinking. Teachers are provided with clear student actions and understanding to look for, each matched with immediately usable suggestions for how to respond to the student thinking illustrated in each row of the table. In addition to using these suggestions in the moment as teachers monitor student work, teachers can review the Differentiation table in advance to help them anticipate how students are likely to approach the activity.
Differentiation: Beyond the Lesson
Teachers are provided with recommendations for resources to use with each group of students needing support, strengthening, and stretching after each lesson. Support, Strengthen, and Stretch resources include:
- Mini-Lessons: 15-minute, small-group direct instruction lessons targeted to a specific concept or skill
- Item Banks: Space for teachers to create practice and assessments by using filters and searching for standards, summative-style items, and more
- Fluency Practice: Adaptive, personalized practice built out for basic operations and more
- Centers (K–5): Lesson-embedded routines and practice for students that are vertically aligned across grade levels
- Extensions: Lesson-embedded Teacher Moves including possible stretch questions and activities for students
- Lesson Practice: Additional practice problems support every lesson
- Math Adventures: Strategy-based math games where students engage with math concepts and practice skills in a fun digital environment
- Lesson Summary Support: Support for students and caregivers that provides efficient explanation of the learning goal with clear examples
Math Identity and Community
The Math Identity and Community feature supports teachers in helping students build confidence in their own mathematical thinking, develop skills to work with and learn from others when doing math, and learn how math is an interwoven part of their broader community. The embedded prompts throughout the lessons are designed to highlight what it means to be good at math, the value of sharing ideas, and the power of flexible and creating thinking. Here are some examples of the Math Identity and Community supports embedded in each lesson:
- I can be all of me in math class. You will work with partners every day in math class. What do you want your partners to know about you?
- We are a math community. What does good listening look like and sound like in a math community?
- I am a doer of math. What math strengths did you use today?
Unit Stories
Every unit in grades K–5 contains a Unit Story. These Unit Stories are brief fiction stories read aloud by the teacher at the beginning of each unit that connect to the math of the unit and introduce characters that students will get to know as they engage in the unit. Teachers read the story aloud from their Teacher Edition while projecting illustrations for students from the story, found in the Teacher Presentation Screens for the story. Across the unit, the Unit Story context and characters are used at appropriate points to inspire and engage students in the math as well as in reflections about their math identity and community.
Math Language Development
Every lesson in Amplify Desmos Math California includes opportunities for all students to develop mathematical language as they experience the content. Amplify Desmos Math California purposefully progresses language development from lesson to lesson and across units by supporting students in making their arguments and explanations stronger, clearer, and more precise. This systematic approach to the development of math language can be broken down into the following four categories of support:
- Vocabulary: Units and lessons start by surfacing students’ language for new concepts, then building connections between their language and the new vocabulary for that unit. This honors the language assets that students bring into their learning.
- Language goals: Language goals attend to the mathematics students are learning, and are written through the lens of one or more of four language modalities: reading, writing, speaking, and listening.
- Math Language Routines: Math Language Routines are used within lessons to highlight student-developed language and ideas, cultivate conversation, support mathematical sense-making, and promote meta-cognition.
- Multilingual/English learner supports: Supports for multilingual/English learners (ML/ELs) are called out at intentional points within each lesson. These specific, targeted suggestions support ML/ELs with modifications that increase access to a task, or through development of contextual or mathematical language (both of which can be supportive of all learners).
Multilingual and English Learner Supports
Partnership with English Learner Success Forum
Amplify partnered with the English Learner Success Forum (ELSF), a national nonprofit organization that advocates for high-quality instructional materials that are inclusive of multilingual learners. ELSF reviewed Amplify Desmos Math California, and provided directional guidance and feedback to ensure that the program reflects their research-based instructional strategies for multilingual/English learners.
Math Language Development Resources
Our Math Language Development Resources book contains lesson-specific strategies and activities for all levels of English Learners (i.e., Emerging, Expanding, Bridging). With support for every lesson, teachers are empowered to help all students, regardless of their language skills, to participate fully, grasp the material, and excel in their mathematical journey.
Multilingual Glossary
Amplify Desmos Math California includes a digital glossary for languages other than Spanish. Translations will be provided for up to nine languages.
Spanish Version
Amplify Desmos Math California will include Spanish student-facing materials beginning in the 2026–27 school year.
Category 5: Instructional Planning and Support
Amplify Desmos Math California includes a variety of embedded instructional supports to empower teachers to lead effectively and gain actionable insights into student growth and progress. Teachers are equipped with a comprehensive set of resources designed to fulfill the requirements of Category 5.
Grade-level concepts
Within the Teacher Edition front matter:
- Scope and sequence
- Big Ideas, Drivers of Investigation, and Content Connections
- Grade level standards
- Standards for Mathematical Practice
- English Language Development Standards
- Environmental Principals and Concepts
Within each Unit and Sub-Unit Overview:
- Big Ideas, Drivers of Investigation, and Content Connections
- Math that Matters Most
- Grade level standards
- Standards for Mathematical Practice
- English Language Development Standards
- Environmental Principals and Concepts
Within each Lesson:
- Big Ideas, Drivers of Investigation, and Content Connections
- Grade level standards
- Standards for Mathematical Practice
- English Language Development Standards
- Environmental Principals and Concepts
How to implement the program
At the course level (within the Teacher Edition front matter):
- Navigating the Program (both print and digital)
- Facilitating Lesson Activities with Launch, Monitor and Connect
- Overview of the Digital Facilitation Tools
At the lesson level:
- Suggestions for timing
- What materials to prep
- How to organize and group students
- Key lesson takeaways with the Synthesis
- Recommendations for Differentiation
- Strategies for intervention and extensions (in the Intervention, Extensions, and Investigation Resources book)
At the activity level:
- Differentiation recommendations
- Accessibility tips
- ML / EL tips
- Teacher look-fors
- Recommended Teacher Moves
- Prompts for guiding student thinking
- Sample student responses
Development of Math Language
A variety of language development supports are provided within the Student and Teacher Editions and Math Language Development Resources book.
At the lesson level:
- Diagrams and visuals
- Sentence frames and word banks
- Graphic organizers, including Frayer models
- Vocabulary routines
- Embedded language supports aligned to the CA ELDs
- Lesson-specific strategies for Emerging, Expanding, and Bridging
At the unit level:
- Words With Multiple Meanings
- Contextual vocabulary
At the course level:
- English/Spanish cognates
- Multilingual Glossary
Other Curriculum Guidance
- Additional Practice Resources book
- Assessment Resources book
- Assess and Respond guidance paired with each assessment opportunity
- Show-What-You-Know activities
- Answer keys and rubrics
- Performance tasks
Welcome, K–8 Program 1 reviewers!
We’re honored to introduce you to Amplify California Language Arts. We’re confident you’ll find this comprehensive program to be a powerful tool for bringing the vision of the California ELA Framework to life in classrooms across the state.
Please start with the video on the right to learn how to navigate the program and access key features referenced within our submission. Below you’ll find additional resources to support your review.
Your review samples
We’re excited for you to begin your review of Amplify Core Knowledge Language Arts (CKLA) California and Amplify ELA California. Physical and digital review materials will vary by grade level.
Reviewer Binders (K–8)
Your physical samples should have arrived in grade-specific boxes with three Reviewer Binders.
- The first binder will contain logistical program review information and the printed Evaluation Criteria Map.
- The second binder will contain the printed Standards Maps for grades K–4.
- The third binder will contain the printed Standards Maps for grades 5–8.
Physical samples (K–5)
You can expect to receive 15 boxes of physical materials for your review. As you begin the process of organizing your materials, please refer to the inventory checklist found inside each box as well as within your Reviewer Binder. Please note you will not receive any physical samples for grades 6–8. Your review of the program for grades 6–8 will be entirely digital.
Digital samples (K–8)
In order to access your digital samples, you’ll need to log in to our platform using your unique login credentials found on a Digital Review Credential flyer inside of your Reviewer Binder. Once you have located the flyer:
- Click the orange button below to access the platform.
- Click “Log in with Amplify.”
- Enter the username and password provided on your Digital Review Credential flyer.
Navigation tips
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Criteria Map and Standards Maps must be opened on Microsoft Word on your desktop to function as intended. If you open the documents without Microsoft Word on your desktop, citations will be cut off at the bottom of most tables within the document.
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[Reviewer program navigation video] Grades K–5
[Reviewer program navigation video] Grades 6–8
Click here for additional information on navigating the digital materials for grades 6–8.
Category 1: English Language Arts (ELA) and English Language Development (ELD) Content/Alignment to Standards
Evaluation Criteria Map
Linked below is the Evaluation Criteria Map for grades K–8. Please note that you will need to be logged into the digital platform to access the links in the Evaluation Criteria Map.
ELA Standards Maps
The links below provide the Standards Maps for Amplify California Core Language Arts for each grade level. Please note that you will need to be logged into the digital platform to access the links in the Standards Maps.
Category 2: Program Organization
The Amplify California Language Arts Program 1 submission includes Amplify CKLA California for Grades K–5 and Amplify ELA California for Grades 6–8. This comprehensive curriculum provides a full year of evidence-based instruction for each grade level, transitioning from foundational literacy to advanced text analysis.
Program structure
Amplify’s California Language Arts programs are built on what the research shows: Strong readers need both word recognition and language comprehension. Our comprehensive curriculum suite follows the Simple View of Reading and The Reading Rope–bringing together foundational skills and knowledge building to deliver instruction grounded in evidence-based literacy practices.
Each lesson follows a predictable structure with clearly marked components, beginning with warm-up routines, progressing through explicit instruction with guided practice, and concluding with independent application activities. The program provides detailed teacher language, including question stems and discussion prompts, ensuring clear and consistent delivery of instruction.
[Reviewer highlight video] Program organization for Category 2
[Reviewer highlight video] Program structure for grades K–2
[Reviewer highlight video] Program structure for grades 3–5
[Reviewer highlight video] Program structure for grades 6–8
Amplify CKLA California empowers teachers to deliver effective instruction and keeps students engaged with the following resources:
- Teacher Guides
- Assessment Guides
- Authentic texts and trade books
- Knowledge Image Cards
- Knowledge Flip Books
- Remediation and intervention resources
- Decodable readers
- Student Readers and novels
- Student Activity Books
- Poet’s Journals
- eReaders
- Sound Library featuring articulation videos and songs
- Instructional routine modeling videos
- Assignable Practice Games
- On-demand professional development
Amplify ELA California students stay engaged with the following resources:
- Teacher Guides that include:
- Detailed lesson plans
- Standards alignment and exit tickets
- Real-time differentiation strategies
- Robust reporting
- Student Editions that include:
- High-quality narrative and informational texts
- Videos, audio supports, and digital experiences that capture their attention
- Personal Writing Journal to keep all student writing in one place
- Trade Books
Core literacy philosophy
Support every learner. Meet all learning needs with a Multi-Tiered System of Supports (MTSS) that brings together universal screening, scaffolded core instruction, support for English learners, and data-driven intervention to ensure every student gets what they need to succeed.
Deliver consistent foundational skills instruction. Daily explicit, systematic skills instruction in grades K–2, with targeted yet flexible support for students still building decoding confidence in grades 3–8, ensures mastery of essential reading foundations.
Build lasting knowledge across all grades. Through coherently sequenced, content-rich instruction that revisits key vocabulary and concepts with increasing complexity, students build meaningful connections that deepen their vocabulary and reading comprehension.
Strengthen reading through writing at every level. Regular writing instruction grounded in the Science of Writing supports reading comprehension, improves sentence-level writing, and provides the foundation for high-quality composition. As students progress through the upper grades, they engage in increasingly complex analytical tasks—synthesizing ideas, drawing generalizations, and interpreting multiple textual layers through both focused quick-writes and comprehensive essays.
Foster oral language development. Structured opportunities for academic conversation and evidence-based dialogue build students’ ability to express complex ideas with precision and allow them to participate confidently in classroom discussions.
Measure growth with comprehensive assessments. Assessments range from in-the-moment checks for understanding to summative assessments that measure progress toward skills mastery and standards proficiency, providing the data needed to drive targeted instruction.
Scope and sequence
Below you can view the scope and sequence for each grade level.
Routines
Amplify CKLA California and Amplify ELA California include several structured instructional routines that provide predictable patterns for both teachers and students:
Discussion and collaboration routines:
- Turn and Talk: Partners discuss text-specific content using sentence starters and frames
- Think-Pair-Share: Students engage in individual thinking, partner discussion, and whole-class sharing
- Partner reading: Students sit shoulder-to-shoulder, taking turns reading and listening
Foundational Skills routines:
- Sound-spelling review: Warm-up activities that reinforce phonics patterns
- Oral blending warm-ups: Teacher-guided practice progressing to independent application
- Finger tapping: Techniques for blending sounds
- Chaining activities: Students manipulate letters to transform one word into another
- Word Work: Daily short activities focused on domain-specific and academic vocabulary
Knowledge-building routines:
- Vocabulary preview: Introduction of new words before reading
- Read-aloud procedures: Established routines for introducing and discussing complex texts
- Text discussions: Structured comprehension conversations with scaffolded questioning
Fluency routines:
- Teacher modeling: Demonstration of proper intonation, expression, and pacing
- Choral reading: Whole-class reading practice
- Partner reading: Paired fluency practice
Close reading routines
The program includes carefully structured close reading activities that guide students through multiple encounters with complex texts. These routines help students develop deeper comprehension through systematic analysis and discussion.
Each routine includes comprehensive instructional guides with clear-cut directions for implementation, straightforward explanations of concepts, and suggestions for discussion.
Category 3: Assessments
Systematic MTSS alignment
In alignment with the additional 2025 Guidance 3.1.a, the assessment systems align with MTSS tiers, including universal screening, diagnostic assessments for students demonstrating a need for additional support, and progress monitoring tools that complement California’s required universal screening schedule per SB 114.
| Tier 1: Universal/ differentiated support | Tier 2: Supplemental/ targeted support | Tier 3: Intensified/ intensive support | |
| Core instruction assessments Frequency of administration | Amplify CKLA California, Amplify ELA California assessments Daily, Weekly, Monthly | Amplify CKLA California, Amplify ELA California assessments Daily, Weekly, Monthly | Amplify CKLA California, Amplify ELA California assessments Daily, Weekly, Monthly |
| Universal screening assessments Frequency of administration | mCLASS DIBELS and mCLASS Lectura 3 times per year – BOY, MOY, EOY | mCLASS DIBELS and mCLASS Lectura 3 times per year – BOY, MOY, EOY | mCLASS DIBELS and mCLASS Lectura 3 times per year – BOY, MOY, EOY |
| Formal progress monitoring assessments Frequency of administration | mCLASS DIBELS and mCLASS Lectura 3 times per year – BOY, MOY, EOY | mCLASS DIBELS and mCLASS Lectura Monthly | mCLASS DIBELS and mCLASS Lectura Bi-weekly |
| Informal progress monitoring assessments Frequency of administration | Amplify CKLA California, Amplify ELA California core assessments Daily | Intervention Toolkit progress monitoring assessments When linked to a lesson in the toolkit | Intervention Toolkit progress monitoring assessments When linked to a lesson in the toolkit |
| Diagnostic assessment Frequency of administration | Amplify skill diagnostic assessment Optional after universal screening assessment is administered | Amplify skill diagnostic assessment After universal screening assessment is administered |
Universal assessment system
Amplify’s mCLASS® DIBELS® 8th Edition (K–8) and mCLASS Lectura (K–6) are universal and dyslexia screening assessments that should be administered three times per year (BOY, MOY and EOY) to all students. The assessments evaluate student literacy risk, determine progress toward grade-level goals, and indicate the level of instructional support a student may need. Beginning-of-year screenings require adequate instructional time before administration, particularly in grades K–1, while mid-year and end-of-year assessments evaluate instructional effectiveness and guide tier placement adjustments. These screenings also identify students at risk for dyslexia. Universal screening provides essential data for targeting instruction and measuring instructional system effectiveness.
Core instruction assessments
Amplify CKLA California and Amplify ELA California provide a comprehensive suite of assessments for Grades K–8 that range from low-stakes, informal formative assessments to more formal summative assessments. These assessments incorporate a variety of methods and question types, including multiple-choice questions, open-ended questions, and oral and written responses.
Formative assessments:
- Checks for Understanding: Incorporated into each lesson segment throughout daily instruction. Quick pulse-checks that provide immediate feedback during lesson delivery (grades K–5).
- Daily formative assessments: Highlighted moments within each lesson for teachers to plan to track mastery of Primary Focus objectives and standards of each lesson to get a clear snapshot of individual and whole-class progress (grades K–5).
- Activity pages: Completed as part of lessons and can be used to assess lesson content understanding through various formats (grades K–5).
- Exit Tickets: Located at the end of lessons, these provide a quick gauge of students’ ability to meet the lesson’s focus standards (grades 6–8).
- Writing Prompts: Prompts integrated throughout lessons during writing activities that provide skill snapshots within lessons and tracks patterns of skill development over time (grades 6–8).
- Independent reading activities (Solos): At the end of every lesson, students complete an independent reading activity (“Solo”) with reading questions that are scored to measure comprehension (grades 6–8).
Summative assessments:
- Skills end-of-unit assessments (grades K–2)
- Knowledge end-of-domain assessments (grades K–2)
- End-of-unit assessments (grades 3–5)
- Unit essays: A culminating end-of-unit set of lessons that guide students through crafting an essay with a rubric to score mastery of writing skills (grades 6–8)
- Unit Reading Assessments: Auto-scored responses and two constructed response items evaluate comprehension, content understanding, and reading skills using the passages students read during the unit (grades 6–8)
Performance Assessments
Student Performance Assessments are multi-day assessments administered in Grades K–5 at the beginning, middle, and end of year to help teachers gauge student mastery of grade-level Core content. These assessments provide critical data to help teachers set targeted instructional goals and monitor individual and class-wide progress towards core objectives.
Progress monitoring
Amplify’s mCLASS® DIBELS® 8th Edition and mCLASS Lectura provide formal progress monitoring in the discrete skills that are indicative of reading growth and predictive of overall success to provide the most instructionally meaningful information to teachers.
Informal progress monitoring tools can be found within the Intervention Toolkit, including materials for teachers to record, track, and evaluate student progress.
Diagnostic assessment
Interventions within Amplify’s literacy programs are informed by a skill diagnostic assessment that provides detailed data on foundational literacy skill deficits. The Amplify Skill Diagnostic Assessment and Amplify Spanish Skill Diagnostic assessment serve as critical tools in this process, administered specifically to students identified as at risk for reading difficulty through universal screening assessments—particularly those demonstrating mCLASS DIBELS 8th Edition or mCLASS Lectura composite scores in the Well Below or Below Benchmark ranges. These diagnostic assessments provide teachers with the precise skills to begin intervention and remediation.
Category 4: Universal Access
Amplify CKLA California and Amplify ELA California were built on the principles of Universal Design for Learning (UDL) and reviewed by CAST, a nonprofit education research and development organization. The program is developed using the Universal Design for Learning framework to proactively ensure that all learners can access and participate in meaningful, challenging learning opportunities.
Universal Design for Learning
The programs incorporate opportunities for engagement, representation, action, and expression based on the guidelines of Universal Design for Learning.
- Multiple Means of Engagement: The programs incorporate interesting and motivating ways for students to interact with information and content. In Amplify CKLA California, the Universal Access section in the introduction of each lesson provides specific lesson-level options based on the needs of individual classrooms and students. Scaffolding for students with various levels of need is incorporated into the design of each lesson.
- Multiple Means of Representation: The programs provide multiple means of presenting content to maximize student understanding. This includes digital component files that allow for a range of presentations of images and text to support learning. Amplify provides access to universal supports such as point-of-use audio for all core texts, embedded definitions for critical vocabulary, and glossaries in multiple languages. Amplify CKLA California includes clarification on language found throughout the program, with sidebars that include support on transition words and syntax, and illustrations to help students understand the concepts they are learning.
- Multiple Means of Action and Expression: The programs include a range of methods for all students, including English learners, to navigate and demonstrate learning. This includes physical actions, a range of methods for response, appropriate tools for composition, and varied scaffolding. In Amplify ELA California, lessons provide multiple ways for students to interact with text, allowing their brains to process the language through distinct pathways. Activities harness multiple learning modes, using media tools, digital apps, and a variety of visual and physical experiences to strategically support and enhance student learning.
- Accessibility: Universal access features include visual aids, enlarged materials, physical objects, and multiple learning modalities through activities like Push & Say and Wiggle Cards. The Universal Access section in the introduction of each lesson provides specific lesson-level options based on the needs of individual classrooms and students.
Embedded differentiation
Amplify CKLA California and Amplify ELA California provide built-in differentiation strategies in every lesson for all students.
- Pre-teaching supports include mini-lessons on:
- Core vocabulary building
- Core connections
- Essential background information building
- What Have We Already Learned?/What Do We Already Know?
- Differentiated Support for Core Instruction tables, located in the overview of each K–2 Skills Teacher Guide, provide a list of specific opportunities for reteaching and additional support in each lesson based on skill.
- Support and Challenge Sidebars in lesson margins offer educators immediate guidance in implementing point-of-use differentiation techniques.
- Flexible Grouping within lessons provides opportunities for teachers to facilitate small groups, partners, or individualized support based on students’ needs. In the Skills Strand, teachers receive specific guidance for differentiated small-group instruction, with targeted support and activities outlined for both Group 1 (students needing additional support) and Group 2 (on-level students) based on data.
- Amplify ELA California provides point-of-use supports embedded within key core lesson activities with six levels of differentiation. The goal of these supports is to fully enable access to grade-level content for all students, including students with disabilities, English learners, and students ready for an additional level of challenge.
- The Universal Access section of Advance Preparation in each lesson includes varied strategies to ensure all students can access and engage in each lesson.
- Frequent use of graphic organizers and visual supports in lessons provide opportunities for differentiation based on need. The program also includes a variety of technological supports, such as eReaders with audio.
- Extension opportunities are suggested throughout lessons, often embedded in writing tasks, which include prompts to use more complex and descriptive vocabulary, figurative language, multi-clause and complex sentences, and informational text characteristics.
Assessment-driven MTSS resources
- The K–8 Intervention Toolkit is available online and provides easy-to-use resources that assist teachers in filling gaps in students’ reading skills, with activities to support print concepts, phonological awareness, phonics, fluency, and other key skills
- Fluency Packets (Grades 2–5)
- Foundational Skills Intervention Program for Grades 3–8 support students who would benefit from direct and explicit intervention instruction in the full continuum of foundational skills in the upper grades
- Flexible Instructional Time including:
- Pausing Points built into the curriculum that provide teachers with dedicated time to address specific student needs through targeted reteaching, remediation, practice, and extension activities
- Pausing Point activities designed to support English learners’ competence and confidence through differentiated whole-group, small-group, or individual instruction
- Boost Reading is a K–5 student-led digital intervention program. Boost Reading follows Amplify CKLA California’s scope and sequence to reinforce the same foundational skills taught in core instruction. It integrates easily into daily routines, while the robust data provided by mCLASS® DIBELS® 8th Edition offers a detailed view of how students progress across all instructional tiers.
Category 5: Instructional Planning and Teacher Support
Amplify CKLA California and Amplify ELA California teachers are empowered to deliver effective instruction with various print and digital resources. The program provides comprehensive planning and support materials designed to help teachers prepare for and execute lessons effectively and fulfill the requirements of Category 5.
Implementation supports across K–8
Planning and preparation resources
- Unit Overviews that provide important background and context for the texts students will read, including highlighted elements within the text and guidance for how students will work with those elements
- Sub-unit Overviews (Grades 6–8) that provide an overview of Lesson Objectives and reading and writing assignments, as well as a list of any projections, multimedia, or digital apps that can be projected from the teacher’s included digital license
- Lesson-by-lesson preparation checklists (Grades 6–8) accompanying each Sub-unit Overview
- Lesson Briefs for each individual lesson providing important background and context
- Content knowledge materials regarding topics that students will examine
Point-of-use instructional guidance
- Teacher Editions that feature insets of the same text and activity instructions as the corresponding Student Edition, wrapping teacher instruction around these materials
- Activity guidance at point of use
- Lesson standards clearly called out
- Discussion suggestions embedded in lessons
- Differentiation tips at point of use
- Detailed Instructional Guides in each activity that include sequencing and grouping suggestions, tips for facilitating discussion, possible student responses and exemplars
- Student Supports in all core lessons provide teachers with targeted supports in daily core instruction, addressing which might serve the student best in the moment—support, strengthen, stretch—with additional call-outs for newcomers
Multimedia and digital support
- Teacher tip videos provide modeling and guidance for implementing key foundational skills routines within the program
- Digital platform access where teachers can access printable PDFs of differentiated support materials for English learners and readers struggling with text, including translated Unit Background and Context Documents and Text Previews
- Teacher Dashboard and reporting tools (Grade 6–8) that provide real-time visibility into student progress and work for immediate instructional response
Caregiver supports
Communication and overview resources
- Caregiver Hub available in English and Spanish that provides an overview of the curriculum
- Caregiver Letters for each K–2 Knowledge Domain and unit in Grades 3–5 that provide an overview of the content, the skills students learn, as well as practical methods that continue the learning and knowledge building at home
- Unit-specific Caregiver Letters (Grades 6–8) that provide detailed information regarding what students will read and learn in each unit, including conversation starters that allow caregivers to ask questions and discuss specific aspects of a unit with their student
- Welcome letters that explain the assessment and placement process while inviting parent involvement and offering support
- Editable Home-School Communication letters available in English and Spanish
- Editable Progress Reports for teachers to update parents and guardians on what their child is learning
Content and learning support materials
- Unit Background and Context documents that provide an introduction and overview to the unit’s topic and themes, available in English and Spanish
- Text Previews that provide a brief introduction to formative, independent reading assignments (called Solos in Grades 6–8), available in English and Spanish
- Unit Overview and Support documents (Grades 6–8) designed for caregivers that provide information about important questions, assignments, and key aspects of the unit texts, available in English and Spanish
- Conversation starters included in Knowledge Strand Caregiver Letters to discuss domain topics at home
Home practice and extension activities
- Take-Home pages in the Skills Strand that include copies of decodable passages, enabling students to share their reading progress with families and continue practicing their skills outside of school
- Take-Home Letters in the Skills Strand that provide specific guidance for parents to support skills practice at home, such as sound-sorting activities, with detailed instructions and materials for home practice activities
- Take-Home pages in the Knowledge Strand that provide suggested activities families can do together to reinforce and extend learning beyond the classroom
- Games and activities on Take-Home Pages that extend classroom instruction, including all the materials and instruction necessary to help families assist students in a fun and engaging way
- Digital access to decodable texts through the Amplify Caregiver Hub, allowing students to practice their reading skills both in class and at home
- Weekly spelling lists and directions to decoding activities that can be practiced at home
Winter Wrap-Up 02: Mathematizing Children’s Literature
While we’re hard at work producing the exciting fifth season of Math Teacher Lounge: The Podcast, we’re continuing to share some of our favorite conversations from our first four seasons. This time around, we’re revisiting our popular episode that connected literacy and math!
In this episode, we sit down with Allison Hintz and Antony Smith, authors of Mathematizing Children’s Literature, to talk about what would happen if we were to approach children’s literature, and life, through a math lens–and how we can apply those same techniques to classroom teaching!
Explore more from Math Teacher Lounge by visiting our main page.
Bethany Lockhart Johnson (00:02):
Hi, I’m Bethany Lockhart Johnson.
Dan Meyer (00:04):
Hi, I’m Dan Meyer.
Bethany Lockhart Johnson (00:05):
And we are so excited for another episode of Math Teacher Lounge. And as you know, podcast format; you’re listening now. I think one beautiful thing about the podcast format is that it gives us a little bit more time to have these rich conversations. And I promise I won’t do it, but I could talk to our guests for hours, hours! Authors Allison Hintz and Tony Smith have just released Mathematizing Children’s Literature: Sparking Connections, Joy, and Wonder Through Read-Alouds and Discussion. And today we get to talk to the authors. Allison, Tony, welcome. Welcome to the lounge.
Allison Hintz (00:53):
Thank you. We’re so grateful to be here.
Bethany Lockhart Johnson (00:55):
We’re so excited to have you here. And I wanna say that my very first—was it my first math conference? Maybe it was my first math conference—up in Seattle, the CGI conference, and I’m all like, you know, wide-eyed and just like, “Can this be a place for me, this math community?” Re-envisioning my relationship with math and thinking about myself as a math teacher, what? And I went to your session on mathematizing children’s literature, and I was just so fired up. I was so wowed by your ideas, your energy, and your passion for students’ thinking. And I feel like as I read this book, I felt like I was hanging out with you. Like you were just so encouraging all the way through. Of educators, of other folks working with young people, and really guiding us how to listen with joy and with an open curious mind.
Dan Meyer (02:03):
Yeah. I would love to hear a bit about the genesis of this book for you folks. Like, I’m coming at this from a secondary educator lens. I’ve got small kids, so that’s also part of my interest here. But I love any book, any idea that seeks to merge what seems like two disparate worlds. Like it’s often the case that we feel like, well, there’s approaches for ELA and approaches for math, and they’re kind of separate disciplines. And these poor elementary teachers have to learn all of them and be experts at all of them. And here you both come along and say, “Hey, what if they are the same kind of technique?” Can you just speak to how this came about?
Allison Hintz (02:38):
Definitely. Tony, do you wanna take a try? Do you want me to start us off?
Antony Smith (02:42):
I can start. We oftentimes present and talk together and so we kinda switch back and forth. So that’s just how we are. So probably about eight or nine years ago, Allison and I, our offices were next to each other on our small campus. We’re both professors and we just happened to have a few children’s books that we looked at together and we were just thumbing through the pages. We really liked children’s literature. And we noticed that I would stop at certain points wondering about character motive or plot or sequence of events or language use. And Allison would stop at very different points in the book and notice number and concepts or something about mathematics. And that’s when we started to wonder, what would it be like if we were sharing a children’s book with a group of children and we put our ideas together? Where would we stop? What would we talk about? What would we ask children about in terms of their thinking and what they notice?
Allison Hintz (03:42):
And so we started playing with these questions that we had and started approaching stories with multiple lenses to see what kinds of things would children notice and what kinds of things might they say. And we were also on our own journey in trying to understand how to plan for and facilitate lively discussions and classrooms that surface really complex mathematics. And it felt like stories were a place where that might be a fruitful context for hearing children’s thinking. We’ve worked with a lot of teachers and students in our region. We live in the Seattle area and we’ve applied for some funding over time that’s really helped us be in a lot of community-based organizations and educational contexts and libraries and pediatricians’ offices and classrooms, various classrooms, and see what’s interesting about this and what might teachers and children do with stories that would surface complex mathematics to think about together.
Antony Smith (04:41):
Over time, we came to the realization that if we wanted to hear children’s ideas, we had to stop bombarding them with questions. <laugh> Yeah. And at first it made it worse that we were asking them math and literacy questions at the same time. And so we realized that what we needed to do was to back off and to ask children what they noticed and wondered.
Bethany Lockhart Johnson (05:01):
Can you say more about that and how that kind of evolved into mathematizing children’s literature?
Antony Smith (05:07):
We did work with a number of very thoughtful, talented classroom teachers and children’s librarians in public library systems who were just so masterful at asking open-ended prompts and questions, rather than kind of like the de facto reading quiz, that a read-aloud can become, which I’ve always disliked as a literacy educator. And we realized in our observing these read-alouds or interactive read-alouds or shared reading experiences that given the opportunity in the space and an adult who was actually listening, that children came up with all of the ideas we would have asked them about and more. So we didn’t have to be bombarding them with questions. They were already much more thoughtful than what would’ve been sufficient to answer our questions.
Allison Hintz (05:58):
And much like mathematics, it was really an iterative process. You know, we had some clunky read-aloud discussions where we were trying to accomplish so much and toggling multiple chart papers and different colored pens and all sorts of “how do we capture these ideas” and “do we separate ’em? do we keep ’em together?” And so it’s really been over time that with partners, we’ve learned these ways of having multiple reads of the same story that allow us to hear what children notice and wonder, and then to delve more deeply into their questions and their ideas through multiple reads where we might spotlight literary ideas that they notice; we might spotlight mathematical ideas that they notice. We might make purposeful integrations between those. But we found it to be most productive—and Kristin Gray really help us think about this—to have an open Notice and Wonder, get everything out much like an open-strategy share. We welcome here, record all the ideas, and it goes all over everywhere. You know, it can be a really not math-y noticing! And those are amazing! So there’s a lot of, um, yes, there is a ladybug on this page! The grandma is wearing green triangle earrings! Oh, your grandma wears green earrings! I mean, it all comes out.
Bethany Lockhart Johnson (07:27):
Wait, have you been in my classroom? ‘Cause that’s exactly— <laugh>
Allison Hintz (07:29):
<laugh> And then, you know, we think of it a lot like if math teachers might use the 5 Practices for selecting and sequencing, or if you might move from an open-strategy share to a targeted share, how can we get out all the questions that children are asking and then step back from them, take some time to really think about what they’re telling us they’re curious about, and plan some purposeful, intentional subsequent discussions that can delve more deeply into their ideas.
Dan Meyer (08:02):
I’d love to go into that a little bit more if that’s all right. Um, I’m gonna speak from someone who doesn’t have an elementary background and I’m gonna voice some worries that I had, some anxiety. One anxiety I have like in a classroom or a curriculum is when there’s no room for student ideas. Right? When it’s like, oh, there’s just room for the curriculum author or the teacher here. That is a sadness. But I when I see an instructional environment like you’re describing here, where there is openness to all kinds of different student ideas, of different levels of formality, from different kinds of cultural fonts of knowledge or wherever, I also get a little bit nervous because that, like, increases the risk that a student might come to understand that “my ideas are not good enough,” whereas in the class with no room for their ideas from their home or their language or their hobbies, like, they’re not gonna internalize the message that, “that wasn’t good enough.” And so I’m really curious as you move from the open Notice and Wonder where kids share all of themselves with you, and then you move to a targeted focus on some sort of disciplinary objective, how do you navigate that tension and help students feel like their contributions are valuable, even though we aren’t taking them up per se?
Allison Hintz (09:18):
That’s such an important question. I mean, I think we’ve grappled with this broadly in math education. I think any time we’re thinking about which ideas we choose to take up to pursue to consider, we have a responsibility to think carefully about whose ideas are being taken up and heard and considered. And so one of the tensions I hear you naming, I think, Dan, is when we engage in lively discussion where children’s thinking’s at the center, how do we make sure to upend and interrupt kinda status norms that run the risk of being deepened? Um, and I think by paying attention to whose ideas are taken up as much as which ideas are taken up, and what’s the mathematics we wanna explore is one tension. Um, another tension I might hear you naming is, you know, the complications that teachers face with time and pressure and coverage, and which mathematics ends up getting worked on. And, um, you know, it’s something we’ve really had to struggle with in mathematics education, where we move to more discussion-oriented classrooms that are really centered in sense-making to know that it takes a lot of time to do this thoughtful, thoughtful work. Um, does that begin to get at some of the tensions you’re raising? Is there, is there more you’re thinking about?
Dan Meyer (10:53):
I think it’s really helpful that you kind of broadened the scope of the question beyond your book to “this is an issue that we are, you know, really challenged by and focused on broadly in math education.” And, um, I appreciate you bringing the element in of whose idea—not just which idea is taken up, but whose idea is taken up—is an opportunity where, let’s say, multiple people raise an idea that is towards an objective the teacher has, they have the opportunity to disrupt certain kinds of status, like ideas about status, in that moment. From your perspective, like, are there techniques to say, I don’t know, parking-lot certain kinds of questions and say like, “Hey, like these are awesome”? I don’t know. I just know that I see kids at like ninth grade. They are very reticent, often. They’ve internalized totally this sense of like, “I’m not gonna just, like, share about the pants the grandma’s wearing, you know; that will not be received well.” And so I’m just kinda wondering how that happens and like, what are the ways we can disrupt that? That process?
Antony Smith (11:54):
So thinking about that, Dan, from the teacher’s perspective, in those kinds of scenarios where you wanna honor each child’s contribution, a couple of things that come to mind: One is that by, you know, initially by modeling what I as a teacher, something that I notice or wonder about, helps kind of set the expectation for what kind of response would be encouraged. And it’s broad, but it gives an example. And then also we really try to record or to chart all of the ideas that are shared so that we can revisit and honor those together. And then either later or on another day, if we choose one or two of those to explore in some way within a more focused read, then another thing that we do is have the idea investigation afterward that continues that thought, but goes back to being as open-ended as possible, so that those students or children who maybe didn’t have their idea as the one that was focused on by the group could go back to that or explore some other idea of their own, so that the idea investigation isn’t a lockstep extension activity, which is why we don’t call it that. So they could again bring in their own perspective. But I have to say from the teacher’s point of view, there is that moment of potential panic <laugh> because there is that power transfer when you’re asking children to help steer where this is going. And if you really mean it, you have to let them steer a little bit. And that can be terrifying. And, um, I always think of one teacher, Ashley, we worked with who read an adorable book, Stack the Cats, by Susie Ghahremani. And in that book, there’s a point where there are eight cats and they’re kind of trying to be a tower of cats and they fall and they’re sort of in the air on that page. And she asked her first graders—she stopped, and she asked, “How, do you think, how will the cats land?” And for about a minute and a half, the entire <laugh> class, was silent. They had their little papers; they had chart paper; they had clipboards; they had everything they needed. But that unusual phenomenon of a group of six- and seven-year-olds actually just sitting and thinking and not being peppered with activities was really stressful, but amazing. And then, after about the 90 seconds, they started out into their exploration of how the eight cats might land. They just needed a minute to think. And it’s so rare that we’re able to let children have that.
Allison Hintz (14:40):
In that same moment, Ashley, who’s a learning partner to us, she turned to us kind of quietly, like, “Should I pose a different question?” And <laugh>, we’re like, “No, let’s stick with it. Let’s see what happens.” So I think it creates this space too, this thinking culture, right? And this culture of “what does that mean to really pose a rich task?That’s open-ended, where there’s multiple access points?” Those eight cats could land in so many different ways. And there was broad access, there was a wide range of all the cats landing, and one’s on their feet, ’cause cats always land on their feet <laugh>, and there was every combination. And so, um, I think what’s really interesting—and to me, this brings back to your wonder, Dan—is, you know, “What’s the risk in openness?” And there’s always risk in openness. Um, it’s scary as a teacher, right? If I’m not the authority of knowledge and I don’t have control over where we’re gonna go, it might get into places that I didn’t anticipate. Or I don’t really feel as solid in the math as I want to. Or I don’t know what it sounds like to stick with silence and wait time, to know if my students are really in productive struggle or if that question was a flop. And so, um, I think this is some practice space for young mathematicians and teachers of mathematics, and just teachers, to explore with that openness and kind of the risk of the openness required for complex thinking to emerge.
Bethany Lockhart Johnson (16:12):
You know, it feels like the way you’re both describing this, it really is a culture shift, right? I kept feeling like I was given permission to be a beginner as I read this book. Like I was really…I loved how you said, I believe it was you, Allison, when you were in the class, you had a couple index card that you kept on your clipboard and that as you walked around, you were like, “Hey, if I don’t know what to ask, I ask one of these questions.” You know? And just this idea that, that, like Dan was saying, there is that loss of control, but that’s also a way to create this culture where students ideas are valued and we are allowing students to really generate the questions, which I thought was such an important idea to explore.
Allison Hintz (17:00):
We started this work long ago, super-excited about math-y books. And we saw a lot of potential in them and we still do. But the limitation we saw is that math-y books, they, they put forth a certain mathematics to be curious about. In some ways they tell you what mathematics to think about. So we started asking ourselves what would happen if we considered any story a chance to engage as mathematical sense-makers. And we started playing with non-math-y books and we got to a place where we could consider every story an opportunity to engage in mathematical thinking. And so we started noticing things over times, oh, these books tend to be really math-y. We call those text-dependent. We’d have to pay attention to the mathematics to understand the story. Whereas this pile of stories, these, they’re not overtly math-y. You could really enjoy the story and not pay attention to mathematics and have an amazing conversation. But what would happen if we thought of about this story as mathematical sense-makers and how might it deepen our understanding of the story? And then this other teetering pile of books, these are books where, you know, children didn’t tend to engage as overtly as mathematicians in it, but there’s opportunities in this story to go back to something—to a moment, to an illustration, to a comment—and think as mathematicians. And those were more about illustration exploring. And so, as we notice these different kinds of books, we really broaden what we thought about. And I think one of the things we really wanna think about in community through this book is what happens if we approach any story, every story, as mathematical sense-makers, because stories are alive in children’s lives, in homes and communities and in schools. And it’s a broad opportunity that we wanna take up. I was thinking, as I stay in this strait for just a moment about book selection, before we move into that process, um, Bethany in a previous MTL, you talked about representation.
Bethany Lockhart Johnson (19:12):
Mm, yeah.
Allison Hintz (19:14):
And do you remember when you shared the image of hair braiding?
Bethany Lockhart Johnson (19:19):
Yes. Vividly, yes. <laugh>.
Allison Hintz (19:22):
Yeah. And can you say just what that meant to you? What that….
Bethany Lockhart Johnson (19:27):
Yeah. Well, it was from a conference; Sunil Singh had used it and was talking about the artistry in mathematics and beauty in hair braiding. And, um, particularly, he was showing this particular image of this Black woman with her hair braided in profile and looking at the angles and the symmetry. And I shared that, you know, I spent so many hours in the beauty shop with my aunties and my mom and my grandma and continue to, to this day, that it just, it struck me immediately as familiar. And it struck me immediately as seeing an image that was reflective of my lived reality, projected as valuable and worthwhile for consideration in the world of mathematics. Which is not what I felt as a student of mathematics as a young adult or child. So it was this beautiful moment of, for me, the power of when we see images and we allow opportunities for re-envisioning what may be a common practice for that student, or may be something that they see every day.
Allison Hintz (20:44):
And in that same way, that image that was put up, we wanna think really carefully about representation in the stories that we select. And when we think of stories as mirrors or windows, we really wanna be mindful in story selection of whose stories are told and whose stories are heard. And when you said that you would sit down to listen to a story and you felt at ease or that you saw an image and you saw yourself that can be and should be something we really think carefully about when we select the stories that we select.
Dan Meyer (21:21):
It’s a wider path for representation of different kinds of people in literature, because people’s stories seem so much more present and towards the surface of their lives, versus, say, the abstractions and numbers and shapes in mathematics. It feels like more of a struggle to find ways to show people, hey, like you’re here, this, this place belongs to you. So in all these reasons, I think it’s really great you folks are using literature, which has this history of humanities, literally humanities, as a vehicle for mathematics. That seems pretty special here.
Antony Smith (21:56):
We both go to libraries and bookstores and look through books as often as we can, but also our partner, a children’s librarian, Mie-Mie Wu, helped us go through—when we would meet, she would bring three or four hundred books at a time.
Bethany Lockhart Johnson (22:13):
When you described her wheeling in the cart, oh, I wish I been in that room! <Laugh>
Antony Smith (22:18):
And the cart was, you know, probably three or four times bigger than she was sometimes. And we would go through hundreds of books and look at them and listen to her thoughts as a skilled librarian sharing with families, diverse families, and what catches the attention of a three-year-old sitting with her grandfather. And that was really a valuable, helpful experience. And it’s a partnership that continues. So in Last Stop on Market Street—and this is in the book; we talk about this, this children’s book quite a bit—in this story, CJ with his Nana, his grandmother, are riding the bus to the last stop on Market Street in San Francisco, to go, as we will find out, to help serve in a soup kitchen to help the community. And the teacher, Susan Hadreas, had the children record their ideas. She charted them in an open Notice and Wonder read. And one of the ideas that a young boy noticed was that CJ on the bus…a man with a guitar starts playing the guitar on the bus and CJ closes his eyes and it says CJ’s chest grew full. And he was lost in the sound and the sound gave him the feeling of magic. So this boy said, “I wonder, what does that feel like if you’re feeling the magic? What’s that?” And that was one of many ideas in the open Notice and Wonder, and Allison will talk about the math lens read, but first Susan went back and read with them. She had that idea, she circled it on the chart paper, and another day that week, she said, let’s go back and visit this story we really liked. And remember, we wondered what feeling the magic was like. Let’s go back through and let’s keep track of all the feelings and emotions that CJ had across the journey to the soup kitchen in this book. And so they did another read of the story; they were very familiar with it, of course, but they noticed new things and they also, every few pages, stopped and she helped chart all of the emotions that CJ experienced from envy to excitement to sadness. There’s a huge range in this book. And it was fascinating.
Allison Hintz (24:36):
I think one of the things that the children noticed was that CJ’s feelings were shaped by community. And that he shaped and shaped…he was shaped by and helped shape his community. And so the ways that he felt across the story were impacted by the other characters that he comes across. The guitar man on the bus. The bus driver who can pull a coin out from behind someone’s ear. The lady with the butterflies in the jar. Nana helping him to see the rainbow. And the students started, you know, being curious about that. How do we shape and how are we shaped by community? What communities are we a part of? This class is one community. I’m in many communities across my life. And they started to quantify the number of people in the story. So Mrs. Hedreas went back for a math lens read, and she said, let’s just keep track of and pay attention to how many people are in CJ’s life in this day. Because I can hear you starting to think about quantity. This class at the same time in other areas of the day had been working on counting collections, how to keep track, so they got out their tools. Some people pulled out ten frames, some people pulled out clipboards. They had a wide range of things they could use to help them keep track. They developed their own strategy, keep track however you want. She did a quicker read through it, flipping the pages, and then they get into these debates: <laugh> “We already counted that person!” “But they took their hat off and put it down to collect money!
Antony Smith (26:10):
“What about the dog?”
Allison Hintz (26:11):
“That’s the same person!” “Yeah, there’s a dog pound in his community!” <laugh> “Do animals count in our community?”
Bethany Lockhart Johnson (26:17):
I love it!
Allison Hintz (26:17):
“Yes, they count!” Uh, and so we went through and quantified and there was really this understanding as you saw these people throughout the story that communities can be of different sizes, but community has impact. And you have responsibility in your community to show up and to lean in and to know that bringing your full, authentic, vulnerable self, you shape people and they shape you. And what communities are people a part of. And it turned into this really interesting discussion about quantity and helped us think more about quantity and community. I think a really important moment for us and for that class was the transition from being people who almost did mathematics to a story, like counted things on a page, um, count acorns on a page in an autumn book, to being mathematicians who thought within the story.
Antony Smith (27:17):
And then two idea investigations that came from that —not at the same time, of course, but with the same group of children—one was they identified an emotion of their own and wrote and drew about that. And also, who helped them address or get out of or acknowledge that emotion. And then the other idea investigation was that all of the children drew or kind of mapped out a community that they were part of. Whether it was their neighborhood or their classroom or their soccer team or whatever it was. And so then those investigations strengthened the connections of those concepts to the lives of those children.
Bethany Lockhart Johnson (28:05):
Well, I, actually wanted to ask you about idea investigations. Because I feel like that was such an important invitation in your book. And the way I understood the idea investigation is you’re really paying attention to what’s coming up in your other reads. Right? And then these are opportunities to extend the thinking, or like you said, to extend a particular aspect: What’s your community? Can we map your community? Or what’s a particular emotion? And it was in such contrast to what I think I have probably done in my classroom more than once, which was like, “Oh, we read this story about seals. So now my story problem is gonna be about seals, right? <laugh> Like in the story, you know, Jojo, the seal had five balls. <laugh> So if Jojo still had five balls and two of them bounced away…” You know, or whatever. Right? But that’s not what an idea investigation is. Right?
Allison Hintz (29:03):
Yeah. I think this is where we also had some stumbles and can totally relate to what you’re saying as previous classroom teachers as well. We have come to a place where we are pretty in favor of a super open-ended idea investigation that takes up the things that have surfaced in the multiple reads and making sure it’s a rich task with many, many ways children can engage with that. There’s many, many, many right answers or ways to engage. Less is more there. So we moved way away from, like, even a worksheet that might have an idea from it to blank paper and math tools and places to get into some productive struggle around some of the complex things that were raised.
Antony Smith (29:59):
A challenge with worksheets is that they put a frame around children’s ideas. So either there are only three lines to write on, or there’s only a small box to draw in. Whereas a blank page really opens up the possibility. Um, and so—is it Ann Jonas who wrote Splash!? sorry, I don’t have it in front of me—the book Splash!, about animals that end up in and out of the pond, including a cat that is not happy about ending up in the pond, an idea investigation after that for very young children was, with the list of the different creatures displayed at the front of the room: On blank paper, hey, draw your own pond and decide how many of which and each type of animal you want in your pond and then write about it. Just on blank paper. And so that allowed some children to draw, like, three giant goldfish. But other children drew 17 frogs and three cats. And, and just, it lets children follow—
Bethany Lockhart Johnson (31:02):
It was theirs, right? It was theirs.
Antony Smith (31:04):
Their idea. <laugh> And that comes partly from, I think, as Allison mentioned, we both were classroom teachers before moving into academia. And I remember giving children worksheets, particularly math worksheets, where they weren’t necessarily bad, but right at the bottom, it says like, explain your strategy. And it gives two lines.
Bethany Lockhart Johnson (31:23):
Right! <laugh>
Antony Smith (31:25):
The only thing a seven-year-old can write there is “I thought.” Or “I solved it.” <laugh> And that’s not where we need to go.
Dan Meyer (31:34):
Yeah. If I could just ask the indulgence of the primary crowd here, like, I’m trying to make sense of all this. And I just wanna like, offer my perspective. My summary statement of what’s going on here. I’m trying to—I love how you both came here—
Bethany Lockhart Johnson (31:45):
<laughs> How ya doin’, Dan? How ya doin’?
Dan Meyer (31:47):
<laughs> I’m, ah, A, I’m loving this a lot. Um, B, I came in here loving how you folks are broadening the work of primary education to kind of find commonalities between these sometimes seemingly disparate kinds of teaching in ELA and math. Love that, I wanna say. But I think you folks are describing, with all these teachers you observed and your own work, is the work of attaching meaning to what students might not realize yet has meaning. Or they might think it only has one kind of meaning. But you, the teacher, with their knowledge, realizes that there are many more dimensions of meaning that can be attached to those thoughts. And I’m hearing that from you folks, when you describe A, what math is and the power of a teacher to name a thing as mathematical. Like, “Oh, you didn’t think math was that, but math is noticing; math is wondering; math is asking questions,” for one. But also this work you’re describing of how, like, first the task has to invite lots of student thoughts and then to say like, “Oh, I see that there’s a similarity to these two.” And to raise those up for a conversation or to ask a question like to extend one person’s, one student’s question a little bit more. But it’s always…I’m just hearing you folks attaching more meaning than the student might have originally thought. I appreciate the conversation. That’s really interesting.
Bethany Lockhart Johnson (33:03):
Well, and now that the book is out, I think it’s gonna keep evolving, right? Now that it’s gonna be in the hands of teachers and librarians and educators and caregivers, it’s exciting to see kind of where it goes next. Which actually brings us to our MTL challenge. Dan Meyer, do you wanna share?
Dan Meyer (33:22):
Math Teacher Lounge, we have a challenge for the folks who listen and we’d love for them to hop into the Facebook group Math Teacher Lounge, or hit us up on Twitter at @MTLShow and just, like, kind of exercise beyond listening, exercise the ideas you folks are talking about, some kind of a challenge that can help us dive deeper into your ideas. So what would you folks suggest for our crowd, for our listeners?
Allison Hintz (33:42):
I would love to invite people to playfully experiment with a favorite story, with a story that’s new to you. I would love to invite listeners to sit with a story maybe on your own, and just ask yourself as a mathematician: What do you notice and wonder in this story? Don’t feel any pressure. Maybe sit with a child or some children and listen to what they notice and wonder. Like, really listen! Don’t ask questions! But hear their questions and place children at the center and consider multiple reads. Consider continuing to pursue their questions. And we have a planning template that might support people in kind of sketching out some ideas if you’re open to playing with that too.
Bethany Lockhart Johnson (34:34):
And we will post—
Dan Meyer (34:36):
That’s awesome.
Bethany Lockhart Johnson (34:36):
—a link for that planning template in our Facebook group and on Twitter as well. So thank you so much for that resource, because I think it’ll definitely help. It could help you, like you said, it could help you kind of organize your thoughts or help you think about this work in a new way. So thank you for that resource and thank you for the amazing resource that is Mathematizing Children’s Literature. I am so excited to continue to engage with you both and with listeners as they dive into this book. If folks want to engage with you more, where can they find you? How can they reach you?
Allison Hintz (35:12):
Well, we’re on Twitter.
Bethany Lockhart Johnson (35:14):
Great.
Dan Meyer (35:15):
What’s your home address? <laugh>
Bethany Lockhart Johnson (35:24):
Wait, let me try that again. <laugh> ‘Cause it does sound like I’m like, <fake ominous voice> “Where can they find you?”
Allison Hintz (35:29):
4-2-5…. <laughs>
Antony Smith (35:32):
At the bookstore!
Bethany Lockhart Johnson (35:34):
Y’all, if folks want to continue this conversation or share these ideas or the math challenge, how can they tag you? How can they, they reach you on the World Wide Web, besides the Math Teacher Lounge Facebook group?
Antony Smith (35:50):
Yeah. Well, we are both on Twitter, and we’ve been trying to promote the hashtag #MathematizingChildrensLiterature. It’s very long, but once you type it once, your phone or computer…
Bethany Lockhart Johnson (36:01):
Easy. Yeah, those click, right? Is that what it is now?
Antony Smith (36:03):
<laugh> The other is that we do for our project, we have an Instagram account that is @MathematizeChildren’sLiterature.
Allison Hintz (36:11):
We care really deeply about hearing from people. You know, we think our ideas are constantly evolving and that there’s such exciting room to grow. And we just felt compelled to share what we were learning now so that together we could learn and build vibrant experiences for young children and teachers and families through stories. So we want to hear from people! We wanna learn about stories that are important in your lives and what children say, and grow these ideas together.
Bethany Lockhart Johnson (36:42):
And credit to Dan, you told me you went and ordered a bunch of the books they have on the suggested read list.
Dan Meyer (36:48):
Oh my gosh.
Bethany Lockhart Johnson (36:49):
You read ’em to your son.
Dan Meyer (36:50):
I got such a side-eye from my significant others around here for what I dropped on Amazon in one night! <laugh> Uh, all these books I didn’t have. Some of them I did. We are not fully illiterate around here! We do love the written word at the Meyer household! But there were a bunch that that I grabbed. I’m morseling them out day by day.
Bethany Lockhart Johnson (37:09):
Wait, at bedtime I read my one-year-old One Is a Snail, Ten Is a Crab. <laugh> And let me tell you, he had vigorous pointing and “Da? Da da da da?”
Allison Hintz (37:22):
<laugh> Aww, da da!
Bethany Lockhart Johnson (37:22):
So hey, we’re on the road. <laugh> <music> Deeply grateful, not only for your work and your beautiful book and your work, but also for the invitation to dive into the world of children’s literature in a way that many of us have not before. And it’s fun! Thank you, Tony. And thank you, Allison. And thanks for hanging out in the lounge.
Allison Hintz (37:48):
Thanks for having the lounge!
Antony Smith (37:49):
It’s been fun!
Allison Hintz (37:52):
Thank you both.
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Meet the guest
Allison B. Hintz: Dr. Hintz’s research and teaching are in the area of mathematics education. Her focus on mathematics came about during her years as a fifth grade teacher – it was alongside her students that she developed her own positive identity as a mathematician! Today she studies teaching and learning, specifically facilitating engaging discussion. Her research and teaching happen in partnership with educators and children in formal and informal settings and focuses on beliefs and practices that support all children in lively mathematics learning. She is a co-author, with Elham Kazemi, of Intentional Talk: How to Structure and Lead Productive Mathematical Discussions.
Twitter: @allisonhintz124
Antony T. Smith: Antony T. Smith is an associate professor of literacy education at the University of Washington, Bothell. He works alongside teachers to create engaging literacy-mathematics learning experiences through exploring and discussing children’s literature. He is committed to the concepts of motivation, engagement, challenge, and creativity in literacy teaching and learning.
Twitter: @smithant Instagram: mathematizechildrensliterature
About Math Teacher Lounge: The podcast
Math Teacher Lounge is a biweekly podcast created specifically for K–12 math educators. In each episode co-hosts Bethany Lockhart Johnson (@lockhartedu) and Dan Meyer (@ddmeyer) chat with guests, taking a deep dive into the math and educational topics you care about.
Join the Math Teacher Lounge Facebook group to continue the conversation, view exclusive content, interact with fellow educators, participate in giveaways, and more!
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[Reviewer program navigation video] Grades K–5
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Category 1: English Language Arts (ELA) and English Language Development (ELD) content/alignment to standards
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Category 2: Program organization
Amplify California Language Arts’ biliteracy program is a comprehensive curriculum provides a full year of evidence-based instruction for each grade level, with both integrated and designated English Language Development instruction designed to give multilingual/English learners the tools to thrive. Amplify’s biliteracy program for grades K–6 includes:
- Core English language arts instruction: Amplify Core Knowledge Language Arts (CKLA) California (grades K–5) and Amplify ELA California (grade 6) covering knowledge building and foundational skills.
- Provides upper grade foundational skills instruction for grades 3–6.
- Core Spanish language arts instruction: Amplify Caminos California, a fully parallel SLA program that works in tandem with English core instruction across all grades.
- Provides upper grade foundational skills instruction for grades 3–6.
- Designated English Language Development: Language Studio California is the designated English Language Development companion that directly aligns with and supports core English instruction.
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Program structure
Amplify’s California Language Arts programs are built on what the research shows: Strong readers need both word recognition and language comprehension. Our comprehensive curriculum suite follows the Simple View of Reading bringing together foundational skills and knowledge building to deliver instruction grounded in the Science of Reading.
This model is integral to the structure of the Amplify biliteracy program, which directly aligns with the CA CCSS ELA and ELD standards by combining rigorous decoding and skills instruction with research-based knowledge and language development instruction. In its early grades, the Amplify biliteracy program uses a two-strand structure—Skills/Lectoescritura and Knowledge/Conocimiento—to effectively address this learning challenge while meeting standards expectations for both language development and academic content mastery.
[Reviewer highlight video] Program organization for Category 2
[Reviewer highlight video] Program structure for grades K–2
[Reviewer highlight video] Program structure for grades 3–5
[Reviewer highlight video] Program structure for grade 6
Amplify Caminos California lessons are designed to allow all students time to work toward learning objectives, including peer collaboration and discussion. Since each lesson activity is aligned to subsequent activities, students’ understanding and analysis develops progressively throughout the lesson.
Each lesson follows a predictable structure with clearly marked components, beginning with warm-up routines, progressing through explicit instruction with guided practice, and concluding with independent application activities. The program provides detailed teacher language, including question stems and discussion prompts, ensuring clear and consistent delivery of instruction.
Amplify CKLA California and Amplify Caminos California empower teachers to deliver effective instruction and keep students engaged with the following resources:
- Teacher Guides
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- Poet’s Journals
- eReaders
- Sound Library featuring articulation videos and songs
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Amplify ELA California students stay engaged with the following resources:
- Teacher Guides that include:
- Detailed lesson plans
- Standards alignment and exit tickets
- Real-time differentiation strategies
- Robust reporting
- Student Editions that include:
- High-quality narrative and informational texts
- Videos, audio supports, and digital experiences that capture their attention
- Personal Writing Journal to keep all student writing in one place
- Dedicated ELD support with Language Studio California
- Trade books
Core literacy philosophy
Support every learner. Meet all learning needs with a Multi-Tiered System of Supports (MTSS) that brings together universal screening, scaffolded core instruction, support for multilingual/English learners, and data-driven intervention to ensure every student gets what they need to succeed.
Deliver consistent foundational skills instruction. Daily explicit, systematic skills instruction in grades K–2, with targeted yet flexible support for students still building decoding confidence in grades 3–6, ensures mastery of essential reading foundations.
Build lasting knowledge across all grades. Through coherently sequenced, content-rich instruction that revisits key vocabulary and concepts with increasing complexity, students build meaningful connections that deepen their vocabulary and reading comprehension.
Strengthen reading through writing at every level. Regular writing instruction grounded in the Science of Writing supports reading comprehension, improves sentence-level writing, and provides the foundation for high-quality composition. As students progress through the upper grades, they engage in increasingly complex analytical tasks—synthesizing ideas, drawing generalizations, and interpreting multiple textual layers through both focused quick-writes and comprehensive essays.
Foster oral language development. Structured opportunities for academic conversation and evidence-based dialogue build students’ ability to express complex ideas with precision and allow them to participate confidently in classroom discussions.
Measure growth with comprehensive assessments. Assessments range from in-the-moment checks for understanding to summative assessments that measure progress toward skills mastery and standards proficiency, providing the data needed to drive targeted instruction.
Scope and sequence
Below you can view the scope and sequence documents for each grade level.
- Kindergarten
- Grade 1
- Grade 2
- Grade 3
- Grade 4
- Grade 5
- Grade 6
- Newcomer Support Grades K–6
Routines
Amplify CKLA California, Amplify Caminos California, and Amplify ELA California include several structured instructional routines that provide predictable patterns for both teachers and students:
Discussion and collaboration routines:
- Turn and Talk: Partners discuss text-specific content using sentence starters and frames
- Think-Pair-Share: Students engage in individual thinking, partner discussion, and whole-class sharing
- Partner reading: Students sit shoulder-to-shoulder, taking turns reading and listening
Foundational Skills routines:
- Sound-spelling review: Warm-up activities that reinforce phonics patterns
- Oral blending warm-ups: Teacher-guided practice progressing to independent application
- Finger-tapping: Techniques for blending sounds
- Chaining activities: Students manipulate letters to transform one word into another
- Word Work: Daily short activities focused on domain-specific and academic vocabulary
Knowledge-building routines:
- Teacher modeling: Demonstration of proper intonation, expression, and pacing
- Choral reading: Whole-class reading practice
- Partner reading: Paired fluency practice
Close reading routines
The program includes carefully structured close reading activities that guide students through multiple encounters with complex texts. These routines help students develop deeper comprehension through systematic analysis and discussion.
Each routine includes comprehensive instructional guides with clear-cut directions for implementation, straightforward explanations of concepts, and suggestions for discussion.
Cross-Linguistic Transfer routines
The Cross-Linguistic Transfer (CLT) routines are easy-to-implement, 10–15 minute mini-lessons designed to help bridge English and Spanish literacy and language development. These structured routines are organized by grade bands for K–2, grades 3–5 and grade 6, covering five skill areas:
- Oral language
- Reading
- Vocabulary
- Language
- Writing
[Reviewer highlight video] Amplify’s program alignment to Cross-Linguistic Transfer criteria
Designated English Language Development materials
Language Studio California is a K–8 content-based companion for English language learners. Built on Amplify CKLA California and Amplify ELA California’s carefully sequenced Knowledge Domains, it combines engaging content knowledge with targeted supports and research-based strategies to help students move swiftly toward language proficiency. This program includes:
- Real-world content to provide authentic opportunities to practice reading, writing, speaking, and listening.
- Scaffolding strategies and differentiated instruction to offer targeted support along five English proficiency levels.
- Progress monitoring tools to help teachers provide consistent and effective support.
- Teacher Guides that:
- Provide impactful progress monitoring tools including formative and summative assessments, and Language Proficiency Assessment rubrics.
- Offer varied differentiation strategies including Support, Challenge, and Access supports in each lesson segment.
- Are organized into thoughtful lesson segments—Talk Time, Building Background, On Stage and more—that make learning objectives concrete.
- Activities that:
- Expand on domain knowledge from core content and read-alouds and prompt collaborative conversation to practice oral fluency.
- Support hands-on language activities to promote authentic interaction in the classroom.
- Help students bridge experiences and knowledge with images, vocabulary activities, graphic organizers, anticipation guides, writing space, and more.
Category 3: Assessments
Systematic MTSS alignment
In alignment with the additional 2025 Guidance 3.1.a, the assessment systems align with MTSS tiers, including universal screening, diagnostic assessments for students demonstrating a need for additional support, and progress monitoring tools that complement California’s required reading difficulties screening schedule per SB 114.
| Tier 1: Universal/ differentiated support | Tier 2: Supplemental/ targeted support | Tier 3: Intensified/ intensive support | |
| Core instruction assessments Frequency of administration | Amplify CKLA California, Amplify Caminos California, Amplify ELA California assessments Daily, Weekly, Monthly | Amplify CKLA California, Amplify Caminos California, Amplify ELA California assessments Daily, Weekly, Monthly | Amplify CKLA California, Amplify Caminos California, Amplify ELA California assessments Daily, Weekly, Monthly |
| Universal screening assessments Frequency of administration | mCLASS DIBELS and Lectura 3 times per year – BOY, MOY, EOY | mCLASS DIBELS and Lectura 3 times per year – BOY, MOY, EOY | mCLASS DIBELS and Lectura 3 times per year – BOY, MOY, EOY |
| Formal progress monitoring assessments Frequency of administration | mCLASS DIBELS and Lectura 3 times per year – BOY, MOY, EOY | mCLASS DIBELS and Lectura Monthly | mCLASS DIBELS and Lectura Bi-weekly |
| Informal progress monitoring assessments Frequency of administration | Amplify CKLA California, Amplify Caminos California, Amplify ELA California core assessments Daily | Intervention Toolkit progress monitoring assessments When linked to a lesson in the toolkit | Intervention Toolkit progress monitoring assessments When linked to a lesson in the toolkit |
| Diagnostic assessment Frequency of administration | Amplify skill diagnostic assessment Amplify Spanish skill diagnostic assessment Optional after universal screening assessment is administered | Amplify skill diagnostic assessment Amplify Spanish skill diagnostic assessment After universal screening assessment is administered |
Universal assessment system
Amplify’s mCLASS® DIBELS® 8th Edition (K–8) and mCLASS Lectura (K–6) are universal and dyslexia screening assessments that should be administered three times per year (BOY, MOY, and EOY) to all students. The assessments evaluate student literacy risk, determine progress toward grade-level goals, and indicate the level of instructional support a student may need. Beginning-of-year screenings require adequate instructional time before administration, particularly in grades K–1, while mid-year and end-of-year assessments evaluate instructional effectiveness and guide tier placement adjustments. These screenings also identify students at risk for dyslexia. Universal screening provides essential data for targeting instruction and measuring instructional system effectiveness.
Core instruction assessments
Amplify CKLA California, Amplify Caminos California, and Amplify ELA California provide a comprehensive suite of assessments for grades K–6 that range from low-stakes, informal formative assessments to more formal summative assessments. These assessments incorporate a variety of methods and question types, including multiple-choice questions, open-ended questions, and oral and written responses.
Formative assessments:
- Checks for Understanding: Incorporated into each lesson segment throughout daily instruction. Quick pulse-checks that provide immediate feedback during lesson delivery (grades K–5).
- Daily formative assessments: Highlighted moments within each lesson for teachers to plan to track mastery of Primary Focus objectives and standards of each lesson to get a clear snapshot of individual and whole-class progress (grades K–5).
- Activity pages: Completed as part of lessons and can be used to assess lesson content understanding through various formats (grades K–5).
- Exit Tickets: Located at the end of lessons, these provide a quick gauge of students’ ability to meet the lesson’s focus standards (grade 6).
- Writing Prompts: Prompts integrated throughout lessons during writing activities that provide skill snapshots within lessons and tracks patterns of skill development over time (grade 6).
- Independent reading activities (Solos): At the end of every lesson, students complete an independent reading activity (“Solo”) with reading questions that are scored to measure comprehension (grade 6).
Summative assessments:
- Skills end-of-unit assessments (grades K–2)
- Knowledge end-of-domain assessments (grades K–2)
- End-of-unit assessments (grades 3–5)
- Unit essays: A culminating end-of-unit set of lessons that guide students through crafting an essay with a rubric to score mastery of writing skills (grade 6)
- Unit reading assessments: Auto-scored responses and two constructed response items evaluate comprehension, content understanding, and reading skills using the passages students read during the unit (grade 6)
Performance assessments
Student Performance Assessments are multi-day assessments administered in Grades K–5 at the beginning, middle, and end of year to help teachers gauge student mastery of grade-level Core content. These assessments provide critical data to help teachers set targeted instructional goals and monitor individual and class-wide progress towards core objectives.
Progress monitoring
Amplify’s mCLASS® DIBELS® 8th Edition and mCLASS Lectura provide formal progress monitoring in the discrete skills that are indicative of reading growth and predictive of overall success to provide the most instructionally meaningful information to teachers.
Informal progress monitoring tools can be found within the Intervention Toolkit, including materials for teachers to record, track, and evaluate student progress.
Diagnostic assessment
Interventions within Amplify’s literacy programs are informed by a skill diagnostic assessment that provides detailed data on foundational literacy skill deficits. The Amplify Skill Diagnostic Assessment and Amplify Spanish Skill Diagnostic assessment serve as critical tools in this process, administered specifically to students identified as at risk for reading difficulty through universal screening assessments—particularly those demonstrating mCLASS DIBELS 8th Edition or mCLASS Lectura composite scores in the Well Below or Below Benchmark ranges. These diagnostic assessments provide teachers with the precise skills to begin intervention and remediation.
Category 4: Universal Access
Amplify CKLA California, Amplify Caminos California, and Amplify ELA California are developed using the Universal Design for Learning framework to proactively ensure that all learners can access and participate in meaningful, challenging learning opportunities.
Universal Design for Learning
Amplify CKLA California, Amplify Caminos California, and Amplify ELA California incorporate opportunities for engagement, representation, action, and expression based on the guidelines of Universal Design for Learning.
- Multiple Means of Engagement: The programs incorporate interesting and motivating ways for students to interact with information and content. The Universal Access section in the introduction of each lesson provides specific lesson-level options based on the needs of individual classrooms and students. Scaffolding for students with various levels of need is incorporated into the design of each lesson.
- Multiple Means of Representation: The programs provide multiple means of presenting content to maximize student understanding. This includes digital component files that allow for a range of presentations of images and text to support learning. Amplify provides access to universal supports such as point-of-use audio for all core texts, embedded definitions for critical vocabulary, and glossaries in multiple languages. The programs include clarification on language found throughout the program, with sidebars that include support on transition words and syntax, and illustrations to help students understand the concepts they are learning.
- Multiple Means of Action and Expression: The programs include a range of methods for all students, including Multilingual/English Learners, to navigate and demonstrate learning. This includes physical actions, a range of methods for response, appropriate tools for composition, and varied scaffolding. Lessons provide multiple ways for students to interact with text, allowing their brains to process the language through distinct pathways. Activities harness multiple learning modes, using media tools, digital apps, and a variety of visual and physical experiences to strategically support and enhance student learning.
- Accessibility: Universal access features include visual aids, enlarged materials, physical objects, and multiple learning modalities through activities like Push & Say and Wiggle Cards. The Universal Access section in the introduction of each lesson provides specific lesson-level options based on the needs of individual classrooms and students.
Embedded differentiation
Amplify CKLA California, Amplify Caminos California, and Amplify ELA California provide built-in differentiation strategies in every lesson for all students.
- Pre-teaching supports include mini-lessons on:
- Core vocabulary building
- Core connections
- Essential background information building
- What Have We Already Learned?/What Do We Already Know?
- Differentiated Support for Core Instruction tables, located in the overview of each K–2 Skills Teacher Guide, provide a list of specific opportunities for reteaching and additional support in each lesson based on skill.
- Support and Challenge Sidebars in lesson margins offer educators immediate guidance in implementing point-of-use differentiation techniques.
- Flexible Grouping within lessons provides opportunities for teachers to facilitate small groups, partners, or individualized support based on students’ needs. In the Skills Strand, teachers receive specific guidance for differentiated small group instruction, with targeted support and activities outlined for both Group 1 (students needing additional support) and Group 2 (on-level students) based on data.
- Amplify ELA California and Amplify Caminos California provide point-of-use supports embedded within key core lesson activities with six levels of differentiation. The goal of these supports is to fully enable access to grade-level content for all students, including students with disabilities, English learners, and students ready for an additional level of challenge.
- The Universal Access section of Advance Preparation in each lesson includes varied strategies to ensure all students can access and engage in each lesson.
- Frequent use of graphic organizers and visual supports in lessons provide opportunities for differentiation based on need. The program also includes a variety of technological supports, such as eReaders with audio.
- Extension opportunities are suggested throughout lessons, often embedded in writing tasks, which include prompts to use more complex and descriptive vocabulary, figurative language, multi-clause and complex sentences, and informational text characteristics.
Assessment-driven MTSS resources
- The K–6 Intervention Toolkit is available online and provides easy-to-use resources that assist teachers in filling gaps in students’ reading skills, with activities to support print concepts, phonological awareness, phonics, fluency, and other key skills.
- Fluency packets (Grades 2–6)
- Foundational Skills Intervention Program for Grades 3–6 support students who would benefit from direct and explicit intervention instruction in the full continuum of foundational skills in the upper grades
- Flexible Instructional Time including:
- Pausing Points built into the curriculum that provide teachers with dedicated time to address specific student needs through targeted reteaching, remediation, practice, and extension activities
- Pausing Point activities designed to support multilingual/English learners’ competence and confidence through differentiated whole-group, small-group, or individual instruction
- Boost Reading and Boost Lectura are student-led digital intervention programs that follow the scope and sequences of Amplify CKLA California and Amplify Caminos California respectively, to reinforce the same foundational skills taught in core instruction. It integrates easily into daily routines, while the robust data provided by mCLASS® DIBELS® 8th Edition offers a detailed view of how students progress across all instructional tiers.
Category 5: Instructional Planning and Teacher Support
Amplify CKLA California, Amplify Caminos California, and Amplify ELA California teachers are empowered to deliver effective instruction with various print and digital resources. The program provides comprehensive planning and support materials designed to help teachers prepare for and execute lessons effectively and fulfill the requirements of Category 5.
Implementation supports across K–6
Planning and preparation resources
- Unit Overviews that provide important background and context for the texts students will read, including highlighted elements within the text and guidance for how students will work with those elements
- Sub-unit Overviews (Grade 6) that provide an overview of Lesson Objectives and reading and writing assignments, as well as a list of any projections, multimedia, or digital apps that can be projected from the teacher’s included digital license
- Lesson-by-lesson preparation checklists (Grade 6) accompanying each Sub-unit Overview
- Lesson Briefs for each individual lesson providing important background and context
- Content knowledge materials regarding topics that students will examine
Point-of-use instructional guidance
- Teacher Editions that feature insets of the same text and activity instructions as the corresponding Student Edition, wrapping teacher instruction around these materials
- Activity guidance at point of use
- Lesson standards clearly called out
- Discussion suggestions embedded in lessons
- Differentiation tips at point of use
- Detailed Instructional Guides in each activity that include sequencing and grouping suggestions, tips for facilitating discussion, possible student responses and exemplars
- On-the-Fly supports (Grade 6)—quick call-outs to the identifying features of “on track” and “needs support” students accompanied by short models of student guidance to foster strong performance
Multimedia and digital support
- Teacher tip videos provide modeling and guidance for implementing key foundational skills routines within the program
- Digital platform access where teachers can access printable PDFs of differentiated support materials for multilingual/English learners and students struggling to read, including translated Unit Background and Context documents and Text Previews
- Teacher Dashboard and reporting tools provide real-time visibility into student progress and work for immediate instructional response
Caregiver supports
Communication and overview resources
- Caregiver Hub available in English and Spanish that provides an overview of the curriculum
- Caregiver Letters for each K–2 Knowledge Domain and unit in Grades 3–5 that provide an overview of the content, the skills students learn, as well as practical methods that continue the learning and knowledge building at home
- Unit-specific Caregiver Letters (Grade 6) that provide detailed information regarding what students will read and learn in each unit, including conversation starters that allow caregivers to ask questions and discuss specific aspects of a unit with their student
- Welcome letters that explain the assessment and placement process while inviting parent involvement and offering support
- Editable Home-School Communication letters available in English and Spanish
- Editable Progress Reports for teachers to update parents and guardians on what their child is learning
Content and learning support materials
- Unit Background and Context documents that provide an introduction and overview to the unit’s topic and themes, available in English and Spanish
- Text Previews that provide a brief introduction to formative, independent reading assignments (called Solos in Grade 6), available in English and Spanish
- Unit Overview and Support documents (Grade 6) designed for caregivers that provide information about important questions, assignments, and key aspects of the unit texts, available in English and Spanish
- Conversation starters included in Knowledge Strand Caregiver Letters to discuss domain topics at home
Home practice and extension activities
- Take-Home pages in the Skills Strand that include copies of decodable passages, enabling students to share their reading progress with families and continue practicing their skills outside of school
- Take-Home Letters in the Skills Strand that provide specific guidance for parents to support skills practice at home, such as sound-sorting activities, with detailed instructions and materials for home practice activities
- Take-Home pages in the Knowledge Strand that provide suggested activities families can do together to reinforce and extend learning beyond the classroom
- Games and activities on Take-Home Pages that extend classroom instruction, including all the materials and instruction necessary to help families assist students in a fun and engaging way
- Digital access to decodable texts through the Amplify Caregiver Hub, allowing students to practice their reading skills both in class and at home
- Weekly spelling lists and directions to decoding activities that can be practiced at home
Welcome, K–8 Program 2 reviewers!
We’re honored to introduce you to Amplify California Language Arts. We’re confident you’ll find this comprehensive program to be a powerful tool for bringing the vision of the California ELA/ELD Framework to life in classrooms across the state.
Please start with the video on the right to learn how to navigate the program and access key features referenced within our submission. Below you’ll find additional resources to support your review.
Your review samples
We’re excited for you to begin your review of Amplify Core Knowledge Language Arts (CKLA) California and Amplify ELA California, Language Studio California for grades K–8. Physical and digital review materials will vary by grade level.
Reviewer Binders (K–8)
Your physical samples should have arrived in grade-specific boxes with three Reviewer Binders.
- The first binder will contain logistical program review information and the printed Evaluation Criteria Map.
- The second binder will contain the printed Standards Maps for grades K–4.
- The third binder will contain the printed Standards Maps for grades 5–8.
Physical samples (K–5)
You can expect to receive 15 boxes of physical materials for your review. As you begin the process of organizing your materials, please refer to the inventory checklist found inside each box as well as within your Reviewer Binder. Please note you will not receive any physical samples for grades 6–8 ELA or Language Studio for grades K-8. Your review of the program for grades 6–8 ELA and Language Studio for grades K-8 will be entirely digital.
Digital samples
In order to access your digital samples, you’ll need to log in to our platform using your unique login credentials found on a Digital Review Credential flyer inside of your Reviewer Binder. Once you have located the flyer:
- Click the orange button below to access the platform.
- Click “Log in with Amplify.”
- Enter the username and password provided on your Digital Review Credential flyer.
Navigation tips
Before you get started, please review these important functionality notes:
Criteria Map and Standards Maps must be opened on Microsoft Word on your desktop to function as intended. If you open the documents without Microsoft Word on your desktop, citations will be cut off at the bottom of most tables within the document.
Many of our citations are deep-links to PDFs, meaning they will take you to the right page or the first page in the sequence for the citation in question. To ensure this functionality works, please disable any PDF-viewing extensions or plug-ins such as Adobe Acrobat Pro Browser Extension.
[Reviewer program navigation video] Grades K–5
[Reviewer program navigation video] Grades 6–8
Click here for additional information on navigating the digital materials for grades 6–8.
Category 1: English Language Arts (ELA) and English Language Development (ELD) Content/Alignment to Standards
Evaluation Criteria Map
Linked below is the Evaluation Criteria Map for grades K–8. Please note that you will need to be logged into the digital platform to access the links in the Evaluation Criteria Map.
ELA Standards Maps
The links below provide the Standards Maps for Amplify California Language Arts for each grade level. Please note that you will need to be logged into the digital platform to access the links in the Standards Maps.
ELD Standards Maps
The links below provide the ELD Standards Maps for Amplify California Core Language Arts for each grade level.
Category 2: Program Organization
The Amplify California Language Arts Program 2 submission includes Amplify CKLA California for Grades K–5, Amplify ELA California for Grades 6–8, and Amplify Language Studio California for Grades K–8. This comprehensive curriculum provides a full year of evidence-based instruction for each grade level, with both integrated and designated English Language Development instruction designed to give English learners the tools to thrive.
Program structure
Amplify’s California Language Arts programs are built on what the research shows: Strong readers need both word recognition and language comprehension. Our comprehensive curriculum suite follows the Simple View of Reading and The Reading Rope–bringing together foundational skills and knowledge building to deliver instruction grounded in the Science of Reading.
Each lesson follows a predictable structure with clearly marked components, beginning with warm-up routines, progressing through explicit instruction with guided practice, and concluding with independent application activities. The program provides detailed teacher language, including question stems and discussion prompts, ensuring clear and consistent delivery of instruction.
[Reviewer highlight video] Program organization for Category 2
[Reviewer highlight video] Program structure for grades K–2
[Reviewer highlight video] Program structure for grades 3–5
[Reviewer highlight video] Program structure for grades 6–8
Amplify CKLA California empowers teachers to deliver effective instruction and keeps students engaged with with the following resources:
- Teacher Guides
- Assessment Guides
- Authentic texts and trade books
- Knowledge Image Cards
- Knowledge Flip Books
- Remediation and intervention resources
- Decodable readers
- Student Readers and novels
- Student Activity Books
- Dedicated ELD support with Language Studio California
- Poet’s Journals
- eReaders
- Sound Library featuring articulation videos and songs
- Instructional routine modeling videos
- Assignable Practice Games
- On-demand professional development
Amplify ELA California students stay engaged with the following resources:
- Teacher Guides that include:
- Detailed lesson plans
- Standards alignment and exit tickets
- Real-time differentiation strategies
- Robust reporting
- Student Editions that include:
- High-quality narrative and informational texts
- Videos, audio supports, and digital experiences that capture their attention
- Personal Writing Journal to keep all student writing in one place
- Dedicated ELD support with Language Studio California
- Trade Books
Core literacy philosophy
Support every learner. Meet all learning needs with a Multi-Tiered System of Supports (MTSS) that brings together universal screening, scaffolded core instruction, support for English learners, and data-driven intervention to ensure every student gets what they need to succeed.
Provide intentional ELD support. Honor students’ linguistic assets while building academic English through both integrated and designated instruction.
Deliver consistent foundational skills instruction. Daily explicit, systematic skills instruction in grades K–2, with targeted yet flexible support for students still building decoding confidence in grades 3–8, ensures mastery of essential reading foundations.
Build lasting knowledge across all grades. Through coherently sequenced, content-rich instruction that revisits key vocabulary and concepts with increasing complexity, students build meaningful connections that deepen their vocabulary and reading comprehension.
Strengthen reading through writing at every level. Regular writing instruction grounded in the Science of Writing supports reading comprehension, improves sentence-level writing, and provides the foundation for high-quality composition. As students progress through the upper grades, they engage in increasingly complex analytical tasks—synthesizing ideas, drawing generalizations, and interpreting multiple textual layers through both focused quick-writes and comprehensive essays.
Foster oral language development. Structured opportunities for academic conversation and evidence-based dialogue build students’ ability to express complex ideas with precision and allow them to participate confidently in classroom discussions.
Measure growth with comprehensive assessments. Assessments range from in-the-moment checks for understanding to summative assessments that measure progress toward skills mastery and standards proficiency, providing the data needed to drive targeted instruction.
Scope and sequence
Below you can view the scope and sequence for each grade level.
- Kindergarten
- Grade 1
- Grade 2
- Grade 3
- Grade 4
- Grade 5
- Grade 6
- Grade 7
- Grade 8
- Newcomer Support Grades K–8
Routines
Amplify CKLA California and Amplify ELA California include several structured instructional routines that provide predictable patterns for both teachers and students:
Discussion and collaboration routines:
- Turn and Talk: Partners discuss text-specific content using sentence starters and frames
- Think-Pair-Share: Students engage in individual thinking, partner discussion, and whole-class sharing
- Partner reading: Students sit shoulder-to-shoulder, taking turns reading and listening
Foundational Skills routines:
- Sound-spelling review: Warm-up activities that reinforce phonics patterns
- Oral blending warm-ups: Teacher-guided practice progressing to independent application
- Finger-tapping: Techniques for blending sounds
- Chaining activities: Students manipulate letters to transform one word into another
- Word Work: Daily short activities focused on domain-specific and academic vocabulary
Knowledge-Building Routines:
- Teacher modeling: Demonstration of proper intonation, expression, and pacing
- Choral reading: Whole-class reading practice
- Partner reading: Paired fluency practice
Close reading routines
The program includes carefully structured close reading activities that guide students through multiple encounters with complex texts. These routines help students develop deeper comprehension through systematic analysis and discussion.
Each routine includes comprehensive instructional guides with clear-cut directions for implementation, straightforward explanations of concepts, and suggestions for discussion.
Designated English Language Development materials
Language Studio California is a K–8 content-based companion for English language learners. Built on Amplify CKLA California’s and Amplify ELA California’s carefully sequenced Knowledge Domains and units, it combines engaging content knowledge with targeted supports and research-based strategies to help students move swiftly toward language proficiency. This program includes:
- Real-world content to provide authentic opportunities to practice reading, writing, speaking, and listening.
- Scaffolding strategies and differentiated instruction to offer targeted support along with five English proficiency levels.
- Progress-monitoring tools to help teachers provide consistent and effective support.
- Teacher Guides that:
- Provide impactful progress monitoring tools including formative and summative assessments and Language Proficiency Assessment rubrics.
- Offer varied differentiation strategies including Support, Challenge, and Access Supports in each lesson segment.
- Are organized into thoughtful lesson segments—Talk Time, Building Background, On Stage and more—that make learning objectives concrete.
- Activities that:
- Expand on domain knowledge from core content and read-alouds and prompt collaborative conversation to practice oral fluency.
- Support hands-on language activities to promote authentic interaction in the classroom.
- Help students bridge experiences and knowledge with images, vocabulary activities, graphic organizers, anticipation guides, writing space, and more.
Category 3: Assessments
Systematic MTSS alignment
In alignment with the additional 2025 Guidance 3.1.a, the assessment systems align with MTSS tiers, including universal screening, diagnostic assessments for students demonstrating a need for additional support, and progress monitoring tools that complement the California’s required universal screening schedule per SB 114.
| Tier 1: Universal/ differentiated support | Tier 2: Supplemental/ targeted support | Tier 3: Intensified/ intensive support | |
| Core instruction assessments Frequency of administration | Amplify CKLA California, Amplify Caminos California, Amplify ELA California assessments Daily, Weekly, Monthly | Amplify CKLA California, Amplify Caminos California, Amplify ELA California assessments Daily, Weekly, Monthly | Amplify CKLA California, Amplify Caminos California, Amplify ELA California assessments Daily, Weekly, Monthly |
| Universal screening assessments Frequency of administration | mCLASS DIBELS and Lectura 3 times per year – BOY, MOY, EOY | mCLASS DIBELS and Lectura 3 times per year – BOY, MOY, EOY | mCLASS DIBELS and Lectura 3 times per year – BOY, MOY, EOY |
| Formal progress monitoring assessments Frequency of administration | mCLASS DIBELS and Lectura 3 times per year – BOY, MOY, EOY | mCLASS DIBELS and Lectura Monthly | mCLASS DIBELS and Lectura Bi-weekly |
| Informal progress monitoring assessments Frequency of administration | Amplify CKLA California, Amplify Caminos California, Amplify ELA California core assessments Daily | Intervention Toolkit progress monitoring assessments When linked to a lesson in the toolkit | Intervention Toolkit progress monitoring assessments When linked to a lesson in the toolkit |
| Diagnostic assessment Frequency of administration | Amplify skill diagnostic assessment Amplify Spanish skill diagnostic assessment Optional after universal screening assessment is administered | Amplify skill diagnostic assessment Amplify Spanish skill diagnostic assessment After universal screening assessment is administered |
Universal assessment system
Amplify’s mCLASS® DIBELS® 8th Edition and mCLASS Lectura are universal and dyslexia screening assessments that should be administered three times per year (BOY, MOY and EOY) to all students. The assessments evaluate student literacy risk, determine progress toward grade-level goals, and indicate the level of instructional support a student may need. Beginning-of-year screenings require adequate instructional time before administration, particularly in grades K–1, while mid-year and end-of-year assessments evaluate instructional effectiveness and guide tier placement adjustments. These screenings also identify students at risk for dyslexia. Universal screening provides essential data for targeting instruction and measuring instructional system effectiveness.
Core instruction assessments
Amplify CKLA California and Amplify ELA California provide a comprehensive suite of assessments for Grades K–8 that range from low-stakes, informal formative assessments to more formal summative assessments. These assessments incorporate a variety of methods and question types, including multiple-choice questions, open-ended questions, and oral and written responses.
Formative assessments:
- Checks for Understanding: Incorporated into each lesson segment throughout daily instruction. Quick pulse-checks that provide immediate feedback during lesson delivery (grades K–5).
- Daily formative assessments: Highlighted moments within each lesson for teachers to plan to track mastery of Primary Focus objectives and standards of each lesson to get a clear snapshot of individual and whole-class progress (grades K–5).
- Activity pages: Completed as part of lessons and can be used to assess lesson content understanding through various formats (grades K–5).
- Exit Tickets: Located at the end of lessons, these provide a quick gauge of students’ ability to meet the lesson’s focus standards (grades 6–8).
- Writing Prompts: Prompts integrated throughout lessons during writing activities that provide skill snapshots within lessons and tracks patterns of skill development over time (grades 6–8).
- Independent reading activities (Solos): At the end of every lesson, students complete an independent reading activity (“solo”) with reading questions that are scored to measure comprehension (grades 6–8).
Summative assessments:
- Skills end-of-unit assessments (grades K–2)
- Knowledge end-of-domain assessments (grades K–2)
- End-of-unit assessments (grades 3–5)
- Unit essays: A culminating end-of-unit set of lessons that guide students through crafting an essay with a rubric to score mastery of writing skills (grades 6–8)
- Unit Reading Assessments: Auto-scored responses and two constructed response items evaluate comprehension, content understanding, and reading skills using the passages students read during the unit (grades 6–8)
Performance Assessments
Student Performance Assessments are multi-day assessments administered in Grades K-5 at the beginning, middle, and end of year to help teachers gauge student mastery of grade-level Core content. These assessments provide critical data to help teachers set targeted instructional goals and monitor individual and class-wide progress towards core objectives.
Progress monitoring
Amplify’s mCLASS® DIBELS® 8th Edition and mCLASS Lectura provide formal progress monitoring in the discrete skills that are indicative of reading growth and predictive of overall success to provide the most instructionally meaningful information to teachers.
Informal progress monitoring tools can be found within the Intervention Toolkit, including materials for teachers to record, track, and evaluate student progress.
Diagnostic assessment
Interventions within Amplify’s literacy programs are informed by a skill diagnostic assessment that provides detailed data on foundational literacy skill deficits. The Amplify Skill Diagnostic Assessment and Amplify Spanish Skill Diagnostic assessment serve as critical tools in this process, administered specifically to students identified as at risk for reading difficulty through universal screening assessments—particularly those demonstrating mCLASS DIBELS 8th Edition or mCLASS Lectura composite scores in the Well Below or Below Benchmark ranges. These diagnostic assessments provide teachers with the precise skills to begin intervention and remediation.
Category 4: Universal Access
Amplify CKLA California and Amplify ELA California were built on the principles of Universal Design for Learning (UDL) and reviewed by CAST, a nonprofit education research and development organization. The program is developed using the Universal Design for Learning framework to proactively ensure that all learners can access and participate in meaningful, challenging learning opportunities.
Universal Design for Learning
The programs incorporate opportunities for engagement, representation, action, and expression based on the guidelines of Universal Design for Learning.
- Multiple Means of Engagement: The programs incorporate interesting and motivating ways for students to interact with information and content. In Amplify CKLA California, the Universal Access section in the introduction of each lesson provides specific lesson-level options based on the needs of individual classrooms and students. Scaffolding for students with various levels of need is incorporated into the design of each lesson.
- Multiple Means of Representation: The programs provide multiple means of presenting content to maximize student understanding. This includes digital component files that allow for a range of presentations of images and text to support learning. Amplify provides access to universal supports such as point-of-use audio for all core texts, embedded definitions for critical vocabulary, and glossaries in multiple languages. Amplify CKLA California includes clarification on language found throughout the program, with sidebars that include support on transition words and syntax, and illustrations to help students understand the concepts they are learning.
- Multiple Means of Action and Expression: The programs include a range of methods for all students, including English Learners, to navigate and demonstrate learning. This includes physical actions, a range of methods for response, appropriate tools for composition, and varied scaffolding. In Amplify ELA California, lessons provide multiple ways for students to interact with text, allowing their brains to process the language through distinct pathways. Activities harness multiple learning modes, using media tools, digital apps, and a variety of visual and physical experiences to strategically support and enhance student learning.
- Accessibility: Universal access features include visual aids, enlarged materials, physical objects, and multiple learning modalities through activities like Push & Say and Wiggle Cards. The Universal Access section in the introduction of each lesson provides specific lesson-level options based on the needs of individual classrooms and students.
Embedded differentiation
Amplify CKLA California and Amplify ELA California provide built-in differentiation strategies in every lesson for all students.
Throughout the Teacher Guides, point-of-use Differentiation icons provide targeted instructional strategies and supports. These icons indicate specific guidance for advanced learners, students who need additional support, and English learners, allowing teachers to easily identify and implement appropriate scaffolds and extensions during instruction. In addition, teachers are provided with recommendations for resources to use with each group of students.
- Pre-teaching supports include mini-lessons on:
- Core vocabulary words
- Core Connections
- Essential Background Information or Terms
- What Have We Already Learned/What Do We Already Know?
- Differentiated Support for Core Instruction tables, located in the overview of each K–2 Skills Teacher Guide, provide a list of specific opportunities for reteaching and additional support in each lesson based on skill.
- Support and Challenge Sidebars in lesson margins offer educators immediate guidance in implementing point-of-use differentiation techniques.
- Flexible Grouping within lessons provides opportunities for teachers to facilitate small groups, partners, or individualized support based on students’ needs. In the Skills Strand, teachers receive specific guidance for differentiated small-group instruction, with targeted support and activities outlined for both Group 1 (students needing additional support) and Group 2 (on-level students) based on data.
- Amplify ELA California provides point-of-use supports embedded within key core lesson activities with six levels of differentiation. The goal of these supports is to fully enable access to grade-level content for all students, including students with disabilities, English learners, and students ready for an additional level of challenge.
- The Universal Access section of Advance Preparation in each lesson includes varied strategies to ensure all students can access and engage in each lesson.
- Frequent use of graphic organizers and visual supports in lessons provide opportunities for differentiation based on need. The program also includes a variety of technological supports, such as eReaders with audio.
- Extension opportunities are suggested throughout lessons, often embedded in writing tasks, which include prompts to use more complex and descriptive vocabulary, figurative language, multi-clause and complex sentences, and informational text characteristics.
Assessment-Driven MTSS resources
- The K–8 Intervention Toolkit is available online and provides easy-to-use resources that assist teachers in filling gaps in students’ reading skills, with activities to support print concepts, phonological awareness, phonics, fluency, and other key skills
- Fluency Packets (Grades 2–5)
- Foundational Skills Intervention Program for Grades 3–8 support students who would benefit from direct and explicit intervention instruction in the full continuum of foundational skills in the upper grades
- Flexible Instructional Time including:
- Pausing Points built into the curriculum that provide teachers with dedicated time to address specific student needs through targeted reteaching, remediation, practice, and extension activities
- Pausing Point activities designed to support English learners’ competence and confidence through differentiated whole-group, small-group, or individual instruction
- Boost Reading is a K–5 student-led digital intervention program. Boost Reading follows Amplify CKLA California’s scope and sequence to reinforce the same foundational skills taught in core instruction. It integrates easily into daily routines, while the robust data provided by mCLASS® DIBELS® 8th Edition offers a detailed view of how students progress across all instructional tiers.
Category 5: Instructional Planning and Teacher Support
Amplify CKLA California and Amplify ELA California teachers are empowered to deliver effective instruction with various print and digital resources. The program provides comprehensive planning and support materials designed to help teachers prepare for and execute lessons effectively and fulfill the requirements of Category 5.
Implementation supports across K–8
Planning and preparation resources
- Unit Overviews that provide important background and context for the texts students will read, including highlighted elements within the text and guidance for how students will work with those elements
- Sub-unit Overviews (Grades 6–8) that provide an overview of Lesson Objectives and reading and writing assignments, as well as a list of any projections, multimedia, or digital apps that can be projected from the teacher’s included digital license
- Lesson-by-lesson preparation checklists (Grades 6–8) accompanying each Sub-unit Overview
- Lesson Briefs for each individual lesson providing important background and context
- Content knowledge materials regarding topics that students will examine
Point-of-use instructional guidance
- Teacher Editions that feature insets of the same text and activity instructions as the corresponding Student Edition, wrapping teacher instruction around these materials
- Activity guidance at point of use
- Lesson standards clearly called out
- Discussion suggestions embedded in lessons
- Differentiation tips at point of use
- Detailed Instructional Guides in each activity that include sequencing and grouping suggestions, tips for facilitating discussion, possible student responses and exemplars
- Student Supports in all core lessons that provide teachers with targeted supports in daily core instruction, addressing which might serve the student best in the moment—support, strengthen, stretch—with additional call-outs for newcomers
Multimedia and digital support
- Teacher tip videos provide modeling and guidance for implementing key foundational skills routines within the program
- Digital platform access where teachers can access printable PDFs of differentiated support materials for English learners and students struggling with reading, including translated Unit Background and Context documents and Text Previews
- Teacher dashboard and reporting tools (Grade 6–8) provide real-time visibility into student progress and work for immediate instructional response
Caregiver supports
Communication and overview resources
- Caregiver Hub available in English and Spanish that provides an overview of the curriculum
- Caregiver Letters for each K–2 Knowledge Domain and unit in Grades 3–5 that provide an overview of the content, the skills students learn, as well as practical methods that continue the learning and knowledge building at home
- Unit-specific Caregiver Letters (Grades 6–8) that provide detailed information regarding what students will read and learn in each unit, including conversation starters that allow caregivers to ask questions and discuss specific aspects of a unit with their student
- Welcome letters that explain the assessment and placement process while inviting parent involvement and offering support
- Editable Home-School Communication letters available in English and Spanish
- Editable Progress Reports for teachers to update parents and guardians on what their child is learning
Content and learning support materials
- Unit Background and Context documents that provide an introduction and overview to the unit’s topic and themes, available in English and Spanish
- Text Previews that provide a brief introduction to formative, independent reading assignments (called Solos in Grades 6–8), available in English and Spanish
- Unit Overview and Support documents (Grades 6–8) designed for caregivers that provide information about important questions, assignments, and key aspects of the unit texts, available in English and Spanish
- Conversation starters included in Knowledge Strand Caregiver Letters to discuss domain topics at home
Home practice and extension activities
- Take-Home pages in the Skills Strand that include copies of decodable passages, enabling students to share their reading progress with families and continue practicing their skills outside of school
- Take-Home Letters in the Skills Strand that provide specific guidance for parents to support skills practice at home, such as sound-sorting activities, with detailed instructions and materials for home practice activities
- Take-Home pages in the Knowledge Strand that provide suggested activities families can do together to reinforce and extend learning beyond the classroom
- Games and activities on take-home pages that extend classroom instruction, including all the materials and instruction necessary to help families assist students in a fun and engaging way
- Digital access to decodable texts through the Amplify Caregiver Hub, allowing students to practice their reading skills both in class and at home
- Weekly spelling lists and directions to decoding activities that can be practiced at home
Core STEM programs: Strengthen sessions
Professional development sets teachers and leaders up for success, whether they are new to or experienced with a program. Each Strengthen session promotes a deeper understanding of the program through targeted instructional practices.
Explore STEM Strengthen sessions by program below.
Amplify professional development has been vetted by Rivet Education’s team through a rigorous three-step process and is listed in the Professional Learning Partner Guide.
About Strengthen sessions
Support Amplify implementation with sessions that target specific instructional practices for teachers and leaders in year one and beyond. When you’re ready to schedule your Strengthen session, contact us. An Amplify expert will support you in selecting the session that best fits your needs and that will help you push student results forward.
Each package includes one Strengthen session. Additional sessions can be added as enhancements.
Amplify Math
Amplify Math is a core math curriculum that serves 100% of students in accessing grade-level math every day. The program delivers engaging grade-level math lessons; flexible, social problem-solving experiences both online and off ; and insights, data, and reporting that drive performance.
Explore the Amplify Math Strengthen sessions (for grade bands 6–Algebra 1) for Begin packages and beyond. Click the session title or scroll down to learn more about each session.
Begin packages
| On-site package (15 hr.) |
Hybrid on-site package (15 hr.) |
Hybrid 10 package (10 hr.) |
Hybrid virtual package (15 hr.) |
Virtual package (7 hr.) |
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| One session per package | On-site 3 hr. sessions |
On-site 3 hr. sessions |
Virtual 1 hr. sessions |
Virtual 3 hr. sessions |
Virtual 1 hr. sessions |
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Begin: Enhancing planning for teachers
On-site or virtual, 3 hours
Prepare to teach Amplify Math lessons effectively, by engaging in collaborative backward planning with experts. Work alongside our facilitators to understand how to target key concepts and make successful instructional decisions across a unit, and leave with a completed unit plan for your class.
Audience: Teachers, instructional staff (maximum 30 participants)
Begin: Enhancing practice for teachers
On-site or virtual, 3 hours
See the Launch, Monitor, Connect problem-based learning model in action, and practice integrating these practices into your facilitation of lesson activities. Leave with guidelines for using the Launch, Monitor, Connect model that you can implement during your next lesson.
Audience: Teachers, instructional staff (maximum 30 participants)
Begin: Enhancing observations for leaders
On-site or virtual, 3 hours
Learn to use our non-evaluative classroom look-for tool for Amplify Math to promote the use of instructional resources, focus on instructional delivery, and monitor instruction. Leave with an action plan for collecting and analyzing observation data to support teachers in their implementation of Amplify Math.
Audience: Leaders (maximum 30 participants)
Begin: Strengthen Focus: Unit-level planning
Virtual, 1 hour
Dive into unit planning as you learn the story of how your upcoming unit is tied to other units and grade levels, and discover the big ideas you will explore alongside your students in Amplify Math.
Audience: Teachers, instructional staff (maximum 30 participants)
Begin: Strengthen Focus: Lesson-level planning
Virtual, 1 hour
Dive into lesson-level planning as you learn how to create a road map that guides student learning, makes connections across lessons, and measures student understanding of the learning goals in Amplify Math.
Audience: Teachers, instructional staff (maximum 30 participants)
Begin: Strengthen Focus: Increasing engagement with instructional routines
Virtual, 1 hour
Explore how to use Instructional Routines such as Notice and Wonder to support and engage students as they make sense of new contexts and mathematical problems in Amplify Math.
Audience: Teachers, instructional staff (maximum 30 participants)
Practice packages
| On-site package (15 hr.) |
Hybrid 15, on-site package (15 hr.) |
Hybrid 13 package (13 hr.) |
Virtual package (9 hr.) |
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| One session per package | On-site 3 hr. sessions |
On-site 3 hr. sessions |
Virtual 1 hr. sessions |
Virtual 1 hr. sessions |
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Practice: Enhancing planning for teachers
On-site or virtual, 3 hours
Prepare to effectively teach Amplify Math lessons by engaging in collaborative backward planning with experts. Work alongside our facilitators to understand how to target key concepts and make effective instructional decisions across a unit, and leave with a completed unit plan for your class.
Audience: Teachers, instructional staff (maximum 30 participants)
Practice: Enhancing practice for teachers
On-site or virtual, 3 hours
See the Launch, Monitor, Connect problem-based learning model in action, and practice integrating these practices into your facilitation of lesson activities. Leave with guidelines for using the Launch, Monitor, Connect model that you can implement during your next lesson.
Audience: Teachers, instructional staff (maximum 30 participants)
Practice: Enhancing observations for leaders
On-site or virtual, 3 hours
Learn to use our non-evaluative classroom look-for tool for Amplify Math to promote the use of instructional resources, focus on instructional delivery, and monitor instruction. Leave with an action plan for collecting and analyzing observation data to support teachers in their implementation of Amplify Math.
Audience: Leaders (maximum 30 participants)
Practice: Using differentiation supports for teachers
On-site or virtual, 3 hours
Learn how to leverage embedded differentiated supports in Amplify Math to ensure that all students can be successful. Walk away with a plan for supporting students in your classroom including English Language Learners (ELLs), students with disabilities, students who may need extra support, and advanced students.
Audience: Teachers, instructional staff (maximum 30 participants)
Practice: Using data to drive instruction for teachers
On-site or virtual, 3 hours
Grow your proficiency in data analysis.Turn student data gathered within Amplify Math into differentiated instruction targeting specific skills. Walk away ready to use the data provided in the curriculum to align embedded support to your students’ unique needs.
Audience: Teachers, instructional staff (maximum 30 participants)
Practice: Addressing prerequisite skills for teachers
On-site or virtual, 3 hours
Explore Amplify Math’s just-in-time approach to addressing prerequisite skills. Leave with a deeper understanding of how to use embedded curriculum resources to identify and support prerequisite skills essential for your next unit.
Audience: Teachers, instructional staff (maximum 30 participants)
Practice: Orchestrating math discussions for teachers
On-site or virtual, 3 hours
Learn strategies for leading discussions that promote more math talk among all students in your classroom. Walk away with strategies and Amplify Math curriculum tools you can bring back to your classroom to enhance discussion in your next lesson.
Audience: Teachers, instructional staff (maximum 30 participants)
Practice: Strengthen Focus: Building language with math routines for teachers
Virtual, 1 hour
Explore how Math Language Routines support students as they make sense of new contexts and mathematical problems in Amplify Math. Leave with strategies for using these routines to support students in learning mathematical practices, content, and language in your upcoming lessons.
Audience: Teachers, instructional staff (maximum 30 participants)
Practice: Strengthen Focus: Unit-level planning for teachers
Virtual, 1 hour
Dive into unit planning as you learn the story of how your upcoming unit is tied to other
units and grade levels, and discover the big ideas you’ll explore alongside your students in Amplify Math.
Audience: Teachers, instructional staff (maximum 30 participants)
Practice: Strengthen Focus: Lesson-level planning for teachers
Virtual, 1 hour
Dive into lesson-level planning as you learn how to create a roadmap for a lesson that guides student learning, makes connections across lessons, and measures student understanding of the learning goals in Amplify Math.
Audience: Teachers, instructional staff (maximum 30 participants)
Practice: Strengthen Focus: Increasing engagement with Instructional Routines for teachers
Virtual, 1 hour
Explore how to leverage Instructional Routines such as Notice and Wonder to support students as they make sense of new contexts and mathematical problems in Amplify Math.
Audience: Teachers, instructional staff (maximum 30 participants)
Amplify Desmos Math
Amplify Desmos Math is a new core K–12 program from Amplify and Desmos Classroom —available in English and Spanish—that applies a problem-based approach to develop deep conceptual understanding, procedural fluency, and application. Using technology inspired by students’ natural curiosity, Amplify Desmos Math connects the classroom and fosters real collaboration, discourse, and perseverance in problem-solving. Captivating activities, powerful teaching tools, and lots of support enable students to develop math proficiency that lasts a lifetime.
Explore the Amplify Desmos Math Strengthen sessions (for grades PreK–Algebra 2) for Begin packages and beyond. Click the session title or scroll down to learn more about each session.
Begin packages
Strengthen sessions
| On-site package (15 hr.) |
Hybrid 15, on-site package (15 hr.) |
Hybrid 10 package (10 hr.) |
Hybrid 15, virtual package (15 hr.) |
Virtual package (7 hr.) |
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| One session per package | On-site, 3 hr. |
On-site, 3 hr. |
Virtual, 1 hr. |
Virtual, 3 hr. |
Virtual, 1 hr. |
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| Desmos Math to Amplify Desmos Math 6–A1 transition training for teachers | |
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New session
Begin: Enhancing planning for K–5 teachers
On-site or virtual, 3 hours
Dive into planning for Amplify Desmos Math, both big picture and day-to-day. Practice using lesson and unit planning protocols that will help you build a deep understanding of the math content you’ll be teaching and the planning resources available to you in the curriculum. Walk away with practical strategies for planning, even when you may not have much time.
Audience: Teachers, instructional staff (maximum 30 participants)
New session
Begin: Enhancing planning for 6–A1 teachers
On-site or virtual, 3 hours
Dive into both big-picture and day-to-day planning for Amplify Desmos Math. Practice using lesson and unit planning protocols that will help you build a deep understanding of the math content you’ll be teaching and the planning resources available to you in the curriculum. Walk away with practical strategies for planning, even when you may not have much time.
Audience: Teachers, instructional staff (maximum 30 participants)
New session
Begin: Enhancing practice for K–5 teachers
On-site or virtual, 3 hours
Dig into Amplify Desmos Math’s Launch, Monitor, Connect framework to level-up the student discourse in your math class. Explore in-the-moment differentiation support to help you orchestrate discussion and make the most out of key opportunities for conversation and collaboration.
Audience: Teachers, instructional staff (maximum 30 participants)
New session
Begin: Enhancing practice for 6–A1 teachers
On-site or virtual, 3 hours
Dig into Amplify Desmos Math’s Launch, Monitor, Connect framework to level up the student discourse in your math classroom. Learn strategies for leveraging the tools in the Teacher Dashboard to orchestrate discussion, and practice planning moves to make the most out of key discussion moments.
Audience: Teachers, instructional staff (maximum 30 participants)
New session
Begin: Strengthen Focus: Desmos Math to Amplify Desmos Math 6–A1 transition training for teachers
Virtual, 1 hour
Participants will get an overview of the similarities and differences between Desmos Math and Amplify Desmos Math, including becoming familiar with changes in materials, the digital platform, and key lesson, assessment, and reporting components.
Audience: Teachers, instructional staff (maximum 30 participants)
Practice packages
Strengthen sessions
| On-site package (15 hr.) |
Hybrid 15, on-site package (15 hr.) |
Hybrid 13 package (13 hr.) |
Virtual package (9 hr.) |
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| One session per package | On-site, 3 hr. |
Virtual, 3 hr. |
Virtual, 1 hr. |
Virtual, 3 hr. |
| Enhancing planning for K–5 teachers |
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| Enhancing planning for 6–A1 teachers |
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| Enhancing practice for K–5 teachers |
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| Strengthen Focus: Teaching a digital lesson for K–5 teachers | |
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| Strengthen Focus: Snapshots in the Teacher Dashboard for 6–A1 teachers | |
New session
Practice: Enhancing planning for K–5 teachers
On-site or virtual, 3 hours
Dive into both big-picture and day-to-day planning for Amplify Desmos Math. Practice using lesson and unit planning protocols that will help you build a deep understanding of the math content you’ll be teaching and the planning resources available to you in the curriculum. Walk away with practical strategies for planning, even when you may not have much time.
Audience: Teachers, instructional staff (maximum 30 participants)
New session
Practice: Enhancing planning for 6–A1 teachers
On-site or virtual, 3 hours
Dive into both big-picture and day-to-day planning for Amplify Desmos Math. Practice using lesson and unit planning protocols that will help you build a deep understanding of the math content you’ll be teaching and the planning resources available to you in the curriculum. Walk away with practical strategies for planning, even when you may not have much time.
Audience: Teachers, instructional staff (maximum 30 participants)
New session
Practice: Enhancing practice for K–5 teachers
On-site or virtual, 3 hours
Dig into Amplify Desmos Math’s Launch, Monitor, Connect framework to level-up the student discourse in your math class. Explore in-the-moment differentiation support to help you orchestrate discussion and make the most out of key opportunities for conversation and collaboration.
Audience: Teachers, instructional staff (maximum 30 participants)
New session
Practice: Enhancing practice for 6–A1 teachers
On-site or virtual, 3 hours
Dig into Amplify Desmos Math’s Launch, Monitor, Connect framework to level up the student discourse in your math classroom. Learn strategies for leveraging the tools in the Teacher Dashboard to orchestrate discussion, and practice planning moves to make the most out of key discussion moments.
Audience: Teachers, instructional staff (maximum 30 participants)
New session
Practice: Strengthen Focus: Teaching a digital lesson for K–5 teachers
Virtual, 1 hour
Get ready to facilitate digital lessons with your students. Explore what’s possible with the Teacher Dashboard and plan to make the most of these exciting instructional moments.
Audience: Teachers, instructional staff (maximum 30 participants)
New session
Practice: Strengthen Focus: Snapshots in the Teacher Dashboard for 6–A1 teachers
Virtual, 1 hour
Explore how to use the Snapshots tool in the Teacher Dashboard to create a collaborative classroom that invites and celebrates student thinking. Leave with planning tips and tricks that will get you ready to use Snapshots during your busy math classes.
Audience: Teachers, instructional staff (maximum 30 participants)
Amplify Science
Amplify Science is a K–8 science curriculum that blends hands-on investigations, literacy-rich activities, and interactive digital tools to empower students to think, read, write, and argue like real scientists and engineers.
Explore the Amplify Science sessions (for grade bands K–5 and 6–8) for year one packages and beyond. Select the session title or scroll to learn more about each session.
Begin packages
Strengthen sessions
| On-site package (15 hr.) |
Hybrid 15, on-site package (15 hr.) |
Hybrid 10 package (10 hr.) |
Hybrid 15, virtual package (15 hr.) |
Virtual package (7 hr.) |
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| One session per package | On-site, 3 hr. |
Virtual, 3 hr. |
Virtual, 1 hr. |
Virtual, 3 hr. |
Virtual, 1 hr. |
| Enhancing planning (K–5 or 6–8) |
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| Supporting diverse learners with embedded supports: Teacher modeling and student discourse (K–8) |
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Begin: Enhancing planning for teachers
(grades K–5 or 6–8)
On-site or virtual, 3 hours
Learn how to use a planning protocol to internalize an upcoming Amplify Science unit. Leave with a plan to support students engaging in three-dimensional learning while also meeting the diverse needs of students in your classroom.
Audience: Teachers, instructional staff grades K–5 or 6–8 (maximum 30 participants)
Begin: Enhancing practice for teachers
(grades K–5 or 6–8)
On-site or virtual, 3 hours
Learn how Amplify Science supports phenomenon-based learning. Experience a sequence of model instruction from the curriculum, and walk away with a plan for how you can enhance the curriculum through your teaching practice to build a powerful culture of “figuring out” in your science classroom.
Audience: Teachers, instructional staff grades K–5 or 6–8 (maximum 30 participants)
Begin: Enhancing observations for leaders (grades K–8)
On-site or virtual, 3 hours
Learn to use the non-evaluative classroom walkthrough tool for Amplify Science to promote the use of instructional resources, focus on instructional delivery, and monitor instruction. Leave with an action plan for collecting and analyzing observation data to support teachers in their implementation of Amplify Science.
Audience: Leaders grades K–8 (maximum 30 participants)
Begin: Strengthen Focus: Planning an Amplify Science lesson
Virtual, 1 hour
Develop structure and routines for planning Amplify Science lessons and leave prepared for an upcoming lesson.
Audience: Teachers, instructional staff grades K–8 (maximum 30 participants)
Begin: Strengthen Focus: Supporting diverse learners: Exploring the resources (grades K–8)
Virtual, 1 hour
Learn how to use lesson-specific differentiation briefs, embedded assessments, and activity-specific teacher support notes to maximize instruction for diverse learners with Amplify Science.
Audience: Teachers, instructional staff grades K–8 (maximum 30 participants)
Begin: Strengthen Focus: Supporting diverse learners with embedded supports: Teacher modeling and student discourse (grades K–8)
Virtual, 1 hour
Explore ways to leverage and build upon two key instructional elements in Amplify Science, and plan how you’ll use these supports to engage diverse learners in your next lesson.
Audience: Teachers, instructional staff grades K–8 (maximum 30 participants)
Practice packages
Strengthen sessions
| On-site package (15 hr.) |
Hybrid 15, on-site package (15 hr.) |
Hybrid 13 package (13 hr.) |
Virtual package (9 hr.) |
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| One session per package | On-site, 3 hr. |
Virtual, 3 hr. |
Virtual, 1 hr. |
Virtual, 3 hr. |
| Enhancing planning (K–5 or 6–8) |
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| Planning with the Coherence Flowchart (K–8) |
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Practice: Enhancing planning for teachers
(grades K–5 or 6–8)
On-site or virtual, 3 hours
Learn how to use a planning protocol to internalize an upcoming Amplify Science unit. Walk away with a plan to support students engaging in three-dimensional learning while also meeting the diverse needs of students in your classroom.
Audience: Teachers, instructional staff grades K–5 or 6–8 (maximum 30 participants)
Practice: Enhancing practice for teachers
(grades K–5 or 6–8)
On-site or virtual, 3 hours
Learn how Amplify Science supports phenomenon-based learning. Experience a sequence of model instruction from the curriculum, and walk away with a plan for how you can enhance the curriculum through your teaching practice to build a powerful culture of “figuring out” in your science classroom.
Audience: Teachers, instructional staff grades K–5 or 6–8 (maximum 30 participants)
Practice: Enhancing observations for leaders
(grades K–5 or 6–8)
On-site or virtual, 3 hours
Learn to use the non-evaluative classroom walkthrough tool for Amplify Science to promote the use of instructional resources, focus on instructional delivery, and monitor instruction. Leave with an action plan for collecting and analyzing observation data to support teachers in their implementation of Amplify Science.
Audience: Leaders grades K–5 or 6–8 (maximum 30 participants)
Practice: Supporting all learners with complex texts (grades K–5 or 6–8)
On-site or virtual, 3 hours
Collaborate to solve common reading challenges alongside other educators. Learn strategies to support students in grades K–5 or 6–8 in accessing complex texts in Amplify Science units by engaging in a model reading sequence. Leave with a plan for incorporating effective strategies into your upcoming Amplify Science reading lesson.
Audience: Teachers, instructional staff grades K–5 or 6–8 (maximum 30 participants)
Practice: Supporting English learners (grades K–5 or 6–8)
On-site or virtual, 3 hours
Explore strategies and engage in model activities to support multilingual/English learners in grades K–5 or 6–8 in developing their abilities to do, talk, read, write, visualize, and construct arguments in Amplify Science. Leave with strategies to support a deeper understanding of the critical role that language and literacy play in developing scientific understanding.
Audience: Teachers, instructional staff grades K–5 or 6–8 (maximum 30 participants)
Practice: Writing in science (grades K–5 or 6–8)
On-site or virtual, 3 hours
Develop an understanding of how the Amplify Science writing approach supports students in grades K–5 or 6–8 in engaging in science practices, making sense of science ideas, and growing as writers. Leave with a plan for supporting student writing in your next unit.
Audience: Teachers, instructional staff grades K–5 or 6–8 (maximum 30 participants)
Practice: Assessment system (grades K–5 or 6–8)
On-site or virtual, 3 hours
Available: Fall 2024
Analyze a sample formative assessment, deepen your understanding of Amplify Science unit learning progressions, and participate in discussions to understand the relationships between different types of assessments and your unit’s learning goals. Walk away with strategies for collecting, analyzing, and responding to student assessment data.
Audience: Teachers, instructional staff grades of K–5 or 6–8 (maximum 30 participants)
Practice: Engineering Internships (grades 6–8)
On-site or virtual, 3 hours
Plan for the first Amplify Science Engineering Internship course of your grade level (6–8) by exploring the Futura workspace and digital tools students will use during the Internship experience. Leave with an understanding of how students will apply science concept knowledge to construct design solutions. This session will feature one of the following Engineering Internships based on your need: Metabolism, Plate Motion, or Force and Motion unit.
Audience: Teachers, instructional staff grades 6–8 (maximum 30 participants)
Practice: Science Seminar (grades 6–8)
On-site or virtual, 3 hours
Experience a Science Seminar sequence of a sample Amplify Science grade 6–8 unit from the student perspective to gain an understanding of how students apply science concepts to engage in argumentation about a phenomenon. Leave with a plan for teaching a Science Seminar unit in your own classroom.
Audience: Teachers, instructional staff grades 6–8 (maximum 30 participants)
Practice: Strengthen Focus: Planning an Amplify Science lesson (grades K–8)
Virtual, 1 hour
Develop a structure for planning Amplify Science lessons and leave prepared for an upcoming lesson.
Audience: Teachers, instructional staff grades K–8 (maximum 30 participants)
Practice: Strengthen Focus: Supporting diverse learners: Exploring the resources (grades K–8)
Virtual, 1 hour
Learn how to use lesson-specific differentiation briefs, embedded assessments, and activity-specific teacher support notes to supplement instruction for diverse learners with Amplify Science.
Audience: Teachers, instructional staff grades K–8 (maximum 30 participants)
Practice: Strengthen Focus: Supporting diverse learners: Teacher modeling and student discourse (grades K–8)
Virtual, 1 hour
Explore ways to leverage and build upon two key instructional elements in Amplify Science and plan for ways to use these supports to engage diverse learners in your next lesson.
Audience: Teachers, instructional staff grades K–8 (maximum 30 participants)
Practice: Strengthen Focus: Analyzing student work (grades K–8)
Virtual, 1 hour
Engage with a protocol to analyze real student work and plan for instructional next steps in Amplify Science. (You are required to bring student formative assessment samples to this session.)
Audience: Teachers, instructional staff grades K–8 (maximum 30 participants)
Practice: Strengthen Focus: Supporting diverse learners: Multimodal learning and multiple at-bats (grades K–8)
Virtual, 3 hours
Learn strategies to develop an understanding of how Amplify Science’s multimodal approach supports diverse learners.
Audience: Teachers, instructional staff grades K–8 (maximum 30 participants)
Practice: Strengthen Focus: Grading with Amplify Science (grades K–8)
Virtual, 1 hour
Develop an understanding of how to use assessment resources in Amplify Science to grade students three dimensionally and use practices that align with district/school guidelines.
Audience: Teachers, instructional staff grades K–8 (maximum 30 participants)
Practice: Strengthen Focus: Enhancing the digital experience (grades K–5)
Virtual, 1 hour
Learn how to go further with Amplify Science digital experience tools to enhance teaching and learning.
Audience: Teachers, instructional staff grades K–5 (maximum 30 participants)
Practice: Strengthen Focus: Planning with the Coherence Flowchart (grades K–8)
Virtual, 1 hour
Practice using the Coherence Flowchart resource to plan an upcoming Amplify Science unit.
Audience: Teachers, instructional staff grades K–8 (maximum 30 participants)
Get in touch with a PD expert
We’re here to provide answers and guidance as you explore your PD journey. Fill out the form to connect with us and discover how Amplify PD can enhance your educational journey.
S5.E6. Why skepticism is essential to the Science of Reading, with Dr. Claude Goldenberg
Core STEM programs: Strengthen sessions
Professional development sets teachers and leaders up for success, whether they are new to or experienced with a program. Each Strengthen session promotes a deeper understanding of the program through targeted instructional practices.
Explore STEM Strengthen sessions by program below.
Amplify professional development has been vetted by Rivet Education’s team through a rigorous three-step process and is listed in the Professional Learning Partner Guide.
About Strengthen sessions
Target specific instructional practices with Strengthen sessions designed for teachers and leaders in year one and beyond.
Ready to schedule? Contact us and an Amplify expert will help identify the session(s) that best support your students’ success.
Each package includes one Strengthen session. Additional sessions can be added as enhancements.
Amplify Math
Amplify Math is a core math curriculum that serves 100% of students in accessing grade-level math every day. The program delivers engaging grade-level math lessons; flexible, social problem-solving experiences both online and off, and insights, data, and reporting that drive performance.
Explore the Amplify Math Strengthen sessions (for grade bands 6–Algebra 1 and Geometry–Algebra 2) for Begin packages and beyond. Click the session title or scroll down to learn more about each session.
Begin packages
| On-site package (15 hr.) |
Hybrid on-site package (15 hr.) |
Hybrid 10 package (10 hr.) |
Hybrid virtual package (15 hr.) |
Virtual package (7 hr.) |
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| One Strengthen session per package | On-site 3 hr. sessions |
On-site 3 hr. sessions |
Virtual 1 hr. sessions |
Virtual 3 hr. sessions |
Virtual 1 hr. sessions |
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Begin: Enhancing planning for grade 6–A1 teachers
On-site or virtual, 3 hours
Prepare to teach Amplify Math lessons effectively by engaging in collaborative backward planning with experts. Work alongside our facilitators to understand how to target key concepts and make successful instructional decisions across a unit, and leave with a completed unit plan for your class.
Audience: Teachers, instructional staff (maximum 30 participants)
Begin: Enhancing practice for grade 6–A1 teachers
On-site or virtual, 3 hours
See the Launch, Monitor, Connect problem-based learning model in action, and practice integrating these practices into your facilitation of lesson activities. Leave with guidelines for using the Launch, Monitor, Connect model that you can implement during your next lesson.
Audience: Teachers, instructional staff (maximum 30 participants)
Begin: Enhancing observations for leaders
On-site or virtual, 3 hours
Learn to use our non-evaluative classroom look-for tool for Amplify Math to promote the use of instructional resources, focus on instructional delivery, and monitor instruction. Leave with an action plan for collecting and analyzing observation data to support teachers in their implementation of Amplify Math.
Audience: Leaders (maximum 30 participants)
Begin: Strengthen Focus: Unit-level planning for grade 6–A1 teachers
Virtual, 1 hour
Dive into unit planning as you learn the story of how your upcoming unit is tied to other units and grade levels, and discover the big ideas you will explore alongside your students in Amplify Math.
Audience: Teachers, instructional staff (maximum 30 participants)
Begin: Strengthen Focus: Lesson-level planning for grade 6–A1 teachers
Virtual, 1 hour
Dive into lesson-level planning as you learn how to create a road map that guides student learning, makes connections across lessons, and measures student understanding of the learning goals in Amplify Math.
Audience: Teachers, instructional staff (maximum 30 participants)
Begin: Strengthen Focus: Increasing engagement with Instructional Routines for grade 6–A1 teachers
Virtual, 1 hour
Explore how to use Instructional Routines such as Notice and Wonder to support and engage students as they make sense of new contexts and mathematical problems in Amplify Math.
Audience: Teachers, instructional staff (maximum 30 participants)
Practice packages
| On-site package (15 hr.) |
Hybrid 15, on-site package (15 hr.) |
Hybrid 13 package (13 hr.) |
Virtual package (9 hr.) |
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| One Strengthen session per package | On-site 3 hr. sessions |
On-site 3 hr. sessions |
Virtual 1 hr. sessions |
Virtual 3 hr. session |
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| Using data to drive instruction for 6–A1 teachers | |
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| Addressing prerequisite skills for 6–A1 teachers | |
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| Orchestrating math discussions for 6–A1 teachers | |
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| Building language with math routines for 6–A1 teachers | |
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| Increasing engagement with Instructional Routines for 6–A1 teachers | |
Practice: Enhancing planning for grade 6–A1 teachers
On-site or virtual, 3 hours
Prepare to effectively teach Amplify Math lessons by engaging in collaborative backward planning with experts. Work alongside our facilitators to understand how to target key concepts and make effective instructional decisions across a unit, and leave with a completed unit plan for your class.
Audience: Teachers, instructional staff (maximum 30 participants)
Practice: Enhancing practice for grade 6–A1 teachers
On-site or virtual, 3 hours
See the Launch, Monitor, Connect problem-based learning model in action, and practice integrating these practices into your facilitation of lesson activities. Leave with guidelines for using the Launch, Monitor, Connect model that you can implement during your next lesson.
Audience: Teachers, instructional staff (maximum 30 participants)
Practice: Enhancing observations for leaders
On-site or virtual, 3 hours
Learn to use our non-evaluative classroom look-for tool for Amplify Math to promote the use of instructional resources, focus on instructional delivery, and monitor instruction. Leave with an action plan for collecting and analyzing observation data to support teachers in their implementation of Amplify Math.
Audience: Leaders (maximum 30 participants)
Practice: Using differentiation supports for grade 6–A1 teachers
On-site or virtual, 3 hours
Learn how to leverage embedded differentiated supports in Amplify Math to ensure that all students can be successful. Walk away with a plan for supporting students in your classroom including multilingual/English learners (ML/ELs), students with disabilities, students who may need extra support, and advanced students.
Audience: Teachers, instructional staff (maximum 30 participants)
Practice: Using data to drive instruction for grade 6–A1 teachers
On-site or virtual, 3 hours
Grow your proficiency in data analysis. Turn student data gathered within Amplify Math into differentiated instruction targeting specific skills. Walk away ready to use the data provided in the curriculum to align embedded support to your students’ unique needs.
Audience: Teachers, instructional staff (maximum 30 participants)
Practice: Addressing prerequisite skills for grade 6–A1 teachers
On-site or virtual, 3 hours
Explore Amplify Math’s just-in-time approach to addressing prerequisite skills. Leave with a deeper understanding of how to use embedded curriculum resources to identify and support prerequisite skills essential for your next unit.
Audience: Teachers, instructional staff (maximum 30 participants)
Practice: Orchestrating math discussions for grade 6–A1 teachers
On-site or virtual, 3 hours
Learn strategies for leading discussions that promote more math talk among all students in your classroom. Walk away with strategies and Amplify Math curriculum tools you can bring back to your classroom to enhance discussion in your next lesson.
Audience: Teachers, instructional staff (maximum 30 participants)
Practice: Strengthen Focus: Building language with math routines for grade 6–A1 teachers
Virtual, 1 hour
Explore how Math Language Routines support students as they make sense of new contexts and mathematical problems in Amplify Math. Leave with strategies for using these routines to support students in learning mathematical practices, content, and language in your upcoming lessons.
Audience: Teachers, instructional staff (maximum 30 participants)
Practice: Strengthen Focus: Unit-level planning for grade 6–A1 teachers
Virtual, 1 hour
Dive into unit planning as you learn the story of how your upcoming unit is tied to other units and grade levels, and discover the big ideas you’ll explore alongside your students in Amplify Math.
Audience: Teachers, instructional staff (maximum 30 participants)
Practice: Strengthen Focus: Lesson-level planning for grade 6–A1 teachers
Virtual, 1 hour
Dive into lesson-level planning as you learn how to create a roadmap for a lesson that guides student learning, makes connections across lessons, and measures student understanding of the learning goals in Amplify Math.
Audience: Teachers, instructional staff (maximum 30 participants)
Practice: Strengthen Focus: Increasing engagement with Instructional Routines for grade 6–A1 teachers
Virtual, 1 hour
Explore how to leverage Instructional Routines such as Notice and Wonder to support students as they make sense of new contexts and mathematical problems in Amplify Math.
Audience: Teachers, instructional staff (maximum 30 participants)
Amplify Desmos Math
Amplify Desmos Math is a core K–12 program—available in English and Spanish—that applies a problem-based approach to develop deep conceptual understanding, procedural fluency, and application. Using technology inspired by students’ natural curiosity, Amplify Desmos Math connects the classroom and fosters real collaboration, discourse, and perseverance in problem-solving. Captivating activities, powerful teaching tools, and lots of support enable students to develop math proficiency that lasts a lifetime.
Explore the Amplify Desmos Math Strengthen sessions (for grades K–5, 6–A1, and high school) for Begin packages and beyond. Click the session title or scroll down to learn more about each session.
Begin packages
Strengthen sessions
| On-site package (15 hr.) |
Hybrid 15, on-site package (15 hr.) |
Hybrid 10 package (10 hr.) |
Hybrid 15, virtual package (15 hr.) |
Virtual package (7 hr.) |
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| One Strengthen session per package | On-site, 3 hr. |
On-site, 3 hr. |
Virtual, 1 hr. |
Virtual, 3 hr. |
Virtual, 1 hr. |
| Enhancing planning for K–5, 6–A1, or high school teachers |
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| Enhancing observations for K–5, 6–A1 leaders, or high school leaders | |
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| Supporting all learners: Differentiation in Amplify Desmos Math for K–5 or 6–A1 teachers | |
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| Unit-level planning for K–5, 6–A1, or high school teachers |
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Begin: Amplify Desmos Math: Enhancing planning for K–5, 6–A1, or high school teachers
On-site or virtual, 3 hours
Dive into planning for Amplify Desmos Math, both big picture and day-to-day. Practice using lesson- and unit-planning protocols that will help you build a deep understanding of the math content you’ll be teaching and the planning resources available to you in the curriculum. Walk away with practical strategies for planning, even when you may not have much time.
Audience: Teachers, instructional staff (maximum 30 participants)
Begin: Amplify Desmos Math: Enhancing practice for K–5, 6–A1, or high school teachers
On-site or virtual, 3 hours
Dig into Amplify Desmos Math’s Launch, Monitor, Connect framework to level-up the student discourse in your math class. Explore in-the-moment differentiation support to help you orchestrate discussion and make the most out of key opportunities for conversation and collaboration.
Audience: Teachers, instructional staff (maximum 30 participants)
New session
Begin: Strengthen: Supporting all learners: Differentiation in Amplify Desmos Math for K–5 or 6–A1 teachers
On-site or virtual, 3 hours
Learn how to use the differentiation supports in Amplify Desmos Math to effectively support all learners, both in the moment during a lesson and beyond the lesson. Leave with a plan for implementing resources to support, strengthen, and stretch students’ thinking.
Audience: Teachers, instructional staff (maximum 30 participants)
New session
Begin: Amplify Desmos Math: Enhancing observations for K–5, 6–A1, or high school leaders
High school sessions are available October 2026.
On-site or virtual, 3 hours
Elevate your program knowledge to support teachers with effective Amplify Desmos Math implementation. Leave prepared to identify key instructional elements in a problem-based math lesson, analyze data, and conduct effective classroom observations.
Audience: Leaders (maximum 30 participants)
New session
Begin: Strengthen Focus: Amplify Desmos Math: Unit-level planning for K–5, 6–A1, or high school teachers
Virtual, 1 hour
Dive into unit-level planning to learn the story of your upcoming unit, and discover the big ideas you will explore alongside your students in Amplify Desmos Math.
Audience: Teachers, instructional staff (maximum 30 participants)
Practice packages
Strengthen sessions
Practice: Amplify Desmos Math: Enhancing planning for K–5, 6–A1, or high school teachers
On-site or virtual, 3 hours
Dive into both big-picture and day-to-day planning for Amplify Desmos Math. Practice using lesson- and unit-planning protocols that will help you build a deep understanding of the math content you’ll be teaching and the planning resources available to you in the curriculum. Walk away with practical strategies for planning, even when you may not have much time.
Audience: Teachers, instructional staff (maximum 30 participants)
Practice: Amplify Desmos Math: Enhancing practice for K–5, 6–A1, or high school teachers
On-site or virtual, 3 hours
Dig into Amplify Desmos Math’s Launch, Monitor, Connect framework to level up the student discourse in your math class. Explore in-the-moment differentiation support to help you orchestrate discussion and make the most out of key opportunities for conversation and collaboration.
Audience: Teachers, instructional staff (maximum 30 participants)
New session
Practice: Amplify Desmos Math: Enhancing observations for K–5, 6–A1, or high school leaders
High school sessions are available October 2026.
On-site or virtual, 3 hours
Elevate your program knowledge to support teachers with effective Amplify Desmos Math implementation. Leave prepared to identify key instructional elements in a problem-based math lesson, analyze data, and conduct effective classroom observations.
Audience: Leaders (maximum 30 participants)
New session
Practice: Amplify Desmos Math: Supporting all learners: Differentiation in Amplify Desmos Math for K–5 or 6–A1 teachers
On-site or virtual, 3 hours
Learn how to use the differentiation supports in Amplify Desmos Math to effectively support all learners, both in the moment during a lesson and beyond the lesson. Leave with a plan for implementing resources to support, strengthen, and stretch students’ thinking.
Audience: Teachers, instructional staff (maximum 30 participants)
Available October 2026
Practice: Amplify Desmos Math: Supporting and facilitating meaningful discussions for K–5, 6–A1, or high school teachers
On-site or virtual, 3 hours
Explore how to transform your mathematics classroom into a social and collaborative environment where students deepen their understanding by sharing their mathematical thinking. Learn more about how Amplify Desmos Math provides support for these meaningful mathematical conversations.
Audience: Teachers, instructional staff (maximum 30 participants)
Available October 2026
Practice: Amplify Desmos Math: Assessment in action: Analyzing data, reports, and planning next steps for K–5 or 6–A1 teachers
On-site or virtual, 3 hours
Deepen your understanding of the different types of assessments in Amplify Desmos Math and how they provide evidence of student learning. Analyze sample student work to calibrate on assessment scoring, interpret student thinking, and make a plan for instructional next steps.
Audience: Teachers, instructional staff (maximum 30 participants)
New session
Practice: Strengthen Focus: Amplify Desmos Math: Unit-level planning for K–5, 6–A1, or high school teachers
Virtual, 1 hour
Dive into unit-level planning to learn the story of your upcoming unit, and discover the big ideas you will explore alongside your students in Amplify Desmos Math.
Audience: Teachers, instructional staff (maximum 30 participants)
Practice: Strengthen Focus: Amplify Desmos Math: Teaching a lesson with digital student screens for K–5 teachers
Virtual, 1 hour
Get ready to facilitate lessons with digital student screens. Explore what’s possible with the Teacher Dashboard and plan to make the most of these exciting instructional moments.
Audience: Teachers, instructional staff (maximum 30 participants)
Practice: Strengthen Focus: Amplify Desmos Math: Snapshots in the Teacher Dashboard for 6–A1 teachers
Virtual, 1 hour
Explore how to use the Snapshots tool in the Teacher Dashboard to create a collaborative classroom that invites and celebrates student thinking. Leave with planning tips and tricks that will get you ready to use Snapshots during your busy math classes.
Audience: Teachers, instructional staff (maximum 30 participants)
Available October 2026
Practice: Strengthen Focus: Amplify Desmos Math: Increasing engagement with instructional routines for K–5, 6–A1, or high school teachers
Virtual, 1 hour
Explore how to use the instructional routines in Amplify Desmos Math to support and engage students as they make sense of new contexts, develop mathematical language, and solve problems.
Audience: Teachers, instructional staff (maximum 30 participants)
Amplify Science
Amplify Science is a K–8 science curriculum that blends hands-on investigations, literacy-rich activities, and interactive digital tools to empower students to think, read, write, and argue like real scientists and engineers.
Explore the Amplify Science sessions (for grade bands K–5 and 6–8) for year-one packages and beyond. Select the session title or scroll to learn more about each session.
Begin packages
Strengthen sessions
| On-site package (15 hr.) |
Hybrid 15, on-site package (15 hr.) |
Hybrid 10 package (10 hr.) |
Hybrid 15, virtual package (15 hr.) |
Virtual package (7 hr.) |
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| One Strengthen session per package | On-site, 3 hr. |
Virtual, 3 hr. |
Virtual, 1 hr. |
Virtual, 3 hr. |
Virtual, 1 hr. |
| Amplify Science: Enhancing planning for K–5 or 6–8 teachers | |
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| Amplify Science: Enhancing practice for K–5 or 6–8 teachers |
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| Amplify Science: Enhancing observations for K–8 leaders | |
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| Amplify Science: Planning an Amplify Science lesson for K–8 teachers |
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Begin: Amplify Science: Enhancing planning for K–5 or 6–8 teachers
On-site or virtual, 3 hours
Learn how to use a planning protocol to internalize an upcoming Amplify Science unit. Leave with a plan to support students engaging in three-dimensional learning while also meeting the needs of all students in your classroom.
Audience: Teachers, instructional staff grades K–5 or 6–8 (maximum 30 participants)
Begin: Amplify Science: Enhancing practice for K–5 or 6–8 teachers
On-site or virtual, 3 hours
Learn how Amplify Science supports phenomenon-based learning. Experience a sequence of model instruction from the curriculum, and walk away with a plan for how you can enhance the curriculum through your teaching practice to build a powerful culture of figuring out in your science classroom.
Audience: Teachers, instructional staff grades K–5 or 6–8 (maximum 30 participants)
Begin: Amplify Science: Enhancing observations for K–8 leaders
On-site or virtual, 3 hours
Learn to use the non-evaluative classroom look-for tool for Amplify Science to promote the use of instructional materials, focus on instructional delivery, and monitor instruction. Leave with an action plan for collecting and analyzing observation data to support teachers in their implementation of Amplify Science.
Audience: Leaders grades K–8 (maximum 30 participants)
Begin: Strengthen Focus: Amplify Science: Planning an Amplify Science lesson for K–8 teachers
Virtual, 1 hour
Develop structure and routines for planning Amplify Science lessons and leave prepared for an upcoming lesson.
Audience: Teachers, instructional staff grades K–8 (maximum 30 participants)
Begin: Strengthen Focus: Amplify Science: Supporting all learners: Exploring the resources for K–8 teachers
Virtual, 1 hour
Learn how to use lesson-specific differentiation briefs, embedded assessments, and activity-specific teacher support notes to maximize instruction for all learners with Amplify Science.
Audience: Teachers, instructional staff grades K–8 (maximum 30 participants)
Begin: Strengthen Focus: Amplify Science: Supporting all learners: Teacher modeling and student discourse for K–8 teachers
Virtual, 1 hour
Explore ways to leverage and build upon two key instructional elements in Amplify Science, and plan how you’ll use these supports to engage all learners in your next lesson.
Audience: Teachers, instructional staff grades K–8 (maximum 30 participants)
Practice packages
Strengthen sessions
Practice: Amplify Science: Enhancing planning for K–5 or 6–8 teachers
On-site or virtual, 3 hours
Learn how to use a planning protocol to internalize an upcoming Amplify Science unit. Walk away with a plan to support students engaging in three-dimensional learning while also meeting the all needs of students in your classroom.
Audience: Teachers, instructional staff grades K–5 or 6–8 (maximum 30 participants)
Practice: Amplify Science: Enhancing practice for K–5 or 6–8 teachers
On-site or virtual, 3 hours
Learn how Amplify Science supports phenomenon-based learning. Experience a sequence of model instruction from the curriculum, and walk away with a plan for how you can enhance the curriculum through your teaching practice to build a powerful culture of “figuring out” in your science classroom.
Audience: Teachers, instructional staff grades K–5 or 6–8 (maximum 30 participants)
Practice: Amplify Science: Enhancing observations for K–5 or 6–8 leaders
On-site or virtual, 3 hours
Learn to use the non-evaluative classroom look-for tool for Amplify Science to promote the use of instructional materials, focus on instructional delivery, and monitor instruction. Leave with an action plan for collecting and analyzing observation data to support teachers in their implementation of Amplify Science.
Audience: Leaders grades K–5 or 6–8 (maximum 30 participants)
Practice: Amplify Science: Supporting all learners with complex texts for K–5 or 6–8 teachers
On-site or virtual, 3 hours
Collaborate to solve common reading challenges alongside other educators. Learn strategies to support students in grades K–5 or 6–8 in accessing complex texts in Amplify Science units by engaging in a model-reading sequence. Leave with a plan for incorporating effective strategies into your upcoming Amplify Science reading lesson.
Audience: Teachers, instructional staff grades K–5 or 6–8 (maximum 30 participants)
Practice: Amplify Science: Supporting multilingual/English learners for K–5 or 6–8 teachers
On-site or virtual, 3 hours
Explore strategies and engage in model activities to support multilingual/English learners in grades K–5 or 6–8 in developing their abilities to do, talk, read, write, visualize, and construct arguments in Amplify Science. Leave with strategies to support a deeper understanding of the critical role that language and literacy play in developing scientific understanding.
Audience: Teachers, instructional staff grades K–5 or 6–8 (maximum 30 participants)
Practice: Amplify Science: Writing in science for K–5 or 6–8 teachers
On-site or virtual, 3 hours
Develop an understanding of how the Amplify Science writing approach supports students in grades K–5 or 6–8 in engaging in science practices, making sense of science ideas, and growing as writers. Leave with a plan for supporting student writing in your next unit.
Audience: Teachers, instructional staff grades K–5 or 6–8 (maximum 30 participants)
Practice: Amplify Science: Assessment system for K–5 or 6–8 teachers
On-site or virtual, 3 hours
Analyze a sample formative assessment, deepen your understanding of learning progressions in each Amplify Science unit, and participate in discussions to understand the relationships between different types of assessments and your unit’s learning goals. Walk away with strategies for collecting, analyzing, and responding to student assessment data.
Audience: Teachers, instructional staff grades of K–5 or 6–8 (maximum 30 participants)
Practice: Amplify Science: Engineering Internships for 6–8 teachers
On-site or virtual, 3 hours
Plan for the first Amplify Science Engineering Internship course of your grade level (6–8) by exploring the Futura workspace and digital tools students will use during the internship experience. Leave with an understanding of how students will apply science concept knowledge to construct design solutions. This session will feature one of the following Engineering Internships based on your need: Metabolism, Plate Motion, or Force and Motion.
Audience: Teachers, instructional staff grades 6–8 (maximum 30 participants)
Practice: Amplify Science: Science Seminar for 6–8 teachers
On-site or virtual, 3 hours
Experience a Science Seminar sequence of a sample unit from Amplify Science grade 6–8 from the student perspective! Gain an understanding of how students apply science concepts to engage in argumentation about a phenomenon, and leave with a plan for teaching a Science Seminar unit in your own classroom.
Audience: Teachers, instructional staff grades 6–8 (maximum 30 participants)
Practice: Strengthen Focus: Amplify Science: Planning an Amplify Science lesson for K–8 teachers
Virtual, 1 hour
Develop a structure for planning Amplify Science lessons and leave prepared for an upcoming lesson.
Audience: Teachers, instructional staff grades K–8 (maximum 30 participants)
Practice: Strengthen Focus: Amplify Science: Supporting all learners: Exploring the resources for K–8 teachers
Virtual, 1 hour
Learn how to use lesson-specific differentiation briefs, embedded assessments, and activity-specific teacher support notes to supplement instruction for all learners with Amplify Science.
Audience: Teachers, instructional staff grades K–8 (maximum 30 participants)
Practice: Strengthen Focus: Amplify Science: Supporting all learners: Teacher modeling and student discourse for K–8 teachers
Virtual, 1 hour
Explore ways to leverage and build upon two key instructional elements in Amplify Science and plan for ways to use these supports to engage all learners in your next lesson.
Audience: Teachers, instructional staff grades K–8 (maximum 30 participants)
Practice: Strengthen Focus: Amplify Science: Analyzing student work for K–8 teachers
Virtual, 1 hour
Engage with a protocol to analyze real student work and plan for instructional next steps in Amplify Science. (You are required to bring student formative assessment samples to this session.)
Audience: Teachers, instructional staff grades K–8 (maximum 30 participants)
Practice: Strengthen Focus: Amplify Science: Supporting all learners: Multimodal learning and multiple at-bats for K–8 teachers
Virtual, 3 hours
Learn strategies to develop an understanding of how Amplify Science’s multimodal approach supports all learners.
Audience: Teachers, instructional staff grades K–8 (maximum 30 participants)
Practice: Strengthen Focus: Amplify Science: Grading with Amplify Science for K–8 teachers
Virtual, 1 hour
Develop an understanding of how to use assessment resources in Amplify Science to grade students three-dimensionally and use practices that align with district/school guidelines.
Audience: Teachers, instructional staff grades K–8 (maximum 30 participants)
Practice: Strengthen Focus: Amplify Science: Enhancing the digital experience for K–5 teachers
Virtual, 1 hour
Learn how to go further with Amplify Science digital experience tools to enhance teaching and learning.
Audience: Teachers, instructional staff grades K–5 (maximum 30 participants)
Practice: Strengthen Focus: Amplify Science: Planning with the Coherence Flowchart for K–8 teachers
Virtual, 1 hour
Practice using the Coherence Flowchart resource to plan an upcoming Amplify Science unit.
Audience: Teachers, instructional staff grades K–8 (maximum 30 participants)
Get in touch with a PD expert.
Math that motivates your K–5 students
As a K–5 teacher, your day is a constant balance of subjects, personalities, and priorities. With so many different dynamics and responsibilities, math class shouldn’t be another struggle to muscle through!
That’s why we’ve compiled a wealth of resources and activities to help you engage students; meet instructional goals; and encourage fluency, number sense, and discussion in your classroom.
The power of fluency
Teachers work to achieve so many outcomes during their math block. While balancing multiple priorities, it’s important to remember that procedural fluency remains integral to student learning. Access this guide to unpack the power of fluency and find free math fluency practice to use in your next lesson.
10 low-prep, high-impact math activities that get to some serious math
Envision your classroom engaged in a difficult math task—all students are participating, leveraging different scaffolds that you intentionally prepared ahead of time. Engagement is high, and students are both challenged and motivated. Make this a reality in your school with our free activities designed to encourage productive struggle while reaching all learners.
Three practices to support problem-based learning
As educators, we want all students to develop a rich and deep understanding of the math they experience in our classrooms. A problem-based learning approach supports this by centering problem-solving in ways that build lifelong mathematical proficiency. Read this guide for practical tips on introducing problem-based learning and deeper conceptual understanding into your math classroom.
Best practices from real educators like you
Learn tried and true strategies for leveling up math instruction from Beyond My Years podcast guests like Amplify’s own Dan Meyer, teacher and My Kindergarten Math Workbook author Keri Brown, educator and speaker Mike Flynn, teacher and I Hate Math author Ian Brown, and more!
More free resources for K–5 educators
K–5 Insider
Sign up for our monthly email to get new K–5 content and activities directly in your inbox.
K–5 instructional routine cards
Find easy-to-implement routines to keep students interacting and engaged with a lesson.
Math that motivates: Success stories
See how real teachers and students are unlocking new levels of engagement and comprehension, proving that everyone can be a math person.
FAQ for K–5 educators
Procedural fluency is the ability to use procedures flexibly, accurately, and efficiently to solve problems. Procedural fluency goes beyond memorization—students develop fluency when they understand number relationships and can choose from multiple strategies based on the numbers involved.
Students who understand why procedures work feel confident tackling challenging problems. When students can choose strategies that make sense to them, rather than relying on rote memorization, they develop agency and see themselves as capable mathematical thinkers.
Understanding how numbers connect helps students develop flexible thinking and multiple solution strategies. Timed tests often prioritize speed over understanding, which can create math anxiety and discourage the productive struggle that deepens learning.
Teachers can achieve this balance by using a predictable routine: warm-ups for fluency practice, a core problem-solving activity during which students explore multiple strategies, and structured discussion to connect different approaches. This structure ensures both skill-building and mathematical discourse happen daily.
Synthesizing learning means bringing the lesson together by highlighting the key mathematical idea that students have just explored. After students share strategies, the teacher helps them make connections between different approaches and names the big takeaway, often through a brief summary or exit ticket.
The Five Practices for Orchestrating Productive Mathematical Discussions are: 1) Anticipating student strategies before the lesson, 2) monitoring student work during the activity, 3) selecting specific students to share, 4) sequencing presentations in a purposeful order, and 5) connecting different strategies to the mathematical goal.
Productive struggle is when students grapple with challenging problems that require genuine thinking, but that remain accessible with appropriate support. It’s essential for deeper understanding, because it compels students to think critically, test strategies, and build perseverance, moving beyond surface-level memorization.
They can celebrate mistakes as learning opportunities and emphasize that understanding develops through effort and persistence. They can also create a safe classroom environment in which all students feel comfortable sharing their developing ideas and foster structured discussions during which multiple strategies are valued, helping students see that there’s more than one right way to think mathematically.
These are problems accessible to all students (that’s the low floor) but open enough to challenge advanced thinkers (that’s the high ceiling). Tasks like these allow multiple entry points and solution strategies, making them ideal for generating rich classroom discussion in which every student can participate meaningfully.
Such routines build number sense and fluency while making discussions predictable and low stakes. These brief, structured activities (5–10 minutes) activate prior knowledge, help students see number relationships, and give everyone practice explaining their thinking—all without requiring extensive preparation or materials.
They can do so by maintaining meaningful objectives while providing varied supports—ensuring that students understand what’s being asked, offering manipulatives and visual tools, allowing partner discussion before whole-class sharing, asking guiding questions without giving away the answer, and strategically grouping students. The goal is supporting access to challenging work, not making it easier.
Inspiring the next generation of South Carolina scientists, engineers, and curious citizens
Amplify Science is an engaging new core curriculum designed for three-dimensional, phenomena-based learning.
Amplify Science was developed by the science education experts at UC Berkeley’s Lawrence Hall of Science and the digital learning team at Amplify.
Our Instructional model
The Amplify Science program is rooted in the proven, research-based pedagogy of Do, Talk, Read, Write, Visualize. Here’s how each element works:
DO
First-hand investigations are an important part of any science classroom, and Amplify Science has students getting hands-on in every unit, from building models of protein molecules to experimenting with electrical systems.
TALK
Student-to-student discourse and full class discussions are an integral part of the program. Students are provided with numerous opportunities to engage in meaningful oral scientific argumentation, all while fostering a collaborative classroom environment.
READ
Students read scientific articles, focusing their reading activities on searching for evidence related to their investigation, and importantly, on asking and recording questions as they read through fascinating texts on 21st-century topics.
WRITE
Following real-world practices, students write scientific arguments based on evidence they’ve collected, making clear their reasoning about how a given piece of evidence connects to one of several claims.
VISUALIZE
By manipulating digital simulations and using modeling tools to craft visualizations of their thinking— just as real scientists and engineers do—students take their learning far beyond the confines of what they can physically see in the classroom in an exciting and authentic way.
Explore the Digital Teacher’s Guide
When you’re ready to review, click the orange button below and use your provided login credentials to access the Amplify Science Digital Teacher’s Guide. If you need login credentials, contact Jeff Rutter, jrutter@amplify.com.
Resources to support your review
- South Carolina recommended scope and sequence for grades 6–8
- South Carolina standards correlation for grades K–8
- What’s so phenomenal about phenomena? – ebook
- Phenomena in grades K–5
- Student Books in grades K–5
- Literacy-rich science instruction in grades K–5
- Active Reading in grades 6–8
- Engineering in Amplify Science
- Program structure for grades K–5
Scope and sequence
GRADE |
UNIT |
| Kindergarten |
|
| Grade 1 |
|
| Grade 2 |
|
| Grade 3 |
|
| Grade 4 |
|
| Grade 5 |
|
Grade |
Units |
|
Grade 6 |
|
|
Grade 7 |
|
|
Grade 8 |
|
South Carolina College- and Career-Ready Science Standards 2021
Amplify Science was designed from the ground up to meet the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), and the South Carolina College- and Career-Ready Science Standards 2021 are closely aligned to the NGSS at K-8. The guidance below is meant to provide support for integrating additional companion activities that support full coverage of the South Carolina College- and Career-Ready Science Standards 2021.
Organized by grade level, each section below will outline:
- Additional activities that support 100% alignment to the South Carolina College- and Career-Ready Science Standards 2021;
- The standard being addressed with the activities;
- The recommended placement of the activities within a specific Amplify Science unit; and
- PDFs of any accompanying materials that are necessary to implement the activities.
Standard: MS-PS1-4: Develop a model that predicts and describes changes in particle motion, temperature, and state of a pure substance when thermal energy is added or removed.
Recommended placement: Thermal Energy unit, Lesson 4.4, addition to Activity 3
Materials: “Liquid Oxygen”
By reading the article “Liquid Oxygen,” which describes how the relationship between attraction and kinetic energy determines when a substance changes phase, students extend their understanding of the possible effects of adding or removing thermal energy to include changes in state (phase). Oxygen is one of the most common elements in the world, but most people are only familiar with oxygen in the gas phase. Because oxygen molecules are only weakly attracted to one another, condensing oxygen is difficult. This article introduces students to molecular attraction and discusses its role in phase change, including how it can be used to turn oxygen from a gas to a liquid.
Instructions:
Download PDFs of the “Liquid Oxygen” and distribute it to students. Before they begin reading, remind students of the Active Reading Guidelines.
Standard: MS-PS4-2: Develop and use a model to describe that waves are reflected, absorbed, or transmitted through various materials.
Recommended placement: Weather Patterns unit, Lesson 4.4, addition to Activity 3
Materials: “Harvesting Sunlight”, “Why No One in Space Can Hear You Scream” and “Making Waves at Swim Practice”
After investigating weather patterns, which includes a focus of the effects of energy from sunlight, students extend their learning about light by reading three articles about light and other waves.
“Harvesting Sunlight:” Students read this article to learn about the types of light from the sun that plants use for photosynthesis. The article describes how the sun emits all types of light, but plants can only use certain types of visible light for photosynthesis, mostly red and blue light. Plants also absorb other types of light, and these types of light affect plants in different ways. Students use this information to gather evidence that there are different types of light that can affect a material in different ways.
“Why No One in Space Can Hear You Scream:” Students read this article to learn about how waves are transmitted. Explosions that would be deafening on Earth are silent in space. This is because sound is produced by sound waves and, unlike light waves, sound waves need matter to travel through. Reading about this phenomenon helps students understand the similarities and differences between mechanical and electromagnetic waves.
“Making Waves at Swim Practice:” A practice for the school swim team provides an everyday context for discussing light waves and sound waves in this engaging article. First, the article explores sound waves traveling through different materials–the air, the water of the pool, and even a metal poolside bench. Students discover that sound waves travel at different speeds in different materials. The later part of the article discusses light waves, which also travel at different speeds in different materials. As light waves move from one material to another, they change speed and bend. This bending of light waves is called refraction, and it explains why objects that are partly in the water and partly out of the water (such as the legs of a person sitting on the side of a pool) appear ripply and bent.
Instructions:
Plan one class period for each article. Download PDFs of the “Harvesting Sunlight,” “Why No One in Space Can Hear You Scream,” and “Making Waves at Swim Practice” articles. For each article, before students begin reading, preview the article and discuss what students already know and what they wonder about the topic, then remind students of the Active Reading Guidelines.
Standard: MS-PS2-3: Ask questions about data to determine the factors that affect the strength of electric and magnetic forces. MS-PS2-5: Conduct an investigation and evaluate the experimental design to provide evidence that fields exist between objects exerting forces on each other even though the objects are not in contact.
Recommended placement: Harnessing Human Energy unit, Lesson 3.4, after Activity 1
Materials: “Earth’s Geomagnetism” and “Painting with Static Electricity”
After concluding their investigations of energy transfers and conversions, students read two articles that introduce the topic of forces that act at a distance.
“Earth’s Geomagnetism:” What makes a compass needle point north, no matter what? This article introduces students to Earth’s geomagnetic field and the field lines scientists use to show its direction.
“Painting with Static Electricity:” This article gives students the opportunity to learn about electrostatic fields and forces in the context of spray painting without making a mess. Electrostatic painting systems use electrostatics to draw spray paint toward the object being painted, and nowhere else. Painters charge the object they are painting with a negative charge and the paint with a positive charge. The opposite charges are attracted to one another, causing the paint to move toward the object. This surprising use of electrostatics saves time and paint and keeps things tidy!
Instructions
Plan one class period for each article. Download PDFs of the “Earth’s Geomagnetism” and “Painting with Electricity” articles. For each article, before students begin reading, preview the article and discuss what students already know and what they wonder about the topic, then remind students of the Active Reading Guidelines.
What’s included
Science articles
The middle school science articles serve as sources for evidence collection and were authored by science and literacy experts at the Lawrence Hall of Science.
Student Investigation Notebooks
Available for every unit, the Student Investigation Notebooks provide space for students to:
- Record data
- Reflect on ideas from texts and investigations
- Construct explanations and arguments
Available with full-color article compilations for middle school units.
Digital student experience
Students access the digital simulations and modeling tools, as well as lesson activities and assessments, through the digital student experience. Students can interact with the digital student experience as they:
- Conduct hands-on investigations
- Engage in active reading and writing activities
- Participate in discussions
- Record observations
- Craft end-of-unit scientific arguments
Teacher’s Guides
Available digitally and in print, the Teacher’s Guides contain all of the information teachers need to facilitate classroom instruction, including:
- Classroom Slides
- Detailed lesson plans
- Unit and chapter overview documentation
- Differentiation strategies
- Standards alignments
- In-context professional development
Hands-on materials kits
Hands-on learning is at the heart of Amplify Science. Each unit kit contains:
- Consumable and non-consumable hands-on materials
- Print classroom display materials
- Premium print materials for student use (sorting cards, maps, etc.)
Remote and hybrid learning supports
Amplify has launched a new remote learning solution called Amplify Science@Home. Intended to make extended remote learning and hybrid learning easier, Amplify Science@Home includes two useful options for continuing instruction: @Home Videos and @Home Units.
Amplify Science @Home Videos are recordings of real Amplify Science teachers teaching the lessons. For those teachers who are unable to meet synchronously with their students, the recorded lessons are a great way to keep their students on track and engaged with Amplify Science while at home. These videos will be produced for all K–5 units, and for the first four units of each 6–8 grade level. Their release will be rolling, beginning in August.
Amplify Science@Home Units are modified versions of Amplify Science units, strategically designed to highlight key activities from the program. The @Home Units take significantly less instructional time than the complete Amplify Science program and allow students to engage with science at home. @Home Units will be developed for all Amplify Science K–8 units. Each @Home unit includes:
- Teacher overviews explaining how to use the materials, including suggestions for enhancing the @Home Units if synchronous learning or in-class time with students is available.
- Overviews to send home to families.
Student materials are available in two formats:
- @Home Slides (PDF/PPT) + Student Sheets (PDF) for students with access to technology at home.
- Downloadable @Home Packets (PDF) for students without access to technology at home.
Download the Remote and hybrid learning guide.
Looking for help?
Powerful (and free!) pedagogical support
Amplify provides a unique kind of support you won’t find from other publishers. We have developed an educational support team of former teachers and administrators who provide pedagogical support for every Amplify curriculum, assessment, and intervention program. This service is completely free for all educators who are using our programs and includes:
- Guidance for developing lesson plans and intervention plans
- Information on where to locate standards and other planning materials
- Recommendations and tips for day-to-day teaching with Amplify programs
- Support with administering and interpreting assessment data and more
To reach our pedagogical team, use our live chat within your program, call (800) 823-1969, or email edsupport@amplify.com
Timely technical and program support
Our technical and program support is included and available from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. ET, Monday through Friday, through a variety of channels, including a live chat program that enables teachers to get immediate help in the middle of the school day.
For your most urgent questions:
- Use our live chat within your program
- Call our toll-free number: (800) 823-1969
For less urgent questions:
Contact us
Contact your South Carolina team representatives:
Jeff Rutter
Field Manager
jrutter@amplify.com
(727) 512-8440
Cathy McMillan
Senior Account Executive
cmcmillan@amplify.com
(904) 465-9904
Our Instructional model
The Amplify Science program is rooted in the proven, research-based pedagogy of Do, Talk, Read, Write, Visualize. Here’s how each element works:
DO
First-hand investigations are an important part of any science classroom, and Amplify Science has students getting hands-on in every unit, from building models of protein molecules to experimenting with electrical systems.
TALK
Student-to-student discourse and full class discussions are an integral part of the program. Students are provided with numerous opportunities to engage in meaningful oral scientific argumentation, all while fostering a collaborative classroom environment.
READ
Students read scientific articles, focusing their reading activities on searching for evidence related to their investigation, and importantly, on asking and recording questions as they read through fascinating texts on 21st-century topics.
WRITE
Following real-world practices, students write scientific arguments based on evidence they’ve collected, making clear their reasoning about how a given piece of evidence connects to one of several claims.
VISUALIZE
By manipulating digital simulations and using modeling tools to craft visualizations of their thinking— just as real scientists and engineers do—students take their learning far beyond the confines of what they can physically see in the classroom in an exciting and authentic way.
Supporting resources
- South Carolina recommended scope and sequence for grades 6–8
- South Carolina standards correlation for grades K–5
- Program Components K-5
- Curriculum Unit Kits K-5
- What’s so phenomenal about phenomena? – ebook
- Phenomena in grades K–5
- Student Books in grades K–5
- Literacy-rich science instruction in grades K–5
- Active Reading in grades 6–8
- Engineering in Amplify Science
- Program structure for grades K–5
Scope and sequence
GRADE
UNITS
Kindergarten
- Needs of Plants and Animals
- Pushes and Pulls
- Sunlight and Water
Grade 1
- Animal and Plant Defenses
- Light and Sound
- Spinning Earth
Grade 2
- Plant and Animal Relationships
- Properties of Materials
- Changing Landforms
Grade 3
- Balancing Forces
- Inheritance and Traits
- Environments and Survival
- Weather and Climate
Grade 4
- Energy Conversions
- Vision and Light
- Earth’s Features
- Waves, Energy, and Information
Grade 5
- Patterns of Earth and Sky
- Modeling Matter
- The Earth System
- Ecosystem Restoration
GRADE
UNITS
Grade 6
- Launch: Microbiome
- Metabolism
- Metabolism Engineering Internship
- Thermal Energy
- Plate Motion
- Plate Motion Engineering Internship
- Rock Transformations
- Weather Patterns
- Ocean, Atmosphere, and Climate
Grade 7
- Launch: Harnessing Human Energy
- Phase Change
- Phase Change Engineering Internship
- Magnetic Fields
- Earth’s Changing Climate
- Earth’s Changing Climate Engineering Internship
- Chemical Reactions
- Populations and Resources
- Matter and Energy in Ecosystems
Grade 8
- Launch: Geology on Mars
- Earth, Moon, and Sun
- Light Waves
- Force and Motion
- Force and Motion Engineering Internship
- Traits and Reproduction
- Natural Selection
- Natural Selection Engineering Internship
- Evolutionary History
South Carolina College- and Career-Ready Science Standards 2021
Amplify Science was designed from the ground up to meet the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), and the South Carolina College- and Career-Ready Science Standards 2021 are closely aligned to the NGSS at K-8. The guidance below is meant to provide support for integrating additional companion activities that support full coverage of the South Carolina College- and Career-Ready Science Standards 2021.
Organized by grade level, each section below will outline:
- Additional activities that support 100% alignment to the South Carolina College- and Career-Ready Science Standards 2021;
- The standard being addressed with the activities;
- The recommended placement of the activities within a specific Amplify Science unit; and
- PDFs of any accompanying materials that are necessary to implement the activities.
Standard: MS-PS1-4: Develop a model that predicts and describes changes in particle motion, temperature, and state of a pure substance when thermal energy is added or removed.
Recommended placement: Thermal Energy unit, Lesson 4.4, addition to Activity 3
Materials: “Liquid Oxygen”
By reading the article “Liquid Oxygen,” which describes how the relationship between attraction and kinetic energy determines when a substance changes phase, students extend their understanding of the possible effects of adding or removing thermal energy to include changes in state (phase). Oxygen is one of the most common elements in the world, but most people are only familiar with oxygen in the gas phase. Because oxygen molecules are only weakly attracted to one another, condensing oxygen is difficult. This article introduces students to molecular attraction and discusses its role in phase change, including how it can be used to turn oxygen from a gas to a liquid.
Instructions:
Download PDFs of the “Liquid Oxygen” and distribute it to students. Before they begin reading, remind students of the Active Reading Guidelines.
Standard: MS-PS4-2: Develop and use a model to describe that waves are reflected, absorbed, or transmitted through various materials.
Recommended placement: Weather Patterns unit, Lesson 4.4, addition to Activity 3
Materials: “Harvesting Sunlight”, “Why No One in Space Can Hear You Scream” and “Making Waves at Swim Practice”
After investigating weather patterns, which includes a focus of the effects of energy from sunlight, students extend their learning about light by reading three articles about light and other waves.
“Harvesting Sunlight:” Students read this article to learn about the types of light from the sun that plants use for photosynthesis. The article describes how the sun emits all types of light, but plants can only use certain types of visible light for photosynthesis, mostly red and blue light. Plants also absorb other types of light, and these types of light affect plants in different ways. Students use this information to gather evidence that there are different types of light that can affect a material in different ways.
“Why No One in Space Can Hear You Scream:” Students read this article to learn about how waves are transmitted. Explosions that would be deafening on Earth are silent in space. This is because sound is produced by sound waves and, unlike light waves, sound waves need matter to travel through. Reading about this phenomenon helps students understand the similarities and differences between mechanical and electromagnetic waves.
“Making Waves at Swim Practice:” A practice for the school swim team provides an everyday context for discussing light waves and sound waves in this engaging article. First, the article explores sound waves traveling through different materials–the air, the water of the pool, and even a metal poolside bench. Students discover that sound waves travel at different speeds in different materials. The later part of the article discusses light waves, which also travel at different speeds in different materials. As light waves move from one material to another, they change speed and bend. This bending of light waves is called refraction, and it explains why objects that are partly in the water and partly out of the water (such as the legs of a person sitting on the side of a pool) appear ripply and bent.
Instructions:
Plan one class period for each article. Download PDFs of the “Harvesting Sunlight,” “Why No One in Space Can Hear You Scream,” and “Making Waves at Swim Practice” articles. For each article, before students begin reading, preview the article and discuss what students already know and what they wonder about the topic, then remind students of the Active Reading Guidelines.
Standard: MS-PS2-3: Ask questions about data to determine the factors that affect the strength of electric and magnetic forces. MS-PS2-5: Conduct an investigation and evaluate the experimental design to provide evidence that fields exist between objects exerting forces on each other even though the objects are not in contact.
Recommended placement: Harnessing Human Energy unit, Lesson 3.4, after Activity 1
Materials: “Earth’s Geomagnetism” and “Painting with Static Electricity”
After concluding their investigations of energy transfers and conversions, students read two articles that introduce the topic of forces that act at a distance.
“Earth’s Geomagnetism:” What makes a compass needle point north, no matter what? This article introduces students to Earth’s geomagnetic field and the field lines scientists use to show its direction.
“Painting with Static Electricity:” This article gives students the opportunity to learn about electrostatic fields and forces in the context of spray painting without making a mess. Electrostatic painting systems use electrostatics to draw spray paint toward the object being painted, and nowhere else. Painters charge the object they are painting with a negative charge and the paint with a positive charge. The opposite charges are attracted to one another, causing the paint to move toward the object. This surprising use of electrostatics saves time and paint and keeps things tidy!
Instructions
Plan one class period for each article. Download PDFs of the “Earth’s Geomagnetism” and “Painting with Electricity” articles. For each article, before students begin reading, preview the article and discuss what students already know and what they wonder about the topic, then remind students of the Active Reading Guidelines.
What’s included
Science articles
The middle school science articles serve as sources for evidence collection and were authored by science and literacy experts at the Lawrence Hall of Science.
Student Investigation Notebooks
Available for every unit, the Student Investigation Notebooks provide space for students to:
- Record data
- Reflect on ideas from texts and investigations
- Construct explanations and arguments
Available with full-color article compilations for middle school units.
Digital student experience
Students access the digital simulations and modeling tools, as well as lesson activities and assessments, through the digital student experience. Students can interact with the digital student experience as they:
- Conduct hands-on investigations
- Engage in active reading and writing activities
- Participate in discussions
- Record observations
- Craft end-of-unit scientific arguments
Teacher’s Guides
Available digitally and in print, the Teacher’s Guides contain all of the information teachers need to facilitate classroom instruction, including:
- Classroom Slides
- Detailed lesson plans
- Unit and chapter overview documentation
- Differentiation strategies
- Standards alignments
- In-context professional development
Hands-on materials kits
Hands-on learning is at the heart of Amplify Science. Each unit kit contains:
- Consumable and non-consumable hands-on materials
- Print classroom display materials
- Premium print materials for student use (sorting cards, maps, etc.)
Remote and hybrid learning supports
Amplify has launched a new remote learning solution called Amplify Science@Home. Intended to make extended remote learning and hybrid learning easier, Amplify Science@Home includes two useful options for continuing instruction: @Home Videos and @Home Units.
Amplify Science @Home Videos are recordings of real Amplify Science teachers teaching the lessons. For those teachers who are unable to meet synchronously with their students, the recorded lessons are a great way to keep their students on track and engaged with Amplify Science while at home. These videos will be produced for all K–5 units, and for the first four units of each 6–8 grade level. Their release will be rolling, beginning in August.
Amplify Science@Home Units are modified versions of Amplify Science units, strategically designed to highlight key activities from the program. The @Home Units take significantly less instructional time than the complete Amplify Science program and allow students to engage with science at home. @Home Units will be developed for all Amplify Science K–8 units. Each @Home unit includes:
- Teacher overviews explaining how to use the materials, including suggestions for enhancing the @Home Units if synchronous learning or in-class time with students is available.
- Overviews to send home to families.
Student materials are available in two formats:
- @Home Slides (PDF/PPT) + Student Sheets (PDF) for students with access to technology at home.
- Downloadable @Home Packets (PDF) for students without access to technology at home.
Download the Remote and hybrid learning guide.
Looking for help?
Powerful (and free!) pedagogical support
Amplify provides a unique kind of support you won’t find from other publishers. We have developed an educational support team of former teachers and administrators who provide pedagogical support for every Amplify curriculum, assessment, and intervention program. This service is completely free for all educators who are using our programs and includes:
- Guidance for developing lesson plans and intervention plans
- Information on where to locate standards and other planning materials
- Recommendations and tips for day-to-day teaching with Amplify programs
- Support with administering and interpreting assessment data and more
To reach our pedagogical team, use our live chat within your program, call (800) 823-1969, or email edsupport@amplify.com
Timely technical and program support
Our technical and program support is included and available from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. ET, Monday through Friday, through a variety of channels, including a live chat program that enables teachers to get immediate help in the middle of the school day.
For your most urgent questions:
- Use our live chat within your program
- Call our toll-free number: (800) 823-1969
For less urgent questions:
Contact us
Contact your South Carolina team representatives:
Jeff Rutter
Field Manager
jrutter@amplify.com
(727) 512-8440
Lisa Jurovaty
Account Executive (West South Carolina)
ljurovaty@amplify.com
(803) 526-1899
Cathy McMillan (East South Carolina)
Senior Account Executive
cmcmillan@amplify.com
(904) 465-9904
Inspiring the next generation of Alabama scientists, engineers, and curious citizens
Amplify Desmos Math California
Welcome, Algebra 1 Reviewers!
We’re honored to introduce you to Amplify Desmos Math California. We’re confident you’ll find this comprehensive program to be a powerful tool for bringing the vision of the California Math Framework to life in classrooms across the state.
Please start with the video on the right to learn how to navigate the program and access key features referenced within our submission. Below you’ll find additional resources to support your review.
Your Review Samples
As a curriculum that incorporates both print and digital resources, it’s important that you explore both our physical materials (delivered to you in grade-specific tubs) and our digital materials (accessible through our platform). We invite you to explore both types of resources using the instructions and tips below.
Print Samples
Your print samples should have arrived in grade-specific tubs with a copy of your Reviewer Binder contained within the Algebra 1 shipping box. As you begin the process of organizing your materials, please refer to the inventory checklist found inside the tub as well as within your Reviewer Binder.
Digital Samples
In order to access your digital samples, you’ll need to log into our platform using your unique login credentials found on a Digital Access Flyer inside of your Reviewer Binder. Once you have located the flyer:
- Click the orange button below to access the platform.
- Click “Log in with Amplify.”
- Enter the username and password provided on your Digital Access Flyer.
Navigation Tips
Below you will find helpful tips for navigating Amplify Desmos Math California. We recommend reading these pages alongside the program’s print materials and digital experience to gain a deeper understanding of the program.
Click the links below to read about navigating program features including:
Built for California
The Amplify Desmos Math California program is designed around the vision articulated in the California Mathematics Framework to enable all California students to become powerful users of mathematics. Our program incorporates the latest research in student learning, meaning that we:
- Focus on the Big Ideas: Amplify Desmos Math California’s courses, units, and lessons are centered around the Big Ideas. Big Ideas, like standards, are not considered in isolation. In addition to each unit and lesson’s focal Big Ideas, Amplify Desmos Math California also provides connections among the Big Ideas across units and lessons.
- Center on open and engaging tasks: Amplify Desmos Math California is grounded in engaging tasks meant to address students’ often-asked question: “Why am I learning this?” Students are invited into learning with low-floor, high-ceiling tasks that provide an entry point for all. Open tasks in Amplify Desmos Math California provide the space for students to try on multiple strategies and represent their thinking in different ways, and allow student explanation and discussion to serve as the center of the classroom. All lessons offer both print and digital representations of lessons.
- Provide enhanced digital experiences: Amplify Desmos Math California includes digitally-enhanced lesson activities, incorporating interactive digital tools alongside print materials. These purposefully-placed resources allow students to visualize mathematical concepts, receive actionable feedback while practicing, encounter personalized learning support from an onscreen tutor, and engage in discussions about their thinking and approaches.
- Treat core instruction and differentiation as integral partners: The Amplify Desmos Math California curriculum provides teachers with lessons, strategies, and resources to eliminate barriers and increase access to grade-level content without reducing the mathematical demand of tasks. Every activity has multiple entry points to ensure that all students are supported and challenged. Intervention and personalized learning activities are directly connected to lesson content and offer students the individualized support as they dive into the mathematics.
Category 1: Mathematics Content/Alignment with the Standards
Standards Map
Linked here is the Standards Map for Amplify Desmos Math California for Algebra 1.
Evaluation Criteria Map
Linked here is the Evaluation Criteria Map Algebra 1. Please note that you will need to be logged into the digital platform to access the links in the Evaluation Criteria Map.
Standards for Mathematical Practice
Linked here is the alignment of Amplify Desmos Math California to the Standards for Mathematical Practice at Algebra 1.
Drivers of Investigation and Content Connections
Amplify Desmos Math California incorporates the Drivers of Investigation (DIs) and Content Connection (CCs) throughout the program. Throughout the year, students engage with open and authentic tasks of varying durations — from lesson activities to unit-level Explore lessons and longer course-level Investigations. Every lesson and investigation opportunity is grounded around the why, how, and what of the learning experience, and helps teachers bring mathematical concepts to life.
California English Language Development Standards
Linked here is the alignment of Amplify Desmos Math California to the California English Language Development Standards for Algebra 1.
California Environmental Principles and Concepts
Select lessons, performance tasks, and investigations across grade levels in Amplify Desmos Math California are aligned to one or more of the California Environmental Principles and Concepts. Click this link to view how the California Environmental Principles and Concepts are represented in Amplify Desmos Math California Algebra 1.
Category 2: Program Organization
Amplify Desmos Math California thoughtfully combines conceptual understanding, procedural fluency, and application. Each lesson is designed to tell a story by posing problems that invite a variety of approaches before guiding students to synthesize their understanding of the learning goals.
Big Ideas
Amplify Desmos Math California’s courses, units, and lessons are centered around the Big Ideas. Big Ideas, like standards, are not considered in isolation. In addition to each unit and lesson’s focal Big Ideas, Amplify Desmos Math California also provides connections among the Big Ideas across units and lessons. Please refer to Keeping the Big Ideas at the Center, linked here, for the Amplify Desmos Math California Algebra 1 lesson design and alignment to the Big Ideas.
Program Structure
Amplify Desmos Math California combines the best of problem-based lessons, intervention, personalized practice, and assessments into a coherent and engaging experience for both students and teachers.
Lessons and units in Amplify Desmos Math California are designed around a Proficiency Progression, a model that steps out problem-based learning by systematically building students’ curiosity into lasting grade-level understanding.
In the Proficiency Progression, lessons begin by activating students’ natural curiosity and offering opportunities to generate new ideas through collaboration. Teachers are then able to refine ideas through intentional facilitation and guide students to grade-level understanding, while students retain the ability to use different strategies and methods to show their comprehension of the content. Students are provided ample opportunities to develop lasting understanding.
Scope and Sequence
Below you can view the scope and sequence for Amplify Desmos Math California Algebra 1.
Lesson Design and Structure
Amplify Desmos Math California is designed with a structured approach to problem-based learning that systematically builds on students’ curiosity and allows students to grapple with the Big Ideas of the California Framework. Every lesson activity is organized into a Launch, Monitor, Connect format.
Launch: The launch is a short, whole-class conversation that creates a need or excitement, provides clarity, or helps students connect their prior knowledge or personal experience, which ensures that everyone has access to the upcoming work.
Monitor: As students work individually, in pairs, or in groups, teachers explore student thinking, ask questions, and provide support to help move the conversations closer to the intended math learning goal.
Connect: Teachers connect students’ ideas to the key learning goals of the lesson, facilitating class discussions that help synthesize and solidify the Big Ideas.
Each lesson within Amplify Desmos Math California follows the same structure.
Warm-Up: Every Amplify Desmos Math California lesson begins with a whole class Warm-Up. Warm-Ups are an invitational Instructional Routine intended to provide a social moment at the start of the lesson in which every student has an opportunity to contribute. Warm-Ups may build fluency or highlight a strategy that may be helpful in the current lesson or act as an invitation into the math of the lesson.
Lesson Activities: Each lesson includes one or two activities. These activities are the heart of each lesson. Students notice, wonder, explore, calculate, predict, measure, explain their thinking, use math to settle disputes, create challenges for their classmates, and more. Guidance is provided to help teachers launch, monitor, and connect student thinking over the course of the activity.
Synthesis and Show What You Know: The Synthesis is an opportunity for the teacher and students to pull all the learning of the lesson together into a lesson takeaway. Students engage in a facilitated discussion to consolidate and refine their ideas about the learning goals, and the teacher synthesizes students’ learning. Show What You Know is a daily assessment opportunity for students to show what they know about the learning goals and what they are still learning.
Practice and Differentiation: Daily practice problems for the day’s lesson are included both online and in the print Student Edition, including fluency, test practice, and spiral review.
Routines
Amplify Desmos Math California features a variety of lesson routines. Instructional routines and Math Language Routines (MLRs) are used within lessons to highlight student-developed language and ideas, cultivate conversation, support mathematical sense-making, and promote meta-cognition. Both are called out at point-of-use within the Teacher Edition and Teacher Presentation Screens. Below are the types of routines used throughout the Amplify Desmos Math California curriculum:
Math Language Routines
- MLR1: Stronger and Clearer Each Time
- MLR2: Collect and Display
- MLR3: Critique, Correct, Clarify
- MLR5: Co-Craft Questions
- MLR6: Three Reads
- MLR7: Compare and Connect
- MLR 8: Discussion Supports
Instructional Routines
- Decide and Defend
- Notice and Wonder
- Number Talk
- Tell a Story
- Think-Pair-Share
- Which One Doesn’t Belong?
Category 3: Assessments
A variety of performance data in Amplify Desmos Math California provides evidence of student learning, while helping students bolster their skills and understanding.
Unit-Level Assessment
Amplify Desmos Math California has embedded unit assessments that offer key insights into students’ conceptual understanding of math. These assessments provide regular, actionable information about how students are thinking about and processing math, with both auto-scoring and in-depth rubrics that help teachers anticipate and respond to students’ learning needs.
Pre-Unit Check: Each unit begins with a formative assessment designed to identify the student skills that will be particularly relevant to the upcoming unit. This check is agnostic to the standards covered in the following unit and serves not as a deficit-based acknowledgment of what students do not know, but rather as an affirmation of the knowledge and skills with which students come in.
End-of-Unit Assessment: Students engage with rigorous grade-level mathematics through a variety of formats and tasks in the summative End-of-Unit Assessment. A combination of auto-scored (when completed digitally) and rubric-scored items provides deep insights into student thinking. All Amplify Desmos Math California End-of-Unit Assessments include two forms.
Sub-Unit Quizzes: Sub-Unit Quizzes are formative assessments embedded regularly in Algebra 1. In these checks, students are assessed on a subset of conceptual understandings from the unit, with rubrics that help illuminate students’ current understanding and provide guidance for responding to student thinking.
Performance Tasks: At the end of each unit there is a summative assessment performance task provided to evaluate students’ proficiency with the concepts and skills addressed in the unit.
Lesson-Level Assessments
Amplify Desmos Math California lessons include daily moments of assessment to provide valuable evidence of learning for both the teacher and student. Beyond formative, summative, and benchmark assessments, students also have opportunities for self-reflection with Watch Your Knowledge Grow. Students take ownership of their learning by reflecting and tracking their progress before and after each unit.
Show What You Know: Each lesson has a daily formative assessment focused on one of the key concepts in the lesson. Show What You Know moments are carefully designed to minimize completion time for students while maximizing daily teacher insights to attend to student needs during the following class.
Responsive Feedback™: Teachers have the ability to see and provide in-the-moment feedback as students progress through a digital lesson. Responsive Feedback motivates students and engages them in the learning process.
Diagnostic Assessment
Every grade level features an asset-based diagnostic assessment designed to be administered at the beginning of the year. Delivered digitally and to the whole class, our diagnostic assessment is uniquely designed to reveal underlying math thinking and identify what students know about grade-level math. With data beyond just right and wrong, teachers have the type of deeper level of insights need to take the right next step.
CAASPP-Aligned Assessment Preparation
Amplify Desmos Math is designed to support students’ mathematical development through problem-based learning, differentiation, and embedded assessments. The program’s emphasis on conceptual understanding, procedural fluency, and application aligns with the mathematical practices and content standards assessed by the CAASPP.
Amplify Desmos Math California includes a CAASPP-aligned Item Bank. This standards-aligned bank of questions allows teachers to filter and search by grade and standard to find items. Once assigned on the digital platform, students will experience CAASPP-like practice with the online digital tools.
Data and Reporting
Amplify Desmos Math California provides teachers and administrators with unified reporting and insights so that educators have visibility into what students know about grade-level math—and can plan instruction accordingly for the whole class, small groups, and individual students. Reporting functionality integrates unit assessments, lesson assessments, diagnostic data and progress monitoring for a comprehensive look at student learning. Program reports show proficiency and growth by domain, cluster, standard, and priority concept using performance data from unit assessments, then highlight areas of potential student need to allow teachers to modify their instruction and target differentiated support.
Administrator reporting provides a complete picture of student, class, and district performance, allowing administrators to implement instructional and intervention plans.
Category 4: Access and Equity
The Amplify Desmos Math California curriculum provides teachers with lessons, strategies, and resources to eliminate barriers and increase access to grade-level content without reducing the mathematical demand of tasks. Our lessons are developed using the Universal Design for Learning (UDL) framework to proactively ensure that all learners can access and participate in meaningful, challenging learning opportunities.
Every activity has multiple entry points to ensure that all students are supported and challenged. Intervention and personalized learning activities are directly connected to the day’s content and offer students the individualized supports they need to be successful.
Each lesson and unit contains guidance for teachers on how to identify students who may need support, students who need to keep strengthening their understanding, and students who may be ready to stretch their learning. In addition, teachers are provided with recommendations for resources to use with each group of students.
Universal Design for Learning
Each lesson in the program incorporates opportunities for engagement, representation, action, and expression based on the guidelines of Universal Design for Learning (UDL).
- Multiple Means of Engagement: Students engage in both print and digital learning, and are regularly participating in discussions and hands-on activities. Students are invited to build their own challenge for other students to solve, which provides opportunities for choice and autonomy, as well as joy and play.
- Multiple Means of Representation: Students are encouraged to demonstrate their learning using mathematical representations, both print and digital, and regularly engage with their peers in analyzing multiple possible solutions. Classes engage in open-ended discussions about what individual students notice and wonder about mathematical concepts.
- Multiple Means of Action and Expression: Learners differ in how they navigate learning environments and express what they know. Students can communicate their ideas in multiple ways, including in print, sketching, uploading photos, or recording an audio response.
Accessibility
Lesson facilitation supports
Every lesson includes at least one specific suggestion the teacher can use to increase access to the lesson without reducing the mathematical demand of the tasks. These suggestions address the following areas:
- Conceptual Processing
- Visual-Spatial Processing
- Executive Functioning
- Memory and Attention
- Fine Motor Skills
Accessibility tools
Students have the ability to control accessibility tools so that each learning experience is customized to their individual needs. In many instances, these tools can be turned on or off at any point of instruction.
- Text to speech: Reads text instructions to students in multiple languages
- Enlarged font: Increases the size of all text on screen
- Braille mode: Includes narration of digital interactions
- Language selection: Toggles between languages
Differentiation: In-Lesson Teacher Moves
Within every lesson activity, teachers can use the suggestions in the Differentiation Teacher Moves table to provide in-the-moment instructional support while students are engaged in the work of the lesson. This table can help teachers anticipate the ways students may approach the activity, and provides prompts that they can use during the lesson to Support, Strengthen, and Stretch individual students in their thinking. Teachers are provided with clear student actions and understanding to look for, each matched with immediately usable suggestions for how to respond to the student thinking illustrated in each row of the table. In addition to using these suggestions in the moment as teachers monitor student work, teachers can review the Differentiation table in advance to help them anticipate how students are likely to approach the activity.
Differentiation: Beyond the Lesson
Teachers are provided with recommendations for resources to use with each group of students needing support, strengthening, and stretching after each lesson. Support, Strengthen, and Stretch resources include:
- Mini-Lessons: 15-minute, small-group direct instruction lessons targeted to a specific concept or skill
- Item Banks: Space for teachers to create practice and assessments by using filters and searching for standards, summative-style items, and more
- Fluency Practice: Adaptive, personalized practice built out for basic operations and more
- Extensions: Lesson-embedded Teacher Moves including possible stretch questions and activities for students
- Lesson Practice: Additional practice problems support every lesson
- Math Adventures: Strategy-based math games where students engage with math concepts and practice skills in a fun digital environment
- Lesson Summary Support: Support for students and caregivers that provides efficient explanation of the learning goal with clear examples
Math Identity and Community
The Math Identity and Community feature supports teachers in helping students build confidence in their own mathematical thinking, develop skills to work with and learn from others when doing math, and learn how math is an interwoven part of their broader community. The embedded prompts throughout the lessons are designed to highlight what it means to be good at math, the value of sharing ideas, and the power of flexible and creating thinking. Here are some examples of the Math Identity and Community supports embedded in each lesson:
- I can be all of me in math class. You will work with partners every day in math class. What do you want your partners to know about you?
- We are a math community. What does good listening look like and sound like in a math community?
- I am a doer of math. What math strengths did you use today?
Math Language Development
Every lesson in Amplify Desmos Math California includes opportunities for all students to develop mathematical language as they experience the content. Amplify Desmos Math California purposefully progresses language development from lesson to lesson and across units by supporting students in making their arguments and explanations stronger, clearer, and more precise. This systematic approach to the development of math language can be broken down into the following four categories of support:
- Vocabulary: Units and lessons start by surfacing students’ language for new concepts, then building connections between their language and the new vocabulary for that unit. This honors the language assets that students bring into their learning.
- Language Goals: Language goals attend to the mathematics students are learning, and are written through the lens of one or more of four language modalities: reading, writing, speaking, and listening.
- Math Language Routines: Math Language Routines are used within lessons to highlight student-developed language and ideas, cultivate conversation, support mathematical sense-making, and promote meta-cognition.
- Multilingual/English Learner Supports: Supports for multilingual/English learners (ML/ELs) are called out at intentional points within each lesson. These specific, targeted suggestions support ML/ELs with modifications that increase access to a task, or through development of contextual or mathematical language (both of which can be supportive of all learners).
Multilingual and English Learner Supports
Partnership with English Learner Success Forum
Amplify partnered with the English Learner Success Forum (ELSF), a national nonprofit organization that advocates for high-quality instructional materials that are inclusive of multilingual learners. ELSF reviewed Amplify Desmos Math California, and provided directional guidance and feedback to ensure that the program reflects their research-based instructional strategies for multilingual/English learners.
Math Language Development Resource
Our Math Language Development Resources book contains lesson-specific strategies and activities for all levels of English Learners (i.e., Emerging, Expanding, Bridging). With support for every lesson, teachers are empowered to help all students, regardless of their language skills, to participate fully, grasp the material, and excel in their mathematical journey.
Multilingual glossary
Amplify Desmos Math California includes a digital glossary for languages other than Spanish. Translations will be provided for up to nine languages.
Spanish version
Amplify Desmos Math California will include Spanish student-facing materials beginning in the 2026–27 school year.
Category 5: Instructional Planning and Support
Amplify Desmos Math California includes a variety of embedded instructional supports to empower teachers to lead effectively and gain actionable insights into student growth and progress. Teachers are equipped with a comprehensive set of resources designed to fulfill the requirements of Category 5.
Grade-level concepts
Within the Teacher Edition front matter:
- Scope and sequence
- Big Ideas, Drivers of Investigation, and Content Connections
- Grade level standards
- Standards for Mathematical Practice
- English Language Development Standards
- Environmental Principals and Concepts
Within each Unit and Sub-Unit Overview:
- Big Ideas, Drivers of Investigation, and Content Connections
- Math that Matters Most
- Grade level standards
- Standards for Mathematical Practice
- English Language Development Standards
- Environmental Principals and Concepts
Within each Lesson:
- Big Ideas, Drivers of Investigation, and Content Connections
- Grade level standards
- Standards for Mathematical Practice
- English Language Development Standards
- Environmental Principals and Concepts
How to implement the program
At the course level (within the Teacher Edition front matter):
- Navigating the Program (both print and digital)
- Facilitating Lesson Activities with Launch, Monitor and Connect
- Overview of the Digital Facilitation Tools
At the lesson level:
- Suggestions for timing
- What materials to prep
- How to organize and group students
- Key lesson takeaways with the Synthesis
- Recommendations for Differentiation
- Strategies for intervention and extensions (in the Intervention, Extensions, and Investigation Resources book)
At the activity level:
- Differentiation recommendations
- Accessibility tips
- ML / EL tips
- Teacher look-fors
- Recommended Teacher Moves
- Prompts for guiding student thinking
- Sample student responses
Development of Math Language
A variety of language development supports are provided within the Student and Teacher Editions and Math Language Development Resources book.
At the lesson level:
- Diagrams and visuals
- Sentence frames and word banks
- Graphic organizers, including Frayer models
- Vocabulary routines
- Embedded language supports aligned to the CA ELDs
- Lesson-specific strategies for Emerging, Expanding, and Bridging
At the unit level:
- Words With Multiple Meanings
- Contextual vocabulary
At the course level:
- English/Spanish cognates
- Multilingual Glossary
Other Curriculum Guidance
- Additional Practice Resources book
- Assessment Resources book
- Assess and Respond guidance paired with each assessment opportunity
- Show-What-You-Know activities
- Answer keys and rubrics
- Performance tasks
Professional development for multi-program suites
Amplify professional development provides learning experiences that intentionally develop the knowledge and skills you need for effective and self-sustaining implementation.
Now you can learn and apply impactful instructional techniques and develop a deeper understanding of the suite of Amplify programs.
Amplify professional development has been vetted by Rivet Education’s team through a rigorous three-step process and is listed in the Professional Learning Partner Guide.
Amplify suites
Each of Amplify’s high-quality, research-based programs is designed to help you teach inspiring math lessons that celebrate and develop your students’ brilliance. When used together, our comprehensive math suite provides even greater support and coherence for every student across your curriculum.
Contact your account executive to discuss PD options or request a quote.
Math
Amplify Desmos Math with mCLASS Math assessments and Boost Personalized Learning combine the best of problem-based lessons, intervention, personalized practice, and assessment into a coherent and engaging experience for both students and teachers. With the full suite, teachers gain access to all the tools they need to inspire and motivate all learners in math class.
Empower educators with:
- High-quality professional development
Comprehensive PD sessions equip teachers with the skills and knowledge necessary for effective program implementation, enhancing instructional practices and boosting student outcomes. These sessions support educators in leveraging the full suite of Amplify’s K–5 math programs, ensuring seamless integration and maximizing classroom impact. - Core instruction for grades K–12
Amplify Desmos Math lessons provide a structured approach to problem-based learning, helping teachers create a collaborative math community with students at its center. Each lesson systematically builds on students’ curiosity to develop lasting grade-level understanding for all students. Available in English and Spanish. - Integrated personalized practice
Personalized Learning activities help students access grade-level math through engaging, independent digital practice. Responsive FeedbackTM adjusts to students’ work, providing item-level adaptivity to further support their learning. - Screening and progress monitoring
mCLASS Assessments, along with daily formative checks, measure what students know and how they think. The asset-based assessment system provides teachers with targeted, actionable insights, linked to core instruction and intervention resources. - Embedded intervention
Integrated resources like Mini-Lessons, Fluency Practice, and Math Adventures provide targeted intervention on a specific skill or concept connected to the daily lesson. Extensions are also available to stretch students’ understanding.
Each suite package will include:
Begin packages for grades K–5, 6–A1, or high school
Launch sessions
| On-site package (22 hr.) |
Hybrid 22, on-site package (22 hr.) |
Hybrid 17 package (17 hr.) |
Hybrid 22, virtual package (22hr.) |
Virtual package (14 hr.) |
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| One Launch session per package | On-site, 6 hr. |
On-site, 6 hr. |
On-site, 3 hr. |
Virtual, 6 hr. (2 half-days) |
Virtual, 3 hr. |
| Amplify Desmos Math: Initial training for K–5, 6–A1, or high school teachers |
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| Amplify Desmos Math: Program overview for K–5, 6–A1, or high school teachers |
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| Launch add-on | On-site or virtual, 3 hr. session | Amplify Desmos Math: Program overview for K–5, 6–A1, or high school leaders |
| Launch add-on | On-site or virtual, 3 hr. session | mCLASS Math 2nd Edition: Program overview for grades K–5 or 6–8 teachers |
Strengthen and Coach sessions
One Strengthen session and one additional Strengthen session (1 hr. Focus only) per package. Choose any of the following as a secondary Strengthen touchpoint.
| On-site package (22 hr.) |
Hybrid 22, on-site package (22 hr.) |
Hybrid 17 package (17 hr.) |
Hybrid 22, virtual package (22hr.) |
Virtual package (14 hr.) |
Virtual package |
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| Strengthen | On-site, 3 hr. | Virtual, 3 hr. | Virtual, 1 hr. |
Virtual, 3 hr. | Virtual, 1 hr. | Virtual, 2 hr. |
| Amplify Desmos Math: Enhancing planning for K–5, 6–A1, or high school teachers |
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| Amplify Desmos Math: Enhancing practice for K–5, 6–A1, or high school teachers |
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| Amplify Desmos Math: Enhancing observations for K–5, 6–A1, or high school leaders | |
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| Amplify Desmos Math: Supporting all learners: Differentiation in Amplify Desmos Math for K–5 or 6–A1 teachers | |
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| mCLASS Math: Leveraging assessment data to strengthen mathematical explanations for K–5 or 6–8 teachers | |
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| Coach | On-site, 6 hr. |
On-site, 6 hr. |
On-site, 6 hr. |
On-site, 6 hr. |
Virtual, 3 hr. |
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| Strengthen add-on | On-site or virtual, 3 hr. session | mCLASS Math + Boost Math: Understanding and using data to plan intervention for grades K–5 or 6–8 teachers |
| Strengthen add-on | On-site or virtual, 3 hr. session | Amplify Desmos Math: Supporting and facilitating meaningful discussions for teachers |
Launch session options
Propel your school or district into the new school year. Program-aligned Launch sessions introduce teachers and leaders to their unique Amplify program(s) and support a strong implementation.
Begin: Amplify Desmos Math: Initial training for K–5, 6–A1, or high school teachers
On-site, 6 hours
Initial training sessions are designed for educators who are new to our program. In our initial training session, educators are oriented to the key components of their program(s), including learning how to navigate, teach, and monitor student progress, while exploring content and program resources. Participants will leave the session with foundational knowledge and skills necessary to begin teaching with the program.
Session options: Amplify Desmos Math (Grades K–5, 6–A1, or high school)
Audience: Teachers, instructional staff (maximum 30 participants)
Begin: Amplify Desmos Math: Program overview for K–5, 6–A1, or high school teachers
On-site or virtual, 3 hours
Program overview sessions provide a basic introduction for educators who are new users of the program. In a program overview session, educators learn how to get started with the key features and materials of the program.
Session options: Amplify Desmos Math (Grades K–5, 6–A1, or high school)
Audience: Teachers, instructional staff (maximum 30 participants)
Suggested enhancement: Launch add-on: Amplify Desmos Math: Program overview for K–5, 6–A1, or high school leaders
On-site or virtual, 3 hours
Ideal add-on to Launch sessions
The Program overview for leaders supports district and school-level instructional leaders in effectively coordinating the implementation of the program. Leaders will learn the foundational elements of the program, build an understanding of the key teacher and student practices to look for in classrooms, and develop an implementation plan.
Session options: Amplify Desmos Math
Audience: Leaders (maximum 30 participants)
New session
Suggested enhancement: Launch add-on: mCLASS Math 2nd Edition Program overview for K–5 or 6–8 teachers
On-site or virtual, 3 hours
Dive into the essentials of your mCLASS Assessments. Learn how these assessments both highlight students’ strengths and help identify what’s next through an asset-based approach. Leave ready to administer assessments and understand reporting.
Session options: mCLASS Math (grades K–5 or 6–8)
Audience: Leaders (maximum 30 participants)
Strengthen session options
Strengthen your Amplify implementation with program-specific sessions that support personalized learning and practice in your classroom.
Amplify will partner closely with you to select the appropriate session(s) that will deepen educators’ understanding of Amplify program(s) and equip them with the tools they need to improve student’s learning outcomes. Each package includes one Strengthen session. Additional sessions can be added as Enhancements.
Begin: Amplify Desmos Math: Enhancing planning for K–5, 6–A1, or high school teachers
On-site or virtual, 3 hours
Dive into planning for Amplify Desmos Math, both big picture and day-to-day. Practice using lesson- and unit-planning protocols that will help you build a deep understanding of the math content you’ll be teaching and the planning resources available to you in the curriculum. Walk away with practical strategies for planning, even when you may not have much time.
Session options: Amplify Desmos Math (Grades K–5, 6–A1, or high school)
Audience: Teachers, instructional staff (maximum 30 participants)
Begin: Amplify Desmos Math: Enhancing practice for K–5 or 6–A1, or high school teachers
On-site or virtual, 3 hours
Dig into Amplify Desmos Math’s Launch, Monitor, Connect framework to level up the student discourse in your math class. Explore in-the-moment differentiation support to help you orchestrate discussion and make the most out of key opportunities for conversation and collaboration.
Session options: Amplify Desmos Math (Grades K–5, 6–A1, or high school)
Audience: Teachers, instructional staff (maximum 30 participants)
Begin: Amplify Desmos Math: Enhancing observations for K–5 or 6–A1 leaders
Virtual, 1 hour
Elevate your program knowledge to support teachers with effective Amplify Desmos Math implementation. Leave prepared to identify key instructional elements in a problem-based math lesson, analyze data, and conduct effective classroom observations.
Session options: Amplify Desmos Math (Grades K–5 or 6–A1)
Audience: Teachers, instructional staff (maximum 30 participants)
Begin: Supporting all learners: Differentiation in Amplify Desmos Math for K–5 or 6–A1 teachers
On-site or virtual, 3 hours
Learn how to use the differentiation supports in Amplify Desmos Math to effectively support all learners, both in the moment during a lesson and beyond the lesson. Leave with a plan for implementing resources to support, strengthen, and stretch students’ thinking.
Session options: Amplify Desmos Math
Audience: Teachers, instructional staff (maximum 30 participants)
Begin: Strengthen Focus: Amplify Desmos Math: Teaching a lesson with digital student screens for K–5 teachers
Virtual, 1 hour
Get ready to facilitate digital lessons with your students. Explore what’s possible with the Teacher Dashboard and plan to make the most of these exciting instructional moments.
Session options: Amplify Desmos Math (K–5)
Audience: Teachers, instructional staff (maximum 30 participants)
Begin: Strengthen Focus: Amplify Desmos Math: Unit-level planning for K–5, 6–A1, or high school teachers
Virtual, 1 hour
Dive into unit-level planning to learn the story of your upcoming unit, and discover the big ideas you will explore alongside your students in Amplify Desmos Math.
Session options: Amplify Desmos Math (Grades K–5, 6–A1, or high school)
Audience: Teachers, instructional staff (maximum 30 participants)
Begin: Strengthen Focus: Amplify Desmos Math: Snapshots in the Teacher Dashboard for 6–A1 teachers
Virtual, 1 hour
Explore how to use the Snapshots tool in the Teacher Dashboard to create a collaborative classroom that invites and celebrates student thinking. Leave with planning tips and tricks that will get you ready to use Snapshots during your busy math classes.
Session options: Amplify Desmos Math (Grades 6–A1)
Audience: Teachers, instructional staff (maximum 30 participants)
Begin: Strengthen Focus: mCLASS Math: Leveraging assessment data to strengthen mathematical thinking for grades K–5 or 6–8 teachers
Available for grades 6–8 teachers Oct. 2026
Virtual, 1 hour
Dig into mCLASS Math to reveal what students understand about mathematical concepts, and give them the tools to become more clear and confident communicators in math class.
Session options: mCLASS Math (Grades K–5 or 6–8)
Audience: Teachers, instructional staff (maximum 30 participants)
New session
Suggested enhancement: Begin: mCLASS Math and Boost Math: Understanding and using data to plan intervention for grades K–5 or 6–8 teachers
Available for grades 6–8 teachers Oct. 2026
On-site or virtual, 3 hours
Ideal add-on Strengthen session
Explore how Boost Math uses mCLASS Math data to inform intervention recommendations and monitor student progress. Dig into your student data, explore relevant instructional resources, and leave with actionable next steps for intervention.
Session options: mCLASS Math (Grades K–5 or 6–8)
Audience: Teachers, instructional staff (maximum 30 participants)
New session
Suggested enhancement: Begin: Amplify Desmos Math: Supporting and facilitating meaningful discussions for K–5, 6–A1, or high school teachers
On-site or virtual, 3 hours
Explore how Boost Math uses mCLASS Math data to inform intervention recommendations and monitor student progress. Dig into your student data, explore relevant instructional resources, and leave with actionable next steps for intervention.
Session options: mCLASS Math (Grades K–5 or 6–8)
Audience: Teachers, instructional staff (maximum 30 participants)
Coach session options
Elevate instructional practice and help meet teachers’ and schools’ specific needs with customizable Coach sessions.
Coach session
On-site, 6 hours
Coaching sessions focus on building internal school and district capacity and leadership excellence. Coaching is customized to meet a school or district’s needs and can include model lessons, observations, walk-throughs, and/or co-planning.
Session options: Amplify Desmos Math (K–5 or 6–A1) and/or mCLASS Math (Grades K–5 or 6–8)
Audience: Individual teachers, grade-level teams, PLCs, and/or instructional leaders (maximum 30 participants)
Practice packages (grades K–5 or 6–8)
Launch sessions
| On-site package (16 hr.) |
Hybrid 16, on-site package (16 hr.) |
Virtual package (16 hr.) |
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| One Launch session per package | On-site, 3 hr. | Virtual, 3 hr. | Virtual, 3 hr. |
| mCLASS Math 2nd Edition Program overview for K–5 or 6–8 teachers |
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Strengthen and Coach sessions
| On-site package (16 hr.) |
Hybrid 16, on-site package (16 hr.) |
Virtual package (16 hr.) |
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| One Strengthen and two Coach sessions per package | Virtual, 1 hr. | Virtual, 1 hr. | Virtual, 1 hr. |
| Amplify Desmos Math: Teaching a lesson with digital student screens for K–5 teachers |
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| Amplify Desmos Math: Unit-level planning for K–5, 6–A1, or high school teachers |
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| Amplify Desmos Math: Increasing engagement with instructional routines for K–5, 6–A1, or high school teachers | |
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| mCLASS Math: Leveraging assessment data to strengthen mathematical thinking for grades K–5 or 6–8 teachers | |
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| Coaching | On-site, 6 hr. | On-site, 6 hr. | Virtual, 3 hr. |
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| Suggested enhancements | ||
| Strengthen add-on | Virtual or on-site, 3 hr. | Amplify Desmos Math: Enhancing planning for K–5, 6–A1, or high school teachers |
| Strengthen add-on | Virtual or on-site, 3 hr. | Amplify Desmos Math: Enhancing practice for K–5, 6–A1, or high school teachers |
| Strengthen add-on | Virtual or on-site, 3 hr. | Amplify Desmos Math: Enhancing observation for K–5, 6–A1, or high school leaders |
| Strengthen add-on | Virtual or on-site, 3 hr. | Amplify Desmos Math: Supporting all learners for K–5 or 6–A1 teachers |
| Strengthen add-on | Virtual or on-site, 3 hr. | Amplify Desmos Math: Supporting and facilitating meaningful discussions for K–5, 6–A1, or high school teachers |
| Strengthen add-on | Virtual or on-site, 3 hr. | Amplify Desmos Math: Assessment in action: Analyzing data and reports and planning next steps for K–5 or 6–A1 teachers |
| Strengthen add-on | Virtual or on-site, 3 hr. | mCLASS Math and Boost Math: Understanding and using data to plan intervention for K–5 teachers |
Launch session options
Propel your school or district into the new school year. Program-aligned Launch sessions introduce teachers and leaders to their unique Amplify program(s) and support a strong implementation.
Practice: mCLASS Math 2nd Edition Program overview for grades K–5 or 6–8 teachers
On-site or virtual, 3 hours
Dive into the essentials of your mCLASS Math assessment program. Learn how these assessments both highlight students’ strengths and help identify what’s next through an asset-based approach. Leave ready to administer assessments and understand reporting.
Session options: mCLASS Math (Grades K–5 or 6–8)
Audience: Teachers, instructional staff (maximum 30 participants)
Strengthen session options
Strengthen your Amplify implementation with program-specific sessions that support personalized learning and practice in your classroom.
Amplify will partner closely with you to select the appropriate session(s) that will deepen educators’ understanding of your Amplify program(s) and equip them with the tools they need to improve students’ learning outcomes. Each package includes one Strengthen session. Additional sessions can be added as Enhancements.
New session
Practice: Amplify Desmos Math: Strengthen: Focus: Teaching a lesson with digital student screens for K–5 teachers
Virtual, 1 hour
Get ready to facilitate lessons with digital student screens. Explore what’s possible with the Teacher Dashboard and plan to make the most of these exciting instructional moments.
Session options: Amplify Desmos Math (K–5)
Audience: Teachers, instructional staff (maximum 30 participants)
Practice: Strengthen Focus: Amplify Desmos Math: Unit-level planning for K–5, 6–A1, or high school teachers
Virtual, 1 hour
Dive into unit-level planning to learn the story of your upcoming unit, and discover the big ideas you will explore alongside your students in Amplify Desmos Math.
Session option: Amplify Desmos Math (Grades K–5, 6–A1, or high school)
Audience: Teachers, instructional staff (maximum 30 participants)
New session
Practice: Strengthen Focus: Amplify Desmos Math: Increasing engagement with instructional routines for K–5, 6–A1, or high school teachers
Available Oct. 2026
Virtual, 1 hour
Explore how to use the instructional routines in Amplify Desmos Math to support and engage students as they make sense of new contexts, develop mathematical language, and solve problems.
Session option: Amplify Desmos Math (Grades K–5 or 6–A1)
Audience: Teachers, instructional staff (maximum 30 participants)
New session
Practice: Strengthen Focus: mCLASS Math: Leveraging assessment data to strengthen mathematical explanations for grades K–5 or 6–8 teachers
Available for grades 6–8 teachers Oct. 2026
Virtual, 1 hour
Dig into mCLASS Math to reveal what students understand about mathematical concepts, and give them the tools to become more clear and confident communicators in math class.
Session option: mCLASS Math (Grades K–5 or 6–8)
Audience: Teachers, instructional staff (maximum 30 participants)
New session
Suggested enhancement: Practice: Amplify Desmos Math: Enhancing planning K–5 or 6–A1 teachers
On-site or virtual, 3 hours
Dive into planning for Amplify Desmos Math, both big picture and day-to-day. Practice using lesson- and unit-planning protocols that will help you build a deep understanding of the math content you’ll be teaching and the planning resources available to you in the curriculum. Walk away with practical strategies for planning, even when you may not have much time.
Session option: Amplify Desmos Math (Grades K–5 or 6–A1)
Audience: Teachers, instructional staff (maximum 30 participants)
New session
Suggested enhancement: Practice: Amplify Desmos Math: Enhancing practice for K–5, 6–A1, or high school teachers
On-site or virtual, 3 hours
Dig into Amplify Desmos Math’s Launch, Monitor, Connect framework to level up the student discourse in your math class. Explore in-the-moment differentiation support to help you orchestrate discussion and make the most out of key opportunities for conversation and collaboration.
Session option: Amplify Desmos Math (Grades K–5, 6–A1, or high school)
Audience: Teachers, instructional staff (maximum 30 participants)
New session
Suggested enhancement: Practice: Amplify Desmos Math: Enhancing observations for K–5, 6–A1, or high school leaders
On-site or virtual, 3 hours
Elevate your program knowledge to support teachers with effective Amplify Desmos Math implementation. Leave prepared to identify key instructional elements in a problem-based math lesson, analyze data, and conduct effective classroom observations.
Session options: Amplify Desmos Math (Grades K–5, 6–A1, or high school)
Audience: Teachers, instructional staff (maximum 30 participants)
New session
Suggested enhancement: Practice: Supporting all learners: Differentiation in Amplify Desmos Math for K–5 or 6–A1 teachers
On-site or virtual, 3 hours
Learn how to use the differentiation supports in Amplify Desmos Math to effectively support all learners, both in the moment during a lesson and beyond the lesson. Leave with a plan for implementing resources to support, strengthen, and stretch students’ thinking.
Session option: Amplify Desmos Math (Grades K–5 or 6–A1)
Audience: Teachers, instructional staff (maximum 30 participants)
New session
Suggested enhancement: Practice: Amplify Desmos Math: Supporting and facilitating meaningful discussions for K–5, 6–A1, or high school teachers
Available Oct. 2026
On-site or virtual, 3 hours
Explore how to transform your mathematics classroom into a social and collaborative environment where students deepen their understanding by sharing their mathematical thinking. Learn more about how Amplify Desmos Math provides support for these meaningful mathematical conversations.
Session option: Amplify Desmos Math (Grades K–5, 6–A1, or high school)
Audience: Teachers, instructional staff (maximum 30 participants)
New session
Suggested enhancement: Practice: Amplify Desmos Math: Assessment in action: Analyzing data, reports, and planning next steps for K–5 or 6–A1 teachers
Available Oct. 2026
On-site or virtual, 3 hours
Deepen your understanding of the different types of assessments in Amplify Desmos Math and how they provide evidence of student learning. Analyze sample student work to calibrate on assessment scoring, interpret student thinking, and make a plan for instructional next steps.
Session option: Amplify Desmos Math (Grades K–5 or 6–A1)
Audience: Teachers, instructional staff (maximum 30 participants)
New session
Suggested enhancement: Practice: mCLASS Math and Boost Math: Understanding and using data to plan intervention for K–5 teachers
Available for grades 6–8 teachers Oct. 2026
On-site or virtual, 3 hours
Ideal add-on Strengthen session
Explore how Boost Math uses mCLASS Math data to inform intervention recommendations and monitor student progress. Dig into your student data, explore relevant instructional resources, and leave with actionable next steps for intervention.
Session option: mCLASS Math (Grades K–5 or 6–8)
Audience: Teachers, instructional staff (maximum 30 participants)
Coach session options
Elevate instructional practice and help meet teachers’ and schools’ specific needs with customizable Coach sessions.
Coach session
On-site, 6 hours
Coaching sessions focus on building internal school and district capacity and leadership excellence. Coaching is customized to meet a school or district’s needs and can include model lessons, observations, walk-throughs, and/or co-planning.
Session options: Amplify Desmos Math (Grades K–5 or 6–A1) and mCLASS Math (Grades K–5 or 6–8)
Audience: Individual teachers, grade-level teams, PLCs, and/or instructional leaders (maximum 30 participants)
Contact us
Ready to lock in your dates? Want to learn more about developing a professional development plan to meet your needs?
Amplify welcomes the opportunity to partner with you to design professional development plans to meet the needs of your staff. Whether you’re returning or new to Amplify program(s), we provide guidance in answering your questions and making package/session recommendations.
If you’d like to order professional development services, please contact your local Amplify sales representative or call (800) 823-1969.
Amplify Desmos Math California
Welcome, Math 1 Reviewers!
We’re honored to introduce you to Amplify Desmos Math California. We’re confident you’ll find this comprehensive program to be a powerful tool for bringing the vision of the California Math Framework to life in classrooms across the state.
Please start with the video on the right to learn how to navigate the program and access key features referenced within our submission. Below you’ll find additional resources to support your review.
Your Review Samples
As a curriculum that incorporates both print and digital resources, it’s important that you explore both our physical materials (delivered to you in grade-specific tubs) and our digital materials (accessible through our platform). We invite you to explore both types of resources using the instructions and tips below.
Print Samples
Your print samples should have arrived in grade-specific tubs with a copy of your Reviewer Binder contained within the Math 1 shipping box. As you begin the process of organizing your materials, please refer to the inventory checklist found inside the tub as well as within your Reviewer Binder.
Digital Samples
- In order to access your digital samples, you’ll need to log into our platform using your unique login credentials found on a Digital Access Flyer inside of your Reviewer Binder. Once you have located the flyer:
- Click the orange button below to access the platform.
- Click “Log in with Amplify.”
- Enter the username and password provided on your Digital Access Flyer.
Navigation Tips
Below you will find helpful tips for navigating Amplify Desmos Math California. We recommend reading these pages alongside the program’s print materials and digital experience to gain a deeper understanding of the program.
Click the links below to read about navigating program features including:
Built for California
The Amplify Desmos Math California program is designed around the vision articulated in the California Mathematics Framework to enable all California students to become powerful users of mathematics. Our program incorporates the latest research in student learning, meaning that we:
- Focus on the Big Ideas: Amplify Desmos Math California’s courses, units, and lessons are centered around the Big Ideas. Big Ideas, like standards, are not considered in isolation. In addition to each unit and lesson’s focal Big Ideas, Amplify Desmos Math California also provides connections among the Big Ideas across units and lessons.
- Center on open and engaging tasks: Amplify Desmos Math California is grounded in engaging tasks meant to address students’ often-asked question: “Why am I learning this?” Students are invited into learning with low-floor, high-ceiling tasks that provide an entry point for all. Open tasks in Amplify Desmos Math California provide the space for students to try on multiple strategies and represent their thinking in different ways, and allow student explanation and discussion to serve as the center of the classroom. All lessons offer both print and digital representations of lessons.
- Provide enhanced digital experiences: Amplify Desmos Math California includes digitally-enhanced lesson activities, incorporating interactive digital tools alongside print materials. These purposefully-placed resources allow students to visualize mathematical concepts, receive actionable feedback while practicing, encounter personalized learning support from an onscreen tutor, and engage in discussions about their thinking and approaches.
- Treat core instruction and differentiation as integral partners: The Amplify Desmos Math California curriculum provides teachers with lessons, strategies, and resources to eliminate barriers and increase access to grade-level content without reducing the mathematical demand of tasks. Every activity has multiple entry points to ensure that all students are supported and challenged. Intervention and personalized learning activities are directly connected to lesson content and offer students the individualized support as they dive into the mathematics.
Category 1: Mathematics Content/Alignment with the Standards
Standards Map
Linked here is the Standards Map for Amplify for Math 1.
Evaluation Criteria Map
Linked here is the Evaluation Criteria Map for Math 1. Please note that you will need to be logged into the digital platform to access the links in the Evaluation Criteria Map.
Standards of Mathematical Practice
Linked here is the alignment of Amplify Desmos Math California to the Standards for Mathematical Practice at Math 1.
Drivers of Investigation and Content Connections
Amplify Desmos Math California incorporates the Drivers of Investigation (DIs) and Content Connection (CCs) throughout the program. Throughout the year, students engage with open and authentic tasks of varying durations — from lesson activities to unit-level Explore lessons and longer course-level Investigations. Every lesson and investigation opportunity is grounded around the why, how, and what of the learning experience, and helps teachers bring mathematical concepts to life.
California English Language Development Standards
Linked here is the alignment of Amplify Desmos Math California to the California English Language Development Standards for Math 1.
California Environmental Principles and Concepts
Select lessons, performance tasks, and investigations across grade levels in Amplify Desmos Math California are aligned to one or more of the California Environmental Principles and Concepts. Click this link to view how the California Environmental Principles and Concepts are represented in Amplify Desmos Math California Math 1.
Category 2: Program Organization
Amplify Desmos Math California thoughtfully combines conceptual understanding, procedural fluency, and application. Each lesson is designed to tell a story by posing problems that invite a variety of approaches before guiding students to synthesize their understanding of the learning goals.
Big Ideas
Amplify Desmos Math California’s courses, units, and lessons are centered around the Big Ideas. Big Ideas, like standards, are not considered in isolation. In addition to each unit and lesson’s focal Big Ideas, Amplify Desmos Math California also provides connections among the Big Ideas across units and lessons. Please refer to Keeping the Big Ideas at the Center, linked here, for the Amplify Desmos Math California Math 1 lesson design and alignment to the Big Ideas.
Program Structure
Amplify Desmos Math combines the best of problem-based lessons, intervention, personalized practice, and assessments into a coherent and engaging experience for both students and teachers.
Lessons and units in Amplify Desmos Math California are designed around a Proficiency Progression, a model that steps out problem-based learning by systematically building students’ curiosity into lasting grade-level understanding.
In the Proficiency Progression, lessons begin by activating students’ natural curiosity and offering opportunities to generate new ideas through collaboration. Teachers are then able to refine ideas through intentional facilitation and guide students to grade-level understanding, while students retain the ability to use different strategies and methods to show their comprehension of the content. Students are provided ample opportunities to develop lasting understanding.
Scope and Sequence
Below you can view the scope and sequence for Amplify Desmos Math California Math 1.
Lesson Design and Structure
Amplify Desmos Math California is designed with a structured approach to problem-based learning that systematically builds on students’ curiosity and allows students to grapple with the Big Ideas of the California Framework. Every lesson activity is organized into a Launch, Monitor, Connect format.
Launch: The launch is a short, whole-class conversation that creates a need or excitement, provides clarity, or helps students connect their prior knowledge or personal experience, which ensures that everyone has access to the upcoming work.
Monitor: As students work individually, in pairs, or in groups, teachers explore student thinking, ask questions, and provide support to help move the conversations closer to the intended math learning goal.
Connect: Teachers connect students’ ideas to the key learning goals of the lesson, facilitating class discussions that help synthesize and solidify the Big Ideas.
Each lesson within Amplify Desmos Math California follows the same structure.
Warm-Up: Every Amplify Desmos Math California lesson begins with a whole class Warm-Up. Warm-Ups are an invitational Instructional Routine intended to provide a social moment at the start of the lesson in which every student has an opportunity to contribute. Warm-Ups may build fluency or highlight a strategy that may be helpful in the current lesson or act as an invitation into the math of the lesson.
Lesson Activities: Each lesson includes one or two activities. These activities are the heart of each lesson. Students notice, wonder, explore, calculate, predict, measure, explain their thinking, use math to settle disputes, create challenges for their classmates, and more. Guidance is provided to help teachers launch, monitor, and connect student thinking over the course of the activity.
Synthesis and Show What You Know: The Synthesis is an opportunity for the teacher and students to pull all the learning of the lesson together into a lesson takeaway. Students engage in a facilitated discussion to consolidate and refine their ideas about the learning goals, and the teacher synthesizes students’ learning. Show What You Know is a daily assessment opportunity for students to show what they know about the learning goals and what they are still learning.
Practice and Differentiation: Daily practice problems for the day’s lesson are included both online and in the print Student Edition, including fluency, test practice, and spiral review.
Routines
Amplify Desmos Math California features a variety of lesson routines. Instructional routines and Math Language Routines (MLRs) are used within lessons to highlight student-developed language and ideas, cultivate conversation, support mathematical sense-making, and promote meta-cognition. Both are called out at point-of-use within the Teacher Edition and Teacher Presentation Screens. Below are the types of routines used throughout the Amplify Desmos Math California curriculum:
Math Language Routines
- MLR1: Stronger and Clearer Each Time
- MLR2: Collect and Display
- MLR3: Critique, Correct, Clarify
- MLR5: Co-Craft Questions
- MLR6: Three Reads
- MLR7: Compare and Connect
- MLR 8: Discussion Supports
Instructional Routines
- Decide and Defend
- Notice and Wonder
- Number Talk
- Tell a Story
- Think-Pair-Share
- Which One Doesn’t Belong?
Category 3: Assessments
A variety of performance data in Amplify Desmos Math California provides evidence of student learning, while helping students bolster their skills and understanding.
Unit-Level Assessment
Amplify Desmos Math California has embedded unit assessments that offer key insights into students’ conceptual understanding of math. These assessments provide regular, actionable information about how students are thinking about and processing math, with both auto-scoring and in-depth rubrics that help teachers anticipate and respond to students’ learning needs.
Pre-Unit Check: Each unit begins with a formative assessment designed to identify the student skills that will be particularly relevant to the upcoming unit. This check is agnostic to the standards covered in the following unit and serves not as a deficit-based acknowledgment of what students do not know, but rather as an affirmation of the knowledge and skills with which students come in.
End-of-Unit Assessment: Students engage with rigorous grade-level mathematics through a variety of formats and tasks in the summative End-of-Unit Assessment. A combination of auto-scored (when completed digitally) and rubric-scored items provides deep insights into student thinking. All Amplify Desmos Math California End-of-Unit Assessments include two forms.
Sub-Unit Quizzes: Sub-Unit Quizzes are formative assessments embedded regularly in Math 1. In these checks, students are assessed on a subset of conceptual understandings from the unit, with rubrics that help illuminate students’ current understanding and provide guidance for responding to student thinking.
Performance Tasks: At the end of each unit there is a summative assessment performance task provided to evaluate students’ proficiency with the concepts and skills addressed in the unit.
Lesson-Level Assessments
Amplify Desmos Math California lessons include daily moments of assessment to provide valuable evidence of learning for both the teacher and student. Beyond formative, summative, and benchmark assessments, students also have opportunities for self-reflection with Watch Your Knowledge Grow. Students take ownership of their learning by reflecting and tracking their progress before and after each unit.
Show What You Know: Each lesson has a daily formative assessment focused on one of the key concepts in the lesson. Show What You Know moments are carefully designed to minimize completion time for students while maximizing daily teacher insights to attend to student needs during the following class.
Responsive Feedback™: Teachers have the ability to see and provide in-the-moment feedback as students progress through a digital lesson. Responsive Feedback motivates students and engages them in the learning process.
Diagnostic Assessment
Every grade level features an asset-based diagnostic assessment designed to be administered at the beginning of the year. Delivered digitally and to the whole class, our diagnostic assessment is uniquely designed to reveal underlying math thinking and identify what students know about grade-level math. With data beyond just right and wrong, teachers have the type of deeper level of insights need to take the right next step.
CAASPP-Aligned Assessment Preparation
Amplify Desmos Math is designed to support students’ mathematical development through problem-based learning, differentiation, and embedded assessments. The program’s emphasis on conceptual understanding, procedural fluency, and application aligns with the mathematical practices and content standards assessed by the CAASPP.
Amplify Desmos Math California includes a CAASPP-aligned Item Bank. This standards-aligned bank of questions allows teachers to filter and search by grade and standard to find items. Once assigned on the digital platform, students will experience CAASPP-like practice with the online digital tools.
Data and Reporting
Amplify Desmos Math California provides teachers and administrators with unified reporting and insights so that educators have visibility into what students know about grade-level math—and can plan instruction accordingly for the whole class, small groups, and individual students. Reporting functionality integrates unit assessments, lesson assessments, diagnostic data, and progress monitoring for a comprehensive look at student learning. Program reports show proficiency and growth by domain, cluster, standard, and priority concept using performance data from unit assessments, then highlight areas of potential student need to allow teachers to modify their instruction and target differentiated support.
Administrator reporting provides a complete picture of student, class, and district performance, allowing administrators to implement instructional and intervention plans.
Category 4: Access and Equity
The Amplify Desmos Math California curriculum provides teachers with lessons, strategies, and resources to eliminate barriers and increase access to grade-level content without reducing the mathematical demand of tasks. Our lessons are developed using the Universal Design for Learning (UDL) framework to proactively ensure that all learners can access and participate in meaningful, challenging learning opportunities.
Every activity has multiple entry points to ensure that all students are supported and challenged. Intervention and personalized learning activities are directly connected to the day’s content and offer students the individualized supports they need to be successful.
Each lesson and unit contains guidance for teachers on how to identify students who may need support, students who need to keep strengthening their understanding, and students who may be ready to stretch their learning. In addition, teachers are provided with recommendations for resources to use with each group of students.
Universal Design for Learning
Each lesson in the program incorporates opportunities for engagement, representation, action, and expression based on the guidelines of Universal Design for Learning (UDL).
- Multiple Means of Engagement: Students engage in both print and digital learning, and are regularly participating in discussions and hands-on activities. Students are invited to build their own challenge for other students to solve, which provides opportunities for choice and
autonomy, as well as joy and play. - Multiple Means of Representation: Students are encouraged to demonstrate their learning using mathematical representations, both print and digital, and regularly engage with their peers in analyzing multiple possible solutions. Classes engage in open-ended discussions about what individual students notice and wonder about mathematical concepts.
- Multiple Means of Action and Expression: Learners differ in how they navigate learning environments and express what they know. Students can communicate their ideas in multiple ways, including in print, sketching, uploading photos, or recording an audio response.
Accessibility
Lesson Facilitation Supports
Every lesson includes at least one specific suggestion the teacher can use to increase access to the lesson without reducing the mathematical demand of the tasks. These suggestions address the following areas:
- Conceptual Processing
- Visual-Spatial Processing
- Executive Functioning
- Memory and Attention
- Fine Motor Skills
Accessibility Tools
Students have the ability to control accessibility tools so that each learning experience is customized to their individual needs. In many instances, these tools can be turned on or off at any point of instruction.
- Text to speech: Reads text instructions to students in multiple languages
- Enlarged font: Increases the size of all text on screen
- Braille mode: Includes narration of digital interactions
- Language selection: Toggles between languages
Differentiation: In-Lesson Teacher Moves
Within every lesson activity, teachers can use the suggestions in the Differentiation Teacher Moves table to provide in-the-moment instructional support while students are engaged in the work of the lesson. This table can help teachers anticipate the ways students may approach the activity, and provides prompts that they can use during the lesson to Support, Strengthen, and Stretch individual students in their thinking. Teachers are provided with clear student actions and understanding to look for, each matched with immediately usable suggestions for how to respond to the student thinking illustrated in each row of the table. In addition to using these suggestions in the moment as teachers monitor student work, teachers can review the Differentiation table in advance to help them anticipate how students are likely to approach the activity.
Differentiation: Beyond the Lesson
Teachers are provided with recommendations for resources to use with each group of students needing support, strengthening, and stretching after each lesson. Support, Strengthen, and Stretch resources include:
- Mini-Lessons: 15-minute, small-group direct instruction lessons targeted to a specific concept or skill
- Item Banks: Space for teachers to create practice and assessments by using filters and searching for standards, summative-style items, and more
- Fluency Practice: Adaptive, personalized practice built out for basic operations and more
- Extensions: Lesson-embedded Teacher Moves including possible stretch questions and activities for students
- Lesson Practice: Additional practice problems support every lesson
- Math Adventures: Strategy-based math games where students engage with math concepts and practice skills in a fun digital environment
- Lesson Summary Support: Support for students and caregivers that provides efficient explanation of the learning goal with clear examples
Math Identity and Community
The Math Identity and Community feature supports teachers in helping students build confidence in their own mathematical thinking, develop skills to work with and learn from others when doing math, and learn how math is an interwoven part of their broader community. The embedded prompts throughout the lessons are designed to highlight what it means to be good at math, the value of sharing ideas, and the power of flexible and creating thinking. Here are some examples of the Math Identity and Community supports embedded in each lesson:
- I can be all of me in math class. You will work with partners every day in math class. What do you want your partners to know about you?
- We are a math community. What does good listening look like and sound like in a math community?
- I am a doer of math. What math strengths did you use today?
Math Language Development
Every lesson in Amplify Desmos Math California includes opportunities for all students to develop mathematical language as they experience the content. Amplify Desmos Math California purposefully progresses language development from lesson to lesson and across units by supporting students in making their arguments and explanations stronger, clearer, and more precise. This systematic approach to the development of math language can be broken down into the following four categories of support:
- Vocabulary: Units and lessons start by surfacing students’ language for new concepts, then building connections between their language and the new vocabulary for that unit. This honors the language assets that students bring into their learning.
- Language Goals: Language goals attend to the mathematics students are learning, and are written through the lens of one or more of four language modalities: reading, writing, speaking, and listening.
- Math Language Routines: Math Language Routines are used within lessons to highlight student-developed language and ideas, cultivate conversation, support mathematical sense-making, and promote meta-cognition.
- Multilingual/English Learner Supports: Supports for multilingual/English learners (ML/ELs) are called out at intentional points within each lesson. These specific, targeted suggestions support ML/ELs with modifications that increase access to a task, or through development of contextual or mathematical language (both of which can be supportive of all learners).
Multilingual and English Learner Supports
Partnership with English Learner Success Forum
Amplify partnered with the English Learner Success Forum (ELSF), a national nonprofit organization that advocates for high-quality instructional materials that are inclusive of multilingual learners. ELSF reviewed Amplify Desmos Math California, and provided directional guidance and feedback to ensure that the program reflects their research-based instructional strategies for multilingual/English learners.
Math Language Development Resource
Our Math Language Development Resources book contains lesson-specific strategies and activities for all levels of English Learners (i.e., Emerging, Expanding, Bridging). With support for every lesson, teachers are empowered to help all students, regardless of their language skills, to participate fully, grasp the material, and excel in their mathematical journey.
Multilingual Glossary
Amplify Desmos Math California includes a digital glossary for languages other than Spanish. Translations will be provided for up to nine languages.
Spanish Version
Amplify Desmos Math California will include Spanish student-facing materials beginning in the 2026–27 school year.
Category 5: Instructional Planning and Support
Amplify Desmos Math California includes a variety of embedded instructional supports to empower teachers to lead effectively and gain actionable insights into student growth and progress. Teachers are equipped with a comprehensive set of resources designed to fulfill the requirements of Category 5.
Grade-level concepts
Within the Teacher Edition front matter:
- Scope and sequence
- Big Ideas, Drivers of Investigation, and Content Connections
- Grade level standards
- Standards for Mathematical Practice
- English Language Development Standards
- Environmental Principals and Concepts
Within each Unit and Sub-Unit Overview:
- Big Ideas, Drivers of Investigation, and Content Connections
- Math that Matters Most
- Grade level standards
- Standards for Mathematical Practice
- English Language Development Standards
- Environmental Principals and Concepts
Within each Lesson:
- Big Ideas, Drivers of Investigation, and Content Connections
- Grade level standards
- Standards for Mathematical Practice
- English Language Development Standards
- Environmental Principals and Concepts
How to implement the program
At the course level (within the Teacher Edition front matter):
- Navigating the Program (both print and digital)
- Facilitating Lesson Activities with Launch, Monitor and Connect
- Overview of the Digital Facilitation Tools
At the lesson level:
- Suggestions for timing
- What materials to prep
- How to organize and group students
- Key lesson takeaways with the Synthesis
- Recommendations for Differentiation
- Strategies for intervention and extensions (in the Intervention, Extensions, and Investigation Resources book)
At the activity level:
- Differentiation recommendations
- Accessibility tips
- ML / EL tips
- Teacher look-fors
- Recommended Teacher Moves
- Prompts for guiding student thinking
- Sample student responses
Development of Math Language
A variety of language development supports are provided within the Student and Teacher Editions and Math Language Development Resources book.
At the lesson level:
- Diagrams and visuals
- Sentence frames and word banks
- Graphic organizers, including Frayer models
- Vocabulary routines
- Embedded language supports aligned to the CA ELDs
- Lesson-specific strategies for Emerging, Expanding, and Bridging
At the unit level:
- Words With Multiple Meanings
- Contextual vocabulary
At the course level:
- English/Spanish cognates
- Multilingual Glossary
Other Curriculum Guidance
- Additional Practice Resources book
- Assessment Resources book
- Assess and Respond guidance paired with each assessment opportunity
- Show-What-You-Know activities
- Answer keys and rubrics
- Performance tasks
AI Features
Winter Wrap-Up 01: Problem-solving and facilitating classroom discussions
As we prep for an exciting new season of Math Teacher Lounge: The Podcast, hosts Bethany Lockhart Johnson and Dan Meyer are looking back at the amazing speakers and conversations from past episodes and sharing some of their favorites!
First up: A season 2 double feature of the power of problem-solving with Fawn Nguyen and Facilitating Classroom Discussions with authors Christy Hermann Thompson and Kassia Omohundro Wedekind.
Fawn is a specialist on Amplify’s advanced math team and a former math teacher and math coach—so she knows her stuff! You’ll hear about her five criteria for good problem-solving problems, and the power and importance of exposing all students to problem-solving.
Then, we’ll move into Bethany and Dan’s conversation with Christy and Kassia to learn how hands-down conversations allow students to become better listeners and the steps you can take to implement hands-down conversations in your classroom.
Explore more from Math Teacher Lounge by visiting our main page.
Dan Meyer: (00:01)
Hey folks. Welcome back to Math Teacher Lounge. My name is Dan Meyer.
Bethany Lockhart Johnson: (00:03)
And I’m Bethany Lockhart Johnson. Hello! Happy New Year! Hello, Dan Meyer.
Dan Meyer: (00:09)
HNY, Bethany. HNY to you and to all of the listeners out there in Math Teacher Lounge. HNY is the abbreviation that I use sometimes.
Bethany Lockhart Johnson: (00:18)
Oh, is that what that is? Is that—I wasn’t sure what that was. If on my birthday you send me HBD…no.
Dan Meyer: (00:25)
Yeah.
Bethany Lockhart Johnson: (00:25)
No. Unacceptable.
Dan Meyer: (00:27)
I will. No, you want the full thing. To demonstrate my care for your birthday, I gotta spell the whole thing out. I’m just trying to stay relevant. You know, I’m just trying to stay relevant and youthful. So I’m using The Abreevs.
Bethany Lockhart Johnson: (00:38)
The Brevvies.
Dan Meyer: (00:40)
To the extent of even abbreviating the word “abbreviation.” . So, any New Year’s resolutions you wanna share with the listeners, Bethany? While you think, I’ll just share mine real quick here. This is the year of the perfect Wordle streak for yours truly, Dan Meyer. I’m going the full 365. Watch. Watch me do it, folks. I’m naming it here. Live on air. recorded on air. Perfect Wordle year. What you got for the listeners, Bethany?
Bethany Lockhart Johnson: (01:10)
Let’s see. It’s raining very hard here in Southern California, and my newest resolution is to embrace nature. My child wants nothing more than to go and splash in all the puddles.
Dan Meyer: (01:22)
Nice.
Bethany Lockhart Johnson: (01:23)
And be amongst the mud. And what I’m gonna keep telling myself—and so far, so far, I’ve been doing pretty good with this—thrive, child. Splash. Squish. We can dry you off. You will not melt. So I want to keep finding opportunities. Like, for instance, my response is, “It’s pouring rain. Let’s stay under covers and let’s read this book together!” And his response is like, banging on the windows, like, “Please let me go outside.” So I myself have some rain boots. I’m going to go forth and splash with my child. So hopefully you’ll see me doing that a bit more.
Dan Meyer: (02:08)
Love that.
Bethany Lockhart Johnson: (02:09)
Ask me what I’m doing. I’m outside, splashing in nature.
Dan Meyer: (02:12)
I don’t wanna put words in your mouth, but I have felt a bit like parenting is a means for rounding out aspects of my own personality that I have felt are—or habits or hobbies that are lacking. Like, I’ve never been real outdoorsy or into camping, but I don’t want that to limit my own kids’ aspirations or interests. So let’s do the thing that’s not super natural for me, for their own sake. Which is kind of what I’m hearing a little bit from you, which—that sounds exciting.
Bethany Lockhart Johnson: (02:35)
Do you wanna go camping together? Like, our families?
Dan Meyer: (02:38)
Uhhh. Let’s take this one off the air. I also love something that’s more relevant to a teachers audience that you said, that I think is super interesting, is how there’s ways that we can make the jobs harder for ourselves, that are optional. And what I hear from you is like, “I’m just not gonna freak out. We’re getting wet. We’re getting soggy. And I’m just not gonna freak out.” And I just think that that’s interesting to think about, the things that we take on, you know, that’s optional. Freaking out is optional, sometimes. And there’s other areas, I think, for parenting or for teaching, where it’s like, “Oh, do I really need to choose this particular battle?” And to reconsider that.
Bethany Lockhart Johnson: (03:19)
And in that spirit, our whole Wordle episode that we talked about? Do you remember you talked about how beautiful Wordle mistakes are, and how you keep learning from mistakes? I mean, you obviously want the final correct answer, but just, you know, when you get on a losing streak, Dan, I hope you’ll continue to pat yourself on the back.
Dan Meyer: (03:38)
Well, I will not be taking on a losing streak, or even lose one day. This is what’s gonna happen here. I’m just speaking that and putting it out in the universe.
Bethany Lockhart Johnson: (03:49)
Speak it!
Dan Meyer: (03:50)
But if it happens, I will be taking a long break from all human interaction. And lamenting, as I do.
Bethany Lockhart Johnson: (03:59)
Camping. Dan’s off in the woods, weeping.
Dan Meyer: (04:01)
That’s right. That’s right. Yeah. Well, we wanna share with you folks—an exciting programming note is that we are currently working very hard on producing a special fifth season of this podcast. You thought the other seasons were special? Let me tell you, this fifth season gives new meaning to the word “special.” And we can’t wait to tell you more about that. But in the meantime, Bethany, you wanna tell ’em what we’re up to in the meantime?
Bethany Lockhart Johnson: (04:26)
Well, Dan and I went back and we were having a conversation about some of our most favorite conversations, or the conversations that people bring up to us. Like, when we were at the CMC conference, or NCTM, folks, when we talk about the podcast, they’re like, “Oh, I loved this one.” “Oh, I love this one.” And that, to me, I don’t know, that is exciting. And so, while we’re putting together this new season over these next few weeks, we’re gonna feature a few of our favorite conversations from our first four seasons. Dan, four seasons!
Dan Meyer: (04:59)
We’ve been at this for four seasons! And I do want to just emphasize something you said, Bethany: that all of our conversations are our favorite conversations. They’re all our special children. What we just felt like you, the listeners, did not quite learn enough from some of these, and so we really needed you to hear them again to make sure you got everything that you should get out of them. So, let’s tell ’em who’s up first. And who’s up first is a conversation we had about problem-solving with Fawn Nguyen, who’s an advanced math team specialist here at Amplify. Been a former math coach, math teacher. Just really done the work, is what I’d say about Fawn.
Bethany Lockhart Johnson: (05:38)
If you have been listening to this podcast, you’re like, “Whoa, whoa. Wait, I have not missed an episode. I didn’t hear Fawn’s interview.” That is because we used to be video only, not podcasts. So this conversation with Fawn was from, what, our second season?
Dan Meyer: (05:55)
Yeah.
Bethany Lockhart Johnson: (05:56)
And we were on video. And another thing about it is it was, this is a conversation that, when folks talk about problem-solving, a lot of the responses we’ve gotten are like, “Wait, I’ve never thought of problem-solving this way.” In fact, you’ll hear us say that exact thing . So we really appreciated the time with Fawn. And yeah.
Dan Meyer: (06:17)
Enjoy it, folks. Especially enjoy Fawn’s—I think a four-part?—definition of problem-solving, a word that’s often kind of mushily defined. And Fawn really goes into, I think, precision and depth on it. So hope you folks enjoy it.
Dan Meyer: (06:35)
Give a wave, Fawn, to the camera. Would you? Cool. Fawn has been a teacher for a very long time. She is someone who could have left the classroom at any point and taken any number of jobs in the math-teaching universe. But I’ve always admired that Fawn has taught kids for a very long time, and that has given her, in my view, just a lot of clarity on what is important to her about students. I’ve seen her not get upset or obsessed with certain kinds of small niche issues that a lot of us, like, they get a lot of us down in the classroom, sometimes. And she’s maintained a laser focus on among many other things, problem-solving as a virtue in mathematics classrooms. So, please welcome Fawn to our show. Fawn, thanks so much for being here.
Fawn Nguyen: (07:18)
Hey, thank you so much. Thank you. I am so excited and honored that you guys invited me for this, Bethany and Dan.
Bethany Lockhart Johnson: (07:24)
Thank you for being here.
Fawn Nguyen: (07:26)
I love you, Bethany. Dan, I can tolerate, but I love you.
Dan Meyer: (07:30)
I really worked myself up there on that complimentary opening for you, and that’s how you get me back, here? OK. Problem-solving is fully on the consciousness of math teachers. Every math teacher knows that they need to say, like, “Yeah, oh, problem-solving. Yes. Love it. Do it. I dig it.” But even so, I feel like it’s become kind of a buzzword. Like, it’s not always obvious what that means…or am I doing problem-solving, really? So we’re curious: As someone who is a problem-solving expert, who is asked all over the world to talk about problem-solving: How do I know if I’m doing problem-solving in my classroom?
Fawn Nguyen: (08:12)
This is not my definition of it, but—nor am I an expert, by the way, Dan, thank you! but I try really, really hard and work on it!—my definition—or it’s not my definition, but I like it because it’s short and honest—is “problem-solving is what we do when we don’t know what to do.” And so—
Bethany Lockhart Johnson: (08:32)
Ooh!
Fawn Nguyen: (08:32)
—with that mind-frame, I’m hoping teachers think more about what they task. Because I think it gets mislabeled a lot, as to what is problem-solving. If the kids already know what to do, there’s a solution path. Then it’s not problem-solving.
Dan Meyer: (08:48)
Yeah. So what are examples then? An example of, like, I might call something problem-solving, but it it fails that particular definition that you just proposed there. Very short, very honest definition.
Fawn Nguyen: (08:59)
Just, it needs to have constraint and contradiction to what the kids think naturally. It should come as a surprise. There’s an element of surprise in it. There’s tension.
Dan Meyer: (09:11)
Maybe if there’s harder numbers or, you know, decimals or fractions in the same kind of procedure…I can feel myself thinking, “Yeah, this is hard. This is problem-solving. Problem-solving equals hard. But we already know what to do.”
Fawn Nguyen: (09:27)
Or just word problems. That’s the most common thing. As soon as it just has words attached to the math, it becomes problem-solving. But that’s just coding it to me. That’s just coding it with words, wrapping it around. It doesn’t mean anything until we read through and see if there’s true problem-solving in it.
Bethany Lockhart Johnson: (09:45)
Like, what’s the moment that it becomes problem-solving? In the way that you envision it?
Fawn Nguyen: (09:53)
Well, I think there’s the bigger problem-solving of really bringing a task…I wanna call it left field. It just—we rarely ever, if ever, see it in the regular coursework, but it can also be problem-solving if we just take what we expect the children to do at the end of the unit, how about we front-load that? To me, that’s also problem-solving. And I’m trying to encourage teachers to do that last problem first. The task writers put more thought—not that they don’t do the rest of it!—but you know, this is a special one, because they label it “challenge,” or “enrichment,” or “are you ready for more?” I’ve seen those. And so it is this really special problem. And I would love for us to think about “do that first.” Because my biggest fear is that because it comes at the end, that not all the children are involved. And so that to me is the saddest part. Because we might not get to it, right? In mathematics, we always think, “OK, well, let’s do these problems and then we don’t have time for the rest.” But I think that’s your richest task right there, is at the very end. So why don’t we front-load it, start it, and it’s OK—of course it’s OK!—that we don’t all get it. But the exposure to all students is so important. Talk about, you know, equity. Talk about that, everybody gets the same thing. If everyone dug into that first one with everybody’s collaboration, and we get to share that, and then we leave it, because “Yeah, OK, now we learn more of the other stuff, right? That hopefully support. And then we can go back. And now everybody had a chance to go get into it, and then we can come back to it as, as many problems, we need to go back to it.”
Bethany Lockhart Johnson: (11:37)
And that feels so powerful. Because it feels like—as a teacher, I’m thinking it would also inform my work, how I approach the unit, and how I approach the next steps. Right? Like, what kind of work would we be doing if I let it, if I allow it, to change the way that I approach the unit.
Dan Meyer: (11:58)
Yeah. What you’re describing is so powerful, and really asks a lot of the task designers as well, I think. There are problem-solving tasks that really require, like, abstract knowledge of the way formulas and variables fit together. And what I love about what Amplify is doing with their problem-solving, what you’re helping them do, is that they start with a true low floor that can draw in every student. And they might get stuck at different places; that’s fine. But everyone has a way in. That’s exciting.
Fawn Nguyen: (12:24)
It’s a big deal for me to have this opportunity and this trust, to integrate problem-solving into the curriculum, make it intentional. It’s difficult to implement. It is, to be honest. Because for me, what is a good task? This makes one of my four criteria: One is, it is non-routine. It is simply stated. Simply stated—that’s like your low floor. And then has multiple solutions. And the fourth: This makes it. Because that the teacher enjoys solving it. And so you have to enjoy solving it to bring it. Because so that way I can say to my kids, “This is my gift.” It really is, Because, you know, it has so much fun and joy. And I appreciate the struggle. And I wanna illustrate an example. For example, let’s say Dan and I are classmates. And I know that Dan gets A’s on his tests and the lowest score he ever got was an 89%. I, on the other hand, just sitting right next to him, I average D. I have a D average on everything. While Bethany, our amazing and wonderful teacher, brings in a problem. And when she brings it in, she says, “I worked on this problem. I found this problem; I worked on it; and I struggled with it. And it was amazing. I enjoyed it so much, I’m sharing it with you.” And all of a sudden it’s like, “OK!” And I”m sitting there, right? My teacher loves this problem so much; she’s bringing it in to share with us. And now, all of a sudden, it’s not, you know…and I know she only gives us non-routine. When she talks about problem-solving, it’s non-routine. So it’s not directly tied to the textbook that I’ve been struggling with. So it gives me a chance, it gives me a chance to contribute. To think differently. And now, suddenly I look forward to working with Dan, because in this space, in this problem-solving space, Dan is no longer Mr. Know-It-All. And so that’s what I mean by—I am saying this a hundred times, and I will not stop saying it—problem-solving levels the playing field. Our world is filled with unsolved problems. Are you kidding me? Right? We look around us, we have so many things that are not solvable, or people are working on it, and yet in mathematics, what happens? The bell rings; we start; and we solve everything during that time, and we leave. And that’s…yeah. No! No! We need to wrestle with problems.
Dan Meyer: (15:04)
And that was our conversation with Fawn Nguyen, which we first released way back in November, 2021. You folks can follow Fawn on Twitter at Fawn P Nguyen. Um, that’s @ F A W N P N G U Y E N.
Bethany Lockhart Johnson: (15:18)
So our episode today is a double feature. We are featuring another conversation that we loved from Season Two. This is a conversation with Christy Hermann Thompson and Kassia Omohundro Wedekind. They’re authors of the book, “Hands Down, Speak Out: Listening and Talking Across Literacy and Math.” And I don’t know if you remember, but not only did we have a conversation with them, but we did a whole book study on Facebook, a Facebook Live book study, over the course of several months. And it was one of my most favorite things. And then they did a webinar at the end. So our conversation with them on the podcast for me felt like such a beautiful dive into their book. And you know, I’ve said it before, you think you have something down in the classroom, you’re like, “Oh, hand-raising, I’ve got that down.” You think you have it down, but then somebody says, “OK, but have you ever considered thiiiis?” You know, and it just—
Dan Meyer: (16:17)
NOT that??
Bethany Lockhart Johnson: (16:18)
, Not that? Something totally different? And I loved talking with them. They’re a lot of fun. And I loved the book.
Dan Meyer: (16:23)
Wonderful conversation, great book. Very provocative ideas. Yeah. As someone who’s like, “OK, classroom management, I gotta get the hand-raising going…”. In the classroom before we talked, they offered a really potent challenge to some really standard classroom management ideas. Yeah. Loved it.
Bethany Lockhart Johnson: (16:40)
And this conversation also offers some really practical tips for facilitating student conversations. So we think you’ll enjoy it. Here’s our conversation with Christy and Kassia.
Bethany Lockhart Johnson: (16:53)
So today we are talking about “Hands Down, Speak Out: Listening and Talking Across Literacy and Math, K—5.” And we have the authors here, Kassia Omohundro Wedekind and Christy Hermann Thompson. Before we begin, let’s define what a hands-down conversation is. A hands-down conversation is just another way to structure discourse in your classroom. So in a typical classroom, you might see students raising their hand and waiting on a teacher to call on them before they share their ideas or engage in discussion. But in a hands-down conversation, it’s students’ ideas and voices that are taking the lead, and teachers are stepping back and focusing on listening and facilitating. Hello! Welcome to the Lounge.
Kassia Omohundro Wedekind: (17:44)
Thank you. We’re excited to be here. We’re fans of Season One. So we’re ready to go.
Dan Meyer: (17:50)
I was a secondary teacher but I still found so much to love about the book. I think facilitating conversations is just generally challenging, and perhaps even more so in math, where answers feel so tightly dialed-in, in lots of ways. But I loved it. I would love for you to just explain to our audience, what is a hands-down conversation and how does that contrast with what might be standard practice for some people? For some classes?
Christy Hermann Thompson: (18:13)
We just started using the term hands-down conversation because we wanted to differentiate the fact that there are different times to have different types of dialogue in the math classroom, in the literacy classroom. And we use this as one of our tools. Right? It’s not that every day, all day long, we’re very against hand-raising and should never see that again. We find that having this as one of our tools will be where we make really clear to the students that this is a moment where we’re turning it over to you to negotiate the space and make the decisions about when your voice comes in and who speaks next. You know, carry on kind of like that dinner table or that playground or, you know, whatever is your natural habitat for talk. And bringing that into the classroom and then hoping that it also someday transfers back out of the classroom back into the real world.
Bethany Lockhart Johnson: (19:09)
For the teachers who feel like that’s terrifying to have students just start speaking, and speaking without any sort of control or my little equity sticks, my little popsicle sticks, or my popcorn, or whatever other thing they’re using, what would you say is the first step?
Christy Hermann Thompson: (19:25)
So I think recognizing and naming that fear is part of it. And then saying to yourself, “What’s the worst that could happen here?” You know, I think the worst that could happen is that nobody talks and it’s totally silent. Or on the other hand, everybody talks at the same time. And both of those things will happen! And so what? It’s gonna be messy. And if you just acknowledge that it’s gonna look messy, and that’s part of growing; that every child as they learn—and every adult—is messy as they grow.
Kassia Omohundro Wedekind: (19:59)
And we have to see what kinds of things will happen in a hands-down conversation. Like there’s no prerequisite. You just start and then you see what happens. And those are the signs that tell you, “What can help this community grow as talkers and listeners? If everyone’s talking at the same time, and they’re kind of pushing each other over with their words by saying, “I have something to add!” “I have something to add!” or something like that, that’s a common thing that sometimes happens at the beginning. Then you know that the next step is to do some work about how to hold your thoughts back, how to add, wait for a space in the conversation to talk. And those are all things we need people to know out in the world.
Bethany Lockhart Johnson: (20:41)
So can you give an example of a micro-lesson that…well, first, what do you define as a micro-lesson? And then, what’s an example of one that maybe somebody who wants to dip their toe into the world of hands-down conversations that they could try?
Christy Hermann Thompson: (20:56)
The reason we call them micro-lessons is because we wanted to differentiate from the term mini lesson, which is out there and tends to describe about 10 or 15 minutes that might take place at the beginning of a work period of time. And this is much smaller than that. We usually follow a pretty predictable structure of naming. Here’s this thing that’s so helpful when we’re having conversations, and we love to especially be able to name something that a student had done: “Kaylee did this yesterday and it really helped us.” So what we might call that is, “And then here’s how Kaylee and other people might do that. They might do something like this.” And, you know, having a little anchor chart, so there’s a visual reminder of that skill. “So when we’re having a conversation today, you could try…”. And that’s basically a micro-lesson, just in a nutshell.
Kassia Omohundro Wedekind: (21:51)
When I was doing these hands-down conversations and I had more space for myself to listen as a teacher, I’m like, “Well, look at those kids, like, slumped onto the ground, like, pulling the carpet apart, but they’re having this amazing conversation!” And so I learned that listening is a lot broader. So in this lesson that I’m thinking about, we just talk with kids about what are lots of different ways that listening can look like. Sometimes with younger kids, I’ll take pictures of them listening in different ways and we’ll notice things about them together. And then we invite them to talk with their Turn and Talk partner about like, “How do you like to be listened to?” Or “Tell me about how you listen.” And just kind of broaden that. And really, I like to think that like the micro-lessons are for the kids, but also I’m saying those things to say them for myself. Like, “Remember, you don’t have to insist that kids are staring each other down in the eyes all the time. Like, “It’s OK when they’re doing other things. There’s other ways of listening.” So I think I’ve learned as much from the micro-lessons each time I do them as the kids that I’m trying to help grow as listeners and talkers, as well.
Dan Meyer: (23:00)
You folks have a lot of really eloquent ideals you express, around democratic classrooms and engagement. But you also have just some very tangible, practical…even down to, like, how a teacher positions their body in space and the way they use their eyes to connect. I think it would be really helpful for teachers to hear that it’s not just they’re signing on to a manifesto of sorts, but there’s ways they can act their way into the beliefs that you both expressed here.
Christy Hermann Thompson: (23:26)
When I’m starting hands-down conversation work, if I put myself a little bit outside of the circle and look down, and give myself a clipboard, it, it helps me bite my tongue and it helps me give better wait time and see what the kids are doing before I have that tendency to jump in and teach and do lots of teacher-y things.
Bethany Lockhart Johnson: (23:48)
Kassia and Christy, thank you so much for joining us. We are so excited to have this conversation and to share your work. This is exciting. And I feel like this conversation is just the beginning of a deeper dive into this book.
Kassia Omohundro Wedekind: (24:01)
Thanks for having us.
Christy Hermann Thompson: (24:02)
Thank you.
Dan Meyer: (24:03)
Thank you both.
Bethany Lockhart Johnson: (24:06)
Thanks so much for listening to our conversations with Fawn Nguyen and Christy Hermann Thompson and Kassia Omohundro Wedekind, both of which were released in 2021, part of our second season. And, you know, we hoped you enjoyed listening to it for a first, second, maybe third, fourth time.
Dan Meyer: (24:24)
Let’s be real. There’s some real fans out there.
Bethany Lockhart Johnson: (24:26)
We loved it then. We love it now!
Dan Meyer: (24:28)
Yep, yep, yep. Please keep in touch with the show by following us on Twitter at MTL Show, and join our Facebook group, the Math Teacher Lounge community. We’d love to hear from you there. And please stay tuned for more info on what we’re cooking up here in the Math Teacher Lounge. Thank you folks for listening. Take care, Bethany.
Bethany Lockhart Johnson: (24:47)
Bye now.
Stay connected!
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Meet the guests
Fawn Nguyen
Fawn began her work with Amplify in 2022 as a Math Advance Team Specialist. She was a math coach for a K-8 school district for three years, and a middle school teacher for 30 years before that. Fawn has also received a number of accolades as an educator.
Christy Thompson
Christy Thompson is a Literacy Coach in Fairfax County Public Schools in Virginia. She has spent her teaching and coaching career particularly focused on listening to and learning from the talk of our youngest students.
Kassia Omohundro Wedekind
Kassia Omohundro Wedekind spent many wonderful years as a classroom teacher and math coach in Fairfax County Public Schools in Virginia and now splits her time between being an independent math coach and an editor at Stenhouse Publishers. Her favorite days are spent in classrooms learning from the many ways children talk, listen and negotiate meaning together.
About Math Teacher Lounge: The podcast
Math Teacher Lounge is a biweekly podcast created specifically for K–12 math educators. In each episode co-hosts Bethany Lockhart Johnson (@lockhartedu) and Dan Meyer (@ddmeyer) chat with guests, taking a deep dive into the math and educational topics you care about.
Join the Math Teacher Lounge Facebook group to continue the conversation, view exclusive content, interact with fellow educators, participate in giveaways, and more!
You might also like:
Buffalo Consultancy
The High-Impact Tutoring Implementation Workshop Series
Amplify Texas, K–5
Built on a systematic scope and sequence, Amplify Texas, K–5 programs offer the explicit instruction needed in today’s classrooms. Amplify Texas includes both English and Spanish curriculums. The print version of the English curriculum is titled Amplify Texas ELAR (English Language Arts and Reading). The digital version of the English curriculum is titled Amplify Texas Elementary Literacy Program. The print version of the Spanish curriculum is titled Amplify Texas SLAR (Spanish Language Arts and Reading). The digital version of the Spanish curriculum is titled Amplify Texas Lectoescritura.
We’ve created a wide suite of professional development offerings that will help you meet your unique needs this school year. Find out more below!
Amplify CKLA, ELA, and Science professional development has been vetted by Rivet Education’s team through a rigorous three-step process and is listed in the Professional Learning Partner Guide.
Plan your professional development
We’re excited to partner with you on your Amplify journey. Flexible professional development pathways have been designed to meet your needs.
Recommended Professional Development Plan
Our team has curated a recommended professional learning path from initial launch to continuous support. Use the Professional Development Planning Guide below to discuss the plan that best meets your school or district needs with your Account Executive.
ELAR
SLAR
Session overview
Launch
K–5 instructional leaders
Amplify Texas Elementary Literacy Program (digital) and ELAR (print) initial training for K–5 instructional leaders
Half day (3 hours)
Prepare to implement and support Amplify Texas instruction in your schools! Learn how Amplify Texas supports students as they build literacy skills in the early grades and move among reading, writing, speaking and listening, and language activities in the upper grades. Understand the purpose of the Amplify Texas program (Skills, Knowledge, and Integrated Strands) and identify components of the Amplify Texas design principles within lessons. Participants will begin creating an action plan to support communication and change management related to Amplify Texas to staff, parents, and other stakeholders.
Audience: Instructional leaders (principals and coaches), maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite/Remote
K–2 teachers
Amplify Texas Elementary Literacy Program (digital) and ELAR (print) initial training for K–2 teachers
1 day onsite (6 hours) or 2 half days remote (6 hours)
Prepare to implement the Amplify Texas K–2 program in your classroom! Learn the foundational elements of Amplify Texas, including the structure of materials, key lesson elements, and how to deliver specific lesson types successfully.
Audience: Teachers (instructional leaders welcome), maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite/Remote
Amplify Texas Elementary Literacy Program (digital) and ELAR (print) program overview for K–2 teachers
Half day (3 hours)
Prepare to implement the Amplify Texas K–2 program in your classroom! Learn the foundational elements of the curriculum, including the structure of materials, key lesson elements, and how to deliver specific lesson types successfully.
Audience: Teachers (instructional leaders welcome), maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite/Remote
Amplify Texas Elementary Literacy Program (digital) and ELAR (print) Skills Strand initial training for K–2 teachers
1 day onsite (6 hours) or 2 half days remote (6 hours)
Prepare to implement the Amplify Texas Skills Strand program in your classroom! Learn the foundational elements of Amplify Texas, including the structure of materials, key lesson elements, and how to deliver specific lesson types successfully. Participants will begin planning for the first unit and lessons.
Audience: Teachers (instructional leaders welcome), maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite/Remote
Amplify Texas Elementary Literacy Program (digital) and ELAR (print) Skills Strand program overview for K–2 teachers
Half day (3 hours)
Prepare to implement the Amplify Texas Skills Strand in your classroom! Learn the foundational elements of the curriculum, including the structure of materials, key lesson elements, and how to deliver specific lesson types successfully.
Audience: Teachers (instructional leaders welcome), maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite/Remote
Amplify Texas Elementary Literacy Program (digital) and ELAR (print) Knowledge Strand initial training for K–2 teachers
1 day onsite (6 hours) or 2 half days remote (6 hours)
Prepare to implement the Amplify Texas Knowledge Strand program in your classroom! Learn the foundational elements of Amplify Texas, including the structure of materials, key lesson elements, and how to deliver specific lesson types successfully. Participants will begin planning for the first unit and lessons.
Audience: Teachers (instructional leaders welcome), maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite/Remote
Amplify Texas Elementary Literacy Program (digital) and ELAR (print) Knowledge Strand program overview for K–2 teachers
Half day (3 hours)
Prepare to implement the Amplify Texas Knowledge Strand in your classroom! Learn the foundational elements of the curriculum, including the structure of materials, key lesson elements, and how to deliver specific lesson types successfully.
Audience: Teachers (instructional leaders welcome), maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite/Remote
Amplify Texas Lectoescritura (digital) and SLAR (print) initial training for K–2 teachers
1 day onsite (6 hours) or 2 half days remote (6 hours)
Prepare to implement Amplify Texas program in your classroom! Learn the foundational elements of Amplify Texas, including the structure of materials, key lesson elements, and how to deliver specific lesson types successfully. Participants will begin planning for the first unit and lessons.
Audience: Teachers (instructional leaders welcome), maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite/Remote
Amplify Texas Elementary Lectoescritura (digital) and SLAR (print) program overview for K–2 teachers
Half day (3 hours)
Prepare to implement Amplify Texas in your classroom! Learn the foundational elements of the curriculum, including the structure of materials, key lesson elements, and how to deliver specific lesson types successfully.
Audience: Teachers (instructional leaders welcome), maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite/Remote
Amplify Texas Lectoescritura (digital) and SLAR (print) Skills Strand (Habilidades y destrezas) initial training for K–2 teachers
1 day onsite (6 hours) or 2 half days remote (6 hours)
Prepare to implement Amplify Texas Skills Strand (Habilidades y destrezas) program in your classroom! Learn the foundational elements of Amplify Texas, including the structure of materials, key lesson elements, and how to deliver specific lesson types successfully. Participants will begin planning for the first unit and lessons.
Audience: Teachers (instructional leaders welcome), maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite/Remote
Amplify Texas Elementary Lectoescritura (digital) and SLAR (print) Skills Strand (Habilidades y destrezas) program overview for K–2 teachers
Half day (3 hours)
Prepare to implement Amplify Texas Skills Strand (Habilidades y destrezas) in your classroom! Learn the foundational elements of the curriculum, including the structure of materials, key lesson elements, and how to deliver specific lesson types successfully.
Audience: Teachers (instructional leaders welcome), maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite/Remote
Amplify Texas Lectoescritura (digital) and SLAR (print) Knowledge Strand (Conocimiento) initial training for K–2 teachers
1 day onsite (6 hours) or 2 half days remote (6 hours)
Prepare to implement Amplify Texas Knowledge Strand (Conocimiento) program in your classroom! Learn the foundational elements of Amplify Texas, including the structure of materials, key lesson elements, and how to deliver specific lesson types successfully. Participants will begin planning for the first unit and lessons.
Audience: Teachers (instructional leaders welcome), maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite/Remote
Amplify Texas Elementary Lectoescritura (digital) and SLAR (print) Knowledge Strand (Conocimiento) program overview for K–2 teachers
Half day (3 hours)
Prepare to implement Amplify Texas Knowledge Strand (Conocimiento) in your classroom! Learn the foundational elements of the curriculum, including the structure of materials, key lesson elements, and how to deliver specific lesson types successfully.
Audience: Teachers (instructional leaders welcome), maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite/Remote
3-5 Teachers
Amplify Texas Elementary Literacy Program (digital) and ELAR (print) initial training for 3–5 teachers
1 day onsite (6 hours) or 2 half days remote (6 hours)
Prepare to implement the Amplify Texas 3–5 program in your classroom! Learn the foundational elements of Amplify Texas, including the structure of materials, key lesson elements, and how to deliver specific lesson types successfully.
Audience: Teachers (instructional leaders welcome), maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite/Remote
Amplify Texas Elementary Literacy Program (digital) and ELAR (print) program overview for 3–5 teachers
Half day (3 hours)
Prepare to implement the Amplify Texas 3–5 program in your classroom! Learn the foundational elements of the curriculum, including the structure of materials, key lesson elements, and how to deliver specific lesson types successfully.
Audience: Teachers (instructional leaders welcome), maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite/Remote
Amplify Texas Lectoescritura (digital) and SLAR (print) initial training for 3–5 teachers
1 day onsite (6 hours) or 2 half days remote (6 hours)
Prepare to implement the Amplify Texas 3–5 program in your classroom! Learn the foundational elements of Amplify Texas, including the structure of materials, key lesson elements, and how to deliver specific lesson types successfully.
Audience: Teachers (instructional leaders welcome), maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite/Remote
Amplify Texas Lectoescritura (digital) and SLAR (print) program overview for 3–5 teachers
Half day (3 hours)
Prepare to implement the Amplify Texas 3–5 program in your classroom! Learn the foundational elements of the curriculum, including the structure of materials, key lesson elements, and how to deliver specific lesson types successfully.
Audience: Teachers (instructional leaders welcome), maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite/Remote
Strengthen
K–5 leaders
Amplify Texas ELAR enhancing observations for K–5 leaders
Half day (3 hours)
Prerequisite training: Initial training for instructional leaders
Elevate program knowledge to support colleagues with effective Amplify Texas implementation! Practice analyzing Amplify Texas lessons and identify key instructional elements and next steps. Participants will be prepared to collect data and enhance classroom observations.
Audience: Instructional leaders (principals and coaches), maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite/Remote
K–2 teachers
Amplify Texas ELAR enhancing planning & practice for K–2 teachers
Half day (3 hours)
Prerequisite training: Initial training for K–2 teachers
Elevate program knowledge to strengthen your Amplify Texas K–2 implementation! Understand the progression of foundational skills and focus on high-quality questioning and discussion techniques through lesson study and practice. Participants will practice implementing key instructional elements and leave with annotated lessons.
Audience: K–2 teachers (instructional leaders welcome), maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite/Remote
Amplify Texas ELAR writing for K–2 teachers
Half day (3 hours)
Prerequisite training: Initial training for K–2 teachers and 2–3 months of Amplify Texas instruction
Dig into Amplify Texas writing instruction and student work in grades K–2! Identify writing opportunities in the Amplify Texas Skills and Knowledge Strand through analysis of a unit and daily lessons and analyze student writing using a program-aligned rubric. Participants will leave with an annotated unit highlighting the writing opportunities and student grouping suggestions.
Audience: K–2 teachers (instructional leaders welcome), maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite/Remote
Amplify Texas SLAR enhancing planning & practice for K–2 teachers
Half day (3 hours)
Prerequisite training: Initial training for K–2 teachers
Elevate program knowledge to strengthen your Amplify Texas K–2 implementation! Understand the progression of foundational skills and focus on high-quality questioning and discussion techniques through lesson study and practice. Participants will practice implementing key instructional elements and leave with annotated lessons.
Audience: K–2 teachers (instructional leaders welcome), maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite/Remote
Amplify Texas SLAR writing for K–2 teachers
Half day (3 hours)
Prerequisite training: Initial training for K–2 teachers and 2–3 months of Amplify Texas instruction
Dig into Amplify Texas writing instruction and student work in grades K–2! Identify writing opportunities in the Amplify Texas curriculum through analysis of a unit and daily lessons and analyze student writing using a program-aligned rubric. Participants will leave with an annotated unit highlighting the writing opportunities and student grouping suggestions.
Audience: K–2 teachers (instructional leaders welcome), maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite/Remote
3–5 teachers
Amplify Texas ELAR enhancing planning & practice for
3–5 teachers
Half day (3 hours)
Prerequisite training: Initial training for 3–5 teachers
Elevate program knowledge to strengthen your Amplify Texas 3–5 implementation! Understand the progression of foundational skills and focus on high-quality questioning and discussion techniques through lesson study and practice. Participants will practice implementing key instructional elements and leave with annotated lessons.
Audience: K–2 teachers (instructional leaders welcome), maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite/Remote
Amplify Texas ELAR writing for 3–5 teachers
Half day (3 hours)
Prerequisite training: Initial training for K–2 teachers and 2–3 months of Amplify Texas instruction
Dig into Amplify Texas writing instruction and student work in grades 3–5! Identify writing opportunities in the Amplify Texas curriculum through analysis of a unit and daily lessons and analyze student writing using a program-aligned rubric. Participants will leave with an annotated unit highlighting the writing opportunities and student grouping suggestions.
Audience: K–2 teachers (instructional leaders welcome), maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite/Remote
Amplify Texas SLAR enhancing planning & practice for
3–5 teachers
Half day (3 hours)
Prerequisite training: Initial training for 3–5 teachers
Elevate program knowledge to strengthen your Amplify Texas 3–5 implementation! Understand the progression of foundational skills and focus on high-quality questioning and discussion techniques through lesson study and practice. Participants will practice implementing key instructional elements and leave with annotated lessons.
Audience: K–2 teachers (instructional leaders welcome), maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite/Remote
Amplify Texas SLAR writing for 3–5 teachers
Half day (3 hours)
Prerequisite training: Initial training for K–2 teachers and 2–3 months of Amplify Texas instruction
Dig into Amplify Texas writing instruction and student work in grades 3–5! Identify writing opportunities in the Amplify Texas curriculum through analysis of a unit and daily lessons and analyze student writing using a program-aligned rubric. Participants will leave with an annotated unit highlighting the writing opportunities and student grouping suggestions.
Audience: K–2 teachers (instructional leaders welcome), maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite/Remote
K–5 teachers
Amplify Texas ELAR enhancing planning & instruction for English language learners for K–5 teachers
Half day (3 hours)
Prerequisite training: Initial training
Develop a strong understanding of how to support English language learners (ELLs) with Amplify Texas instruction! Identify program-embedded instructional supports and strategies for ELL students of varying proficiency levels and plan how to adjust instruction based on formative check points. Participants will begin to develop a plan for using program supports and strategies for ELL instruction.
Audience: K–5 classroom teachers and ELL specialists (instructional leaders welcome), maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite/Remote
Amplify Texas enhancing planning & instruction for students with special needs for K–5 teachers
Half day (3 hours)
Develop a strong understanding of how to support students with special needs! Identify program-embedded instructional supports and strategies for students with special needs, including connections to IEP goals, and plan how to adjust instruction. Participants will leave with an accommodation plan aligned to Amplify Texas instruction and IEP goals.
Audience: K–5 classroom teachers and special education specialists (instructional leaders welcome), maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite/Remote
Amplify Texas ELAR Strengthening consultation session
1 hour or 3 1-hour sessions
These 60-minute sessions will focus on a specific topic that will deepen educators’ understanding of Amplify Texas and equip them with the support they need to drive toward stronger student outcomes. An Amplify facilitator will align with the school or district leadership team in advance of the session on the topic (chosen from a menu of options) that will best meet educators’ unique needs. The menu includes sessions on engagement, pacing, and supporting all learners.
Audience: K–5 classroom teachers (instructional leaders welcome), maximum 30 participants
Modality: Remote
Amplify Texas SLAR Strengthening consultation session
1 hour or 3 1-hour sessions
These 60-minute sessions will focus on a specific topic that will deepen educators’ understanding of Amplify Texas and equip them with the support they need to drive toward stronger student outcomes. An Amplify facilitator will align with the school or district leadership team in advance of the session on the topic (chosen from a menu of options) that will best meet educators’ unique needs. The menu includes sessions on engagement, pacing, and supporting all learners.
Audience: K–5 classroom teachers (instructional leaders welcome), maximum 30 participants
Modality: Remote
Coach
K–5 educators (leaders, principals, coaches, teachers)
Amplify Texas ELAR Coaching for K–5 educators
2 days consecutive (6 hours per day, 12 total)
Prerequisite training: Initial training
Strengthen your implementation of Amplify Texas with a Coaching onsite visit for your teachers and/or leaders! An Amplify facilitator will visit 1–4 school sites for two days. Participants can choose from a variety of topics that include, but are not limited to: lesson modeling (conducted by an Amplify Texas facilitator) and debriefing, grade-level planning, classroom observations, and leadership consultation. The flexible onsite coaching design allows for a collaborative approach to support effective program implementation.
Audience: Teachers and/or instructional leaders (principals and coaches), maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite
Amplify Texas ELAR Coaching for K–5 educators
1 day onsite (6 hours) or 2 half days remote (6 hours)
Prerequisite training: Initial training
Strengthen your implementation of Amplify Texas with a Coaching onsite visit for your teachers and/or leaders! An Amplify facilitator will visit 1–2 school sites for one day. Participants can choose from a variety of topics that include, but are not limited to: lesson modeling (conducted by an Amplify Texas facilitator) and debriefing, grade-level planning, classroom observations, and leadership consultation. The flexible onsite coaching design allows for a collaborative approach to support effective program implementation.
Audience: Teachers and/or instructional leaders (principals and coaches), maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite/Remote
Amplify Texas ELAR Coaching for K–5 educators
Half day (3 hours)
Prerequisite training: Initial training
Strengthen your implementation of Amplify Texas with a Coaching onsite visit for your teachers and/or leaders! An Amplify facilitator will virtually visit for a half day. Participants can choose from a variety of topics that include, but are not limited to: lesson modeling (conducted by an Amplify Texas facilitator) and debriefing, grade-level planning, classroom observations, and leadership consultation.
Audience: Teachers and/or instructional leaders (principals and coaches)
Modality: Remote
Amplify Texas SLAR Coaching for K–5 educators
2 days consecutive (6 hours per day, 12 total)
Prerequisite training: Initial training
Strengthen your implementation of Amplify Texas with a Coaching onsite visit for your teachers and/or leaders! An Amplify facilitator will visit 1–4 school sites for two days. Participants can choose from a variety of topics that include, but are not limited to: lesson modeling (conducted by an Amplify Texas facilitator) and debriefing, grade-level planning, classroom observations, and leadership consultation. The flexible onsite coaching design allows for a collaborative approach to support effective program implementation.
Audience: Teachers and/or instructional leaders (principals and coaches), maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite
Amplify Texas SLAR Coaching for K–5 educators
1 day onsite (6 hours) or 2 half days remote (6 hours)
Prerequisite training: Initial training
Strengthen your implementation of Amplify Texas with a Coaching onsite visit for your teachers and/or leaders! An Amplify facilitator will visit 1–2 school sites for one day. Participants can choose from a variety of topics that include, but are not limited to: lesson modeling (conducted by an Amplify Texas facilitator) and debriefing, grade-level planning, classroom observations, and leadership consultation. The flexible onsite coaching design allows for a collaborative approach to support effective program implementation.
Audience: Teachers and/or instructional leaders (principals and coaches), maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite/Remote
Amplify Texas SLAR Coaching for K–5 educators
Half day (3 hours)
Prerequisite training: Initial training
Strengthen your implementation of Amplify Texas with a Coaching onsite visit for your teachers and/or leaders! An Amplify facilitator will virtually visit for a half day. Participants can choose from a variety of topics that include, but are not limited to: lesson modeling (conducted by an Amplify Texas facilitator) and debriefing, grade-level planning, classroom observations, and leadership consultation.
Audience: Teachers and/or instructional leaders (principals and coaches)
Modality: Remote
Pricing
We offer the following pricing for training sessions and packages:
| Session type | Pricing |
|---|---|
| 2-day onsite session | $4,800 |
| 1-day onsite session | $3,200 |
| 1-day remote session | $1,200 |
| Half day onsite session | $2,500 |
| Half day remote session | $750 |
| 1-hour Strengthening consultation session | $350 |
| 3 1-hour Strengthening consultation sessions | $1000 |
| Customized onsite or remote session | Price will vary |
Please note that the prices are general ranges and may be subject to change.
Contact
Amplify welcomes the opportunity to partner with schools and districts to design professional development plans and answer your questions.
If you would like to order any of our professional development services, please contact your local Amplify sales representative or call (800) 823-1969.
Amplify Science – West Virginia – state review
The High Impact Tutoring Implementation Workshop Series
S3-04: Using AI and ChatGPT in the science classroom
In the latest episode of the Science Connections podcast, we explore AI in education and its impact on students. Listen as I sit down with teachers Donnie Piercey and Jennifer Roberts to discuss ChatGPT and how we can use it to build science and literacy skills in K–12 classrooms while preparing students for the real world.
And don’t forget to grab your Science Connections study guide to track your learning and find additional resources!
We hope you enjoy this episode and explore more from Science Connections by visiting our main page!
Jennifer Roberts (00:00:00):
If a kid graduates from school without knowing that AI exists, they’re not gonna be prepared for what they face out in the world.
Eric Cross (00:00:07):
Welcome to Science Connections. I’m your host, Eric Cross.
Eric Cross (00:00:12):
This season of the podcast, we’re making the case for everyone’s favorite underdog, science. Recently we’ve been highlighting the magic that can come from integrating science and literacy. So if you haven’t checked out those recent episodes, definitely go back in your feed after you’re done with this one. This time around, we’re going to deep dive into what artificial intelligence means for literacy instruction, and how science can be a force for good, in responsibly exposing students to AI. To help me out, I’m joined by two extremely accomplished educators. Jen Roberts, a veteran high-school English teacher from San Diego, who among many things runs the website LitAndTech.com. And I’m also joined by fifth-grade teacher Donnie Piercey. In addition to being Kentucky’s 2021 Teacher of the Year, Donnie also has an upcoming book about bringing AI into the classroom. Whether you’ve never heard of ChatGPT or whether you’re already using it every day, I think you’ll find this a valuable discussion about the intersection of science, English, and technology. Here’s Jen and Donnie.
Eric Cross (00:01:17):
So first off, welcome to the show. It’s good to see you all. What I wanna do is kind of start off by introducing both of you. And so we’ll just go K–12. So <laugh>, Donnie.
Jennifer Roberts (00:01:30):
Donnie goes first.
Eric Cross (00:01:31):
Donnie’s gonna go first. Donnie out in Kentucky. Just a little background. What do you teach; how long you’ve been in the classroom; and what are you having fun with right now?
Donnie Piercey (00:01:38):
Yeah, so my name is Donnie Piercey. I’m a fifth-grade teacher from Kentucky. Live and teach right here in Lexington, Kentucky, right in the center of the state. I’m the 2021 Kentucky Teacher of the Year. But I’ve been teaching elementary school for the past … I think this is year 16 or 17. It’s long enough where I’ve lost count, and I can’t even count on fingers anymore. My friends like to joke that I’ve taught long enough where now I can count down. You know, it’s like, “All right, only so many more years left.” But yeah, teach all subjects. Science definitely is one of the subjects that I don’t just try to squeeze into my day, but make sure that … it’s not even a devoted subject, but one that I definitely try to — don’t just have that set time, but also try to do some cross-curricular stuff with it. So definitely the rise of AI in these past few months, which feels like years by this point, has definitely played quite the role, in not just changing the way that I’ve been teaching science, but really all my subjects. So, excited to chat with y’all about it.
Eric Cross (00:02:47):
Nice. I’m excited that you’re here. And Jen?
Jennifer Roberts (00:02:51):
Hi, I’m Jen Roberts. I teach ninth-grade English at Point Loma High School, and that’s where I usually stop when I introduce myself. But for your sake—
Eric Cross (00:03:00):
I will keep introducing you if you stop there. <laugh>
Jennifer Roberts (00:03:04):
I am nationally board-certified in English Language Arts for early adolescence. I am the co-author of a book called Power Up: Making the Shift to 1:1 Teaching and Learning, from Stenhouse, with my fabulous co-author Diana Neebe. Shout out to Diana. I blog at LitAndTech.com about teaching and technology and literacy and the intersection of those things. And I’m looking forward to talking about how AI is showing up in my classroom and the fun things I’m doing with it.
Donnie Piercey (00:03:31):
And one of us is actually secretly a robot, and you have to guess which one.
Jennifer Roberts (00:03:35):
Have to guess which one. Yes. <laugh>
Eric Cross (00:03:37):
That would be super-meta. And you were the CUE — Computer-Using Educator — outstanding teacher or educator? Whatever. Either one. Of the year.
Jennifer Roberts (00:03:45):
I was the CUE ’22 Outstanding Educator. Yes. And I’ve won a few other things as well.
Eric Cross (00:03:53):
The gaming backpack.
Jennifer Roberts (00:03:54):
I’ve won a gaming backpack recently! Yes. I once won an iPad in a Twitter chat.
Eric Cross (00:03:58):
What?
Donnie Piercey (00:03:58):
What’s a gaming backpack? Hold on. We need to talk about that.
Jennifer Roberts (00:04:01):
We will talk about that. <laugh> And then, I was once a finalist for county Teacher of the Year. That’s as close as I got to Donnie. Donnie was the Kentucky Teacher of the Year. He got to go to the White House and stuff. That was exciting.
Donnie Piercey (00:04:13):
<laugh> I mean, to be fair, there’s only three million people in Kentucky, and about what, 50 million people that live in California? <Laugh> So odds are definitely stacked in my favor, I think.
Jennifer Roberts (00:04:23):
So you’re saying we’re even there? Is that, is that what you’re going for?
Donnie Piercey (00:04:25):
Yeah, evens out. Evens out.
Eric Cross (00:04:27):
So I’ve been looking forward to talking to you both for a while now, and talking about artificial intelligence. It’s like the big thing. And both of you, at different ends of the spectrum and in my life, have contributed to this. Donnie, you’ve been sharing so much great information online about how you’re using AI in elementary. Jen, you are the reason I got into education technology years ago, right when I was becoming a teacher. And so being able to talk with you both about it excites me a lot. So first off, for the listeners who may not have any experience with it — and there’s still a lot of people out there who have not been exposed to it, haven’t got their feet wet with it yet — I’m hoping we could start off maybe with an explanation of … we could do AI, ChatGPT, I know that’s the big one. But simply explaining what it is, just for the new person. And whoever wants to start off can tell us about it. Or maybe we’ll start … we’ll, let’s actually, let’s do this: Let’s continue going like K–12? So Donnie, maybe you could … what’s your pitch to the new person of, “Hey, this is what it is”?
Donnie Piercey (00:05:31):
All right. So, AI, artificial intelligence, probably the way that most people are exposed to it, at least since November when it launched, is through ChatGPT. Where if you Google it, you know it’s made by a company called OpenAI. The best way to describe what it is … when you go there for the first time, make an account, it’s free. You have like a little search window, looks like a Google search bar. And instead of searching for information, you can ask it to create stuff for you. So for example, like on Google search, you might type in a question like, “Who was the 19th president of the United States?” Where on ChatGPT, instead of just searching for information, it creates stuff for you. So you could say, you could ask it to, “Hey, write a poem about the 19th president of the United States.” Or, “Write a short little essay comparing, I don’t know, Frederick Douglass to Martin Luther King Jr.” And it would do that for you. You know, that’s most people’s first exposure to AI, at least in these past few months. Instead of … you know, it’s artificial intelligence, but it’s not just chatbots. There’s lots of other AI that exist out there.
Jennifer Roberts (00:06:47):
And I think that’s the thing: that people don’t realize how much AI is already in their lives.
Donnie Piercey (00:06:51):
For sure. Yeah.
Jennifer Roberts (00:06:52):
You know, they just haven’t seen … the term that I see being used a lot now is “generative AI.” AI that can produce something. It can produce writing, it can produce art, it can produce a script, it can produce a character. But the AI that has been helping you pick what to watch next on Netflix and the AI that’s helping Google help you get where you wanna go on Google Maps faster, those are forms of artificial intelligence as well.
Donnie Piercey (00:07:21):
Yeah. I mean, even those, when you get that that message in Gmail, and instead of having to type out that response that says, “Yeah, that sounds great,” you can just click the little button that says, “Yeah, that sounds great.” I mean, that’s been in Gmail for years, but that’s artificial intelligence too.
Eric Cross (00:07:39):
Absolutely. So why is it important, do you think, for educators to, to be familiar with it? Like, why are we all so excited about it?
Jennifer Roberts (00:07:47):
So, educators need to know what kids are into, and kids are obviously into ChatGPT. And anyone who’s an educator right now has probably already had something cross their desk — or more likely their computer screen — that was written by AI and passed off as a student’s own work. And that is, of course, the great fear among teachers everywhere, that this is what kids are just gonna do these days and they won’t be able to catch it and children won’t be doing their own work and this and this. But I think the big reason teachers need to know what’s going on is because teachers need to be futurists. Our clientele will live in the future. We teach kids, kids will become adults, adults will live in the world. And so if we’re not thinking about and trying to predict on some level what’s gonna happen 5, 10, 15 years from now … we might be wrong, but what if we’re right?
Jennifer Roberts (00:08:38):
And if we’re not at least trying to think about what is their future world gonna look like, then we’re not serving our students well. I did a whole night talk on that. So I think ChatGPT is part of that. I teach seniors. I had this moment of realization I felt a few months ago. I’m like, “This is gonna be the world they graduate into. They need to know what this is before they leave me.” If I don’t teach them how to use this well, and not the way they’re using it — which is to copy and paste the teacher’s assignment and drop it into ChatGPT and take whatever it spits out and turning that in without even looking at it — if I don’t teach ’em how to use it critically, if I don’t teach them how to write effective prompts, if I don’t teach them how to use the AI as a tool, as a collaborator, then they’re gonna graduate into a world where they lose out to people who do know how to do that. And I think the advantage goes to kids who have access and knowledge of what’s in front of them and what’s available, and can use all of the tools at their disposal. Because when you’re writing in school and you write with a collaborator, that could be considered cheating. But when you do that out in the adult world, that’s considered doing a good job. <Laugh> Being a team player. <Laugh> You know, adults don’t work alone for the most part. And adults are expected to churn out beautiful, perfect content no matter how they got there. So if I’m not teaching my kids how to use this, they’re not being ready. They’re not gonna be ready to be the adults that I want them to be.
Donnie Piercey (00:10:07):
A hundred percent agree. And I also believe … as you know, I teach elementary school. I also don’t think anybody is saying that on the first day of kindergarten, you hand a kid a Chromebook and load up an AI chatbot or ChatGPT and say, Hey, this thing’s gonna do all your work for you for the next 12 years; just coast through life. You don’t have to think creatively. You don’t have to learn how to develop a paragraph or learn how to write a speech or develop an idea. Like, I don’t think anybody’s saying that, because as an elementary school teacher, there’s many days when I’m like, “Y’all, we’re just putting the Chromebooks away today and we’re just gonna go old-school. We’re just gonna maybe just jot down five quick ideas and stand up and present those ideas to the class.”
Donnie Piercey (00:10:54):
Because while AI definitely will, like you were saying, Jen, play a significant role in the lives of our students who are, not just graduating, but the 10- and 11-year-olds in my classroom this year. A significant role in their lives. It’s also really important to recognize that we’re not saying that this means that “Hey, kids don’t have to work anymore.” They still have to put forth that effort. There’s still — one of the ways that you become a good writer is by trial and error. And sometimes that trial and error comes through talking to a teacher or talking like you were saying to a peer or collaborating with a peer and saying to them, “Well, this sentence here, this paragraph here, really doesn’t make sense.” And I do believe one of the ways — especially as AI starts to become more fine-tuned and starts to be embedded more and more in tools like Google Docs and Microsoft Word — is it’s almost going to be a tutor to students.
Donnie Piercey (00:11:56):
Mm-hmm. <affirmative> Where I could very easily see in a few years, or maybe a few months, who knows what Google or any of these other big companies has rolling out, where a student could highlight a paragraph that they wrote simply, and then say, “Hey, proofread this for me,” or “Check for coherence.” Or even just ask a simple question: “Does this paragraph make sense?” Because you can already do that. You can copy a paragraph over into a chatbot and say, “Hey, does this make sense?” You know, “Rate my idea from one to 10,” and it’ll do that for ’em.
Jennifer Roberts (00:12:26):
We did that last week <laugh>.
Donnie Piercey (00:12:28):
Yeah. Right. I mean, that’s the thing. That technology exists now. It’s just not totally embedded yet. But based on what I’ve read and what I’ve seen, that’s gonna happen sooner rather than later. And it’s really, really important that we teach our students that, “No, you’re not just gonna use this, this tool to cheat, but you can use this tool to help you become a more creative student.”
Jennifer Roberts (00:12:50):
This is the use case in my classroom. Can I talk about that? You ready for that?
Eric Cross (00:12:53):
Please.
Jennifer Roberts (00:12:54):
OK.
Eric Cross (00:12:54):
Please.
Jennifer Roberts (00:12:55):
So my ninth graders are writing a comparative analysis essay, where I took them to the student art gallery and I made them pick two pieces of completely unknown student art and take notes on it, so they could go back and write this essay. And as soon as we got back to class, I said, can ChatGPT write this for you? And they all kind of froze ’cause I didn’t tell them what ChatGPT was. And they weren’t sure if they were allowed to know or not. And finally one of them kind of bravely raised his hand and said, “No.” And I said, “Why not?” And he said, “Well, the AI hasn’t seen the art. How can it write an essay about art when the art is completely original that we just went and looked at?” I said, “It’s almost like I planned it that way, isn’t it?” And they laughed nervously. And then I said, “Does that mean it can’t help us with this assignment?” And they said, “Well, no — of course it can’t help us, because it has not seen the art.” And I said, “Well. …” And I open ChatGPT, and I typed in what they were trying to do: “I need to write a comparative analysis essay comparing two pieces of student art on these reasons. And I need to choose which one did it better, basically. Can you help me with an outline?” and ChatGPT produced a lovely outline. And I looked at that with my students and we looked at it together and I said, “This is what it gave us. Would this be helpful to you?” And they’re like, “Yeah, that would be helpful to us.” So we — to be clear here, I was the only one using ChatGPT in the room. They were not actually using it. We were using it together. I copied and pasted the outline that it gave us and put it in their learning management system where they could access it so they could use the outline that the robot provided, and then they could use that to make their own writing better. So then I let them write for a little while, and, after they’d written for a little while, I said, “Does anybody wanna let me share your first paragraph with ChatGPT and see what it thinks of how you’re doing?” And a brave student raised his hand and we took his paragraph and we put it in ChatGPT, and it spit back advice. We said, “This is what I have so far for my first paragraph. Do you have any advice for me?” And we gave it the writing, and the first piece of advice it gave back was very generic, you know, “Add a hook,” you know, like kind of thing. But after that, it started to get more specific about things he was actually doing in his writing. And it started to give him some feedback. And we looked at that together as a class. And I said, “Does any of that feedback help you?” And he said, “Oh yeah, absolutely. I’m gonna go add some revisions to my paragraph.” And other students did too. They looked at the feedback he got and used that to improve their writing. And so everybody went and revised. And I said, “Look, if you take what the robot gives you and you copy and paste it, and you turn it in as your own work, it’s gonna get flagged for plagiarism. And that’s not gonna go well. But if it gives you writing advice the same way I would give you writing advice, and you decide that advice is good, and you take that advice and you incorporate it into your own writing yourself, then the robot’s making you better, but you’re still the one doing your own writing.” And the writing they turned in from that assignment was, was better. It wasn’t written by ChatGPT; it was still about the student art that they found in the gallery. But I showed them a path. Like, it can help you with an outline, it can help you with feedback. Right? These are fair ways to use it that’s gonna make you better. And they really liked that. They really liked — no one had shown them that before. The idea that you don’t just take the teacher’s prompt and give it to it … like, these are new uses to students and worked well.
Eric Cross (00:16:17):
So right now, you both just laid out these ways that you’re using it. And I do this with people that I’m trying to introduce to ChatGPT or AI. ‘Cause I get excited. Anyone could write a 500-word persuasive essay on the use of color in The Great Gatsby or The Outsiders, and they can get something back within seconds. But for a lot of educators, it might feel like the sky is falling.
Donnie Piercey (00:16:43):
Oh, understandably! Understandably. I mean, that totally makes sense.
Eric Cross (00:16:49):
What would you say to them? Donnie, go ahead.
Donnie Piercey (00:16:51):
Yeah. Well, I feel like every teacher kind of goes through the same experience when they see like a generative chatbot. I mean, all these major companies are gonna start incorporating AI, the generative AI piece. And a lot of times, when they see it for the first time, two things. First they’ll say “Oh, but I’ll know that that’s not my students’ writing.” Which, frankly, I think is a good thing, because that tells me that the teachers know their students’ writing. They’ve seen them write in person. They’ve conferenced with them one-on-one. And if a student were to turn something in to me, who I know might be a struggling writer, maybe it’s not their strength, and all of a sudden they’re turning in this10-page dissertation-worthy thesis written at a PhD level, I’m like, “All right, man, you’re nine. Can we talk about where this came from?” <laugh> But I also don’t think that at like the heart, I don’t feel like kids want to cheat. I really don’t. I feel like sometimes like kids are in a situation where they’re like, “OK, I’ve got nothing left. I gotta get this assignment done.” And when those kind of things happen, that’s when we as teachers, we have those one-on-one conversations. Even when I showed my students ChatGPT and even some of the AI image-generating stuff for the first time, and I talked to them about, “What do y’all think about this?” Because, you know, they’re under 13. In my district, ChatGPT is blocked for students. Staff, we have access to it. And that’s just because one, it’s so new, and at the same time, we need to figure out, “What’s the best way they can go about using this tool?” But when we were talking about it as a class, you know, I didn’t want to ignore the elephant in the room. So I asked them, I said, “Hey, do you feel like this is something that you all would use to. …” I mean, I used the word. I said “cheat.” And to be honest, the majority of the students in my class, they were taken aback. They’re like, “What? You think we just would cheat all the time?” Right? <Laugh> And I’m like, “Oh, well good. I’m glad to know that integrity is still alive and well.” But yeah, that’s definitely my thoughts on it, as far as not only the student integrity piece — I think that that’s the big thing that you need to just bring up with your students. Because again, I like to think that I’ve seen my students write enough that if they were going to turn something in that wasn’t their voice, or it didn’t sound like them, like I could have that conversation. And don’t be surprised, too, if in the next … I don’t know, one month to a year, there’s lots of AI detectors that exist. A lot of them are these like third-party things. You can go ahead, but I would not be surprised if in the next year or so, like you start to see those AI detectors be built into Google Docs, into Microsoft Word, into even Canva. And honestly, it’s almost like a fail-safe button for teachers, that we could say “All right, this is telling me that this is 99% probably written by AI.” So you can have that conversation with a student that way.
Jennifer Roberts (00:20:03):
I mean, if you’re worried about it, Formative, right now, will even tell you if something is copy-and-pasted into the boxes that they give you for students to write in. I find that kids who cheat are desperate, you know. Especially at the high school level. They’re panic mode. And, and usually their panic comes from, “I have no idea how to even start this assignment.” And so part of what I wanna use ChatGPT for is to lower that barrier for them. Like, you’ve got an assignment, you don’t know where to start. Tell the robot, tell ChatGPT, about the assignment and ask it for a list of steps. You know, ask it for an outline. Ask it for a time management plan. I see so much tremendous potential for this to help many of my students with IEPs who have executive functioning issues.
Donnie Piercey (00:20:49):
Oh, a hundred percent, right?
Jennifer Roberts (00:20:51):
Yes, a hundred percent. This can be their personal assistant who, you know, instead of me sitting with them one-on-one and saying, you know, “This is the task you need to do, let’s break it down into these six discrete chunks,” the artificial intelligence can do that for them. And it can do that for teachers too. <laugh>
Donnie Piercey (00:21:09):
Jen, I was just thinking about, how long until we see like the phrase artificial intelligence written onto a student’s IEP? I could see that happening very, very soon.
Jennifer Roberts (00:21:20):
Right? They should be able to use that. And then, also, of course, all of its amazing beneficials for teachers. I had to completely rewrite a unit of my curriculum. I knew what I wanted to do. I had some ideas of things I wanted to put in there. And I resorted to, I went to EducationCopilot.com and typed in my stuff that I had: You know, what standards I wanted to cover, what outcomes I was hoping for mm-hmm. <affirmative>. And it generated an eight-week unit for me. And I actually told it then to go back and do it as a 12-week unit so that I’d have more stuff in there to go and cherry-pick to decide what I really wanted to do. But it gave me ideas. It gave me places to start. It saved me an hour of just brainstorming. And I don’t think that was cheating. I still got to go in and decide which ideas were valid. And I still got to … you know, I mean, I’m a teacher. Can I get accused of cheating? I don’t think that’s a thing. It’s—
Eric Cross (00:22:18):
That’s collaborating! It’s collaborating!
Donnie Piercey (00:22:20):
Collaborating! It’s a feature! It’s a feature.
Jennifer Roberts (00:22:22):
It’s Tony Stark talking to Jarvis. You know, they’re figuring it out together.
Donnie Piercey (00:22:26):
Oh, when you use the AI, Jennifer, do you call yours Jarvis? In my class we call him Jeeves. ‘Cause remember Ask Jeeves?
Jennifer Roberts (00:22:33):
I think Eric calls it Jarvis.
Eric Cross (00:22:35):
Yeah. Jarvis is gonna be the AI’s name when, when I can get that fully functioning. There are some things that you had said, I just wanna circle back on. Donnie, Jen — so what I heard was like, best intentions. The part you said about integrity and students wanting to cheat … even the mindset that we go in assuming our students, what they would want to do and assuming best intentions, really kind of frames how you look at this kind of technology. And then Jen, you kind of brought up why students cheat, and realizing that either they don’t feel equipped, or maybe it’s time management, or something else. But most people — and I believe this as an educator — most students want to learn, and they want to be able to perform and achieve. And when they cheat, it’s because they didn’t feel like they could, for whatever reason. Whether it’s it’s outside factors, whether it’s something internal, motivation, whatever it is.
Jennifer Roberts (00:23:24):
Or they were very disconnected and just didn’t care.
Eric Cross (00:23:27):
Sure.
Jennifer Roberts (00:23:27):
This is just busy work the teacher’s giving me, so I’m gonna give it very little of my time and energy. But I think, yeah, it can be that. But if the kid cares about it, if they wanna learn, they wanna learn, you know?
Eric Cross (00:23:40):
Right.
Jennifer Roberts (00:23:40):
This is the day of the internet. Any kid can learn anything they really want to learn. And we see that all the time in our classes. The kid who has zero interest in what I’m teaching in English, but he is an expert coder, and that’s what he wants to spend his time learning. He’s like, “Can I read this C++ book as my independent reading book?” And I’m like, “You know, actually, you can. Go ahead.” <Laugh>
Eric Cross (00:24:01):
Yeah. And for both of you, saying that this makes content more accessible … and I think Donnie, or Jen, you said something about IEPs. I actually put in having it write an IEP to see what would happen. I gave it a prompt for a student’s ability level and I asked it to create a plan. And then I asked it to create a rationale. And it did! And it was good! I went through and vetted it. And right now … you know, a lot of it is funny, ’cause the conversation I’m having with different teachers is kind of like the Wikipedia one. Remember when Wikipedia first got out and everyone was like trying to discourage everybody from using it, because, well, it could be changed by anybody? And now everyone’s like, “Oh, check Wikipedia, and then steal the sources, ’cause they’re already done for you.” Like, the mindset has shifted since then. And I was talking to someone and they said, “Well. …” And I said, “We can use AI, it could be a tutor, these other things. …” And they said, “Yeah, but what happens?” And then insert apocalyptic scenario. Like, what happens if you don’t have access to wifi? And it reminded me of, for some reason, cooking classes. So in the 1700s you probably had to be able to farm to be able to generate your food. Right? Like, you had to get it from somewhere. But if you take a culinary class now, you just go to the grocery store. And someone might say, “Well, but you should know how to farm, ’cause what if there was this worldwide apocalypse and nobody could go to the grocery stores?” <Laugh> And you’re like, “Well, balance of probability though.” You know, it’s like we’ve been really been living in these iterations of life, and I think this next step for some folks … like, we don’t even realize, even like something like bank statements, right? So many folks are paperless. And there’s always a what-if scenario. What if you need it and the internet goes down. But we get so used to to to technology advancing and making our lives different. This kind of seems like that next iteration. And I wanna ask you this question: Are we looking at like the next calculator? The next internet, with this tech? Or do you think it’s too early to say?
Donnie Piercey (00:26:01):
Well, I’ve seen a lot of people compare ChatGPT to a calculator. I’ve seen that pop up on social media. There’s, “Oh well, no, this is like when the calculator was invented. Everyone was up in arms about how ‘that’s not what math students should do.’ Math should be pencil and paper, math should be this.’” However, you can give a kid a calculator and you can give ’em a word problem and they can punch in all the numbers, but they could do the wrong operation or they could put the decimal point in the wrong place, ’cause the student is still the one who’s controlling what’s on the calculator. Where with AI, all you gotta do is just copy it and then paste it into the bot and it’ll spit out whatever the question asked it for. Whether it was, you know, a 500-word rationale or proof for something in geometry, or if it’s analyzing data on a chart, it’ll do all that.
Jennifer Roberts (00:27:00):
Yes. But it’s not that magical. It’s back to what Eric did with the IEP. He put in a prompt and then he knew enough to ask for a rationale and then he knew enough about IEPs to critically read the results he got and make sure they actually worked for what he needed. He had to know all that. He was an expert using it to do an expert thing. My husband’s a computer scientist; he got ChatGPT to help him write an app, and it was a new programming language to him, and he could put in the data and he could ask for things that I would’ve never thought to ask for. But because he knows the language of computer science, he knew what to ask for. And when it gave him results that were bad, he could see that, and he could say, “Yes, but do it again, but without this,” or “make this part more efficient.” He, again, knew what to ask for. So I think the generative AI is, as a partner with humans, a powerful thing. But if the human doesn’t know what they’re doing, yeah. You’re still not gonna get great results.
Donnie Piercey (00:28:03):
<laugh> And I think that’s why I’m coming at this from the elementary school perspective, right? Because in K–5 students are still learning, like, “Hey, where does the decimal point go?” They’re still learning, you know, if you’re dividing by a two-digit number, where does the first digit go, if you go in the old long-division algorithm? And so they’re still acquiring that base-level knowledge that … I don’t know, maybe this is similar to in Jurassic Park when Jeff Goldblum says, “It didn’t take any knowledge to attain,” you know, “they stood on the shoulders of geniuses,” that whole thing. Like they had to acquire the knowledge for themselves, was his whole point. And so that’s why I don’t think it’s exactly the same as the calculator. It is definitely going to change things, in a similar way that the calculator did. But to me it’s just a whole new animal. And I don’t know if it’s going to be like the next internet, Eric — if you’re gonna get little devices that have AI built into it, like a Star Wars kind of thing, like a droid or something that follows you around — all that would be kind of cool, not gonna lie. But whether it’s something that you’ll access through the internet, something that’s built into your TV, that part I don’t know. But I do know that there’s a reason why all of these apps and all these companies are investing so much — not just energy, but time and money into it. Because they’re recognizing. “OK, this really has the potential to change things.” But if used well, and used safely, to change people’s lives for the better.
Eric Cross (00:29:41):
So I definitely hear that you both agree with the statement that if AI ChatGPT was used in the classroom, it could be a force for good. And literacy development. And I wanna shift gears a bit and then come back to the AI. So with that said — and we’re gonna get into some best practices in a minute — in Science Connections right now in this season, we’re making the case for how science can do more in classrooms and in schools. And so I’m I’m curious about what both of you think about the role in science fostering a better future when it comes to AI and education. And this season we’re really talking a lot about literacy. You know, in schools, so often it’s taught in a siloed way. And Donnie, you’re doing multi-subject. Jen, you’re single-subject: English. And we’ve really been trying to make this case for how science can actually support literacy, and these skills that students are trying to develop. So we’re going a little old-school, kind of diving into your content specialty, but maybe even pre-AI, or maybe AI has a component in this. But Don, maybe we’ll start with you. How has science been a way that has been helpful for your own literacy instruction? I know you do a lot of science, because I see your Google Earth stuff and the thing you did with the solar systems back in the day. And I think —.
Donnie Piercey (00:30:54):
Oh my gosh! You remember my <laugh> … wow.
Eric Cross (00:30:58):
That was amazing!
Donnie Piercey (00:31:00):
We haven’t done that since the pandemic. But I had my students go out, and using Google Earth, we built a scale model. Each of the students partnered up and they planned out on Google Earth a scale model of the solar system. They picked an object from around their house and we talked about like, “Don’t pick something bigger than a beach ball, or else, you know, your Neptune’s gonna end up like 10 miles away.” But you know, they just picked like a small ball, like a basketball, soccer ball, something like that. Or football, for international friends. And then we calculated the size of every other planet. And then on Google Earth, using their front lawn as where the sun was, then we went and we calculated where other planets would be, and then we actually drove to those locations and like held up the objects that would represent Neptune, Jupiter, Saturn, and all that. But it was a lot of fun.
Eric Cross (00:31:59):
And is that still accessible? ‘Cause I know you have some websites that you put resources out there.
Donnie Piercey (00:32:03):
Yeah. Yeah, I can … I wanna say on my Resources page — Resources.MrPiercey.com — I’ve got a link on there to a couple of student examples that I can share. And if not, when we get off this call, I’m gonna go on and put them on there <laugh> so people can find it. I’ll even throw on there just the assignment itself. So if you wanted to copy that and do that with your students, you could.
Eric Cross (00:32:27):
Donnie, the reason why I brought that up is because I saw that you had posted that or shared it a long time ago, and I just thought it was the coolest thing that you could totally do with middle-school students or high-school students. Jen, when I became a teacher, you said, “We’re all teachers of literacy.”
Jennifer Roberts (00:32:43):
<laugh> Yeah. I think we forgot to tell them that I was one of your professors.
Eric Cross (00:32:47):
Yes. <Jennifer laughs> One of the people who’ve definitely influenced and shaped my teaching. And that statement has never left my mind: that we’re all teachers of literacy. And I want to ask you, at the high-school level, how can science educators, or how can science — how have you seen it, or how does it, support literacy, when it’s done right?
Jennifer Roberts (00:33:09):
Like I said, I think we’re all teachers of literacy, but I think literacy is bigger than just reading and writing. I don’t think someone is literate if they can’t talk somewhat knowledgeably about what’s happening with climate change. I don’t think someone’s literate if they don’t know what’s going on in the world. And I think so much of what’s going on in the world has to do with science. We’re doing that all the time. If I could teach English just by giving kids articles about science, things to read, that would make my day. Right? We would never read another piece of fiction again. It would all be, you know, what’s happening to the ice sheet in Greenland. My students thrive on reading non-fiction. And then whenever that non-fiction touches on science is even more interesting. And whenever I can get them writing about data, particularly their own data that they collected, I think that’s building those science literacy skills as well. So I think science and English blend together very, very well. I think the literacy aspects of that are fantastic. There are more subject-specific vocabulary words, advanced vocabulary words, in science than any other discipline. And I don’t see why those shouldn’t come up in English as well. You know, my seniors will do a unit at the end of the year on the new space race. Unless I replace it with a unit about generative AI, which I’m seriously considering doing, ’cause I think they really need to learn about bias in AI algorithms and things like that. And I would like to have them read a whole bunch about that stuff. And I wanna give them the open letter that all those CEOs signed that said that AI research should slow down, and make them part of that live conversation about what’s happening in that field. So science comes into that. You know, when we read Into the Wild, we start talking about a whole bunch of scientific concepts. And when it rains in Southern California, we pull up weather maps and look at radar and talk about that and how that works.
Donnie Piercey (00:34:59):
That’s like once every 10 years, Jen? <Laugh>
Jennifer Roberts (00:35:02):
Well, actually, this year it rained a lot. It rained a lot in San Diego. Which is actually very high-interest for them. ‘Cause they wanna know, is it gonna be raining at lunchtime?
Eric Cross (00:35:12):
Jen, you said something … you have your students writing about data?
Jennifer Roberts (00:35:16):
Oh yeah.
Eric Cross (00:35:17):
Can you tell me more about that?
Jennifer Roberts (00:35:19):
So, this is something we’ve done with the ninth grade team for a long time now, is writing about their own data. So it started with a unit about stereotypes and stereotype threat. And they would collect data individually and then they would enter that data into a Google form and then we would give them the spreadsheet of the aggregate data from the whole ninth grade. And then we morphed that unit into one about academic honesty, and they filled out a survey at the beginning of the unit about their feelings about academic honesty and about experiences with academic honesty and cheating and homework and things like that. And then we would do the unit. We’d do all the readings in the unit. And they’d have these “aha” moments about things that were happening at other schools. And then at the end of the unit, we would give them back their own aggregate data and ask them to write about whether or not academic honesty was an issue at our school. And then to support that answer with evidence from their own dataset. So they had that spreadsheet to comb through and figure out, you know, where am I gonna stand on this? We give them the multiple-choice questions we gave them as the graphs, in Google Slides, so that they could write about them and talk about them, too. So yeah, getting kids to write about data. And the the sentence frames we gave them were sentence frames out of, They Say, I Say, from the chapter on writing about science. And <laugh> as they write this stuff, they’re like, “I feel so smart writing this way.” And I’m like, “I know, ’cause you’re writing about big important topics!” Right? And writing about their own data come to think of it is another great way to make an assignment both very personal to them, but also make it ChatGPT-proof, you know, if you’re looking for something that kids can’t just hand to the robot, the robot doesn’t have that data set.
Eric Cross (00:37:08):
Absolutely. And Donnie, at the elementary level, do you, do you make connections between science and literacy? In your class? You talked about with math, definitely with the solar system, but now, I’m curious, what are your newer projects? What have you been working on lately?
Jennifer Roberts (00:37:23):
What’s up now, Donnie?
Eric Cross (00:37:24):
Yeah, what are you doing?
Donnie Piercey (00:37:25):
Oh, man. Well, let me think. I’m just trying to think of some fun projects that we’ve done this year. Science that we can tie in Literacy and also some student creation. Just recently we had a … so I’ve wanted to expose my students to famous scientists that weren’t just white dudes from Europe. So for this year, what I did — and I actually used AI for this — I went into ChatGPT and I asked for 64 famous scientists and it listed them all off. And then I asked it, like, how many of these were white? And I think it said like 61 of them. You know, it had like Neil DeGrasse Tyson, and a couple of other … I didn’t know who they were. So I’m like, “All right, so we need to make this more diverse and make this more equitable.” ‘Cause you know, with the student population in my classroom, try to find equal representation to make sure they can see themselves in some of these scientists. So, eventually got it narrowed down to where I had about 64 scientists. Half are women, half are men from all continents except Antarctica. I assigned these scientists to my students. Some got two; some got three. And their assignment was to go and one, do some individual research on this person, find out what they were famous for, what they were most well-known for, turn it actually into a persuasive piece, where I said, “Hey, you’re gonna have one slide.” And I’ll tell you why I gave him one slide in a minute. On that one slide, you’ve gotta convince the person who sees it that this scientist is the most important scientist since the dawn of creation. I said, “You could use images, text — I don’t care if they were famous for something that you didn’t even understand what it was. It’s a persuasive piece. You’re 10. Go all out. Add gifs, do that whole thing.
Eric Cross (00:39:21):
This is awesome.
Jennifer Roberts (00:39:21):
I wanna do this project.
Donnie Piercey (00:39:23):
And if you picked up on the number 64, and I did this in March, so what we did was throughout the weeks of March Madness of the women’s and men’s NCAA tournament, whenever a game was going on, we had another round of voting. I just paired ’em up. I was gonna like seed them, like 1 to 64 — that’s just way too much work for me <laugh>. So I just kind of did random kind of thing. But all the students had to do — they just saw the slides side-by-side, and the only question they had was, “Based on what you see here, who is the most important scientist? This person or this person?” And it eventually came down to Carl Sagan going up against Marie Curie.
Eric Cross (00:40:04):
OK, that’s a good matchup.
Donnie Piercey (00:40:06):
Yeah, well, the Marie Curie slide, they just liked the radium piece. So they added like some green glowing gifs. And I said, “Guys, it doesn’t always grow glow green.” But whatever. Anyway, eventually Carl Sagan, in case you wanted to know, according to the 10-year-olds in my classroom, is the most important scientist in the history of the world. So I don’t know if I agree with that per se — I think maybe Newton or somebody else might have had something else to say about it — but fun assignment. It was a unique way to expose my students to a bunch of ideas. I remember the student that I assigned Newton, the only thing that that she knew about Isaac Newton was “Didn’t he get hit in the head with an apple?” And I said, “Well, not exactly, I think you might have read or maybe seen too many like old-school cartoons or whatever.” But she ended up doing some research. She’s like, “Oh, I’ve heard of that before! That equal and opposite reaction thing.” Didn’t know what it meant. I had another student that just got really … you know, if you’ve ever been on one of those YouTube kicks where it’s just, you go like nine levels deep onto like, “What does this theorem mean?” Student sits in back of my classroom, I walked by one day and he’s just watching something on like the fifth dimension and what it might be. And I said, “Oh, your scientist got you started on that.” So definitely was a lot of fun. Unique way to combine reading, writing, but also expose my students to some ideas. And we’re definitely gonna do it again. I’ve actually done this assignment before. I picked 64 random elements on the periodic table. But their only slide that they have to make is “What’s your element? What is it used for? And then, why is this the most important element since the dawn of creation?” <Laugh> And, you know, there’s always that student that gets hydrogen. They’re just like “Sweet!” Right? They get excited about that one. <laugh>
Eric Cross (00:41:59):
Explosions.
Donnie Piercey (00:42:00):
Yeah. But then, for that kid who likes a challenge, or that student with the “gifted” label, you give them, like, einsteinium or palladium. Some of the more challenging ones. And they go all out with this. I didn’t use AI for that one, but it was kind of fun, and I figured it’d be neat to share an idea that another teacher could try.
Eric Cross (00:42:20):
Well you probably have at least two teachers right now that are gonna go and try that. And we’re both looking at you. So.
Donnie Piercey (00:42:24):
Go for it.
Eric Cross (00:42:25):
Thanks for that idea. I’m imagining my students coming in with jerseys with “neon.”
Donnie Piercey (00:42:29):
Oh yeah. <laugh>
Eric Cross (00:42:30):
“Neon” on it. Just all ’80s out.
Donnie Piercey (00:42:33):
The game behind it, too, is you tell kids — again, this is just so the 10-year-olds in my class don’t get their feelings hurt — but I say, “Hey, and if your element gets knocked out, you just have to start cheering for whoever beats you in the tournament.” So by the end, you kind of got half the class cheering for one and half the class cheering for whatever.
Jennifer Roberts (00:42:53):
So the only thing I got outta that whole story that I’ve got for you is, as a child I met Carl Sagan. That’s all I got.
Donnie Piercey (00:43:02):
For real?
Jennifer Roberts (00:43:02):
For real.
Donnie Piercey (00:43:03):
So did he talk with that cadence and tone?
Jennifer Roberts (00:43:06):
Yes.
Donnie Piercey (00:43:06):
Like in real life? Wow.
Jennifer Roberts (00:43:07):
Yes. My father was one of the cinematographers on the original Cosmos. And I got to go to the set a few times.
Donnie Piercey (00:43:14):
That’s incredible!
Jennifer Roberts (00:43:15):
I did not appreciate what I was seeing as a child. But as an adult, I’m like, “That was cool. I was there.”
Donnie Piercey (00:43:20):
“You can see my shadow off in the distance.”
Jennifer Roberts (00:43:23):
I mean, maybe that’s part of why I’ve always had an interest in science. I’ve always had fantastic science teachers. Every science teacher I ever had was amazing.
Donnie Piercey (00:43:31):
I credit mine to Mr. Wizard. I don’t know if you ever watched Mr. Wizard and Beakman’s World?
Eric Cross (00:43:35):
I remember Mr. Wizard. Yep. Yep. I definitely remember Mr. Wizard, Beakman’s World, all those. That was on Nickelodeon back in the day. I had to get up early to watch that one. But there’s a YouTube video—
Donnie Piercey (00:43:44):
Six am!
Eric Cross (00:43:44):
<laugh> It was! It was super-early! But there was one, Don, I don’t know if you’ve seen this on YouTube, but it said “Mr. Wizard Is Mean,” and it’s just clips of when he’s—
Donnie Piercey (00:43:56):
Yelling at kids!
Eric Cross (00:43:56):
Chastising. Or being really direct. It’s just one after another.
Donnie Piercey (00:44:02):
He always asked ’em a question and if the kid, you know, didn’t answer it right, he’d be like, “Well, you’re not right, but you’re wrong.” You know, whatever. <Laugh>
Eric Cross (00:44:14):
I have to make sure I’m not subconsciously saying Mr. Wizard quotes when I’m talking in the classroom, when things are happening. But yeah, that video’s hilarious. So I just want to bring us back to AI, and ask this question: Do you think science has a special role to play when it comes to teaching kids about AI responsibly? Does science have a special role in that?
Jennifer Roberts (00:44:36):
I think the responsible piece of AI I wanna teach my students about is the part about the bias in the algorithms and the bias in the training. And I want them to understand how it works, well enough to make informed decisions about how it impacts their lives.
Donnie Piercey (00:44:56):
Hmm.
Jennifer Roberts (00:44:57):
Because I do have concerns about a tool that was trained on the internet. And the answers it gives you is the average of the internet. And do we trust the internet? And the answer from kids is always, “Well sorta, no.” <Laugh> So I want them to understand the social science behind that.
Donnie Piercey (00:45:18):
Yeah. And just along that same point, having the students recognize that just because, you know, you copy-and-paste a question in, the answer it spits out might not always be correct. So, teaching them that just like you would with a source that you find about a topic that you’re researching, you’ve gotta fact-check.
Jennifer Roberts (00:45:44):
It’s just like being a good scientist. A good scientist wouldn’t always accept a single result or the first result. You know, you would look at multiple angles. You would try things different ways. Last week I took the article my seniors were reading about victim compensation after 9-11, and in front of them, I gave ChatGPT, I said, “Are you familiar with this article by Amanda Ripley? And ChatGPT came back and said, “Oh yes, this was written in the Atlantic in 2020 and it’s about these things, blah, blah blah.” And my students looked at that and went, “That’s not the article we read.” And I said, “I know. It got it wrong. That’s amazing!” Yeah. And I was so happy that it got it wrong! ‘Cause I wanted them to see that happen.
Donnie Piercey (00:46:21):
And I guess one of the big science questions there, or one of the big science components there, is that idea of inquiry. Right? It’s almost like you have to teach students how to ask those deep questions about what AI spits out.
Eric Cross (00:46:35):
All of those tips are great. And it leads me to this last question I want to ask. New teachers that are out there — it actually doesn’t even matter; new teachers, experienced teachers, all of us are kind of new at different levels of this race. We’re all kind of starting it together. I mean, it hit mainstream. We’re all getting exposed to it. You all really dive into it. When tech comes out, I know you two really like, “OK, how can we use this to transform education and do awesome things for kids?”
Donnie Piercey (00:47:04):
Usually, when new tech comes out, “How can this make my life easier?” is usually the question. Yeah.
Jennifer Roberts (00:47:09):
“How can I save myself time with this?” Yes.
Donnie Piercey (00:47:11):
“How can this result in me watching more TV and you know, less grading,” sometimes.
Eric Cross (00:47:16):
And I start there like you, but then I end up more time that I fill with another project. And I need to learn how to stop doing that. I’m like, “Oh! I got more free time! … to go take on this other task.”
Jennifer Roberts (00:47:28):
Oh, all of my tech adoption is driven by “how can I work less?”
Eric Cross (00:47:32):
So you’re you’re talking to a new teacher, teacher’s getting exposed to this, they’re starting the school year or they’re just getting their feet wet with it. What advice would you give them about AI, incorporated into content or even just best practices? Where you’re at right now in your own journey, and someone’s asking you about it —what would you share with ’em? And Jen, I want to start with you.
Jennifer Roberts (00:47:53):
So, the first thing I did is I was in the middle of grading, you know, 62 essays from my seniors about Into the Wild, when ChatGPT became a thing last November. And I wanted to see what would happen. So the first thing I did was take the prompt that I had given my students and gave it to ChatGPT, ’cause I had just graded a whole bunch of those essays and my brain was very attuned to what my rubric was doing and what I was expecting as the outcome. So I could take what ChatGPT gave me as that quote unquote “essay” and evaluate it critically. And I was ready to do that. So my first advice is take something you’re already asking students to do and ask ChatGPT to do the same thing. So that as you look at the student results, you can compare that to what ChatGPTgives you. If what you’re finding is that ChatGPT can generate something that would earn a decent grade from you, you might need to change that assignment. And it doesn’t need to be a big change, but it might need a tweak or something, so that it, it does rely on the student voice, the students to do something more personal. I’m finding very helpful in my classroom is having my kids do projects where they are recording themselves on — I like Flip. So they’re writing a scene together and they’re having to record the scene together. And I’m emphasizing more of the speaking roles than the writing roles necessarily. So yes, first, take something you’re already doing, paste in to ChatGPT, see what the results are, see how that fits with what your students are doing, and then do that for every assignment you give and just sort of see what comes out of that, and see which assignments are failing and which assignments are working. ‘Cause that’s gonna give you a sense, when you do see one of those results from your students, you’ll be able to recognize it. But it’ll also help you tweak your assignments and decide, “How can I make this a little more original or a little bit more authentic for my students?” And if the robot, if the AI, can’t generate a response, what could the AI do that would be helpful to your students? Would be my next question. So can you use the AI to help them generate an outline? Can you use the AI to help them generate a list of steps to help them get started? And when you’re comfortable enough doing that by yourself, then don’t be afraid to open it in front of your class. If it’s not blocked at your school site, which I hope it’s not. Because I think the advantage goes to kids who have access to this in the long run, or at least see what it is and know what it is. Right? Because if a kid graduates from school without knowing that AI exists, they’re not gonna be prepared for what they face out in the world. So give them a chance to see you using it. Model effectively using it. I have a blog post about that. I just wrote it. LitAndTech.com. You can check that out. “Introducing 9th graders to ChatGPT.” How it went, right? There’s a chart there you can have. It’s my very first draft of this, but it seems to be very popular. So, you know, show students how it can be used as their mentor. If I can’t come read your paragraph because I have 36 kids in my classroom and I cannot stop and read everybody’s first paragraph, can you, if you want to, give your first paragraph to ChatGPT and ask for advice? And will that advice be helpful to you? So showing students how it can be used responsibly is, I think, something every teacher should be doing right now. And don’t hold back just because you’re afraid you’re gonna be teaching them what this is. They know what this is. Right?
Donnie Piercey (00:51:13):
They know what it is.
Jennifer Roberts (00:51:13):
Especially if you teach high school. They know what it is. I’ve had parents thank me for showing them how to use it responsibly. You know, this can actually be a really useful tool, but if you’re trying to make it do your work for you, it will probably fail you. If you’re trying to use it to help you do your work, it will probably be helpful. Sort of the way I’m breaking it down for them at this point. You want the great metaphor? The great metaphor is if you build a robot and send it to the top of a mountain, did you climb that mountain? No. If you build a robot and ask it to help you get to the top of the mountain, and you and the robot go together, did you climb that mountain? Yes.
Eric Cross (00:51:53):
I like that. I’m thinking through this. I’m processing that now.
Donnie Piercey (00:51:57):
Me too.
Eric Cross (00:51:59):
Yeah. I just imagine a robot holding my hand climbing Mount Everest and I’m like, “Yeah, I did it.”
Donnie Piercey (00:52:04):
If I got a robot though, like I would have to dress it like Arnold Schwarzenegger in Terminator 2. Like I would just have to.
Eric Cross (00:52:10):
Of course.
Donnie Piercey (00:52:10):
Of course.
Eric Cross (00:52:13):
Donnie, same question. Advice. Teachers getting immersed into it. Tips. What would you say?
Donnie Piercey (00:52:20):
So, I would definitely agree with everything that Jen said. Just, if anything else, to familiarize yourself with it. Almost like pretend like it’s a student in your classroom and it’s answering questions, just so that way you can see what it can do. And you’re kind of training yourself, like, “Oh, well, if I ever need examples, exemplars.” If you’re in a writing piece and you don’t wanna sit there and write out four different types of student responses — you know, advanced writer, beginning writer, whatever — great way to to do that is you just—
Jennifer Roberts (00:52:48):
Oh yeah. We did that.
Donnie Piercey (00:52:48):
—copy the prompt in and give a beautifully written piece that a fifth grader would be impressed with. Boom. It’ll do it for you. In my classroom, the way that I approach it is I kinda look at AI as almost like this butler that I don’t have to pay. That if I need it to do something for me, it’s just bookmarked. I can click it. And I mean, sometimes I just talk to it like it’s a person. And it’s almost like, in the chat window, I’m just rambling at it, what I’m trying to do. And it’s almost like I’m talking to a coworker, and I’m trying to hedge out some ideas for a lesson. Simple example: For a science lesson, if you’re trying to come up with … let’s say you’re a fifth-grade — or, sorry, I teach fifth grade. Say you’re a seventh-grade science teacher. And you’re trying to teach the students in your class about Newton’s third law of motion. You know, every action [has an ] equal and opposite reaction. Look around your room. See what you have. Maybe look around and you’re like, “All right, I got a whiteboard, microscope, I’ve got magnets, a cylinder. …” And you just copy all this stuff into ChatGPT. Say, like, “Hey, I have all of these items. Cotton balls, peanut butter, whatever.” And say, “I’m trying to teach students Newton’s third law of motion. Give me some ideas of some ways I could teach it using some of these materials.” And it’ll do it! It’ll give you like five to 10 ideas!
Jennifer Roberts (00:54:15):
And then tell it what your students are into. Like, my students are really into basketball. Can you work that into this lesson?
Donnie Piercey (00:54:21):
Yeah! They’re into the Avengers! Hey, find some way to tie Spider-Man into this. You know, that was a pun that didn’t go so well. But, you know <laugh> figure out some way that you could incorporate this and it’ll do it. And Eric, like you said, it won’t be perfect. Right? But if anything else, if you’re a starting teacher and you’re trying to brainstorm ideas — try it.
Eric Cross (00:54:44):
And Donnie, as you were saying that, I was thinking — first, I imagined Spider-Man shooting cotton balls with peanut butter all over them — and then my mind went to having students have these items, like you were saying. And then they create labs, working alongside AI. To do inquiry. To create a lab about something, and then going and performing and collecting data. OK, that’s — now I wanna go do that tomorrow!
Donnie Piercey (00:55:10):
Listen, it is so easy to do. If you have an extra computer in your classroom. … We were talking about Jarvis and Iron Man and Tony Stark earlier. Make a new chat in ChatGPT. Tell it, “I want you to pretend that you are Tony Stark. Only answer questions as if you are Tony Stark.” Or “Pretend you’re Jarvis.” Whatever. “Stay in character the whole time. I’m going to have sixth grade students come up to you and ask you questions about science or forces of nature, and only answer questions like you’re Iron Man.” And guess what? You keep that station in your classroom. Students are working on a project — you know, in elementary school, a lot of times we’ll have that, “ask three before me” — you’re supposed to ask three friends before you go and bug the teacher. Well, maybe one of those “three before me” can be that little computer station, where they go up and ask Tony Stark a question, and then it answers them as Jarvis or Iron Man. I mean, we’re really just scratching the surface with all this AI stuff. And as more and more companies and more and more creatives are gonna start to realize everything that it can do, we’re gonna start to see it more and more. And hopefully we as teachers can really figure out how to use this tool to, of course, help students, but also help them be creative and explore and learn on their own.
Eric Cross (00:56:35):
That’s amazing. And just both of you are just dropping gems right now. And I wanna wrap up by saying — and I’ve said this before on earlier podcasts I’ve done — but at this phase in my life, the people that I’m the biggest fans of are teachers. And it’s true. I don’t mean that in a cliche way. When I watch celebrities and things like that, when I watch professional sports, that doesn’t fill me the way it used to when I was a kid. At this point, as a professional, I get inspired by other educators who are just doing awesome things. And when I think about educators who are doing that, you two are on that list of people that make me better. And when I get better, I can do better things for my kids. And so, one, I want to thank you for staying in the classroom and continue to support students. They’re so lucky to have you both. The second thing I wanted to say is, Jen, I wanna start with you. Where can people — and I know we said at the beginning — but where can people find the stuff that you put out? You got blogs, your social, your book.
Jennifer Roberts (00:57:28):
I got lots of social. Twitter, I’m JenRoberts1 on Twitter. And then my blog is LitAndTech.com. And then I’m on lots of the new social too, the Mastodons, the Spoutables, the Posts — those kinds of things — as just Jen Roberts, because I got in early and I got my real name without a 1. And there was some other one I’m on recently that I’ve forgotten about. But there’s lots of ’em. They’re fun. And I’m Jen Roberts. You can find me there.
Donnie Piercey (00:57:56):
And I’m SergeantPepperD on AOL, if anyone’s interested.
Eric Cross (00:58:00):
If you wanna hit Donnie up on AIM. <Laugh>
Donnie Piercey (00:58:03):
SergeantPepperD.
Jennifer Roberts (00:58:04):
You know, speaking of rock stars and people who do amazing things, I did write a blog post about using ChatGPT in the classroom, but I hear Donnie wrote a whole book.
Eric Cross (00:58:13):
Oh yeah. So, Donnie! Donnie, that’s a great segue. Thanks Jen. Donnie, how do people find out more? And can you tell us about this book you wrote, that’s coming out in the summer?
Donnie Piercey (00:58:22):
Yeah, so the book I wrote is called 50 Strategies for Integrating AI Into the Classroom. It’s published by Teacher Created Materials. They reached out to me. They had seen some of the stuff that I was doing, not just with ChatGPT, but also some image-generating AI stuff. You know, I got featured on Good Morning America, which was kind of cool. And they saw that and they said, ‘Hey, that looks really neat.” Reached out to me and asked me to write a book. And the idea behind the book, that launches this summer, it’s just 50 ideas, 50 prompts, different things that, as a classroom teacher, that you can do. So, you know, I think there’s so many AI books that are out there now. A lot of them are big ideas, which I think are important. Definitely important discussions that need to be, have around, the ethics of AI. What’s the role that AI should play in the classroom. But I just wanted to write a book, kind of like the discussion that, that Jen and I were just having, which is like, “Can we just share a whole bunch of ideas, different things that we could try with our students?” So definitely check it out. And I appreciate you giving me a shout-out too. That was cool, Eric. Thank you.
Eric Cross (00:59:35):
Of course. Definitely. And Donnie, your Twitter is again. …
Donnie Piercey (00:59:39):
Oh, @MrPiercey, M R P I E R C E Y.
Eric Cross (00:59:44):
Follow Donnie. Follow Jen. Tons of stuff on there. Both of you, thank you so much. For your time, for talking about students and how we can take care of them, science, literacy, AI. I hope we can talk about this again. I feel like even if in just six months, we might be saying different things. In a year, the landscape might completely change. And that makes it really fun. But thank you both for being on the show.
Jennifer Roberts (01:00:04):
Thank you for having us, Eric.
Donnie Piercey (01:00:05):
Thank you so much, Eric. We appreciate it, bud.
Eric Cross (01:00:10):
Thanks so much for listening to my conversation with Jen Roberts and Donnie Piercey. Jen Roberts is a veteran English teacher at San Diego’s Point Loma High School and author of the book Power Up: Making the Shift to 1:1 Teaching and Learning. You can keep up with her at LitAndTech.com. And Donnie Piercey is a fifth-grade teacher from Lexington, Kentucky. He hosts the podcast Teachers Passing Notes. Stay up-to-date with him at Resources.MrPiercey.com. And let us know what you think of this episode in our Facebook discussion group, Science Connections: The Community. Make sure you don’t miss any new episodes of Science Connections by subscribing to the show, wherever you get podcasts. And as always, we’d really appreciate it if you can leave us a review. It’ll help more people and AI robots find the show. You can find more information on all of Amplify’s shows on our podcast hub, Amplify.com/hub. Thanks again for listening.
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Meet the guests
Jen Roberts is a Nationally Board Certified high school English teacher with 25+ years of experience teaching Social Science and English Language Arts in grades 7-12. She has had 1:1 laptops for her students since 2008 and is the co-author of Power Up: Making the Shift to 1:1 Teaching and Learning. A Google for Education Certified Innovator since 2011, Jen was named the CUE Outstanding Educator in 2022. Her interests include literacy instruction, standards based grading, and leveraging Google tools to make her teaching more efficient and effective.
Donnie Piercey, the 2021 Kentucky Teacher of the Year, is a fifth-grade teacher in Lexington, Kentucky. With a passion for utilizing technology to promote student inquiry, learning, and engagement, he has been teaching since 2007. In addition to being in the classroom, he runs a podcast, Teachers Passing Notes that is produced by the Peabody Award winning GZMShows, and holds several recognitions, including a National Geographic Fellowship to Antarctica in 2018. His most recent work in Artificial Intelligence has not gone unnoticed, earning him multiple appearances on Good Morning America, the Associated Press, and PBS. His upcoming book, “50 Strategies for Integrating AI in the Classroom” published by Teacher Created Materials, is written for educators looking for practical classroom approaches to using AI. All told, Donnie has been invited to keynote and present at schools in thirty-three states and on five continents.
About Science Connections
Welcome to Science Connections! Science is changing before our eyes, now more than ever. So…how do we help kids figure that out? We will bring on educators, scientists, and more to discuss the importance of high-quality science instruction. In this episode, hear from our host Eric Cross about his work engaging students as a K-8 science teacher.
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Remote & hybrid learning
Rich, engaging content is at the center of Amplify CKLA instruction. Students build subject area knowledge in history, science, literature, and the arts by learning to read and write. We have built new resources to make our high-quality preK–5 program easy to use in remote or hybrid settings during the 2020–2021 school year.
Supporting back to school 2021–2022
As students return to school this fall, Amplify Core Knowledge Language Arts® (CKLA) will be offering resources to help you flexibly transition from the physical classroom to at-home learning as needed. This includes a new digital Hub for students to access videos, readers, and an interactive Vocab App from anywhere, and the Foundational Skills Boost to help students fill in gaps from spring 2020.
Amplify Core Knowledge Language Arts (CKLA) will be offering resources to help you flexibly transition from the physical classroom to at-home learning as needed. This includes a new digital Hub for students to access videos, readers, and an interactive Vocab App from anywhere, and the Foundational Skills Boost to help students fill in gaps from spring 2020.
Foundational Skills Boost website
To address foundational skills instruction missed during COVID-19 school closures, we are providing a free resource for educators and parents. This new website includes video-based instruction for students in Grades 1–3, covering the last nine weeks of the previous school year to give students the boost they need. The video-based, self-guided lessons pull from Amplify CKLA instructional resources and are designed for students to complete independently, either at home or in the classroom. Access it here!
The site features:
- Video lessons targeting phonemic awareness and phonics
- Decodable readers for practice
- Optional teacher-led small group activities
- Family resources for additional practice
- A planner for educators and caregivers to track students’ progress.
Scope and Sequences: These documents show the scope and sequence of the Foundational Skills Boost.
- Grade 1 Foundational Skills Boost Scope and Sequence
- Grade 2 Foundational Skills Boost Scope and Sequence
- Grade 3 Foundational Skills Boost Scope and Sequence
These documents show how Foundational Skills Boost aligns with the Amplify CKLA grade-level curriculum. If you’re using Amplify CKLA, download the PDFs below to use with Foundational Skills Boost.
- Grade 1 Foundational Skills Boost / Amplify CKLA Scope and Sequence
- Grade 2 Foundational Skills Boost / Amplify CKLA Scope and Sequence
- Grade 3 Foundational Skills Boost / Amplify CKLA Scope and Sequence
Back-to-school instructional recommendations
- Begin grade-level instruction with Unit 1 in every grade, utilizing recommended instructional minutes.
- In grades 1–3, CKLA instruction begins with review from the previous year.
- For grades 4–5, you may choose the optional novel guide unit to start the school year.
- For grades 1–3, we recommend you schedule an additional 30-minute instructional block for unfinished foundational skills instruction from spring 2020. We will offer the Foundational Skills Boost for use during this block.
New back-to-school features for remote and hybrid learning
Recorded daily Read-Alouds
Teachers and students will have access to video recordings of all K–2 Knowledge Read-Alouds with pictures from the Flip Books.
Digital Hub for students and teachers
Students can now access materials that support K–5 instruction from anywhere, including student Readers in an audio-enabled eReader. Teachers will find multimedia resources on the Hub and digital versions of all instructional components on the Teacher Resource Site.
Parent access
Parents will now have access to important student resources via the digital Hub. We will have a parent login available and a letter in both English and Spanish that explains how to use the resources.
Skills at home
Grade-level foundational skills guidance for parents includes instructions and materials to teach and practice grade-level phonics at home. Resources include sound videos, Readers, and a how-to video with editable instructions that teachers can customize to meet individual classroom needs.
How to use Amplify CKLA during remote learning
We’ve developed a variety of resources to ensure you have the tools you need to support students in developing foundational skills and building background knowledge—no matter where learning is happening. On the following pages, you’ll find information on using Amplify CKLA for extended periods of remote learning, both in situations where students have access to technology and those where technology is limited.
For remote learning with access to technology at home, we recommend teacher-led virtual lessons for daily Skills Strand lessons in K–2 and daily lessons in 3–5, while students access application activities, recorded Knowledge Strand Read-Alouds, and the Foundational Skills Boost online. In the Student Hub, students will have access to K–2 Skills Strand components such as student Readers and the Sound Library, K–2 Knowledge components like Knowledge Builders, and the 3–5 Vocab App.
| Grade level | Instructional resources |
|---|---|
| Kindergarten |
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| Grades 1–2 |
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| Grade 3 |
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| Grades 4–5 |
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Amplify CKLA’s resources ensure students can continue learning at home. If students have limited access to technology, Activity Books and student Readers can be sent home with editable family letters. If students have access to a smartphone, K–2 Knowledge Strand recorded Read-Alouds are mobile friendly, as are Student Readers and other multimedia on the Hub.
Grades K–2 sample daily schedule
Foundational skills lesson
Teacher-led virtual Skills lesson on Zoom or a similar platform
Independent skills practice
Students use the Hub to practice sound-spellings in the eReader, using the audio as additional support. Then, they complete an activity page.
Independent Knowledge Read-Aloud
Students engage with the daily recorded Read-Aloud
Knowledge discussion and application
Teacher-led virtual knowledge discussion and application
Foundational Skills Boost
For students in grades 1–2, we recommend setting aside an additional 30 minutes for Foundational Skills Boost lessons covering unfinished instruction from the previous year. Foundational Skills Boost lessons are video modules that students can complete on their own at home.
Grades 3–5 sample daily schedule
Daily lesson and discussion
Teacher-led virtual lesson on Zoom or a similar platform
Reading and writing application
Students use the Hub to access the eReader, using the audio as additional support. Students complete daily application activities online.
Independent vocabulary practice
Students work on vocabulary in the Vocab App on the Hub.
Optional novel study (grades 4–5)
Teacher-led virtual discussion in conjunction with independent reading and writing
Foundational Skills Boost
For students in grade 3, we recommend setting aside an additional 30 minutes for Foundational Skills Boost lessons covering unfinished instruction from the previous year. Foundational Skills Boost lessons are video modules that students can complete on their own at home.
Resources for remote learning with limited student access to technology
| Grade level | Instructional resources |
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How to use Amplify CKLA during hybrid learning
We know that back to school will look different for every district. You may be considering staggered schedules or alternating between remote and in-person days. Amplify CKLA’s resources for hybrid learning ensure that students continue to develop critical foundational skills both in the classroom and at home.
Resources for hybrid learning with student access to technology
| Grade level | Remote days | In-person days |
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| Kindergarten |
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| Grades 1–2 |
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| Grades 4–5 |
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We understand that access to technology is a significant barrier for many of our students. Amplify CKLA’s resources ensure students are able to continue to develop their skills in any learning environment. Following is a plan for maximizing both in-person and remote days when students have limited access to technology.
| Grade level | Remote days | In-person days |
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| Kindergarten |
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| Grades 1–2 |
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The case for grade-level ELA instruction in middle school
Teaching middle school comes with unique challenges—especially in ELA, where a single classroom may include students from all walks of life and all reading levels. Recent data shows that more than 30% of middle school students struggle to read at grade level. So a teacher’s instinct might—understandably—be to match students with texts at their individual reading levels.
But research shows that’s not the best approach for meeting student needs. In fact, a critical way to help middle schoolers read at grade level is … to teach them at grade level.
All students benefit when they are challenged with grade-level content, along with the necessary support and scaffolding to promote their growth. This approach ensures that no student—whether below, above, or on grade level—is left behind or held back from their full potential.
The problem with the remediation trap
Providing struggling students with simpler texts seems like a logical way to build confidence. But this approach often reinforces learning gaps instead of closing them. When students aren’t exposed to grade-level material, they miss out on critical opportunities to:
- Build knowledge and vocabulary necessary for long-term academic success.
- Engage in meaningful discussions that deepen comprehension.
- Develop confidence in their ability to tackle complex texts and new concepts.
But when students interact with rigorous content and new information alongside their peers, they gain the skills, exposure, and engagement they need to improve—no matter where they start.
Scaffolding in education: Why does it matter?
If students need help reaching grade-level standards, focus on providing the right scaffolding rather than lowering expectations.
- Pre-teaching key vocabulary to support comprehension.
- Breaking down complex texts into smaller, digestible parts.
- Using guided questions and discussion prompts to deepen understanding.
- Encouraging peer collaboration so that students can learn from each other.
- Incorporating visual aids like diagrams, charts, and graphic organizers to clarify concepts and support comprehension.
By using these strategies, teachers can keep students engaged in grade-level work while addressing skill gaps in a way that fosters real growth.
How grade-level instruction works for every student
- Grade-level instruction builds confidence and motivation. Middle school students are deeply social learners who thrive when they feel included. When struggling students are placed in remedial groups with lower expectations, they can feel discouraged. But when they read and discuss the same challenging texts as their peers, they’re more motivated to participate and push themselves.
- Grade-level instruction develops critical thinking skills. Grade-level texts expose students to richer vocabulary, more complex sentence structures, and deeper themes. This helps all students—whether they’re working above or below grade level—develop essential thinking and analytical skills that prepare them for high school, college, and beyond.
- Grade-level instruction prepares students for real-world literacy. Success in the real world depends on the ability to read and comprehend challenging material. If students aren’t exposed to complex texts in middle school, they’ll struggle in high school, the workplace, and life. Providing grade-level instruction ensures that they develop the reading stamina and skills they need for the future.
Bridging skill gaps without lowering expectations
Some students may need additional support in decoding, fluency, or foundational skills. However, this doesn’t mean they should be separated from grade-level content. Instead, they should receive targeted interventions alongside their core instruction.
Here’s how to bridge skill gaps while keeping all students on track:
- Use structured reading supports—such as read-alouds or guided reading along with explicit fluency practice—so struggling students can follow along with grade-level texts.
- Incorporate explicit vocabulary instruction to help students understand and use new words.
- Provide sentence starters and discussion frameworks to support writing and comprehension.
- Encourage independent reading at different levels to build fluency while keeping classroom instruction rigorous.
With these strategies, students receive the help they need without missing out on the rich, challenging materials that promote deeper learning.
Teach up, not down: The best approach for middle school ELA
While scaffolding allows struggling readers to access the same grade-level content as their peers, advanced learners can benefit from opportunities to go deeper with discussions, analytical writing, and extension activities—all within the same instructional framework.
Key takeaways for middle school ELA success:
- Every student should engage with grade-level content, regardless of their starting point.
- Scaffolding in education helps all learners access complex texts and grow as readers.
- Effective literacy instruction prepares students for the demands of high school, college, and beyond.
More to explore
If you’re looking for research-backed strategies to support all students with grade-level instruction, check out our free ebook, Every Student at Grade Level: The Case for Grade-Level ELA Instruction in Middle School. It’s packed with actionable insights for teaching middle school ELA effectively and implementing powerful scaffolding techniques.
Families & Caregivers — Welcome to Amplify Desmos Math New York for grades K–5!
This is the initial version of the Caregiver Hub for Amplify Desmos Math New York. Para la versión en español, haga clic aquí.
Welcome to the Amplify Desmos Math New York K–5 Caregiver Hub for grades K–5. We’re so excited your student’s school has chosen our program! We designed this space to help you support your student in their math journey this year. Your hard work plays an essential role in your student’s math experience.
We hope your student enjoys using technology to explore math, working with friends to solve problems, and learning all sorts of new and interesting concepts. And we hope you love experiencing it with them!
Excited to learn together,
—The Amplify Desmos Math team
Introducing Amplify Desmos Math
Amplify Desmos Math is a core math curriculum built for kindergarten through grade 5. We developed the program around the idea that a structured approach to problem-based learning builds on students’ curiosity to develop lasting grade-level understandings for all students. Each lesson offers opportunities to develop students’ understanding; connect their ideas; grow their skill fluency; and empower them to ask questions, explore, and make discoveries.
Amplify Desmos Math uses a student-centered approach to instruction, which has been proven to significantly increase math learning. Our mission is for your students to learn math—and to love learning math!
In every lesson, the Amplify Desmos Math curriculum poses engaging and relevant problems to solve, giving students daily opportunities to think critically, work collaboratively, and actively participate in their own learning.
About student-centered math instruction
Student-centered instruction may look different from the way students have learned math in the past, and perhaps from the way you learned math. Instead of memorizing formulas and tricks, student-centered learning focuses on giving students opportunities to figure out how math works. Research shows that students and teachers alike prefer this method, and teachers report that student-centered instruction has helped their students learn more math.
This way of learning helps students:
- Understand how math concepts work.
- Remember what they learn in class and apply their knowledge to new situations.
- Perform better on standardized tests and have more growth in their grades than their peers who learn through other methods.
- Learn to communicate in writing and verbally, understand and challenge the opinions of others, and build confidence in solving new problems.
- Develop key skills for success in college and the workplace, like using technology, completing projects independently and with others, and persevering through difficult problems.
What materials do students use?
Amplify Desmos Math supports blended learning with supportive print materials and a unique digital experience. All Amplify Desmos Math K–5 lessons are available in a write-in Student Edition book. Many of the lessons are designed to include hands-on activities with manipulatives. An age-appropriate number of lessons are designed for students to use digital devices like laptops or tablets. These include enhanced digital experiences that teachers can assign to students.
Here’s what you can expect for your students from Amplify Desmos Math:
- Lessons that drive classroom discussions so students can work toward a shared understanding and sense of community.
- Responsive feedback that interprets student responses in context and encourages perseverance and revision.
- Easy-to-follow lesson plans tested in classrooms across the country, with clear teaching suggestions, strategies, and Math Language Routines.
- Practice problems to support fluency and help students review previous topics.
- Recommended differentiation suggestions for teachers so that they can meet the needs of diverse learners.
- Formative assessments that provide information on student understanding so that they can adjust their instruction to meet the needs of all students in their class.
- Summative assessments that help teachers understand what students know about the math content they have been learning.
- Daily lesson-level assessments so that teachers can frequently check for understanding.
- A caregiver resource for each unit that includes explanations of key math concepts and problems to try with your student.
When students use devices, teachers can monitor students’ work in real time, making sure they get the exact support that they need at every part of the lesson, in and outside of class. Here is a sample of what a teacher sees on their dashboard to help them monitor thinking and support student learning.
Students are also able to access their digital work at home. Here’s an article on how to navigate the student home page.
What does a lesson look like?
Students in an Amplify Desmos Math classroom can be seen (and heard!)—asking questions, debating answers, justifying their thinking, grappling with problems, and working together and independently.
Here’s what a typical Amplify Desmos Math lesson includes:
- Warm-up: A short, attention-getting problem to get students interested in the lesson.
- Activities: 1-2 mini-activities that challenge students’ problem-solving skills.
- Synthesis: Discussion to review and bring together the important concepts from the lesson.
- Show What You Know and Reflection: Questions for students to show what they know from the lesson. (Note: The “Show What You Know” lesson assessment is optional for the teacher to assign in kindergarten and grade 1)
- Centers: Student-led activity stations that reinforce the math learned during lesson activities through interactive and often game-like formats. In kindergarten and grade 1, time for Centers is built into the last 15 minutes of every lesson.
Here’s what is available after the lesson to support, strengthen, and stretch students’ learning:
- Differentiation: Mini-lessons, Centers, extensions, personalized learning, and fluency practice.
- Practice: Additional problems your student’s teacher may assign for classwork or homework.
How can caregivers support math learning at home?
Use our Unit Support for Caregivers
We’ve created a Caregiver Resource for every unit of the program that provides a summary of key concepts, plus a problem from the lesson practice set you can work through with your student. Within each of the grade-level links below, you’ll find a Caregiver Resource document for each unit, in both English and Spanish.
Grade 1
Unit 1: Adding, Subtracting, and Working With Data
English
Spanish
Grade 3
Unit 1: Introducing Multiplication
English
Spanish
Grade 5
Unit 1: Volume
English
Spanish
Review practice problems together
Your student’s teacher may assign practice problems at the end of each lesson for classwork or homework. If your student has already completed the practice problems for the lesson, ask your student to walk you through how they solved each problem, or talk about any parts that were challenging for them. Ask your students follow-up questions to encourage the use of math language as they explain their thinking, such as: “How do you know?,” “How can you show your thinking?,” or “How would you describe that?” If students are stuck, ask support questions such as, “What information do you know here?” or “How could you represent this problem?”
Getting stuck is okay!
Emphasize that getting stuck is part of the process and a necessary part of learning. Many students (and adults!) fear making mistakes. However, research shows that making mistakes helps your brain grow more. When your student gets stuck on a problem, encourage them to try different strategies, even if they are not sure if they are right.
Find the math in everyday life.
Relate math to daily activities at home, whether grocery shopping, preparing a meal, or planning for a trip to the store. Your student can help you figure out how many more apples there are than oranges in the grocery cart, show how to split a sandwich into fourths, or figure out how much change you’ll receive in exchange for a ten dollar bill. Encourage your student to point out ways that you use math in daily tasks.
Read the Unit Story with your student.
Each unit in Amplify Desmos Math K–5 begins with a read-aloud story to engage students and provide context for the math of the unit. Elements and characters from the Unit Story then appear in lessons throughout the rest of the unit.
- Grade K Unit 2 Story
- Grade 1 Unit 1 Story
- Grade 2 Unit 1 Story
- Grade 3 Unit 1 Story
- Grade 4 Unit 1 Story
- Grade 5 Unit 1 Story
Access our Featured Collection of free K–5 Lessons and Activities.
Explore our latest free K–5 content in our Desmos Classroom Featured Collection. With our free collection, you can access:
- Digital Lessons: Engaging interactive lessons
- Mini-Lessons: A mix of print and digital activities designed for small-group instruction
- Math Routines: Short digital activities to kick-start instruction and encourage math discussions
- Bite-Sized Math Moments: Digital practice activities that use Polypad virtual manipulatives, designed to be used flexibly
Click here to access the collection and sign up for a free account.
How do caregivers access the program at home?
Your student will have access to all learning, practice, and assessment materials through the Amplify platform. Students can access the digital curriculum in school and at home by following these simple instructions.
- Click the orange Login to Amplify Desmos Math button below.
- Select Log in with Amplify.
- Enter your student’s username and password provided by your student’s teacher.
- Select your student’s grade level.
Putting equity first
When so much about the world needs to shift, so urgently… here are a few places to start.
Listen: Educator, author, and leader Shawn Joseph shares his passion for social justice and discusses his work advocating for equity in education, shedding light on what he calls the “silent crisis” in literacy instruction.
Learn: Share Shawn Joseph’s discussion guide with your colleagues. Which insights are the most relevant to your district this year?
Lead: Take a look at this curated collection of multicultural and social justice books. Could one spark discussion for your students?
Lead: Share this infographic on the journey to freedom with your class. Ask students to select an event to research and present a two-minute video talk.
Leveraging the science of reading
Go deep on the insights and practices that will help our classrooms (remote or otherwise)–based on the latest science, and adaptable to every shift in the educational landscape.
Learn: Susan Lambert talks to Language Magazine about the science of reading and what it means right now.
Building strong foundational skills
Strong, systematic sound-first instruction is critical to helping students learn to decode and can increase student success. Learn how specific skills can increase your impact.
Learn: Start with Emily Hanford’s “Hard Words” article.
Listen: Jasmine Lane on the importance of equity, and how early literacy teachers can make a difference.
Listen: Bruce McCandliss on the changes a child’s brain shows when learning to read
Lead: Challenge a colleague to this Scarborough’s Rope activity–work through a sample lesson from your district and point out elements of the reading rope.
Sharing knowledge resources
Students need to be able to both read words and get the meaning of what they’re reading. Find out how to help them build key background knowledge from the get-go, so that it compounds over time.
Learn: Begin with Why knowledge matters–then follow up with Natalie Wexler’s podcast
Learn: Take a look at Achieve the Core’s overview of the importance of building knowledge and the groundbreaking “baseball study“
Listen: Anne Lucas on the importance of comprehension and the specific skills that can boost it.
Listen: Tim Shanahan on four crucial aspects in teaching reading and his views on teaching reading in middle school as an extension of evidence-based early literacy practices
Learn: Begin with Why knowledge matters–then follow up with Natalie Wexler’s podcast
Learn: Take a look at Achieve the Core’s overview of the importance of building knowledge and the groundbreaking “baseball study“
Assessing what students need
Assessment this year is more important than ever before–and also more challenging. What does this extended summer slide look like? How can you find time to review what’s needed, while still moving forward?
Learn: Education for Global Development’s thoughts on formative assessment in the time of COVID-19.
Learn: District Administration on why educators want more data– and more guidance on how to use it
Learn: Catch up on dyslexia risk factors and state legislation with our dyslexia toolkit.
Listen: Nancy Nelson on the importance of universal screeners in literacy instruction.
Lead: What can you offer struggling readers and their caregivers? Take a look at the IDA’s COVID-19 Resource Guide.
Thriving through remote learning
Everything about this school year has changed–yet your work is more important than ever before. How can you support your students, and your colleagues, in this new normal? Stop by Amplify Anywhere for ideas that may help.
And while you’re here–please download your free PDF “20 Self-Care Tips for Educators Right Now” (and please take care of yourselves!).
Alana Mangham on Teaching Now
Natalie Wexler on the New Normal
Thinking about back-to-school
Though it feels like the landscape is changing every day, we know we’ve got to find a way to get students back to learning. What will your school day look like? What reinforcement might you need to do in order to ensure equity? We will continue to share resources to support your journey.
Learn: In this recorded webinar, explore some ways CARES Act funding might support your students.
Learn: Hear from Baltimore educator Lucas Drerup on making middle school ELA both enjoyable and rigorous for students.
Listen: Jackson-Madison CAO Jared Myracle shares his thoughts on change management and the science of reading.
Listen: Doug Lemov, managing director of Uncommon Schools, discusses the role of technology in the classroom and remote instruction, and how educators can reconsider how they approach literacy.
Lead: As you consider how and when to reopen, review this article from The Atlantic on Eight steps that will let us reopen schools.
Lead: Guidance from District Administration on reopening safely this fall.
Finding high-quality instructional materials
If you were already thinking about new literacy resources–you’ve now got even more ideas about what high quality looks like. How will your literacy program work for all students? How do you need your literacy resources to support you in the classroom, in remote learning, and for every scenario in between?
Learn: Review this guide to a high-quality curriculum adoption. What factors matter most now, in literacy and in every subject?
Listen: Hear nationally recognized reading experts and authors David and Meredith Liben discuss evidence based solutions and more.
Lead: Download this K-8 ELA Instructional Materials Evaluation Guide. Share with your district leadership. What resources will you all need next year (and beyond) to do the best job possible for your students?
Lead: Talk to a few colleagues in the coming weeks. What are they seeing right now? What are they planning to improve next year?
Staying strong and staying connected!
Looking for ways to connect with other educators and stay updated on the latest research and trends in the science of reading? Check out a few more ways to do so below.
Science of Reading: The Podcast delivers the latest insights from researchers and practitioners in early reading. Further your professional development with each episode by subscribing and downloading them now.
Science of Reading: The Community is built for those committed to fostering conversation around the science of reading and implementing best practices in the classroom (including the virtual classroom).
Ready for more? Complete the form below to stay up-to-date on the latest resources.
Amplify Caminos
Scope and Sequence for Lectoescritura
Amplify Caminos is grounded in the Science of Reading and offers a powerful, evidence-based instructional approach.
The new Lectoescritura Strand specifically teaches students the decoding skills needed for independent reading. Each lesson begins with a warm-up that reviews previously taught content in phonics, reading, grammar, writing, and spelling.
Foundational skills year by year
By building a solid foundation of phonological awareness and phonics, students will learn the sounds of vowels and common consonants first, and blend them to form syllables. Syllables will also be blended to form words. Less frequent consonants and other complex elements of the Spanish language will be presented at a later stage of the program.
Kindergarten
In Kindergarten, students develop reading comprehension, writing, listening and speaking, language, and foundational skills in the following ways:
- Reading comprehension: Students answer literal, evaluative, and inferential story questions. Halfway through Kindergarten, students move from whole class reading instruction in Big Books to teacher guided independent and partner reading in decodable Student Readers, still using the Big Book as a model and support.
- Writing: As students learn new sounds, they will also learn the phoneme to grapheme correspondence of each. The embedded activities and Activity Book provide a daily opportunity to practice the formation of individual letters, syllables, words and eventually sentences that contain the sound being taught in each lesson. In later units, students are guided through the Plan-Draft-Edit writing process.
- Listening and speaking: Students engage in a range of whole group, small group, and partner discussions about text and daily lesson content.
- Language: Students receive explicit instruction that introduces vocabulary and common words, or palabras comunes, to support decoding. Instruction also includes attention to the conventions of Spanish, including the use of question words, prepositions and plural nouns in oral speech, as well as capitalization and end punctuation in writing.
- Foundational skills: Students begin with awareness of vowels and the most frequent consonant sounds, then practice blending those sounds into syllables, then blend those syllables into words with the ultimate goal of reading multisyllabic (2-3) words and complete sentences.
Click to take a closer look at the Kindergarten Scope and Sequence.
Grade 1
In Grade 1, students develop reading comprehension, writing, listening and speaking, language, and foundational skills in the following ways:
- Reading comprehension: Students answer literal, evaluative, and inferential questions, including textual citations, and read with increasing independence and expression of individual interpretation of text. Reading instruction utilizes both the Student Reader and Big Book until Unit 5 when students transition into solely using the Student Reader.
- Listening and speaking: Students engage in a range of whole group, small group, and partner discussions about text and daily lesson content.
- Language: Students receive explicit instruction that introduces vocabulary and common words, or palabras comunes, to support decoding. Students also work to increase the use of new vocabulary in their written responses. In addition, discussions require the use of words in context. Explicit grammar instruction includes using parts of speech, such as nouns and verbs, and different forms of sentences, tenses, and punctuation.
- Foundational skills: Students review vowels and the most frequent consonant sounds and are introduced complications like multisyllabic words, digraphs, accents, diphthongs, and hiatus.
Click to take a closer look at the Grade 1 Scope and Sequence.
Grade 2
In Grade 2, students develop reading comprehension, writing, listening and speaking, language, and foundational skills in the following ways:
- Listening and speaking: Students engage in a range of whole group, small group, and partner discussions about text and daily lesson content.
- Language: Students receive explicit instruction that introduces vocabulary and common words, or palabras comunes, to support decoding. Students also work to increase the nuanced use of new vocabulary in their written responses. In addition, discussions require the use of words in context in a range of settings. Explicit grammar instruction includes subjects and predicates, sentence expansion with adjectives and adverbs, and more advanced punctuation.
- Foundational skills: Students continue to learn additional spelling complications as well as the tools needed to decode more challenging multi-syllable words; increasing emphasis on developing fluency, automaticity, and prosody in reading more complex texts.
Click to take a closer look at the Grade 2 Scope and Sequence.
Assessments
Credible. Actionable. Timely. The assessment system for each Amplify Science unit is designed to provide teachers with actionable diagnostic information about student progress toward the learning goals for the unit. Assessment of unit learning goals is grounded in the Unit Progress Build (PB), which describes how student understanding is likely to develop and deepen through engagement with the unit’s learning experiences. The assessment system includes formal and informal opportunities for students to demonstrate understanding and for teachers to gather information throughout the unit – all while giving teachers flexibility in deciding what to score and what to simply review. Built largely around instructionally-embedded performances, these opportunities encompass a range of modalities that, as a system, attend to research on effective assessment strategies and the NRC Framework for K-12 Science Education.
The variety of assessment options for Amplify Science include:
- Pre-Unit Assessment (formative): discussion, modeling, and written explanations to gauge students knowledge.
- On-the-Fly Assessments (OtFA) (formative): each OtFA includes guidance on what to look for in student activity or work products, and offers suggestions on how to adjust instruction accordingly.
- End-of-Chapter Problem Context Explanations (formative): Three-dimensional performance tasks to support students’ consolidation of ideas encountered in each chapter and provide insight into students’ developing understanding.
- Self-Assessments (formative): One per chapter; brief opportunities for students to reflect on their own learning, ask questions, and reveal ongoing wonderings about unit content.
- Critical Juncture Assessment (CJ) (formative): Occurring at the end of each chapter similar in format to the Pre-Unit and End-of-Unit assessments.
- End-of-Unit Assessment (summative): discussion, modeling, and written explanations to gauge students’ knowledge and growth.
Hands-On and Print Materials (“Kits”)
There is a box of materials associate with every unit of Amplify Science, containing a variety of hands-on activities and print materials that are called for in the various lessons in the unit. Each box, commonly called a “kit,” is associated with a given unit, and each teacher should ideally have their own kit for each unit.
Hands-on brochures
*One blackline master Student Investigation Notebook is included in each unit kit, grades 3–5.
Within the kit there are two types of materials:
- Physical manipulatives
- Printed materials
The physical manipulatives are the hands-on items used in various lessons in the unit. For example, the Balancing Forces kit contains balloons, batteries, magnets, fasteners, rubber balls, and various other materials.
There are two types of physical manipulatives: consumables and nonconsumables. Nonconsumables are durable and, if cared for properly, can be used over the course of several years. Consumables are used up with each use and must be replenished.
There are also print materials in the kits, including:
- Key concepts: Teachers designate an area of the classroom wall to post “Key Concept” printed cards. These cards contain short sentences that explicitly identify an important idea or concept learned in the unit. By posting that card to the wall, the classroom has a visual anchor – a physical representation of “what we’ve learned so far.”
- Vocabulary wall: Like the Key Concepts, Vocabulary cards are provided in your unit’s kit. These, too, are posted to a designated area of the classroom wall, and more and more vocabulary cards are added to the wall as we progress through the unit.
- Unit and Chapter Questions: Printed cards with the unit question and individual chapter questions are also provided in the kit. These cards help students to remember exactly what we are investigating over the course of the chapter, and ultimately, over the course of the unit.
- Card Sets: Printed cards, specific to a unit, are in each kit (though not all units have Card Sets). Often, students are sorting these cards on their desks, ranking them, ordering them, etc. For example, in the Metabolism unit, students take “Evidence Cards,” each with a piece of evidence, and then rank and arrange the evidence cards from strong-> weak->irrelevant, thereby providing a visualization of their thinking and reasoning.
Preview Amplify Science: NYC
Start your view by simply selecting “Preview the Curriculum” and then selecting either Teacher or Student access. We recommend selecting Teacher access as you will also be able to see the student resources.
Looking for help reviewing the program? Reach out to a New York City Amplify Science curriculum expert.
Reading and Literacy Integration
Amplify Science units provide strategy-based literacy instruction that aims to develop students’ facility with reading, writing, and talking about science. Each unit provides many authentic opportunities for students to learn about and practice the ways of communicating and learning that characterize science as a discipline. The following are the Amplify Science Guiding Principles for Literacy:
- Students acquire literacy expertise through the pursuit of science knowledge and by engaging in scientific and engineering practices.
- Attention to discipline literacy instruction should begin as soon as students enter school and should continue throughout the grades.
- Participation in a disciplinary community is key to acquiring disciplinary expertise and literacy.
- Since the purpose of science is to better explain the natural world, argumentation and explanation are the central enterprises of science. Therefore, these practices are central foci of reading, writing, and talk in science.
Literacy instruction in the Amplify Science program utilizes a Gradual Release of Responsibility approach (Pearson and Gallagher 1983). In this approach, instruction begins with the teacher assuming primary responsibility for modeling strategy or skill and explicitly instruction how to use each strategy or skill. As instruction proceeds, the teacher offers as much support as needed so students can practice using the target strategy more independently. Over time, students take on more responsibility for using the strategy more independently. Depending on the goal, the path from teacher modeling to student independence will vary. Over the course of a unit, students may not achieve independence for every literacy goal, but they will move along the continuum toward flexible use of a wide range of reading, writing, and learning strategies that have been incorporated throughout the program.
Each Amplify Science Elementary Unit includes five books that students use to build an understanding of science ideas, practices, and crosscutting concepts. While the program does not take on responsibility for providing all literacy instruction required for students’ reading development (e.g., skill-based or fluency-oriented literacy instruction), it is designed to support vocabulary, language, and reading comprehension development.
Amplify Science provides students with a series of content-rich nonfiction and informational texts that are read for a variety of purposes throughout the unit. The five books in each unit include one book for approximately every five days of instruction and one reference book that students draw upon throughout the 22-lesson units (20 instructional lessons & 2 assessment days for pre/post). Students are encouraged to read books as independently as possible so they can apply the comprehension strategies they are learning in order to understand what they read. In each Amplify Science reading session, comprehension is supported at three stages: before, during, and after reading. At each stage, students engage in planned tasks that build an understanding of the key concepts and themes in a book. The teacher’s role is to scaffold comprehension and provide opportunities for practicing the strategies and skills that are being taught. At each stage, these include:
- Before-reading activities designed to help students activate their background knowledge, prepare to use particular comprehension strategies, and set a purpose for reading.
- During-reading activities intended to help students monitor their comprehension, make connections, and read and understand important science vocabulary in context.
- After reading activities intended to help students reflect on their learning and connect their reading to their firsthand science investigations.
Nonfiction and informational text. The Amplify Science program is designed to help students gain familiarity with the structures and functions of nonfiction and informational texts by extending students’ exposure to these texts in a rich learning environment. The program uses nonfiction and informational texts because it is an important component of content learning in school; it helps build knowledge of the natural and social world, and it provides students with a purposeful context for learning key concepts and vocabulary. Nonfiction and informational text are also engaging and motivating as it answers genuine questions and capitalizes on student interests and background knowledge. Reading a wide variety of texts have been shown to affect students’ interest in reading overall (Duke 2004). Nonfiction and informational genres are also the genres students are most likely to encounter when reading and writing inside and outside of school. For adults, nonfiction and informational texts are read more often than other genres (Duel 2004; Smith 2000). In order for students to become successful information gatherers as adults, we need to provide opportunities for them to engage with nonfiction and informational texts in school.
Reading comprehension. Reading instruction in Amplify Science is designed to promote students’ capacity to read for meaning. Guided instruction and a supportive classroom context help students learn to employ powerful comprehension strategies that are critical for gaining a better understanding of text and becoming skilled readers (Duke and Pearson 2002). Comprehension strategies included in the Amplify Science program include posing questions, making inferences, setting goals for reading, summarizing, synthesizing, and using text features. Across units, students are guided to use these strategies flexibly as they read and make sense of a wide range of nonfiction and informational texts. Students also gain critical experience with understanding texts and experiences in relation to one another as they make connections between the books they read and the science they do. These connections then extend their growing conceptual understanding. Reading instruction in Amplify Science also encourages students to reflect on the utility of comprehension strategies, including when, why, and how these strategies helped them. One important way students make connections is through sustained classroom discussion of text with their peers (Nystrand 1997). Students regularly discuss both content and comprehension use before, during, and after reading, learning more about both as they engage in discussions with their peers. The Amplify Science approach also draws on research that demonstrates the benefits of instructional coherence (connected reading, writing, listening, and talk), particularly in the content area of science (Romance and Vitale 2001; Cervetti et. al. 2007; The Directed Reading Model supports reading comprehension before, during, and after reading. Cervetti et. al. 2006). Reading comprehension is enhanced as students connect what they read to what they are investigating and learning in science. The Amplify Science student books provide many opportunities for students to practice their developing reading skills in context, engage in authentic discourse around text, make connections, and support their understandings with textual evidence.
Digital Simulations
Digital Sims are digital tools that serve as venues of exploration and means for collecting data and evidence, and present students with opportunities to make observations and manipulate variables of key scientific processes and mechanism. Sims allow students to explore scientific concepts that might otherwise be invisible or impossible to see with the naked eye. Much like real scientists do, students of Amplify Science will use these computer simulations to gain insight into processes that occur on the microscopic scale, or alternatively, to speed up processes that might otherwise take thousands or millions of years to observe.
In grades 4–8, Amplify Science offers a unique sim which students will use throughout the unit. And each time a sim appears in a lesson, there are clear instructions for both teachers and students on its use.
Digital simulation from Ecosystem Restoration unit
Spanish Resources
Amplify Science is committed to providing support to meet the needs of all learners, including multiple access points for Spanish-speaking students. Developed in conjunction with Spanish-language experts and classroom teachers, multiple components are available in Spanish across the Amplify Science curriculum.
Spanish-language materials include:
| Component | Teacher/student |
|---|---|
| Student Investigation Notebooks (K–8) | Student |
| Science articles (6–8) | Student |
| Student Books (K–5) | Student |
| Video transcripts (6–8) | Student |
| Digital simulation translation key (6–8) | Student |
| Printed classroom materials (K–8) (Unit and chapter questions, key concepts, vocabulary cards, etc.) | Teacher and student |
| Copymasters (K–8) | Teacher |
| Assessments (K–8) | Teacher |
Supporting ELLs
English language learners (ELLs) bring a lifetime of background knowledge and experiences to everything they do. As they work to acquire a new language and new academic knowledge simultaneously, they may need specific linguistic support. In the instruction, the Differentiation Brief points out activities that could pose linguistic challenges for English learners or reduce their access to science content, and suggests supports and modifications accordingly.
The Lawrence Hall of Science authorship team believes that it is essential for students to develop both a deep understanding of science concepts and facility with disciplinary practices that are essential to the work of scientists and engineers. It is also important to recognize that in a single classroom, students have an array of learning needs and preferences. In particular, English language learners can benefit from learning opportunities designed to meet their needs from additional support then needed as they tackle the language and content demands of science.Five principles helped the Lawrence Hall of Science curriculum developers design instructional sequences to meet the goals of bolstering students who develop understanding of science content, decreasing language demands without diluting science content, and allowing students to more fully engage in disciplinary literacy practices. The five principles are based on research on best practices in the field and have been reviewed by Amplify Science ELL advisors.
- Leverage and build students’ informational background knowledge.
- Capitalize on students’ knowledge of language.
- Provide explicit instruction about the language of science.
- Provide opportunities for scaffolded practice.
- Provide multimodal means of accessing science content and expressing science knowledge.
Beyond My Years
S3-05: Thinking is power
Join us as we sit down with Melanie Trecek-King, college professor and creator of Thinking is Power, to explore how much of an asset science can truly be in developing the skills students need to navigate the real world. You’ll learn about “fooling” students and the importance of developing critical thinking, information literacy, and science literacy in the classroom. We’ll also share real strategies and lesson examples that help build these essential skills and engage students in learning.
And don’t forget to grab your Science Connections study guide to track your learning and find additional resources!
We hope you enjoy this episode and explore more from Science Connections by visiting our main page!
Melanie Trecek-King (00:00):
We say knowledge is power, but it’s not enough to know things. And there’s too much to know. So being able to think and not fall for someone’s bunk is my goal for my students.
Eric Cross (00:12):
Welcome to Science Connections. I’m your host, Eric Cross. On this third season, we’ve been talking about science’s underdog status. And just this past March at the NSTA conference in Atlanta, I had the chance to speak with science educators from around the country about this very topic.
Hermia Simanu (00:28):
Right now, there’s only two teachers in our high school teaching science.
Shane Dongilli (00:32):
I have 45 minutes once a week with each class. The focus is reading and math.
Alexis Tharpe (00:38):
Oftentimes science gets put by the wayside. And you know, I love math and I love my language arts, but I also think science needs to place be placed on that high pedestal as well.
Askia Little (00:46):
In fifth grade, oh, they teach science, because that’s the only grade that it’s tested.
Eric Cross (00:50):
That was Hermia Simanu from American Samoa. Her team flew for three days to make it to the conference. You also heard from Shane Dongilli from North Carolina, Alexis Tharpe from Virginia, and Askia Little from Texas. All of these teachers were excited to be at the conference and had a lot to say about the state of science education in their local schools. Throughout this season, we’ve been trying to make the case for science, showing how science can be utilized more effectively in the classroom. We’ve explored the evidence showing that science supports literacy instruction. We’ve talked about science and the responsible use of technology like AI. My hope is that all of you listeners out there can use some of this evidence to feel empowered to make the case for science in your own communities. And on this episode, we’re going to examine how science can help develop what might be the most important skill that we try to develop in our students: Good thinking. On this episode, I’m joined by a biologist who actually advocated for eliminating the Intro to Bio course at her college. Instead, Professor Trecek-King created a new course focused on critical thinking, information literacy, and science literacy skills. In this conversation, we discuss why the science classroom is such a good environment for helping students become better thinkers. Now, I don’t think that you can make a much stronger argument for science than using it to develop the skills that Melanie describes in this conversation. So, without further ado, I’m thrilled to bring you this conversation with Melanie Trecek-King, Associate Professor of Biology at Massasoit Community College, and creator of Thinking Is Power. Here’s Melanie.
Eric Cross (02:29):
Well, Melanie, thank you for joining us on the show. It’s so good to have you.
Melanie Trecek-King (02:34):
I am so happy to be here.
Eric Cross (02:35):
Now, I went to your session at NSTA in Chicago … I think it was two years ago. A couple years ago. And I was listening to your session, and as I was listening to you, I started Reverse Engineering in my mind what you were doing with your college students. I started reverse engineering the K–8. I was like, “This is amazing.” Where has what you’ve been doing been hiding? We need this not just in the college, higher ed. We need this all the way up and down. Because I hadn’t seen it before. So I think a good place for us to start is gonna be like the story of how and why you as a biologist wound up making the case to actually eliminate the Intro to Biology course at your college. So can you start off and tell us a little bit about that story?
Melanie Trecek-King (03:20):
Sure. So I started teaching at a community college in Massachusetts. And I absolutely love teaching at a community college. And I was teaching the courses that people who don’t wanna be scientists when they grow up have to take to fulfill their science requirement. And that course was Intro Bio. And I tried every way I could figure out to make that class be useful,] relevant to students. I mean, the thing is, our world is based on science and you have to understand science to be a good consumer of information, to make good decisions. And I’m a biologist, so it pains me to say this, but you know, somewhere in the middle of teaching students about the stages of mitosis and protein synthesis, I thought, “Is this really — like, if I have one semester that’s gonna be the last chance that someone’s gonna get a science education, is this really what they need?” And I just decided, “No.” So, to my college’s credit, they were very supportive. I went to them and said, “You know, I think we should assess the non-majors courses. Like, why do we teach non-majors science?” And we all agreed, well, it was for science literacy. OK, great. Do our existing non-majors courses do that? And so we evaluated each of the courses. I made a case that Intro Bio was not doing it. And so we actually replaced it with a course that I call Science for Life. And the whole course is designed to teach science literacy, critical thinking, and information literacy skills.
Eric Cross (04:48):
And so you did this while you were looking at mitosis. And you’re looking at students who may or may not be science majors. And then kind of asking that question. I know every educator asks this, and whether or not it’s welcomed or supported is a different question: “Is what I’m teaching actually gonna be relevant and useful later on down the road for this group of students?” And you actually got to run with it and then create this course, this new course. So, what were the skills that you were hoping to achieve with the new course you developed, and and why were those skills so important?
Melanie Trecek-King (05:21):
Well, if I just go back for a second to what you said, ’cause it, really hit me: I remember the actual moment — it had been building up to that point, but the actual moment that it hit me — I was teaching students the stages of mitosis. And I was applying it to cancer, because the thought is that if we use issues that are relevant to students to teach concepts, that it will be more meaningful to them. They’ll learn it better; they’ll be able to apply it. And they just looked absolutely deflated. They didn’t wanna be there. And I had this moment where I thought, “You know, if, if these students ever have cancer somewhere in their lives, is what I taught them going to be something that they remember? Is it going to be useful to them?” And quite frankly, like, no. <Laugh> They’re not gonna remember proto-oncogenes. And quite frankly, is that really what they need to know at that moment? What they need to know is, “What does this mean? Who is a reliable source of information here? If these treatments are recommended, what is the evidence for them? What are the cost-benefit analyses? Where do I go to find reliable information?” And in that space, cancer in particular, we have this whole field of — I wanna say charlatans, ’cause they may not actually be lying, but they’re pedaling false cures, false hopes. And people need that kind of hope, and so in their time of need, they’re more likely to fall for that kind of thing. Which leads me to the skills that I teach students. I call them this tree of skills. And the order is important. I start — and there’s a lot of overlap to be fair — but critical thinking, and then information literacy, and science literacy. The idea is that students carry in their pockets access to basically all of human’s knowledge at this moment in time. And if they needed to access it, they could. The question is, do they know what they’re looking for? Are they aware of their own biases that are leading them to certain sources, or certain false hopes? Are there certain things that are making them more vulnerable to the people that might prey on them? Are they able to use that information to make good decisions? There’s a great Carl Sagan quote, and it’s something like, “If we teach people only the findings of science, no matter how useful or even inspiring they may be, without communicating the method, then how is anyone to be able to tell the difference between science and pseudoscience?” So yes, the process of science is a process of critical thinking. However, we do tend to present science most of the time. Like, here’s what science has learned. And to be fair, those things that we’ve learned from science are really useful and inspiring. But if we don’t teach the process, so you’ve got somebody now who let’s say has been diagnosed with cancer and is on their phone and they’re scrolling through social media and everything looks the same. And of course the algorithms learn who you are. Next thing you know, there’s all of these like pseudo-treatments popping up. It all looks the same. Somebody who says that acupuncture can be used to cure cancer can feel the same, from someone who doesn’t understand the process of science, as a medical fact. And so the process is the process of critical thinking. My class everything is open note. The quizzes are open note. The exams — and I say open note, they’re also open online, because I know for the rest of their life they’re gonna have resources available to them; I want them to be good consumers with that information, which to me requires metacognition and critical thinking and information literacy and all those skills that I’m trying to teach them.
Eric Cross (08:58):
You’re basically taking what … we’ve taught science for so long. And more recently, it’s changed to more focusing on skills. At least in K through 12. But a lot of it was just memorization of a ton of different things that now we can pull up our phone, go on the internet. You can pull up a lot of those facts. But those facts don’t necessarily translate to actual real-world skills. When I listen to… I kind of make this analogy sometimes: students say … it’s funny, I have 12-year-olds that say this. They go, “How come they don’t teach us how to do our taxes?” And you know they’re regurgitating what they hear from adults, right? “Teach us real-world skills!” And I was like, really, if we taught you right now how to do your taxes, how many of you would really be like, “Oh, this is an awesome lesson! We’re really engaged!” But their point is that “I wanna learn something that I could actually use later on, that’s that I’m gonna carry on.” And in your course, you’re talking about these skills that actually can apply. Like you said, if I had cancer and I’m looking at different types of medical procedures, do I have the skills to really be able to evaluate and make informed decisions on that? And that’s, that’s not something that I’ve seen explicitly taught really anywhere. And I hadn’t heard anybody talk about it, really, until I heard your session, where you’ve kind of unpacked this, and over the last couple of years, have created some programs or resources for educators, where they can take this into their classroom. So what were some of those skills, again? What were were some of the skills that you thought, “I wanna make sure that my students can walk out and they know how to do this and apply it to maybe several different fields”?
Melanie Trecek-King (10:35):
Oh, that’s a really good question. Because the whole thing was a process for me. Like, when I finally let go of Intro Bio, I was so glad to see that class go, by the way. ‘Cause I just felt like I was beating a dead horse. So when I let go of it, I thought, “What do they need instead?” And for me, what I realized was I was trying to make the class I would’ve wanted to take. I realized the things that I personally didn’t know, that my own education maybe let me down a bit. But things that I thought were important. So then I took all of those, synthesized them, tried to figure out the best order. The class is currently in its third iteration. And I hope every iteration is an improvement. But I’m thinking about the students that I taught before the pandemic. It was Intro Bio. Up to just maybe the couple years before the pandemic, and during the pandemic, we had a new virus and we had a new vaccine and we had new treatments. There was hydroxychloroquine and there was ivermectin and then there’s masks. Are masks effective? Well, you know, in what circumstances? What kind of mask? There are all of these questions. And that whole thing was we saw science playing out in real time.
Eric Cross (11:50):
Absolutely.
Melanie Trecek-King (11:51):
And so were my students able to follow that? And then what happened in that process is that science became politicized. And in a time where things are uncertain and we need answers, ’cause it’s scary, people want certainty and science doesn’t tend to provide that. Especially when it’s just starting out. And then when it becomes politicized, people decide that they’re going to — it’s not necessarily a conscious decision — but they retreat into what people in their camps are saying or their groups are saying. Which actually leads me to one of the more important parts of information literacy skills in there, which is most of our knowledge is shared. We tend to have overinflated senses of what we individually know. And studies actually show that with Google, if you have access to Google, you think you’re smarter than if you don’t have access to Google. But we all have access to knowledge in our communities, and that’s one of the reasons humans are so successful, is that we can each specialize in different things and share our expertise and become greater than the sum of our parts. The problem with that, of course, is that we forget what we don’t know, and we assume that we know what the community knows. And so recognizing the limits of your own knowledge and how different communities produce knowledge, like the different epistemic processes that communities use to come to knowledge. When it comes down to it, an important part of knowing is knowing who to trust, right? Knowing where the source of knowledge lives. And in order to do that, you have to understand the processes that they’re using to come to that knowledge and the limits of your own knowledge. And then how to find who has that knowledge so that you can use that to make better decisions.
Eric Cross (13:38):
So, when I hear what you’re doing with your college students, and I think about what I’m doing in the classroom, in the middle school, we are really focusing on literacy as skills. Reading, writing, speaking, listening. And then when I think of the next step of the journey, your information literacy and the literacy you’re teaching is really the application of those things in the real world. And the examples that you gave are very critical examples. Evaluating claims about Covid. Making informed decisions about a medical procedure that you might need. And we all get that applied to us. We’re scrolling through social media and somehow social media is listening. It’s figuring out exactly what I’m doing, because all of a sudden the ads are telling me … how did you know I was alking about KitchenAid mixers now? I just said KitchenAid mixers and it’s gonna show up in my feed! But <laugh> I take that in the same way from the same place that I take in maybe an oncologist. So it’s it’s coming through the same channels. So now I kind of wanna pivot. So we’ve talked about what you’re doing, why you’re doing it, the connection between “am I really teaching the skills that my students need in the science class? Is it really critical thinking explicitly or is it just kind of implied?” Now I wanna ask you how you do it. What’s the annotated, abbreviated kind of syllabus of your course?
Melanie Trecek-King (15:03):
So the course is called Science for Life. And the premise behind it is the kinds of skills and understanding of the process of science that they would need to make good decisions to be empowered in a world based on science. And so the very first lecture, I say, “OK, I’m gonna tell you a story and I just want you to listen to the story. And at the end I’m gonna ask you why I told the story.” And the story that I tell them is some of the history of the witchcraft trials in Europe. And I start with the Malleus Maleficarum, or the Hammer of Witches, from the Pope, and about how people would accuse witches of causing birth defects or storms or crops dying. And, the best evidence that they had to absolutely know somebody was a witch was if somebody accused them, and then if they were accused, if they confessed. OK? But the problem is, to get them to confess, they would torture them. Roasting over coals, or splitting until somebody broke. And so I tell my students, “OK, this was absolute proof that someone was guilty of witchcraft. I don’t know about you; I would confess to anything, right? Make it stop!” So this is where I get to ask students, “Why would I ask you this? Why would I tell you this story? And traumatize you on the very first day of lecture?” And they see the reasoning, right? They thought they had evidence. The question was, is that good evidence? And so, you know, I’m getting students to have a basic understanding of epistemology, right? Without calling it that, or without going into all of the philosophical background of epistemology. Apply this to your own reasoning. What are you wrong about? Well, you probably wouldn’t know. OK, how would you know if you were wrong? Like what kinds of things do you feel that you’re so right about? How good is your evidence for that? So what I want them to do is internalize the thinking about thinking, and analyzing how they come to conclusions, and proportioning how strongly they believe. Their confidence in how right they are. So I think starting with that kind of misinformation, and getting students to internalize that process is important. But I think the example is really useful, because most of my students don’t believe in witchcraft. Right? So it’s not an issue that would immediately threaten them in some way. So when, when a belief is tied to identity or how we see ourselves or is really important to us, then it’s very difficult to be objective about that belief. And so by starting with witchcraft, it’s not triggering. I get them to think about thinking and practice that muscle so that when we get to those more important issues, they have the skills they need to evaluate them.
Eric Cross (17:55):
So would it be fair to say that your Science for Life class is really applied scientific thinking for the real world?
Melanie Trecek-King (18:01):
Absolutely. That’s the idea. I mean, science is too good to keep to ourselves, right? And it’s everywhere. So how can you understand the world through a scientific lens?
Eric Cross (18:10):
What are the nuts and bolts of how you teach your students these strategies? What do you do? What are some strategies and techniques that we can maybe share with listeners? And then where I want to go after that is I wanna ask you, how early do you think this can be started? So lemme start off first with, what do you do?
Melanie Trecek-King (18:28):
So I use three different strategies. One is, I provide students with a toolkit. And the toolkit is one that I created and it is like my one toolkit to rule them all. It is trying to apply critical thinking and science reasoning all together in one place. So that if students are met with a claim, they’ve got the toolkit with an acronym. They can now start and have somewhere to go. In that if I gave you a claim and said, “Just critically think through this claim,” I mean, that’s a mighty task. But if you have a structured toolkit, then it’s hopefully a systemic way that’s helpful. The toolkit is summarized by FLOATER. I have published it on Skeptical Inquirer. It’s free. So it’s Falsifiability, Logical, Objectivity, Alternative Explanations, Tentative Conclusions, Evidence, and Reproducibility. So I provide students with a toolkit. The next thing I do is I use a lot of misinformation in class. Back to what Carl Sagan says: What I heard was we should use pseudoscience to teach students the difference between a pseudo-scientific process and a scientific process. So, I use science denial, conspiracy theories, and give my students a lot of opportunities to practice evaluating claims with the toolkit. And the other thing I do is, I use inoculation activities. So inoculation theory is based on William McGuire’s original research in the ’60s, which is basically like a vaccine analogy. Where you can inject a small amount of a virus or bacterium into the body, so that it creates an immune response, so that it can learn the real thing. And so in the real world, it can fight it off. Inoculation theory does the same thing, but with misinformation. So, what we can do is, in controlled environments, expose students to little bits of misinformation so that they can recognize it in the real world. There’s different kinds of inoculation, but I’m a big fan of what’s called active and technique-based inoculation. So technique-based means that students are learning not the facts of misinformation, not factually why this thing is wrong, but about the technique used to deceive. So maybe the use of fake experts. Or maybe the use of anecdotes. Or the use of logical fallacies. The other part of that is active, which is where students create the misinformation. So for example, my students, just now, we finished covering pseudoscience. And I teach students the characteristics of pseudoscience. And basically we have fun with it. Where they pretend to be grifters and they sell a pseudoscience product. And so they have to make an ad like they’d see on social media, using the different techniques. And the point there is that it’s supposed to be funny, right? And lighthearted. But in a real way, by using the techniques used to sell something like pseudoscience, it’s opening their eyes. You can’t unsee how every alternative product has, “it’s an all-natural and used for centuries and millions use it and look at this person who says, ‘Wow, it worked for me!’ And it’s certified by some society that doesn’t exist, but this doctor behind it says that it’s really great!” I mean, it’s all the same stuff. So they create the misinformation using their own techniques.
Eric Cross (22:02):
That’s one of my favorite things that you’ve talked about, and I want to dive in that a little bit more. But when you’re teaching the toolkit, FLOATER, what does that look like in the classroom, when you’re actually breaking all of those things down? What does it look like as you’re walking your students through this, and you’re kind of coaching them on all of those different things? ‘Cause I feel like some things might be like, “Oh yeah, I got that.” And then some of them might be, “Oh, what is that?”
Melanie Trecek-King (22:24):
Yeah, it takes me probably a good solid lecture to get through the basis of the toolkit. But then over the rest of the semester, I’ll spend more time going into different parts, different rules, a bit more in-depth. So, for example, logical fallacies and objectivity. So the rule of objectivity basically states that you need to be honest with yourself. I’m gonna quote Feynman here, so: “The first principle is that you must not fool yourself — and you are the easiest person to fool.” We don’t tend to think that we can be fooled. But of course we can. So actually, if you wanna talk about it, I start class by fooling my students.
Eric Cross (23:03):
Wait, what do you do? What do you do for that?
Melanie Trecek-King (23:05):
Oh, so this is really fun. Day 1 of class, after the syllabus, I tell my … so you’re in my class now, Eric. “So I have a friend, and she’s a psychic. She’s an astrologer and she’s pretty good at what she does. I mean, she’s got books and she’s been on TV and stuff. She knows I teach this course about skepticism. And so she’s agreed to test how effective she is by providing personality assessments to students in class. So if you wanna participate, what I need from you is your birthday, your full name, answer a few questions. Like, if your house was on fire and you could take one thing, what would it be? Or if you could get paid for anything to do anything for a living, what would it be? Um, there’s a third one. Oh! If you could have any superpower, what would it be?” So the next class, it’s usually over a weekend. The next class I say, “OK, I’ve got your personality assessments back, but remember, we wanna test how effective she is. So in order to do that, I need you to read your profile as quietly as possible. And then I’m gonna have you rate her accuracy on a scale of 1 to 5. OK? So close your eyes; rate her.” Over the years doing this, it’s about a 4.3 to 4.5 out of 5. They think she’s pretty accurate. OK? “So now, if you feel comfortable, get with a person next to you. And I want you to talk about what parts of the personality assessment really spoke to you and, and why, and why you thought she was accurate or not.” And it takes them 5, 10 minutes before they realize they all got the same one. So, this is not my original experiment. It was first done by Bertram Forer in … I think it was the ’50s. And it’s done in psychology classrooms. James Randi made it famous. But the personality assessment itself is full of what are called Barnum statements. So, named after P.T. Barnum. These are statements that are very generic. So, “You have a need to be liked and admired by people. You are often quiet and reserved, but there are times where you can be the life of the party.”
Eric Cross (25:13):
How do you know this about me, by the way? This is a — I feel like you know me right now.
Melanie Trecek-King (25:17):
“There are times where you’ve wondered whether you’ve done the right thing.”
Eric Cross (25:19):
This is getting weird.
Melanie Trecek-King (25:21):
I’m just on fire, right? So these are Barnum statements. They’re the basis of personality assessment.
Eric Cross (25:29):
Mel, can I pause you right there? You said Barnum. Is that the same Barnum, like Barnum & Bailey Circus?
Melanie Trecek-King (25:34):
Yeah. P.T. Barnum, who didn’t actually say “There’s a sucker born every minute,” but we attribute him with that kind of ethos. These statements though, if you read a horoscope or even like personality indicators, like the MBTI, it is basically pseudo-scientific. And it ends up with lots of these Barnum statements. They produce what’s called the Barnum Effect, which is, “Wow, that’s so me! How did you know me?” I could even do more. Like, you have a box of photos in your house that need to be sorted. Or unused prescriptions. And these can apply to nearly everyone, but they produce this effect where we go, “Wow, that is so me!” Right? So by fooling them this way, I get to … well, so the next thing is, “Yes, I lied to you. And I’d like to tell you I won’t do that again. But I’m not going to, ’cause I might. So be on your guard.” But I did it for free. And why did I do it? “I did it because I could tell you ‘I could fool you,’ but you wouldn’t necessarily believe me. So I fooled you, so that you would learn what it feels like to be fooled.” It’s not fun. But we’re gonna make a joke outta this. And students are almost never upset about this ’cause it’s a fun process and they’re all fooled. And again, the point is, I didn’t disprove psychic powers. I didn’t just disprove psychics with this exercise. But I did show you how easy it was to fake. So if somebody is gonna tell you that they can know these things about you through some way, hopefully the evidence they provide should be stronger than something that’s easily faked. Right? Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence. If you claim to be able to read my personality based on my birthdate, then I need more than something that you can be taught to do in 15 minutes. So, I fool them to convince them that they could be fooled.
Eric Cross (27:27):
You’re giving them a practice scenario for thinking. And I was thinking about basketball. I grew up playing basketball. And my coach would have our own team be the defenders of the next team we were gonna play, so that we can be prepared for the defense. We were gonna see. Now, when I’m thinking about education, and what you just said reminded me of this, it’s like we’re often just teaching offense. We’re always teaching the plays. We’re always teaching what to do. But we rarely teach defense. What happens when someone comes towards you and, and they challenge you or they come at you with claims? How do we evaluate this? And I think in pockets we do it. We do claim-evidence-reasoning. We present claims and evidence and reasoning. But we don’t always have practice defending them. And I think there’s great resources. There’s Argumentation Toolkit and there’s all these awesome resources that do this. But does that fit? You’re kind of having them practice defense?
Melanie Trecek-King (28:26):
Yeah. You know, that’s brilliant. I never considered that analogy. But, yeah, in the real world, you don’t just get to always try to score all the time. Someone’s gonna challenge you and give you a claim that maybe you haven’t heard before. So how do you think through it?
Eric Cross (28:41):
Yeah. And you become better. So now I’m thinking about how early could we start doing this? For one, I love the idea of lying to your students, because I do that. And it’s just such a fun scenario. How early could we start implementing these strategies or these ideas or these toolkits? In your mind, what do you imagine? How early could we start this with young people?
Melanie Trecek-King (29:07):
Yeah. I’m so glad you asked that question, ’cause honestly, by the time they get to me, it’s almost too late. And I don’t wanna say it’s too late, ’cause it’s never too late. But, oh, we need to start so much earlier! That example that I gave about the selling pseudoscience argument? I have a wonderful colleague, Bertha Vasquez, who’s a middle school teacher in Miami and the director of TIES at CFI. She did this with her middle school students. And quite frankly, their examples were just as good, or in some cases better, than my college students. And they had so much fun with it, too. And she just said that, you know, <laugh>, they actually are more savvy with the kinds of things that they see online than we — I don’t wanna say give them credit for. But almost that we want to believe. My students give me examples of things that are from corners of the internet that I didn’t know existed. And quite frankly, that’s probably a good thing for my own mental health. But students are on there too, like middle school students, and we need to prepare them for the kinds of things that they see in the wild.
Eric Cross (30:13):
So in middle school, definitely. Now, you’ve also done some work in high school as well, right? In Oklahoma? Did you do some. …?
Melanie Trecek-King (30:17):
Yeah.
Eric Cross (30:18):
…some work with high schoolers? What was that like? Did you see any impact there?
Melanie Trecek-King (30:21):
So I didn’t actually do it in Oklahoma. I have taught the course … actually, you were talking about younger kids. I’ve taught the course to high schoolers in my area that are parts of dual enrollment. And they absolutely ate up the curriculum. And they were wonderful, wonderful students. And it was completely appropriate for … they were juniors, actually. But the course has also been taught in Oklahoma, through a dual enrollment program as well. And it was a small sample size. But we have pre-post testing that showed that it improved their critical thinking, their acceptance of science. But anecdotally the head of the program there said that in his years doing this, he’d never seen a course that helped them improve in their other courses so well. So, I felt very rewarded by hearing this. But apparently their critical thinking skills and information literacy skills helped them succeed in their other courses that they were taking. And I love that the students were transferring those skills to other classes. That’s the whole point.
Eric Cross (31:23):
And that’s a big … I think that what you just said is really the core, especially of what we’ve been talking about this season: What you’re talking about and what you’re teaching can transfer and supports literacy. And this is an example of science doing that across all other content areas. So I think that that’s huge, that that was said. What do people say about this course? I know I went on your website, and I looked at some of the comments that some folks were saying, and I know it’s just a snippet, but what do you hear from the education world about this? Because I don’t see it in many places. I see it kind of embedded, sprinkled into different content areas. But you’re actually teaching it explicitly. Do you tend to find positive feedback, overwhelmingly? Or do you get pushback on on some of this? What’s it been like for you?
Melanie Trecek-King (32:16):
I think the biggest pushback — and it’s good pushback, and I would agree entirely — is with inoculation activities, you do need to be careful to, when you debrief students, you wanna tell them why you did what you did and to use their powers for good and not for fooling other people. And I think importantly, for not putting misinformation out into the wild without having context around it. So if you do these kinds of inoculation activities, like if you have your students create pseudoscience ads, don’t just let them put them on social media. Obviously, you can’t control everything that they’re doing. But explain to them why you wouldn’t wanna do that. As far as everything else, I’ve heard really great feedback. You’re referencing my website. So, when I put together the course, I was trying to find resources for students to read. Textbooks are ridiculously expensive and I couldn’t find anything that I really wanted students to buy. So I just started writing, and I put it on my site. I have a site that’s basically the core of the curriculum. More in progress. And then I’ve got some of the topics that we explore and those are all assigned readings. My students are captive, in that I know they want a grade, and for four months they have to sit with me for the entire semester, in that I’ve specifically ordered the content in a way that would be most conducive to them learning these things. On the internet, though, and on social media, ’cause I post on there as well, people come in from all kinds of entry points, and so the goal would be to have them start at the beginning and go to the end. But people … I’m pleasantly surprised that there is an audience for critical thinking and science literacy content out there. And so that really warms my heart. But I am doing more and more for educators. And so I have a section for educators. I put content on there. I put assignments, the assignments that we’ve talked about and more, are on there. And the educators that I’ve had use it have just been really wonderful. Like, I hear great things. If I might, the biggest issue that I’m having is actually reaching educators. I’ve gone to — I met you at NSCA, actually, that was only last summer.
Eric Cross (34:30):
Oh, wow. Wow.
Melanie Trecek-King (34:32):
Right?
Eric Cross (34:32):
Yeah, you’re right. It wasn’t even a year.
Melanie Trecek-King (34:35):
Yeah, I think it was like July last year. So, um, you’ve been to the conferences. And I just went to the last one as well. But I have yet to figure out a way to really get in front of enough educators to share the content. So if anybody’s listening and is interested in learning more, please let me know! <Laugh>
Eric Cross (34:52):
Yes. And we talked about your website, but I didn’t say what the website was. So it’s ThinkingIsPower.com.
Melanie Trecek-King (34:57):
Yes.
Eric Cross (34:58):
And on there, there’s tons of resources. There is the toolkit. And it’s all free.
Melanie Trecek-King (35:06):
Yes.
Eric Cross (35:07):
And there’s a dope t-shirt on there that I just bought today, that Melanie’s actually wearing right now. It says, “Be curious, be skeptical, and be humble.” And I love that. Because I think one of the things that we can’t forget about teaching people how to think and critically evaluating information, sometimes those conversations can become very dehumanizing. And what I mean by that is it sometimes can become, like, intellectual sport, where we forget that there’s a human being on the other other side. And we lose that empathy and compassion. We can kind of see that. It just becomes this intellectual jousting and arguing. And one of the things I know about you, and when you talk about this or you talk about the work that you do, and even the shirt that you’re wearing, there’s this, “be humble.” There’s this human that is never lost in this. And you said it, too: When you’re teaching your students and you’re equipping them with all of these intellectual skills and all of these tools, to use it for good. So to maintain your humanity, to maintain your character, and then to use it to edify and lift people up, not to go out and do harm. That balance, I think, is so, so important. So it’s something that I really appreciate about you and how you teach.
Melanie Trecek-King (36:19):
I appreciate those kind words. Actually—
Eric Cross (36:21):
Oh, of course!
Melanie Trecek-King (36:22):
—and if I might, I sometimes see people using critical thinking like a weapon. It’s like, “I have learned fallacies and I’m just gonna use the tools of critical thinking to tell you why you’re stupid, or why you’re wrong, and why my position is right!” But real critical thinking involves applying those same standards to your own thought processes. And even something like argumentation: the goal of our argumentation is not to BE right; it’s to GET it right. And so we’re on the same team. If we’re arguing about something, if the idea is in scientific argumentation we’re trying to find the truth, which one of us is making a better argument based on the evidence? Can your perspective help me see my own blind spots and vice versa? And the more different perspectives that we have, the more able we are to find whatever reality is. But we are in this together. And so, yeah, I think … I’m glad to hear that that’s coming through. But if you don’t have the kind of humility that says, “You know, I could be wrong,” then you’re never gonna change your mind anyway. So having the humility to say, I’m wrong. <Laugh>
Eric Cross (37:33):
Yeah. You end up just seeing people just defend turf, as opposed to support “look for truth.” And I know for me, my own education journey, I end up with more questions than answers anyways. So I go in trying to find an answer for something and I end up with 10 more questions. And I go, “OK, this is kind of how it is.” You go down this rabbit hole and you just end up with all these different questions. And it forces the humility, because you’re like, “I don’t know! I think this is what it could be, but it could also be these other answers or explanations. So this is just where I’m at, based on what we know right now, at this present time, which might shift.”
Melanie Trecek-King (38:07):
And that sounds reasonable. Yes. Which might shift. Yes.
Eric Cross (38:11):
And especially for us as life-science biology teachers, our content is something that definitely shifts. I know some of the things I teach now are not things that I learned when I was even in middle school. Just because things evolve. They change. We learn, we get new data. That’s just the way it is.
Melanie Trecek-King (38:24):
<Sighs> And Pluto is no longer a planet.
Eric Cross (38:26):
I know. Rest in — well, no, Pluto’s still there. Yeah. It’s no longer a planet. But that was one part of my kindergarten memorizations <laugh> is Pluto being in there.
Melanie Trecek-King (38:36):
Gotta change your mind.
Eric Cross (38:38):
I know. Any words of advice for science educators out there who want to focus more on honing these critical thinking skills and strategies with their own students, but they don’t know where to start? Where would you point them? Or what advice would you give them?
Melanie Trecek-King (38:52):
I think start with what you want the students to know. And not necessarily the FACTS that you want students to know, but start with the skills that you want them to know. And then really be honest with your process. When I designed Science for Life, I started with, “these are the skills that I want students to know.” And everything was in service of that. So this sort of backwards design, I think, helped me follow a path that was more likely to be useful, if that makes any sense. But it really required doing it all over again. So don’t be afraid to question the things that you’re currently doing, even if that’s all you’ve been taught or all you know.
Eric Cross (39:41):
What I’m hearing is, don’t be afraid to question your own assumptions about what you’re doing. And don’t be afraid to adapt or change or modify. Kinda, pivot. Be flexible.
Melanie Trecek-King (39:51):
Yes, be flexible and pivot. And this is where I’m in a different position than middle school and high school educators. Because I have complete freedom over what I teach in my class.
Eric Cross (40:01):
Sure.
Melanie Trecek-King (40:01):
At the end of the semester, I always joke with non-majors that there’s nothing they have to know, which actually gives me a lot of flexibility, because I could teach ’em a lot of different things. So if there are things that you have to teach students, obviously that’s one thing. But I personally think that the way that we’ve been teaching science needs a refresher. A rethinking. And so I would say, “If you want your students to learn science literacy, honestly ask, what does that mean to you? And what would that look like to get to that point?” For me, though, it was also keeping in mind that maybe I didn’t already know the best way to do that.
Eric Cross (40:43):
One of the things you mentioned earlier is trying to reach out to educators. And I know that when we work together, it’s a force multiplier. And what you’re doing is developing skills. And there’s these skills that are happening right now in academia that you’re doing. And then how do we transfer that into middle and high school. Or, I’m sorry, middle and elementary school, high school. We need to get more people into this conversation to kind of brainstorm and figure that out. We have a Facebook group, Science Connections: The Community, where we have educators that gather. That can be one place we start the conversation. And again, I know on your website you’ve been super active on social media; you’ve grown your presence on Twitter and all these different places, engaging with folks. Which is awesome. ‘Cause I know I see your posts and I’m saving the things that you’re posting and I’m thinking of ways that I can do it in my classroom. I’m gonna take that product. By the way, is that on your website, the lesson that you do with the product?
Melanie Trecek-King (41:43):
No, actually. So the article, “How to Sell Pseudoscience” is … I know Bertha Vasquez wrote up a version of it.
Eric Cross (41:50):
Maybe we can grab that. ‘Cause we might be able to put that into the show notes for folks, because she’s a middle school educator. If there’s already something that’s been done for teachers like us, we’re like, “Yeah, let me get that and let me remix it and make it my own!” if there’s already a exemplar out there.
Melanie Trecek-King (42:04):
Yeah, she’s done it. And so I will absolutely share that with you.
Eric Cross (42:08):
So, all season long, we’ve been talking about science as the underdog. We kind of framed it, you know, science oftentimes takes a back seat to math and English. It’s kinda the first thing to go. Or the first area where time can get cut. Because of what gets tested gets focused on, oftentimes. And then in addition to that, when you’re a multi-subject teacher, elementary science isn’t just one thing — it’s every field. You know, you’re a biologist, which is different than a geologist. And when you’re teaching every subject, that’s a lot. And you might not have had a science class for years. And the realities that we’re seeing over and over with different researchers and practitioners is that science could actually enhance literacy, and building those skills. And I think you really talked about it with the critical thinking skills. Those can transfer. Or the administrator that said, “This is one of the only courses I’ve seen where it transfers to other areas.” Could you share maybe with our listeners, just any advice for advocating for science in their own world?
Melanie Trecek-King (43:13):
Wow, I’m not sure I’m qualified to answer that question! One of the things that comes to mind though — because I was listening to your last episode and educators … I honestly didn’t realize how little time they had for science. And how often science was then the first to go, to allow room for other subjects. But science overlaps with a lot of other issues. And so I feel like there could be a way to bring in science when teaching these other subjects. So, for example, argumentation and logical fallacies are easy to apply to reading and writing. Information literacy, and being able to find good information online, teaching students how to laterally read, to be able to check a source, or how to use Google effectively, to put in neutral search terms to find sources, or teaching students how to recognize the characteristics of conspiratorial thinking: All of these things can overlap with so many other subjects. So the scientist in me is a little biased towards science being important enough to do this. But try to bring it into the other subjects. It doesn’t have to be completely separate.
Eric Cross (44:43):
So integrating science into other things. And I … big believer. And a hundred percent agree with you. Now I’m gonna ask a question that kinda like takes us backwards. You shared an app with me when we first met that I thought was really cool. And I know it’s a friend or colleague of yours. But as a middle school teacher, I thought it was great, because it was something that my students could download and practice some of the skills that you’re talking about. Would you talk a little bit about the cranky uncle? Is it the Cranky Uncle app?
Melanie Trecek-King (45:17):
Cranky Uncle.
Eric Cross (45:18):
Could you share a little bit about that?
Melanie Trecek-King (45:20):
Yeah. Cranky Uncle is awesome. So, Cranky Uncle is the brainchild of John Cook, who is the founder of Skeptical Science and the author of the 97% Consensus study on climate change. Cranky Uncle … so he’s also a cartoonist. And Cranky Uncle is a cartoon game where … I don’t even have to explain who Cranky Uncle is to my students. Everybody inherently gets the, the character, right? So he’s like the guy at Thanksgiving that you don’t wanna talk to because he denies climate change and he’s just really cranky. But Cranky Uncle uses the techniques of science denial, which are summarized by the acronym FLICC: So it’s Fake experts, Logical fallacies, Impossible expectations, Cherry-picking, and Conspiratorial thinking. So he uses those techniques. Again, this is technique-based inoculation. So they recognize the techniques in the game, and you earn cranky points. And as you make Cranky crankier and crankier because you’re recognizing his techniques, you learn the techniques of science denial, and level up and open up other techniques. This is another one of those examples where climate change has a lot of science behind it, right? And if you wanted to get to the science behind climate change for any particular issue … so let’s say it’s cold today, so I’m gonna say there’s no climate change. OK? If I’m gonna unpack that at a factual level, and with science, we could be here for a while. But if I told you, “That’s like saying, ‘I just ate a sandwich so there’s no global hunger.’” OK? So that’s a parallel argument. Humorous. Love to use this kind of argumentation, ’cause it makes for some … I mean, it’s funny, but you get the point. It’s an anecdote. And anecdotes aren’t good evidence. So just like that, you could teach the technique of using an anecdotal fallacy for climate-change denial. So, I have my students play this game. You could do it when you’re studying argumentation. You could do it for science denial. I use an inoculation extension with that, where I have my students pretend that … um, actually, back up for a second. So I teach a class on critical thinking. And at the end of semesters I would get emails from students on, well, they’re failing the class, but they really shouldn’t, for all of these reasons. And reading these emails, I’m like, “If you think that’s a good argument, you clearly didn’t learn what I was hoping you would learn.” So I now have my students, early in the semester, after they play Cranky, pretend that it is the end of the semester and you’re failing the class and you’re failing because you didn’t do the work. Use at least four of the fallacies from class to argue for why you should pass. So they have to put it on a discussion forum, and they’ll say things like, “Well, if you fail me, then I won’t get into graduate school and then people will die and it will all be your fault.” Or, “My dog died, and so I was really sad.” Or, um, “You’re just a terrible teacher. And you’re short. So I don’t like you.” Or that kind of thing. So, oh, they love to attack my character. It’s really funny. But it’s supposed to be funny. And the point is, the students are using those arguments, they’re using the fallacies, to argue for something. And so by creating that misinformation themselves, they learn how those fallacies work. But taken together, I mean, everything that we just talked about there, Cranky Uncle, and the fallacy assignment, or whatever iteration you want that to be in, that doesn’t have to be in a purely science unit. Right? That could be sociology. It could be argumentation. It could be English.
Eric Cross (49:01):
Absolutely. That could be totally a prompt in an English class. And practiced in there. And then this could be an interdisciplinary thing, going back and forth between English and and science. Just having these discussions and looking at it from different angles. And you’re practicing the skills in two different contexts. So you get into argumentation. And then that app, I know I had fun with it. And the questions on there definitely resonate with people in my own family. I’m like, “I feel like I’m talking to exactly somebody that I’m related to right now.” <Laugh> Melanie, anything else that you wanna share, or discuss or highlight, before we wrap up?
Melanie Trecek-King (49:39):
So we could talk about lateral reading, if you like. ‘Cause I know a lot of educators use the crap test.
Eric Cross (49:45):
Please, please, please talk about that.
Melanie Trecek-King (49:47):
So, when evaluating sources, a lot of educators teach what’s called the CRAP test. And I wish I remembered what it stood for. But basically what you do, a lot of us have been taught when you go to a website, to figure out if it’s reliable, you wanna go to the about page. Read the mission; see who they are; maybe read some of the content; evaluate the language. So is it inflammatory? Are they making logical arguments? Are the links to reputable sources as well? And the problem is that if a site wants to mislead you, they’re not going to tell you that it’s a bunk site, right? They’re just gonna do a good job of misleading you. And so, what you wanna do instead … the CRAP test basically is an evaluation of a site. And that’s what’s called vertical reading. So you’re looking through a site to determine if it’s reliable. Uh, I think his name’s Sam Wineberg at Stanford, proposed something called lateral reading. Where, instead of on the site, what you wanna do is literally open a new tab and into the search engine type the source. You could do the claim, too. And then something like Reliability or FactCheck or whatever it’s that you’re checking, and then see what other reputable sites have to say about it. So, in their study, actually, they did a really interesting study where they compared professional fact checkers to PhD historians to Stanford undergrads. And they evaluated — I wish you could … um, there’s two pediatrician organizations. One’s like the American Association of Pediatrics and the American Academy of Pediatricians, something like that. They’re very similar sounding. So you give them to students. I do this with my students as well, the same study. So I give my students those two websites. And I say, “Which one of these is more reliable?” And they do exactly what most of us do, which is spend time on the site looking around. And most of the time, if not nearly all the time, they come to the wrong conclusion. And so then I tell them what lateral reading is: “OK, instead of looking through the site, open a new tab, search the organization and reliability.” Something like that. And it takes probably 30 seconds before they realize one of them has been dubbed by the Southern Poverty Law Center as a hate group. As opposed to the other one, which is like a hundred year old huge pediatrician organization that produces their own journals and so on. But nearly all my students are fooled. And in the study, none of the fact checkers were fooled. I’m gonna get the number right. It’s something like 50% of the historians and 20% of the Stanford undergraduates got the correct answer. And they spent a lot more time on it. So it’s a great way to teach students how to use the power of the internet to evaluate sources much more quickly and, effectively. And yes, use Wikipedia, right? Wikipedia is not a final answer, but Wikipedia is actually pretty accurate. So if Wikipedia is the first place you stop, then yes, go there, see what Wikipedia says, and then follow some of their sources.
Eric Cross (52:47):
What popped in my head was like, Yelp reviews for websites. That almost sounds like what it was. It’s like when I search for a product, I don’t go and read the product description marketing. ‘Cause that’s all designed to sell me on something. But I’ll go and look in Reliability, if it’s like a car, or just other sites to cross-reference. And that sounds like what you were talking about is like cross-referencing. Seeing what FactChecker [sic] said about this site, versus seeing what a site says about itself.
Melanie Trecek-King (53:14):
Well, that’s a great analogy. Because if I wanted to know if a product was effective, what the manufacturer says about the product, clearly there’s a strong chance of bias. Right? They’re going to be on their best, um, put their best foot forward. Versus, what do independent reviewers say about this product?
Eric Cross (53:35):
Yep. And I am known to research something to death. And I get something called “paralysis by analysis.”
Melanie Trecek-King (53:42):
Ohhhh, yeah.
Eric Cross (53:44):
And it’s so bad that even if I’m trying to buy, like, towels, I need to find the best-bang-for-the-buck towel. I have to defer some of these decisions out, because I’m on the internet for three hours now. I’ll be a pseudo-expert in towels, and thread count, and all of that stuff. But yeah, that maybe that’s just the science person.
Melanie Trecek-King (54:03):
I mean, I feel your pain. I do the same thing. <Laugh> It’s annoying. Like, it’s just towels. What does it really matter? But yeah.
Eric Cross (54:10):
Coffee! It doesn’t matter what it is. I just need to go, “OK, I have to use these powers for good. Otherwise I’m gonna be researching forever.”
Melanie Trecek-King (54:16):
I wanna say one other thing. So, again, this is a college class and I have a lot of freedom. But one of the driving philosophies behind the class is a wonderful quote in a book, Schick and Vaughn, How to Think about Weird Things. And they said, “The quality of your life is determined by the quality of your decisions, and the quality of your decisions is determined by the quality of your thinking.” And I know my students want a grade. But I’m really trying to teach them how to be empowered through better thinking. That’s where the name “Thinking is Power” came from. I mean, we say “Knowledge is Power,” but it’s not enough to know things. And there’s too much to know. So being able to think and be empowered to have your own agency and not fall for someone’s bunk is my goal for my students.
Eric Cross (55:07):
And doing that is gonna help them through the rest of their lives. Not be swindled, not be taken advantage of, be able to make better decisions. There’s so many benefits to building that skill. And I know your students have definitely grown and benefited. I’m sure you’ve heard, long after you’ve taught them, heard back from them and how they’ve applied that course to their lives. Melanie, thank you so much for being here. For a few things. One, for providing and filling this space where there’s such a need. Again, the critical thinking resources, the tools that you used, are so, so important. If we ever lived in a time where they were critical, it was really what we experienced during the pandemic in the last few years. We watched people’s information literacy and science literacy play out in real time. And we literally saw life-and-death decisions being made based off those skills. That highlighted, I think how important this is. And then, taking the time to generate resources for educators like myself, that we can take and adapt and put into our classroom and start teaching our students. ‘Cause like you said, by the time they get to you, they’re, they’re so far downstream or so far in a system that, depending on the teachers that they’ve had and the education system they’ve been in, may or may not have even touched on these things. They might have learned a lot of facts, but they may not have built their muscle to be able to critically analyze and interpret the world around them. And you’ve just — even the last year, it hasn’t even been a year since we talked the first time — I’ve watched your resources continue to grow, and you share them. And so I, on behalf of those of us in K–12, thank you. And thank you for being here.
Melanie Trecek-King (56:49):
Oh, well, thank you so much for this opportunity. Thank you for everything that you do, reaching out to other educators and for giving me a platform to hopefully reach other educators.
Eric Cross (57:00):
Thanks so much for listening to my conversation with Melanie Trecek-King, Associate Professor of Biology at Massasoit Community College and creator of Thinking Is Power. Make sure you don’t miss any new episodes of Science Connections by subscribing to the show, wherever you get podcasts. And while you’re there, we’d really appreciate it if you can leave us a review. It’ll help more listeners to find the show. You can find more information on all of Amplify shows at our podcast hub, Amplify.com/Hub. Thanks again for listening.
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Meet the guest
Melanie Trecek-King is the creator of Thinking is Power, an online resource that provides critical thinking education to the general public. She is currently an associate professor of biology at Massasoit Community College, where she teaches a general-education science course designed to equip students with empowering critical thinking, information literacy, and science literacy skills. An active speaker and consultant, Trecek-King loves to share her “teach skills, not facts” approach with other science educators, and help schools and organizations meet their goals through better thinking. Trecek-King is also the education director for the Mental Immunity Project and CIRCE (Cognitive Immunology Research Collaborative), which aim to advance and apply the science of mental immunity to inoculate minds against misinformation.
About Science Connections
Welcome to Science Connections! Science is changing before our eyes, now more than ever. So…how do we help kids figure that out? We will bring on educators, scientists, and more to discuss the importance of high-quality science instruction. In this episode, hear from our host Eric Cross about his work engaging students as a K-8 science teacher.
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S3-01: Science as the underdog, and the research behind it
Get ready for season 3 of Science Connections: The Podcast!
In our first episode, we unpack the research around our season theme of science as the underdog with Horizon Research, Inc. Vice President Eric R. Banilower and Senior Researcher Courtney Plumley. Eric and Courtney dive into the research they’ve found and their experiences as former educators to show how science is often overlooked in K–12 classrooms. We discuss how the science classroom compares to other subjects in terms of time and resources, how schools are a reflection of society, and what’s needed to change science and its impact on a larger scale.
We hope you enjoy this episode and explore more from Science Connections by visiting our main page!
Courtney Plumley (00:00):
We asked teachers how much science, professional development, they’ve had in the last three years, and nearly half of elementary teachers said none.
Eric Cross (00:10):
Welcome to Science Connections. I’m your host, Eric Cross. I am super-excited to be kicking off the third season with the show. This entire season will be exploring the theme of science as the underdog. And we’re gonna make the case for science, by showing how and why it can be used more effectively. In the coming episodes, we’re gonna talk about how science can be better integrated into other content areas like literacy and math, and explore some of the benefits that you might not be thinking about good science instruction. But first, science as the underdog. I bet some of you out there feel like science is the underdog in your community at school. I know I have at times. To kick off this season, I’m gonna talk to two people who really studied this question by looking at the state of science instruction across the US. Eric Banilower is Vice President of Horizon Research and Courtney Plumley is Senior Researcher at Horizon Research. Eric was the principal investigator and Courtney an author of the latest in a series of studies called “The National Survey of Science and Mathematics Education.” We’re gonna dive into the findings of their most recent report to see what the data’s showing us. Please enjoy my discussion with Eric Banilower and Courtney Plumley. Courtney, hello. And thank you so much for joining us.
Courtney Plumley (01:25):
Hi Eric. It’s nice to be here.
Eric Cross (01:26):
And Eric, welcome.
Eric R. Banilower (01:27):
We’re thrilled to be here, so thank you for having us.
Eric Cross (01:30):
I was reading through the report. Four hundred…a very thorough report, 471 pages, I think, as I got it?
Eric R. Banilower (01:37):
And that’s only one of the many reports from that study.
Eric Cross (01:40):
Yeah. You all have done your work, so I’m really excited to to talk to you about this. And on this season of the show, we’re exploring the theme of science as the underdog. And I think a lot of our listeners, we feel like science is an underdog either in their school or in their district. But you’ve actually done some research on this, in a 2018 study, “The National Survey of Science and Mathematics Education.” So I wanna talk about this report. But first I was hoping you can kind of set the stage. How did you come to work on this report, and then, big picture, what were you hoping to find out?
Eric R. Banilower (02:10):
So the 2018 study that you just mentioned was actually the sixth iteration of a series of studies dating back to 1977. And we collect data every decade or so—you know, plus or minus a few years. And really, what we’re trying to do is get a snapshot of what the science and math education system looks like in in the nation. So my role grew. I started working at Horizon in about 1998, after teaching high school for five years in California. And then going to graduate school. And right about that time, the company was doing the 2000 iteration of the survey. And I worked on it with the team here at Horizon. And then we did it again in 2012. And I had a much more prominent role in that study, and became the kind of leader of the study. And in 2018, the most recent version, we just did it again. So the goal of this study is really to kind of examine key aspects of the K–12 STEM education system. And the main audience of the work has traditionally been policy makers, researchers, and practitioners who work at the federal, state, and district level.
Eric Cross (03:30):
So this study, you took kind of a sample size, but it’s reflective of trends that we tend to see across the nation as a whole. Would that be fair to say?
Eric R. Banilower (03:38):
Yes, definitely it is. It is a random sample of schools in the country. So we start with a list of all the public and private schools in the nation, and then do a random sample of those schools, and then work really, really hard to recruit schools to agree to be in the study. And that has gotten harder every time we’ve done the study, for many understandable reasons. And then once we have schools on board, we sample teachers within schools. So we don’t even survey every teacher in a school. It’s really a sub-sample. So that we can make inferences about the nation as a whole.
Eric Cross (04:14):
Makes sense. And so Courtney, what did you find out about the time spent on science instruction in US schools?
Courtney Plumley (04:22):
So, I’m gonna talk about elementary teachers to begin with.
Eric Cross (04:26):
Because that was your past life, right?
Courtney Plumley (04:28):
I am a former elementary teacher, yeah. So that’s kind of where my head is. And that’s relatable for me. Right? So we asked teachers, like, how many days of the week or weeks of the year that they teach elementary school. And fewer than 20% teach science every day of the school year. They kind of do one or two things, for the most part. They teach a couple days a week or they teach every day of the week, but only for, like, maybe six weeks, and then they swap with social studies and they kind of do that across the school year. Which is really different from, like, math, right? We also asked elementary teachers, how often do they teach math, and it’s every day of the year. Then we also asked them how many minutes they teach when they’re teaching, and we kind of did the math to figure out, all right, if they taught science every day of the school year, how many minutes would it be in a single day, so that we could make a more comparable comparison with math and ELA. If you were to work it out, how many minutes of science an elementary teacher teaches across the year, and break it down to per day, it’s like 18 minutes for the lower elementary grades, 27 for the upper elementary grades. Which is not a lot. But it’s pretty much an hour a day in math, and 80 plus minutes in ELA. So, a lot less. And then, you know, when I was teaching, the first thing to go was always science, right? If there was an assembly, if there was early release or whatever, that was the first thing to go. So those numbers might even be higher. Just because they aren’t factoring that kind of thing in, too.
Eric Cross (06:05):
So, now I’m curious. That is something that I’ve seen just anecdotally, science being the first thing to go. I feel like I’ve seen that almost…it’s almost become a meme, that I’ve heard that so often. Just in your experience, why do you think that is that huge disparity between the two?
Courtney Plumley (06:26):
Well, I mean, when I was teaching, I was teaching third grade. I had an end-of-grade test in math and ELA for my kids. I didn’t have one in science. So the administration said, “Hey, if you’re gonna drop something, drop something that’s not tested.”
Eric Cross (06:41):
Simple as that. And Eric, you, past life: physics teacher. High school. What did you see? ‘Cause our listeners run the gamut from elementary all the way up to high school. What did you see, as far as relative science instruction in the secondary level?
Eric R. Banilower (07:00):
Sure. You know, secondary is just a whole different situation than elementary. Rght? Because you have departmentalization. I taught science. I didn’t have to teach other subjects. And students had periods, and they still do, sorry, they still have periods, even though it’s been a long time since I taught. And you know, they rotate from one class to another. So all the classes were essentially the same length. So, you know, when I was teaching, it was about 50-minute periods. So in terms of minutes of a class or minutes on a subject, it’s not really different. But what is different is what students are required to take in order to graduate high school. One of the things we asked schools about in this study was how many years of a subject do students have to take in order to graduate? And what we saw was in mathematics, over half the schools in the nation require students to take four years of mathematics to graduate. OK? And the vast majority of the rest, about 44%, require three years in science. Most schools require three years. Very few require four years. And many, or a fair number, still only require two years to graduate. So the expectation of what students are taking is lower in science than it is in mathematics.
Eric Cross (08:20):
So you were seeing the same trend in secondary, essentially.
Eric R. Banilower (08:24):
Yes.
Eric Cross (08:24):
The amount of time devoted to the instruction of science…we’re kind of seeing it mirrored just across K–12 across the board.
Eric R. Banilower (08:33):
That’s correct.
Eric Cross (08:34):
And that’s across the country. ‘Cause the sample size represents teachers from Alaska, Hawaii, the South, SoCal, everywhere. So what’s been the reaction to that number? Like 18 to 20 minutes is…I mean, it’s, it’s half of my lunch at our school. What’s been the reaction to that number since this data has been published?
Eric R. Banilower (08:58):
I don’t know, Courtney, if you want to take that…
Courtney Plumley (09:00):
It’s a lot of what you just did. Like, what??? Like, how is it possible to teach all the things you need to teach in such a little amount of time?
Eric R. Banilower (09:08):
What’s really kind of surprising to me, though — though now that I’ve worked on three iterations of the study, it no longer surprises me, but it did at first — is that these numbers really aren’t changing since we’ve started doing this study. You know, people thought maybe with No Child Left Behind and the increase in accountability, time on science might actually go down, because there was more testing in math and English Language Arts. It didn’t happen. It was pretty much constant, that this has been kind of the state of science education for a long time.
Eric Cross (09:44):
So Eric, if I’m hearing you right: The past studies, we’re not seeing an increase or a decline. This has been this way for how many years, roughly, would you say? Since it’s been studied?
Eric R. Banilower (09:54):
You know, I’d have to go back to the 1977 report to get the numbers, but I’m gonna say since then, it has not changed much, if at all.
Eric Cross (10:03):
So this has kind of been entrenched. This has been the norm for almost for the career of a teacher, almost generationally. We’re looking at anyone who’s been in the highest levels of leadership to someone just entering the classroom, this has been the way it’s always been. This is kind of for many people what they’ve only known.
Eric R. Banilower (10:20):
Right.
Eric Cross (10:21):
Kind of become the norm.
Courtney Plumley (10:21):
We didn’t even have science when I was in elementary school. We had science on a cart that came by, you know, every other week.
Eric Cross (10:28):
Was that like a food truck, but like the science version of it? It shows up and does quick science and takes off?
Courtney Plumley (10:35):
And New York was, I mean — we always watched Voyage of the Mimi. I don’t know if you ever watched that. But that’s what we watched every single time the Science on the Cart came. So it’s like a marine biology show. Ben Affleck was on it when he was a kid.
Eric Cross (10:48):
<laugh> Really? For me it was, Mr. Wizard. For some of my students, even now, Bill Nye. You know, the Bill Nye show or something would come on. So what happens when you look at less wealthy districts? Is there a relationship between community resources and science instruction, or is it pretty much equal no matter what the district resources are, the school’s resources are? Did you see any data there?
Eric R. Banilower (11:12):
Yes. We actually did a lot of disaggregating the data by community type, student demographics in the schools, to look to see whether there were areas of inequities across the country. And, you know, one of the factors we looked at was kind of a measure of socioeconomic status. You know, wealth in the community. By looking at percentage of students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. And interestingly, in terms of time on science instruction, there is actually not a relationship between income level and how much time is spent at the elementary level on science, which actually surprised us.
Eric Cross (11:54):
Because you might have expected it to be the other way now. And granted, it’s 18 to 20 minutes, there isn’t much more to shave off off of that. But were there other differences, like when you compared those communities? Maybe it wasn’t the amount of science instruction, but was there anything else, like teacher preparedness, resources? Were there anything else that you did see discrepancies in? Or was it equal across the board?
Eric R. Banilower (12:13):
No, unfortunately there, there have been, and still are, a number of areas where community resources are related to pretty substantial differences in educational opportunities that students have. So, you know, we’re talking about the high school science requirements. One of the things that we saw was that high schools in less wealthy communities tend to offer less rigorous science courses than high schools in better-off-financially communities. So they may not be AP courses or second year advanced courses to the same extent that there are in the wealthier communities. That’s one big difference that we saw. Another one was what you were just saying about, sort of, the teachers who teach in these communities. You know, I think that for many years people have had a feeling that the best teachers go to the better off schools because it’s easier to teach there. Well, we see that the schools with the most poverty, they tend to have the newer teachers, who are just starting their career. They tend to have teachers who are less well prepared to teach their subject. And there’s a host of other differences we found. And you know, you mentioned the report being 400 pages. This other report that looks at these differences is also quite long, and, you know, identified a number of areas where there are these disparities in the system.
Eric Cross (13:43):
Well, we appreciate you synthesizing this for us, because this is super-important. And you’ve fleshed out a lot of things. And the fact that it’s driven by data, we as science teachers, we as scientists, being objective, really, really value that. Because this is actually validating a lot of the things that our listeners and myself, we experience anecdotally. But you don’t have a lot of things to network you. And sometimes, when you see this, you wonder if it’s just you, or is are other people experiencing this? And so as you start talking about this data, realizing, oh wow, this is not something in isolation. This is systemic. This is something that’s impacted. And then Eric, what you said about schools that were lower-income, that were under-resourced, and didn’t offer those advanced classes, what are some of the impacts of that, maybe downstream, of doing that? Not having those AP classes? I just kind of wanted to put that out there and ask you.
Eric R. Banilower (14:31):
You know, this is a really…this is a current debate right now, about what the goals of schooling K–12 should be. You know, are all kids meant to go to college? Should there be alternative paths? And you know, I know when I was teaching, I would have students say, “Why do I need to know this? I’m not gonna go into science. I’m not gonna study physics. Why do I need to take this?” And, you know, the answer I used to give them was, “You never know where your life is gonna end up and what opportunities you’ll have. And by having these educational experiences, you have more opportunities available to you. Whether or not you choose to go down those paths, you have opportunities. And when you don’t take this kind of coursework, you know, even if you don’t want to go to college, you limit your potential careers. Because so many careers nowadays require some technical knowledge, some knowledge of science, even if it’s not explicitly a science job. It is embedded in our society now. We are a technological and science-based society.”
Eric Cross (15:37):
It reminds me of something that I’ve told my students, that if you become a scientist, that’s awesome. I love that. But if you don’t, and you want to be a dancer or an actor or a lawyer or anything that may not be directly related to STEM, I want you to choose it because it was a choice, and not a lack of options. So as long as you’re choosing not to go in STEM, and you don’t make that decision because you can’t, or because you weren’t given the opportunity. So that’s how I’ve always had this mindset as a teacher. And I’ve explained it to my students. So if you say, “Cross, you know what I want to do, I wanna be an awesome chef,” which, you know, low-key that’s science, right? <laugh> Molecular gastronomy, we know that. But like, you be the best chef. But as long as you’re being a chef because you choose that, and you’re like, “I love science, but I don’t wanna go that direction,” we’re good.
Eric R. Banilower (16:26):
Right. And if you think about, a lot of social justice issues with pollution and climate change, and you look at which communities are more affected by some of these larger environmental problems and challenges, it tends to be the lower socioeconomic communities, the more poverty-stricken communities have worse water, have worse air quality. And so if, if people from these communities are going to make informed decisions about who they’re gonna vote for, about what policies they’re gonna support, those are science topics that you have to have some understanding in order to make informed decisions in your life.
Eric Cross (17:09):
Courtney, you were one of the Swiss Army Knife teachers. This is how I perceive it for elementary. You had to teach everything. And shout out to all of my elementary school teachers that have to be mathematicians and grammar whizzes and scientists and PE instructors and social emotional, all of those different things. you also looked at teacher preparedness. How did teachers feel about teaching science compared to other subjects like language arts and math? Did you see anything there?
Courtney Plumley (17:39):
We did, we did. And I’m glad you said, “How did they feel about it?” Because one thing that, you know, in a survey you can’t really do is capture how someone actually…how good someone actually…the quality of someone’s instruction. But you can ask them how prepared they feel. And you can even ask them like stats, like, “What did you major in in college?” You know. But you really are going on based on what what they say. So we ask them how prepared they feel to teach all the core subjects. And two-thirds of elementary teachers felt very well prepared to teach reading. They felt very well prepared to teach math. But when it comes to science, it’s less than a third felt very well prepared. And you know, like you said, when you’re teaching elementary school, you’re teaching all the subjects. But also in science, there’s usually four main instructional units in a school year. And they’re all from different science disciplines. So not only are you going on, like, “Maybe in college took a lot of bio classes, but I didn’t take any physics classes, and now I have to teach physics to my kids and I have no experience there.” So, you know, we also ask them how well-prepared they felt in these different disciplines. And the numbers are even smaller, you know. Fewer than a quarter felt very well-prepared in life science. And like 13% felt very well-prepared in physical science. So there’s definitely a big difference between how much teachers feel prepared for ELA and math versus science.
Eric Cross (19:08):
And just from a human perspective, when we don’t feel prepared for something, we’re not really gonna probably lean into it as much as we are into our strengths. Like, that’s just kind of how we are across the board.
Courtney Plumley (19:18):
Yeah.
Eric Cross (19:18):
I’m even like that with my own chores in the house. Or when I have things I need to get done, and I might not be as good at doing those things—it’s gonna be a heavy cognitive load; I’m gonna have to do some background research—I tend to find other areas to excel in. Like, I’m gonna be productive in this other area. I’m gonna really crush it here. But this other thing gets put to the back burner.
Courtney Plumley (19:36):
Totally. And the same reason I might skip science today, <laugh> ’cause it’s scary.
Eric Cross (19:41):
Yeah, exactly. But I love this book. <Laugh> Or we could do this math, and let’s really, really dive deep into it. Now, did you also look at professional development and instructional resources that are being provided?
Courtney Plumley (19:53):
We did.
Eric Cross (19:54):
And on the whole, how was the amount—and I’m seeing a trend here, so I’m kind of feeling like I know where this might go—but I wanted to ask it, did the amount of professional development and resources for science, was there much of a difference between that and other subjects?
Eric R. Banilower (20:10):
Well, I’ll start on this, and Courtney, feel free to jump in. You know, one of the things that we asked was how much kind of discretionary funding do schools devote to science and how much to mathematics? So, for consumables or equipment and supplies or computer software for teachers to use in the classroom. And it’s hard to compare, I think, across subjects because the demands for this kind of supplies, et cetera, is very different, I think, in science than it is in mathematics. Right? We have a lot of, you know, equipment for doing investigations, consumable supplies in science. And those things need to be replenished on a regular basis. It turns out, when we look at the data for school discretionary spending on this kind of stuff, the median school spends less than $2 per student at the elementary level on science, compared to over $6 for mathematics. At the high school level, it’s kind of reversed. Schools spend more money on high school science than they do on high school math. but even still, at the high school, it’s less than $7 per student. Which is not a lot of money being devoted to thinking about all the materials, supplies, chemicals, et cetera, that you need to teach science well, at the high school level. More disturbing is the fact that, you know, we were talking about inequities before, schools that serve less well-off communities spend less than schools that serve wealthier communities, by quite a big amount.
Eric Cross (21:46):
So essentially the per-student thing just kind of popped out to me: So, like, an expensive Starbucks drink is what we’re spending on science per student.
Eric R. Banilower (21:57):
At the high school level. Yes.
Eric Cross (21:58):
At the high school level. And I get those catalogs in the mail, from all of those big science companies. You can’t get much for seven bucks. At least, nothing high-level. And I know I do a lot of 99-cent store science. I go down the street, go to the 99-cent store. Thankfully we could do a lot of awesome science with just, you know, cheap things. But a lot of the higher level experiences, they’re pricey. But the experiences are so rich! And $7 at the high school level is nothing. It’s not much at all.
Eric R. Banilower (22:28):
Yeah. It is definitely, you know, kind of shocking to think about what we’re investing in our children’s future.
Eric Cross (22:37):
Now, just to put you both on the spot, ’cause I feel like that we’ve identified some…we’re seeing a trend here, we’re seeing a pattern. We’re talking about, you know, being science teachers. There’s a pattern going on here. Do you think it’s fair to characterize science as the underdog?
Courtney Plumley (22:52):
I think in elementary school, it is a fair statement. Because, like we said before, I mean they’re gonna preference math and ELA almost all the time. I mean, the other thing you’d asked a little bit ago was about professional development, too. And we do have some data on that. And we ask teachers, you know, how much science professional development they’ve had in the last three years. And nearly half of elementary teachers said none. And I know I didn’t have any science professional development. If I was gonna pick from among the catalog, I was picking one that I needed more, like math. Math and ELA. I keep making that statement, but just over and over, it’s the truth.
Eric Cross (23:31):
And going back to what you said earlier, because that’s where the accountability was, right? And that kind of came top-down.
Courtney Plumley (23:38):
Yes.
Eric Cross (23:38):
And influenced everything else.
Eric R. Banilower (23:40):
Yeah. Now, really interesting thing that we did, a year or so ago, ’cause someone asked us, you know, “Hey, could you look at this?” is we compared elementary science instructional time among states where science counted towards accountability versus states where science doesn’t count towards accountability. And at the upper elementary grades, more time was spent on science in schools in states where they had science accountability. Now I’m not arguing for adding science to accountability systems. But that’s a pretty telling piece of data.
Eric Cross (24:19):
What gets measured gets done.
Eric R. Banilower (24:20):
Yeah.
Eric Cross (24:20):
Or what was getting evaluated was getting done. And that raises, that opens up a myriad of other questions about testing, and what that reveals, and all of those different things. But at the end of the day, what you’re finding is that the things that were getting tested were the things that were getting the priority.
Eric R. Banilower (24:36):
That’s right.
Eric Cross (24:37):
How did we get to this point? And Eric, you said it goes back at least to ’77, but we look at society and we’re…I wanna say we’re post-pandemic, but we’re we’re not. but we’re trying to, we’re trying to get past that. But we’re looking at…we had innovations in biology, we have innovations right now in green energy and electric cars and all of these things that are STEM-based. We know that these are things that have moved humanity forward. And we look at the pipeline of people who are in STEM and we, we see the disparities and things like that. Why was science given less of a priority? I’m just curious. Maybe, Courtney, we could start with you, if you have any ideas. Or Eric. Either one. But how did we get here?
Eric R. Banilower (25:22):
<laugh> I think Courtney wants me to take that one. I’m older so I’ve seen more <laugh>. So, you know, I have the gray hair. She doesn’t. I think it’s complicated. And I know this sounds cliche, but but schools are a reflection of society, right? And, and so science education, you know, if you think back when Sputnik was launched, there became this great demand in America to improve and produce more scientists and engineers in response to this Cold War threat. Right? And then in the ’80s there was rising, oh, the gathering storm was an economic argument that we needed to increase science and math, you know, education and people going into those fields in order to compete economically against the global competitors. And I think that America has always produced a fair number, a large number, of high-quality scientists and engineers, you know. And we still lead the world in many ways. But where we’ve identified as a problem is who has those opportunities to go into those fields. You know, it used to be a very select, a very male-dominated, white male-dominated field. Right? And other people didn’t have the opportunity, or they were shown the way out pretty early. And we, I think, have come to realize as a country that, you know, the, the greater the diversity of thought that we can get into these discussions, the more innovative we can be and the more productive as a society we can be. And so I think we’ve had this shift in the country to, instead of thinking about just the quality for the select few, but to be thinking about the quality for everyone. And so that makes it seem like some of these challenges are greater than they used to be. And I think they’re different challenges, right? We’ve evolved as a society and I think schools have evolved.
Eric Cross (27:40):
There is a conversation I was in on a plane with a person who was a materials manager for a company that made the adhesive for sandpaper. And we were flying…I was flying to Denmark and he was flying to some other Scandinavian country. And we were just talking about it. And he came from another industry, and somehow the conversation led to science. I don’t know how that happened. But somehow I just started talking about science and I asked him about, Eric, kind of what you said about the US kind of leading the way in science innovation versus the rest of the world. And I asked him why. And he said one of the reasons why is because the heterogeneous thought. The different groups of people that are coming to a problem actually create more innovative and novel solutions. Versus when it’s more homogeneous. And everyone’s either culturally or just for whatever reason, kind of thinks a certain way. While they might have a more efficient way, the variety of solutions are not as varied and not as novel. I was reminded of that story based on what you just said. So it’s really interesting. So it seems to be that it benefits if we have more heterogeneous groups, more folks who are contributing to STEM, because that’s gonna be solving the next problem more efficiently. Or I guess maybe in my head it seems like the next we need…we do really well when we have a dragon to slay. I mean, it seems like we come together when that’s the case, right? Like, I dunno.
Eric R. Banilower (29:06):
No, I think that’s…I think that’s accurate.
Eric Cross (29:09):
Later on the season of the podcast, we’re gonna explore ways to better integrate science with other subjects like literacy and math. Were you able to study at all any more integrated approaches to science instruction? Does any of your research support that approach?
Courtney Plumley (29:25):
Not on the national survey, we didn’t study that. And it’s something that we’ve talked about before, because it’s difficult to get teachers to…we were talking about instructional time. It’s hard for teachers to put a number on it when they’re integrating, because, you know, it’s not like I have my science block from 3 to 3:30 anymore. Now it’s kind of scattered about. But it’s something that has been in the ether. We’ve been looking at it in a couple of projects. So there’s some evidence that it can be effective, especially for getting more, you know…the idea is you can get more time for science if you are integrating with other subjects. But one thing to kind of caution is like, students need to have opportunities to learn each discipline when they’re doing integrated instruction. So you don’t wanna just have, like, math in your science. Kids already know to just, like, support it. Then it’s hard to take time from math to put it into science when they’re not actually learning anything new. That’s the easy thing to do, though, is say, “Oh, my kids already know how to measure. We did that in a previous unit. So now we’ll we’ll do it as part of our science instruction.” So it’s a lot of work to make it so they’re learning something new, mathematics and science, at the same time. And it’s not really something that we think that teachers should be having to do on their own, with all the other things that teachers have to do. The last thing they need to do is be creating their own, you know, curriculum. Something that’s already…you know, it’s not straightforward. So we’ve been talking about it, we think it’s really something that instructional materials maybe need to be focusing on instead of teachers having to do that on their own,
Eric Cross (31:01):
Teachers would implement it, but asking them to create it is a whole different thing, and it’s a huge ask.
Courtney Plumley (31:08):
Yes.
Eric Cross (31:08):
Yeah. And, did I hear you right? So the ideal situation would’ve been the students learning a newer math concept, but embedded in a science kind of context? Or was that the better way? Versus, “I’m gonna take a math concept they already know and then just put it into the science setting?”
Courtney Plumley (31:26):
Well, if the idea is that you can get more science time if you’re, you know, integrating things, so you can maybe take time away from a specific math block by putting it with science, or whatever, then if the math is something that the kids already know, now you’re just taking away. I think that that has to be new in both cases, in order to justify having more time.
Eric Cross (31:49):
Right. Eric, in the secondary level, any thoughts on that? On integrating these disciplines together?
Eric R. Banilower (31:56):
I think, you know, just like at the elementary level, it can be challenging to do it well. When I taught, I taught my last couple years in a kind of school-within-a-school kind of situation, where our goal was to try to integrate science, mathematics, and language arts. And it’s hard to do that in a meaningful way. And we did not have curriculum materials given to us to help us do this. We were trying to figure out how to do this on our own, while we were teaching 200 kids a day in our subjects. Right? And five preparations. And you know, it’s a big ask of any teacher. And there are teachers who thrive on this and are great at this. And, you know, that’s one thing I wanna, make clear: our data is about the system, and we are former teachers. Almost everyone who works at Horizon is a former teacher. We have the greatest respect for teachers and what they do. And what our data is showing is are kind of like areas where the system isn’t providing teachers and their students the opportunities to do great things. I think at the high school level, there has been this idea of project-based learning where students are bringing together different skills, different ideas from across disciplines. And I think there’s, again, a lot of potential in doing that. But trying to develop those experiences so that they are doing service to the different subjects, so students are learning what they’re supposed to learn in English Language Arts, that they’re learning, important mathematics, and that this is in a science context, where they are getting to do and understand what science is and how science, as a discipline, operates…that’s just a really hard thing to develop.
Eric Cross (33:53):
So what I’m hearing—and I really appreciate the nuance in this, because it’s not a simple “Yes. Integrated is better,”—I’m hearing “Yes. Quality control.” “Yes. It needs to be written not by teachers; they’re the practitioners.” It’s “Yes. And,” not just simply binary. Which…it’s so easy to wanna chunk things and say yes or no on things. But this one seems a much more nuanced approach. And in a future episode, you mentioned project-based learning, we’re gonna try and talk to people who have thoughts on this. And I really appreciate that you talked about project-based learning, because also, how do you evaluate that? How do you evaluate whether or not it is high quality? Is this is something I see? You know, high-quality standards, highest quality science teaching, highly qualified teachers. It’s something that I see often. Now, based on all your research, this is kind of the 30,000-foot view. What advice might you have for people who are thinking about changing the way science is taught in this country? Which hasn’t changed since 1977, at least since we’ve been measuring it. Any advice for people who do want to act? Another way to ask, it might be, if you were given a magic wand, <laugh>, you have all power, what might you do if you can control the entire vertical system?
Eric R. Banilower (35:07):
Yeah, so a clarification, I do think science instruction has changed. It has evolved. I think there’s a lot of really good things going on in different pockets of the country. One of the challenges is bringing those good ideas and good practices to scale. Right? There are approximately 1.2 million teachers of science K–12 in this country. That’s a lot of people. And about 80% of those are elementary teachers who are responsible for teaching other subjects as well. So my thinking is often about, “How do we take what we know and that we’ve learned through decades of research is effective, and impact a large number of teachers, and therefore a large number of students?” And you know, Courtney I think has hinted at this already. And you’ve mentioned it too, Eric, is that teaching is a profession, right? And it’s a craft. But in no other profession do practitioners have the expectation that they’re developing their own tools and methods for their work. I know when I was in my teacher preparation program, and it’s still extremely common, one of the assignments perspective teachers are given is to develop a unit and develop a lesson, right? You don’t have doctors being asked to develop new treatments and new tests to use. Their job is to get to know their patient, assess what’s going on, and then using research-based methods to develop a plan of action, right? And I think that analogy works really well in education and is a way that we could have a scalable approach for kind of raising the floor across the country for the quality of science education. Giving teachers research-based materials, high-quality instructional materials, that they can then use and adapt to meet the needs of their students, would allow them to focus on getting to know their students, seeing what their strengths are, seeing where they have room for growth, and using the materials they’re given to help those students progress. And I think that is definitely a way where we could have a big impact at a large scale.
Eric Cross (37:39):
Courtney, same question: Magic wand, all power. You can change systems from the elementary perspective. What would you do? I’m assuming part of it’s gonna be changing that 18 to 20 minute time. But even for that to happen, what would you do? What would you change?
Courtney Plumley (37:57):
Well, I don’t know. Like, for it to change, I don’t know the answer to that. But yes, increasing the time would be great. And like Eric was saying, giving teachers— ’cause again, I’m coming in, not enough probably background in science—and then, you know, when I was, when I was teaching, we had one set of textbooks for the entire grade. Six classes, right? Like, share them. But third graders aren’t gonna read textbooks anyway, right? So instead I’m going to the teacher store. I’m pulling things off the shelf. And like, “OK, yeah, sure, I’ll use this.” And nowadays, teachers are going to Teachers Pay Teachers or whatever. Because I didn’t have anything good to use. So like Eric is saying, if I had instructional materials that were good instructional materials that were gonna teach my kids, that they were gonna be engaged, that they weren’t sitting and listening to science, but they were doing science, you know, and I had professional development to actually help me do it? That’s what I think we need to have. And I mean, I know there are some people out there that are working on that, but it’s not a lot. I mean, if you look at Ed Reports, they rate how well-aligned science curriculum are to standards. And there are two right now that have Ed Reports green lights. There’s Amplify and there’s OpenSciEd. You know, so there’s not much out there for teachers to use. And, so it’s hard. It’s hard. Where am I gonna go and get this stuff if it doesn’t exist? And so I’m making it up by myself. Which we already said is not the best use of teachers’ time, when they’ve got so many other demands on their time.
Eric Cross (39:27):
Eric and Courtney, listening to both of your responses, it created a visual in my mind. And Eric, I loved your analogy of…I started thinking of a chef, a welder, and a farmer. And I thought about the chef saying like, “You’re a great chef! Now, can you go farm, and make your own food, so that you can cook it?” Or the welder who has to make his own welding tools and go smelting. You know, making the different rods. I’m not a welder. But you know, all those different parts. Or the farmer who has to build his own tractor and innovate all that stuff. You’re absolutely right, the way you articulated that. And then Courtney, you essentially said, “Give them the tools and then teach them how to use it so they can go and actually be effective with it, because you’re in front of kids doing so many different things.” There’s only so much time in the day, and teachers want to do these things; they want to, but you end up having to triage when you’re asked to. Going back to Eric’s analogy, if you’re in the ER, but you’re also creating the vaccines and you’re also doing the research on which types of vaccines are gonna be the most effective, that’s, that’s a lot to ask. And so, I appreciate both your responses on that. Now, last question, what are you both working on now? This report came out in 2018. What’s, what’s next on the horizon? Actually literally, that’s no pun intended. <laugh> What’s next? <laugh> What’s next for, for you both? What are you working on?
Eric R. Banilower (40:42):
Well, you know, we would love to do another national survey, in a few years. We have to get funding to do it. And you know, that’s always something that takes effort and isn’t a guarantee. We’ve written grants to do these studies in the past, and there’s also the dealing with the reality of the situation. I think a lot of schools, still coming off the tail end of dealing with Covid, are overwhelmed. And we’ve had a hard time, I mentioned before, recruiting schools, and it gets harder every time, just ’cause they have so much on their plate. And I couldn’t see going to a school now and saying, “Hey, one more thing. Do you mind?” So I think we have to kind of wait a little bit for things to settle down before we can do another one of these studies. It just doesn’t seem feasible right now. But we’d love to in the not-too-distant future. Other than that, Courtney and I actually work on some projects together and some projects not together. One of the things that we’re working on together is a study of a fifth grade science curriculum that was developed by Okhee Lee at NYU and her colleagues, that is both aligned with the NGSS and purposely designed to support multilingual learners in developing both their science knowledge and skills as well as their language skills. And we’ve been working with the crew at NYU to study this curriculum and try to figure out, how well it’s working and under what circumstances. So that’s been a really interesting project that’s going on right now.
Courtney Plumley (42:26):
I recently worked on a report with the Carnegie Corporation in New York that actually I think, compliments what we’ve been talking about a lot. It’s about the status of K–12 education in the US—or science education in the US! <Laugh>—and so as part of that report we interviewed like 50 science education experts across the country. We surveyed teachers, people in the university settings, researchers, and everything to kind of get a little bit more update of the state of science education right now. And so a lot of the things we’ve been talking about, we still are talking about with the people in this report four years later. So, work in progress. <Laugh>
Eric Cross (43:09):
And again, going back to 1977, based on what Eric was saying earlier, we’re looking at these large systems, these systemic changes don’t happen overnight.
Eric R. Banilower (43:20):
That’s right.
Eric Cross (43:21):
It’s very slow-moving.
Eric R. Banilower (43:22):
That’s right. I would say there is progress. I think we’ve learned a lot. We are getting better. Are we there yet? No, we’re not happy with where we are. But I think, you know, I think it’s important to be hopeful about the direction things are going in.
Eric Cross (43:37):
Well-said. I agree. Courtney. Eric, thank you so much for unpacking that report that speaks to, that validates what so many teachers across the country are experiencing. And thank you for your advocacy for high-quality science education and your passion for supporting teachers and being that voice from a data-driven perspective of what teachers experience and then advocating for solutions for them. It’s super-encouraging for me, and I know it’s gonna be really encouraging for a lot of our listeners. So thank you.
Eric R. Banilower (44:10):
Thank you for having us.
Courtney Plumley (44:12):
Yeah. Thank you, Eric.
Eric Cross (44:15):
Thanks so much for listening to my conversation with Eric Banilower, Vice President of Horizon Research, and Courtney Plumley, Senior Researcher at Horizon Research. For much more, check out the show notes for a link to the 2018 National Survey of Science and Mathematics Education. And please remember to subscribe to Science Connections wherever you get podcasts, so that you’re not missing any of the upcoming episodes in Season three. Next time on the show, we’re gonna start laying out the road map for using science more effectively. And we’ll start by looking at the how and the why of integrating literacy instruction.
Susan Gomez Zwiep (44:49):
When we look at Science First and build language development around it, the experience tends to be more authentic and organic.
Eric Cross (44:58):
That’s next time on Science Connections: The Podcast. Thanks so much for listening.
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Meet the guests
Eric R. Banilower is a Vice President at Horizon Research, Inc. (HRI), and has worked in education for over 30 years. Eric was previously a high school physics and physical science teacher before he joined HRI in 1997, where he has worked on a number of research and evaluation projects. Most recently, he has been the Principal Investigator of the 2012 and 2018 iterations of the National Survey of Science and Mathematics Education, a nationally representative survey focusing on the status of the K–12 STEM education system.
Courtney Plumley is a Senior Researcher at Horizon Research, Inc. She began her career in education as an elementary school teacher before starting at HRI in 2009. In her time at HRI she has worked on many K-12 STEM research and evaluation projects. Most recently, Ms. Plumley has worked with Carnegie Corporation of New York on mapping the landscape of K-12 science education in the US and is managing the field test for the OpenSciEd elementary materials.
About Science Connections
Welcome to Science Connections! Science is changing before our eyes, now more than ever. So…how do we help kids figure that out? We will bring on educators, scientists, and more to discuss the importance of high-quality science instruction. In this episode, hear from our host Eric Cross about his work engaging students as a K-8 science teacher.
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S2-06: Making time for science in the K–5 classroom
In this episode, Eric Cross sits down with TikTok star and podcast host Lauran Woolley about her experience teaching science content within her K–5 classroom. Lauran shares how she’s learned how to make time for science, and what most K–5 teachers experience when creating their own science curriculum. Lauran also talks about her rise in popularity on TikTok, her podcast, Teachers Off Duty, and establishing strong relationships with her 5th grade students. Explore more from Science Connections by visiting our main page.
Lauran Woolley (00:00):
I wanna make sure that they’re ready for the real world, and I wanna make sure that they’re able to apply these things that I’m teaching them in their life, not on a multiple choice test.
Eric Cross (00:11):
Welcome to Science Connections. I’m your host Eric Cross. My guest today is Lauren Woolley. Lauren is a full-time fifth grade teacher in Leetonia, Ohio, who has amassed a following of 5.5 million subscribers on TikTok and over 1 million followers on YouTube. She’s also co-host of the podcast, Teachers Off Duty. Lauren has combined her teaching vocation and her talent for entertaining to connect with her students and encourage teachers across the world using her own unique style of edutainment. My most vivid memory from our discussion was her sincerity and openness about her experiences. It quickly became obvious to me that her personal transparency was a characteristic that she has remained grounded in despite her social media success. And now, please enjoy my discussion with Lauren Woolley.
Eric Cross (00:53):
You’re currently teaching fifth grade?
Lauran Woolley (00:55):
Yes.
Eric Cross (00:55):
What is it like to teach all content areas? ‘Cause I’m a middle school science teacher.
Lauran Woolley (00:59):
I didn’t always teach all content areas. First I started in second grade, so I used to teach like primary. I taught that for about three years. And I only really got my 4-5 endorsement because it was told to me that it would make me more marketable as a teacher. So I got it <laugh>. I was like, I’m never gonna use that. And then, my second year teaching, my class had low numbers and they collapsed my second grade classroom, split up my students, and then moved me to fifth grade in January. I had to take over a fifth grade class with all content areas in the middle of a school year. And it was really hard. It was like probably one of the most challenging things I’ve ever had to do teaching. When I got my job at my current school, it was only language arts, social studies.
Lauran Woolley (01:46):
So we only have two fifth grade classes. My other teacher would teach math, science. I taught language arts, social studies, and then the timeframes weren’t matching up. Like, I didn’t have enough time in my schedule for all the things we had to do in our curriculum. And she had like a little bit too much time. We realized as a district that it would be better for our fifth grade classes to just be self-contained. And last year was the first year I taught all five subjects. And I liked the variety of teaching everything because when I taught just language arts, social studies, I just felt like I was repeating myself twice a day. <laugh>. It was kind of boring for me. So like, I like doing all of it. <laugh>.
Eric Cross (02:24):
Yeah. With all of your talents and like your background and what I’ve seen, I could totally see why having all the different content areas would like make sense. Are you using a set curriculum? How do you come up with what to teach? Do you do it with teams? Like who comes up with that?
Lauran Woolley (02:36):
Uh, me, myself and I.
Eric Cross (02:38):
Well done.
Lauran Woolley (02:39):
My school, for literacy we’re using literacy collaborative. Then for math, we just adopted bridges, which I love and it’s very hands-on, very like student-led. For science, we had nothing. And I am not a science, or was not a science teacher at the time when I took over. So I panicked a bit and I was like, “Hey, can we have some kind of science curriculum? ‘Cause I got nothing.” And it’s not hard to look at the state standards and figure out what you need to teach them, but having no resources to go off of is extremely difficult. And luckily I have an older brother, he’s like three years older than me and he’s also a teacher. He actually is a science teacher. ‘Cause that first year that I was teaching all subjects, I was like, “Hey Ryan, can you just like send me all of your Google Drive files for science <laugh>?
Lauran Woolley (03:33):
And he’s like, “Yeah, sure.” So he kind of was like a mentor for like the first year that I taught science. And this year being my second full year teaching science, I feel much more confident. I’m still using his resources. We don’t have a dedicated curriculum at my school. So that’s like one thing I’ve been fighting my school on. And not that they don’t wanna get us one, but like they were focused on getting the math curriculum last year. And then I was told, okay, this year will be science because in my state, fifth grade is a tested area for science and we have no curriculum.
Eric Cross (04:04):
Ryan, keep doing what you’re doing big bro. Second, thank you to every teacher who’s had a Google Drive folder full of curriculum that you graciously shared to a new teacher or someone else that they could have.
Lauran Woolley (04:18):
Can we just say like, can schools, like schools, please get your teacher’s science curriculums.
Eric Cross (04:24):
No, absolutely right. And there is this way of thinking that, especially as a science teacher, it’s something that is dear to my heart, but we do want to develop these math and English skills that’s important and we need that for science. But we’ve always taught so siloed for so long, but that’s not the way that we learn and that’s not the way life works. Something that intrigued me about what you said, and I think a lot of people can relate to it, and I know I can because that was me, is you created your own content or your science content. Like you’re kind of piecing that together from what Ryan had shared with you. How do you make time for that with all of the other things that you’re doing and pressures of state testing and things like that. Like how do you weave that into your teaching?
Lauran Woolley (05:02):
So we have like things that are non-negotiable in our schedules. Like we have to have so many minutes of this, so many minutes of that, so many minutes of whatever else. Well, the first year, I was self-contained. I was like, okay, my main goal, because science is a tested area, I wanna make sure that I get in science every single day, 90% of the time I’m able to get anywhere from 30 to 45 minutes of science every day. But this year it was my goal to make sure that I was getting science done and like we were doing meaningful lessons. And last year I didn’t do this, but this year I’m doing a Christmas center for STEM. So I got it off of Teachers Pay Teachers. I’m sorry, I can’t remember who it was made by, but it’s called Jingle All the Way and it’s like building Santa’s new sleigh. And so like the kids have an activity where they have popsicle sticks, straws, a plastic cup and then like tape. And they have to build a new sleigh for Santa and see how many pennies their sleigh can hold. Like talk about a sleigh being lightweight but also strong and like what would make it strong and different things like that. So I’ve been trying to incorporate a lot more STEM activities. And then something I really like to use for experiment days, I call them lab days, is Gizmo. Have you heard of Gizmo?
Eric Cross (06:15):
Yeah. The simulations.
Lauran Woolley (06:16):
Yeah. My brother showed me that too and he was using it in his class. I mean there’s so many different ones that they have that align with the standards and they have like student lab sheets that go with them and teacher guides and stuff. I’ve just been trying to like up my game a little bit more this year, because last year I was like struggling to get all of the standards in before state testing came around because, can we agree, state testing should not be as early as it is? Our state test happens in like March and we have two months of school left. So like, we better be done with standards by February so we could review, because otherwise we’re kind of outta luck because we run outta time.
Eric Cross (06:59):
Yes. That and there’s all kinds of other things that state testing brings with it that we could spend a lot of time probably critiquing and talking about like as far as what’s ideal for kids and what’s the best way to measure and assess learning. That is one question I wanna ask you though, because I know with your work on TikTok and Instagram and YouTube, you must be connected to a pretty vast teacher network and maybe you have like, kinda like more of an inner circle of people, but you must come across so many different perspectives and get into great discussions. Is there <laugh>, is there anything that kind of stands out to you as far as if you were in charge of what we’re doing? Because that’s kind of the system that we all live in and we kind of are trying to internally change it, but it’s been that way for a long time and we just kind of have to work within it until we can make changes. But if you were to, I dunno from an elementary school perspective, change or modify the way kids are learning, what would you do if you had Monarch ability?
Lauran Woolley (07:54):
Okay, I got three main things I’m thinking in my head. Okay, first things first, we got Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. Okay. If kids are coming to school hungry, if they’re coming to school and don’t have, you know, fresh clothing to put on, if they’re coming to school and they have issues at home that they are dealing with, that they are not okay with, the learning is not happening. That’s secondary. They don’t, it doesn’t matter to them. It doesn’t matter to me because what’s most important is that child as a human being and whether or not they’re okay. If I had unlimited resources, I would love to be able to build like a little mini village inside a school and have like a clothing store that kids could grab stuff from. Or like a, you know how I know how school have like closets and food pantries, but like a real place they could get some new clothes, not like hand-me-down clothes, like a store they could go and grab some food if they needed food for their homes or whatever. We have like an onsite counselor but not like a school counselor, like a therapist-type counselor for like mental health. Having some kind of like health clinic, not just like a school nurse because, let’s be real, our school nurses see everything <laugh> and they do not get enough credit, but like to have like a little like urgent care clinic, like basically a small town <laugh> inside a school that like kids would have all of the resources that they need met. Like that would be my number one thing that I would love to do. I have taught in, you know, I’ve only taught in two different schools, but like I’ve seen a lot of things and the number one thing that keeps coming back is just like home lives and mental health and having someone to talk to.
Lauran Woolley (09:41):
And I think our kids don’t have enough of that. Second of all, would be obviously state testing. Because I mean, it’s good to see like where our kids are at. I don’t think it should be used punitively and I don’t think that it should be putting as much pressure on teachers and students the way that it is. It’s not effective that way at all. Let teachers do their jobs without us having to, like, ’cause honestly, who’s not gonna say that they’re not trying to set their students up to do the best on that test. Our evaluation depends on it. I’m gonna make sure my students are prepared for it. I’m gonna teach all the standards, but like, I shouldn’t have to be teaching so that they could do well on a test. I wanna make sure that they’re ready for the real world and I wanna make sure that they’re able to apply these things that I’m teaching them in their life, not on a multiple choice test. Third of all, <laugh>.
Eric Cross (10:33):
This, this is great. And I think a lot of teachers will listen and be like, “That’s what I’m talking about right there.” Keep going. You’re on three.
Lauran Woolley (10:40):
That would be two teachers in every classroom. Either two teachers in each room or like a teacher and a paraprofessional in each room, because there’s not even an argument that teachers are more effective when they have help.
Eric Cross (10:54):
I would even carry the math on further and say that it’s a force multiplier, like exponentially, that it’s not just, it’s not just like a one plus one equals two teachers. It’s almost like you can almost have like three or four just because of the energy and the synergy that can be created between the two. And you can push off of each other, encourage one another and both support different types of students. So I agree a hundred percent. I think that if you had two teachers that were in sync and planning together and talking about kids all of the time, you would be able to go deeper with students. You’d be able to find out those things that you talked about in Maslow’s because sometimes we don’t find out about it until a parent-teacher conference or kids left our classroom. I wish I would’ve known that. The student was without these things in the very beginning.
Lauran Woolley (11:41):
Absolutely. Mm-hmm.
Eric Cross (11:42):
So when do you start in the school and do we go on LinkedIn to sign up and apply or is it like a lottery system? Like, ’cause you know, I was gonna get a lot of attention.
Lauran Woolley (11:52):
I would love to Oprah Winfrey this and like build my own school <laugh>.
Eric Cross (11:56):
We gotta get those followers up. We gotta build up the sponsorships. We gotta get you up to a hundred million.
Lauran Woolley (12:01):
Listen, if all of my followers across all my platforms donated like $2, we could have $12 million to build a school. <laugh>.
Eric Cross (12:10):
Think about like, DonorsChoose, right? People do that. And I know there’s mixed feelings about it because we need stuff in our classroom. I’m just gonna say that. All right. So, whether I have to ask for it on a website or whatever, but people want to give directly to kids, or people who need it. And I think when there’s opportunities like that, that are visible, people are more likely to want to.
Lauran Woolley (12:29):
In reality, should other people have to fund education in classrooms? No. That’s literally what your taxes are for. A government-funded classroom versus a teacher-funded classroom are two different things. And we know that. But if teachers are asking for things or asking for donations on Amazon or on DonorsChoose, just know in your heart that that teacher has probably already shelled out a lot of their own cash to do that. It’s not that they’re, you know, asking for handouts or anything like that. They’re trying to give their students the best that they can and that’s the thought process behind it. And until we get changes in our education system or changes in legislature that will allow us to do that or will allow classroom budgets, I mean, our hands are tied. Like there’s only so much teachers can do. I’m very fortunate to teach in a district that sees the value in spending money on their teachers and students. And, like my school, like I said, they just shelled out thousands of dollars on a new math curriculum. They bought school supplies. Literally every teacher made their school supply list this year. And then the district went in and paid for every single student’s school supplies in the entire district.
Eric Cross (13:49):
Can we get a shout out to your district real quick?
Lauran Woolley (13:51):
Uh, yeah. I mean, shout out Leetonia schools like, I mean, you guys are awesome and I’ll shout that from the rooftops. I love where I teach. Like I really do think that they value our students and they care about our students and our admin is great. We got a new superintendent a couple years ago. He’s been doing a phenomenal job and I really love it and I’m glad I teach there.
Eric Cross (14:12):
When you move out of the classroom, you know, in any position of leadership, you do have the microscope or magnifying glass on you and a lot of times it’s critical. And not unjustifiably so, I mean, there’s a lot of things that can be critiqued. However, what we don’t always hear is the success stories or where it’s working for teachers and why. And we need leaders to be able to talk to each other and find, “Hey, it’s working in your district? Oh, I just heard, I just heard this district get shot out. I’m gonna go reach out to those people. Hey, what are you doing?” Because we connect with each other, but I think when you go like a level up, that kind of getting up the top of the mountain, the, the connection sometimes can become more difficult for people. There’s not a lot of, I don’t know, maybe there are, but admin influencers.
Lauran Woolley (14:54):
Oh yeah, there definitely are. And I’ve met some really incredible ones. I’m on a committee at my school, it’s called NNPS, it’s the National Network of Partnership Schools. It was started out of Ohio State University. Essentially it is a committee in the school that’s dedicated to bringing together the community and businesses and partnering with people to make our school as strong as it can be. We started last year and we did a bear breakfast, ’cause our mascot is a bear. And we had Christmas things and we had the choir caroling, and we had pancake breakfast for everybody and it was completely free. It was just really nice to see everybody come together. And it feels like the culture changes when people work together and come together for the betterment of the school and for the students. And I think what’s challenging is that so many people have such a negative experience from their schooling that they’re hesitant to get involved in their kids’ schooling. I urge any parents out there, any guardians out there that are, you know, in that mindset where you’re like, I didn’t like my teachers in school, or I had this, this, this and happened to me at school. Give it a chance to know that things have changed and things are changing.
Eric Cross (16:11):
I definitely agree with you about parent engagement and getting involved and sometimes parents, they just don’t know that they should. But wow, your voice is so powerful, especially at board meetings and things like that. Getting stakeholders involved, creating community, which it sounds like your school did a great job or your district did a great job of. The last question I wanna ask you, and it’s kind of going back to who your influencer was, is you now are in a position where your impact exceeds more than, you know. You’re planting so many seeds you’re sharing, and you’ll hear maybe a few, or I’m sure you’ll hear the things that kind of come back to you, but that’s only a fraction. But I wanted to ask you, like, as you think back on your career as an educator or when you were in school K through five or K through 12, is there anyone who stands out to you or who was maybe your influencer or teacher who made a big difference that was memorable? And if so, who was it and what was it about them or what did they do?
Lauran Woolley (17:01):
So I had a lot of teachers that I really had good relationships with and I loved school growing up. But one always stood out in particular, and that was my ninth grade English teacher and her name is Andrea Reid. She was the first person who really told me that I was talented at something and that I could succeed in something because she was the English teacher. She was also a coach of the speech and debate team at my high school. Just one day after school. She was like, “Hey, like you should come to speech tryouts.” So I went to tryouts, like I did it not thinking like I cared if I made it or didn’t, and then I made the team. And honestly, I feel like speech was the starting point of all of it. I competed in speech and debate for four years of high school and she was my coach.
Lauran Woolley (17:49):
I always have horrible nervousness with public speaking, even though I do it a lot. And she would always give me like the best hype speeches and the best confidence boosters. And I feel like speech started my love of acting and started my love of like, you know, comedy and stuff like that. And so therefore TikTok happened and I don’t think any of this would’ve happened had it not been for her and her opening that door for me and telling me, “Hey, you would be good at this. You should try it.” We’re still friends to this day, 15 years later, and she is like an older sister to me and I love it.
Eric Cross (18:26):
That’s amazing. Andrea Reed, that’s her name.
Lauran Woolley (18:28):
Andrea, yep.
Eric Cross (18:29):
Andrea. Andrea Reid. Ms. Reid, thank you, for inspiring Lauran and <laugh> because of your impact, now it’s impacting so many others and as teachers, like, we don’t even, we don’t know, but it’s so humbling to know that like the words that we say to people have that impact and power. It’s so, it’s, it’s so inspiring to me. One of the things that resonate with you so much is your transparency. Like in your depth. Like even as just listening to you talk, you normalize and humanize so many things that we experience and I’m sure that’s what a lot of the people that watch you connect with. You show your life, your family, your house, all these things that are happening. And I was just looking through the comments and there’s just so many people that are warmed. Not just your students, but like so many teachers. So thank you for doing what you’re doing and I wish you tremendous success. Thank you for your time.
Lauran Woolley (19:17):
No, thank you so much for having me. This was awesome. I just wish everybody a great school year and I hope that we all make it through winter break. <laugh>.
Eric Cross (19:27):
Thanks so much for listening to this season of Science Connections. I love learning about science educators just like you. You can nominate educators that inspire you to become a future guest on Science Connections by emailing STEM@amplify.com. That’s S T E M at amplifycom.wpengine.com. Make sure to click subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts and tune in for a brand new season of Science Connections coming soon.
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Meet the guest
Lauran Woolley is a fifth grade teacher in Northeast Ohio. She has loved being able to combine her love of education and entertainment into one career. Her goal is not only to humanize educators to both families and students, but to create a safe space for her students on the internet. She has had the privilege of collaborating with educators around the world to shed a light on this amazing career. You can listen and watch the Teachers Off Duty podcast here!
About Science Connections
Welcome to Science Connections! Science is changing before our eyes, now more than ever. So…how do we help kids figure that out? We will bring on educators, scientists, and more to discuss the importance of high-quality science instruction. In this episode, hear from our host Eric Cross about his work engaging students as a K-8 science teacher.
Classroom discussions
As part of Amplify Science’s Weather and Climate unit, students take on the role of meteorologists to determine which of three fictional islands has weather most like that of orangutans’ existing habitats, Borneo and Sumatra. In this video featuring Lesson 3.7, third-grade students from Chicago Public Schools are discussing the data they collected, as well as which Science and Engineering Practices they used during the lesson.
Simulations and modeling tools
As part of Amplify Science’s Earth’s Features unit, students take on the role of geologists to investigate how a mysterious fossil formed and when it came to be in its current location. In this video, fourth-grade students from Chicago Public Schools are using digital modeling tools to investigate how fossils and rocks can be used to make inferences about past environments.
A week in the life
What does a week in the life of an Amplify Science teacher look like? We asked Keneisha Charleston, a second-grade teacher from Chicago Public Schools, to talk through an example of what one week of using Amplify Science is like in her classroom.
From the classroom
Hear from teachers, administrators, and students across the country who are using Amplify Science in their classrooms right now.
Literacy integration
As part of Amplify Science’s Matter and Energy in Ecosystems unit, students take on the role of ecologists to figure out what caused the collapse of the biodome ecosystem. In this video, sixth-grade students from Denver Public Schools are reading science articles, and then using writing prompts to create arguments using evidence.
Classroom discussions
As part of Amplify Science’s Matter and Energy in Ecosystems unit, students take on the role of ecologists to figure out what caused the collapse of the biodome ecosystem. In this video, sixth-grade students from Denver Public Schools are using evidence to support their claims as part of a classroom discussion.
A week in the life
What does a week in the life of an Amplify Science teacher look like? We asked Amy Trujillo, a sixth-grade teacher from Denver Public Schools, to talk through an example of what one week of using Amplify Science is like in her classroom.
From the classroom
Hear from teachers, administrators, and students across the country who are using Amplify Science in their classrooms right now.
Access a free sample
Ready to take a closer look at Amplify Science? No problem. Just complete the form for instant digital access to two sample units.
Featured blog post
What my wedding taught me about choosing curriculum
The right curriculum choice isn’t only about the product—it’s about who’s by your side from start to finish. Here’s how one district found that with Amplify CKLA.
By Kelly Pruitt, Instructional Facilitator, Peninsula School District | May 28, 2026
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Inspiring the next generation of Indiana scientists, engineers, and curious citizens
Amplify Science is a proven effective core curriculum designed for three-dimensional, phenomena-based learning that provides an immersive experience for science students. Amplify Science was developed in partnership with the science education experts at UC Berkeley’s Lawrence Hall of Science.
What is Amplify Science?
Amplify Science is a curiosity-driven science curriculum that empowers students to Do, Talk, Read, Write, and Visualize like scientists. Through phenomena-based, literacy-rich, and interactive learning experiences, students develop as critical thinkers who will gain the skills they need to solve real problems in their communities and the world.
Each unit of Amplify Science engages students in a relevant, real-world problem where they investigate scientific phenomena, engage in collaboration and discussion, and develop models or explanations in order to arrive at solutions.
Grounded in research
Developed by the science education experts at UC Berkeley’s Lawrence Hall of Science in partnership with the digital learning team at Amplify, our program features:
- A phenomena-based approach where students construct a deep understanding of each unit’s anchor phenomenon.
- A blend of cohesive storylines, hands-on investigations, lively discussions, literacy-rich activities, and digital tools.
- Carefully crafted units, chapters, lessons, and activities designed to deliver truly authentic three-dimensional learning.
- An instructional design that supports all learners in accessing all standards.
Instructional model
The Amplify Science program is rooted in the research-based proven effective pedagogy of Do, Talk, Read, Write, Visualize.
Here’s how each element works:
Do
Learners engage with scientific phenomena by conducting student-centered investigations.
Talk
Students engage in collaborative and inquisitive discussions and scientific argumentation.
Read
Reading scientific texts is an act of inquiry: Students ask questions, gather evidence, and make connections through literacy.
Write
Students write to share what they have learned and apply new evidence to strengthen written arguments and explanations.
Visualize
Students gather evidence through simulations, physical models, and modeling tools, allowing them to see and investigate complex, microscopic, or otherwise unobservable phenomena.
What’s included
Flexible resources that work seamlessly together
Grades K–5 materials
Student Books
Age-appropriate Student Books allow students to:
- engage with content-rich texts
- obtain evidence
- develop research and close-reading skills
- construct arguments and explanations
Student Investigation Notebooks
Available for every unit, the Student Investigation Notebooks provide space for students to:
- record data
- reflect on ideas from texts and investigations
- construct explanations and arguments
Simulations and practice tools (grades 2+)
Developed exclusively for the Amplify Science program, these engaging digital tools:
- serve as venues for exploration
- enable data collection
- allow students to explore scientific concepts
- show what might be impossible to see with the naked eye
Teacher’s Guides
Available digitally and in print, the Teacher’s Guides contain all of the information teachers need to facilitate classroom instruction, including:
- detailed lesson plans
- unit and chapter overview documentation
- differentiation strategies
- standards alignments
- in-context professional development
Hands-on materials kits
Hands-on learning is at the heart of Amplify Science. Each unit kit contains:
- consumable and non-consumable hands-on materials
- print classroom display materials
- premium print materials for student use (sorting cards, maps, etc.)
Grades 6–8 materials
Science articles
The middle school science articles serve as sources for evidence collection and were authored by science and literacy experts at the Lawrence Hall of Science.
Student Investigation Notebooks
Available for every unit, the Student Investigation Notebooks provide space for students to:
- record data
- reflect on ideas from texts and investigations
- construct explanations and arguments
- Available with full-color article compilations for middle school units
Digital student experience
Students access the digital simulations and modeling tools, as well as lesson activities and assessments, through the digital student experience. Students can interact with the digital student experience as they:
- conduct hands-on investigations
- engage in active reading and writing activities
- participate in discussions
- record observations
- craft end-of-unit scientific arguments
Teacher’s Guides
Available digitally and in print, the Teacher’s Guides contain all of the information teachers need to facilitate classroom instruction, including:
- detailed lesson plans
- unit and chapter overview documentation
- differentiation strategies
- standards alignments
- in-context professional development
Hands-on materials kits
Hands-on learning is at the heart of Amplify Science. Each unit kit contains:
- consumable and non-consumable hands-on materials
- print classroom display materials
- premium print materials for student use (sorting cards, maps, etc.)
Unit Sequence
Our lessons follow a structure that is grounded in regular routines while still being flexible enough to allow for a variety of learning experiences.
In fact, our multimodal instruction offers more opportunities for students to construct meaning—and practice and apply concepts—than any other program. What’s more, our modular design means our units can be flexibly arranged to support your instructional goals.
Indiana science resources to support your review
K–5 Science Resources
Contact us
Support is always available. Our team is committed to helping you every step of the way. Contact your dedicated Indiana representative here for program access, samples, and additional information.
Elizabeth Sillies Callahan
Southern IN
(513) 407-5801
Jody Kammer
Central IN
(310) 402-7837
Amanda Knipper
Northern IN
(260) 894-5123
Paige Lawrence
District enrollment below 1200
(980) 421-2608
Approach to AI
The power of high-quality instructional materials for K–8 science
Simply put, quality teaching means quality learning. But there is another key part of the equation: quality curriculum.
Research confirms that the instructional materials used in classrooms play a powerful role in shaping how teachers teach, and how students learn.
Shifting from low-quality or pieced-together materials to well-designed, high-quality instructional materials can significantly improve student achievement. This growing evidence—sometimes described as “the curriculum effect”—is one reason that states and districts across the country are paying closer attention to the quality of the materials they adopt.
So what does high-quality instructional materials actually mean? And what does it look like in a real science classroom?
What does HQIM mean in science education?
High-quality instructional materials (often called HQIM) are curriculum materials intentionally designed to support student learning: aligned to rigorous standards, grounded in research, and built to support teachers.
High-quality instructional materials work alongside teachers, shaping instructional practices in ways that reduce guesswork, support consistency, and free up time and energy. This lets teachers do what they do best: interact with students. HQIM provide a coherent system that supports both teaching and learning over time.
And high-quality science curriculum materials go the extra mile, clearly articulating learning goals, providing guidance for facilitation and discussion, and including embedded opportunities to check for understanding. They also support a range of learners by offering scaffolds, differentiation strategies, and multiple ways for students to engage with content.
How HQIM align with NGSS science standards
The Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) define what students should know and be able to do in science. At their core, these academic standards emphasize three-dimensional learning, integrating science practices, core ideas, and crosscutting concepts.
In science, HQIM are designed for three-dimensional learning: where students don’t just learn about science, but actively figure out how the natural world works. Three-dimensional learning integrates:
- Science and engineering practices (what scientists do).
- Disciplinary core ideas (what scientists know).
- Crosscutting concepts (how scientific ideas connect).
HQIM are designed from the ground up to weave these dimensions together, rather than adding them on as an afterthought. That coherence helps students build understanding over time, and helps teachers see how each lesson fits into a larger learning story.
What do HQIM look like in a science classroom?
One of the best ways to recognize high-quality instructional content is to look not only at the materials, but also at the students using them.
Instead of memorizing disconnected facts, students taught with HQIM are engaged in the kinds of practices scientists use every day.
In classrooms using HQIM for science, you’ll often see students:
- Investigating real-world phenomena that spark curiosity.
- Asking questions, analyzing data, and building explanations.
- Using evidence from multiple sources—texts, simulations, discussions, and investigations.
- Revisiting ideas over time to deepen understanding.
“It is so encouraging to hear students engaged in conversation and building their ideas off of one another,” says classroom teacher Sarah Loessl of Big Hollow School District 38 in Illinois. “Students finding the confidence to challenge one another and use evidence to support their thinking is so much fun to watch.”
How HQIM support teachers
A key feature of high-quality instructional materials is that they’re designed by teachers, with teachers in mind.
This means materials that:
- Clearly articulate learning goals.
- Provide guidance for facilitation and discussion.
- Include embedded formative assessment opportunities.
- Support a range of learners, including multilingual/English learners and students who need additional scaffolds or challenges.
When materials shoulder this heavy lifting, teachers can spend less time creating from scratch and more time engaging with students.
How can teachers start engaging with HQIM?
Even if curriculum adoption decisions happen at the district level, teachers play a critical role in bringing HQIM to life.
Getting familiar with high-quality instructional materials can start with questions like:
- What are students expected to figure out in this lesson?
- How does this activity connect to a larger phenomenon or question?
- Where are students using evidence to explain their thinking?
- How does the curriculum support discussion, sense-making, and revision of ideas?
Developing a shared understanding of what high-quality science instruction looks like helps everyone—teachers, coaches, and leaders—move in the same direction.
Where does Amplify Science fit in?
Amplify Science is an example of high-quality instructional materials designed specifically for K–8 science and aligned to NGSS science standards.
It’s built around phenomena-based, three-dimensional learning and developed with educators, researchers, and scientists to support both student learning and teacher practice. The goal is coherence, engagement, and understanding that grows over time.
Ready to learn more?
To support educators and leaders in building a shared understanding of HQIM, we’ve created a free science HQIM resource bundle, including:
- A classroom look-fors checklist.
- A three-dimensional learning explainer.
- An NGSS alignment overview.
- A closer look at the HQIM student experience.
- Registration for two upcoming webinars focused on HQIM in science.
Whether you’re new to the concept or ready to deepen your practice, these resources are designed to make high-quality instructional materials highly understandable and accessible to all.
Explore the HQIM bundle and upcoming webinars to learn more.
Welcome to Amplify CKLA!
Amplify Core Knowledge Language Arts (CKLA) is a cutting-edge and effective core ELA program for students in grades K–5. It was developed in partnership with the Core Knowledge Foundation, features proven evidence-based instructional practices, and was specifically designed to help teachers implement Science of Reading principles.
Note: We’re continually adding information to this site, including specific details regarding our alignment with your non-negotiables. Keep checking back with us between now and April 20, 2023.
Getting Started
On this site, you’ll find a variety of resources designed to support your review and evaluation of the program. Before you dive in, watch the Orientation Overview and Program Overview videos below to learn about CKLA’s alignment to CCSD’s ELA adoption requirements, as well as where to find key program resources.
[Video] Orientation Overview
[Video] Program Overview
In the video below, learn about CKLA’s structure and materials, as well the research behind the curriculum.
Evidence-Based
[Video] Pedagogical Overview with Simple View of Reading
In the video below, Amplify’s Chief Academic Officer Susan Lambert shares the big picture of CKLA, and explains why it was created and the impact it’s making across the country. Below are a few portions of the video that you may find particularly helpful as you conduct your review.
- 0-1:00 Why CKLA?
- 1:00-4:40 How CKLA was built on the Simple View of Reading
- 4:40-8:00 How to review the CKLA Components
- 8:00-end Teacher Testimonial
[Features] Supporting the Simple View of Reading
Built out of the latest research in the Science of Reading, Amplify CKLA delivers explicit instruction in both foundational literacy skills (systematic phonics, decoding, and fluency) and background knowledge in grades K–2 with an integrated approach to explicit instruction in grades 3–5.
Review this Science of Reading toolkit to learn more about the Science of Reading best practices integrated throughout CKLA.
See our Science of Reading solutions in action! Click here to see a real example of how one Ohio district is implementing and educating their K–8 community on the Science of Reading as a response to Ohio’s Plan to Raise Literacy Achievement Initiative.
Great reading instruction starts with helping kids develop great decoding skills. By building a solid foundation of phonological awareness and phonics, reading the words on the page becomes automatic so that comprehension and critical thinking can happen. Our instruction is supported by:
- Step-by-step lessons with multisensory approaches, clear lesson objectives, and embedded formative assessments.
- Decodable books and student readers with ebook and audiobook versions that feature engaging plots and relatable characters.
- An engaging sound library with fun songs and videos that develop phonological awareness.
- An interactive Vocab App featuring engaging activities with immediate feedback and automated, customized instruction based on student performance.
Students build grade-appropriate subject-area knowledge and vocabulary in history, science, literature, and the arts while learning to read, write, and think creatively and for themselves. Our instruction is supported by:
- Knowledge builders that provide a quick overview of each domain with its key ideas.
- Interactive Read-Alouds designed to build knowledge and vocabulary.
- Content-rich anchor texts that support students as they tackle increasingly complex text and sharpen their analytical skills.
- Social and emotional learning paired with lessons in civic responsibility.
Easy-to-Use Materials
Amplify CKLA offers a number of digital and multimedia resources to support instruction and enhance the teacher and student experience.
- Amplify CKLA Digital Experience Site: All teacher and student materials are posted on this site for planning and information purposes, including Teacher Guides, Readers, Activity Books, Ancillary Materials, videos, additional resources, and links to other useful sites, such as the Professional Learning site.
- The Professional Learning Site: This site includes training materials, best practices, and other resources to develop program expertise. Access professional development anywhere, anytime.
- Intervention Toolkit: The Intervention Toolkit provides easy-to use resources to assist teachers in filling gaps in students’ foundational skills. Teachers will find hundreds of activities to support phonics, fluency, comprehension, handwriting, and other key skills.
- The Science of Reading: The Podcast: Hosted by Susan Lambert, The Podcast delivers the latest insights from researchers and practitioners in early reading. Each episode takes a conversational approach and explores a timely topic related to the Science of Reading.
In addition to the videos below, our CKLA Components Guide can be a helpful tool as you explore the materials provided within your sample tubs.
[Video] Physical Materials Walkthrough
As you explore your physical samples, the material walkthrough video below can be a helpful resource. In particular, we suggest watching the following portions of the video.
- 0-4:38 CKLA components for K–2
- 4:38-7:00 CKLA components for 3–5
- 7-7:30 CKLA Program Guide
- 10:12-13:20 CKLA’s Teacher Resource Site
Note: The below video covers both our K-5 program (Amplify CKLA) as well as our 6-8 program (Amplify ELA).
[Video] Digital Materials Walkthrough
In the video below, learn about CKLA’s digital tools for teachers and students across both classroom and asynchronous environments.
As you prepare to explore our digital platform, be sure to watch and refer to the video below.
Diverse Texts
In Amplify CKLA, texts serve a variety of purposes, from building background knowledge, vocabulary, and comprehension to building decoding and fluency skills.
In grades K–2, instruction is segmented between two strands: Knowledge and Skills.
- Reading within the Knowledge Strand is centered around authentic read-alouds and trade books that are intentionally sequenced to build content knowledge and vocabulary in specific domain topics around literature, history, science, and the arts. Because research shows that students’ listening comprehension outpaces their reading comprehension until their early teens, Amplify CKLA strategically uses read-aloud text in this strand, allowing students to focus their cognitive energy on gaining meaning from the words and better understanding from the images.
- Reading within the Skills Strand centers around carefully crafted Student Readers that teach students how to read. Structured as chapter books, these readers are 100% decodable and were developed to align with Amplify CKLA’s scope and sequence for phonics, directly connecting instruction to student practice in connected texts. Students use the Readers to practice decoding, fluency, and comprehension during shared reading lessons, targeted close reading sessions, in small groups, and independently.
In grades 3–5, integrated units bring the Skills and Knowledge strands together as students become increasingly automatic and strategic in their word recognition and language comprehension skills. Student reading and comprehension activities involve a variety of reading materials:
- Authentic Read-Alouds and trade books ensure students encounter a variety of perspectives as they use these complex text to increase their knowledge while practicing vocabulary and listening comprehension skills.
- Student Readers connect to each theme and are designed to increase in complexity over time, providing a continual challenge as students’ reading and listening comprehension skills develop and strengthen throughout the year.
- Novel Guides provide teachers a flexible option for extending authentic reading and text-based activities in the classroom using award-winning and acclaimed novels.
- ReadWorks articles give students access to additional high-quality texts aligned to both Amplify CKLA knowledge topics and the topics outlined in the Common Core State Standards.
Decodable Readers at Grades K–2
Our Decodable Readers are designed to progress in skills, mirroring the scope and sequence of instruction, which allows students to immediately apply what they are learning to 100% decodable text. More specifically, our decodables:
- Are uniquely designed to provide intensive practice with the CKLA code while students read compelling and engaging stories and informational texts for the first time.
- Gradually introduce students to “tricky” spelling concepts, such as different sounds that use the same letter code.
- Increase in text complexity (i.e., content, length, and vocabulary) as students progress through the grades.
- Include fiction and nonfiction text.
- Are available as ebooks and audiobooks.
Below, you can see how students grow from year-to-year across grades K–2.
Student Readers at Grades 3–5
By grades 3–5, students have mastered the basics of decoding and are hungry to use what they’ve learned to reach out to the world. Although Read-Alouds remain an important part of lessons, students are also encouraged to practice independent reading starting in grade 3 with the support of carefully crafted Student Readers. These readers are chock-full of various text types, cultural stories, and a blend of fiction and nonfiction texts that are tied to and support the overarching theme of the unit.
Read-alouds
Authentic literature exposes students to a variety of text types and perspectives to deepen their knowledge of fascinating topics in social studies, science, literature, and the arts. Authentic texts support text-to-self, text-to-world, and text-to-text connections for readers.
Trade books
Our optional Trade Book Collection (and suggested list of additional trade books) align with our grade-level topics, and extend the knowledge students are learning through an authentic text.
Novel Guides
Novel Guides bring students beyond the CKLA curriculum. We provide fifteen full days of instruction on contemporary trade books, as well as writing prompts that help students navigate the authentic literature they love.
ReadWorks
Amplify CKLA and ReadWorks® have partnered to deliver high-quality texts curated to support the Amplify CKLA Knowledge Sequence and to extend student learning. Texts include high-interest nonfiction articles in topics in social studies, science, literature, and the arts. These texts are accompanied by vocabulary supports and standards-aligned formative assessment opportunities. Teachers can monitor their students’ progress using the ReadWorks reporting features.
Reading resources
The following resources may be helpful as you explore our approach to reading and the role that diverse texts play in the program.
- CKLA Text Complexity Guide
- What students read in Grade K
- What students read in Grade 1
- What students read in Grade 2
- What students read in Grade 3
- What students read in Grade 4
- What students read in Grade 5
Writing
CKLA is rich with opportunities for students to develop, practice, and hone their writing skills. While the shape of writing instruction looks slightly different at each grade level, a commonality across all grades K–5 is that writing isn’t taught in isolation. Rather, it’s embedded within the context of each unit, and is connected to what students read.
At Grades K–2, writing takes place in both the Skills and Knowledge strands.
- Explicit instruction in writing skills (such as sentence structure) and handwriting takes place in the Skills Strand, and is tied to the decodable readers used within each unit.
- Extended writing and writing process activities take place in the Knowledge Strand.
At Grades 3–5, writing is embedded through the integrated units.
- Across each unit, students work on smaller, more discrete writing skills alongside their Student Reader. These skills eventually culminate at the end of each unit in the form of a writing project.
- In 4th and 5th grades, we expand writing even further with the addition of Poetry units.
Writing and text-dependent questions
The overwhelming majority of questions, tasks, and assignments in CKLA materials are text-dependent. Every CKLA unit and domain is based around key texts that are either read aloud, with a peer, or independently. These readings are followed by class discussions where students are expected to refer to these texts when answering literal, inferential, and evaluative questions, both orally during class discussions and through written responses.
- Literal questions assess students’ recall of key details from the text. These are text-dependent questions that require students to paraphrase and/or refer back to the portion of the text where the specific answer is provided.
- Inferential questions ask students to infer information from the text and to think critically. These text-dependent questions require students to summarize and/or reference the portions of the text that lead to and support the inference they are making.
- Evaluative questions ask students to build on what they have learned from the text using analytical and application skills, often to form an opinion or make a judgment. These questions require students to paraphrase and/or cite the textual evidence that substantiates their argument or opinion.
In addition, students are often asked to generate additional questions based on the texts. Students further demonstrate understanding in writing by applying what they have learned and providing evidence from the text to back up their answers and opinions. For example, Grade 3 students learning about sea exploration write a paragraph from the perspective of a sailor on John Cabot’s ship, stating their opinion of whether the hardships they experienced are worth the adventure or glory and citing examples from the text to support their response. Grade 5 students studying the Adventures of Don Quixote write a four-paragraph persuasive essay arguing whether they believe Don Quixote’s good intentions justify his often calamitous actions, using reasons and evidence from the text to support their claims.
Writing with authentic literature
Novel Guides are designed around authentic texts students love. They not only help students foster a love for reading, they also present authentic opportunities for students to express themselves through writing. Novel Guides provide daily text-based writing and discussion through five activity types:
- Ask contains questions for discussion, reflection, or brief written responses. These questions cover information all students should understand as they read the text.
- Explore prompts offer brief research opportunities centered around items mentioned in the text.
- Imagine activities promote creativity and further reflection.
- Observe items ask students to take notes or make other kinds of observations about what they have read.
- Understand questions push students to explore connections to the text.
Writing and enrichment
Writing tasks throughout the program provide almost limitless opportunities for extension. Feedback from the teacher, peers, and self-reflection provide students opportunities to strengthen their writing. For example, advanced students can be encouraged to:
- Use more complex and unusual descriptive vocabulary.
- Incorporate figurative language into their writing.
- Write multi-clause sentences with more complex joining words.
- Create longer or richer opinion, explanatory, and narrative pieces.
- Evaluate the use of informational textual characteristics and use in their own writing (e.g., headers, bullets).
Writing resources
The following resources may be helpful as you explore our approach to writing and how writing develops across the program.
Access the program
Explore as a teacher
Before logging in, watch this brief video on navigating the CKLA Teacher Resource Site.
Ready to explore as a teacher? Follow these instructions:
- Click the CKLA Teacher Resource Site button below.
- Select Log in with Amplify.
- Enter the username: t1.ccsd-k5-ckla@demo.tryamplify.net
- Enter the password: Amplify1-ccsd-k5-ckla
- Click the CKLA Teacher Resource icon
- Select a grade level
Explore as a student
Before logging in, watch this brief video on navigating the CKLA Student Hub.
Ready to explore as a student? Follow these instructions:
- Click the CKLA Teacher Resource Site button below.
- Select Log in with Amplify.
- Enter the username: s1.ccsd-k5-ckla@demo.tryamplify.net
- Enter the password: Amplify1-ccsd-k5-ckla
- Click the CKLA Teacher Resource icon
- Select a grade level
Check out these additional resources
Nevada submission resources:
- CKLA Program Alignment to the Standards (Nevada Rubric: Category 1)
- CKLA Program Social Justice Alignment (Nevada Rubric 2: Category 2)
- CKLA Grade K Lesson Alignment to the Nevada Academic Content Standards for English Language Arts
- CKLA Grade 1 Lesson Alignment to the Nevada Academic Content Standards for English Language Arts
- CKLA Grade 2 Lesson Alignment to the Nevada Academic Content Standards for English Language Arts
- CKLA Grade 3 Lesson Alignment to the Nevada Academic Content Standards for English Language Arts
- CKLA Grade 4 Lesson Alignment to the Nevada Academic Content Standards for English Language Arts
- CKLA Grade 5 Lesson Alignment to the Nevada Academic Content Standards for English Language Arts
CKLA review resources:
- CKLA Program guide
- Diversity, equity, and inclusion in CKLA
- Text complexity in CKLA
- Trade books in CKLA
- Assessments in CKLA
- Remote and hybrid learning with CKLA
- Amplify ELA Technical Specifications
- CKLA Scopes and Sequences
- Grade K Skills and Knowledge
- Grade 1 Skills and Knowledge
- Grade 2 Skills and Knowledge
- Grade 3 Integrated
- Grade 4 Integrated
- Grade 5 Integrated
New Mexico Educators: Welcome to Amplify Science K–5!
Amplify Science is an engaging core curriculum designed for three-dimensional, phenomena-based learning that is rated ‘all green’ on EdReports.
With Amplify Science, New Mexico students won’t just passively learn about science concepts. Instead, they will take on the role of scientists and engineers to actively investigate and figure out real-world phenomena. They will do this through a blend of cohesive and compelling storylines, hands-on investigations, collaborative discussions, literacy-rich activities, and interactive digital tools.
Amplify Science Success Story
The Lawrence Hall of Science
Developed by the science education experts at UC Berkeley’s Lawrence Hall of Science and the digital learning team at Amplify, our program features:
- A phenomena-based approach where students construct a complex understanding of each unit’s anchor phenomenon.
- A blend of cohesive storylines, hands-on investigations, rich discussions, literacy-rich activities, and digital tools.
- Carefully crafted units, chapters, lessons, and activities designed to deliver true three-dimensional learning.
- An instructional design that supports all learners in accessing all standards.
Instructional model
The Amplify Science program is rooted in the proven, research-based pedagogy of Do, Talk, Read, Write, Visualize. Here’s how each element works:
Do
First-hand investigations are an important part of any science classroom, and Amplify Science has students getting hands-on in every unit—from building models of protein molecules to experimenting with electrical systems.
Talk
Student-to-student discourse and full-class discussions are an integral part of the program. Students are provided with numerous opportunities to engage in meaningful oral scientific argumentation, all while fostering a collaborative classroom environment.
Read
Students read scientific articles, focusing their reading activities on searching for evidence related to their investigation and, importantly, on asking and recording questions as they read through fascinating texts on 21st-century topics.
Write
Following real-world practices, students write scientific arguments based on evidence they’ve collected, making clear their reasoning about how a given piece of evidence connects to one of several claims.
Visualize
By manipulating digital simulations and using modeling tools to craft visualizations of their thinking— just as real scientists and engineers do—students take their learning far beyond the confines of what they can physically see in the classroom in an exciting and authentic way.
Program structure
Our cyclical lesson design ensures students receive multiple exposures to concepts through a variety of modalities. As they progress through the lessons within a unit, students build and deepen their understanding, increasing their ability to develop and refine complex explanations of the unit’s phenomenon.
It’s this proven program structure and lesson design that enables Amplify Science to address 100% of the NGSS and support students in mastering the New Mexico STEM Ready! Science Standards.
Unit types
While every unit delivers three-dimensional learning experiences and engages students in gathering evidence from a rich collection of sources, each unit also emphasizes a particular science and engineering practice.
In grades K–2:
- One unit emphasizes the practice of investigation.
- One unit emphasizes the practice of modeling.
- One unit emphasizes the practice of engineering design.
In grades 3–5, students experience the three unit types above, plus:
- One additional unit that emphasizes the practice of argumentation.
Investigation units focus on the process of strategically developing investigations and gathering data to answer questions. Students are first asked to consider questions about what happens in the natural world and why, and are then involved in designing and conducting investigations that produce data to help answer those questions.
Modeling units provide extra support to students engaging in the practice of modeling. Students use physical models, investigate with computer models, and create their own diagrams to help them visualize what might be happening on the nanoscale.
Engineering design units provide opportunities for students to solve complex problems by applying science principles to the design of functional solutions, and iteratively testing those solutions to determine how well they meet preset criteria.
Argumentation units provide students with regular opportunities to explore and discuss available evidence, time and support to consider how evidence may be leveraged in support of claims, and independence that increases as they mount written arguments in support of their claims.
Unit sequence
Our lessons follow a structure that is grounded in regular routines while still being flexible enough to allow for a variety of learning experiences.
In fact, our multi-modal instruction offers more opportunities for students to construct meaning, and practice and apply concepts, than any other program. What’s more, our modular design means our units can be flexibly arranged to support your instructional goals.
Program components
Available digitally and in print, our unit-specific reference guides are chock full of helpful resources, including scientific background knowledge, planning information and resources, color-coded 3-D Statements, detailed lesson plans, tips for delivering instruction, and differentiation strategies.
Hands-on learning is an essential part of Amplify Science, and is integrated into every unit. Students actively participate in science, playing the roles of scientists and engineers as they gather evidence, think critically, solve problems, and develop and defend claims about the world around them. Every unit includes hands-on investigations that are critical to achieving the unit’s learning goals.
More hands-on with Flextensions:
Hands-on Flextensions are additional, optional investigations that are included at logical points in the learning progression and give students an opportunity to dig deeper if time permits. These activities offer teachers flexibility to choose to dedicate more time to hands-on learning. Materials referenced in Hands-on Flextension activities will either be included in the unit kit or are easily sourced. Supporting resources such as student worksheets will be included as downloadable PDF files.
Our kits include enough non-consumable materials to support a class of 36 students and enough consumable items to support 72 students. In other words, each kit can last two years! Plus, our unit-specific kits mean teachers just grab the tub they need for the unit and then put it all back with ease.
Each unit of Amplify Science K–5 includes six unique Student Books written by the Lawrence Hall of Science specifically for the program. These content-rich nonfiction and informational texts provide opportunities for students to search for evidence relevant to their firsthand investigations, see science practices and dispositions modeled, extend their science knowledge, provide real world connections as they master reading-to-learn and close reading skills, and construct evidence-based arguments.
Important note:
Students in grades K–5 are never asked to read alone. Rather, books are read to, with, and by students with ample scaffolding and support provided by the teacher. Big Books are read aloud or together with the class to introduce ideas. Student Books allow for small-group reading and reading in pairs.
Available for every unit, our Student Investigation Notebooks contain instructions for activities and space for students to record data and observations, reflect on ideas from texts and investigations, and construct explanations and arguments.
In grades K–5, one copy of the Student Investigation Notebook is included in each unit’s materials kit for use as a blackline master. Each notebook is also available as a downloadable PDF on the Unit Guide page of the digital Teacher’s Guide.
We know equity is a priority for you and it’s also important to us! Click below to view a comprehensive list of Spanish resources available to support English learners and dual-language classrooms in New Mexico. All components are available digitally. Resources also available in print are noted with an asterisk.
Amplify Science offers digital experience licenses that make elementary instruction more flexible for students and teachers, as well as providing additional means to engage in remote, hybrid, or in-person learning!
Student-facing digital lessons
With the digital experience, students can engage with digital lesson content in one cohesive experience. It’s the same content from Amplify science in a new, integrated format where students can interact with slides, Sims, modeling tools, videos, books, and more.
Digital student notebook pages
Students can draw, write, record audio, and insert images into their Investigation Notebook pages. Their work is automatically saved and delivered to you in real time. When students edit their work, those edits are immediately reflected on your teacher work review page. You can access student responses by clicking “View Work,” where you can see students’ Investigation Notebook pages from the lesson, updating live.
Assign in Amplify
The digital experience allows flexibility with optional features like scheduling assignments in advance and setting due dates. Teacher can use Scheduling to determine the date and time that the assignment appears in Student Home. They also have the flexibility to schedule when assignments appear and use dates to remove assignments from Student Home.
Assign in LMS
You can also assign lessons via our integrations with Google Classroom and Microsoft Teams, or by copying a lesson link and sharing it with students through the platform of your choice. The assignment link you send will provide students with direct access to the full lesson—slides, videos, digital tools, and worksheet activities—no student platform navigation required!
Teacher platform and presentation
Teacher-facing lesson content—including sample teacher talk, student responses, pedagogical support, and possible student responses—shows on a teacher’s private Teacher Guide tab. Students only see the lesson slides that are being presented.
Explore your print samples
With your Amplify Science print samples, you’ll find unit-specific Teacher’s References Guides, Student Investigation Notebooks, and sets of Student Books for each grade level.
A note about the Teacher’s Reference Guides:
It’s important that you see the full breadth and depth of our instruction. For that reason, we provide a copy of each of our unit-specific Teacher Reference Guides.
Rest assured that teachers do not use these robust reference guides for day-to-day teaching. For that, we have a hands-free TG!
- Teacher Reference Guide: Unlike a typical Teacher Guide that requires a series of supplemental books to support it, our encyclopedic reference guide is chock-full of everything a teacher needs to fully implement our program and the NGSS.
- Ready-to-Teach Lesson Slides: For daily instruction, teachers need their hands free. That’s why we created ready-to-teach lesson slides for every single lesson. What’s more, they are editable and include suggested teacher talk and point-of-use differentiation and other instructional tips. Click to learn more.
A note about the Materials Kits:
Hands-on learning is at the heart of Amplify Science, and is integrated into every unit. In order to make hands-on learning more manageable for busy teachers, Amplify Science materials are organized into unit-specific kits.
What’s different about Amplify’s unit-specific material kits? They…
- Include more materials — We give teachers enough non-consumable materials to support a class of 36 students and enough consumables to support 72 student uses. In other words, each kit will last two years.
- Are more manageable — Unlike other programs that require large groups of students to share limited sets of materials, our kits include enough to support small groups of 4–5 students.
- Include supportive videos — Each hands-on activity provides clear instructions for the teacher, with more complex activities supported by video demonstrations and illustrations.
Grade-specific lists of all materials included in each kit:
- Grade K: Materials Kit List
- Grade 1: Materials Kit List
- Grade 2: Materials Kit List
- Grade 3: Materials Kit List
- Grade 4: Materials Kit List
- Grade 5: Materials Kit List
Access your digital samples
Explore as a teacher
When you’re ready to explore the teaching experience on your own, follow these instructions to access the Amplify Science digital teacher platform.
- Click the Access Amplify Science Platform button below and bookmark the page.
- Select Log in with Amplify.
- Enter the username: t.nmk-5@demo.tryamplify.net
- Enter the password: AmplifyNumber1
- Click on Science on the left hand side.
- Click on the Grade Menu in the top center of the screen and select any grade.
- Select any unit.
To help familiarize yourself with navigating the digital platform, watch the navigational video below.
Explore as a student
When you’re ready to explore the student learning experience on your own, follow these instructions to access the Amplify Science digital student platform.
- Click the Access Amplify Science Platform button below and bookmark the page.
- Select Log in with Amplify.
- Enter the username: s.nmk-5@demo.tryamplify.net
- Enter the password: AmplifyNumber1
- Click the backpack icon on the top right.
- Click Science K-5
- Select any unit.
Resources to support your review
- Approaches to assessment in grades K–5
- Spanish Supports in Amplify Science
- New Mexico STEM Ready! Science Standards Correlation
- NGSS Alignment to Amplify Science Unit Summaries K-5
- Research behind Amplify Science
- What’s so phenomenal about phenomena? – eBook
- Phenomena in grades K–5
- Program structure for grades K–5
- Student Books in grades K–5
- Literacy-rich science instruction in grades K–5
Welcome to Amplify Science K–5!
Amplify Science is an engaging core curriculum designed for three-dimensional, phenomena-based learning.
With Amplify Science, Detroit students won’t just passively learn about science concepts. Instead, they will take on the role of scientists and engineers to actively investigate and figure out real-world phenomena. They will do this through a blend of cohesive and compelling storylines, hands-on investigations, collaborative discussions, literacy-rich activities, and interactive digital tools.
What is Amplify Science?
The Lawrence Hall of Science
Developed by the science education experts at UC Berkeley’s Lawrence Hall of Science and the digital learning team at Amplify, our program features:
- A phenomena-based approach where students construct a complex understanding of each unit’s anchor phenomenon.
- A blend of cohesive storylines, hands-on investigations, rich discussions, literacy-rich activities, and digital tools.
- Carefully crafted units, chapters, lessons, and activities designed to deliver true three-dimensional learning.
- An instructional design that supports all learners in accessing all standards.
Proven to work
Instructional model
The Amplify Science program is rooted in the proven, research-based pedagogy of Do, Talk, Read, Write, Visualize. Here’s how each element works:
Do
First-hand investigations are an important part of any science classroom, and Amplify Science has students getting hands-on in every unit—from building models of protein molecules to experimenting with electrical systems.
Talk
Student-to-student discourse and full-class discussions are an integral part of the program. Students are provided with numerous opportunities to engage in meaningful oral scientific argumentation, all while fostering a collaborative classroom environment.
Read
Students read scientific articles, focusing their reading activities on searching for evidence related to their investigation and, importantly, on asking and recording questions as they read through fascinating texts on 21st-century topics.
Write
Following real-world practices, students write scientific arguments based on evidence they’ve collected, making clear their reasoning about how a given piece of evidence connects to one of several claims.
Visualize
By manipulating digital simulations and using modeling tools to craft visualizations of their thinking— just as real scientists and engineers
do—students take their learning far beyond the confines of what they can physically see in the classroom in an exciting and authentic way.
Program structure
Our cyclical lesson design ensures students receive multiple exposures to concepts through a variety of modalities. As they progress through the lessons within a unit, students build and deepen their understanding, increasing their ability to develop and refine complex explanations of the unit’s phenomenon.
It’s this proven program structure and lesson design that enables Amplify Science to address 100% of the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) and support students in mastering the Pennsylvania Science Standards.
Unit types
While every unit delivers three-dimensional learning experiences and engages students in gathering evidence from a rich collection of sources, each unit also emphasizes a particular science and engineering practice.
In grades K–2:
- One unit emphasizes the practice of investigation.
- One unit emphasizes the practice of modeling.
- One unit emphasizes the practice of engineering design.
In grades 3–5, students experience the three unit types above, plus:
- One additional unit that emphasizes the practice of argumentation.
Investigation units focus on the process of strategically developing investigations and gathering data to answer questions. Students are first asked to consider questions about what happens in the natural world and why, and are then involved in designing and conducting investigations that produce data to help answer those questions.
Modeling units provide extra support to students engaging in the practice of modeling. Students use physical models, investigate with computer models, and create their own diagrams to help them visualize what might be happening on the nanoscale.
Engineering design units provide opportunities for students to solve complex problems by applying science principles to the design of functional solutions, and iteratively testing those solutions to determine how well they meet preset criteria.
Argumentation units provide students with regular opportunities to explore and discuss available evidence, time and support to consider how evidence may be leveraged in support of claims, and independence that increases as they mount written arguments in support of their claims.
Unit sequence
Our lessons follow a structure that is grounded in regular routines while still being flexible enough to allow for a variety of learning experiences.
In fact, our multi-modal instruction offers more opportunities for students to construct meaning, and practice and apply concepts, than any other program. What’s more, our modular design means our units can be flexibly arranged to support your instructional goals.
Program components
Available digitally and in print, our unit-specific reference guides are chock-full of helpful resources, including scientific background knowledge, planning information and resources, color-coded 3D Statements, detailed lesson plans, tips for delivering instruction, and differentiation strategies.
Hands-on learning is an essential part of Amplify Science, and is integrated into every unit. Students actively participate in science, playing the roles of scientists and engineers as they gather evidence, think critically, solve problems, and develop and defend claims about the world around them. Every unit includes hands-on investigations that are critical to achieving the unit’s learning goals.
More hands-on with Flextensions:
Hands-on Flextensions are additional, optional investigations that are included at logical points in the learning progression and give students an opportunity to dig deeper if time permits. These activities offer teachers flexibility to choose to dedicate more time to hands-on learning. Materials referenced in Hands-on Flextension activities will either be included in the unit kit or are easily sourced. Supporting resources such as student worksheets will be included as downloadable PDF files.
Our kits include enough materials to support 200 student uses. In other words, teachers can easily support all five periods and small groups of 4-5 students each. Plus, our unit-specific kits mean teachers just grab the tub they need and then put it all back with ease.
Each unit of Amplify Science K–5 includes six unique Student Books written by the Lawrence Hall of Science specifically for the program. These content-rich nonfiction and informational texts provide opportunities for students to search for evidence relevant to their firsthand investigations, see science practices and dispositions modeled, extend their science knowledge, provide real world connections as they master reading-to-learn and close reading skills, and construct evidence-based arguments.
Important note:
Students in grades K–5 are never asked to read alone. Rather, books are read to, with, and by students with ample scaffolding and support provided by the teacher. Big Books are read aloud or together with the class to introduce ideas. Student Books allow for small-group reading and reading in pairs.
Available for every unit, our Student Investigation Notebooks contain instructions for activities and space for students to record data and observations, reflect on ideas from texts and investigations, and construct explanations and arguments.
In grades K–5, one copy of the Student Investigation Notebook is included in each unit’s materials kit for use as a blackline master. Each notebook is also available as a downloadable PDF on the Unit Guide page of the digital Teacher’s Guide.
Amplify Science offers digital experience licenses that make elementary instruction more flexible for students and teachers, as well as providing additional means to engage in remote, hybrid, or in-person learning!
Student-facing digital lessons
With the digital experience, students can engage with digital lesson content in one cohesive experience. It’s the same content from Amplify science in a new, integrated format where students can interact with slides, Sims, modeling tools, videos, books, and more.
Digital student notebook pages
Students can draw, write, record audio, and insert images into their Investigation Notebook pages. Their work is automatically saved and delivered to you in real time. When students edit their work, those edits are immediately reflected on your teacher work review page. You can access student responses by clicking “View Work,” where you can see students’ Investigation Notebook pages from the lesson, updating live.
Assign in Amplify
The digital experience allows flexibility with optional features like scheduling assignments in advance and setting due dates. You can use Scheduling to determine the date and time that the assignment appears in Student Home. You also have the flexibility to schedule when assignments appear and use dates to remove assignments from Student Home.
Assign in LMS
You can also assign lessons via our integrations with Google Classroom and Microsoft Teams, or by copying a lesson link and sharing it with students through the platform of your choice. The assignment link you send will provide students with direct access to the full lesson—slides, videos, digital tools, and worksheet activities—no student platform navigation required!
Teacher platform and presentation
Teacher-facing lesson content—including sample teacher talk, student responses, pedagogical support, and possible student responses—shows on a teacher’s private Teacher Guide tab. Students only see the lesson slides that are being presented.
Explore your print samples
With your Amplify Science print samples, you’ll find unit-specific Teacher’s References Guides, Student Investigation Notebooks, and sets of Student Books for each grade level.
A note about the Teacher’s Reference Guides:
It’s important that you see the full breadth and depth of our instruction. For that reason, we provide a copy of each of our unit-specific Teacher Reference Guides.
Rest assured that teachers do not use these robust reference guides for day-to-day teaching. For that, we have a hands-free TG!
- Teacher Reference Guide: Unlike a typical TG that requires a series of supplemental books to support it, our encyclopedic reference guide is chock-full of everything a teacher needs to fully implement our program and the NGSS.
- Ready-to-Teach Lesson Slides: For daily instruction, teachers need their hands free. That’s why we created ready-to-teach lesson slides for every single lesson. What’s more, they are editable and include suggested teacher talk and point-of-use differentiation and other instructional tips. Click to learn more.
A note about the Materials Kits:
Hands-on learning is at the heart of Amplify Science, and is integrated into every unit. In order to make hands-on learning more manageable for busy teachers, Amplify Science materials are organized into unit-specific kits.
Our unit-specific kits:
What’s different about Amplify’s unit-specific material kits? They…
- Include more materials — We give teachers enough non-consumable materials to support a class of 36 students and enough consumables to support 72 student uses. In other words, each kit will last two years.
- Are more manageable — Unlike other programs that require large groups of students to share limited sets of materials, our kits include enough to support small groups of four to five students.
- Include supportive videos — Each hands-on activity provides clear instructions for the teacher, with more complex activities supported by video demonstrations and illustrations.
Grade-specific lists of all materials included in each kit:
- Grade K: Materials Kit List
- Grade 1: Materials Kit List
- Grade 2: Materials Kit List
- Grade 3: Materials Kit List
- Grade 4: Materials Kit List
- Grade 5: Materials Kit List
Access your digital samples
Explore as a teacher
When you’re ready to explore the teaching experience on your own, follow these instructions to access the Amplify Science digital teacher platform.
- Click the Access Amplify Science Platform button below and bookmark the page.
- Select Log in with Amplify.
- Enter the username: t1.dpsscience@demo.tryamplify.net
- Enter the password: Amplify1-dpsscience
- Click on Science on the left hand side.
- Click on the Grade Menu in the top center of the screen and select any grade.
- Select any unit.
To help familiarize yourself with navigating the digital platform, watch the below navigational video.
Explore as a student
When you’re ready to explore the student learning experience on your own, follow these instructions to access the Amplify Science digital student platform.
- Click the Access Amplify Science Platform button below and bookmark the page.
- Select Log in with Amplify.
- Enter the username: s1.dpsscience@demo.tryamplify.net
- Enter the password: Amplify1-dpsscience
- Click the backpack icon on the top right.
- Click Science K-5
- Select any unit.
Spanish-language support
Amplify Science is committed to providing support to meet the needs of all learners, including multiple access points for Spanish-speaking students. Developed in conjunction with Spanish-language experts and classroom teachers, several components are available in Spanish across the Amplify Science curriculum.
Spanish-language materials include:
| COMPONENT | TEACHER/STUDENT |
| Student Investigation Notebooks | Student |
| Student Books | Student |
| Printed classroom materials Unit and chapter questions, key concepts, vocabulary cards, etc. | Teacher and student |
| Copymasters | Teacher |
| Assessments | Teacher |
| Spanish teacher support license This license includes teacher talk, projections, and downloadable PDFs of all print materials in Spanish. | Teacher |
Resources to support your review
- Michigan Next Generation Science Standards Correlation K-8
- DEIA in Amplify Science
- Research behind Amplify Science
- What’s so phenomenal about phenomena? – eBook
- Phenomena in grades K–5
- Program structure for grades K–5
- Student Books in grades K–5
- Literacy-rich science instruction in grades K–5
- Approaches to assessment in grades K–5
Overview Video
The Lawrence Hall of Science
Developed by the science education experts at UC Berkeley’s Lawrence Hall of Science and the digital learning team at Amplify, our program features:
- A phenomena-based approach where students construct a complex understanding of each unit’s anchor phenomenon.
- A blend of cohesive storylines, hands-on investigations, rich discussions, literacy-rich activities, and digital tools.
- Carefully crafted units, chapters, lessons, and activities designed to deliver true 3-dimensional learning.
- An instructional design that supports all learners in accessing all standards.
Instructional model
The Amplify Science program is rooted in the proven, research-based pedagogy of Do, Talk, Read, Write, Visualize. Here’s how each element works:
DO
First-hand investigations are an important part of any science classroom, and Amplify Science has students getting hands-on in every unit—from building models of protein molecules to experimenting with electrical systems.
TALK
Student-to-student discourse and full-class discussions are an integral part of the program. Students are provided with numerous opportunities to engage in meaningful oral scientific argumentation, all while fostering a collaborative classroom environment.
READ
Students read scientific articles, focusing their reading activities on searching for evidence related to their investigation and, importantly, on asking and recording questions as they read through fascinating texts on 21st-century topics.
WRITE
Following real-world practices, students write scientific arguments based on evidence they’ve collected, making clear their reasoning about how a given piece of evidence connects to one of several claims.
VISUALIZE
By manipulating digital simulations and using modeling tools to craft visualizations of their thinking— just as real scientists and engineers do—students take their learning far beyond the confines of what they can physically see in the classroom in an exciting and authentic way.
Program structure
Our cyclical lesson design ensures students receive multiple exposures to concepts through a variety of modalities. As they progress through the lessons within a unit, students build and deepen their understanding, increasing their ability to develop and refine complex explanations of the unit’s phenomenon.
It’s this proven program structure and lesson design that enables Amplify Science to address 100% of the NGSS, and support students in mastering the standards.
Unit types
While every unit delivers three-dimensional learning experiences and engages students in gathering evidence from a rich collection of sources, each unit also serves a unique instructional purpose.
In grades 6–8:
- One unit is a launch unit.
- Three units are core units.
- Two units are engineering internships.
Launch units are the first units taught in each year of Amplify Science. The goal of the Launch unit is to introduce students to norms, routines, and practices that will be built on throughout the year, including argumentation, active reading, and using the program’s technology. For example, rather than taking the time to explain the process of active reading in every unit in a given year, it is explained thoroughly in the Launch unit, thereby preparing students to read actively in all subsequent units.
Core units establish the context of the unit by introducing students to a real-world problem. As students move through lessons in a Core unit, they figure out the unit’s anchoring phenomenon, gain an understanding of the unit’s disciplinary core ideas and science and engineering practices, and make linkages across topics through the crosscutting concepts. Each Core unit culminates with a Science Seminar and final writing activity.
Engineering Internship units invite students to design solutions for real-world problems as interns for a fictional company called Futura. Students figure out how to help those in need, from tsunami victims in Sri Lanka to premature babies, through the application of engineering practices. In the process, they apply and deepen their learning from Core units.
Unit sequence
Our lessons follow a structure that is grounded in regular routines while still being flexible enough to allow for a variety of learning experiences.
In fact, our multi-modal instruction offers more opportunities for students to construct meaning, and practice and apply concepts than any other program. What’s more, our modular design means our units can be flexibly arranged to support your instructional goals.
Program components
Available digitally and in print, our unit-specific reference guides are chock full of helpful resources, including scientific background knowledge, planning information and resources, color-coded 3-D Statements, detailed lesson plans, tips for delivering instruction, and differentiation strategies.
Hands-on learning is an essential part of Amplify Science, and is integrated into every unit. Students actively participate in science, playing the roles of scientists and engineers as they gather evidence, think critically, solve problems, and develop and defend claims about the world around them. Every unit includes hands-on investigations that are critical to achieving the unit’s learning goals.
More hands-on with Flextensions:
Hands-on Flextensions are additional, optional investigations that are included at logical points in the learning progression and give students an opportunity to dig deeper if time permits. These activities offer teachers flexibility to choose to dedicate more time to hands-on learning. Materials referenced in Hands-on Flextension activities will either be included in the unit kit or are easily sourced. Supporting resources such as student worksheets will be included as downloadable PDF files.
Our kits include enough materials to support 200 student uses. In other words, teachers can easily support all five periods and small groups of 4-5 students each. Plus, our unit-specific kits mean teachers just grab the tub they need and then put it all back with ease.
Our digital Simulations and Practice Tools are powerful resources for exploration, data collection, and student collaboration. They allow students the ability to explore scientific concepts that might otherwise be invisible or impossible to see with the naked eye.
Available for every unit, our Student Investigation Notebooks contain instructions for activities and space for students to record data and observations, reflect on ideas from texts and investigations, and construct explanations and arguments.
In grades 6–8, one copy of the Student Investigation Notebook is included in each unit’s materials kit for use as a blackline master. Each notebook is also available as a downloadable PDF on the Unit Guide page of the digital Teacher’s Guide.
These customizable PowerPoints are available for every lesson of the program and make delivering instruction a snap with visual prompts, colorful activity instructions, investigation set-up videos and animations, and suggested teacher talk in the notes section of each slide.
Explore your print samples
With your Amplify Science print samples, you’ll find unit-specific Teacher’s References Guides and Student Investigation Notebooks for each grade level.
A note about the Teacher’s Reference Guides:
It’s important that your committee sees the full breadth and depth of our instruction. For that reason, we provided a copy of each of our unit-specific Teacher Reference Guides.
Rest assured that teachers do not use these robust reference guides for day-to-day teaching. For that, we have a hands-free TG!
- Teacher Reference Guide: Unlike a typical TG that requires a series of supplemental books to support it, our encyclopedic reference guide is chock-full of everything a teacher needs to fully implement our program and the NGSS.
- Ready-to-Teach Lesson Slides: For daily instruction, teachers need their hands free. That’s why we created ready-to-teach lesson slides for every single lesson. What’s more, they are editable and include suggested teacher talk and point-of-use differentiation and other instructional tips. Click to learn more.
A note about the Materials Kits:
Hands-on learning is at the heart of Amplify Science, and is integrated into every unit. In order to make hands-on learning more manageable for busy teachers, Amplify Science materials are organized into unit-specific kits.
Our unit-specific kits:
- Include more materials — We give teachers enough materials to support 200 student uses.
- Are more manageable — Unlike other programs that require large groups of students to share limited sets of materials, our kits include enough to support small groups of 4–5 students.
- Include supportive videos — Each hands-on activity provides clear instructions for the teacher, with more complex activities supported by video demonstrations and illustrations.
What comes in each grade level kit? Click the links below to see the grade-specific lists of all materials included in each kit.
Access your digital samples
Explore as a teacher
Follow these instructions to explore the Amplify Science digital platform as a teacher.
- Click the Access Amplify Science Platform button below and bookmark it.
- Select Log in with Amplify.
- Enter the username: t1.jeffersoncounty@demo.tryamplify.net
- Enter the password: Amplify1-jeffersoncounty
- Click the Science icon.
- Click on the Program Menu in the top center of the screen and select any grade.
- Select any unit.
To help familiarize yourself with navigating the digital platform,watch the below navigational video.
Explore as a student
Follow these instructions to explore the Amplify Science digital platform as a student.
- Click the Access Amplify Science Platform button below and bookmark it.
- Select Log in with Amplify.
- Enter the username: s1.jeffersoncounty@demo.tryamplify.net
- Enter the password: Amplify1-jeffersoncounty
- Click the Science icon.
- Click on the Grade Menu in the top center of the screen and select any grade.
- Select any unit.
Resources to support your review
The Ohio High Impact Tutoring Consultancy Series
Next Generation Science Standards letter
Each unit includes a letter describing the Next Generation Science Standards and how they’re reflected in all units at a particular grade.
Click on your student’s grade below to download the letter for that grade:
Unit Maps
Each unit in Amplify Science has a Unit Map for the teacher. This document outlines the scientific questions the students come across in the unit, and how they will figure out the answers.
Click on your student’s grade to download all of the Unit Maps for that grade:
Simulations
In grades 3–5, students use interactive digital apps as one way of figuring out unit phenomena. This short video shows an example of a simulation.
Resource for back-to-school night
This presentation (available for download) provides a general overview of the Amplify Science curriculum. Your student’s teacher may have used this resource during back-to-school night.
Home investigations
If you’re interested in extending the Amplify Science classroom experience at home use the Scientist Profile Cards to spark discussions about careers in science and engineering!
The Amplify Science program also includes several Home Investigations that you can explore with your students outside of the school day. Your student’s teacher may assign the Home Investigations as the class progresses through the units, but if you’d like to explore them on your own, you can do so by clicking on your student’s grade below:
Questions for at-home discussion
For Amplify Science families, the Questions for At-Home Discussion documents for every unit in grades K–5 contain questions for families to ask their students to help guide continued discussion and learning outside the classroom.
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Kindergarten |
Grade 1 |
Grade 2 |
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Grade 3 |
Grade 4 |
Grade 5 |
Contact us
We’re here to help you!
Have a question about Amplify Science? Visit our help library to search for articles with answers to your program questions. For additional curriculum support, contact your student’s teacher.
Amplify Science professional development
Amplify Science blends hands-on investigations, literacy-rich activities, and interactive digital tools to empower students to think, read, write, and argue like real scientists and engineers. We’ve created a wide suite of professional development offerings that will help you meet your unique needs this school year. Find out more below!
Amplify CKLA, ELA, and Science professional development has been vetted by Rivet Education’s team through a rigorous three-step process and is listed in the Professional Learning Partner Guide.
Plan your professional development
We’re excited to partner with you on your Amplify journey. Flexible professional development pathways have been designed to meet your needs.
Recommended professional development plan
Our team has curated a recommended professional learning path from initial launch to continuous support. Use the Professional Development Planning Guide below to discuss the plan that best meets your school or district needs with your Account Executive.
Sessions overview
| Audience | Title | Duration | Modality | Available |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Launch | ||||
| K–5 instructional leaders | Administrators’ program overview | Half day | Onsite/Remote | Yes^ |
| TK teachers | Transitional kindergarten program overview | Half day | Onsite/Remote | Yes |
| K–5 teachers | Initial training | 1 day onsite or 2 days remote |
Onsite/Remote | Yes*^ |
| K–5 teachers | Program overview | Half day | Onsite/Remote | Yes |
| Interactive Classroom consultation | 90 min. | Remote | Yes | |
| 6–8 instructional leaders | Administrators’ program overview | Half day | Onsite/Remote | Yes |
| 6–8 teachers | Initial training | 1 day onsite or 2 days remote |
Onsite/Remote | Yes* |
| 6–8 teachers | Program overview | Half day | Onsite/Remote | Yes |
| Strengthen | ||||
| K–5 instructional leaders | Strengthening consultation session | 60 min. | Remote | 6/2022 |
| Strengthening consultation package | 3 1-hour sessions | Remote | 6/2022 | |
| K–5 teachers | Guided unit internalization | Half day | Onsite/Remote | Yes |
| K–5 teachers | The Assessment System | Half day | Onsite/Remote | Yes |
| Supporting all learners with complex texts | Half day | Onsite/Remote | Yes | |
| Writing in science | Half day | Onsite/Remote | Yes | |
| Supporting English learners | Half day | Onsite/Remote | Yes | |
| Strengthening consultation session | 60 min. | Remote | 6/2022 | |
| Strengthening consultation package | 3 1-hour sessions | Remote | 6/2022 | |
| 6–8 instructional leaders | Strengthening consultation session | 60 min. | Remote | 6/2022 |
| Strengthening consultation package | 3 1-hour sessions | Remote | 6/2022 | |
| 6–8 teachers | Guided unit internalization | Half day | Onsite/Remote | Yes |
| 6–8 teachers | The Assessment System | Half day | Onsite/Remote | Yes |
| Supporting all learners with complex texts | Half day | Onsite/Remote | Yes | |
| Writing in science | Half day | Onsite/Remote | Yes | |
| Supporting English learners | Half day | Onsite/Remote | Yes | |
| Engineering Internships | Half day | Onsite/Remote | Yes | |
| Science Seminar | Half day | Onsite/Remote | Yes | |
| Strengthening consultation session | 60 min. | Remote | 6/2022 | |
| Strengthening consultation package | 3 1-hour sessions | Remote | 6/2022 | |
| Coach | ||||
| K–5 instructional leaders | Job-Embedded Coaching (JEC) | 1 day | Onsite | Yes |
| K–5 teachers | Job-Embedded Coaching (JEC) | 1 day | Onsite/Remote | Yes |
| 6–8 instructional leaders | Job-Embedded Coaching (JEC) | 1 day | Onsite | Yes |
| 6–8 teachers | Job-Embedded Coaching (JEC) | 1 day | Onsite/Remote | Yes |
| Note for all workshops: Any single three-hour offering can be repeated on the same day with different audiences to make one full-day session. | ||||
| *When delivered remotely, this full-day initial training session (6 hours) is split into two half-day sessions (3 hours each). Part 1 and Part 2 may be scheduled consecutively on the same day or on different days, ideally within ~2 weeks. The same participants should attend both sessions in order to receive all content. This flexible scheduling opportunity for remote sessions will be available starting 6/2022. | ||||
^Session will be available for IC customers after June 1, 2022.
Launch
For teachers
Initial training
1 day onsite (6 hours) or 2 half days remote (6 hours)*
Grade band: K–1 / K–5 / 6–8
Grade level: K, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8
In the first half of this session, participants learn the essentials necessary to implement Amplify Science with success. They learn to navigate the digital Amplify Science platform and become familiar with planning resources and strategies. Through a model lesson and guided reflection, participants build an understanding of the instructional approach to teaching and learning. In the second half of this session, participants dig deeper into unit resources to start planning for instruction for their first grade-level unit.
When delivered as a grade band session, Part 1 will feature an exemplar from the following units:
- K–1 workshops feature an exemplar from the grade 1 unit Animal and Plant Defenses.
- K–5 workshops feature an exemplar from the grade 4 unit Energy Conversions.
- 6–8 workshops feature an exemplar from the Metabolism Core unit.
When delivered as a grade level session, Part 1 features the following units:
- K: Needs of Plants and Animals
- 1: Animal and Plant Defenses
- 2: Plant and Animal Relationships
- 3: Balancing Forces
- 4: Energy Conversions
- 5: Patterns of Earth and Sky
6–8 workshops feature one of the following units:
- Metabolism
- Plate Motion
- Force and Motion
Interactive Classroom customers: Select K-5 grade band or K, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 grade level sessions (available starting 6/2022)
Audience: Teachers (administrators welcome), maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite/Remote
*When delivered remotely, this full-day initial training session (6 hours) is split into two half-day sessions (3 hours each). Part 1 and Part 2 may be scheduled consecutively on the same day or on different days, ideally within two weeks. The same participants should attend both sessions in order to receive all content. This flexible scheduling opportunity for remote sessions will be available starting 6/2022.
Interactive Classroom consultation
90 minutes
Grade band: K–5
Prerequisite: Initial training or program overview
In this remote consultation session, participants prepare to leverage Amplify Science’s new K-5 Interactive Classroom experience. The session includes a walkthrough of new digital features available to teachers and an opportunity for participants to experience these enhancements through modeled activities from an exemplar K-5 unit. The session closes with time for participants to explore the digital features and ask questions to support their planning.
*This session is designed for experienced Amplify Science users who are new to adding Interactive Classroom.
Audience: Teachers, maximum 30 participants
Modality: Remote
Program overview
Half day (3 hours)
Grand band: K–1, K–5, 6–8
Grade level: K, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8
In this session, participants learn the essentials necessary to implement Amplify Science with success. They learn to navigate the digital Amplify Science platform and become familiar with planning resources and strategies. Through a model lesson and guided reflection, participants build an understanding of the instructional approach to teaching and learning.
When delivered as a grade band session, an exemplar will be featured from the following units:
- K–1 workshops feature an exemplar from the grade 1 unit Animal and Plant Defenses.
- K–5 workshops feature an exemplar from the grade 4 unit Energy Conversions.
- 6–8 workshops feature an exemplar from Metabolism.
When delivered as a grade level session, the following units will be featured:
- K: Needs of Plants and Animals
- 1: Animal and Plant Defenses
- 2: Plant and Animal Relationships
- 3: Balancing Forces
- 4: Energy Conversions
- 5: Patterns of Earth and Sky
6–8 workshops feature one of the following units:
- Metabolism
- Plate Motion
- Force and Motion
Interactive Classroom customers: Select K-5 grade band or K, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 grade level sessions
Audience: Teachers (administrators welcome), maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite/Remote
Transitional kindergarten program overview
Half day (3 hours)
Grade level: TK
In this session, participants dive into exploring and planning for the first TK unit, Wondering About Noises in Trees. They engage with model activities, experience key instructional routines, and plan how they’ll implement this flexible curriculum in their classrooms. Participants collaborate to build a deep understanding of the TK instructional approach and structure. They will leave ready to start instruction in their classrooms, and take away a suite of additional resources to support their preparation for other TK units.
Audience: Teachers (administrators welcome), maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite/Remotewelcome), maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite/Remote
For instructional leaders
Administrators’ program overview
Half day (3 hours)
Grade band: K–5 / 6–8
In this session, instructional leaders become familiar with the principles of phenomenon-based teaching and learning, and experience the instructional approach of Amplify Science units. Leaders consider their essential role supporting teachers and students with the implementation of a new science curriculum.
Interactive Classroom customers: Select K-5 grade band session (available starting 6/2022)
Audience: Administrators, department chairs, coaches, maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite/Remote
Strengthen
For teachers
The Assessment System
Half day (3 hours)
Grade band: K–5 / 6–8
Prerequisite: Initial training or program overview
In this session, participants learn about the structure and purpose of the varied formative and summative opportunities in the Amplify Science Assessment System. Participants experience and analyze a sample formative assessment, deepen their understanding of unit learning progressions, and acquire strategies for collecting, analyzing, and responding to student assessment data. Collaborative reflections and discussions support participants’ understanding of the relationships among different types of assessments and their unit’s learning goals.
Audience: Teachers (administrators welcome), maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite/Remote
Supporting all learners with complex texts
Half day (3 hours)
Grade band: K–5 / 6–8
Prerequisite: Initial training or program overview
In this session, participants learn strategies to support all students as they access the complex texts in Amplify Science units. They explore the connections among the ways professional scientists read and how Amplify Science lessons build students’ capacity as science readers. The workshop includes a model reading sequence, collaborative problem-solving around common student reading challenges, and planning time for upcoming reading lessons in participants’ units.
Audience: Teachers (administrators welcome), maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite/Remote
Writing in science
Half day (3 hours)
Grade band: K–5 / 6–8
Prerequisite: Initial training or program overview
K–5: In this session, participants develop an understanding of how the Amplify Science writing approach supports students to engage in science practices, make sense of science ideas, and develop as writers. Participants experience an example multimodal instructional sequence that demonstrates the connections among informal daily writing and the more structured formal scientific explanations and arguments students write in each Amplify Science unit. They dig into resources for analyzing student writing then apply their learning to plan for supporting student writing in their unit.
6-8: In this session, participants develop an understanding of how the Amplify Science writing approach supports students to engage in science practices, make sense of science ideas, and develop as writers. Participants experience an example instructional sequence that demonstrates the varied purposes for frequent small, informal writing opportunities in multimodal science instruction, then they analyze how each core unit’s culminating Science Seminar experience works as a scaffold to support students as they write sophisticated scientific arguments. The session closes with a guided reflection on strategies for supporting student writing.
Audience: Teachers (administrators welcome), maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite/Remote
Supporting English learners
Half day (3 hours)
Grade band: K–5 / 6–8
Prerequisite: Initial training or program overview
In this session, participants explore strategies to support English learners’ ability to do, talk, read, write, visualize, and construct arguments like scientists. By engaging in model activities, participants deepen their knowledge of the critical role that language and literacy play in developing scientific understanding. Participants become familiar with the research-based principles underlying the embedded supports and strategies in Amplify Science, which aid in students’ development of disciplinary literacy in science.
Audience: Teachers (administrators welcome), maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite/Remote
Guided unit internalization
Half day (3 hours)
Grade band: K–5 / 6–8
Grade level: TK, K, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8
Prerequisite: Initial training or program overview
In this session, participants leverage a planning protocol to internalize an upcoming unit. They apply their understanding of how students engage in three-dimensional learning throughout the unit to plan for the diverse needs of their classrooms and students.
Audience: Teachers (administrators welcome), maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite/Remote
Engineering Internships
Half day (3 hours)
Grade level: 6, 7, 8
Prerequisite: Initial training or program overview
In this session, participants explore and plan for the first Engineering Internship of their grade-level course. Participants are oriented to the Futura Workspace and other digital tools used with students in the internship experience. Participants also dive deeper into how students apply science concepts from core units to construct design solutions, learning engineering concepts and practices throughout the process.
Workshop will feature one of the following units:
- Metabolism Engineering Internship
- Plate Motion Engineering Internship
- Force and Motion Engineering Internship
Audience: Teachers (administrators welcome), maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite/Remote
Science Seminar
Half day (3 hours)
Grade band: 6–8
Prerequisite: Initial training or program overview
This session focuses on the culminating Science Seminar sequence at the end of the grades 6–8 core units, in which students apply the conceptual understanding built throughout the unit to engage in argumentation about a unique but related phenomenon. Participants experience a Science Seminar sequence from an exemplar unit as students do, then dive into a unit at their grade level to internalize the Science Seminar sequence and plan for instruction.
Audience: Teachers (administrators welcome), maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite/Remote
Strengthening consultation session
60-minute session
Grade band: K–5 / 6–8
Grade level: K, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8
Prerequisite: Initial training or program overview
This 60-minute session focuses on a specific topic that will deepen teachers understanding of Amplify Science. An Amplify facilitator will align with the school or district leadership team in advance on the topic (chosen from a menu of options) that will best meet teachers’ unique options.
Topics include:
- Supporting Diverse Learners: Exploring the resources (for K–8 teachers)
- Supporting Diverse Learners: Leveraging and Building upon Embedded Supports A: Teacher modeling and student discourse (for K–8 teachers)
- Supporting Diverse Learners: Leveraging and Building upon Embedded Supports B: Multimodal instruction
- Planning an Amplify Science lesson (for K–8 teachers)
- Unit kits and materials prep (for K–5 teachers)
- Grading with Amplify Science (for K–8 teachers)
- Analyzing Student Work (for K–8 teachers)
Available starting 6/2022.
Audience: Teachers, maximum 30 participants
Modality: Remote
Strengthening consultation package
3 1-hour sessions
Grade band:K–5 / 6–8
Grade level:K, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8
Prerequisite:Initial training or program overview
This package consists of three 60-minute sessions that can be delivered on the same day or on different days. Each session will focus on a specific topic that will deepen teachers understanding of Amplify Science. An Amplify facilitator will align with the school or district’s leadership team in advance on the topic from a menu of options that will best meet teachers’ unique needs.
Available starting 6/2022.
Audience:Teachers, maximum 30 participants
Modality: Remote
For instructional leaders
Strengthening consultation session
60-minute session
Grade band: K–5 / 6–8
Grade level: K, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8
Prerequisite: Administrators’ program overview
These 60 minute sessions will focus on a specific topic that will deepen instructional leaders’ understanding in Amplify Science and equip them in driving towards stronger student outcomes. An Amplify facilitator will align with the school or district’s leadership team in advance on the topic from a menu of options that will best meet instructional leaders’ unique needs.
Topic available for summer 2022: Amplify Science classroom look-fors (for K-8 leaders).
Available starting 6/2022.
Audience: Administrators, department chairs, coaches, maximum 30 participants
Modality: Remote
Strengthening consultation package
3 1-hour sessions
Grade band: K–5 / 6–8
Prerequisite: Administrators’ program overview
This package consists of three 60-minute sessions that can be delivered on the same day or on different days. Each session will focus on a specific topic that will deepen leaders’ understanding of Amplify Science. An Amplify facilitator will align with the school or district’s leadership team in advance on the topic from a menu of options that will best meet leaders’ unique needs.
Available starting 6/2022.
Audience: Administrators, department chairs, coaches, maximum 30 participants
Modality: Remote
Coach
For teachers
Job-Embedded Coaching (JEC) services: Teachers
1 day (6 hours)
Grade band: K–5 / 6–8
Grade level: K, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8
Prerequisite: Initial training or program overview
Strengthen your implementation of Amplify Science with a coaching onsite visit for your teachers. An Amplify Science Professional Learning Specialist can visit classrooms for observation and debriefs with focused feedback and/or facilitate PLC or grade-level meetings to support teachers with planning decisions. The flexible coaching design allows for a collaborative and personalized approach to support effective program implementation.
Audience: Teachers, maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite/Remote
For instructional leaders
Job-Embedded Coaching (JEC): Administrators
1 day (6 hours)
Grade band: K–5 / 6–8
Prerequisite: Administrators’ program overview
In our Coaching sessions, instructional leaders engage in facilitated Professional Learning Walks (PLW)—non-evaluative classroom observations of Amplify Science classrooms that focus on building capacity to identify indicators of strong implementation of the program. Classroom look-fors focus on the use of instructional resources (material access/use and the Classroom Wall), instructional delivery (unpacking the unit phenomena and multimodal instruction), and monitoring of instruction (supporting all learners and use of the Assessment System). Leaders collaboratively analyze collected data in order to identify strengths and areas for growth specific to the implementation of Amplify Science for their teaching teams. Leaders leave with an action plan for supporting their teachers based on the analysis and reflection from the PLW.
Audience: Administrators, department chairs, coaches, maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite
Pricing
We offer the following pricing for training sessions and packages:
| Session type | Pricing |
|---|---|
| 2 consecutive full day onsite sessions | $4,800 |
| 1-day onsite session | $3,200 |
| 1-day remote session (2 half days) | $1,500 |
| 1-day remote coaching session | $1,200 |
| Half-day onsite session | $2,500 |
| Half-day remote session | $750 |
| 90-minute remote session | $500 |
| 60-minute remote session | $350 |
| 3 1-hour remote sessions | $1,000 |
| Customized Amplify Science onsite or remote packages | Price will vary |
Please note that the prices are general ranges and may be subject to change.
Contact
Amplify welcomes the opportunity to partner with schools and districts to design professional development plans and answer your questions.
If you would like to order any of our professional development services, please contact your local Amplify sales representative or call (800) 823-1969.
Amplify professional development: Coaching
Getting started with Amplify Science California
Dear Elk Grove K–5 teachers,
Welcome to the Amplify Science California family! Below you’ll find everything you need to successfully kick off your science instruction this year.
– Your California team
Program introduction
Onboarding videos
To start using Amplify Science California quickly in your classroom, check out the following onboarding videos. They cover what you need to know to get started fast, from unpacking materials to quickly start using Amplify Science in your classroom and navigating the digital Teacher’s Reference Guide.
Program pacing
Hands-on materials kit
The following videos give you a quick look into our Amplify Science California classroom kits. For each grade level, you’ll find a “How to unpack your kit” video for the first unit of the program.
- Kindergarten: Needs of Plants and Animals unpacking video
- Grade 1: Animal and Plant Defenses unpacking video
- Grade 2: Plant and Animal Relationships unpacking video
- Grade 3: Balancing Forces unpacking video
- Grade 4: Energy Conversions unpacking video
- Grade 5: Patterns of Earth and Sky unpacking video
Teacher digital resources
Watch this video to understand the basic organization of the digital teacher experience and how to navigate the platform.
Want some practice? Download this exploration guide to practice toggling between teacher view, presentation view, and student view.
Our new digital experience also makes it easy to assign work through our LMS integrations.
Our new digital experience also makes it easy to view student work in real time.
Student digital resources
Watch this video to take a peek at the various student digital resources available to your class.
Use this Student Login Click Path document to support students and families logging in from home.
Essential resources
Your Teacher’s Reference Guide is a tremendously rich resource. It’s also packed! That’s why teachers getting started with Amplify Science love our condensed Unit Guides, lesson planners, and device calendars.
Unit Guides
These short and sweet guides provide a big picture overview of each unit’s phenomenon and storyline, the key questions that guide learning, and how the storyline develops from chapter to chapter. We even spoil the big reveal at the end by pointing out ahead of time what students figure out throughout the unit.
Kindergarten
Grade 1
Grade 2
- Plant and Animal Relationships Unit Guide
- Properties of Materials Unit Guide
- Changing Landforms Unit Guide
Grade 3
- Balancing Forces Unit Guide
- Inheritance and Traits Unit Guide
- Environments and Survival Unit Guide
- Weather and Climate Unit Guide
Grade 4
- Energy Conversions Unit Guide
- Vision and Light Unit Guide
- Earth’s Features Unit Guide
- Waves, Energy, and Information
Grade 5
- Patterns of Earth and Sky Unit Guide
- Modeling Matter Unit Guide
- Earth System Unit Guide
- Ecosystem Restoration Unit Guide
Lesson planners
Our lesson planners give you easy access to direct links to key resources within the program.
Kindergarten
- Needs of Plants and Animals lesson planner
- Pushes and Pulls lesson planner
- Sunlight and Weather lesson planner
Grade 1
- Animal and Plant Defenses lesson planner
- Light and Sound lesson planner
- Spinning Earth lesson planner
Grade 2
- Plant and Animal Relationships lesson planner
- Properties of Materials lesson planner
- Changing Landforms lesson planner
Grade 3
- Balancing Forces lesson planner
- Inheritance and Traits lesson planner
- Environments and Survival lesson planner
- Weather and Climate lesson planner
Grade 4
- Energy Conversions lesson planner
- Vision and Light lesson planner
- Earth’s Features lesson planner
- Waves, Energy, and Information lesson planner
Grade 5
- Patterns of Earth and Sky lesson planner
- Modeling Matter lesson planner
- Earth System lesson planner
- Ecosystem Restoration lesson planner
Teacher-provided materials
Your Amplify Science classroom kit includes a wide variety of consumable and non-consumable items. In fact, each kit contains enough non-consumables to support a class of 36 students working in small groups, and enough consumables to support 72 student uses.
In addition to these provided items, there are some teacher-provided items required in each unit. For a consolidated list of teacher-provided items per unit, download the appropriate PDF below.
- Kindergarten: Teacher-provided materials lists
- Grade 1: Teacher-provided materials lists
- Grade 2: Teacher-provided materials lists
- Grade 3: Teacher-provided materials lists
- Grade 4: Teacher-provided materials lists
- Grade 5: Teacher-provided materials lists
Device calendars
Our at-a-glance device calendars make device management and sharing between grade-level colleagues a breeze. With one calendar per unit (beginning in grade 2), you can easily see which lessons utilize devices.
- Grade 2: Device calendars for all units
- Grade 3: Device calendars for all units
- Grade 4: Device calendars for all units
- Grade 5: Device calendars for all units
Approach to assessment
The Amplify Science California assessment system is grounded in the principle that students benefit from regular and varied opportunities to demonstrate understanding through performance. In practice this means that conceptual understanding is revealed through engagement in the science and engineering practices.
Assessment types at a glance
In your classroom, you’ll be utilizing a variety of formative (F) and summative (S) assessments:
- End-of-Unit Assessment (S): Assessments toward the end of each unit feature a combination of targeted discussions, student-generated models, and written explanations to gauge students’ knowledge and growth.
- Pre-Unit Assessments (F): Discussion, modeling, and written explanations to gauge students’ knowledge.
- On-the-Fly Assessments (OtFA) (F): Multi-dimensional tasks integrated regularly throughout the lessons. OtFA opportunities were designed to help teachers make sense of student activity during a learning experience (e.g., student-to-student talk, writing, and model construction) and to provide evidence of how a student is coming to understand core concepts and developing dexterity with SEPs and CCCs. Three-dimensional assessment opportunities make measuring progress toward NGSS learning goals possible.
- Self-assessments (F): One per chapter; brief opportunities for students to reflect on their own learning, ask questions, and reveal ongoing wonderings about unit content.
- Critical Juncture Assessments (F): Variety of multidimensional performance tasks intended to assess student progress, occurring at the end of each chapter. Examples include writing scientific explanations, engaging in argumentation, developing and using models, and designing engineering solutions. Based on student performance on the assessment, teachers have access to recommendations for targeted student interventions, suggested follow-ups, or differentiating classroom instruction.
- End-of-Unit Assessment (S): Assessments toward the end of each unit feature a combination of targeted discussions, student-generated models, and written explanations to gauge students’ knowledge and growth.
Pre-Unit Assessments
Most Pre-Unit assessments are embedded within an activity of the first lesson of a unit. In kindergarten and grade 1, the Pre-Unit assessment (as well as the End-of-Unit assessment) is oral. In grades 2–5 they are typically written. Refer to the Digital Resources area of the Lesson Brief for materials needed for the assessment activity, such as the Clipboard Assessment Tool (K–1 only), copymasters (grades 2–5 only), and an Assessment Guide that will help you interpret and leverage students’ responses.
If you and your students have Interactive Classroom licenses, students can complete their assessment digitally instead of using the copymaster.
When students complete the assessment pages digitally, you’ll be able to review their work on the View Work page.
Critical Juncture Assessments
Critical Juncture assessments typically occur towards the end of each chapter. The Materials and Preparation section will indicate when there is a Critical Juncture to prepare for, but you can also tell when an activity is designed to be a Critical Juncture assessment by the hummingbird icon that will appear within it. Selecting the hummingbird icon will tell you how to assess students’ understanding with the activity, and how to tailor instruction based on what you find. If you need guidance on the “answers” to the assessment activity, refer to the “Possible Responses” tab.
If you are using Classroom Slides or Interactive Classroom, you’ll see a hummingbird or “Critical Juncture” label in the bottom right corner of one of the slides of the activity.
The notes about assessing understanding and tailoring instruction are located in the notes of that slide (on the right-hand side of the Teacher’s Guide tab in the Interactive Classroom experience; underneath the slide in Classroom Slides).
End-of-Unit Assessments
End-of-Unit assessments are typically the last lesson of a unit. In some units, these are two-part assessments that take place over two lessons. The easiest way to find the End-of-Unit assessment is to skim through the lesson titles. Lessons containing End-of-Unit assessments will always have that noted in the title.
Like the Pre-unit assessment, you can find materials for the End-of-unit assessments in the Digital Resources area of the Lesson Brief.
On-the-Fly Assessments
These embedded assessments leverage the formative opportunities in the learning experience students are already engaged in, such as creating models, analyzing data, actively reading, conducting investigations, and more. Refer to the Critical Juncture section above for guidance on finding information about using them.
Unit-level assessment information
You can find overall information about an individual unit’s assessments in the “Assessment System” resource, which is located within the Teacher References section on the Unit Overview page.
The Assessment System resource contains a comprehensive list of all of the assessment opportunities in the unit, including the assessment’s location, a brief indication of what students are doing in that particular activity, what type of assessment it is, which Disciplinary Core Ideas, science and engineering practices, and cross-cutting concepts it specifically addresses, and the kind of evaluation guidance you can expect for it. If you are in a kindergarten or first grade unit, you will also find information on the Clipboard Assessment Tool (used for supporting oral assessment) in this section.
If you’re interested in focusing on information related to the unit’s Critical Juncture and On-the-Fly assessments in particular, check out the “Embedded Formative Assessments” resource, also located within the Teacher References section on the Unit Overview page.
Three-dimensional assessment connections
All assessment opportunities within Amplify Science California include clear labeling around the Disciplinary Core Ideas (DCIs), Crosscutting Concepts (CCCs), and Science and Engineering Practices (SEPs) to help teachers connect formative and summative assessments to specific NGSS dimensions.
Coming soon
Unlike other publishers, we don’t make you wait until your next adoption to get the latest and greatest from Amplify. We’re always launching new and exciting features. In fact, on this page is a list of new features you can look forward to using during the 2023-2024 school year.
FAQs
Program questions
Amplify Science California is a flexible, blended K–8 science curriculum that addresses 100 percent of the Next Generation Science Standards for California and a significant number of the California English Language Development Standards and Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts, Literacy in Science and Technical Subjects, and Math. Together, the units deliver three-dimensional instruction across the following disciplines: Life Science, Earth and Space Science, Physical Science, and Engineering Design.
Amplify Science California does indeed feature some powerful and engaging digital components, which are gradually introduced beginning at grade 2. However, as a fully blended and flexible program, Amplify Science California can be (and has been) implemented in a wide variety of scenarios.
All lessons were designed with device sharing in mind, and never assume that every student has a separate device. While 1:1 scenarios are great, they aren’t required. When devices are necessary for students to fully experience a concept, teachers can opt to share devices across pairs or small groups, or simply display the Sim or Modeling Tool to the whole class and allow students to “drive” using your device.
Rather than introducing a concept on Monday, testing for mastery on Friday, and knowing students will forget everything by the next Tuesday, we set out to help students build meaningful and lasting knowledge that they can retain and transfer over the course of the entire unit. We accomplish this by giving students multiple opportunities (a.k.a. “at-bats”) to encounter, explore, and experience a concept. Said another way, Amplify Science California is actually made up of a series of multi-modal “mini-lessons.” This intentional, cyclical, and iterative design mirrors the 5Es, allows teachers the flexibility to speed up or skip ahead once students have demonstrated mastery, and empowers students to learn concepts more deeply than any other program.
Yes. Rather than separating performance expectations into physical science units, earth and space science units, and life science units, Amplify Science California units are organized around anchoring phenomena designed to give students opportunities to dive deeply into certain Disciplinary Core Ideas (DCIs) while also drawing from or applying to others. In organizing the Amplify Science California middle school units, we’ve carefully sequenced these ideas within each grade level to support the development of deep and coherent understanding.
Many real-world phenomena cross the domain boundaries of life, physical, or earth and space science (as well as engineering). Each Amplify Science California unit begins with an intriguing real-world phenomenon that poses a problem that needs to be understood and/or solved. By the end of the unit, students will have analyzed the anchor phenomenon across multiple scientific domains, possibly designed and tested an engineering solution, and applied what they’ve learned in a different context.
For example:
In the Light Waves unit, students investigate the anchoring phenomenon of why Australia has a much higher skin cancer rate than countries at similar latitudes like Brazil. The focus of this unit is on Disciplinary Core Ideas related to wave properties (PS4.A) and electromagnetic radiation (PS4.B). Students explore these physical science ideas deeply within the unit, and also draw on ideas from earth science (e.g., latitudinal variation of the sun’s energy) and life science (e.g., the effect of energy on the DNA in the nucleus of a cell) in order to explain the central phenomenon.
Absolutely. Hands-on learning is at the heart of Amplify Science California. Integrated into every unit are opportunities for students to take on the role of scientists and engineers as they gather evidence, think critically, solve problems, and develop and defend their claims.
In addition, our unique combination of focus and flex activities means teachers have more options, opportunities, and materials to make learning active. Each hands-on activity provides clear instructions for the teacher, with more complex activities supported by video demonstrations and illustrations.
What’s important to remember is that more hands-on doesn’t necessarily mean better, at least according to the California NGSS. That’s because only two of the eight Science and Engineering Practices (SEPs) are directly related to hands-on learning.
Just as scientists gather evidence from many types of sources, students in the Amplify Science California program gather evidence not just by making physical models, but also by making and interpreting digital models; reading texts; watching videos; and analyzing photographs, maps, and data sets. By doing do, students are provided with more opportunities than any other program to use all of the practices called out in the California NGSS Framework:
- Asking questions
- Developing and using models
- Planning and carrying out investigations
- Analyzing and interpreting data
- Using mathematics and computational thinking
- Constructing explanations
- Engaging in arguments from evidence
- Obtaining, evaluating, and communicating information
While all of our units engage students in gathering evidence from a rich collection of sources, the reliance on different types of evidence (and evidence sources) varies according to unit. For instance, some units lend themselves to meaningful hands-on experiences, while in other units the phenomena students are investigating are too slow, too dangerous, or too big to be observed directly. In those units, students rely more heavily on other evidence sources such a physical models or simulations.
Unit types in grades K–5
In each K–5 grade, there is one unit that emphasizes investigation, one that emphasizes modeling, and one that emphasizes design. In addition, in grades 3–5, there is also one unit that emphasizes argumentation.
Unit types in grades 6–8
Each 6–8 grade features three types of units: Launch, Core, and Engineering Internships. Each year has one Launch unit, six Core units, and two Engineering Internships.
For teachers who want to supplement the lessons with even more hands-on activities, optional “flextension” activities are included in many units.
Yes indeed. Amplify Science California integrates all four STEM disciplines—science, technology, engineering, and math, in addition to English Language Arts—throughout the curriculum. In addition, each grade level features specific units that emphasize engineering design.
Yes, the program includes multiple opportunities for summative assessments.
End-of-unit assessments: At grades K–1 these look like targeted conversations, at grades 2–5 we incorporate written responses, and at grades 6–8 we assess through a combination of auto-scored multiple-choice questions and rubric-scored written responses. These summative assessments for each unit are designed to provide valid, reliable, and fair measures of students’ progress and attainment of three-dimensional learning.
Benchmark assessments: Delivered four times per year in grades 3–5 and three times per year in grades 6–8, benchmark assessments report on students’ facilities with each of the grade appropriate DCIs, SEPs, CCCs, and performance expectations of the California NGSS.
Science Seminars and final written arguments (formative and summative components): In grades 6–8, culminating performance tasks for each core unit invite students to figure out a new real-world problem. They collect and analyze evidence, examine a number of claims, and then engage in a full-class discussion where they must state which claims are best supported by the evidence, all while making clear their reasoning that connects the evidence to the claims. After the seminar, students then individually write their final scientific argument, drawing on the DCIs, SEPs, and CCCs they have used over the course of the unit to develop a sophisticated and convincing argument that addresses the problem they’ve been investigating. Rubrics, scoring guides, and examples of student responses at each scoring level are provided to teachers to support the assessment of students’ understanding of concepts and specific practices.
Amplify Science California provides more than enough instructional content to fill 180 days of instruction. However, unlike other programs that expect you to complete 180 discrete lessons, Amplify Science California includes built-in wiggle room.
For example, the typical elementary classroom delivers science instruction only two times per week. Rather than asking teachers to wade through unnecessary content, we designed our program to address 100 percent of the California NGSS in just 66 days at grades K–2 and 88 days at grades 3–5. When it comes to middle school, we address 100 percent of the California NGSS in 146 lessons.
Some classes might last longer than one session due to a number of reasons (e.g., enthusiastic student conversations, challenging topics requiring deeper dives, more time needed to accommodate diverse learners, etc.). Also, teachers might want to supplement Amplify Science California with some of their own favorite lessons. Lastly, we’ve accounted for the inevitable assembly days, class trips, testing schedules, etc. For teachers that want to go deeper or expand upon a unit topic, we also offer a number of additional lessons that are not core to each unit.
Amplify Science California lessons are designed to be completed in the following time frames:
Lessons in grades K–1 are designed for 45 minutes of science instruction.
Lessons in grades 2–5 are designed for 60 minutes of science instruction.
That said, it’s not a problem if you can’t allocate 45 minutes of science instruction every day at K–1, or 60 minutes per day at 2–5. Since there are a total of 66 lessons to address 100 percent of California NGSS at grades K–2, and 88 lessons to address 100 percent of California NGSS at grades 3–5, you can easily teach the lessons in smaller blocks and cover all of the content over the course of the school year.
Each lesson of every Amplify Science California unit includes point-of-use differentiation strategies and embedded teacher and student supports for diverse learners, including English learners, students who need more support, and students who are ready for more challenge. These strategies and methods ensure that all students have access to the same content as their peers.
Two notable categories of suggested modifications are:
- English-learner-specific strategies such as English/Spanish glossaries, native language supports, and provision of cognates and other content-specific language scaffolds are provided in each unit.
- Relatively small alterations and additional scaffolds that provide students with greater access to the content.
These types of scaffolds benefit all learners and include suggestions such as providing graphic organizers, practice with multiple-meaning words, etc.
With Amplify Science California, the use of technology is always purposeful.
For example:
- The curriculum has a strong emphasis on literacy, with students reading and analyzing informational texts, and writing scientific explanations and arguments.
- Digital elements are gradually introduced to students in grades 2–3, with the greatest use of digital elements taking place in grades 4–5, as the phenomena at these grades become more challenging to observe directly.
- The curriculum’s readers and interactive notebook pages are available in both print and digital across all K–5 units.
This curriculum addresses a significant number of the standards as they pertain to science. Throughout each unit, students read science texts, engage in science talk and argumentation, and write evidence-based science explanations. The curriculum supports vocabulary, language, and reading comprehension development. Students also use measurement tools with precision, record and analyze data, make sense of scientific phenomena, and develop solutions to problems experienced in the real world.
Digital questions
Teacher Support notes including sample teacher talk, student responses, pedagogical support, and possible student responses are provided within your student-facing slides. Simply click “Teach” and reference your private Teacher Guide tab. Students will only see the lesson slides that you are presenting.
You, the teacher, must “Start class” to launch the presentation tab. (Remember, without the presentation tab, students would be able to see your teacher notes.)
Clicking “Starting class” also brings students to the correct slide, which is particularly important for young students who are learning to navigate.
Teachers can either press the “End class” button in the bottom right corner of the slide navigation, or they can simply close the presentation tab.
Clicking “End class” also enables students to navigate through the lesson on their own. That means they’ll be able to return to slides and books to review content, to the Sims and Modeling Tools to replay them, or to notebook pages to update their work.
You can click on the “Student preview” option in the bottom right corner (within the menu that opens when you click the three dots) to open a new browser tab where you can preview the student view using your teacher account.
Any work you complete in this student preview (or elsewhere in the teacher experience) will be automatically saved to your account.
Looking for help?
For login or technology issues, please submit an EGUSD Heat ticket. For curriculum and pedagogical questions, please refer to the support resources below.
Powerful (and free!) pedagogical support
Amplify provides a unique kind of support you won’t find from other publishers. We’ve developed an educational support team of former teachers and administrators who provide pedagogical support for every Amplify curriculum, assessment, and intervention program. This service is completely free for all educators who are using our programs and includes:
- Guidance for developing lesson plans and intervention plans.
- Information on where to locate standards and other planning materials.
- Recommendations and tips for day-to-day teaching with Amplify programs.
- Support with administering and interpreting assessment data and more.
To reach our pedagogical team, use our live chat within your program, call (800) 823-1969, or email edsupport@amplify.com
Timely technical and program support
Our technical and program support is included and available from 4 a.m. to 4 p.m. PT, Monday through Friday, through a variety of channels, including a live chat program that enables teachers to get immediate help in the middle of the school day.
For your most urgent questions:
- Use our live chat within your program.
- Call our toll-free number: (800) 823-1969.
For less urgent questions:
Connect with other teachers
Our Amplify Science Facebook group is a community of Amplify Science educators from across the country. It’s a space to share best practices, ideas, and support on everything from implementation to instruction. Join today.
Join our Amplify learning community!
Looking to connect with fellow educators, share insights, and help shape the future of Amplify programs?
Our Facebook groups encourage educators to collaborate, ask questions, and exchange experiences. Join one of these groups for valuable teacher-to-teacher conversations!
You can also follow Amplify on Facebook, X, LinkedIn, and Instagram.
Science of Reading: The Community
Join a vibrant community of educators passionate about early literacy! In Science of Reading: The Community, you’ll find discussions on the latest research, best practices, and classroom strategies for implementing the Science of Reading. Want even more expert insights? Subscribe to Science of Reading: The Podcast for conversations with top researchers and practitioners.
Amplify Classroom Educators Facebook group
Join a dynamic community of educators who are passionate about leveraging Amplify Classroom’s interactive tools and activities. In this group, members exchange ideas, share activities, discuss best practices, and explore innovative ways to deepen student understanding. Whether you’re looking for inspiration or collaboration, you’ll find it here!
Amplify Desmos Math Facebook group
This group is the go-to space for teachers, coaches, and educators using Amplify Desmos Math, mCLASS Math, and Boost Math. Connect with peers, ask questions, get answers, provide feedback, and stay informed on important updates.
Amplify CKLA Facebook group
Looking to enhance your reading instruction? Our Amplify CKLA Facebook group is a space where educators discuss strategies for teaching reading, writing, speaking, listening, and vocabulary. Ask questions, share insights, and connect with colleagues who are using Amplify CKLA to support literacy success.
Amplify ELA Facebook group
Teaching middle school ELA comes with unique challenges and opportunities—let’s navigate them together! In the Amplify ELA Facebook group, educators swap teaching ideas, classroom successes, and concrete strategies for using Amplify ELA effectively. Join the group to gain insights from fellow teachers and share what’s working in your classroom!
Boost Reading & mCLASS Facebook group
This group is a collaborative space for educators and caregivers using Boost Reading and mCLASS®. Whether you have questions, need support, or want to share success stories, this is the place to connect. Join us to exchange ideas, get helpful tips, and learn how to create the best reading experience for your students.
Amplify Science Facebook group
Engage with fellow science educators in the Amplify Science Facebook group! Discuss best practices for implementing Amplify Science, explore ideas on how to teach in three dimensions, and share strategies for meeting NGSS standards. Educators also post classroom success stories, providing inspiration and real-world applications of the curriculum.
If you’re an Amplify Science instructional leader, the Lawerence Hall of Science encourages you to learn more and apply to join the exclusive, no-cost Instructional Leaders Community of Practice (ILCP).
Connect with us—and educators everywhere.
Our social media channels deliver a steady stream of news, insights, and conversations that support educators in connecting with each other and creating great learning experiences for students. Find Amplify on Facebook, X, LinkedIn, and Instagram!
Boost student engagement with Science Seminars
What do you get when you cross a Socratic seminar with Curie, Watson, and Crick?
A Science Seminar.
Though Socratic seminars typically take place in ELA or social studies/humanities classrooms, we also know how strongly scientific and literacy approaches can support each other.
So let’s see what magic can happen when we bring a little Socrates into science!
More than just seminars on science
As you likely know, a Socratic seminar is a method of facilitated discussion that uses open-ended questions, active listening, and collaboration to encourage deep exploration of a text or topic.
Sound perfect for science? That’s because it is!
When a Socratic seminar becomes a Science Seminar, students focus on scientific evidence and work together to answer a question and come to the most convincing explanation of a phenomenon. Ideally, the teacher takes a supporting role, putting students and their ideas at the center of the discussion. In this way, Science Seminars form a powerful part of an NGSS-informed curriculum that teaches students to think, talk, evaluate, and collaborate like scientists.
The benefits of Science Seminars
Like Socratic seminars, Science Seminars:
- Build critical thinking. They encourage participants to analyze and evaluate information critically, challenging assumptions and exploring multiple perspectives.
- Provide practice in productive argument. Through structured dialogue, Science Seminars teach students to challenge each other respectfully and engage in constructive disagreements, supporting their ideas with reasoning and evidence.
- Boost literacy skills. By actively participating in discussions, students practice active listening, oral communication, and analytical thinking—all serving to enrich their comprehension, vocabulary, and overall literacy skills.
And on top of all that, they also connect to key Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) practices. Specifically:
- Asking questions and defining problems.
- Analyzing and interpreting data.
- Constructing explanations and designing solutions.
- Engaging in argument from evidence.
- Obtaining, evaluating, and communicating information.
Tips for strong Science Seminars
Science Seminars are designed to be student-focused and student-led, but the teacher still plays an important role in setting students and seminars up for success. Here are some ways you can help them run smoothly and effectively:
- Set clear expectations. What’s the goal of the seminar? Make sure students know precisely what question they’re working to answer, and how they will know when they’ve answered it.
- Set ground rules. Before you start, help the students agree on how they will interact. Who has the floor? What words, phrases, and types of communication are helpful or not? What happens when students disagree?
- Involve all students. Plan in advance how more quiet students can take part. You might consider supplying conversational prompts to encourage participation.
- Take on a supporting role. Once you’ve set it all up, step back. If the conversation stalls, you might ask an open-ended question. You might also take notes—a reminder that the students are in charge and what they’re saying is important.
Free Science Seminar resource collection
We’ve created a free set of materials to help you host a successful Science Seminar. In this collection, you’ll get:
- A helpful guide that dives deeper into how to get started.
- Our top 10 Science Seminar tips for teachers.
- Talk moves for grades K–1, 3–5, and 6–8.
Access your free Science Seminar resources here.
Even more to explore
S3-03: Instructional strategies for integrating science and literacy
We’re continuing our investigations around science and literacy with Doug Fisher, Ph.D., professor and chair of educational leadership at San Diego State University. We talk about the importance of integrating science and literacy, as well as practical guidance for teachers who want to unite the two disciplines in their own classrooms.
Listen as we discuss how science and literacy can be powerful allies and specific strategy areas to focus on when integrating the two disciplines. And don’t forget to grab your Science Connections study guide to track your learning and find additional resources!
We hope you enjoy this episode and explore more from Science Connections by visiting our main page!
Douglas Fisher (00:00):
It’s not that you have to become a reading specialist to integrate literacy into science. It’s how our brains work.
Eric Cross (00:10):
Welcome to Science Connections. I’m your host, Eric Cross. This season, we’re making the case for our favorite underdog, which of course is science. Each episode we’re showing how science can be better utilized in the classroom, and making the case for why it’s so important to do so. In our last episode, we examined the evidence showing that science and English instruction can support each other. And now on this episode, we want to give you some more strategies for really making that a reality in your own home or classroom or community. So to help me, I’m joined on this episode by Dr. Douglas Fisher, Professor and Chair of Educational Leadership at San Diego State University. Dr. Fisher is actually someone who has conducted literacy training at my own school, so I’m excited to be able to share some of his wisdom with all of you. Oh, and just a heads up, Dr. Fisher dropped some gems about the ways teachers can integrate literacy and science in their classrooms. So you may want to have a notepad. Ready. And now here’s my conversation with Dr. Douglas Fisher.
Eric Cross (01:12):
Well, Doug, thank you for your time and for being willing to come and talk about literacy and science. I know you’re busy, all over the place, and so I was super-excited that we were able to lock you in and talk about this. And, on this episode, we’re gonna talk about the ways that science and literacy can support each other. And one of the reasons why I’m really excited for you is because you said some really key things for me as a science teacher, when you talked about literacy and supporting students. That just resonated so deeply in me. And I was like, “I need more Doug!” Because we’re on that same frequency. And I know it’s a subject that you’ve spent a lot of time writing about. So can you tell us a little bit about how this became an area of interest or a passion for you? Just literacy, and all of the work that you’ve put into it?
Douglas Fisher (01:54):
Yeah. So I’ve wanted to be a teacher for a really long time. And I went to San Diego State as an undergraduate, and I was taking English class and we were assigned topics. You know, like, you’ll do an assignment, you’ll write a paper for this English class. And I got the topic “illiteracy,” and I was a freshman at San Diego State reading all of these things about adults who don’t read very well or not at all. And I ended up writing my very first college essay on illiteracy — at the time, you know, called illiteracy, at the time. And so I got super interested in this. And so as I moved through college and into my teaching career, literacy became a really important thing for me to think about, because it’s the gatekeeper. You know, you can be taken advantage of, if you’re not very literate. People can use vocabulary against you, if you’re not very literate. We know that people who have higher levels of literacy have better health outcomes. They have better lifespans, longer lifespans. I mean, there’s just — literacy impacts so much more than “Are you reading your fourth-grade textbook?” It really has lifelong implications.
Eric Cross (03:01):
That part that you said about being taken advantage of … I just got a flyer in the mail yesterday. It was one of these mailers that looked like it was an authentic debt-reduction type of thing, but it was really just like a marketing email. If you read the fine print at the very bottom, it had all of this jargon about “This is a paid, you know, for-profit company.” But when you look at it, it had official stamps all over it. And I could imagine if someone’s receiving that, that probably fools a lot of people. Is that kinda like what you’re talking about, like being taken advantage of?
Douglas Fisher (03:28):
Yes. I had a student turn 18, got a letter from a “credit card company” that was offering her daily compounding interest. And if you don’t know what that means — at 23 percent! — if you dunno what that means, you are gonna be a victim. Literacy really influences a lot of our life. It’s also how our brain works. We have a language-based system in our brain. We read, write, speak, listen, and view. And the things we learn, we learn through speaking, reading, writing, listening, and viewing. From what we know, we are the only species that has an external storage mechanism. Like, we have the ability to store complex information outside of our body, in the form of notes. We can type them. We can write them. And we can then go back and retrieve that information, that complex orthographic information later. And it means the same thing. We can say we have a storage system and we’ve been doing this for a really long time. Way back to, you know, hieroglyphics and messages on cave walls. And throughout the ages of humans learning, how to store information that they can re-access again later. That’s become a super-complicated system. It’s how computers operate. And we send messages to each other and we text each other and we write things down, and we’re really good at putting ideas, information out there. Now, if it’s just speaking and listening, then we can forget it. We can say, “No, you said this,” or “I said that.” But when it’s written, and it’s print literacy, you know, it’s the orthographics there, you can go back to the same message and over and over again. Now, you might change the interpretation of it, but the message is still there.
Eric Cross (05:16):
Right. And that is such a key element, at least of modern education, is this written element of it. It’s what many schools live and die by. They’re quantitatively and qualitatively analyzed by it. It’s public. They can see it. And so there’s this heavy emphasis. And why do you think science and literacy can be powerful allies together?
Douglas Fisher (05:38):
Awesome. Well, it’s hard to learn science if you’re not literate.
Eric Cross (05:42):
This is true.
Douglas Fisher (05:42):
But that’s a one-way direction. And yes, science teachers and scientists do a lot of reading, writing, speaking, and listening and viewing. They use the five literacy processes all the time. When we interview scientists, they spend a lot of their time reading the work of other scientists and writing their findings, writing grant proposals, presenting at conferences, you know. So a huge part of the work of a scientist is not just at a bench conducting experiments. But even if you’re conducting experiments, you’re using your literacy processes to think about what you’re seeing in your experiment. So that’s a one-way direction. And I do think literacy has an influence on science. But since science goes the other way, it influences literacy. As you learn more and you understand more about the world, your background knowledge grows, your vocabulary grows, you become more literate in those different areas. And how you think. So if I’m learning about life science; I’m learning how the world works in a more, biologic physical world. And that knowledge helps me think about when I’m reading a novel, and there’s an appeal to some science knowledge or a concept that gets played with, you know, perhaps time-space continuums … well, if I don’t have the science knowledge of how I think the world works, it’s hard for me to understand what this author is doing. So it does go both ways. They feed each other. And the more literate we become, the more complex science information we can understand. ‘Cause our background knowledge and our vocabulary influence how much we understand about what we read. And as we access more complex science information, it starts to change the way we think about other things in our world.
Eric Cross (07:23):
There was a couple of things that you said in that, but one of the first things that kind of perked my ears is when you said grant proposals. Because I have friends that are scientists — and this is one of the things that when I was in school, they don’t talk about — but how much of their research is reliant upon getting funding —
Douglas Fisher (07:37):
Mm-hmm. <affirmative>,
Eric Cross (07:38):
— which you don’t think about if you’re becoming a chemist or a physicist or a biologist or working in the field, is that that funding, coming from the NSF or anywhere else. And sometimes students ask in class like, “Why am I writing so much? Like, I want to go into science!” Or “I wanna do this!” And this is a real-life example of how the writing could actually apply, in addition to all of the things of collecting data and conclusions and results. But that grant proposal thing just really perked my ears, yeah.
Douglas Fisher (08:01):
And if you can’t write a grant proposal, your ideas and experiments are not gonna get funded. And if you can’t write a strong proposal, that compellingly convinces your readers to fund you, you’re not gonna get funded. But then once you get the grant, you have to write publications. You have to share your work with other people. Make PowerPoint presentations and write journal articles or books or whatever. So it’s a cycle that literacy influences the things we do, including the things we do in science.
Eric Cross (08:31):
Now to get in maybe some data, if you were trying to convince someone that like this happy marriage can exist, what would be like your number one piece of evidence to support this, this back and forth of supporting each other?
Douglas Fisher (08:44):
Awesome. So the quote I’ll often say — and this is from studies from more than two decades ago now — but in general, in high school science, students are introduced to 3000 unfamiliar words, 3000. Each year! Because there are words that are used in a scientific way that are used commonly in other places. And there are discipline-specific words. So 3000 words a year in high school science. The Spanish 1 textbook only has 1500 words in it. So science teachers have double the academic-language vocabulary demand that a typical introductory world-language class has. So just the vocabulary alone should say to us, literacy is gonna be important if you’re gonna learn science. And if you don’t understand these technical words, and you don’t understand the way science uses this particular word in this particular way… . When you say the word “process,” it means something very specific In science. “Division” — cellular division is not the way we think about it in mathematics; there’s a similar concept, but cellular division is different than dividing numbers. And those are words that get used in multiple areas. Then you have all these technical terms that you have to be able to use, to understand the concepts. To share the concepts. To talk to other people. Whether you’re in, you know, fifth grade and talking science, or you’re a university professor, there’s a shared language, appropriate for our grade level, that we have shared meanings of.
Eric Cross (10:22):
And we’re essentially … what I’m hearing you say is … most of the people that are listening to this are science teachers. We’re we’re also language teachers. In a sense.
Douglas Fisher (10:29):
So my frustration is when people say, “Every teacher’s a teacher of reading.” And I don’t like that. I’ve written against that phrase. I don’t think all teachers are teachers of reading, any more than all teachers are teachers of chemistry. Or all teachers are teachers of algebra. But what I will say is the human brain learns through language. And all of us — every teacher that I’ve ever met understands that language is important in my class. If my students don’t have strong listening skills and speaking skills; reading, writing, and viewing skills; I’m gonna have a hard time getting them to learn things. If I can help them grow their speaking, listening, reading, writing, and viewing in my content area, I’m gonna do a service for my learning of my subject and also their more broad literacy development.
Eric Cross (11:16):
- So, at a high level, what does it look like to integrate science and literacy? We’ve done education for the last, what, hundred years?
Douglas Fisher (11:24):
Mm-hmm. <affirmative>
Eric Cross (11:25):
—kind of pretty similarly, right? Kind of siloed way. What does this look like at the 30,000-foot level? You’re a professor, department chair. Run schools. Speak everywhere. Like, when you think about this from that high level, what does it look like?
Douglas Fisher (11:39):
A high level? Every time I meet with students in a science class, you know, biology or fifth grade or whatever? They should be reading, they should be writing, they should be speaking and listening. Every class. So what print do you want them to access? And it can be a primary source document, it can be an article, it can be from a textbook. Are they reading something? Are they writing to you? Because writing is thinking. If they are writing, they are thinking. As soon as their brain goes somewhere else, they stop writing. The pen won’t move or the fingers don’t type. And then speaking and listening, of course, is the dynamic of our classes. So every day we should see some amount of reading, writing, speaking, and listening, viewing in our classes. That’s at a high level. There are some generic things that seem to work across the literacy. So, learning how to take notes. Focusing on vocabulary. Using graphic organizers. These are generic things that as educators we can use in our classes. Then there’s more specialized things. So, scientists and science teachers think differently than historians and literary critics and art critics. So scientists, if you look at the disciplinary literacy work, there’s a whole body of research where they interview and study high-end experts in their field: chemistry, physics, biology, et cetera. And there are some characteristics that were more disciplined, specific. Scientists like cause and effect relationships. They look for them when they’re reading. They like sourcing information. “Where this come from?” “What’s the history of this idea?” Scientists have a long view in terms of time. Historians have a shorter view of time. English teachers have even shorter view of time. Scientists tend to think in long periods of time. And so all of that influences how a scientist reads and how we should apprentice young people after they get past the generic “I know how to take notes. I know how to study my vocabulary. I know how to do summary writing for my teacher in my notebooks and things,” there’s some generic tools. Once we get past those, we need to be looking at specifically how do people in science use literacy.
Eric Cross (13:52):
I’ve never had my thought process of reading deconstructed just now, but we just described how scientists read. I was like, “Yeah, that’s pretty much how I read, right there.” I also like how you said how we should apprentice young people. And I feel like you as the literacy guy, you chose that word very specifically, as far as apprenticing young people. That is a view, I think, that’s really important to hold. ‘Cause that’s what we’re doing essentially … is, if we’re doing what we should be doing, we are apprenticing these young people.
Douglas Fisher (14:18):
Yes.
Eric Cross (14:18):
And helping them develop. Now, let’s imagine there’s a listener out there and they’re interested in getting better at integrating science and literacy instruction. They want to start somewhere. Before we dive in, do you have any initial words of encouragement for the person who’s like, “Everything is like a priority right now,” in their classroom or in their world?
Douglas Fisher (14:37):
Yeah. So I’ll talk about elementary for just a moment. When we’re reading informational texts in our literacy block, we should be reading information that is aligned to what kids need to learn in science and history in, in that grade level. Why are we reading things that are gonna be in conflict with what they’re gonna learn in science later that day in fourth grade, for example? So when we look at our standards, our expectations, what is it that third graders need to know in history, science, mathematics, language arts? And when we’re reading text and we’re learning to apply our reading strategies during our literacy block, why aren’t we reading topics that build our background knowledge for our science time? So we’re seeing some synergy there. We should be looking at life cycles in grades that are appropriate for life cycles and knowing there’s more to life cycles than the frog and the plant or the seed. There are all kinds of life cycles. And we call ’em life cycles for a reason. That’s a general concept. Now in science, we’re looking at this particular lifecycle right now. And so that’s a high level. If we could get more connection to the content standards during our literacy blocks, it would be very good. When we talk about the time at which we call “science” in the day, in more of the K–8 continuum, the science needs to include some primary source documents. Some real things that students are reading. Read about a scientist; read about a scientist’s discovery; read about what they discovered. So that we’re building our background knowledge. So when we go to do things, activities, labs, simulations, we have background knowledge and we understand what we’re experiencing. It can’t be like—I watched this awesome lesson on lenses and the teacher had all these different lenses in the room and the students came in and they were brand new. They don’t know anything. They were picking ’em up. They’re exploring them. They’re trying to figure out, and they’re trying to come up with theories about what this is and how it works. And then the teacher gave them a reading, a short reading, on refraction of light. And they read this thing. And the clarity that they had about what these lenses must do, well! All of a sudden they’re putting them up to the lights! They’re asking if they can go get the lights out of the storage unit! ‘Cause there’s — and they’re shining different lights through the lenses to see what happens to the light. Because that little bit of reading turned some focus on for the students. And it allowed them to take what I’m thinking about, what I’m trying to figure out, how this thing works in another direction. That’s the power of using literacy in our classes.
Eric Cross (17:20):
And what I’m hearing essentially is transfer across disciplines, across content areas, ultimately. And in an elementary school classroom, would it be fair to say, probably the teacher has more autonomy to be able to do that, since they’re teaching all the subjects? But secondary, logistically, planning and those types of things … from what you’ve seen, is it fair to say this kind of needs to be like a top-down, full vertical alignment, to teach like this?
Douglas Fisher (17:45):
I think that would be awesome to do that. But if I’m a sixth grade English Language Arts teacher and I’m working with my sixth grade science teacher, the conversation should be, “What units are you teaching?” Because I’m choosing informational text. My job is to teach them how to find central ideas. My job is to teach them how to find the details in the text. My job is to have them make a claim and support that claim with evidence. The stuff I use is generic. Yes, we do read some literature and some narratives, but we also read about 50% of the text in English around informational text. So if I can help you and accomplish my standards as well, fantastic. So let’s have this conversation and say, “Oh, this is what you’re teaching in science in the next three weeks? I’m gonna choose some texts and we’re gonna analyze ’em for central idea. We’re gonna analyze ’em for details. We’re gonna, for mood or tone or whatever that we’re teaching. And by the way, I’m building background knowledge. So when they come to you, they know some stuff about what you’re going to be teaching next.” So I don’t think it’s impossible to say teams of teachers could come together and say, “What do we believe that our students need to know and learn and be able to do? And then how do we choose things that are gonna help them accomplish exactly that?”
Eric Cross (19:01):
And that’s empowering. Because that’s one thing that we can control maybe is this East-West, peer-to-peer, different content areas. A system may not be able to change as quickly, but I can definitely go talk to my English team or math team and check in and kind of see, “Hey, where do we have overlap in that?” And I know the times that I’ve accidentally had overlap with the teams, it’s super-exciting. And the students have been more bought in! Because it’s like, we’ve done something on the human microbiome and we’ve talked about genetics and all these different things, and then when they read The Giver, or they read some book about genetics, they have all this knowledge. And they’re excited. And they talk about colorblindness or they come to my class and they’re like, “Hey, we read about this!” It’s almost like they saw a magic trick, the fact that these things linked up. And the engagement has been so much higher when it’s the same content in different classes, but through different lenses. At least, that’s what I’ve seen in my years of teaching.
Douglas Fisher (19:54):
I saw a lesson on space junk that was so cool. Middle-school students learning space junk. And the history teacher had a part of it, science teacher had a part of it, English Language Arts teacher had a part of it. And these students, I mean, you watch them look up all the time, ’cause there’s space junk up there. Where’d it come from? Why is it there? What are the politics of this? How do we clean it up? I mean, it was just so interesting to watch them when the teachers came together. And the teachers met their standards in this couple-week-long space-junk exploration. Investigation was met. Politics was met. All these different things. Economy. You know, how much does it cost to clean up this problem? So there’s really cool opportunities when teachers come together and realize we can work together and improve the literacy and learning of our students.
Eric Cross (20:50):
Absolutely. So before this recording, we picked your brain a bit. And I know that there were three specific strategy areas that you wanted to touch on. And one of those — which is kind of coming back to the 3000-words language teachers — was vocabulary. So what are the opportunities that you see, as far as the way of educators to approach vocabulary? Because, you know, there’s a lot. We got a lot of it. The 3000 words.
Douglas Fisher (21:14):
Yeah. There’s a lot of it. So the worry is, we make a vocabulary list and have students look up the words in definitional kinds of things. That’s not really gonna help. Students need to be using the words. They need to be using the words in their conversations, in their writing, in how they think about your content in science. So vocabulary is a huge predictor of whether or not you understand things. Vocabulary is also a pretty good predictor if you can read on grade level. So when we think about vocabulary, there’s something called word solving. You show students a piece of text and you’re reading it, you’re sharing your thinking, and you say, “Oh, here’s a context clue!” Or “I know this prefix or suffix or root!” And in science, a lot of the words are prefixed, suffixed, or root words. We tend to add things together with a lot of prefixes and suffixes and have roots and bases in science. So we can help students think about, “Oh, what does geo- mean? We already know what geo- means here. It means the same thing in this word. Let’s apply that knowledge.” So word solving is part of it, showing students how we think about words that we might not know. The second is more direct instruction of vocabulary. As students encounter the words, we work on what it means, how we say it. We practice it a few times. The process is called orthographic mapping. It’s kind of a scientific idea here. But you have the sound and the recognition of by-the-word, by sight, and what it means. And your brain starts to automatically recognize that word in the future. So I don’t have to slow down, disrupt my fluency, and try to figure out what the word is saying. ‘Cause I’ve seen it enough. I’ve heard it pronounced enough, I’ve pronounced it enough, and I know what it means. So teachers should be saying, “What words in sixth grade science, what words in third grade science, do my students really need to know?” And I’m gonna have them encounter those words over and over. I’m gonna have them use the words. I’m gonna have them see the words. I’m gonna have them say the words. I’m gonna say the word and we’re gonna be over and over with these terms, so that students incorporate them into their normal view of, “These are the things I know about the world.” By the way, when they go to read that next thing, and they understand “geology,” you know, for sixth graders, for example, they know how to say it. They don’t stumble on it. And it activates a whole bunch of memories in their brains. “This is what geology is.” There are branches of geology, there’s physical geology, there’s all this thinking that activates as they read.
Eric Cross (23:35):
There was a practice that I participated in and am trying to incorporate — I don’t know what the name of it is. But essentially what happened was we were dissecting a flower. And the instructor had us name parts of the flower. But we got to come up with our own names for it.
Douglas Fisher (23:49):
Ah.
Eric Cross (23:50):
So, for instance, the stamen we call “the fuzzy Cheeto.” And we all used our own words and then everything was legitimized. And so we went through and learned the whole activity using our own vocab words. But then, in the end, after we presented and talked about it, then the words, the actual academic language was attached to our word. And we were able to say, “OK, the fuzzy Cheeto is the stamen,” and this, this, this, and this. But it was such an interesting practice, because it kind of legitimized all of our definitions. But we weren’t stumbling on these long Latin terms and things like that. Is there a name for that? Or. … ?
Douglas Fisher (24:29):
Yes. I don’t know the name for that. I think it’s really smart. So here’s what I would say about that, is: we don’t learn words, we learn concepts. Words are labels for our concepts. So what that teacher did for you was allow you to develop concept, a concept knowledge. “There’s a part of this plant, it goes like this, we’re gonna call it fuzzy Cheeto. Now I have this concept. And look, it occurred in all these plants. And those people called it that and that other group called it that. We called it a fuzzy Cheeto. Here’s the part of it.” And then the concept is in your brains. And the teacher said, “It’s really called stamen.” And it’s an instant transfer, because you already had the concept. What we often see is students are trying to learn a really hard academic word and the concept for the word at the same time. And so it slows down the whole process. And there’s higher levels of forgetting. Because human beings, we don’t learn words; we learn concepts. If you don’t have the concept, if I gave you a word out of the blue that you’ve never seen, never heard, and a week from now I asked you to remember it, you probably would not, because it didn’t register. It wasn’t part of your schema. You didn’t have a way to organize the information. You don’t have a concept. So that teacher? It’s a great idea. Got you to develop concept knowledge. And then said, “Here’s a real label for it: What some other people called it when they had the chance to come up with their own names.”
Eric Cross (25:50):
Shout out to my teacher, who was—
Douglas Fisher (25:51):
Right.
Eric Cross (25:52):
It was learned then. It was a great practice. And the fact that you’re right, like, I just mean from my own personal experience, I agree that learning concepts versus complicated words. And it’s interesting that you said higher levels of forgetfulness, you know. And you often hear that complaint about it: “Students forget! Students forget!” But this complex topic and this complex word that’s new to me, and I have to remember both of those things.
Douglas Fisher (26:12):
That’s right.
Eric Cross (26:13):
And the other neat thing that it did, is it actually honored the background and like the founts of knowledge of all the different groups in the classroom. You just said something about “this group called it this and this group called it this,” and so by letting different groups share all of those names, now we’re starting to build these kind of interesting connections. That’s at least what I remember experiencing. And so this, even this practice of this approach is very layered, beyond just kind of generating new knowledge of things. So I appreciate that aspect of it. Now another area that you mentioned was complex text.
Douglas Fisher (26:41):
Yeah.
Eric Cross (26:42):
And how we can get students into complex text. So what can we do there?
Douglas Fisher (26:46):
I think science is an ideal place to get students reading things that are hard for them. And I do believe that some parts of school should be a struggle. Not all day, every day. But there should be doses of struggle, which are good for our brains. And these complex pieces of texts that don’t give up their meanings easily allow students to go back and reread the text and maybe mark the text and talk to peers about the text and answer questions with their groups. And the whole point of complex text is to say, “We persevere through it. We may not understand it fully on our first read. But we go back and we might underline, we might highlight. We might write some margin notes. Our teacher might say, ‘What did this author mean here?’ And we go back and look at that part and we take it apart. What do we think about that? And we talk to each other. It’s showing that when we read things, we work to understand. We work through our thinking, often in the presence of other people. And our understanding grows as we go into the text over and over and over again.” So I said geology earlier. There’s about a two-page article on “what is geology” that sixth graders often read. And some kids find it super boring. It’s a once-read, “OK, geology, I don’t really understand it. There’s a bunch of words in here that I don’t understand.” But if you go back to it a few times and you start taking apart, “What are the branches of geology? Oh, I’m gonna go reread that.” How are these two branches related to each other?” “What are the subtypes of each branch of geology?” “How do geologists do their work?” You start asking questions where students are going back into the text. You spend a little bit of time. Now, the introduction to geology, the students know so much more. So whatever you do next— video experiments, whatever—they have a frame of reference, because of that deep, complex read. It’s probably better than simply telling them, “Here’s the information.”
Eric Cross (28:45):
Right. And I even feel like as an educator, when I reflect on my own learning in the classroom, and then looking at it through the perspective of an educator <laugh>, you find this difference between how you were taught and then what the data says good teaching is.
Douglas Fisher (28:59):
Mm-hmm. <affirmative> mm-hmm. <affirmative>.
Eric Cross (29:00):
It’s so easy to slide back into how you were taught!
Douglas Fisher (29:02):
Yeah.
Eric Cross (29:02):
Even though, you know, you mentally assent to, “This is the best way. This is the data shows.” And you find yourself kind of sliding back at times.
Douglas Fisher (29:10):
Yep. And there’s good evidence to support what you just said, that most people teach the way they experienced school. And it is very hard to change that. And people have studied this. And it’s very hard to change that. Because it worked for us. And we have an n of 1, and it worked for us. Now, remember, there were a whole bunch of other kids in the class that it may not have worked for. And we chose to be in school the rest of our lives, and some of your peers did not choose to be in school the rest of their lives. In fact, some of them hated school and found no redeeming qualities of their experience. So just because it worked for us in a case of one, n of 1, doesn’t mean it worked for all of the kids, or even the majority of them.
Eric Cross (29:57):
Very well said. It’s that, what is that, the survivor bias? Survivorship bias? Where you were the one that made it. But you don’t think about all the other folks. ‘Cause we’re thinking about ourselves.
Douglas Fisher (30:05):
That’s right.
Eric Cross (30:06):
Great case for empathy too, is thinking about the people left and right. Because my friends are like, “I hated science.” And I say, “Who hurt you? Like, what did they do? It’s so amazing, so much fun!”
Douglas Fisher (30:16):
“What happened to you? Science is the coolest. Right? It’s so amazing!”
Eric Cross (30:21):
But I also had a unique experience in seventh grade with my teacher who did some of these things, and made it accessible for so many of us, in opening opportunities that I wouldn’t have had otherwise. But you’re absolutely right. That was my story. That wasn’t the story of everybody that was around me. And I think that’s really important. Now, I know this is also a big one for you, but I wanna talk about writing. What are the opportunities that you see in terms of writing specifically?
Douglas Fisher (30:51):
So would love it if science teachers had short and longer writing tasks in the science time. Of course, you can integrate some of the science writing, the longer ones, in the English language arts time, especially if you’re the elementary teacher and you can have control of the whole day. But I said this earlier; I’ll say it again. Writing is thinking. While you are writing, there’s nothing else you can do but think about what you are writing. Your brain cannot do something else. So if a science teacher wants to know, do their students really understand the concepts? Have them write. Now some of the shorter ones, I like something called “given word” or “generative sentences”: “I’m gonna give you a word: CELL. C-e-l-l. We’re in science. I want you to write the word ‘cell,’ c-e-l-l, in the third position of a sentence. So it’s gonna go word, word, cell, and then more words.” You could also say, “I want the sentence longer than seven words,” or whatever. But the key is, I’m telling you where I want the word. You will know instantly if your students have a sense of what the word “cell” means in the context of science. If they write “my cell phone,” they don’t get it. If they write about spreadsheet cells or jail cells or whatever, they didn’t get it. But if they talk to you about plant cells and animal cells and the components of those cells, and then once they have that sentence down, you can say to them, “Now write three or four more sentences that connect to that sentence.” It’s super simple. So whatever concepts you’re teaching, put ’em in a specific position. Now you don’t have to only put it in the third position. You can say the first position, the fifth position, the fourth position. But it forces them to think about what they know about the word and then how to construct a sentence for you. That’s a very simple way to get some writing from your students that helps you think about what they understand. Other kinds of writing, you can have quick writes, you can have exit-slip writes. There’s something in the research space called the muddiest part, where halfway through the lesson you have them write so far what has been the least understood or the most confusing part of this lesson. And they do a quick write, right there, at the muddiest part. And as a teacher, you flip through these and you start to say, “Oh, these are the points that are confusing to my students.” So if 80% of them all have the same thing, I gotta reteach that. If these five got, “This is the muddiest part,” If these five thought, “This is the muddiest part,” these seven, “I thought this was the muddiest part,” what do I need to do? Because it’s gonna be hard to move forward if this is their area of confusion. There are also all kinds of writing prompts that have a little bit longer. My favorite one is RAFT. What’s your Role? Who’s your Audience? What’s the Format? And what’s the Topic we’re writing about? Super flexible writing prompt. When you teach something, we don’t want students to only think they write to their teacher. So your role is an atom. You are writing to the other atoms. What do you wanna write about? What’s the topic? What’s the format of it? Is it a love letter? Is it a text message? Is it … so we, we mix it up with students in saying, how do they show some knowledge through a prompt that we give them? And then of course, longer pieces as they get older. More opinion pieces through fifth grade. More claims and arguments starting in sixth grade. So that they’re starting to see, “I have to use the evidence from things I’ve learned, read, listened to, watched, and construct something: an opinion, an argument where I back it up with reasons or evidence.” And those longer pieces, you know, less frequently. The shorter pieces, pretty regularly. So the teacher sees the thinking of the students.
Eric Cross (34:29):
When you were speaking about these really creative writing prompts, there were specific students coming into mind, that were coming into mind … they’re, they’re great science students, but they also have this really strong artsy side drawing, creative writing, and things like that. And when you said something about atoms talking to each other, it elicited, in my brain, certain students that would really love this aspect of creativity in the sciences. And it’s not how we’re typically trained as science teachers, to kind of incorporate this, like you said. A book of props. But I’m imagining, like, as a science teacher, if I took this, this would be a great way to reach more students to be able to show what they know, in a way that might resonate with their own intrinsic “Oh, I get to write creatively!” So I was kind of writing furiously as you were sharing all that information there.
Douglas Fisher (35:12):
So here, I’ll give you another example for elementary people. Again, with RAFT. There’s a book called Water Dance. It’s a pretty popular book for elementary teachers. It’s really about the life cycle of water. For example, you are a single drop of water. You are writing to the land. The format is a letter. And you’re explaining your journey. Now, if they can do this, they’re essentially explaining to you the cycle of water. But you got it in a way that people are now, “Oh, I’m a drop of water. So it’s me. My perspective. Where do I go from? Where do I start?” Because you can start anywhere in the cycle, right? My drop could have started in the clouds. My drop could have started in the ground. My drop could have started in the lake. But it has to show you the journey. So there are many ways of showing you the right answers.
Eric Cross (36:02):
And that’s using the RAFT protocol.
Douglas Fisher (36:04):
That’s RAFT: Role, Audience, Format, Topic. It’s been around 20 or 30 years.
Eric Cross (36:09):
You just gave the name to something a teacher shared in our podcast community, Science Connections: The Community, on Facebook. Teacher shared a Google slide deck and on it were just three slides. And the role that the student had to have is they had to show, then tell, the story of a journey of a piece of salmon being eaten, a piece of starch from pasta being eaten, and then an air molecule in a child’s bedroom. And they had to give the path of travel and the experience from the mouth and then breaking down into protein and all those kinds of things. And this teacher shared it and I wish I knew the teacher’s name because I wanna give ’em credit, but they shared it. And so I used it with my students and then had ’em read aloud their stories and dramatize it. And they were so into it!
Douglas Fisher (36:49):
So cool.
Eric Cross (36:50):
But through it, I was able to see that they understood different parts of the body. They understood cell respiration. The whole thing. And it was fun! To watch them get so into this creative writing. And now I know the name of it. That’s been 30 years they were using RAFT. So you just talked a bit about complex texts and writing. And before we go, I wanted to circle back to something that you said, because I think it’s important, and if you could elaborate on it a little bit, about the value of struggle. Can you talk more about that?
Douglas Fisher (37:21):
Sure. I do believe in a lot of the U.S. we’re in an anti-struggle era of education. And it predates Covid. I think it made it worse during Covid. We front load too much. We pre-teach too much. We reduce struggle. We quote, “over-differentiate” for students. And there’s value in struggle. The phrase, “productive struggle” — if you haven’t heard it, Google productive struggle — it’s an interesting concept, that we actually learn more when we engage in this productive struggle. Now, productive struggle originally came from the math world, and it was this idea that it’s worth struggling through things to learn from it, that you’re likely to get it wrong, and then there was productive success. And there are times when we want students to experience success and we make sure we put things in place for productive success. But there are times where we want them to struggle through a concept. ‘Cause it feels pretty amazing when you get on the other side, when you know you struggled and you get to the other side. If you think about the things, listeners, think about the things in your life where you struggled through it and you are most proud of what you accomplished. I want students to have that. I don’t wanna eliminate scaffolding, eliminate differentiation. But I do want some regular doses of struggle. So if you look at the scaffolding, we have a couple choices. We have front-end scaffolds, distributed scaffolds, and back-end scaffolds. Right now we mostly use front-end scaffolds: We pre-teach, we tell students words in advance, that kind of stuff. But what if we refrained from only using front-end scaffolds, and we use more distributed scaffolds, when they encounter. So there’s a difference between “just in case” and “just in time” support for students. So we tend to plan on the “in advance, here are all the things we’re gonna do to remove the struggle before students encounter the struggle.” What if instead we said, “Let them encounter some struggle. Here’s the supports we’re gonna provide. We’re gonna watch; we’re gonna remove those scaffolds, and allow them to have an experience of success, where they realize, ‘I did it. I got it.’” Every science teacher I’ve ever worked with, when they do an experiment or a lab or simulation, they are looking for productive struggle. They don’t tell the answers in advance. They don’t tell if the answers are right. That’s your data. What does your data tell you? I mean, this is what you do. But then the other part of your day when you move into, like, reading, you don’t do that. You fall into the trap of removing struggle. And so allow them to grapple with ideas. Allow them to wonder what words mean. Allow them to say, “I’m not getting this, teacher! It’s really frustrating!” And you say, “Yeah, this is really hard. This is why we’re doing it at school. ‘Cause it’s really hard. If it was easy, I’d have you do it at home. But we’re doing it here, ’cause it’s really hard and it’s OK not to get it at first.” And create a place where errors are seen as opportunities to learn, and struggling through ideas and clarifying your own thinking and arguing with other people to reach an agreement or reach a place where we agree to disagree is part of the power of learning.
Eric Cross (40:38):
There’s a teacher, who I took this from. My master teacher when I was student teaching. And she said that there’s no such thing as failure in science, just data. And I took that same mantra. And I resonate with what you said about how science teachers, all of us, hold onto that productive struggle, because it’s part of being a scientist. It’s part of the experiments. That genuine “aha” moment. Or it didn’t work out? That’s great! That’s totally fine! Let’s write about it and let’s take photos and let’s publish it and let’s be scientists. That’s totally true. As we wrap up, Dr. Fisher, is there any final message that you have to listeners about bringing science and literacy together? I know you speak everywhere, but for everyone that’s listening, if you can put out your encouragement or message or suggestion … you’ve given so many great tips and practical applications. But, any final thoughts on the subject?
Douglas Fisher (41:32):
I think many science teachers are intimidated because they think they have to be reading teachers. And there’s a knowledge base to reading. And some teachers are reading teachers and science teachers, and I don’t wanna dismiss that. But it’s not that you have to become a reading specialist to integrate literacy into science. It’s how our brains work. And so as you think about the way in which you are learning and the ways in which you want your students to learn, what role does language play? What role does speaking, listening, reading, writing, viewing, play in your class? And then provide opportunities for students to do those five things each time you meet with them.
Eric Cross (42:12):
Dr. Fisher, thank you so much for being here and for your encouragement, and sharing your wisdom and experience. And then personally serving my city, here in San Diego, and my students, when they make it to your high school and ultimately the alma mater of San Diego State University.
Douglas Fisher (42:30):
That’s right.
Eric Cross (42:31):
Yeah. We really, really appreciate you in serving all kids and lifting the bar and making things more equitable for all students. And encouraging teachers. So thank you.
Douglas Fisher (42:39):
Thank you very much.
Eric Cross (42:42):
Thanks so much for listening to my conversation with Dr. Douglas Fisher, Professor and Chair of Educational Leadership at San Diego State University. Check out the show notes for links to some of Doug’s work, including the book he co-authored titled Reading and Writing in Science: Tools to Develop Disciplinary Literacy. Please remember to subscribe to Science Connections so that you can catch every episode in this exciting third season. And while you’re there, we’d really appreciate it if you can leave us a review. It’ll help more listeners to find the show. Also, if you haven’t already, please be sure to join our Facebook group, Science Connections: The Community. Next time on the show, we’re going to continue exploring the happy marriage between science and literacy instruction.
Speaker (43:26):
I had this moment of realization I felt a few months ago: I’m like, if I don’t teach them how to use the AI as a tool, as a collaborator, then they’re gonna graduate into a world where they lose out to people who do know how to do that.
Eric Cross (43:39):
That’s next time on Science Connections. Thanks so much for listening.
Stay connected!
Join our community and get new episodes every other Wednesday!
We’ll also share new and exciting free resources for your classroom every month!
Meet the guest
Douglas Fisher, Ph.D., is professor and chair of Educational Leadership at San Diego State University and a leader at Health Sciences High & Middle College having been an early intervention teacher and elementary school educator. He is the recipient of an International Reading Association William S. Grey citation of merit, an Exemplary Leader award from the Conference on English Leadership of NCTE, as well as a Christa McAuliffe award for excellence in teacher education. He has published numerous articles on reading and literacy, differentiated instruction, and curriculum design as well as books, such as The Restorative Practices Playbook, PLC+: Better Decisions and Greater Impact by Design, Building Equity, and Better Learning Through Structured Teaching.
About Science Connections
Welcome to Science Connections! Science is changing before our eyes, now more than ever. So…how do we help kids figure that out? We will bring on educators, scientists, and more to discuss the importance of high-quality science instruction. In this episode, hear from our host Eric Cross about his work engaging students as a K-8 science teacher.
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S2-03: Building meaningful student connections in the science classroom
In this episode, Eric Cross sits down with Indiana State Teacher of the Year, Sharita Ware, to talk about how to successfully build meaningful student connections in the science classroom. Sharita shares her journey from a corporate career to becoming Indiana’s 2022 Teacher of the Year, and her passion for creating project-based lessons for her students. Together, Eric and Sharita discuss how educators can teach students to love science content by building strong relationships, adding in other content areas, and supporting students’ imagination. Explore more from Science Connections by visiting our main page.
Sharita Ware (00:00):
I try to create that equal playing field where there’s nobody’s voice, that’s more important than anyone else’s and try to make them all feel that what they have to say is important.
Eric Cross (00:14):
Welcome to science connections. I’m your host Eric. My guest today is Sheta where Sheta is the 2022 Indiana state teacher of the year. And in her 10 year career, as an engineering and technology teacher, she has dedicated herself to helping students build knowledge and skills for high school and life. Beyond. In this episode, we discuss how she inspires her seventh and eighth grade students to build problem solving and critical thinking skills through hands on real world and collaborative projects. She is as humble as she is knowledgeable and through our conversation, it was easy for me to see why her students feel successful under her guidance. And now please enjoy my conversation with Sharita Ware.
Eric Cross (00:59):
Can I start off by saying congratulations on teacher of the year. Thank you for the state of Indiana. Um, that’s amazing. So I, I, I did watch, uh, your videos, uh, short interviews, and then you spoke, was it Purdue? Yes. You were there. And so, uh, to see if fellow seventh grade, eighth grade science teacher out there being celebrated, like I was so excited, so yeah, I wanted to congratulate you on that and, and just kind of talk to you about like your teaching journey and ask you, uh, maybe just kind of start off with your story about what brought you into, into the classroom, especially the middle school.
Sharita Ware (01:29):
Classroom. So what happened is when I was working in industry as an engineer and when my husband and I got married, we decided that I was gonna, um, stay home with the kids because, you know, we wanted, um, our influence to be greater on our kids than, you know, the people that would be watching them, you know, because they would ultimately spend more time with them than they would with us. And, and so, um, I stayed home and when my youngest was going to be going to kindergarten the next year, I was like, okay, what am I going to do? Cuz I really don’t necessarily feel like I need to stay at home. Mm-hmm <affirmative> but um, I knew going back to industry would be a challenge just because in my field, I, I was traveling a lot before I got married and had kids.
Sharita Ware (02:14):
And so I knew that that wouldn’t really be conducive to again, raising children. So I, I get this email, my inbox for Woodrow Wilson, teaching fellowship at Purdue. And they were just looking for people in stem fields to go into teaching. And I was like, okay. And it was a national search, you know, I filled out the application, we had to go in and do some sample teaching mm-hmm <affirmative>. And I was picked as, as one of the, the teachers to go through the program. And I started off thinking I wanted high school. And the really cool thing about this, uh, program is that we had long observation periods at high school and at middle schools. And so we would go to a school and we’d stay there two or three weeks. And so it, it kind of gave you right. A little bit more insight to what happened on a daily basis. And after those observations, I was like, I like middle school better than I, uh, like high school. And so I just kind of went that direction and you know, the rest is history. So
Eric Cross (03:19):
I feel like our stories are similar because I went into teaching thinking I wanted to do high school because I like the maturity and you a little bit more sophistication, advanced things, but yes, middle school, I felt like I can, I could get them more upstream before and kind of help shape mm-hmm <affirmative> that experience for them? Because I feel like at middle school is really where they kind of decide like what they can do based on their experiences.
Sharita Ware (03:39):
I found in the middle school that the kids, I mean, they just, they clamor around you and they’re like, what are we doing today? You know? And they get so excited and, um, they’re, they’re just, I don’t know, I guess in some ways, just more hungry in the sense of like they’re willingness to, um, now sometimes they’re a little reluctant, but you know, their willingness just to try new things. And I think, um, my students really what I have found over the years that they have found a safe space and I hear the kids, you know, say to me so many times that, you know, it it’s safe. I feel, I feel safe in here. And, and it’s not something that in my mind I’m thinking about, oh, I need to make this a safe place. It’s just, I guess part of just who I am as a person has created this environment of, of safety and, and the kids recognize that, you know, I don’t play favorites. You know, everybody starts out mm-hmm, <affirmative> on equal footing. I, I don’t care what your backstory is. I don’t care how many times I see you in the hallway when I’m walking during my prep. You know, when you hit my room, I’m, I’m gonna treat you the same way on day one, that I treat everybody else.
Eric Cross (04:54):
You really understand how to build culture with, in, with your classroom, with your students. And, and you said they feel safe, but is there anything that you do that someone could like apply? And like you found that you’ve gotten a lot of just relational capital through doing these things, or is it just your personality? Like how, how do you build those connections?
Sharita Ware (05:12):
You know, growing up being a, a very quiet person. I, I think a lot of times my voice was ignored because I was the quiet kid in the back of the room. And oftentimes I became seen or heard because of my work, you know, in the beginning it was kind of like, oh, she’s just this quiet girl in the back of the room. And then, you know, the first essay was due or the first project was due. And then it was like, oh, you know, then you’re the person to be on, you know, people’s teams. And, and that, I don’t know, that always kind of bothered me because, you know, I’m thinking just because you’re not the loudest person in the room doesn’t mean that you don’t have something to say, mm-hmm <affirmative>, you just might not be talking all the time. You know? And, and so for my students, I just, I try to create that equal playing field where there’s, nobody’s voice, that’s more important than anyone else’s and try to make them all feel like that what they have to say, or what they have to contribute is, is enough, is good.
Sharita Ware (06:14):
Enough is important as…
Eric Cross (06:16):
It is, as it is. And there’s probably a lot of things that you do. But in addition to building these relationships, what do you do? Like how do you make your learning fun for students?
Sharita Ware (06:25):
I think, um, I’m also a little bit on the silly side. Um, we do a, a Barbie prosthetic leg project, and this was after trial and error of having the kids make full size prosthetic legs. And I try to make it as real world as possible, but with none of the children being amputee or, you know, having access to someone, it was really hard for them to really visualize what needed to happen. Mm-hmm <affirmative>. And so, um, I found this Barbie that had a prosthetic leg and I was like, well, LA, so I just started collecting Barbies and chopping their legs off <laugh>. And so I have this jar of Barbie legs. And so, and I said, you’re gonna make prosthetic legs. And I lay this jar of legs on the counter and the kids are like, like they gasp and then they crack up and then they’re like, okay, this lady’s crazy. So…
Eric Cross (07:22):
That’s when you take off your scarf and there’s this necklace of just Barbie legs that are just around and you’re like, I’m a middle school teacher and they go, oh, okay. I understand. Yeah. Yeah. It’s totally fine. Is this a lesson that someone that you made up or is it something that you’ve re remixed? Is it something that someone could do if they looked it up anywhere?
Sharita Ware (07:38):
Um, so I think teach engineering has the, the full size leg that the kids make. And that’s where I initially got it from.
Eric Cross (07:47):
Is that the website teach engineering?
Sharita Ware (07:49):
Yes. And, um, I, in fact, I get lots of ideals from there. Um, and I, I always usually tweak them, but it’s, it’s one of those things that kind of gets your brain going. And so it was kind of a mixture of, uh, project lead the way gateway to technology and the teach engineering. And I think the project lead the way had us making like braces, uh, for, um, kids with, um, like cerebral palsy or, or something like that. And the kids did okay with that project. Uh, but I wanted to go just a little bit, uh, deeper with it because part of what I was wanting them to do is that context and that connection, that human connection, because for me, it’s not just enough for them to make a project. Uh, before we start this prosthetic leg, I read them a story out of a Scholastic magazine, and it’s a, a teenage girl that lost her leg in a boating accident.
Sharita Ware (08:42):
And she was super active, um, playing sports and running. And, and so I was, you know, trying to get the kids to, you know, make that connection, someone close to their age. Um, and then how it’s not, it’s, it’s more than about her physical healing. It’s also about her mental healing and how she had to, you know, talk to herself to say that she could, you know, recover and, and come back from this and still go on to do all of the things that she was doing before. Um, and in some ways it’s kind of cool because, um, you know, she has a running prosthetic, she has a, a swimming prosthetic, and she has her every day with the pain and toils prosthetic. So just trying to, you know, help them to see that it’s more than just the, you know, the biomedical mechanical engineering aspect of the project.
Sharita Ware (09:30):
And so they have to design for comfort. They have to design for, um, swelling. And then, um, they also can, if they, if they want to, they don’t have to, if they want to, they can create their own backstory. So when they get there, um, we have a day where they are introduced to their client, so they get to meet their Barbie and, and then they get to decide if they want a backstory and, and then do their research based off of that. So if it’s someone that was a runner, then they can design a prosthetic running blade. So just, they have lots of, uh, flexibility.
Eric Cross (10:04):
The, that aspect of adding the narrative. It does so much for like listening to it on the outside. It one, it adds this humanity to, you know, what can sometimes just feel like it may be cold, logical stem. We’re just, we’re just doing things. We’re fixing things. We’re, you know, we’re discovering things, but really the stem has value when we’re actually applying it to, to, to serve humanity or our ecosystem or whatever it is. There was a, a coding, uh, class I was doing with my students and I showed them this app called be my eyes. And it’s for people who are visually impaired and it pairs them with a volunteer. And when they call, and there’s a whole huge pool of volunteers and I’m one of them. And when my, when it happens in class, I answer and it uses the FaceTime. So the person who’s visually impaired is holding up their phone and you see what they see and you tell them and real time what’s happening.
Sharita Ware (10:54):
Oh, wow. That’s so cool.
Eric Cross (10:56):
These are, these were the things I think for students that the story, the, the human part of it, mm-hmm, <affirmative>, it must bring in so many more students into engagement.
Sharita Ware (11:05):
Yeah. I, I feel like it does because I, I think, um, and, you know, along the journey, they kind of lose, um, they lose sight a little bit because, you know, they get out in the lab and they have access to all of these different materials. And I think, you know, truly making it, you know, project based for me is I try not to control the materials too much. Um, I try not to make it so wide that they just get lost, but I try to throw a few curve balls in there, you know, of, of materials that really don’t make sense to use, but they kind of think they make sense to use. Um, because the, the, the meat of it is that the prosthetic leg is a similar size of the original leg and that the, the knee functions. And so I don’t limit, and I grade them off of efficient use of materials.
Sharita Ware (11:59):
So, and that just throws them off because I think, well, how many Popsicle sticks can I use? And I’m like, you can use as many as you like, but remember, this is a prosthetic leg that, um, your Barbie, which is one six scale, um, is going to be wearing all day. So you could think that a Popsicle stick, if you chose to use a Popsicle stick is kind of like dragging around a two by four <laugh>, you know? So do, is that what you really want to use as your material? And some of the kids really think about it and saying, okay, I’m, I’ve got this aluminum rod, okay. This is probably what I would use for my bone structure, because it’s lightweight, but yet it is supportive. And then sometimes they come up with their own ideas in terms of materials, like one student brought in his, um, 3d doodle pin mm-hmm <affirmative> and he made joints and everything with this pin.
Sharita Ware (12:54):
And I’m, and I had delayed buying one, cause I’m like, I, how do you have control over that thing? Mm-hmm <affirmative> he brought that in and he did probably two or three iterations of it and, and got it to work where even the knee where it bit back 90 degrees, but it stopped. He made like, so that it didn’t bend forward. It blows my mind. I’m like so many UN unexpected things have, have happened just from my, um, teaching style. Now I did have, my first few years, I had a, a teaching coach, um, come in and, um, I asked her to come into my room because I just wanted to make sure because I was not a traditional teacher. She said, this classroom is amazing. And, and I think the one thing that she helped me with was, was purpose and consistency and the sense of making sure that with the standards that all of these cool things and ways of being, um, that I was doing in my classroom, that, that I kept it purposeful and intentional. So many times as educators, I know in having student teachers again, ask yourself the question, what is the big picture I want the kids to take away. And once you ask that question, then everything that you have them do will lead to that big picture. Well, it should lead to that big picture.
Eric Cross (14:22):
So it sounds like they’re, you’re starting with this end goal in mind and then kind of backwards planning to get there. Yeah. Do you think you would’ve been the same type of teacher if you would’ve gone straight from college into the classroom? No. And if, if, no, as you’re shaking your head, what do you think it is about? Cause I’ve been asking myself these questions, like just over the years, what is it about coming from industry and going into the classroom? Do you feel like, is how has that impacted you in how you teach?
Sharita Ware (14:45):
Well, I think it’s twofold cuz I was older. I already had three children. I think the combination for me, I think is I was already a mom and I had worked in industry. So the behavior aspect of kids and, and then having that real world experience. And I, I just feel like whether it’s in the classroom, um, marriage, kids, to me, it’s 90% relationship, you know, and the rest will work itself out. That’s, that’s just my, my take on it. But I, I feel like having kids, so some of the behavioral things I kind of was aware of, you know, and just learned many times just not to react to some of the things that they did.
Eric Cross (15:31):
Which is huge. Right. Especially in middle school is controlling your reactions.
Sharita Ware (15:35):
Yes. Cuz that’s what they want. You know? And, and I had this student last year as well. She’s brilliant. And so if she cannot wrap her mind around the purpose of what you’re doing and, and you’re pushing her to do something that she doesn’t think is necessary, mm-hmm <affirmative>, she kind of has these meltdowns. And, and so we just had this, you know, I don’t know, we just came to this understanding and it, and it works to control the meltdowns. I tried to make sure. And, and I used her as a gauge because I knew she wasn’t, she wasn’t getting upset because she didn’t understand. She didn’t understand the why mm-hmm <affirmative>. And so I felt like if she got the why then so would everyone else. So when she, if she was okay with it, then I was like, okay, then I must have explained it well enough.
Sharita Ware (16:25):
And so in my mind that I really need to make sure they understand the, again, going back to that purpose <laugh> and intention, making sure that that is clear. And then I think that’s what gets lost. Sometimes mm-hmm <affirmative> uh, with us as teachers, we, we know where we want the kids to go and we want us to trust the process, you know, just do it because I said so, but sometimes, you know, empowering your children to under to understand the why, because that again is what allows them to be able to do bigger and greater things on their own. So on that next project comes along. They’re starting to tell you, well, first we need to make sure we understand what, um, we’re being asked to do to do. So we have to define the question. We have to make our driving question that will help us stay focused. And, and you’re just standing up there going, okay, now you don’t need me. I’ll go here and sit down. <laugh> so it’s, uh, it is really cool.
Eric Cross (17:28):
Now I’m thinking about my own kids. Like, do my students know the why behind the lesson we did today? It’s one area of growth that I wanna make sure I do this year with my students. And so I really appreciate that. So the, and you just hit on something that is, has been in the forefront of my mind lately and math and English as you know, tend to be prioritized in schools everywhere because it’s what state tested. And it’s what, you know, this is a whole other conversation, but I’ve been talking to math teachers frequently about one of the challenges that they experience or they’ve been telling me is that math is kind of taught. Like it’s just computational, you’re solving these problems, but it’s really separated from any real life application. A lot of times, you know, it’s pizza or gumballs or, or just fictional scenarios and students don’t perform well many times. And some of the reasons why is cuz just no connection. I don’t want to solve puzzles. Like it’s not my jam. Do you have any just inside or, or perspective on how math is, is taught in maybe a way that you think it would students would benefit more?
Sharita Ware (18:32):
You know how kids learn in elementary school, you’ve got this, the same teacher teaching all of the subjects. And so wouldn’t that be an awesome opportunity for you to have like these, these projects where I feel like you could, a class could legit work on the same project for a whole entire year. And so couldn’t the English be writing your persuasive letter to the mayor, asking him to do this or do that. And the process of doing that they’re, they’re, they’re writing with a purpose with a true purpose. Um, and then when they’re doing math, you know, they want, they want a new neighborhood park. So, you know, well how much is this gonna cost? Well, math, what size is it gonna be math? Let’s see what it looks like, art, you know, you just, you have all of this things. And then of course then science.
Sharita Ware (19:32):
So if it’s on a heel, how can we, you know, deal with erosion? And you know, you can just pull so many different things into that. And so not only are they learning, but they’re narrowed in and focused on a project, they’re, they’re able to dive deep into, you know, learning more of learning, how to express themselves and communicate with real people. So it’s more of taking these compartmentalized learning that we do in middle school and high school. Mm-hmm, <affirmative> where you’re almost learning apprenticeship style. Mm-hmm <affirmative>, you know, you have these master educators and it’s not about them being the best at math or being the best at this or that. Cuz there’s so many tools now that could help you through that. But you’re, you’re giving, you’re teaching them so many life skills and so many ways to think and problem solve that, that we’re just that the kids just don’t have.
Eric Cross (20:27):
I think that that is amazing. And I think that in that situation, what I’m hearing is we’re going deeper, not wider because there are a lot of different concepts that kids are expected to learn. Or I should say there are several concepts that teachers are expected to teach doesn’t necessarily mean that our kids are learning, but we’re teaching them. And this way you’re embedded it into an authentic context. Students are able to go through this cycle just like real life. And then they’re also able to build these kind of really transdisciplinary skills. Not only am I learning the math, the English, the the, but I’m also learning the interpersonal skills of being able to sell myself and present myself in a way that’s winsome. And it’s especially powerful coming from someone from industry. Last question, even just listening to you, I know you, you are this for a lot of people, but I wanted to ask you who inspires you?
Sharita Ware (21:14):
I think there have been lots of people over the years. Like I’m thinking of my shop teacher who has since, uh, the last few years passed away. Um, he was one of those people, I think similar personality to me, super quiet person, but he was always in the background on my journey and his name was Joe Mo and we called her Madam Carol was my 10th grade English lit teacher. And she was the one that started reading my work out in front of the class. And you know, and that just gave me courage, not so much to be seen. Uh, but that the work I was doing was, was good. And, and I think I needed that kind of encouragement. Lastly, my students inspire me because when I look at their faces and see the excitement, I think of those students for the first time and, and, and think about this seventh and eighth graders for the first time feeling like they really have something to say, they really have something to contribute of value. And, and I do it for them. You know, the reason why I am here in this moment is because of them. Um, without them, you wouldn’t be talking to me <laugh>
Eric Cross (22:37):
This is, this is true. This is, this is true. You would probably never say this about yourself, but you just exude a humility and a service in how you talk about your students and yourself. And I just wanna thank you for using your gifts, but I don’t wanna just call them gifts because it makes it sound like you didn’t earn ’em and your skills that you’ve earned and worked very hard to acquire over the years to go back into the classroom and leave industry, cuz you, you could have gone back to industry too, but you decided not to. And you could have worked in the industry and your hours were a little different pay is a little different, but you came back to serve the kids of Indiana and because of you and because of that choice, those students have a brighter future and believe in themselves and they’re finding their voice. And I want to thank you for that and for representing all of us stem teachers who are in middle school and being that leader. So thank you for that and thank you for being on the podcast.
Sharita Ware (23:24):
You’re welcome. Thank you for having me.
Eric Cross (23:28):
Thank so much for listening. Now we wanna hear more about you in the amazing work you’re doing for students. Do you have any educators who inspire you? You can nominate them as a future guest on science connections by emailing stem, amplifycom.wpengine.com. That’s ST E M amplifycom.wpengine.com. Make sure to click, subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts and join our Facebook group science connections, the community until next time.
Stay connected!
Join our community and get new episodes every other Wednesday!
We’ll also share new and exciting free resources for your classroom every month!
Meet the guest
Sharita Ware, a Purdue University graduate, is in her 10th year of teaching engineering and technology education to middle school students in the Tippecanoe School Corporation. Ware challenges her students with real-world, problem-based design scenarios that will help them contribute to global technology and integrated STEM. Follow her on Twitter and Instagram.
About Science Connections
Welcome to Science Connections! Science is changing before our eyes, now more than ever. So…how do we help kids figure that out? We will bring on educators, scientists, and more to discuss the importance of high-quality science instruction. In this episode, hear from our host Eric Cross about his work engaging students as a K-8 science teacher. Listen here!
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S1-01: The journey from student to SpaceX engineer: Juan Vivas
In this episode, we join Eric Cross as he talks to supply chain engineer Juan Vivas of SpaceX about his experiences growing up as a Latino in STEM. Juan shares his story of moving to the United States to study engineering and becoming successful in his career as a scientist. Juan openly discusses the experiences that made a difference in his life and the teachers that inspired him along the way. He also shares his experience as an engineer in different fields, as well as what it’s like to work in the supply chain during COVID.
Explore more from Science Connections by visiting our main page.
Juan Vivas (00:00):
But to me, based on my experience so far, I think the best way to put it: An engineer is a technical problem-solver.
Eric Cross (00:28):
Welcome to Science Connections. I’m your host, Eric Cross. My guest today is Juan Vivas. Juan is a supply chain engineer for SpaceX. His career in STEM has pivoted from chemical engineering to working on foods like Cinnamon Toast Crunch to his current role at SpaceX, where he’s responsible for his work on Starlink, a technology that uses low-orbit satellites to provide internet access across the world. In this episode, Juan shares his story of how he became an engineer and how a thoughtful teacher used robotics to inspire him. I hope you enjoy this great conversation with Juan Vivas. Juan, thanks for being here.
Juan Vivas (01:14):
Yeah, yeah, of course! Super-excited to be here.
Eric Cross (01:19):
Hey, and starting off, I kind of like to ask your origin story. We were talking earlier about Marvel, and your journey of one working for…what I consider the closest thing that we have to SHIELD in the Marvel stories is SpaceX. Like with my own students, we talk about SpaceX like it’s a fictional thing, and we watch the rocket launches together and we watch the recovery and it’s so cool.
Juan Vivas (01:45):
Yeah.
Eric Cross (01:46):
And so when I knew that we were gonna be able to talk to you, I was excited. Like, I felt like I was a kid.
Juan Vivas (01:51):
<Laugh>
Eric Cross (01:51):
So I’d love to hear your origin story of you ultimately landing at SpaceX. And begin wherever kind of seems most natural to you.
Juan Vivas (01:59):
Yeah, yeah, of course. You know, I wasn’t one of those kids at from a young age I said “Oh, I’m gonna be an engineer.” Right? “I want to go and build all these things.” Where I grew up, and the social circle that I had, a lot of people were like doctors or lawyers. Just figured, you know, I’ll go to med school and go down the same path that 90% of like everyone else was gonna take. But in high school, I actually got into robotics. And, kind of like I mentioned, I wanted to do med school, that is what I figured I would end up doing. And then I got into robotics in high school. And I think that was what really kind of like changed my perspective of what I wanted to do, because basically these competitions were just—it was full-on driven by students. So we designed, programmed, and manufactured, like, the entire robot itself. And so through that I ended up doing a summer engineering program at the University of Maryland, the summer before going into my senior year in high school. And there we worked on a competition with underwater robots. And so we spent the entire summer, kind of similar scenario, designing a robot, manufacturing it, programming it. And then in the end it was like a competition in the buoyancy tank with different teams. And, you know, I think one thing that was really neat about that experience is that I got to hear Dr. John C. Mathers, who is a Nobel Prize physicist, speak to us in a room with, like, only 10 high school students. And just hearing his experience of where he started and the accomplishment that he’s been able to do, down in the STEM path, was really neat. And that summer was my final decision that I’m “OK, I know I want to be an engineer.” What’s interesting is I ended up choosing chemical engineering, instead of mechanical, which a lot of people, you know, based on all the experience that led me up to be an engineer, they asked me why I didn’t choose mechanical engineering. And I think one of the reasons why I chose chemical engineering is it’s very process-based. So one thing needs to happen, and there’s different inputs to that one step, and that step has an end-to-end reaction to it, right? So certain things need to happen in step one in order for step two to occur. And however the inputs happen in step one, it’s gonna affect the rest of the process. Honestly, very different than what I thought it was really gonna be. But what’s neat about chemical engineering is that it’s one of the most versatile engineering majors that you can have. Chemical engineering, because you work with a lot of process bases. Everything has a process, right? Everything needs to start with step one, and with, you know, step 10, whatever. And it’s all about optimization and improvement along those processes. So you can really take chemical engineering principles and apply ’em to different areas of a career, which is essentially the experience that I had in college. I had three internships with Dow Chemical where I did environmental health and safety, production, and supply-chain improvement. I then did research and development with Clorox. And then I did manufacturing engineering with General Mills. So really different job roles, different aspects, but same methodology applied.
Eric Cross (05:36):
I feel like there’s so much that you just said, <laugh> and I was trying to always, “I wanna ask him about that!” And in there, what I heard was there was a real pivotable, pivot moment in your life. Was the club…or was it a club, the robotics program? Or was that a class?
Juan Vivas (05:53):
You know, it was actually…it was VEX Robotics, specifically.
Eric Cross (05:56):
It was VEX! OK. Yeah, yeah. Really popular. And they still have it; I think we actually have some downstairs. So it was a club, and not necessarily a formal environment, where you were able to build. And it’s both collaborative and competitive, right? Like, there’s both aspects.
Juan Vivas (06:11):
Yep. Yep.
Eric Cross (06:11):
And, and then you had access to one of the only two facilities in the country that have these…were they buoyancy tanks?
Juan Vivas (06:20):
Buoyancy tanks, yep.
Eric Cross (06:21):
And there’s this book, Malcolm Gladwell’s Outliers, and then another similar book called Balance. It talks about how some of these innovators, like Steve Jobs and, and Bill Gates, they had access to things that other people didn’t. So, like, Bill Gates, I think at the University of Washington, had a computer that, you know, no one else did. And Jobs had one at, like, Hewlett-Packard. So it gave you this awesome headstart, where you’re able to test things in a real-life environment that kind of transfers into real-world skills. And then a few internships, so like, internships and mentors. So you had these people in the industry or people who were front-runners that were able to pour into you and give you these opportunities. And so it’s really neat to see how a program that starts as a club, kind of a competitive thing that introduced you to it and hooked you, then led to unfolding all of these opportunities that ultimately led you up to being here. And there’s one part—in looking at your LinkedIn profile, there’s a couple of really cool things that stand out. There’s a lot of cool things, but there’s two that really stood out. So one, working at SpaceX, and we’ll talk more about that, but I wanna go to General Mills and Cinnamon Toast Crunch. Because Cinnamon Toast Crunch is amazing.
Juan Vivas (07:39):
Yeah.
Eric Cross (07:39):
And you were part of the supply chain for that. In my head, I’m thinking, OK, like, what is he like responsible for? Like, getting the cinnamon and sugar?
Juan Vivas (07:51):
<Laugh>
Eric Cross (07:51):
What was, what did your job entail, when you were running that?
Juan Vivas (07:55):
There, I didn’t even know what I was gonna be doing until my first day. It was just, whatever the business need is, that’s where you’re gonna be put. So this was actually a high-priority plan for General Mills. And the production line that made Cinnamon Toast Crunch was split up into processes. So you have, they call it the process-process side, which is like literally raw materials, like making the cereal from scratch, baking it, adding the sugar, and then sending it to be packaged. And then you have the packaging-process side. so I was then placed as a packaging process lead, for the packaging side of that production line. So I was accountable for two packaging lines that packed out Cinnamon Toast Crunch. And that is where—that was actually my first real, you know, call it “real job,” like graduated college, going straight into the industry. I was a process lead for the packaging side of Cinnamon Toast Crunch.
Eric Cross (08:54):
So you went from cereal to rockets, <laugh>, which which is an amazing trajectory to have.
Juan Vivas (09:03):
Yeah. Yeah.
Eric Cross (09:04):
And when you kind of mentioned, back in your story about medical school, and, you know, it’s kinda like, what you see people doing, and you’re “OK, this is what I think I wanna do.” And then we have a perception in our mind about what a certain job’s gonna be like. And then reality hits. I think a lot of—when I ask my students, “What do you wanna do?” They think, like, “lawyer!” and when they think “lawyer!” they’re like, “I’m good at arguing!” Right? And until they find—until they talk to some lawyers and they find out like what that career can look like.
Juan Vivas (09:28):
Yeah.
Eric Cross (09:28):
You’re not just in the courtroom showing off your arguing skills. But, like, an engineer, when I talk to my students about what does it mean to be an engineer, often it’s very linear. It’s “I build bridges,” or, you know, maybe cars, but you’re a supply chain engineer. And, and that’s something that I think, now more than ever, it’s probably an incredibly critical role, especially considering that all of these supply constraints. Can you—what is a supply chain engineer? And what does it look like in your day-to-day? How is engineering rolled into that?
Juan Vivas (10:03):
Yeah, yeah. I think that’s an excellent question. I, too, once thought that engineering was just “I’m gonna be actually making something physical,” and like being super engineer-y about it. But, to me, based on my experience so far, I think the best way to put it: An engineer is a technical problem solver. As a supply chain engineer, specifically right now in my role at SpaceX…you know, as you can guess, the supply chain in the entire world is crazy. There’s no raw materials anywhere, and nothing can ever get on time. And so what I work on is I help our suppliers develop processes to meet the design criteria that we set up for like a specific part. As my job as a supply chain engineer, it’s “Can I take this design and make it manufacturable?” Right? “Can I go to any supplier and can they actually make this to the tolerance that the design engineer set them to be?” Nine out of 10 cases, the answer is no, essentially, is the best high-level way to put it.
Eric Cross (11:10):
When you’re solving these problems, is it this iterative process of going back and forth? Or is it just this aha-moment when you finally figure things out? ‘Cause I imagine they’re coming up with a design; you’re going back and saying, “Can this be manufactured?” or “Can it be done?” They’re saying no 90% of the time. And then are you the one responsible for kind of iterating on this, or changing it and then going back to them and telling them, asking them, until you get a yes? Is that—
Juan Vivas (11:33):
Yep. Yep, yep. Exactly. So we go through a process called Design for Manufacturing, DFMing. And where I essentially take, you know, the design engineer’s proposal, and then I have conversations with the suppliers, and then, that’s where the iteration begins. Where we go back and forth, back and forth, until we kind of meet in the middle to have something that can be manufacturable. Most of the times, in my experience, suppliers will always tell you no, just because they always want something that is manufactured really easily. And so you just gotta learn through experience. Like, when are they actually telling you something that’s a fact, versus when they’re just trying to you know, get out of a tolerance, or that “all right, all right, they mentioned that would just like make their jobs a little bit more difficult.”
Eric Cross (12:17):
So I’m hearing like there’s soft skills that are woven into the technical skills that you also need to be able to have.
Juan Vivas (12:23):
Oh, yes, absolutely. Yeah. I think, you know, as an engineer—and this is something, again, that I feel like you can only learn through experience—you’re gonna see that it’s not just you working to solve this one problem. Especially for a supply chain engineer. You’re talking with marketing; you’re talking with an industrial design team; you’re talking with logistics; you’re talking with procurement, materials management—just a whole set of people that don’t necessarily have technical background. Right? So sometimes, depending on the audience that I’m targeting, I’m always very, very peculiar on what is my target audience, right? How can I—how deep in my technical knowledge do I need to go? Because if I just, you know, talk straight Engineer, they either don’t care or they’re gonna be really confused about what I’m saying. So there is a stronghold of soft skills that definitely go into engineering, which I think are really important to communicate, you know, to, let’s say, students that are really interested in engineering. So you can be extremely smart and intelligent and really good at problem-solving, but if you don’t have those soft skills that you apply in the real world—’cause in the real world, you’re never only gonna be working with engineers, no matter like where you’re at—so having those soft skills to be able to manage with different backgrounds and different sort of people and different ways of thinking, it’s, I feel, really critical, for, for an engineer in the real world.
Eric Cross (13:50):
No, I think that’s a great point. It reminds me of teaching! And so many other professions where your ultimate goal is to really pour into this person in front of you and help develop them and create a sense of inquiry and wonder and personal growth and inspiration. But you’re also working within constraints and people and relationships. You know, you have your other teachers, you have parents, you have administrators, you have a district, you have communities, stakeholders. You have all of these different dynamics that you have to kind of navigate in order to ultimately help this child thrive. Versus just, like, being in the classroom: “OK, I just got <laugh>, the hundred or 200 students, just you and me. That’s it.” But that’s not the real world. And there’s this report that came out, I think Google ran it, Project Oxygen and Project Aristotle, and they asked the question, “What are the most effective traits of a good team and a manager?” And the top seven skills were all soft skills. So it is like exactly what you’re saying, where, yeah, it’s great that you have this technical aptitude, but if you’re not able to work with other people, problem-solve together, work with people of different backgrounds and perspectives, then you’re gonna run into some roadblocks. And that kind of dovetails, like, looking at things like if you looked at education from the perspective of an engineer. So you’re all about optimizing, right? Optimizing, working with what you got. When you look at education, are there any things that you would optimize to help improve the experience of students? Like, looking back, that you would fine-tune, that you think could provide better outcomes in the classroom?
Juan Vivas (15:28):
You know, I feel…I don’t know. Obviously I’m not a teacher. And I’m sure teachers just have so much stuff going on. But I think just like, finding…giving a chance to those students that you see a lot of potential in and really taking the time to mold them. You know, I did have a teacher who was able to mold me and give me that kind of one-on-one personal experience, right? I think honestly to me it just comes down to mentorship, and motivating students on what, you know, they’re passionate for. Like, putting them in front of engineers, right? Like finding engineers to come volunteer and explain to them. I genuinely believe it just takes one spark to really get a student on a trajectory where they can make an impact in the future. So to me, it comes down to, really, exposure. How much are you really exposing your students to…you know what, something I’ve learned, when I joined SpaceX, is that Elon doesn’t believe—well, you know, there there’s a lot of things that Elon believes and not believes in; there’s a whole different type of conversation!—but he doesn’t think that you can just take a curriculum, let’s say, and just apply it massively to everyone and expect like everyone to be it. That’s just naturally not how it works, right? Students learn at different paces; they have different sort of interests. This is actually why he created his own school for his kids in LA, called Ad Astra. You know, if you take that mentality, what that school is doing is that they’re working at the students’ pace and at the student’s interests, right? And I actually have a coworker who has his kids in that school. And I mean, these are one of the most brilliant kids I’ve ever known. Like, they are taking differential equations in the eighth grade. And I didn’t know what differential equations was until I was in college already and they told me, “This is a class you have to take.” <Laugh>. But it’s finding that crossway where, where is the curiosity of the student? What are they really interested in? and exposing them to that.
Eric Cross (17:51):
Yeah. And what I’m hearing of that is, in teacher-speak, a lot of personalized learning. Like you were talking about…is it Ad Astra?
Juan Vivas (17:59):
Ad Astra? Yep.
Eric Cross (18:01):
Ad Astra. You know, every student learns in their own way and they develop knowledge in their own way. And being able to personalize learning according to the students’ abilities and needs, and then accelerate or slow down, really produces some amazing effects. I know this is something that we as teachers try to do with the classroom. Scaling it is the challenge. But it’s great because even with people who are in charge of policy or people who have decision-making ability, hearing people from the top down saying, “Hey, look, this is what worked for me. This is how I was able to become successful. I had a teacher that was able to be a mentor to me because they knew me, they had a relationship with me, they were able to tap into my passions and use those passions to drive me to do or put me in programs that I might not have known about because they, they knew who I was.” And it’s not one-size-fits-all for everyone. So having—maybe it’s curriculum or learning experiences that are kind of modular, where students are able to maybe try on different things and get that exposure, I’m a big, big believer, like you are, in mentorship. That was a huge, huge thing in my life. Having mentors. It’s the reason why I became a science teacher. In seventh grade, I had a mentor who had us doing college-level science, you know, at UC San Diego. And it completely changed the trajectory of my life, in a direction that I wouldn’t have had without him. So I think that’s great. And it’s something that we as teachers would appreciate hearing. Going back to what you said…earlier you said your wife is a supply chain engineer as well. And so that means that there’s two people who are process-minded in the household. And this is kind of a lighter question, but I gotta wonder, do you have the most optimized flow for grocery shopping? <Laugh> Because…
Juan Vivas (19:49):
Yeah, I think we don’t spend more than like 20 minutes at a grocery store. Mind you, we only shop at Trader Joe’s and we have a very specific list before going in. And if you ever shop at Trader Joe’s, you just know where everything is ’cause it’s always there and it’s small, right? But yeah, like we’re, we’re in and out in like 15, 20 minutes. It’s great.
Eric Cross (20:11):
I love it. I love it. I feel like I’m that way by design. I go in with a purpose and this is exactly what I want. I know where the cookie butter is, <laugh>, I know where my coffee is, and then, OK, I’m in and out. Apple Pay or whatever I’m using. And then we’re good to go. Do you think…so as someone listening to this or some people even just becoming aware of supply chain engineering, what advice would you give someone that’s interested in pursuing this career path? If you maybe reverse-engineered your process, knowing what you know now, you were gonna give advice, you were that mentor, what are just some kind of tips or ideas or thoughts or trajectories that you’d think that they should aim for? I’m assuming like robotics….
Juan Vivas (20:56):
Yeah. You know, I think I would say definitely finding some sort of program that exposes you to a lot of things that you won’t be exposed to, like on a day-to-day basis, or something that you just can’t be exposed to naturally at school. And mentorship, honestly. I was born in Colombia and my parents were both—they’re still both professionals, but they were both professionals in Colombia. And when we moved to this country, this was like December of 1999. My parents started from scratch, and so they didn’t really grow up in the States, right? So when it was my time to go to college and do all of this stuff, it was just like me on my own figuring this stuff out. And, you know, they definitely made some mistakes when it came to college applications and whatnot. But once I was in college, I knew that the best way for my success was gonna be through mentorship. And that’s when I joined the, Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers, which is a nationwide organization. And each college, well, most college campuses, have their own chapter. In joining that, I was exposed to resume workshops, mock interviews—basically how do you even talk to a recruiter? Which is so critical, right? And personally that that organization was really what molded my actual professional career.
Eric Cross (22:19):
There’s this theme that I’m hearing, kind of weaving through this. And in addition to—as we’re talking about STEM and technical skills, in addition to that, there’s this thread that I’m receiving of…being able to form relationships with other people, for our students, is an important skill to teach and should be taught explicitly. Which isn’t…it’s not really a curriculum, right? Like, you don’t get tested on your ability to….conflict resolution or how to write an email or how to develop a relationship. And then the other part in I think what you just said is the aspect of community. Through this organization, you learned kind of some of these hidden rules, maybe I would call it.
Juan Vivas (23:04):
Yep.
Eric Cross (23:04):
It’s not that you didn’t have the…you had the aptitude. You had the drive. But there were these kind of hidden rules, and from moving to the US, you needed a community to be able to show you, so that you can kind of go through the proper steps.
Juan Vivas (23:16):
Exactly.
Eric Cross (23:17):
And so that created a lot of value for you.
Juan Vivas (23:19):
Yep.
Eric Cross (23:20):
Well, the last question that I have is, is just kind of a wondering. You have this awesome story, and the story continues to unfold. I gotta say, <laugh> I’m gonna be following your LinkedIn profile, because I think you just have kind of the coolest trajectory of going from, you know, General Mills, working in chemical engineering, and then ultimately it’s SpaceX. And every time I see the rocket taking off and landing, I’m gonna be thinking, thinking about you. So cool!
Juan Vivas (23:47):
Yeah. Yeah.
Eric Cross (23:49):
And personally, I have a hope that one day, one of my students will be at a company, you know, like SpaceX or Tesla or wherever, and one day I get to interview them and talk to them and see what they say. But the last question I want to ask is, is there, is there a teacher who inspired you, or a memorable experience that you have that made an impact on you?
Juan Vivas (24:16):
Yeah, yeah, of course. It was kind of you know, middle school going into high school. The way my school worked, everything was divided from pre-kindergarten, whatever, first to sixth grade, and then seventh grade to 12th grade. So I had a high school science teacher, Ms. Brown, Ms. Velda Brown, who, came from a small little island town on the east coast of Canada. Somehow landed, in the high school that I went to, to teach science. Going back to the beginning of the story where I mentioned that I figured whatever, I’ll go to med school. I played soccer, basketball, and, you know, I said, “I’ll figure it out once I graduate.” It might have been like life science in the eighth grade or something like that. But then she went on to teach me chemistry and physics as well. And when I was in the 10th grade, she approached me and she asked me if I wanted to join the robotics club. And I remember saying robotics? I don’t know. You know, naturally, in school, it’s different sorts of crowds: people that play sports and people that are like in like STEM clubs or whatever. And I was, “Ah, I don’t know; I don’t know how I feel about robotics; not really my thing….” But somehow she convinced me to join robotics. It’s me, coming into this group of kids that already knew each other, and they were all working on robotics. And I’m, “Yeah, I mean, I guess I’m just here to try this thing out.” It was a thing where we met every single Saturday at like seven in the morning. And there were times where I literally had to choose, “Do I go to like a soccer game or do I go to you help my team with robotics?” And I completely loved it. Like, I fell in love with the aspect of building something from scratch, and just making it operative. And she ended up just being a huge mentor for me in high school, actually. With her, with the help of her, I ended up opening the robotics club at my school. And before I left, we opened it up to middle schoolers. And then, you know, later, years later down the road when I was in college, I found out that it was now a whole-school thing. So there was an elementary robotics club at the school, the middle school one, and then the high school one were still a thing like years after I left. And that was like just so amazing to hear. But yeah, it was Ms. Velda Brown, my high school science teacher, that really took her time to mold me and get me into robotics, and really mentor me. And honestly, I’m sure you as teachers, you guys probably hear about it a lot, but you can have a lot of power in shaping a kid by just telling—believing in them, right? She believed in me so much that I would go on to be a successful engineer. And I’m. “OK, yeah, yeah, you’re just saying it.” But she spoke life into her students up to this day. I still speak about it with my wife, and when I’m in conversations about this, that if it wasn’t for my high school science teacher, I would not—well, no, I would probably not be an engineer right now.
Eric Cross (27:38):
Wow. Shout out to Ms. Velda Brown <laugh>. Would you say she spoke…I think one thing that just resonated with me is when you said she “spoke life” into you.
Juan Vivas (27:46):
Yeah.
Eric Cross (27:46):
That was really powerful. And I think we as teachers have that power and we don’t realize it. Because, you know, we get so we’re so familiar and living day-to-day, but we do have the power of life, speaking life, into our young people. And, yeah, that was—
Juan Vivas (28:03):
Absolutely, yeah. You know, I think obviously people grew up with different backgrounds, different communities, life situations, right? So imagine having like a student that is similar in that environment and then they just hear someone at their school, like, “Hey, you’re really good at this. why don’t you consider doing this?” And that’s when I feel teachers have that power. Where like they don’t necessarily know the background, but they can make that opportunity, or make that decision in the moment, to really shape a student’s life.
Eric Cross (28:37):
And we need to hear that. And I think, I hope that other teachers listening to this will be reminded that many times we don’t get to reap the harvest. We don’t get to see the <laugh> Juan Vivases at SpaceX. They just kind of go, and they disappear, and we hope for the best, and we get a new group. But every once in a while they come back, and we get to see what our watering or seed-planting was able to produce. And so, just know that you sharing your story for educators, and for definitely Ms. Brown, makes a huge difference and is a huge encouragement. So.
Juan Vivas (29:11):
You know, I think we touched on earlier, you know, how do I end up going from cereal to rockets, right? And I think it ties along with what I mentioned earlier of just taking—as an engineer, you’re really a critical problem solver, right? And you think that methodology. And if you find a way, you can apply it to different sectors. When I was doing a lot of like the packaging process stuff at General Mills, being a lead on a high-volume manufacturing line, what I do for SpaceX specifically, right now, I’m actually on the Starlink project. So if you’re up to date with Starlink, it’s, it’s essentially high reliable, fast internet that we’re providing to areas where usually people don’t have access to internet, right? Or maybe they do, but it’s extremely expensive. Because to an internet provider company, the benefit is not there, if they extend an entire internet fiber line out to their place because it’s only directed to them, right? So that’s, that’s essentially what Starlink is trying to solve. And this is the first time that SpaceX is facing a consumer packaging scenario. Before it was just rockets. And now they’re selling a product to consumers. They had never done that before, especially in a high-volume manufacturing setting. And so I am the supplier development engineer for all the consumer-facing packaging for the Starlink product itself. And that’s essentially how all those thoughts connected, where I had this experience coming from General Mills and packaging high-volume manufacturing. And then when Starlink started, they’re all, “Right, well, who knows anything about packaging?” Right? “We know so much about rockets, we need someone with this technical background.” And that’s essentially how I bridge over to SpaceX.
Eric Cross (31:11):
And so while you’re working at SpaceX, you’re working on Starlink, which I know you mentioned that—you said that it’s providing internet globally, which in and of itself, we—especially those of us that live in major cities—we kind of take for granted. Internet is like a utility. But we don’t maybe realize that in many parts of the world, internet is not reliable or even accessible.
Juan Vivas (31:33):
Right. Right.
Eric Cross (31:34):
I see every once in a while, I think, the StarlinK satellites sometimes are visible?
Juan Vivas (31:38):
Yep.
Eric Cross (31:39):
Low orbit?
Juan Vivas (31:39):
Yeah. Yeah. You can go—they’ll kind of be like a little train of bright stars that move along together. Yep.
Eric Cross (31:46):
And that must—that must feel…I mean, we all have jobs and we’re all doing different things, but you’re working on a project and you’re engineering something that actually can provide a lot of opportunities or close a gap in some parts of the world where they don’t have access to internet. They’re gonna be able to have access and be connected all over. I dunno, the word would be “existential.” Existential value. Like, what you’re doing is actually providing a service for people. Humanity. Like, addressing a critical need in many, many places around the world.
Juan Vivas (32:26):
Yeah. We’ve had stories where we have sent Starlink kids to a small school in a village in rural Chile, right in South America. And for the first time ever, they’ve had internet. We have supported disaster relief in Europe. I think this past summer, Europe had really bad floods. We sent Starlink kits out there. You know, the vision of working at an Elon Musk company and SpaceX and Starlink—this is all stuff that is being done for the first time in history. We have never, ever done anything like this before until now. And to be able to provide those that don’t have the access to—to your point, it’s kind of wild, right? Like we, we just take it for granted. “Oh yeah, I just have internet. Let me log on.” There are people on Earth right now that have never been on the internet. Or don’t even know what the internet is. And that’s essentially the, the gap that Startlink is starting to close.
Eric Cross (33:26):
Yeah. We think about that while my students are doing TikTok dances. <Laugh> And there are people who, you know, never, never been connected. And, it kind of makes me more like, just inside, if I can ask: What’s it like working at SpaceX? I showed my students what it’s like working at some of the Silicon Valley companies. ‘Cause just to show them there’s slides and food and, you know, they kind developed this ecosystem inside so that it’s really kind of homey to kind of keep you there, you know. When you’re working and there’s bikes and things like that. And that’s a very Silicon Valley type of thing. But, you know, in listening to you talk about SpaceX and Elon, you know, you’re with a really visionary kind of company, and when I hear you talk about it, there’s I can hear this passion, this, “we’re doing something.” Is that culture, like, pervasive everywhere? Are you around folks that kind of are on that same wavelength? Because I definitely get it from you as you talk about what you do.
Juan Vivas (34:28):
Yeah, yeah. Definitely. I think, as an engineer, you know, going to SpaceX and working at SpaceX, it’s essentially—personally, I believe right now in the US it’s like the mecca of engineering, right? Like, it is where engineering in this most, you know, shape and manner, it’s being applied. I think what’s really interesting is that the way that Elon looks at it is just iterate, and iterate fast, right? Like, fail and fail fast. I think as an engineer, you always want to have things perfect, right? And so you spend a lot of time in making a decision or investigating something or whatever. And working at SpaceX is the complete opposite. It’s just you know, “Assume, state your assumptions—like, what are you assuming right now? What are the risk at it? And just make a decision and then see what the result is.” You know, so it’s an environment where you learn, really quick.
Eric Cross (35:28):
You said something that I think was powerful and I hope, I think <laugh>, this is definitely, I’m gonna get a clip of this <laugh> of you saying it. Because it speaks directly to, I think, what a lot of students struggle with in the classroom, is there’s this competition or feeling that you always need to be right. And you need to be right the first try, on the first time. And a lot of times it’s because students will compare themselves to each other, or there’s a tremendous amount of pressure to be successful. But you said, “Fail and fail fast, iterate, state your assumptions.” And it sounds like this critical part of being an engineer or in what you do, like there’s no room for ego or attaching your identity or your sense of value or worth or ability to whether you’re able to solve a problem in the first try.
Juan Vivas (36:13):
Yep.
Eric Cross (36:14):
Like, you have to be OK with the cycle, is kind of what I’m hearing from you. Is that, is that right?
Juan Vivas (36:19):
Yep. Exactly. It only took six months to develop the product from scratch and launch it to the public, which is insane. Nowhere in the world will any company ever iterate that fast and come up with a brand-new project. But it’s because of that mentality—like you’re saying, it’s not about like just trying to make it perfect and have all this information. And I think Elon has learned this personally, you know, through Tesla and the beginning of SpaceX. It’s, “I can wait to have all this information, and most likely I’m still gonna be wrong after I make the decision.” So it’s, “Might as well take the risk, do the decision, and then just see where you learn from it, right?” And then you keep applying that, applying that. So it’s like you iterate, iterate, iterate, iterate until you get what you want.
Eric Cross (37:00):
I think this is even, like, great advice. I’m taking this personally because I get paralysis by analysis <laugh>.
Juan Vivas (37:06):
Yep.
Eric Cross (37:07):
You know, I’ll research something to death but then not actually execute. Like, I need to make a decision and do it and then course-correct along the way. Somebody once told me it’s a lot easier to turn a moving car than it is a car that’s sitting still. And so as you’re kind of flowing, you’re just making these adjustments along the way until you end up on the path that you want to be. So I think that there’s so many gems in the things that you’re saying right now. What I’m thinking through the lens of my seventh graders that want to work in any STEM field—I mean, really, any field in general, but especially engineering, especially the STEM fields—knowing that, pick it, make a decision, move forward, and then course-correct along the way. That’s what science looks like in the real world.
Juan Vivas (37:49):
Yep. Exactly. Yep. And definitely most important—and I feel like this is sometimes where, not necessarily education in general, but it’s just, we want students to, “OK, you need to get it right the perfect time, right?” But it’s like, every student is gonna think differently. A student is gonna take a different assumption based on their background and experiences. And I mean, you know, we can go a lot deeper in that, but the way a student is shaped, they’re gonna take certain assumptions. So that’s where it gets interesting. OK, why are you assuming that? Where’s your thought process in this?
Eric Cross (38:25):
And we all come from different backgrounds and mindsets and filters and biases that cause us to look at something a certain way. And it’s not just like calling it out, just going, “Hey look, this is what it is.” Like autopsy without blame, this is what I’m working with. Let’s discuss it openly. Right? And if we started that process earlier, you know, younger, in classrooms, we can de-stigmatize the right answer being the best answer more, as opposed to focusing on process as opposed to outcome. And then you kinda get used to wanting to go through the process. I look at it like video games and I talk to my students. I say, “You know, you don’t pick up a video game that’s brand-new and then play it and then you die once and you’re ‘Ah, I’m never gonna play this game again.’ You know, it just doesn’t work that way. You’re going through this iterative process, and no matter what you play, you’re trying things differently. You’re data collecting. And then you’re making new decisions based on the data that you collected.” And for some of my kids, they’ll just raise their hands, say, “No, I just get mad and throw the controller across the room.” <Laugh> But I go, “Yeah, and then you’ll try it again.”
Juan Vivas (39:33):
The best way to know how not to do something is to fail. And so you already…I mean, what is that famous quote? I think that’s why Thomas Edison’s, “Oh, I, did not fail 99 times. Right? I only found 99 times…” I mean, that is that is true. And I feel like at work in a SpaceX, that is something that probably the core of it comes from there. It’s you know, any failure, quote unquote, that you may take it as a failure, it’s really not. You’re just “OK, we, we tried that. It didn’t work. Like what are we gonna do next?” So it’s just like taking that learning and like moving off with it quickly.
Eric Cross (40:09):
I heard a couple of teachers say, “Things fail: First Attempt In Learning: F A I L.” And then another teacher, one of my mentor teachers, she said, “There’s no such thing as failure, just data, in science.”
Juan Vivas (40:20):
Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. Exactly. Yep.
Eric Cross (40:23):
And so I’ve always taken that to heart. And I share that with my own students, just, “A ‘no,’ a lot of times, will tell you more information than a ‘yes.’” ‘Cause if something works in the first try, you may not exactly know why it worked. It just did.
Juan Vivas (40:34):
Yeah. Yep.
Eric Cross (40:37):
So yeah. Well, I went on your time, brother. Dude. <laugh>. The time flew. It was…
Juan Vivas (40:46):
Yeah.
Eric Cross (40:47):
There were so many things I was trying to write out as you were talking, that I just felt like, “This guy is sharing so many gems!” But yeah, I want to thank you for taking time outta your day and for sharing that information for your passion for what you do. And, I don’t know, I think that students and teachers that listen to this will get an insight from a perspective that really matters. ‘Cause ultimately we’re, we’re trying to really prepare our students for real life. Maybe I’ll email you privately if I order a Tesla, if you can move me higher up the Cybertruck line. <laugh>
Juan Vivas (41:22):
Yeah. No promises.
Eric Cross (41:24):
<laugh>
Juan Vivas (41:25):
Yeah. No, I appreciate you guys having me, having me here, and be able to speak on my experience. And hopefully it sparks a couple, one, even if it’s just one teacher that will spark another student, that is already success there. So.
Eric Cross (41:42):
Well I know, I know what you said resonates with me and it fills my cup. And I’m excited. So I’m already thinking of some ideas of things that I can do, just because of this conversation, and I know other people will as well. And, again, this is Juan Vivas, who’s a supply development engineer at SpaceX. He’s worked at some amazing places. And someone who believes deeply in not only the power of the technical skills, but the heart skills, and how community makes a huge impact in his life. It made a huge impact in him ultimately becoming a scientist, and now working on a project at SpaceX, Starlink, that is going to provide access to the world, to the web. And that’ll ultimately help us solve more problems and innovate and create some solutions that will benefit everybody. Thank you, sir. Appreciate you.
Juan Vivas (42:30):
Yeah, thank you. Thank you so much, Eric. Appreciate it.
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Meet the guest
Juan Vivas is a chemical engineer currently working as a Supplier Development Engineer at SpaceX. Juan got his start at the University of Florida, where he led the Society of Hispanic Engineers (SHPE) as vice president. He’s worked for companies like Clorox, Dow Chemical, and General Mills. Juan lives in Los Angeles, California with his wife and two dogs.
About Science Connections: The podcast
Welcome to Science Connections: The Podcast! Science is changing before our eyes, now more than ever. So…how do we help kids figure that out? We will bring on educators, scientists, and more to discuss the importance of high-quality science instruction. In this episode, hear from our host Eric Cross about his work engaging students as a K-8 science teacher.
S1-02: Community and joy within K–8 science instruction: Desiré Whitmore
In this episode, we join Eric Cross as he sits down with physicist and science education specialist, Desiré Whitmore. Listen in as Desiré explains her work at the Exploratorium, a public learning laboratory. Eric and Desiré discuss finding passion in science, the importance of meeting students we’re they’re at, and K–8 science instruction with real-life connections. Desiré chats with Eric about her work on supporting the science of teaching science content at the Exploratorium museum.
Explore more from Science Connections by visiting our main page.
Desiré Whitmore (00:00):
I think it’s really amazing when we can realize as teachers, like, no, our job is not to just enforce rules on our students, right? Our job is to help students to achieve more learning.
Eric Cross (00:37):
Welcome to Science Connections. I’m your host, Eric Cross. My guest today is Desiré Whitmore. Desiré has held positions as a science curriculum specialist with Amplify Science, a professor of laser and photonics technology at Irvine Valley College, and is now the senior physics educator in the Teacher Institute at the Exploratorium in San Francisco. Her current work is focused on providing support and professional development to middle and high school science teachers to help them teach through inquiry. In this episode, we discussed Desiré’s pathway into physics, the impact of educators in her life, and the importance of representation for students in the classroom. I’m so excited for you to meet my physicist friend, Dr. Desiré Whitmore. All right. So just like a superhero, STEM superhero, you have an origin story and so—
Desiré Whitmore (01:36):
How long is this podcast gonna be? ‘Cause, you know, I can talk for days, so you—
Eric Cross (01:40):
I know, I know! But it’s, it’s…so, OK. We can give us a highlight. So, you know, 30 minutes. But what would be the origin story? You can start from any point in time, but what’s that journey like?
Desiré Whitmore (01:51):
I’m gonna start at the beginning, when I was really young, just because I think it’s important. Neither of my parents were college-educated. My mother didn’t finish high school. My father went back and got a GED later. But my father’s grandmother, her name was Claudia Pairs, and she was a teacher, right? So when I was a kid, she actually kind of raised me from, I don’t know, until I was around seven or eight. And so she was very important in who I became, I think because she taught me that college is important and she taught me to think. She taught me to ask questions. She taught me how to ask questions. Just the Exploratorium likes to do. Which is why I fit so well here. She taught me to always wonder and always think about things. And I remember as a kid, she taught me to count and read and write when I was, like, three. And she would always have bubbles at her house. And I was obsessed with bubbles. I thought bubbles were the coolest thing in the world. And just how you can take your breath and create this thing that now you can see, and it’s your breath, right? It’s your breath inside of a bubble and it’s flying around and it has all these cool colors, and then it would fly up and then eventually just pop. And you’re like, where did it go? Now my breath is just up there. Not understanding, as a kid, but my breath is always everywhere. I didn’t understand any of that, but I understood that my breath was inside of a bubble. That’s my earliest memory of thinking about science, was from that. And she was not a science teacher. She was—I don’t even know what she taught. I think she was an elementary school teacher, maybe. She died when I was 12. So I don’t have super-strong memories or of understanding who she was, only that she raised me and what she taught me as a kid. But that in itself really helped me because then when I was in the environment that I was in at home with my parents, which was not at all the environment she provided for me, I always had the things she taught me in my head, right? So I was always asking questions. My mother hated it. I was always taking things apart and putting them back together. So I used to take apart TVs and VCRs and vacuum cleaners and telephones, and my mother’s like, “Oh my God, I’m gonna murder you.” And she tried a couple times, too.
Eric Cross (04:25):
Did you ever put ’em back together and realize you had extra parts? You’re like, oh, hi.
Desiré Whitmore (04:29):
Oh yeah. All the time. Yeah. Yeah. VCRs have a lot of extra pieces. You’re like, “What do you even…it still works. It’s fine.” <laugh> You know? And vacuum cleaners too. They had a lot of extra parts, <laugh> all the time. And TVs. I should not have been playing with TVs. But like I said, I didn’t have a lot of parental, guidance as a child. So, like, whatever—I’m opening up TVs.
Eric Cross (04:54):
There’s a lot of open inquiry going on in your household. Yeah. Unsupervised.
Desiré Whitmore (04:59):
Unsupervised. But I didn’t know what it was or what it meant as a kid. I mean, I used to put things in the microwave. I did so many microwave experiments as a child, trying to cook different foods or melt different things. And so I think those kinds of experiences, where I was allowed to just be curious, kind of shaped who I am today. And then I kind of got into…you know, when I was in school, I loved math. In 10th grade, I had my first Black teacher, he was my chemistry teacher. His name was Mr. Strickland. And I was like, chemistry is cool, dude. And he was not the best teacher, but he was fun. Like you were saying, he was me, and he was talking to us the way I speak. And he was so like, just kind of chill and happy-go-lucky, I guess. But he wasn’t…he hadn’t taught chemistry in a long time. So he wasn’t a very good teacher. And me and one other kid in the class were in love with chemistry. And so we would read the book and do all the homework and he’d be in class lecturing and we’re like, “That’s not right, Mr. Strickland, like, what are you talking about?” And then he’d be like, “Oh, really, Desiré? Do you wanna teach the class, then?” And I’d be like, “Yeah.” And so I would go up and I would teach my chemistry class in high school, because the teacher was trying to make an example out of me. But he was also, I think, willing to be like, “I really don’t know.” And I really appreciated that. That he wasn’t just like, “I know all of the answers and you’re wrong.” Like, he wasn’t being a jerk, right? Like, the fact that I said, “Yes, I do wanna teach it,” and he actually let me do it? That’s pretty dope. And then I liked physics in my senior year in high school, but I didn’t think it was where I was gonna go or anything. I loved music and I loved math. Those were my two subjects.
Eric Cross (06:51):
What was it about math that resonated with you?
Desiré Whitmore (06:55):
I think it helped me understand the world a lot better. I didn’t have strong science teachers, I guess, growing up. It was a lot of reading out of books or watching laser discs in class. That’s how old I am.
Eric Cross (07:12):
Laser discs.
Desiré Whitmore (07:13):
Laser discs. And you know, so there wasn’t a lot of…I moved around a lot as a kid. I didn’t have this straight curriculum. You know, in one year, in the third grade, I went to three different schools.
Eric Cross (07:25):
Mm. Oh wow.
Desiré Whitmore (07:26):
It was kinda hard for me to latch onto school. But with math, because I could look at math and actually understand the world in it, I could see how math can be used to describe how things work.
Eric Cross (07:40):
I almost imagine, especially with so much transition in your life, it helped make sense of things. You had a lot of transition going on, but you were able to understand the world through the process of math. And then this early exposure, it kind of reminds me my own story too. Because there were these books that would do these cross sections of a cruise ship or a machine; that’s what got me really into engineering. Kind of How Stuff Works. I would watch that on Nova, How Stuff Works. I’d always be fascinated. Even Sesame Street had a segment where they would show you crayons and how the dye was added. You remember that?
Desiré Whitmore (08:19):
Yep. Yeah.
Eric Cross (08:20):
Young Desiré, doing photronics…photronics?
Desiré Whitmore (08:24):
Photonics.
Eric Cross (08:24):
Photonics. Photonics at home with the microwave and all these other things.
Desiré Whitmore (08:29):
Sure. How ’bout that.
Eric Cross (08:30):
<laugh> Right. And then loving math. So, early, I could see this combination, sort of this alchemy, happening inside you. And then, how did that lead to you becoming a physicist?
Desiré Whitmore (08:46):
It’s not as straightforward as it seems it should be. It’s obvious to everyone. <laugh>. But it wasn’t obvious to me. ‘Cause I wanted to be a lawyer. You know, because my parents weren’t educated, they didn’t really know…both of my parents and their subsequent spouses when they broke up—so my parents and my stepparents—are all bus drivers. And so they don’t know what options are. Right? So for them it’s like, “You have to be—you can be a doctor. You can be a lawyer. ‘Cause you’re smart. I know you’re smart, so you’re gonna be one of those things.” And I was like, “I don’t wanna be a doctor. That’s not actually interesting to me.” I did wanna be a teacher when I was younger, because I knew that my grandmother was one. But yeah, I went in and I was like, “I’m gonna be a lawyer. I’m gonna be a lawyer.” And then I go to college and I was like, ‘Eh, I don’t. I hate writing.” <Laugh> Like, I love reading, but I don’t writing. So I don’t think I wanna be a lawyer. I love music and I love math. I was originally going to major in music and math, but then I went to community college because I missed my opportunity to go to university for…long story. And so I’m at community college and I was like, “You know what? I’m gonna just do something new. I’m gonna be a marine biologist.” So my major was marine biology, and then they’re helping me pick out my classes. And they had zero math there. And I was like, “Pardon me. I think there’s a mistake, but I’m not taking any math.” And they were like, “No, you’re done with all your math. For marine biology, you only need calculus. And you took all of that in high school, so you’re done.” And I was like, “No, this is not gonna work for me, dude.” So I continued taking calculus anyway and moving on in math. And then I realized that biology wasn’t what I needed, but I did love my chemistry and I loved my physics classes. So I asked those teachers—chemistry, physics, and math teachers in community college, my professors—”I don’t wanna be a marine biologist and I don’t wanna be a lawyer. What do I do? What do you think I could study? I really like chemistry and math and physics.” And so all of them, all three of these professors told me, “Oh, it sounds chemical engineering would be good for you, so you should be a chemical engineer.” And I was like, “OK, cool. No problem.” That’s what I did. So I got my degree in chemical engineering. Right. And I finished community college, studying chemical engineering. I was like, “This is really cool. This is a lot of fun. I love engineering.” And then I transferred to UCLA as a chemical engineering major. And I was like, “I hate this.” <Laugh>. “I hate it a lot.” It was just…
Eric Cross (11:07):
What was it about chemical engineering that you were just not feeling anymore? What was it that just made you go, “nope”?
Desiré Whitmore (11:12):
It didn’t—at least the way it was taught to me—it wasn’t as as…exploratory, I guess. There wasn’t a lot of theory in it. There was just a lot of “OK, pull out a ruler and you’re gonna draw a thing and then this is how you’re gonna build a reactor.” And it didn’t seem very scientific to me. The science was missing. And don’t get me wrong, I understand, now that I have a degree in chemical engineering, that it’s not that chemical engineering is not scientific. But it’s that you build up the science and then you don’t focus on it. You focus on the engineering aspect of it. Which is, you have the science and the scientists will work on that aspect. But then how can WE do kind of larger batch chemistry. And for me, that was just less interesting. It was a lot of pushing buttons and just plug-and-play equations stuff. Instead of diving into first principles of why things happen in chemical engineering. There was no “why things happen”; it was “this is what happens, so this is the next step.”
Eric Cross (12:25):
You had to go so far into your academic career to realize that this is what chemical engineering is. And we were talking about representation, and not having examples or parents; your families were bus drivers. My mom was a receptionist and executive assistant, things like that. And I was the first of many, like you…we kind of had to go through and invest all this time and money to finally get to this place to realize, “This ain’t it.”
Desiré Whitmore (12:58):
This is not for me, yeah.
Eric Cross (12:59):
This is not for me. That was a long journey to get to that point.
Desiré Whitmore (13:03):
It was. Especially because I went through community college and I took a long time in community college, ’cause I was working full-time. So I was working full-time, going to community college. Took me a while. And then I finally get to UCLA. I’m like, “Yeah, I’m finally gonna get my degree and go make money!” And then I was like, “Ooh, no.” I mean, I could go and make money, don’t get me wrong. I could have graduated and made a ton of money. But I was not happy at all and I did not enjoy what I was doing. So, while I was in undergrad, I realized I don’t wanna do chemical engineering anymore. But what do I wanna do? But then I was taking…I took a quantum mechanics class. And that class blew my whole mind. And I was like, “This is the coolest thing that I’ve ever learned in my life, and this is what I wanna do.” And so I went and talked to my professor and I was like, “Can I work for you? Can I do research? Because this is amazing and I wanna do this.” I felt it was too late for me. I had been in school for so long and I was already kind of burnt out. So I was, “I’m not going to change my major. That’s just outta the question for me right now. It costs so much money for this degree and I don’t have—I’m not just gonna waste my time and keep working all these jobs.” So I had three jobs in college. And it was like, I worked at Radio Shack, I did research for this professor, and I worked in the library, the chemistry and physics library.
Eric Cross (14:28):
I love the fact that we’ve talked about laser discs; you said Radio Shack; and we talked about the analog internet of the encyclopedia salespeople. And I know all of those things. And I’ve been through all of those things together.
Desiré Whitmore (14:43):
Just in case people don’t know how old I am. <Laugh>
Eric Cross (14:47):
For our listeners who are way younger, yeah, this is how we grew up. This is how we—these things are extinct now. There’s this element of this kind of cultural connection. I think that we experience that. It kind of it flies under the radar. People don’t really realize it until you’re in an environment that’s different from what you’re used to. And you realize that, “Oh wow. this is not what I’m used to.” And the things that I’m finding funnier, the things that I connect with, it’s not what everybody else connects with. And as a teacher, it’s the same thing, right? Like, we go in the classroom and you know, you and I are rapping about laser discs and Radio Shack and I’m trying to talk to my kids about it. And they’re like, “Yo, Cross, what is that? Are you gonna give us a history lesson? What are these things?”
Desiré Whitmore (15:35):
Yeah.
Eric Cross (15:36):
And I found myself having to stay connected to pop culture, because I teach 12- and 13-year-olds all day. And it’s great for keeping things relevant for my students. But when I talk to my friends that are my peers, they’re like, unless they’re a teacher, they’re like, “I got no idea what you’re talking about.”
Desiré Whitmore (15:55):
Yeah. I have a friend who’s also a middle-school teacher and she’s always coming to me with all this. I’m like, “What are you talking about?” She did the Glow-up Challenge, but she did the Glow-down Challenge. So she invented a new thing. She’s like, “No, I couldn’t do Glow Up ’cause that’s too much. So I did the Glow-Down Challenge.” And it’s the cutest thing ever. And the students think it’s amazing. And I’m like, “That’s awesome. But I have no idea what the point of that is.” <Laugh>
Eric Cross (16:21):
And there’s this theme, too, that when we talk about teaching kids STEM, there’s this soft part of it, this relational piece of it that you mentioned, of this connective aspect that in a certain way kind of even superseded the content knowledge that your teacher even had at that point, where you’re going up and teaching the class. But just the fact that someone looked like you or spoke like you or connected with you in a certain way made a big difference to who you are as…well, the trajectory of where you went.
Desiré Whitmore (16:57):
Yeah.
Eric Cross (16:57):
“I like chemistry. It resonates with me.” And it’s something I think can get lost. And I think just to kind of a good segue, I use Amplify my classroom, and one of the reasons why is because of the representation that is in these videos. And you were part of crafting this for…was it the fifth grade?
Desiré Whitmore (17:21):
I mean, it was K–8. So I was—
Eric Cross (17:23):
OK, so you were doing the whole thing.
Desiré Whitmore (17:24):
Yeah, I was a part of the K–8 science team. My title was science curriculum specialist. But in reality I was hired to do the engineering internships, mostly. Which are middle school. And to be a sim developer. So sims K–8. I worked on several of them in both middle school and elementary. Yeah.
Eric Cross (17:47):
What was that like for you? When you were designing curriculum? ‘Cause as a teacher, it’s, you know, I think with teachers it’s kind of…I would consider myself, if I was gonna use hip hop as a metaphor, I’m more of a DJ than an MC. Where I wanna remix things that exist, versus, I don’t wanna write the lyrics in freestyle. So I don’t want to go and write the curriculum completely; I wanna take something that’s solid and then I want to go ahead and remix it. You are great at both. What was the process for you, being on that team, designing? How did you go about making, “OK, we’re gonna create this experience for kids”?
Desiré Whitmore (18:25):
It was, it was amazing. I learned so much, so much. It was the best job I had before I came to the Exploratorium. The process was amazing, because it wasn’t just me, right? It wasn’t just me. It was a whole team. And each unit had its own team. So we had a scientist, which I was the scientist we had. So we had a scientist; we had a literacy specialist, because it was really important to increase science literacy so that students understand not just that science exists, but “What are the terms that are used in science and how can I speak and act a scientist? What are the things that scientists actually do in their real life?” Then we had an assessment specialist and then we had a simulation specialist. And so, on the units that I was on, sometimes I was both the sim developer and the scientist, or sometimes I was just the sim developer and I got to work alongside another scientist, which was always fun. And so it was really nice, because I was working alongside master teachers. People who had been teaching for years, and they were able to help me better understand. ‘Cause I’ll come in and I’ll be like, “Yeah, there’s a unit on light waves, let’s come in and teach this unit on light waves!” <laugh> I was the sim developer and scientist on that unit, and there was another scientist working on the unit, but they were like, “Well, Desiré literally builds lasers, so I think she should be the science developer.” So we kinda had two science developers on that one, which was fun. But I come in and she’ll come in and she’ll be like, “Yeah, I think this is where we wanna go and this is what we wanna teach.” I’m like, “No way! Like, that’s not accurate, right?” And so I can come in, but then I’m coming in with all this crazy lingo, right? I’m up here. But then also I have taught kids about lasers and optics and photonics my whole career. So I’m also very capable of bringing it down to where kids need it to be. What I don’t know is how effective that is, right? When to do it and when not to do it. When to bring the level up; when to bring the level down. And so working alongside these other teachers and assessors really helped me to do that. And so for me it was just two years of deep learning experience. I learned—every single day at work, I learned something new. Which is something that I value and I’ve wanted in my career, my whole life. We made active decisions in that room. Like, “We want to interview scientists who are scientists of color or who have different abilities or who have different representations in all kinds of ways.” Right? And then we also have these fake internships, or not even the internships, but just in the general units. And we actively wrote scripts for those. And we actively wrote in those scripts, like, “This is a Black woman. This is an Indian woman. This is a Jewish man in a wheelchair.” Like, we specifically dictated exactly who we wanted in these videos, because we knew that representation was super-important and we knew that we wanted students to be able to connect.
Eric Cross (21:35):
Right. One of the things, I appreciate what I’m hearing a lot in that is the amount of intentionality that went into this. But even now as you’re reliving it, you’re still almost iterating on how could we improve it or how can we make it different or reach more people. And I think that goes towards when we’re talking about including more people and inclusion. Like, it’s not a binary thing. You’re always modifying; you’re always iterating; you’re always redesigning and improving to be more inclusive, to reach more students. Because you know, to your point, part of it is, “Yes, we wanna do this really awesome science curriculum,” but the other part of it is there’s more to it than just your content. And I think now more than ever…I use—we just finished the food bar unit. Metabolism. And in there there’s a simulator. They always ask me when I show the videos, “Are these, are these real people? Are these real situations?” And I tell ’em, “Well, the story is real, but these are all fictional actors. But what’s actually happening happens. It’s real.” And they get really into it. And I think one of the other things is with your simulations—especially the engineering units—there’s no one right answer. And so my students who want to go, “Mr. Cross, I wanna make the best bar! Perfect 10, best taste, cheapest!” And I’m like, “All right, good luck!”
Desiré Whitmore (23:06):
Yeah. Go do that.
Eric Cross (23:09):
Casue there’s something called trade-offs! It could happen! And they’re like, they’re trying. They get into the code. They try to open up the Inspect Element, when they feel like hackers.
Desiré Whitmore (23:17):
Yeah, they do. But these kids like, they’re so smart and they’re so resourceful. And I’m just thinking like, maybe that’s how we challenge them more, right? Sometimes we can give them these kinds of things where it’s like, “Go and create a program, ’cause that’s the level you’re at <laugh>. Go and create this program to do something similar that’s related to the work that we’re doing.”
Eric Cross (23:38):
I’ve had some of my own students redesign—I have one student who redesigns every assessment I give him. I give the project; I give the options for the final goal; and he always chooses—if I give three options, he always chooses option four. If I choose two options, he’s choosing option three. And so he’ll go into Google Sheets, he’ll pull all the data and then he’ll construct his own kind of spreadsheet with all the probabilities of different things.
Desiré Whitmore (24:06):
You tell this kid to make a GitHub right now <laugh> so that he can get a job as soon as he’s done with high school. <laugh>.
Eric Cross (24:12):
He’s amazing. And we did this one project where students had to design a Netflix show to show their understanding of metabolism. And they had to do four episodes. So I gave him a template. It’s not from me; it’s from, I think, EdTechPicks.org or something. And it looks like the whole Netflix splash page. They took photos, did the whole deal. He created NOTflix. Everyone else did Google Slides. His Google Slides was interactive. So when you clicked on different boxes, it actually took you to the next splash page of that show. I mean, it was….
Desiré Whitmore (24:48):
That’s fantastic.
Eric Cross (24:49):
It was, it was. I recorded his presentation. It was brilliant.
Desiré Whitmore (24:53):
But that’s amazing. And that speaks to your strengths as a teacher and why you’re an amazing teacher. Because you see the students and what they’re trying to do and you work with them; you meet them where they are. Right? There are so many teachers who would just be frustrated with that student. And it’d be like, “No, these are not your options. Your option was to do what I told you to do.” And there are many teachers who would do that. And I think it’s really amazing when we can realize as teachers, “No, our job is not to just enforce rules on our students. I mean, that is part of the job, because that’s what school was when it was created. But our job is to help students to achieve more learning in what we’re trying to do. And so the fact that you are so good with this student and that you encourage him to go above and beyond when he can, I think it’s so amazing.
Eric Cross (25:49):
Well, that brings me to my favorite group, organization, and the phase of your career of where you are now: The Exploratorium. And I wanted to kind of rap, talking about what you do now. Because the Exploratorium—I tell people, they go, what is that place? And maybe you can tell us what it is and then what you do. But for me, I’ll just tell everybody: It’s Disneyland for science teachers. And I love going there. I not only love going there because of what I receive from it professionally. Many of the PDs, I don’t even call ’em PDs—just communal learning experiences, that I’ve had that have been led by you and Lori and, and Tammy and the rest, and everybody that’s there have been incredible. And I have so much fun. Emotionally, I get excited when I go. When I’m on the plane, I’m like, “Here we go!” And then we go and we’re making fudge or we’re blowing darts with marshmallows across the room in the theme of Boba Fett. There’s just these rad things that are going on there. And it’s not like anything I’ve ever experienced before. So maybe we can close with talking about what the Exploratorium is, what you do there, for people who’ve never been and have been a part of it.
Desiré Whitmore (27:19):
I’m gonna give you what my definition of the Exploratorium is.
Eric Cross (27:21):
That’s what we want.
Desiré Whitmore (27:22):
So, the actual definition is, we are a public learning laboratory. We are known as the Museum of Art, Science and Human Perception. Cool. But, like, what does that all mean? Right? And I think your description of the Disneyland for science teachers, I think that’s a perfect description. ‘Cause for me, I tell people like, “Oh, I wanna go to the happiest place on earth.” And for me, that is the Exploratorium. And yes, I work there, and yes, it’s still true for me. So the Exploratorium is this huge museum. It’s an interactive science museum. And art—we have a lot of art. And it’s all about learning through doing. It’s not about learning science by going up to an exhibit and reading the little paper next to it. It’s like, no, you go up to an exhibit and you interact with it and you teach yourself science. The goal of the Exploratorium is really to help people understand that learning science, doing science, isn’t reserved for only scientists. Doing science is something that everyone in the world should and does do. And so helping people understand that everything we do is science is kind of the point of the Exploratorium to me.
Eric Cross (28:35):
Even the building itself…one of the other cool things too is, for people that don’t know, it’s the size of Costco or two.
Desiré Whitmore (28:43):
Yeah. Yeah.
Eric Cross (28:44):
It’s immense! And even the building itself teaches. Like, you have that whole workshop, dead-center in the middle of the floor where they’re designing things. It’s like inside-out. And then I remember going to the one experience where I think it was Eric who showed us that it’s one of the few facilities that is actually cooled by the Bay water. And there’s only a couple of those in the state that can do that. And it has a platinum rating, something wild that. So even just the building itself…everything that if they can extract every ounce of science teaching in that, it’s in there. And you are in a very important program for me. And can you talk a little bit about maybe what you’re doing in T.I.?
Desiré Whitmore (29:33):
So I am in the Teacher Institute. I’m a physicist in the Teacher Institute. And the Teacher Institute is a group of teachers and scientists. And our job is to basically support middle school and high school science teachers and teacher leaders in the state of California, but science teachers around the world, in their pursuit of science teaching. And by support, I mean we provide professional development. We provide other things, communities of practice, and we go and do workshops in certain places. We go to India to teach Tibetan monks and nuns science. And we go to Costa Rica to teach teachers all over the country of Costa Rica about science. And so our job is really, to help science teachers feel more secure in their science teaching and help to retain them in the field, because a good science teacher is so important in helping our students thrive. And so our job—and we take this very seriously—is to help science teachers thrive. And we are made up of PhD scientists and veteran classroom teachers. So we have on the one side teachers who have been teaching middle school or high school for years. One of my coworkers, Zeke, who I work with the most, he was a high school physics and environmental science teacher for 21 years before coming to the Exploratorium. And then me, I was never a classroom teacher. I was a professor; I was a physics professor at a community college, and I was a researcher. So my deep knowledge of physics and current knowledge of physics—or knowledge of current physics—combined with Zeke’s extremely experienced pedagogy is really how we work together as a team. And it’s not just Zeke, right? We’ve got a geologist on the team, Eric Muller. We’ve got Tammy, who’s a middle-school bio teacher. We’ve got, Julie Yu, who is a chemical engineer, PhD, and also a prior middle school teacher, former middle school teacher. We’ve got Hilleary Osheroff, who was a PhD biologist who used to work at the American Museum of Natural History. We’ve got Lori Lambertson, who was a middle-school math teacher. And so, you know, we all come together to bring our experiences both in and out of the classroom and in and out of the research lab to provide teachers with the best inquiry-driven stuff we can. And we’re very—we’re so equity-focused, because we believe that that’s important, right? We know that the impact of our work is, I think, why most of us are here. It’s why I’m here. In undergrad, my grad school, and my postdoc, I would go into classrooms. I would go into science museums and teach science to people. And I probably reached out to maybe…over that whole time, I would say a couple thousand people, right? Maybe a couple thousand people total. That’s great. But over 15 years of reaching out and only reaching a couple thousand people, that’s rough, right? And now I’m at the Exploratorium, and I know that if I reach one teacher, right? If I can teach one teacher…let’s say you. How many students do you have in your classes a year?
Eric Cross (33:11):
Two hundred a year.
Desiré Whitmore (33:12):
You have 200 students a year that you teach. So if you teach for 10 years, that’s 2000. That’s 2000 students. So I have, by teaching you today, assuming that I’m actually teaching you something that’s gonna be useful for you—
Eric Cross (33:29):
You do! And you are!
Desiré Whitmore (33:30):
You are going to be impacting these 2000 students over the next 10 years. And of course you’re gonna be in teaching for much longer than that. But let’s just say in 10 years, that payoff is so much higher, right? And you’re one teacher. But I have 30 of you in my workshop! And so if all of these 30 teachers each teach 2000 kids over the next 10 years, then I’m actually doing something. I’m actually changing the way that students see science, through changing the way that you see science. Right? And so I take my job very seriously, as we all do. Like, we’re so invested in our teachers. And it’s not that we don’t care about students, ’cause we absolutely do. But we understand that without good teachers, students aren’t going to be able to thrive, as often as they would otherwise. I was able to do it somehow. But I’m one. There are so many other kids who could have gone into science who didn’t because they felt they never connected to it. So our job is to try to help teachers connect to it. And an important part of that is allowing you all to experience science as a learner. We want you to play and have joyful experiences. We want you to enjoy science and to try to think about it from the perspective of your students. Walk in their shoes. So that when you then go back to your classroom, you are able to think about like, “Oh yeah, you know, my students totally asked the same question that I asked, or that another teacher asked in the workshop because they had the foresight to think about that’s what my students would ask.” Right?
Eric Cross (35:02):
Well, I think it’s really effective to create empathy for the learner. Because I find myself in that position. I don’t know if some kind of memory displacement field happens to me when I sit in those workshops, but Hillary will ask a question that I know the answer to and I’m like, “I don’t want to answer the question. I don’t—I might be wrong.” And I teach the subject! And I embody what it’s like to be a student. And when I leave, I might have to go back and reference exactly what the lesson was, but I remember how I felt when I didn’t know. And very rarely as teachers do we get put in positions like that. And so it helps me be in the position of my students emotionally, of what it’s like. Even even the intentionality of how do you ask questions and not showing an affect on your face when somebody says the right answer or the wrong answer.
Desiré Whitmore (35:55):
Well, I’m still learning that. I’m not great at it. Julie is the mast.
Eric Cross (35:59):
Julie’s got it nailed.
Desiré Whitmore (36:00):
I’m still trying to learn from her. She’s amazing. And I really would like to get there one day. But I’m still not there. I’ll be like, “Oh! Oh! Well, that’s…”. I have a terrible poker face. So I’ll be like, “Oh yeah, but you think that? Maybe…”. That’s a piece of it that’s really important, right? It’s this not giving away the answer, even when you have the right answer. Allowing people to ask the questions and explore and become invested in the problem, before giving away the answer. That’s something that I learn here at the Exploratorium. And like I said, I learn every day. And it’s something that I think is so important for us as teachers to learn and try to implement. Because oftentimes you’ll come and you’ll have students who are like, “I’m too stupid. I don’t know the answer.” And then somebody else will say the answer, and then the student is like, “Yeah, I was right. I’m too stupid.’” But it’s like no! But if you have that student actually think about it, then the student—once they do hear the right answer—they might be like, “Oh yeah, that would make sense.” Instead of “I’m stupid.” It’s like, no, this is, “I explored this and I figured it out on my own.”
Eric Cross (37:08):
Things keep coming back to how this experience and the process of them learning science even outweighs the content of it. ‘Cause the content is almost easier to share, it’s easier to get, you can look it up really quickly. But in your story and in many other people’s stories, the exposure, the experience, how they’re going through that process—I know that’s something that I’ve learned a lot in just watching. Not teaching science, but actually the science of teaching. Sitting in the workshops and watching how we’re treated as students, how you interact with us, and then being able to take that back to the classroom. And just to add onto the value that it’s created, I think one thing that it’s also done is given us community. And in addition to being able to impact students, it’s also been able to build resilience in teachers. Because we as teachers can feel very isolated. And especially now when things are incredibly difficult, and every teacher’s experiencing Covid and shutdowns and low staffing across the country in different ways, when you don’t feel you have community or people that you can connect with, it just makes everything feel exponentially harder. And you’ve done a great job at being able to build community with us in our community of practice. The Exploratorium has been able to do that. And it’s something that I’m super-grateful for probably more than anything else is that through these last two years, being able to connect really made me feel like, “OK, we’re gonna be able to do this.” And it’s not just about Cross or my other teacher in eighth grade or my sixth grade teacher who’s doing this. That message, I think, is really, really important. I wanna ask this: Was there a teacher or an experience that impacted you or inspired you throughout your educational career? You know, kindergarten all the way to college? Was there a moment or a person or anything that that really stuck with you, that you felt maybe influenced who you became? Met you where you were at? I know you mentioned your chemistry teacher at that point, but is there anyone else, or was it that person that was really the person who sticks out for you?
Desiré Whitmore (39:21):
There actually have been a few. Of course, the first is my great-grandmother, Claudia Pairs. But I think in the fourth and fifth grade I had the same teacher. She stayed with us going from fourth to fifth grade. And fourth grade was a new school for me. New town. I was the only Black child in the school, me and my sister. And my teacher recognized that I had no real help at home, I guess? And she really kind of…she saw that I was really smart. She would give me extra assignments when she could tell I was bored. It meant that someone outside of my house cared about me in a way that I didn’t feel cared about at home. Her name is Ms. Comet. Mrs. Comet.
Eric Cross (40:11):
Like…comet?
Desiré Whitmore (40:13):
Yeah. Mrs. Fran Comet. And I’ve tried looking her up as an adult and I can’t find her. But I work with so many teachers, and I know how hard teaching is and how degrading it can be…or demoralizing, I guess, to not be appreciated. And so I know what it feels to me when a student has reached out and shown me like, “Hey, I’m now in dental school,” or “I’m now getting a PhD in science,” and I’m just like….
Eric Cross (40:40):
I got a message this morning on Instagram from a student. And none of my students use their real names in their Instagram handles. So I got a message from Moonshine. <Laugh> And I was a seventh grade teacher. And through deduction, deductive reasoning, I figured out who it was. This person’s now in college and they responded in that…you know, you get one of those every once in a while. And I feel it just fills your tank. It’s just so important that we—it’s funny because, kind of to your point, we don’t realize who or how we’re making impacts on people. And in what ways. We just know that we are. And I tell other teachers, I said, “You have one of the few professions where you fall asleep worrying about other people’s kids.” And it’s the words that we speak, the things that we do, people are always watching. I know, no pressure, right!? Hopefully, someone listening can find Ms. Comet.
Desiré Whitmore (41:37):
Ms. Comet. Teacher at Buena Vista Elementary School back in the ’80s. But your talk about this impact, it reminds me of the thing I wanted to say, but I didn’t. But I’m gonna tell you right now. I mentioned how science was not a priority when I went to school, in my hometown. That’s Lancaster, California. But recently I got a phone call from a family friend and she was so excited. And she called me to tell me that her daughter was super-excited when she picked her up from school. Because I was in her classroom. She said, “Auntie Desiré was in my class today! And she works on lasers! And she does spectroscopy! And I wanna learn about spectroscopy now. So can we call Auntie Desiré?” And I was like, “Wait, what?” My friend was kind of confused. She’s like, “Desiré didn’t tell me she was in town.” She had no idea why her daughter was saying I was in her classroom, ’cause I was not physically there. And then I had to put the pieces together and I was like, “Oh my God, your daughter’s in eighth grade already.” It made me feel really old, ’cause I know this girl from a little baby. But I was like, “Oh my God, that’s the eighth grade unit on light waves for Amplify that I wrote, and I’m featured as the scientist.” Because we have real scientists in the units. And they featured me in that one, in my laser lab. And so this little girl who knows me really well, who lives in my hometown, is seeing representation in science. She doesn’t necessarily know I’m a scientist. She knows that—I don’t know what she knows about me. She just knows I’m Auntie Desiré and, you know, I like gumbo at Christmas. That’s what she knows about me. <Laugh>. And so she comes back and she’s so excited ’cause now she knows so much more about me. And she knows that if I can do it and I came from where she’s at, she can do it too. And she was super-excited. And I was just…it brought me to tears. I was just crying in the car. I was driving <laugh> at the time and I was like, “This is amazing. Work that I did is teaching you and all of your friends in this tiny little town that you live in. And that to me is so important because now this little girl knows that, like, she knows me as just a normal human right. Who likes Star Trek and Star Wars and The Owl House. And now she’s over here like, “Oh my gosh, this normal human wrote the science curriculum that I’m learning from.” Which I think is just so fantastic. And it really brought home for me kind of the importance of my work and why I’m doing what I’m doing. And that’s pretty awesome. And I get messages from Instagram, you know, from teachers who are like, “Hey, did you work on this? ‘Cause you were featured in the video, but did you write this light waves unit?” And I’m like, “Yeah.” And they’ll tell me, “I have students, this is their favorite unit. I’ve gotten notes from students saying, ‘This was my favorite unit in all of middle school.’” And I’m like, “Ohhhhhh!”<Laugh>
Eric Cross (44:33):
That story just gives me chills. Because I just can imagine how surreal that must feel. And you’re directly making that impact on those kids. And I’m glad that you shared that story so that everyone can hear it, because it’s a powerful story and I lived—I feel I was living it through you, just now, as you were discussing it.
Desiré Whitmore (44:54):
Yeah.
Eric Cross (44:54):
And I feel that way in the classroom to a small degree, because I get to have—when my students create posters of scientists that we don’t typically see, I’ve got you on my list of scientists, and I’m they’re like…And I’m like, “I can call her!” Like, “Mr. Cross, you KNOW her?!” I’m like, “Yeah, she’s a friend of mine! I was talking to her the other day!” And they’re like, “Whoa. She works with lasers?!”
Desiré Whitmore (45:17):
<Whispers> I do.
Eric Cross (45:18):
Desiré. I’ve held you for so long and—
Desiré Whitmore (45:23):
Yes, I’m sorry! I told you, I talk so much! I’m a teacher!
Eric Cross (45:26):
No! No, no, no, no. It was great! I wanna honor your time. Can you tell everybody where they can find out more about you again?
Desiré Whitmore (45:33):
So first off, you can find me on Twitter at Darth Science, D A R T H S C I E N C E, and you can also find me at Instagram at Dr. Laser Chick: D R dot laser chick. Even though I don’t post on Instagram that much. I also have a website, which is laser chick dot net. I’m still working on it. It’s not the best website yet. But, you know, it’ll, it’ll be better in the future.
Eric Cross (46:02):
Would you be willing to come back later on in the year and do a part two?
Desiré Whitmore (46:07):
Oh, for sure. Yeah. So I can actually finish telling you the story of how I got into physics! ‘Cause I totally didn’t. ‘Cause I’m all over the place.
Eric Cross (46:15):
So, everybody, cliffhanger! Next time she comes back, she’ll continue to tell us the story. Desiré, thank you so much.
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Meet the guest
A Southern California native, Desiré earned an associate of science from Antelope Valley College, a bachelor of science in chemical engineering from UCLA, and a master of science and Ph.D. in chemical and material physics from UC Irvine. Her research focused on developing very fast laser and microscope systems that could capture molecules vibrating and rotating in real time. She was a postdoctoral fellow at UC Berkeley, where she designed and built attosecond lasers (the fastest laser pulses, which emit x-ray light, ever measured). At the Lawrence Hall of Science she wrote an all-digital K–8 science curriculum (Amplify Science), which aligned to the NGSS, with the Learning Design Group (LDG). Desiré left LDG to teach hands-on laser technology and physics courses at Irvine Valley College before joining the TI staff. She is the proud mom of Stella, a four-year-old boxer-pit mix. In her spare time, Desiré is restoring her 1967 VW bug.
About Science Connections
Welcome to Science Connections! Science is changing before our eyes, now more than ever. So…how do we help kids figure that out? We will bring on educators, scientists, and more to discuss the importance of high-quality science instruction. In this episode, hear from our host Eric Cross about his work engaging students as a K-8 science teacher. Listen here!
S1-05: How does coding fit in the science classroom? A conversation with Aryanna Trejo of Code.org
In this episode, Eric sits down with Aryanna Trejo, a professional learning specialist of Code.org. Aryanna shares her journey from working as an elementary teacher in New York City and Los Angeles to teaching other educators at Code.org. Eric and Aryanna chat about computer literacy within the science classroom, problem-solving skills, and ways to model productive struggle for students. Aryanna also shares ways to teach coding and computer literacy in schools, no matter the classroom’s technology level. Explore more from Science Connections by visiting our main page.
Aryanna Trejo (00:00):
I would hear teachers saying things like, “Well, I just can’t do coding; this is too hard for me; the time has passed.” And I would ask them, “Would you say that to your student about math or English?” And they would always sheepishly go, “No.” And I’d say, “Well, be as kind to yourself as you would be to your student.”
Eric Cross (00:19):
Welcome to Science Connections. I’m your host, Eric Cross. My guest today is Aryanna Trejo. Aryanna is a member of the professional learning team at Code.org. Before joining Code.org, Aryanna led computer science professional development for elementary school teachers, and served as an instructional coach for new educators. She also taught fourth and fifth grade in both New York City and in Los Angeles. In this episode, we discuss Aryanna’s journey to Code.org, where she helps educators connect coding to real life, how to use a rubber duck to solve problems, and how coding and computer science principles can be taught to students in areas without access to the internet…or even a computer. I hope you enjoy my conversation with Aryanna Trejo. So I was born and raised here, and I saw that you went to UC San Diego.
Aryanna Trejo (01:11):
I did, I did. I actually just put a deposit down on an apartment in University Heights, ’cause I’m moving back.
Eric Cross (01:16):
You’re coming back?
Aryanna Trejo (01:17):
I’m coming back. Yeah.
Eric Cross (01:19):
So if you need a classroom to visit….
Aryanna Trejo (01:21):
I would love to do more classroom observations!
Eric Cross (01:24):
Are we doing this? Let’s do—we’re making this happen.
Aryanna Trejo (01:26):
We are. Yeah. So I’ll be there. I’m moving there in April. I actually grew up in Orange County too, so I’m like a very diehard SoCal person.
Eric Cross (01:35):
So I feel like I know the answer to, hopefully—Tupac or Biggie? ‘Cause you’re on the East Coast, and you’re on the West Coast.
Aryanna Trejo (01:40):
Yeah. I like Tupac, but I have more Biggie songs committed to memory. Which is not a lot. I have “Juicy” and “Hypnotized” memorized.
Eric Cross (01:53):
All right. So you’re just memorizing, and you have the Biggie songs memorized, but not the Tupac ones.
Aryanna Trejo (01:58):
No, but I do love Tupac songs. You know, it’s like, Biggie has the flow, but Tupac has the lyrics. Nobody’s—they both have something really amazing about them.
Eric Cross (02:06):
You know, I can respect that you broke it down into both of their strengths.
Aryanna Trejo (02:11):
Thanks for buttering me up before this interview. And not….
Eric Cross (02:15):
<laugh> Oh, we already started.
Aryanna Trejo (02:16):
Huh? We already started?
Eric Cross (02:17):
We’re already started. Yeah. We’re already into this.
Aryanna Trejo (02:19):
We’re into it.
Eric Cross (02:21):
You were in the classroom, fourth and fifth grade, and you were doing TFA.
Aryanna Trejo (02:26):
I did. I did Teach For America. I was 2012, New York City Corps. Right after graduation. ‘Cause I graduated UC San Diego in 2012. So graduation was on June 17th, and I touched down at JFK on June 19th.
Eric Cross (02:40):
Even though I wasn’t in TFA, I know a lot of the fellows that are in it. And there’s just some phenomenal teachers in there. How long were you doing elementary school when you were teaching?
Aryanna Trejo (02:49):
Yeah, I taught for—well, I did, three years of teaching fourth grade. Then there happened to be an instructional coach opening in my fourth year. I took that, did some instructional coaching within the same network, and then I moved back to LA and I taught fifth grade for a year.
Eric Cross (03:11):
- And what was it like now? Did you go to Code.org right after the classroom?
Aryanna Trejo (03:17):
No, I didn’t. No. I transitioned after teaching fifth grade for a year in downtown Los Angeles, in the Pico-Union neighborhood. I ended up getting this email out of the blue from someone who had actually found me through the Teach for America job site. ‘Cause I was hitting the pavement; I was really looking to transition out of the classroom. And she invited me to interview with this company called 9 Dots. And they taught computer science to kids K–6 throughout Los Angeles and Compton. And I was like, “Sure, no problem. Let’s do it.” So I interviewed, I got the job, and yeah, that’s how I transitioned to 9 Dots. And then after almost four years there, I transitioned to Code.org, with the same person. Actually, she moved over to Code.org first, and then she helped me get this job.
Eric Cross (04:07):
Oh, that’s happened a lot—like, that relationship kinda carries over.
Aryanna Trejo (04:11):
Yeah. We’re meant to be coworkers.
Eric Cross (04:13):
Yeah. Are you still? Is she still there? Are you both still together?
Aryanna Trejo (04:17):
Yeah, we’re on the same team and it’s nice. I saw her last night for Happy Hour, with another coworker who’s in LA. So we’re tight. And she’s a wonderful, wonderful mentor to me.
Eric Cross (04:28):
That’s great. Did you have computer-science background, when you were doing elementary school teaching? Did you have—
Aryanna Trejo (04:34):
No. <laugh> Not at all. When I was teaching in New York City, I had like four desktop computers in my classroom, and we rarely used them. Which was such a shame. And then when I moved to Los Angeles and taught fifth grade there, we were a one-to-one school, and the joys of that are just amazing. It was just really wonderful to, you know, get the students used to typing on the computer, using different software to submit their assignments. Getting creative—as creative as you can get—with Google Slides. You know, to show off what they know. And stuff like that. That’s all I had, though. And you know, when I transitioned to 9 Dots I was like, “Sure, why not? Let’s give a shot.” And I learned a lot. It was really interesting, yeah.
Eric Cross (05:26):
And so now at Code.org you are…well, so my journey with Code.org, I’ve been in the classroom for eight years. Still in the classroom as of…an hour ago, I was there. <Laugh> And I use Code.org, and I feel like I’ve checked it periodically, and I feel like it’s evolved over the gaps. And I’ve seen it. It’s become more robust in the things that they offer, over the years I’ve been an educator. Just to kind of…could you give a thumbnail sketch? Like, what is Code.org? Who’s it for? Who’s the target audience? What resources are there?
Aryanna Trejo (06:00):
Yeah. So it’s for everyone. It is a nonprofit that provides curriculum and training and a platform for teachers and students. We provide curriculum for K through 12. It’s completely free. And it comes with lesson plans, slideshows, all that. We focus specifically on underrepresented groups. So we have targeted measures for Black students, for Native American students, for students who identify as female. That’s a huge part of our mission. But we’re really working to expand access to computer science to as many students as we can.
Eric Cross (06:41):
One of the things I’m hearing in your story is you were teaching in Compton; you were in Bronx, New York. One of the reasons why I got into the classroom is because of educators, and the impact they made on me in exposing me to science and technologies I’d never had access to. And that intentionality, that you’re going about it…are there…not just the code, but how you bring that across to different groups…are there strategies, or are there ways to connect this idea of coding to diverse groups and diverse audiences? Or is it kind of, the curriculum applies for everyone? ‘Cause in science, when I’m teaching, I’m always trying to make what I’m doing relevant to the backgrounds of my students.
Aryanna Trejo (07:28):
Sure.
Eric Cross (07:28):
So I’m teaching biology, and I’m trying to make this kind of connection. Sometimes it’s more organic; sometimes it feels kind of forced. Because it’s just not always a nice fit. But it sounds like Code.org is really about inclusion. And in the numbers that I’ve seen for representation, in especially computer science software engineers, the groups that you’re focusing on are not necessarily represented in the professional workforce. At least disproportionately.
Aryanna Trejo (07:54):
Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, that’s correct.
Eric Cross (07:57):
And so how do you go about being intentional about reaching groups that we don’t see in, you know, the Silicon Valley software engineers? How do you start that? Like, at a young age, do you look for specific schools in specific areas to say, “We are going to bring this to the school. We’re going out to these populations of the cities”? Because we’re just not seeing…you know, on the map, we’re not seeing anybody really doing anything with coding here. Or we’re not seeing the numbers come out of these areas, out of these cities, of students who are going into STEM or going into computer science fields.
Aryanna Trejo (08:41):
Yeah. I don’t necessarily work on the recruitment side of it, is the issue, in my position. But I do work on the professional learning, that is brought out to teachers. And we have a huge focus on equity throughout the workshops that we create from K–12. It’s something we’re really passionate about. We definitely aim to prepare teachers to teach computer science. That’s a huge part of it. Knowing the content, but also thinking through, “What does recruitment look like at your school to make sure that the demographics of your classroom match the demographics of your entire school?” Also, thinking through, “How can we make sure that female students feel included in your classroom? How can we make sure that we are, giving students creativity to think about, or we are setting students up to be creative and think about the problems that are in their community, and how they can use computer science to solve them, or at least work towards them?”
Eric Cross (09:39):
So solving real-world problems and that inclusion aspect…are there things like…you were saying “female or students who identify as female”…are there things that teachers can do to ensure that they’re being more inclusive? Or to recruit, or encourage more female students to take part? One of the things I was thinking of, that I’ve seen, is I’ve seen coding kind of camps.
Aryanna Trejo (10:06):
Sure.
Eric Cross (10:08):
That were specifically for a female audience. And that seemed to help with recruitment. Is that something that you see on your side?
Aryanna Trejo (10:16):
That’s not something that we set up, no. But the curriculum that I work with is CS Principles. And it’s offered as an Advanced Placement course, as well as an AP class. So that’s a curriculum that’s designed for students who are in grades 10 through 12. And so at that point, we can really talk to teachers and ask them what the recruitment strategy is. But in terms of strategies that teachers can use to recruit those students…I mean, I’ve heard over and over from lots of different teachers who identify as female that they didn’t think that computer science was for them, until they saw a role model in that position. And so just being a role model for those students is really wonderful.
Eric Cross (11:00):
And I see it too, with—like, we do “Draw a Scientist” activity, which is like a popular science thing—
Aryanna Trejo (11:05):
Sure, yeah, I’m familiar.
Eric Cross (11:05):
But it’s the same thing, right? Like, it fleshes out. My students don’t draw themselves as scientists. They draw what they perceive, based on what television says. I imagine with computer science, it’s probably really similar, when you think about “What’s a software engineer look like?” Do students tend to draw themselves? Or is it even a mystery? Because I don’t even know what a software engineer looks like.
Aryanna Trejo (11:28):
Yeah, absolutely. Well, one of the things we love to do with our professional learning workshops is talk about understanding yourself, your identities, how they show up in the classroom as biases. And, you know, things like stereotype threat. We see that as really important to understand, and think through, and consider, before you step into the classroom. So that you’re not, you know, coddling certain groups of students because you don’t believe that they are able to be successful in computer science. Holding all the students to the same expectations and believing that they can succeed. And computer science, I think a lot of the times people have this conception of it being this utopian, bias-less, technocratic field. When in reality, everything has bias. And people talk about algorithmic bias and facial recognition, but also the people who created computers and computer languages have their own bias that comes through. And I think it’s really important to show students that. So that they can, one, know what they’re working with, and two, make sure that they can create products that reduce that bias.
Eric Cross (12:50):
It’s like…it’s not objective, just because we’re creating software. Like, once it gets to a point of being so sophisticated…I think, like, AI software, right? With facial recognition? And we’re seeing more and more articles come out about, you know, predicting trends based on historical data.
Aryanna Trejo (13:12):
Sure.
Eric Cross (13:13):
But then, the trends and things that they’re seeing tend to target things that have happened in the past. But it also doesn’t take into consideration a lot of other factors that can lead to certain groups or populations being identified. And I’ve seen some articles lately about how your code is really just representation of what you put into it. And like you just said, your bias—if you have that, conscious or unconscious—you’re gonna put that into your code. And the input is gonna be an impact, is gonna impact the output.
Aryanna Trejo (13:44):
Yeah, absolutely. Or even just—and I’m ashamed to say this, ’cause this is an idea that came to me just recently, through an article that I read—but computers themselves have bias. The hardware assumes that you have vision, that you can see the screen, that you are able-bodied, that you can use your hands to work the keyboard, the mouse, et cetera, and that you don’t have to use assistive technology. You know, there are small things like that, where we think that technology, like I said, is this utopian, futuristic science…but there are biases throughout.
Eric Cross (14:19):
You’re absolutely right. I’ve never even—I’ve never even considered that. Even though I do use assistive tech, and figure it out, I’ve never thought from the ground up, the process is built for an able-bodied, sighted, hearing person.
Aryanna Trejo (14:31):
Exactly.
Eric Cross (14:32):
To be able to engage with the hardware. And then these other things, these tertiary things that we kind of add on, so that you can do this, but it’s not designed from the ground up for people who are, you know, different audiences, physically. So I’m glad you brought that up, though. Now I’ve seen—and I haven’t done this—but I know Hour of Code is a big thing. And this is something that’s ongoing. Can you talk a little bit about what Hour of Code is? I know it’s, it’s a big thing for the classroom teachers.
Aryanna Trejo (15:08):
Yeah. So Hour of Code is really exciting, and it’s just blossomed from something small to something tremendous. This year is gonna be the 10th Hour of Code. So what it is, is it happens during CS Education Week in December, during Grace Hopper’s—or to honor Grace Hopper’s birthday. She was a computer scientist and Navy Admiral. And basically the aim of it is to get as many students on the computer doing an hour of code, and demystify what coding is. You know, to do seed-planting. To show teachers that this is something that you can facilitate for your students. And also to show students like, “Hey, computer science is something you can absolutely do. Not just for an hour, but more if you want.” So, yeah. Now it’s worldwide, and it’s really exciting.
Eric Cross (15:58):
That’s awesome. And I think about teachers and I still hear the apologetic—when I’m helping teachers in the classroom with education technology—the self-deprecating “I’m a dinosaur; I’m not good with tech,” which is never true. Like, they’re better than they even realize. And I feel like sometimes there’s still a stigma, too. It’s like <laugh> The Simpsons’ Comic Book Store Guy. The condescending tech support person—
Aryanna Trejo (16:27):
Sure.
Eric Cross (16:28):
—who has that tone. And so I feel like some people have been so negatively impacted by that person. So I know when I’m helping people, I actually try to go full-spectrum the other side. But I’m thinking about teachers’ barrier to entry. Sometimes code is like, “Whoa.” And I don’t teach computer science. Do you see those barriers to entry, or at least the perception of them? And then, what’s the reality for like someone listening, and going, “I’m a fourth grade teacher,” or “I’m a humanities teacher in ninth grade.” What’s the perception that you see, versus reality, with the teachers that you train? Is it much more accessible than we think? Or is there a level of sophistication that you have to have coming into it?
Aryanna Trejo (17:10):
No, not at all. I know computer science, and that says a lot! <Laugh> You know, I know my own corner of computer science. And you know, that’s me being self-deprecating, too. But I think learning computer science has helped me in so many different ways that I wasn’t expecting. I recently took the GRE in hopes of, you know, getting back into grad school. And I think just the way that computer science teaches you to search for bugs in your code, or errors, and kind of tirelessly look at a problem from multiple different angles, I was able to carry that into the math that I was doing. And I noticed just a huge difference in the way that I approached it, and the way that I was open to it. But you asked a great question, in regards to the barriers to technology. In my position at 9 Dots, I was working directly with teachers to lead professional development with them. Sometimes it would be a full day; sometimes it would be an hour after school. And the one thing that I always had in my back pocket that was really useful is that I would hear teachers saying things like, “Well, I just can’t do coding; this is too hard for me; the time has passed.” And I would ask them, “Would you say that to your student about math or English?” And they would always sheepishly go, “No.” And I’d say, “Well, be as kind to yourself as you would be to your student.” You know, it takes some patience and nobody’s gonna get it perfect 100 percent of the time. Have I banged my head against the wall trying to solve one tiny little syntax error in my code? Absolutely! But it feels absolutely phenomenal to fix that. And I was an English major in undergrad, and I had never done computer science before. So it’s something that becomes really satisfying.
Eric Cross (19:07):
Yeah, I imagine. I had someone—a trainer or a presenter—one time bring up the fact that our students rarely get to see us learn in real time.
Aryanna Trejo (19:19):
Yeah.
Eric Cross (19:19):
So we don’t get to ever really model failure. I mean, unless we’re in a classroom situation <laughs> in our failures, with classroom management. Then they see it, they see it! But they don’t get to see us model learning failure. And I don’t mean like failure—and yes, I know, “first attempt is learning,” and “no such thing as failure”—that’s not what I’m talking about. But just when we’re not successful with our code, and then we experience real-time frustration.
Aryanna Trejo (19:42):
Yep.
Eric Cross (19:42):
And they said that is actually a great learning experience for your students to watch you go through productive struggle. And that was really liberating for me. Because now I’m in the classroom, and I’m trying to go through it with my students, and the beautiful thing was, they started helping me. We were all trying to solve the problem. And then we had this authentic problem-solving experience. I think it was like a Scratch program, where we were trying to solve, trying to embed it somewhere, or something. And then, in the background of the class: “Mr. Cross! I got it! I figured it out!” And it was this really neat bonding experience. And I felt that—your ears get red, and you get hot, ’cause you’re not—
Aryanna Trejo (20:19):
Oh yeah.
Eric Cross (20:20):
You don’t know it! And you’re in front of 36 kids! And I said, “OK, I need to tell them how I feel.”
Aryanna Trejo (20:25):
Yeah.
Eric Cross (20:26):
So I said, “Now I feel really frustrated.” Like, “I want to go through this, and here’s my thoughts.” ‘Cause I knew that it would be helpful if they saw and would hear my thoughts. So I just did a quick think-aloud and I said, “In my head, <laugh> I want to just quit,” I said, “But I realize that this is the part where my learning’s happening. So I just want you all to hear what’s going on in my brain.” And now I feel like when I’m doing coding with my students, and it’s just basic coding, I feel much more comfortable, like, not knowing. But I needed someone to release me from that “I have to be the expert in everything” to do it.
Aryanna Trejo (21:06):
And teachers are used to being the experts. Right? And they should be. And coding is just such a different landscape. But I think once you kind of give over to the power of tinkering, I think it’s really gratifying. I love being able to…you can revise a sentence, and then read your paragraph back to yourself in English, and say, “OK, I get it.” But there’s something so gratifying about changing a line of code or a block and then being able to hit play and watch your program come to life, and say, “Hmm, that’s not quite what I wanted. Let’s try something different.”
Eric Cross (21:39):
I love your connection to tinkering. ‘Cause—I had never thought about it—’cause I love tinkering with my hands. But I always think about physical things. But coding is exactly that. It’s tinkering.
Aryanna Trejo (21:47):
It’s exactly that.
Eric Cross (21:47):
That’s exactly what it is.
Aryanna Trejo (21:49):
And a lot of it is, for me, especially when I’m trying something new, it’s guess-and-check. It’s like, “OK, that didn’t work. What if I add a semicolon here? Will it finally work? Or what if I add a ‘for’ loop? Will this get me what I want?” And it’s wonderful because you have that with students as well. Like, you have that record of their thinking, and you can ask them to go step-by-step and tell you, you know, “First, I added this, because I wanted the program to do this,” and so on and so forth. And so you have that record, but you can always get rid of it. Students often wanna get completely get rid of it. That’s something that I’ve noticed a lot as I’ve taught computer science. But, once you can get them to target the specific parts of the program, tinker with that, and continue, that’s a really wonderful learning space. There was also something you said about modeling failure. I love the fact that in computer science you can model failure for your students. You said to your students, “I’m getting frustrated.” I love that, because I never got that in math. Nobody ever showed me what it was like to be frustrated with graphing a parabola. Right? Like, my math teachers were always like, “Doot, doot, doot, here you go, you’re done!” <Laugh> And I would get so frustrated, because it didn’t come that easily to me. And I think there’s two parts to that. So there’s modeling the learning and the thinking and the productive struggle, but also there’s the identity of being a computer scientist and modeling what that looks like. So for me, when I get really frustrated with a program, I walk away. I take five minutes. I take a deep breath. I say, “I’m not gonna think about it in these five minutes.” And I come back to it. And I think once you start teaching computer science, you can facilitate that for students. And there’s so many different strategies that they can pick up. They can pick up rubber ducking, which is where they pick up a rubber duck or a similar object, and they talk to it as if they were a partner and talk through their code. And oftentimes, as you’re rubber ducking, you’re gonna find that error, because you’re explaining it to someone who’s a stand-in for a novice. And rubber ducking is a well-known strategy for computer scientists who make it their career. You know, there’s pair programming. Some students love pair programming; some students hate it. But the students start to build this identity about how they problem-solve. And how they approach failure. And I just love that.
Eric Cross (24:31):
I’m writing this down. Because the rubber-ducking strategy, I love. I just imagine my seventh graders, a bunch of 13-year-olds with, like, rubber on the desk. And not necessarily in coding, but I was thinking in my science class. And they’re working through a challenge, and they’re all looking at this duck, and they’re talking to it. But I just love the the idea of externalizing your thought process and talking through it yourself so that you can hopefully arrive at a conclusion. But it’s such a great practice, and this is something that’s been around for a long time, apparently. So.
Aryanna Trejo (24:59):
Yeah. Yeah. It’s a real thing. And you know, you can go low-fi. It doesn’t have to be a rubber duck. You can have students talk to their pencils or their imaginary friends. That’s not the issue; the issue is, you know, talking to somebody.
Eric Cross (25:10):
I know you support teachers. But I just wanted to…I was just curious about your typical day, what that’s like. And then what you do, how you support ’em.
Aryanna Trejo (25:15):
So, at my previous job at 9 Dots, I was in there with the teachers in the classrooms. I was coaching our internal staff who went out to co-teach with teachers. And I loved that. And I had such a great impact on a local scale. But now at Code.org, I have a much broader impact. But I don’t get to interface with—that’s such a tech-y word!—I don’t get to interact with—
Eric Cross (25:42):
You work at Code.org! You get to—
Aryanna Trejo (25:42):
I know! But I’m a teacher at heart, forever, right? That’s my identity that I forged when I was 22 years old. And a typical day looks like opening up my computer, taking a look at my calendar. I often have meetings to talk about, different things that we’re doing to support our facilitators who go out to our teachers and lead their workshops for them. I recently worked on a product that was designed for CS principles, teachers, to onboard to the course if they weren’t able to get into an in-person workshop. And it’s completely self-paced, so it gives teachers an on-ramp into the course. And now I’m working on some in-person workshop agendas. So I feel really wonderful that my work is going out to thousands of teachers. But at the same time, I really, really miss talking to teachers. Because that’s something that energizes me so much.
Eric Cross (26:46):
When should students start learning computer science? I feel like we see it in this kind of narrow lane. Like, this is computer science if you make an app. Can it be more than that? As far as like the benefit of computer science? And—I guess two-part question—when should students, one, start being exposed to it? And then two, what are some of the benefits beyond just, “I wanna just make an app”?
Aryanna Trejo (27:08):
I taught coding to kindergartners. It can start as early as you as you want it to. And it doesn’t necessarily need to be on the computer. A lot of students that I worked with didn’t have computers at home, were interacting with computers for the first time. And that’s a huge barrier, of course, to a lot of teachers. But there are so many unplugged lessons that you can do to start to start to have students think about algorithms, which is just a series of steps to complete to solve a problem. As long as a student can use a computer, I think they can do computer science. There are products out there like codeSpark, where students—and Code.org has these products too—where students are moving an avatar around a board, kind of like a quadrant to…you know, they feed the directions to a computer and then the computer enacts it for them. And with that, they can learn algorithms. You know, that is computer science. And a lot of people don’t see it that way, but it really is. And it starts to set students up for more complex thinking as they move on.
Eric Cross (28:13):
One of the biggest underserved communities, geographically, are students in rural areas.
Aryanna Trejo (28:20):
Yep.
Eric Cross (28:21):
They can be reservations; they can be places just not an urban area. Is there a way to serve our communities of students and bring these skills in an unplugged way?
Aryanna Trejo (28:32):
Yeah. Yeah. If you typed in “unplugged computer science lessons” to Google, you’ll have a ton of hits. And there are so many students out there—not just in rural areas. But there’s incarcerated students. It hurts my heart to even say those words, but in urban areas too. Like in my classroom, where I only had four desktop computers. Access is a real struggle. And there’s things, like I said, instead of moving an avatar around a grid on the computer, I used to have an actual mat that I would take out to my kindergarten classrooms, lay it out, and it would have a grid on it. And we’d have one of the students act as the avatar and the rest of the students would give them directions to get to a different point on the grid. And there, you’re building an algorithm or just a series of steps. Like I said, it’s not some fancy term to solve a problem. And there’s multiple ways to solve that problem, too. And I think investigating that can be a really good way to stretch those lessons.
Eric Cross (29:32):
It almost sounds like an oxymoron, but this low-tech computer science strategy. Develop these skills and then transfer that once you have access to the tools.
Aryanna Trejo (29:39):
Yeah. Yeah. Absolutely. And I think it’s a good way for students who need kinesthetic means to start to understand something, or just different learning styles, to start transferring that over.
Eric Cross (29:53):
I probably have students in the classroom where those kinesthetic moving things would help be a great way—or WILL be a great way—for them to learn the principles and the fundamentals of coding. Instead of only giving the option to just do the computer, actually giving them some choice. Or giving them a way to be able to manipulate things. We’re still in the system of education that’s still very siloed. It’s been the same way for a hundred years. We got math and then we got science and we got English. I’m wondering, how can a teacher fit this into their daily lessons? And then, do you have any experiences or stories or things that you’ve seen, just really creative ways that you’ve seen teachers incorporate this? Outside the norm of, “This is a computer science class; we’re just gonna code.” But have you seen it branch out? In the trainings that you’ve done?
Aryanna Trejo (30:40):
I’ve seen examples of that. I’ve seen a teacher use Scratch to demonstrate different climates of California, and show the different climates. This past year for Hour of Code, my friend Amy—the one who helped me move to 9 Dots and at Code.org—she created this incredible tutorial called Poetry Bot. And it was a way to get students to match the mood of the poem to some of the elements that were happening in the stage. So they would have different backgrounds show up at different parts of the poem. When the words would show up, they would have different sprites show up. They would have, sometimes, sounds. Or the text would show up with different animations. So there are cross-curricular opportunities everywhere, if you can be creative enough to find them, or if you beg, borrow, steal from other educators who are doing this incredible work out there.
Eric Cross (31:36):
Yeah. I say this all the time, but I’m an educational DJ, not an MC.
Aryanna Trejo (31:44):
Oh yeah.
Eric Cross (31:45):
So MCs write their lyrics and DJs remix with things that other people have done.
Aryanna Trejo (31:48):
Absolutely.
Eric Cross (31:48):
I was like, I’m a DJ. I was like, all day. Sometimes I’ll write a lyric, once or twice, but most of the time I’m remixing things. So teachers, if you’ve been out there and you got an awesome interdisciplinary thing, or you’ve incorporated coding and it’s something that’s traditionally not seen, please send it to us. Share it with us.
Aryanna Trejo (32:03):
Yeah. And there are so many different places where you can find that. We have a forum for Code.org, but there’s also CSTA, the Computer Science Teachers Association. You can join your local chapter and get to know other computer science teachers out there.
Eric Cross (32:19):
I guess…to wrap up, I’ve been using Scratch programming, the MIT website. My students do the basic animated name, CS First, stuff. But over the years, I’ve noticed that my students are coming in with a higher level of sophistication in Scratch to where now the differentiation…some of my students are just doing very basic…and then I have other students who’ve created full-on video games with complex…like, you look at their Scratch page and it’s just an amazing amount of blocks and integrations and things that they have. Is there anything on Code.org that could be a next step? That takes them beyond, maybe like the visuals? And if so, what would be a good next step, to take students to advance them to another platform? There’s so many coding languages out there, I feel like. Or I might not even be thinking about that the right way.
Aryanna Trejo (33:20):
No, I think you are. You know, we have three different curricula out on our website right now. We have CS Fundamentals, which is probably more in line with what you’re talking about. We have a free CS Discoveries curriculum, and that is designed for, grades, I believe, 6 through 10. And that would be a really good entry point, for both teachers and for students.
Eric Cross (33:44):
There’s a lot of new stuff that I hadn’t seen yet, a few years ago.
Aryanna Trejo (33:49):
Yeah.
Eric Cross (33:49):
So I was really excited.
Aryanna Trejo (33:50):
One thing that I do know is that CS Discovery has just added an artificial intelligence slash machine-learning unit, that you can just pick up and give to your students. You don’t have to go in order with CS Discoveries, like you do with CS Principles. And I’ve gone through some of those lessons. They are really rad. And I would’ve loved to have learned that when I was in middle school or high school. So yeah, we’re constantly thinking of how we can make things one, relevant to our students, and two relevant to what’s going on in the world.
Eric Cross (34:20):
So would I be overselling it if I said, “If you go through this, you’ll be able to create an AI or a neural net to do all your homework”?
Aryanna Trejo (34:26):
You would be overselling it.
Eric Cross (34:27):
I would be? OK. So what I’ll do is, I’ll wait until the end of the school year, and then introduce it, and then by the time they’ve realized it’s not true, they’ll be eighth graders.
Aryanna Trejo (34:35):
There you go. Good old bait-and-switch.
Eric Cross (34:37):
You’re amazing. Thank you for serving teachers, and for being part of such a great organization that puts out great stuff. So much free curricula for teachers to be able to use. Especially nowadays we hunt and scour the internet for those types of things. And to be able to bring computer literacy into the classroom, and with your focus of serving communities of underrepresented groups, it feels good to know that not only is it high-quality material, but it’s also trying to raise everyone up. Because ultimately when we have more people trying to solve a common problem, we come up with better solutions. And I was talking to somebody who was a materials engineer somewhere in Europe, and he said one of the things about the U.S., As he was critiquing me on this flight, critiquing the U.S., He said, “One of the things about your country is that you have a heterogeneous group of people who, in a group, when you have multiple perspectives attacking a problem, you come up with more novel solutions.” He says, “That’s one of the great things, is that there’s not necessarily just a hive mind.” And I think that that’s one of the great things. We uplift different communities, and we uplift women, people of color, people who, have backgrounds that parents didn’t go to college but have these amazing qualities and strengths. And we put everybody focusing on the same issue. We come up with novel solutions that we wouldn’t have come up with if only select groups were trying to look at it and solve it. And so—.
Aryanna Trejo (36:22):
Yeah.
Eric Cross (36:23):
And we couldn’t do that without organizations like yours, that help empower teachers. So.
Aryanna Trejo (36:27):
Yeah! You really said it.
You’re coming to my classroom when you’re back in San Diego?
Aryanna Trejo (36:31):
Yeah! I totally will. Yeah. Let’s make it happen.
Eric Cross (36:34):
Last question. If you think back in your schooling, your own schooling, K through college, is there a person or a teacher that had a big impact on you? Or a learning experience that had an impact on you? And it could be, you know, positive or negative. But something that impacted you, even to this day, that stands out to you, that you remember?
Aryanna Trejo (36:56):
This is a big diversion from the topics that we’re talking about. But in grades 10 through 12, my drama teacher, Mr. Byler, who I still talk with, was such a huge impression on me. Really wonderful. And I couldn’t tell you the teaching moves that he did that were wonderful. I don’t know much about his management. But I can tell you that he gave me space to be confident, and grow into myself, through drama productions. They were high school productions, so they weren’t amazing. But I just really came into myself in high school, because I had the confidence to get on stage. And he was just such a wonderful mentor to all of us. So, props to Mr. Byler.
Eric Cross (37:39):
Shout out to Mr. Byler for creating space for Aryanna to fly! Thanks for making time, after your workday, to talk with us and to share Code.org with teachers.
Aryanna Trejo (37:54):
Of course. Happy to.
Eric Cross (37:59):
Thanks so much for joining me and Aryanna today. We want to hear more about you. If you have any great lessons or ways to keep student engagement high, please email us at stem@amplify.com. Make sure to click subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts. And join our brand new Facebook group, Science Connections: The Community for some extra content.
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Meet the guest
Aryanna is a member of the Code.org Professional Learning Team. Before joining Code.org, Aryanna led computer science professional development for K-6 teachers and served as an instructional coach for new educators. She also taught fourth and fifth grade in New York City and Los Angeles. In her spare time, Aryanna loves taking advantage of the California sunshine, creating wheel-thrown pottery, and hanging out with her dog Lola.
About Science Connections
Welcome to Science Connections! Science is changing before our eyes, now more than ever. So…how do we help kids figure that out? We will bring on educators, scientists, and more to discuss the importance of high-quality science instruction. In this episode, hear from our host Eric Cross about his work engaging students as a K-8 science teacher. Listen here!
You might also like:
S1-06: Supporting students with a creative twist: A conversation with Kentucky Science Teacher of the Year, Shad Lacefield
In this episode, Eric sits down with the Kentucky Science Teacher of the Year, Shad Lacefield. Shad shares his experience teaching during the first year of the pandemic, where Shad dressed up in over 100 costumes to create a unique and engaging online learning experience for his students. Shad also explains ways he connects with his students to celebrate student success, as well as large-scale efforts he leads within his school to cultivate the love of learning science content. Explore more from Science Connections by visiting our main page.
Shad Lacefield (00:00):
When you stay relevant, it’s being engaged with your students and figuring out, or what are, what are they liking? And every year it’s gonna be different. And that helps you stay relevant. When you have conversations and you build relationships with your kids,Eric Cross (00:13):
Welcome to science connections. I’m your host. Eric Cross. My guest today is Shad Layfield. Shad is a teacher at garden Springs elementary and a part-time professor at Asbury University in Kentucky during the first year of the pandemic, Mr. Layfield dressed up in over a hundred costumes to create a unique and engaging online learning experience for his students. He also created Vader visits, where he visited students at their homes, dressed as Darth Vader to celebrate their online successes and keep them encouraged. During a challenging time. In this episode, we discuss how creativity impacts engagement, transferring lessons learned from distance teaching back to in-person instruction, and how upper grades can apply the same principles to improve student learning. I hope you enjoy this discussion with shad lays field. So you’ve been in fourth grade for four years, and then you were in second grade and fifth grade. And so like how long have you been teaching for like total?
Shad Lacefield (01:09):
So this is my 15th year teaching.
Eric Cross (01:12):
Really? Yeah. You’ve been in the game for a while.
Shad Lacefield (01:15):
Yeah. Yep. It, it doesn’t, and it’s always surprising to parents too during that, that first like, come in and meet your teacher. And I walk in, I’m like, yeah, I’ve been teaching for 15 years and every time it gets ’em, they’re like no way. And I’m like, yeah,
Eric Cross (01:28):
That’s, that’s a good thing though. That’s a good thing. Right?
Eric Cross (01:31):
You know? So like, well the energy and then, and you’re just how you’re perceived. Like you’re, they’re just, I don’t know. It’s something about work with young people. Like it keeps you young.
Shad Lacefield (01:39):
That’s what it is. Absolutely.
Eric Cross (01:41):
So how did, how, like, what’s your origin story? Like, how did you become a teacher? Like what, what was it? Was it something like you knew second career, like right outta school? Like how did you end up in the classroom?
Shad Lacefield (01:53):
Yeah. No, and I love this question cause I’m a big Marvel and, and superhero. So origin stories are all, I love a good origin story. So I grew up on a 13 acre farm in a little bitty town called Gustin, Kentucky, and very early on, like we were instilled my parents, amazing, amazing parents. But they really instilled like a, a super important work ethic in our lives of like, it’s, it’s all about hard work and it’s important that you’re working hard in whatever it is that you do. And I’m one of six kids as well in my family.
Eric Cross (02:24):
Where are you in the–
Shad Lacefield (02:25):
I’m second to last.
Eric Cross (02:26):
Second to last. Okay. So you’re the second youngest.
Shad Lacefield (02:29):
Yes. Okay. And and so, and so growing up, like with that, like, you know, I worked in tobacco, I worked in hay, you know, we did things being on the farm and stuff like that. And within my family as well, there’s four boys. And so when I decided to go to college I was the first guy in my family to go to college. And the first and only boy that ended up going to college. And so it was like this big deal, like, oh, you know, we got one of our boys gonna go to college. So what is he gonna be? And I was like, well, if I’m gonna put forth the, the time and effort and then the financial strain that it would cause cuz we were not poor at all. My dad worked two jobs to make sure, but I really felt the responsibility of like, if I’m gonna go, I’m gonna work in a profession.
Shad Lacefield (03:09):
That’s gonna make a lot of money. And here I am as a teacher now. So I didn’t go to college to be a teacher. I actually was pre dentistry. I thought, now here’s a profession. You can, a lot of money. You don’t work weekends or holidays, you know, I can still be the doctor thing. And so I’m gonna be pre dentistry. But like all good origin stories. There was a, there was a flip. So in my first year I started working at the most majestic place that you will ever go. It’s called Squire, boon, caverns. It’s a cave in Southern Indiana. And it’s an amazingly beautiful little place. You have to like one lane highway, like road to go back there up and down. Like you, you think you’re never gonna make it. And if it rains too much, the bridge will flood and you actually can’t even get back there.
Shad Lacefield (03:52):
So that’s how we’re talking like way back in the sticks. But once you get back, back there totally worth it. And as part of the job you were a tour I also did grist mill demonstrations and gym mining adventures, or, you know, as they’re gym mining and stuff like that. And within that, I started working with school aged kids and on very large tours and stuff. And my manager at the time, Claudia, I’m still great friends with and we still take our kids back there. Every summer she, to me, you’re really good with kids. Like you’re really good with kids. We have this scout program that’s on the weekends. And then during the summers and you would be teaching kindergarten through eighth grade kids, geology and forestry. What do you think about doing that? And I said, well, right, let’s try that out. And then I got the teaching bug and it hit and I was like, oh my gosh, like I don’t wanna spend my life doing something that is all about money or, or that is like, this is where it’s at. Like, I love this, I enjoy this. I enjoy the response that I get when I’m talking. And kids are excited about learning and getting new information and learning new stuff. And so then I change my major and here I am now, all these years later teaching instead of being a dentist,
Eric Cross (05:04):
Are there, are there days, do you ever have days where you’re like, you know, dentistry, it’s still an option. Like I can, I can go back.
Shad Lacefield (05:12):
Oh, rare, rare occasions. Rarely. Yeah.
Eric Cross (05:16):
Okay. Yeah. All right. All right. Fair enough. I, I, I always joke and say that like we have, you know, sometimes I have my, my alternate job on the hard days, which is for me, it’s working at the gap where I just want to fold clothes and go home at the end of the day, you know, on those really rough days. And you know, it’s never the kids, right. It’s always other things. The kids are like the great part. And then there’s all these other things. And I just wanna work at the gap. I just wanna work at the gap. Fold some clothes. Yes, sir. Yes. Ma’am absolutely. I can find that size for you. And then I just go home cause about their job when they go home at the end of the day, when you work at the gap, at least sorry, gap workers. I’m sure hard of that, but my perception in my mind is that you close up shop and then you’re done. Yeah,
Shad Lacefield (05:52):
Absolutely. Like you said, they can turn it, like it’s a turnoff at the end. Exactly. As teachers we know, like you don’t ever turn it off, it’s always there.
Eric Cross (06:00):
Yeah. So one of the things that I was super excited about when I, when I first heard about you is I went on your website and there’s so many things I feel like I can just talk about your website and just the, the content that you’ve produced. I, I, there’s so many directions I can go. But one, one of the things I want to ask you is, is about that. Now, one of the things that’s on there, and this is coming from a fellow star wars, Fisha who finished Bobba FET and the Mandalorian recently and is Jones in four OB one to come out.
Shad Lacefield (06:33):
Oh, so yes,
Eric Cross (06:35):
I live in Southern California next to Disneyland visited Galaxy’s edge star wars. You have these things called VA Vader visits. And so what do you do in those? And like, where did you get the idea for these Vader visits?
Shad Lacefield (06:50):
So the costumes were bringing the kids into the classroom. But when they left my room because you would, we only had them for a certain amount of time. There was still a lot of extra work that they needed to get done. And what I was seeing was I could get them to come in and they were really engaged during my lesson. But then afterwards, when it came to work completion or getting things done, there was, it was starting to fall off. As you know, we were experiencing, you know, more and more craziness of what’s going on. So then as an incentive, I decided if you have everything turned in, by the end of the day, I’m gonna dress up in my Darth Vader outfit, full costume, the, you know, the, the full helmet, like everything. And I’m gonna show up to your house and we’re gonna hang out and play any game at all that you wanna play.
Shad Lacefield (07:34):
So then it was a way of rewarding. My kids for getting everything turned in. But same time I felt like it would also help me build a relationship with them. That was a very challenging part of online learning. Like, again, I want you to feel like you’re a part of my classroom. I wanna feel like I’m invested in you and wanna learn about you. And it was a commitment because some of those kids put me through the ringer, whether it was we’re gonna do gymnastics on a trampoline. And again, I’m in full costume doing gymnast on the trampoline, or we’re doing soccer drills with their soccer coach at their house playing football games. I mean, all kinds of stuff. I made a Yachty game for a kid that loves Harry Potter. And it was really a big part of getting work turned in because, and it’s the crazy thought they wanted to spend time with me. Like that’s what it was. And so it was like, yeah, absolutely. I’ll keep dressing up. I did over 50 plus Vater visits. It wasn’t just for my homeroom. It was for all of fourth grade. So I went over 50 visits and it was cool to see kids in their home and talk to them and meet their parents. It was a great opportunity for me to engage with parents as well. How is online learning, going, what can I do to support you? Do you guys have any questions and stuff like that? So
Eric Cross (08:39):
This thing of relationships is like leading to work completion, which isn’t, which isn’t always the, the thing that we think to as educators of like how, you know, work completion. A lot of times we think of like structures or you know, certain protocols that you do in class get work completion, but here you are addressing as Darth Vader. And, and you said students were turning in more work because they’re connected to, you saw an increase in, in yeah. Engagement.
Shad Lacefield (09:07):
And absolutely. And, and I remember even saying that to myself, like this is, this is what’s getting them. But it, it was, and as part of the Vader visit as well with the videos we recorded all of them and I said, I’m gonna make you a YouTube star. And so I would, I, I recorded them. I put ’em on my YouTube channel. And so a lot of the videos that are on my website, all those Vader visits are like the kids showing off and playing against the teacher. And I promise you, I didn’t take it easy on any one of those kids. Like when it was like a verse match, I went all out and I told ’em. I was like, if you beat me, you know, it’s gonna be like, you earned it.
Eric Cross (09:38):
What a great way to leverage, just what, what is relevant to our students? Like you used your platform and then now you’re showcasing them on your, you know, your platform or what you were using. And then they’re seeing each other. And I could just see, regardless of the grade level, like just students, like beam from, from getting that kind of positive praise through, through, you know a medium that doesn’t, that tends to be more of a, just content consumption, but you’re kind of watching other folks do stuff, but now it’s about them. Like, and they’re, they’re getting that attention directly. Now I have to ask about the Vader costume. Did you, did you buy it for this event or did you already have that Darth Vader costume in your closet?
Shad Lacefield (10:19):
I had parts of the costume, but not the complete costume. And honestly, the very first Vader visit I had, I had the Vader mask that makes sounds, and like you could talk and it makes you sound like Vader.
Eric Cross (10:29):
My dark saber is on order. Yes. And it keeps getting delayed from best buy. It’s supposed to arrive in April, but I do have dark staple and order that I ordered back in November. So the best to your point, I don’t know who doesn’t have one, I’m waiting for mine though.
Shad Lacefield (10:42):
There you go, come on. Best buy come through for us. So
Eric Cross (10:44):
You, you did all this investment in time and, and you created all this content, but then we went back in person. Were, were you able to bring this back into the classroom or any of the things that you had generated during distance learning back in the classroom? Or are you, are you using some of the things that you learned? Like what, or is it just completely separate and you’re just doing something completely different. Now
Shad Lacefield (11:04):
That’s a great question. So I still try to dress up at least once every week, if not once every other week just to make whatever we’re doing fun, cuz I already have costumes that were connected to the content that I was doing. So had I had made a character called captain Soundwave that will use when I’m teaching my amplify lessons over sound. And so then I, you know, I have that or I would have, you know, specific characters that were designed for certain lessons that I would do. And so I still
Eric Cross (11:32):
Lemme interrupt you real quick. Where did you get these character ideas from? Cause they are super creative. I clicked on one random one. And you have had like a, a knitted like skull cap and like some blue shiny like cloak and I like who is this guy? I think, is that him? Is that captain sound wave? That’s
Shad Lacefield (11:48):
That’s hilarious. That was, that was my attempted Elsa. Oh, that was yeah. Started buying more and more costumes and and making characters and putting costumes together. And so yeah, it just ends up being this thing where you never know when I’m gonna show up in a completely random costume and be like today, we’re getting ready to learn about how sedimentary rocks form. And I dressed in my rock outfit, which is the old school rock with the turtleneck and the gold chain with,
Eric Cross (12:16):
Wait, do you have a Fanny pack too?
Shad Lacefield (12:17):
I have a Fanny pack. Yes you have. Yep. You nailed it. And they’re like, what does this guy
Eric Cross (12:22):
Do? He raise the one eyebrow. Can you do the, the rock eyebrow? Oh yeah, you got this. Oh, people on the podcast. Can’t see. Chad’s got it down. He’s got it down. He’s got the, he’s got the eyebrow going. Okay, so you, so I feel like I can go on a tangent and talk about all your costumes that you have, but the thinking about this. So tons of engagement, younger people now taking like some of the principles that you’ve learned from this, how can, how can upper grades like bring this joy to their classroom? Like middle school students, you know, older kids sometimes, you know, they can, they’re still kids, but you know, they might not be the same thing as fourth graders. Like would you, do you have any ideas of like how teachers and upper grades can kind of take these elements that you’ve done and, and apply them?
Shad Lacefield (13:04):
Absolutely. So some of the things that you had talked about, like with YouTube can also be applied to like TikTok videos and things like that, that kids are, are willing to watch and, and be engaged in. And so those things, I feel like I’ve seen other middle and high school teachers really utilize in their classroom. But honestly, and this is a new initiative that we’ve started in our district. Minecraft has been something that a lot of kids play and are really engaged in and has shown an amazing engagement for all of our kids when it comes to science engagement, particularly. And so with that, so there’s 126 million active Minecraft players right now in the world. And Minecraft is one of the largest selling video games. The average age, cuz they’re always like, oh, Minecraft is for kids who actually the average age is like 24.
Shad Lacefield (13:51):
So a lot of the older kids are playing Minecraft as well with the younger kids. And with that in mind, it was a way when I looked at Minecraft and specifically like Minecraft educational edition came out and it was during COVID and it was free. So if you had a school email or it’s like the, what the go 365 account, you could get it for free and all of our kids got it for free. And so then, then we went from playing Minecraft on the computer as like a fun game to me looking at it and saying like, wait a minute. I feel like when I’m doing energy conversions, we can take Redstone and Minecraft and kids can now show how a simple system using different parts and devices can work and understand even more con creates how energy is converted from one form to another.
Shad Lacefield (14:39):
And so let’s make this a, a, a, an actual activity. Let’s take what I’m teaching in the classroom. And if they get done early as an enrichment piece, because there’s not a ton of science and enrichment activities at times for kids to be able to do, like, what do I do when I’m done, Minecraft ended up being that. And so I could have these elaborate worlds that I would build for them that they could then go and play and be super engaged in and show me way more on this Minecraft world, what they knew than what they were writing on paper sometimes, cuz I, you know, you’d get like a sentences out of them on paper, but then all of a sudden when they would build this elaborate system and you just had them record and talk, it was like, oh my gosh, you understand way more than I was thinking that you did with that last exit slip, an assessment that we did.
Shad Lacefield (15:25):
And so like, this is awesome. So then I went to my district and I actually proposed an idea what if we did tire Minecraft build challenges for the whole district? So our district has 37 elementary schools and I was like, I think this could be something that, you know, as we’re looking for science, curriculum engagement and making kids excited about learning science and stuff again, cuz that was always the hard part. I feel like sometimes with COVID everything kids lost this love of, of being in the classroom and, and, and learning and that it was like, you know, getting them to come back into the classroom and, and finding, learning fun again. It was like this, this started to get ’em excited and like, yeah, I get to play in Minecraft and I’m learning at the same time. And it was working for all kinds of content areas.
Shad Lacefield (16:07):
We’re doing a blast off to, to Mars. We it’s called blast off to us. We’re partnering with CLO of the future. They’re working with SpaceX. Our kids will actually get to send postcards to space and yes, it’s, it’s a super cool thing. And I love my district and all of the office of technology, individuals, Ashley Josh and Kelly for putting this together. And so it asks this question if you could a community in space, what would it be like? And the goal is that kids will write on the back what they want. And then we send this postcard off to space, they stamp it saying it’s been in space and the kids get to have it back and, and be able to use it. But what, what we decided, what we could do with Minecraft is what if they actually built the colony on Mars, like really research put time and effort into reading scientific articles about plants and how plants would grow and, and water and, and structures and apply all of that in a massive build challenge. And then that be, you know what we’re doing? That can be the answer to the question. And so it’s not just a couple sentences on a postcard, but it’s like a week or two week unit that pulls all this scientific content and standards that we’re working with and really allows kids to show so much creativity like on my Twitter I’ve been posting like pictures and stuff like that of some of the students builds. And I’m gonna continue to do that throughout the build challenge.
Eric Cross (17:26):
Now, are you using Minecraft EDU?
Shad Lacefield (17:28):
Yes. That is correct.
Eric Cross (17:29):
I love Minecraft EDU. Like it, it, you talking about it inspires me to, to try to dive back into it. One of the things sometimes I feel limited by is the time that I have and the things that we’re trying to cover. And it’s almost, it almost feels like we’re doing something wrong using a video game to teach, but it’s such a great educational tool. Like you said, you just said that students are able to show what they know in, in a way by creating something that’s different than if they would’ve just written it, but they’re actually creating, and this is one of the things, I guess you kind of hit on this, but I wanted to probe it a little more. Is do you have your students creating content like you do? Cause I kind of heard that they, you were, did you say that they were explaining or doing a video recording or describing it? How are they, how are they, how are they doing that work?
Shad Lacefield (18:17):
Yeah. So what they actually do is they’ll write a script and they will use Screencastify to record and then upload to Flipgrid. And then that way they can actually show their build to all of fourth grade. Since we weren’t allowed to be in the same class, like we were all departmentalized, so then we will have voting challenges. So after you record, you get to see everyone’s videos, you get to like and comment and leave feedback on their builds. So you can see what the other kids created. And then then from those initial videos and voting, we selected a certain of kids that then go on to the district level for our Minecraft build challenge. And then those videos are viewed by administration and other teachers to vote again. And then you end up having grade level winners and then an overall winner, which shout out to my boy in fourth grade, who was our overall winner, Eli, super proud of him.
Shad Lacefield (19:07):
He, he made this really, really space saving system, which was hidden stairs that ran off of Redstone and used motion, energy. And again, in his video, he talks about like how motion energy has changed to electrical energy and then back into motion through the process of how this hidden staircase would be in the wall. And then you’d be able to use this lever to then release that staircase. So you could go up and down but it was just, and again, when you, when you let kids talk about energy conversions and you let them build all of a sudden, you have kids making security systems for banks. Another kid that made a feeding system for kids for animals at the zoo, and it was just like, oh my gosh, I had no idea that this was what you guys could run out and do. When I, when I taught you how energy conversions work, that this is what you could produce and come over, like this is mind blowing. I love it,
Eric Cross (19:56):
What our kids can do and what they can create always kind of blows us away when we give them an opportunity to kind of have that freedom to, to create and take their knowledge and actually do something with it versus channel it into what, show me what, you know, but only do it like this. This is, this is the lane that you have to stay in. How do you get these ideas and, and stay, stay relevant? Like so many of the things like you’re touching, like pop culture, you, you have this hand in education technology, you have you’re, you’re doing video editing. Like where are you drawing from? Cause I’m just thinking like, as a teacher listening to this, that might be newer. And they go to the side like, oh my gosh, this, this guy is doing these so many things like where are you drawing from for inspiration or ideas?
Shad Lacefield (20:39):
I think a lot of it is like you say, when, when you stay relevant, it’s being engaged with your students and figuring out, or what are, what are they liking? And every year it’s gonna be different. And that helps you stay relevant. When you have conversations and you build relationships with your kids to figure out, you know, what’s going on. Because I was not a big Minecraft person. It was the group that came in that really challenged me to do Minecraft because it, it showed up on their Chromebooks one day and all of a sudden it’s like, oh, we can play Minecraft all the time. And I said, no, you can’t play Minecraft until that I’ve had training. And I know what’s going on because I’m super nervous about this new thing. And I wanna make sure you guys aren’t doing something that you’re not supposed to.
Shad Lacefield (21:13):
And like, they hounded me hardcore about you better do you need to do that training, Mr. Lacefield, you need to, we wanna play Minecraft. You better be doing this. Right. And so I was like, all right, man, I’ll, I’ll invest. I’ll, I’ll put some time into this training. And I’m so glad that I did yeah, again, that’s it just like building relationships and having those conversations help you realize like, what’s, what’s what are they interested in? What what’s going on and what would be really funny, even connecting that back to the costumes. What would it be really funny if I showed up in you know, today, princess Jasmine.
Eric Cross (21:42):
Yeah.
Shad Lacefield (21:43):
Been yes. Done that. That’s a great one. I,
Eric Cross (21:45):
I, I just went to the social studies page. I, and I stop laughing while you were talking. Cause I saw the princess Jasmine.
Shad Lacefield (21:52):
Oh yeah. Folks.
Eric Cross (21:53):
I’m telling you, you have to go, you have to go to his videos and see what he’s done. I mean, they’re just, they’re just amazing with my middle school students. They, I, I find myself having to be into things that I’m not normally into. And we have these intergenerational relationships, right? Like I think teachers are unique in this I aspect where I can connect with a 12 year old with what 12 year olds are in no matter where this 12 year old’s from. Cuz I get 12 year old culture. But sometimes when I go back into my adult world, like I forget that like, Hey yeah, haven’t watched a new anime you know, or, or whatever, you know, up
Shad Lacefield (22:26):
That. Yeah. No said too. And a kid will show up wearing a, a shirt to school and I’m like, I wasn’t the world’s that like, I’ve never even seen that before. And you’re like, okay, I’m gonna have to learn what that is cuz that yeah.
Eric Cross (22:38):
And then the next student asks you about, Hey, do you like, do you like these this game? I’m like, yeah, yeah, let me go Google that game real quick. Yeah, I’m totally into it. I’m downloading on my phone real quick. And, and now I’m connected to all kinds of obscure random interests, but to your, to what you said, it like, it helps keep us fresh, right? With I, with ideas, there, there is something that is super practical that you’ve done that you’ve created that I’ve encouraged teachers to do. And I think you really nailed it. On your site, you have these video tutorials. When I look at those, I, I think about how much time you must have saved yourself of not having to explain the same exact thing multiple times. Because you’ve created this virtual help section that allows students to log in amplify earth, check, Flipgrid, whatever. Like do you, when you’re, when you’re teaching students, do you, do you use those in direct students there so they can kind of support themselves? Or is that, what, how did that come to be when you, when you made these, these virtual tools? Because I could just imagine these are time savers for you.
Shad Lacefield (23:49):
Absolutely. Cuz again, like you said, it’s it saves on time. So a lot of when you have kids that are already visual learners as well, and they love watching YouTube and they learn stuff from YouTube, why not? I mean, make the video and then attach it to my Google classroom, keeping everything online. Everyone always has access. And by still having those videos, it allows kids to hear the directions multiple time, but on their time and at their pace. So then it’s posted on the assignment. So even though I probably still will give those directions verbally out loud if a kid forgets and maybe they feel a little nervous about asking in front of their peers, like, oh, how do I do this again? Or, oh, I don’t remember how to do that. That video is linked on there. So that way they can go back and watch it.
Eric Cross (24:28):
It’s almost like a little co-teacher that you have like a little aide that’s like, but it’s you, but it’s like a mini you who’s helping you out. I found that putting sometimes those tutorial videos on ed puzzle, where at different points in time, you can set it up so that at a certain timestamp, it asks a question and you can control it. So they can’t move faster past it until they respond to the question and you have the question be about whatever you just said. And then it, it syncs with Google classroom. So you can import all the grades and you can see how far through the video they got. But that was one other layer that I was able to do. So I can have some accountability and make sure that okay, everybody watched it and they answered all five questions of like, how do you do this?
Shad Lacefield (25:07):
Oh, see, now you’re sharing stuff with me, Eric, because I, I’m not as familiar with ed puzzle. I’ve used like near pod and per deck, but I mean just you saying that I’m like, okay, I need to check out ed puzzle and, and see what, what this is all about. Cause that sounds awesome.
Eric Cross (25:20):
Hey, I shared something with Chad and it it’s useful. I’m I’m feeling good right now. I’m feel I’m feeling good. So as we, as we kind of wind down one, couple questions I wanna ask. One of ’em is you’ve been in teaching for, for 15 years and I, I talk to you like right now and I get this energy and this vibe that’s just so upbeat, so positive. How do you stay fresh, fresh. And how did you stay fresh during a time when things have been so hard, you know, and it, and still is for so many educators, how do you stay encouraged? Like what, what have you done and, and to stay in, in education for, for this long,
Shad Lacefield (26:00):
I think it, it even goes back to like when I made my initial decision to switch my major to education, like I, I really felt like I found so thing that I thoroughly loved and enjoyed, and I always feel like you go through seasons. Like, and I definitely, when, when COVID hit, like you went through a season of where you start to feel again, that pressure like do I really like doing this as much as I thought that I like doing this and am I ready for this next thing? And then I just go back to just the, well, why did I do this to begin with? And, and it gets me, you know, excited to be like, I did it for the kids, like, and it’s about the kids. And I get joy when they’re laughing and smiling. So again, with the videos, it’s like, how can I make ’em laugh and smile because if they’re laughing and smiling and having a good time, I’m gonna get, you know, jacked and ready to start teaching again.
Eric Cross (26:48):
And I just hear that so much in what you’re saying is you’re serving your kids is, is being more than that building the relationship, that connection. And then through all that, the learning happens. The last question I wanna ask you is who’s one teacher that created a memorable experience for you or inspired you. Is it someone that you remember when you were in school or learn experience that just, that stands out to you to this day? Cuz as teachers, we remember thi like our kids remember us and it’s weird to be in that position to think that we’re gonna be that person. So is there anybody or anything that stands out to you that you remember from a, a teacher and experience?
Shad Lacefield (27:27):
Gosh, I have, I have a lot that you know, from my fifth grade science teacher, Mr. Goodman, who we did the ecology meet and the ecology team, and we went to OT Creek park and we competed against other schools about science, connected materials to my physics teacher in high school that let us build boats out of cardboard and take it to the only hotel in our town and the pool. And we had like boat races with the cardboard boats that we did. But really I, I go back to Squire boon and Claudia my manager and I remember not only was, she’s such a, a pivotal like getting me into teaching. But I remember the, the curriculum that we were using at the time that I was. And again, it goes back to what if I was to teach that curriculum, I would not still be a teacher because again, as sometimes you experience with curriculum, it can be boring and not engaging. And I was already putting my own flare on it at SQUI boon during the scout lessons. And I said, what if I just completely rewrote this curriculum? What if I made it really fun and put my own, spin on it? And, and she was like, absolutely, absolutely do that. And I feel like that encouragement as teachers, when we encourage kids to be creative when we encourage kids to, to take risk and to try new things we end up getting such amazing results that we didn’t even expect
Eric Cross (28:45):
Thought I out to Mr. Goodman for the ecology meet the physics teacher for the, the boat races, which are hilarious, by the way, if you’ve ever been able to watch students, did you make ’em at a cardboard?
Shad Lacefield (28:53):
We did. Yep.
Eric Cross (28:54):
Yeah. Those are hilarious to watch. And Claudia for giving the freedom to let you be a educational DJ and remix things to make it fun. Thanks for being on the podcast. Thanks for your inspiration and for sharing your stuff like publicly and letting other people see it and, and get ideas. It’s, I’m sure there’s more people than, you know, and more teachers than, you know, that are looking at that and getting their own ideas and coming up with their own. It might not be star wars, but coming up with their own inspiration, maybe it’s like Harry Potter or Lord of the rings or some like that.
Shad Lacefield (29:26):
Yeah. Whatever. You’re passionate about. Pull that in.
Eric Cross (29:31):
Thanks so much for joining me and Shad today. We want to hear more about you. If you have any great lessons or ways to keep student engagement high, please email us at stem@amplify.com. That’s STEM@amplify.com and make sure to click, subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts until next time.
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We’ll also share new and exciting free resources for your classroom every month.
Meet the guest
Shad Lacefield is a teacher at Garden Springs Elementary and part-time professor at Asbury University in Kentucky. Mr. Lacefield leads professional development in his district, and has been a guest speaker for Eastern Kentucky University, Campbellsville University, and Amplify Education. His topics include classroom managment, integrating techology, and student engagement. He earned his bachelor’s degree in elementary education from Campbellsville University in 2007, and his master’s in science from Southwest Baptist University in 2011. Shad has either taught or coached every grade K-12, and in his 14 years in education he has served as a lead teacher in literacy, math, science, and social studies. He currently coordiantes with the FCPS Office of Instructional Technology to plan Minecraft build challenges for elementary students, and is working on setting up a science field trip that turns a golf course into a STEM lab. During the first year of the pandemic, Shad dressed up in over 100 costumes to create a unique and engaging online learning experience for his students. He also created Vader Visits where he visited students at their homes dressed as Darth Vader to celebrate their online successes, and keep them encouraged during a challenging time. His creative teaching style, and over 50 “Vader Visits” with students, have been featured on WKYT-TV, LEX-18, Spectrum 1 News, and several local and college news publications. Shad lives in Lexington Kentucky with his wife Whitney Lacefield and their three children.
Check out his website, YouTube channel, and Facebook account!
About Science Connections
Welcome to Science Connections! Science is changing before our eyes, now more than ever. So…how do we help kids figure that out? We will bring on educators, scientists, and more to discuss the importance of high-quality science instruction. In this episode, hear from our host Eric Cross about his work engaging students as a K-8 science teacher. Listen here!
Welcome, Utah K-8 reviewers!
Amplify Desmos Math
for New York
Welcome to Amplify Desmos Math, a powerful new core program from Amplify and Desmos Classroom built for NYC teachers and students.
Amplify Desmos Math is built on four core tenets:
- Math can motivate students.
- A structured approach to problem-based learning can best tend to all aspects of rigor.
- Student thinking is valuable and visible.
- Students can catch up while keeping up with grade-level math.
What if your students asked to do more math?
Amplify Desmos Math lessons are powerful in their ability to elicit student thinking and spark interesting, productive discussions.
The lessons pose problems that invite a variety of approaches with their dynamic and interactive learning experiences on devices, as well as experiences on paper that are flexible, creative, and engaging.
As students work online, they interact with visuals and simulations that show their thinking and decisions. When appropriate, students see other students’ responses and engage in collaborative math discussions.
A Responsive Feedback feature responds to student thinking by showing the mathematical meaning behind it. This is more powerful than simply evaluating thinking as right or wrong, because it motivates and engages students in the learning process.
In this Grade 6 activity, students internalize the coordinate plane by plotting points to navigate the marble through the maze to collect the star.
This prepares students to accurately and efficiently plot points with positive and negative coordinates on grids with different scales and explain the relationship between ordered pairs that differ only by the signs of the coordinates.
In this Grade 7 activity, students explore positive and negative integer operations using the up and down movement of a submarine.
Students are then prepared apply this understanding in a variety of word problem contexts.
In this Grade 8 activity, students create rate, distance, and time equations based on turtle races.
This prepares students to understand that a graph representing a proportional relationship is a line through (0, 0) and (1, k). They also begin to see connections between a context and features of a corresponding graph, equation, and table.
Data at your fingertips on the road to mastery
Facilitate a collaborative, connected classroom community.
The powerful teacher facilitation tools in Amplify Desmos Math give teachers insight into student thinking in real time. Teachers can select student work to display and discuss quickly and easily, leading to better questions that guide more productive discussions.
Amplify Desmos Math helps guide the learning process by connecting students to each other and to an understanding that they can use math to make sense of the world. Students learn and collaborate in every lesson. Whether using print, digital, or a mix of both, students stay connected to each other’s ideas and thinking, fueling classroom conversations and a shared understanding of math.
Standards alignment
Amplify Desmos Math is customized specifically to meet the New York State Next Generation Math Learning Standards. Within each document below, you’ll find direct links to lessons and activities where each individual standard is addressed.
Grade 6 correlation
Grade 7 correlation
Grade 8 correlation
The program is also aligned with the expectations outlined in the New York City Department of Education Definition of Culturally Responsive-Sustaining Education and the New York State Culturally Responsive-Sustaining Education Framework. Download the CR-SE alignment.
Digital review
Ready to explore the program? To log in, click the orange “Review now” button below, select “Log in with Amplify” and use the following login credentials:
Username: t.nycadmsample-01@tryamplify.net
Password: AmplifyNumber1
To review Algebra 1 content from Desmos Math 6–A1, which serves as the foundation for Amplify Desmos Math, click this link after logging in using the credentials above.
Support
Throughout your review, you can reach our support team by email or phone. We are available any time over:
Live chat: Click the orange icon while logged in to get immediate help.
Phone: Call our toll-free number: (888)-960-0380.
Email: Send an email to help@amplify.com. In the message body, please include your name and question. Provide as much detail as possible, so we can help you find a solution.
Welcome, Reviewers to Amplify Desmos Math California!
Amplify Caminos
Built on a systematic scope and sequence, Amplify Caminos offers the explicit instruction needed in today’s classrooms.
We’ve created a wide suite of professional development offerings that will help you meet your unique needs this school year. Find out more below!
Amplify CKLA, ELA, and Science professional development has been vetted by Rivet Education’s team through a rigorous three-step process and is listed in the Professional Learning Partner Guide.
Plan your professional development
We’re excited to partner with you on your Amplify journey. Flexible professional development pathways have been designed to meet your needs.
Recommended Professional Development Plan
Our team has curated a recommended professional learning path from initial launch to continuous support. Use the Professional Development Planning Guide below to discuss the plan that best meets your school or district needs with your Account Executive.
Sessions overview
| Audience | Title | Duration | Modality | Available |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Launch | ||||
| K–2 teachers | Initial training | 1 day onsite or 2 half days remote |
Onsite/Remote | Yes |
| K–2 teachers | Program overview | Half day | Onsite/Remote | Yes |
| Skills Strand (Lectoescritura) initial training | 1 day onsite or 2 half days remote |
Onsite/Remote | Yes | |
| Skills Strand (Lectoescritura) program overview | Half day | Onsite/Remote | Yes | |
| Knowledge Strand (Conocimiento) initial training | 1 day onsite or 2 half days remote |
Onsite/Remote | Yes | |
| Knowledge Strand (Conocimiento) program overview | Half day | Onsite/Remote | Yes | |
| 3–5 teachers | Initial training | 1 day onsite or 2 half days remote |
Onsite/Remote | Yes |
| 3–5 teachers | Program overview | Half day | Onsite/Remote | Yes |
| Strengthen | ||||
| K–2 teachers | Enhancing planning & practice | Half day | Onsite/Remote | Yes |
| Writing | Half day | Onsite/Remote | 12/1/22 | |
| 3–5 teachers | Enhancing planning & practice | Half day | Onsite/Remote | Yes |
| Writing | Half day | Onsite/Remote | 12/1/22 | |
| K–5 teachers | Strengthening consultation session | 1 hour or 3 1-hour sessions | Remote | Yes |
| Coach | ||||
| K–5 educators (leaders, principals, coaches, and teachers) | Coaching session | 2 days consecutive | Onsite | Yes |
| K–5 educators (leaders, principals, coaches, and teachers) | Coaching session | 1 day onsite or 2 half days remote |
Onsite/Remote | Yes |
| Coaching session | Half day | Remote | Yes | |
Launch
K–2 teachers
Initial training for K–2 teachers
1 day onsite (6 hours) or 2 half days remote (6 hours)
Prepare to implement the Amplify Caminos K–2 program in your classroom! Learn the foundational elements of Amplify Caminos, including the structure of materials, key lesson elements, and how to deliver specific lesson types successfully. Participants will begin planning for the first unit and lessons.
Audience: Teachers (instructional leaders welcome), maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite/Remote
Program overview for K–2 teachers
Half day (3 hours)
Learn the foundational elements of Amplify Caminos, including the structure of materials, key lesson elements, and how to deliver specific lesson types successfully.
Audience: Teachers (instructional leaders welcome), maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite/Remote
Skills Strand initial training for K–2 teachers
1 day onsite (6 hours) or 2 half days remote (6 hours)
Participants will learn the foundational elements of Amplify Caminos Skills Strand, including the structure of materials, key lesson elements, and how to deliver specific lesson types successfully. Participants will begin planning for the first unit and lessons.
Audience: Teachers (instructional leaders welcome), maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite/Remote
Skills Strand program overview for K–2 teachers
Half day (3 hours)
Learn the foundational elements of the Amplify Caminos Skills Strand, including the structure of materials, key lesson elements, and how to deliver specific lesson types successfully.
Audience: Teachers (instructional leaders welcome), maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite/Remote
Knowledge Strand initial training for K–2 teachers
1 day onsite (6 hours) or 2 half days remote (6 hours)
Participants will learn the foundational elements of the Amplify Caminos Knowledge Strand, including the structure of materials, key lesson elements, and how to deliver specific lesson types successfully. Participants will begin planning for the first unit and lessons.
Audience: Teachers (instructional leaders welcome), maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite/Remote
Knowledge Strand program overview for K–2 teachers
Half day (3 hours)
Learn the foundational elements of Amplify Caminos, including the structure of materials, key lesson elements, and how to deliver specific lesson types successfully.
Audience: Teachers (instructional leaders welcome), maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite/Remote
3–5 teachers
Initial training for 3–5 teachers
1 day onsite (6 hours) or 2 half-days remote (6 hours)
Prepare to implement the Amplify Caminos 3–5 program in your classroom! Learn the foundational elements of the program, including the structure of materials, key lesson elements, and how to deliver specific lesson types successfully. Participants will begin planning for the first unit and lessons.
Audience: Teachers (instructional leaders welcome), maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite/Remote
Program overview for 3–5 teachers
Half day (3 hours)
Learn the foundational elements of the Amplify Caminos curriculum, including the structure of materials, key lesson elements, and how to deliver specific lesson types successfully.
Audience: Teachers (instructional leaders welcome), maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite/Remote
Strengthen
K–2 teachers
Enhancing planning & practice for K–2 teachers
Half day (3 hours)
Prerequisite training: Initial training for K–2 teachers
Elevate program knowledge to strengthen your Amplify Caminos K–2 implementation! Understand the progression of foundational skills and focus on high-quality questioning and discussion techniques through lesson study and practice. Participants will practice implementing key instructional elements and leave with annotated lessons.
Audience: K–2 teachers (instructional leaders welcome), maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite/Remote
Writing for K–2 teachers
Half day (3 hours)
Prerequisite training: Initial training for K–2 teachers and 2–3 months of Amplify Caminos instruction
Dig into Amplify Caminos writing instruction and student work in Grades K–2! Identify writing opportunities in the curriculum through analysis of a unit and daily lessons and analyze student writing using a program-aligned rubric. Participants will leave with an annotated unit highlighting the writing opportunities and student grouping suggestions.
Audience: K–2 teachers (instructional leaders welcome), maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite/Remote
3–5 teachers
Enhancing planning & practice for 3–5 teachers
Half day (3 hours)
Prerequisite training: Initial training for 3–5 teachers
Elevate program knowledge to strengthen your Amplify Caminos 3–5 implementation! Deepen ability to scaffold complex texts by sequencing reading types, prioritizing questions, and using discussion techniques. Participants will practice implementing key instructional elements and leave with scaffolds for complex texts.
Audience: Teachers (instructional leaders welcome), maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite/Remote
Writing for 3–5 teachers
Half day (3 hours)
Prerequisite training: Initial Training for 3–5 teachers and 2–3 months of Amplify Caminos instruction
Dig into Amplify Caminos writing instruction and student work in grades 3–5! Identify writing opportunities in the program through analysis of a unit and daily lessons and analyze student writing using a program-aligned rubric. Participants will leave with an annotated unit highlighting the writing opportunities and student grouping suggestions.
Audience: 3–5 teachers (instructional leaders welcome), maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite/Remote
K–5 teachers
Strengthening consultation session
1 hour or 3 1-hour sessions
Prerequisite training: Initial training
These 60-minute sessions will focus on a specific topic that will deepen educators’ understanding of Amplify Caminos and equip them with the support they need to drive toward stronger student outcomes. An Amplify facilitator will align with the school or district leadership team in advance of the session on the topic (chosen from a menu of options) that will best meet educators’ unique needs. The menu includes sessions on engagement, pacing, and supporting all learners.
Audience: K–5 classroom teachers (instructional leaders welcome), maximum 30 participants
Modality: Remote
Coach
K–5 educators (leaders, principals, coaches, and teachers)
Coaching for K–5 educators
2 days consecutive (6 hours per day, 12 total)
Prerequisite training: Initial training
Strengthen your implementation of Amplify Caminos with a Coaching onsite visit for your teachers and/or leaders! An Amplify facilitator will visit 1–4 school sites for two days. Participants can choose from a variety of topics that include, but are not limited to: lesson modeling (conducted by an Amplify facilitator) and debriefing, grade-level planning, classroom observations, and leadership consultation. The flexible onsite coaching design allows for a collaborative approach to support effective program implementation.
Audience: Teachers and/or instructional leaders (principals and coaches), maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite
Coaching for K–5 educators
1 day onsite (6 hours) or 2 half days remote (6 hours)
Prerequisite training: Initial training
Strengthen your implementation of Amplify Caminos with a Coaching onsite visit for your teachers and/or leaders! An Amplify facilitator will visit 1–2 school sites for one day. Participants can choose from a variety of topics that include, but are not limited to: lesson modeling (conducted by an Amplify facilitator) and debriefing, grade-level planning, classroom observations, and leadership consultation. The flexible onsite coaching design allows for a collaborative approach to support effective program implementation.
Audience: Teachers and/or instructional leaders (principals and coaches), maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite/Remote
Coaching for K–5 educators
Half day (3 hours)
Prerequisite training: Initial training
Strengthen your implementation of Amplify Caminos with a Coaching onsite visit for your teachers and/or leaders! An Amplify facilitator will virtually visit for a half day. Participants can choose from a variety of topics that include, but are not limited to: lesson modeling (conducted by an Amplify facilitator) and debriefing, grade-level planning, classroom observations, and leadership consultation.
Audience: Teachers and/or instructional leaders (principals and coaches)
Modality: Remote
Pricing
We offer the following pricing for training sessions and packages:
| Session type | Pricing |
|---|---|
| 2-day onsite session | $4800 |
| 1-day onsite session | $3200 |
| 1-day remote session (2 half days remote) | $1500 |
| Half-day onsite session | $2500 |
| Half-day remote session | $750 |
| 1-hour strengthening consultation session | $350 |
| 3 1-hour strengthening consultation sessions | $1000 |
| Customized Amplify Caminos onsite or remote session | Price will vary |
Please note that the prices are general ranges and may be subject to change.
Contact
Amplify welcomes the opportunity to partner with schools and districts to design professional development plans and answer your questions.
If you would like to order any of our professional development services, please contact your local Amplify sales representative or call (800) 823-1969.
Supporting multilingual & English language learners
Multilingual/English learners (ML/ELs) bring unique strengths to classrooms, enriching the learning experiences for all.
At Amplify, we empower educators with tools that honor the strengths and capabilities of ML/ELs. Our curriculum and assessments meet students where they are and help them develop their skills, propelling them on their learning journeys.
Amplify supports ML/ELs across all subjects, from English language arts to math and science. For students who speak Spanish, we also provide a comprehensive biliteracy suite.
Amplify CKLA core literacy curriculum for grades K–5
Amplify Core Knowledge Language Arts (CKLA) is a K–5 core curriculum built on the science of how students learn to read and write. Amplify CKLA supports ML/ELs in a variety of ways.
Scaffolding at five levels of proficiency
In addition to core instruction, Amplify CKLA provides lesson supports for Entering/Emerging, Transitioning/ Expanding, and Bridging levels.
Lesson differentiation
Lessons include Support and Challenge suggestions that provide assistance or opportunities for more advanced work toward the goal of the lesson. These resources are suitable for all learners, including ML/ELs.
Phonological awareness and phonics supports
The digital Sound Library easily facilitates sound development through videos showing mouth movements and songs that help students practice articulating new sounds with catchy lyrics.
Frequent oral language development opportunities
Amplify CKLA boosts language development with complex read-alouds, interactive discussion, writing activities, and explicit teaching of academic and domain vocabulary.
Amplify CKLA pairs with Amplify Caminos, its companion K–5 Spanish literacy program that supports biliteracy instruction.
Language Studio, an English Language Development companion program for Amplify CKLA
Language Studio, Amplify CKLA’s dedicated K–5 English language development companion program, offers daily 30-minute lessons to help ML/ELs practice reading, writing, speaking, and listening skills. Aligned to the World-Class Instructional Design and Assessment (WIDA) framework, Language Studio previews and reinforces language and content from core instruction, so that ML/ELs of all proficiency levels are able to access grade-level content as they develop academic English.
Interactive language development
Language Studio provides opportunities for classroom discussions, oral presentations, and writing tasks, promoting comprehension and learning by connecting with students’ cultural and linguistic backgrounds.
Explicit vocabulary instruction
Interactive vocabulary and academic language support is provided before each lesson to deepen students’ understanding of text.
Multimodal comprehension support
Students can preview content, interact with physical materials, compare text types, receive explicit grammar instruction, and have access to extensive vocabulary exercises.
Skill proficiency monitoring
Language Studio facilitates evaluation with an understanding of what students should produce at each level.
mCLASS DIBELS 8th Edition literacy assessment for grades K–8
mCLASS® is an all-in-one system for Science of Reading-based universal screening, dyslexia screening, and progress monitoring for grades K–8. Powered by DIBELS 8th Edition, mCLASS provides valuable data on your ML/ELs’ literacy in English, helping you build a robust system of tiered supports. With a single tool, you can access the data and instructional support you need for each student’s literacy development, from phonics to comprehension, catering to all readers, from beginner to advanced.
Screening and reporting
mCLASS’s one-minute measures and dyslexia screening identify risk as early as possible, providing you with the right data to make informed decisions.
Language considerations
mCLASS provides specific language guidance, offers ML/EL instructional strategies, and considers each student’s unique language background, never penalizing for language variety, accent, or articulation, and extending this understanding into small-group practices.
Performance and reporting transparency
Understand student performance through direct observation and detailed reports which offer growth insights, including district-wide student achievement data that can be filtered by EL status, Home Language, or English Proficiency status.
mCLASS pairs with mCLASS Lectura, an authentic Spanish literacy assessment for K–8 that measures key foundational skills and supports Spanish-speaking bilingual students.
mCLASS Intervention for grades K–6
mCLASS Intervention is our K–6 reading intervention program, designed to support you in providing effective Tier 2 and 3 instruction and getting readers on track. mCLASS Intervention does the heavy lifting of data analysis and lesson planning for you. This lets you focus on what you do best: teaching the skills each student needs to become a confident reader.
Effective lessons with built-in support
Lessons are equipped with best practices and guidance targeting language and literacy development for ML/ELs. The program also includes materials and resources that make content accessible to Spanish-speaking students.
Structured small groups
Once groups are formed, mCLASS Intervention determines the ideal focus for each group and automatically prepares two weeks of targeted lessons.
Keeps you updated on student progress
Track student growth with reliable progress-monitoring tools and reporting that provides a clear view of each student’s progress.
Boost Reading personalized reading program for grades K–5
A key component of Amplify’s early literacy suite, Boost Reading is a personalized learning program for K–5 that offers comprehensive targeted practice, built-in benchmark assessments, and powerful reporting. Boost Reading provides practice in the full progression of key phonics and comprehension skills critical to literacy development.
Boost Reading works. Results of a year-long study show that students in grades K–5—including ML/ELs—who used Boost Reading for 30 minutes a week significantly outperformed their peers.
Systematic instruction in foundational skills and comprehension
Reinforce core instruction with explicit practice in phonics and phonological awareness. Boost Reading is the only program that focuses on comprehension processes—what readers do while reading that allows them to make sense of text—which is especially beneficial for ML/EL students.
Mouth formation modeling for articulation support
Boost Reading includes specific scaffolds and supports—such as a modeling of mouth formations for articulation—that are proven to be beneficial for ML/ELs.
Vocabulary practice
Targeted morphology practice for independent vocabulary building and explicit instruction with Tier 2 vocabulary words are proven to be supportive for ML/ELs.
Boost Reading pairs with Boost Lectura, a Spanish literacy program for K–2 that provides students with personalized practice to develop Spanish literacy skills.
Amplify ELA core literacy curriculum for grades 6–8
With Amplify ELA, students learn to tackle any complex text and make observations, grapple with interesting ideas, and find relevance for themselves. Amplify ELA is a grade 6–8 English language arts program designed to bridge language gaps and enhance learning for ML/ELs. With integrated supports in every lesson, Amplify ELA empowers educators to deliver grade-level content while maintaining rigorous standards, thus reducing barriers to language acquisition and boosting student success.
Built-in scaffolds
Background documents (in English and Spanish) establish context and support comprehension before students begin to read. Features such as audio assessments, read-aloud, and Reveal words ensure that all students have the opportunity to engage with and understand grade-level materials.
Differentiated writing prompts
Simplified language, sentence starters, word banks, and visual cues offer the necessary levels of support to help students meet their writing goals.
Multi-language glossaries
Available in 11 languages—English, Arabic, Chinese, French, Haitian Creole, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Tagalog, Urdu, and Vietnamese—these glossaries support vocabulary development and comprehension.
Amplify Desmos Math core curriculum for grades K–12
Amplify Desmos Math is a curiosity-driven K–12 program that builds students’ lifelong math proficiency. Every lesson in Amplify Desmos Math includes opportunities for all students to develop mathematical language as they experience the content, while providing intentional support for ML/ELs. We purposefully progress language development from lesson to lesson and across units by supporting students in making their arguments and explanations stronger, clearer, and more precise.
Multilingual/English learner support
Supports for ML/ELs are called out at intentional points within each lesson. These specific, targeted suggestions support ML/ELs with modifications that increase access to a task, or through development of contextual or mathematical language (both of which can be supportive of all learners). ML/EL supports may also be attached to Math Language Routines.
Math Language Routines (MLRs)
Math Language Routines are used within lessons to highlight student-developed language and ideas, cultivate conversation, support mathematical sense-making, and promote metacognition. Tips for facilitating MLRs are included when they would be helpful within lessons.
Language goals and vocabulary
Language goals attend to the mathematics students are learning, and are written through the lens of one (or more) of four language modalities: reading, writing, speaking, and listening. Units and lessons start by surfacing students’ language for new concepts, then building connections between their language and the new vocabulary for that unit. This honors the language assets that students bring into their learning.
Amplify Science core curriculum for grades
K–8
Amplify Science is a curiosity-driven science curriculum that empowers students to Do, Talk, Read, Write, and Visualize like scientists. Through phenomena-based, literacy-rich, and interactive learning experiences, it develops students into critical thinkers who will gain the skills they need to solve real problems in their communities and the world. For students who need additional support, Amplify Science provides specialized instructional approaches, activities, and resources that take into account English learners’ level of language proficiency.
Instructional design built on five key principles
Amplify Science leverages background knowledge, capitalizes on student knowledge of language, provides explicit instruction about the language of science, gives students opportunities with scaffolded practice, and enables students to access science content and express science knowledge through a multimodal approach.
Do, Talk, Read, Write, Visualize instructional model
Our multimodal instructional approach caters to diverse learning needs and promotes active engagement for all learners.
Honoring multilingualism
Amplify Science honors multilingualism as students are invited to share in their native language at strategic points in instruction. Teacher-led instruction on cognates and a multilingual glossary in 10 languages offer additional support.
Spanish instructional materials
Carefully translated materials use academic Spanish, with attention to consistency and grade-level appropriate language, to support language development.
A biliteracy suite grounded in the Science of Reading
Discover a suite of Spanish literacy curriculum and assessment programs designed to build confident readers with Amplify Caminos, mCLASS Lectura, and Boost Lectura. Amplify’s biliteracy suite includes assessment, core instruction, and personalized learning built on the Science of Reading.
Explore more programs in Amplify’s literacy and biliteracy suites.
All of the programs in our literacy suite and our biliteracy suite are designed to support and complement each other. Learn more about our related programs:
Prepare Professional Development (PD)
Learning experiences to prepare for literacy and math instructional shifts
The following literacy and math sessions can help any educator—regardless of the program used—enhance their instructional practices.
- Science of Reading sessions offering research-backed strategies to deepen understanding and improve student outcomes.
- Problem-based approach to math sessions that empower educators to facilitate meaningful learning experiences and develop critical thinking skills.
- Multiliterate learner sessions enable educators to make a meaningful impact on students’ literacy development.
Professional learning journey
| Prepare | Begin | Practice | Advance |
| Learning sessions will help shift literacy and math instruction in areas such as the Science of Reading and/or problem-based approaches to math. | Program-aligned packages will support those who are new to Amplify programs. | Program-aligned packages will support those who have experience using Amplify programs. | Offerings will support advanced implementation, build capacity for instructional leaders, certify in-house trainers to deliver Launch sessions, and more. |
“Gain the literacy knowledge and skills you need to thrive and help your students thrive. Through these sessions, you’ll understand typical literacy development and how to describe and address literacy difficulties.”
Science of Reading learning experiences
Listening to students read is magic. But knowing how to get them reading? That’s science.
Making the shift to the Science of Reading is no small feat, but participating in professional development sessions can help you make this change seamlessly.
Amplify Science of Reading sessions offer flexible, professional learning experiences for teachers that incorporate engaging activities grounded in what science tells us about literacy development.
Build your knowledge of the Science of Reading
Virtual | 90-minute session
This introductory session provides educators with a foundational overview of what the Science of Reading means and what it tells us about how to teach using evidence-based reading practices.
Participants will learn to:
- Define the Science of Reading by examining evidence-based research.
- Explain how two frameworks, the Simple View of Reading and the Reading Rope, work in tandem to guide effective literacy instruction.
- Identify instructional principles aligned to the Science of Reading.
Deepen your knowledge of the Science of Reading
On-site or virtual | 3-hour session
This session will build a base of common knowledge about the Reading Rope and support educators in identifying effective instruction grounded in the Science of Reading.
Participants will learn to:
- Identify the strands in the Reading Rope.
- Describe how each strand plays an important role in developing skilled readers and writers.
- Identify key look-fors in effective Science of Reading instruction.
Science of Reading: The Learning Lab online course
This series of three self-paced online courses, crafted by literacy expert Susan Lambert and built around International Dyslexia Association (IDA) Knowledge and Practice Standards, guides you through the essential Science of Reading skills and knowledge needed to teach students to read proficiently, as well as advanced strategies for aiding struggling readers. Each course builds on the last, equipping you with the tools and confidence to make a lasting impact on your students’ literacy journeys.
Benefit from flexible learning on an interactive platform spanning 20–25 hours of instruction. Each course is accessible for 12 months. Upon completion, you’ll be provided with a downloadable certificate, validating your new expertise in the Science of Reading.
Foundations to the Science of Reading
This course offers a comprehensive overview of research in the field. Each of the eight modules contains three lessons covering the foundations of literacy acquisition.
Explore the scope and sequence of Foundations to the Science of Reading with a Pacing Guide.
Access the free Preview Pass for this course.
Advanced topics in the Science of Reading: Assessment and reading difficulties
The second course is aimed at providing an in-depth examination of assessments, a deeper understanding of reading difficulties, and familiarity with pertinent legal frameworks for educators, all of which influence instructional decision-making.
Explore the scope and sequence of Advanced topics in the Science of Reading with our Pacing Guide.
Access the free Preview Pass for this course.
Coming soon!
Applied structured literacy
The final course in the series is designed to review key concepts and knowledge from previous coursework, explore fundamental aspects of structured literacy within lessons, observe and analyze structured literacy instruction in action, and investigate how data informs instructional decisions.
[Available June 2025]
New
Supporting multiliterate learner sessions
Unlock the magic of teaching multiliterate learners with evidence-based literacy practices. Making the shift to effectively support diverse readers in multiple languages is no small feat, but our professional development sessions are here to guide you effortlessly.
Empower your teaching with these engaging sessions, and make a meaningful impact on your multiliterate students’ literacy development.
Build your knowledge of multiliterate learners
Virtual | 90-minute session
This session provides educators with a foundational overview of how to teach multiliterate learners using evidence-based literacy practices.
Contact us to request a quote.
Deepen your knowledge of multiliterate learners
On-site or virtual | 3-hour session
This session will build an understanding of how the brain learns to read in multiple languages, as well as how to leverage cross-linguistic transfer, and align instruction to best practices for multiliterate learners.
Contact us to request a quote.
Problem-based approach to math instruction sessions
Elevate educational experiences by placing students’ ideas at the core of math lessons through problem-based learning. These sessions offer flexible professional learning experiences, allowing you to gain firsthand experience with a problem-based approach as a learner. You then learn to integrate this approach seamlessly into your teaching practices, bringing renewed energy to your math classroom.
Build your knowledge of a problem-based approach
Virtual | 90-minute session
This session provides you with a foundational overview of what an engaging problem-based approach in math entails for K–5 students.
During this session you’ll learn to:
- Explain how a problem-based approach to math brings delight to both teaching and learning and builds lasting student understanding.
- Identify actionable strategies for using a problem-based approach in a math classroom.
Contact us to request a quote.
Deepen your knowledge of a problem-based approach
On-site or virtual | 3-hour session
This session provides you with hands-on experience facilitating problem-solving in math, leaving you with an increased understanding of how to teach conceptual understanding, procedural skill and fluency, and applications of math.
During this session you’ll learn to:
- Explain how a problem-based approach to math brings delight to both teaching and learning and builds lasting student understanding.
- Identify actionable strategies for using a problem-based approach in a math classroom.
- Connect your current teaching practice to a problem-based approach, and choose a next step to implement a more problem-based approach.
Contact us to request a quote.
Get in touch with a PD expert
We’re here to provide answers and guidance as you explore your PD options. Fill out the form to connect with us and discover how Amplify PD can enhance your educational journey.
Shifting to problem-based learning in K–5 math
Math is all about getting the right answer. Right?
Wrong! Getting the correct answer matters, of course—accuracy is part of proficiency—but when math instruction focuses primarily on correctness, students can miss something essential: the opportunity to think deeply, share ideas, and make sense of problems for themselves.
Many K–5 math classrooms follow a familiar and well-established rhythm: The teacher demonstrates a strategy, students practice it, and the class moves on. This approach is widely used for good reason—it can feel clear, efficient, and reassuring. But over time, it can leave fewer opportunities for students to reason, deepen problem-solving skills, explore different approaches, and develop understanding that lasts.
This is where problem-based learning comes in.
What problem-based learning means in K–5 math
Problem-based learning places rich mathematical problems at the center of instruction. Instead of starting with a demonstrated method, students encounter a problem first, then draw on what they already know, try strategies, and make sense of the math through discussion and reflection.
As students tackle complex problems, they explain their thought processes, compare approaches, and revise ideas. The right answer still matters, but it emerges through critical thinking and sense-making, not just following steps. The result is learning that feels purposeful, engaging, and durable.
This approach reflects how math works beyond the classroom. People begin by understanding a situation, not by choosing a procedure. Problem-based learning helps students build that habit early.
Why shifting to problem-based learning matters
When student thinking stays private, happening only in heads or notebooks, it’s hard to assess understanding or guide learning in the moment. Problem-based learning brings thinking into the open.
As students share strategies, representations, and explanations, teachers gain insight into how they’re reasoning. Instruction can respond to real understanding rather than relying solely on correct or incorrect answers. And students benefit, too, by seeing that their ideas matter and math is something they can actively participate in.
Over time, this approach supports deeper understanding, stronger engagement, and lasting mathematical proficiency.
Three practices that support problem-based learning
Shifting to problem-based learning doesn’t require a complete overhaul all at once. A few core practices can help math teachers support the transition in K–5 classrooms.
- Establish norms for learning math together. Productive problem-solving depends on a classroom culture where students feel comfortable sharing ideas, even when those ideas are unfinished. Norms that emphasize listening, explaining reasoning, and revising thinking help create a collaborative learning community.
- Use tasks that invite curiosity and access. Effective problems allow all students to get started while still offering opportunities to extend thinking. Open prompts such as “What do you notice?” or “What do you wonder?” encourage students to connect prior knowledge to new situations and engage meaningfully with the math at hand.
- Make learning goals explicit at the right moments. Problem-based learning includes purposeful instructional moments. Synthesizing student ideas near the end of a lesson helps students see how their thinking connects to the mathematical goal, bringing clarity without cutting short exploration.
Rethinking the teacher’s role
Problem-based learning also involves a shift in how teachers support instruction.
In classrooms grounded in problem-based learning, teachers guide learning by selecting meaningful problems, monitoring student thinking, and facilitating discussion. Strategic questioning helps students clarify ideas and make connections. Well-timed synthesis highlights important mathematical relationships and supports accurate understanding.
This approach allows teachers to focus less on delivering steps and more on supporting sense-making—while gaining clearer insight into where students are in their learning.
A gradual, supported shift
Shifting to problem-based learning is a process. Many classrooms begin by adjusting how lessons start, increasing opportunities for discussion, or rethinking how students share their thinking.
Over time, these changes add up. Instruction becomes more student-centered. Students engage more deeply. Fluency develops alongside understanding, and productive struggle becomes part of everyday learning.
When classrooms shift toward problem-based learning, math becomes more than getting the right answer. It becomes a way for students to reason, collaborate, and make sense of the world.
S5-04. Coaching tips for managing math anxiety in teachers
So far this season, we’ve investigated math anxiety in students and its causes with passionate researchers and curriculum experts, including one from Sesame Workshop! Now we hear from Dr. Heidi Sabnani, consultant, coach, and co-host of Math 4 All, as she gives us research-based tips for teachers who are facing math anxiety themselves! Listen as we discuss Heidi’s own math anxiety and journey through math, the effects teacher math anxiety can have on instruction, and practices educators can implement right away for overcoming math anxiety.
Listen today and don’t forget to grab your MTL study guide to track your learning and make the most of this episode!
Dr. Heidi Sabnani (00:00):
Coaching is the opportunity to provide that just-in-time kind of professional development for teachers, if we go at it in a slightly different way.
Dan Meyer (00:10):
Hey folks, welcome back to Math Teacher Lounge. I’m your host, Dan Meyer.
Bethany Lockhart Johnson (00:14):
And I’m Bethany Lockhart Johnson.
Dan Meyer (00:16):
Bethany, how are you doing, and how are you feeling about our current trajectory through this exploration of math anxiety?
Bethany Lockhart Johnson (00:24):
Dan, I gotta tell you — let me make it about me for a second. <laugh>.
Dan Meyer (00:29):
Go. Do it.
Bethany Lockhart Johnson (00:30):
If only I had known that so many other people experienced math anxiety, and I wasn’t the only one. I mean, I’ve said it before, but you know, I hope that this series so far is helping to reframe math anxiety for folks who maybe have a narrow definition of it … and I guess expand, reframe. And also, for those folks who are working with students who have math anxiety, or who they themselves have experienced math anxiety, I hope they’ve found some tools, some resources. Right? Like, “Yes!”
Dan Meyer (01:04):
Yes! Same.
New Speaker (01:06):
And what about you? How are you feeling?
Dan Meyer (01:08):
Yeah, I hope this has been cathartic for all of our listeners who have experienced math anxiety, and not re-traumatizing, that there are lots of people who feel this way about math in particular. And that it’s so well-experienced, so broadly experienced, that people have decided to study it a whole bunch. Which is great. And now we’re moving into our kind of solutioning. You know, in my relationships, I’m sometimes told that I rush too quickly to solutions before trying to understand what’s going on. So I’ve loved our episodes that have been about what is going on. And now, with Dr. Truglio last episode and our guest today, we’re moving more into some solutions, which I’m excited about.
Bethany Lockhart Johnson (01:49):
I don’t know, Dan, I think next time I see you I’m gonna bring a list of some concerns or worries I have, and I would love if you just get right to the solution. I’m actually OK with that.
Dan Meyer (02:01):
All right. Good to know. Good to know. I’ll say I am coming off of a day where I was feeling some teacher anxiety today, because I taught really real students. So just to let you know where I’m coming from here. I taught some seventh grade students at Montera Middle, here in Oakland Unified School District. Taught ’em a lesson outta the Desmos curriculum. And it was one of those lessons where some thorny stuff comes up. I’m talking students who are wrong for smart reasons, who are right for the wrong reasons, and their minds are working so hard trying to figure out inequalities. And I’m like trying to just step into that process as an educator with some curriculum and help shape those ideas. But it’s just … I don’t know, you want it to be as easy as like, “let me just show you how it’s done a few times, and now you got it.” But whew, some of these ideas, they take a long time to form up and they’re really easily reshaped by lots of stuff going on. So that’s where I’m at, anxiety-wise, right now. The teacher anxiety stuff.
Bethany Lockhart Johnson (03:04):
I think there’s probably plenty of teachers who do kind of just say, this is how you do it. And so, from what I have seen of your teaching and what I know of the Desmos curriculum, it is such an opportunity to think hard about the things that we are assuming about our students, assuming about what we know about the math itself. And yeah, that requires some thought.
Dan Meyer (03:30):
Yeah, for sure. I came in ready, like, “When you multiply both sides of an inequality by a negative, this sign flips around.” And I could just say that to kids and say, “Hey, remember that! Write that down!” And a lot of them would do it really well, you know, provided the assessment problems looked like ones we’ve gone over in class. And they’re also learning — in addition to that math, they’re learning that math is a giant sack of tricks they gotta memorize, right? So there’s just these pros and cons. And at the end of the one period I’m gonna teach this week, I was like, “Well, your teacher’s gonna go over that tomorrow, when they’re with you instead of me.” So it felt a bit like I copped out on that one. And I’m just in in my feelings about that right now. And I’m gonna try to come on down here and be present in the math-anxiety world.
Bethany Lockhart Johnson (04:25):
I appreciate you sharing that, Dan. And I think … I have a feeling that you could write a pretty catchy rhyme to allow the students to flip and <starting to rap> “multiply by negative. and dit-dit-dit-dit.” Can you feel it? You picking up that beat?
Dan Meyer (04:40):
Ooh, yeah. A nice little beat. Uh-huh. Yup.
Bethany Lockhart Johnson (04:41):
Yeah. You know, you could come up with something pretty clever, and yet you did not lean on your wordsmithing skills. You said, “No, let us dive in.” So what are you gonna do with this lesson, by the way? What happens now? You popped in for one period, and then what happens?
Dan Meyer (05:03):
Yeah. So this is gonna be a blast. I hope you folks tune in. We’re gonna actually release the footage of me teaching this lesson live. You know, it’ll be replayed live. And on top of that, a couple of my favorite teacher coaches and just smart people about teaching are going to be giving commentary. They are gonna be giving the director’s commentary, the sports announcers’ commentary on what they’re seeing. I beg for their generosity in their commentary. But I think it’ll be a lot of fun. I’ve never seen anything like this before, a commentary track on top of a teaching lesson, in this way. So I’m just gonna gonna be excited to see what they noticed that I didn’t, what they might have done, the thoughts they might have. Maybe I’ll do a post-game interview, you know.
Bethany Lockhart Johnson (05:50):
Ooh, yes!
Dan Meyer (05:50):
With my towel around my neck, <laugh> looking all sweaty.
Bethany Lockhart Johnson (05:54):
Ready, set, grow!
Dan Meyer (05:55):
Like, “Yup, we gave it all out there, you know, just a real team effort.” You know, that kind of thing. We’ll see how that goes.
Bethany Lockhart Johnson (06:02):
I actually love that idea. I love that it’s not just this one random lesson that just kind of floats out there, and it’s about, you walk away with whatever feelings you have, and the students obviously walk away, but that this is gonna help other educators.
Dan Meyer (06:17):
Yeah. Yeah. We’ll multiply my anxiety and make it more people’s anxiety. We’ll see how that goes. So stay tuned on the Math Teacher Lounge feed for that. All right?
Bethany Lockhart Johnson (06:25):
All right! And speaking of anxiety, Dan Meyer, we gotta get to today’s show. You know, last time we had some amazing strategies for helping students from Dr. Truglio from Sesame Workshop. I gotta tell you, I sent that episode to so many of my friends, like, “Listen to these ideas!” and have had some interesting follow-up conversations. And we would love to hear what you think about this season so far, at MTLShow on Twitter or in our Facebook group, Math Teacher Lounge. So today, we’re gonna focus on strategies for supporting teachers.
Dan Meyer (07:00):
Yes. Which is why we’re so excited to bring to you folks Heidi Sabnani, who — we’ve had researchers. We’ve had Sesame Workshoppers. And Heidi Sabnani has been a classroom teacher; she’s teacher-consultant; newly minted doctoral degree holder. We’re so pumped to bring to you folks: Heidi Sabnani.
Bethany Lockhart Johnson (07:25):
Dr. Sabnani, thank you for being here. Can we call you Dr. Heidi? What would you. …
Dr. Heidi Sabnani (07:31):
You can just call me Heidi. Yeah. Heidi is good.
Dan Meyer (07:36):
Right on.
Bethany Lockhart Johnson (07:36):
- Heidi, thank you for joining us in the Lounge. We’re so excited to talk with you.
Dr. Heidi Sabnani (07:41):
I am super-honored to be here. It’s really exciting and I just really appreciate the opportunity.
Bethany Lockhart Johnson (07:47):
I will say I don’t have a PhD, although the two people I’m talking with right now, both do, and you’re both like holding up your degrees as we speak and saying, “Wah-wah.” But I imagine that if I did, I’d wanna throw that doctor in more frequently, so.
Dr. Heidi Sabnani (08:02):
Well—
Bethany Lockhart Johnson (08:03):
If I sneak in a “Doctor,” Heidi, it’s only out of respect.
Dr. Heidi Sabnani (08:05):
- I appreciate it.
Bethany Lockhart Johnson (08:07):
Dan makes me call him Dr. Meyer all the time.
Dan Meyer (08:10):
You don’t call me Dr. Dan or Dr. Meyer, ever. So—
Bethany Lockhart Johnson (08:13):
I will now!
Dan Meyer (08:14):
—this respect only goes towards Dr. Heidi, it seems. But yeah, we’ll take that off the air.
Bethany Lockhart Johnson (08:19):
Well, we are going to delve into your research on math anxiety soon, because I actually — speaking of becoming a doctor, a new doctor, I have some questions. We have questions about your research, but on a personal level, I really appreciated the way that you share that you yourself experienced math anxiety as a student. So I’m wondering if you could tell us a bit about your own math anxiety, your <laugh> journey through math.
Dr. Heidi Sabnani (08:50):
Yeah, so much like the people in the research that I did, and with the research that I read by others, many of us can tie the beginnings — or like the evil villain origin story of math anxiety — to a particular event, or series of events. And my series of events started, the big blow-up, I guess, in fourth grade. And I had had some struggles in school — I have mild dyslexia and dyscalculia. And so I had always been in the special group of kids who got some extra attention <laugh> from the teacher, or from an aide, or whoever happened to be in the room. But in fourth grade — at that time, they taught multiplication and division facts in fourth grade. Many, many moons ago. And I struggled greatly with just understanding what was happening and why we were moving so quickly. And, my teacher was probably not the best person to be entrusted with my learning at the time. Like, her style may have been OK for others, but it was obvious that she felt like kind of wasting her time with some people in the classroom. And I happened to be one of those people.
Bethany Lockhart Johnson (10:26):
Mmm. You said that really diplomatically, though. <Laugh>
Dr. Heidi Sabnani (10:30):
Well, you know, you look back at things from the perspective of many years. And having made lots of mistakes myself in the classroom as a teacher, I try to give some grace to things that happened, and how you remember them. Yeah, that’s my story, but maybe she had a different one, right?
Bethany Lockhart Johnson (10:55):
Yeah. But fourth grade Heidi was still, you know, still experiencing that. Yeah.
Dr. Heidi Sabnani (11:01):
Yeah. Fourth-grade Heidi didn’t like being in the “dumb group” and didn’t like being told that she would probably not graduate from high school. So that was kind of the general environment. And I got further and further behind in math. The dyslexia was less and less of an issue the older I got, because I had great comprehension. And so I could figure out the fluency thing just by the pattern of language, because mine is mild in comparison to so many who struggle with that. But math was not working in that same way. And I got more and more behind and to the point where I was having to stay in every day at recess. And I had had it after like a month. Like, I’m not staying in at recess anymore to do this math that I don’t understand, by myself. Like, not doing it. So I—
Bethany Lockhart Johnson (11:53):
Which, by the way, if there’s one way to make you hate it, <laugh> like, to engender, to endear you to a subject, could it be, “Let’s have you stay in at recess”?
Dr. Heidi Sabnani (12:07):
Right. And so one day I just stormed out of the classroom, I was like, “I’m not coming. I’m not staying, I’m not doing this anymore. I’m done.” And I can remember her standing up at the top of the hill screaming at me to come back, and I was like, “No way. Not doing it. Done with this.” I went to a parochial school, though, and my dad is a pastor. So that whole little incident blew up in the greater community in a way that I didn’t really anticipate as a fourth grader. And my parents had no idea that this was going on. And so they were shocked and dismayed that their — up until that point — oldest child, rule-follower, had done this. But then even more upset when they found out what was happening with my math understanding, or lack thereof. And they did what they knew best at the time. So my mom was a great memorizer. She has a brain like an elephant. And my dad grew up in the British system in India and Singapore, and it was at that time very much based on memorization. And so they were like, “We are gonna just work really hard. We’re gonna buckle down and do this thing <laugh>.” And so that’s what we did, and that’s where all of it began. It was not — it was just about “We’re gonna learn the facts. We’re not gonna ask questions; we’re not gonna think about it, because it’s just the rules. And if you can figure out the rules or the system or what the teacher wants, and mimic what the teacher is doing, then you’ll be successful.” And it was really successful for me, once I figured that out all the way through. My whole goal in high school when I took high school math was to take enough math courses with a high-enough GPA that when I got my BA in college, that I would never have to take math again. And I succeeded in that and got an English degree and a Master’s in world lit. And I was in no way doing math ever again.
Bethany Lockhart Johnson (14:31):
But little did you know that Future You was going to be researching math anxiety. How did you wind up researching it then? How did you wind up researching math anxiety?
Dr. Heidi Sabnani (14:43):
So I took a job in school improvement when I was working in Ohio, after a number of years teaching high school English in Southern California and Guatemala and Michigan, all over the place. And I took a job in school improvement with a co-consultant who was gonna be doing the math end, and I was gonna be doing the literacy end, and we were just gonna go in, and I was gonna make kids love reading, and she was gonna make kids love math, and it was gonna be so fun. And then she decided she didn’t like working with adults and they couldn’t find anyone else. And my boss said, “So you’re just gonna do both for the rest of the year.” After that year, I got requested to go back and, and do this again. I said, “Well, if I’m gonna do this, I’m going to go back and reteach myself the math in ways that I wish that fourth-grade Heidi had learned it, and fourth-grade-and-up Heidi had learned it.” And so that was like the, the beginning of the switch. And so now equal amounts of time in my career have been spent in both. But when I started, when I continued working, when I left the classroom to continue working with teachers, and when I transitioned more into an elementary setting, I began to notice the same behaviors that I had in high school of avoiding math, and avoiding teaching math, were happening in the classrooms that I was supporting. And so I would have teachers come and say, “Oh, can we talk about this literacy thing?” And even if it was like a math meeting, or we were supposed to split the time evenly, and ohhh, for some reason the literacy time talk would just like move over <laugh>. And then there was no time to talk about math at the end. And “Oh, that’s just too bad.” Like, we’re just gonna move on to this next thing. Funny how that happens, right?
Bethany Lockhart Johnson (16:32):
Yeah. <laugh>.
Dr. Heidi Sabnani (16:34):
And noticing teachers’ behaviors around going to and or avoiding math professional development that I was giving. Or getting sick. Or like having to leave the room for a long period of time. And so I began to notice these behaviors. And initially I thought I wanted to look at math anxiety in children, which is one branch of the research that I started with. But as I got into things more, the people that I have the most influence in are adults right now.
Dan Meyer (17:09):
Right.
Dr. Heidi Sabnani (17:09):
And so as I started looking at the research that had already been done, I feel like we do a really nice job of admiring the problem of math anxiety, and we do less in the “what to do about” phase. And so I was like, “Well, if I’m going to continue to be in this career and in this profession, then I need to be doing something in the space of ‘what are we gonna do about it?’” And so that’s how I switched to looking at “what do we do to help teachers?” Particularly elementary school teachers, because that’s the area of greatest need, based on previous research that we could at least do something to help.
Dan Meyer (17:51):
Yeah. A previous guest mentioned that a lot of research is better understood as me-search, especially in this kind of arena, where we’re going back in to try to understand what it was that happened for us and how to prevent it for future generations. And I have nothing but respect for that motivation right there. And your point is well-put, that it is very possible to spend a ton of time examining math anxiety from every angle, every facet, you know, put it up there on a mounted board and admire it … and there’s a lot of value there, but I appreciate that you’re moving into, “So, now what?”
Dr. Heidi Sabnani (18:27):
Yep.
Dan Meyer (18:28):
And so I’d love if you’d share with us and our listeners the broad details of your study, and what you ultimately found. Like, if there are any large takeaways here, what were they?
Dr. Heidi Sabnani (18:40):
Yeah. So a couple of things to kind of just lay a little bit of the groundwork. One out of four teachers say that they have math anxiety. Those numbers increase rapidly, the younger of the grades that the teachers teach. So if we think about preK to two, it’s about 88%, based on other people’s research. So I was like, “Well that’s a lot of people <laugh>!” And so, that’s the scope of the problem. And so I was thinking, “OK, what do we do in these moments?” Because other researchers had said they’re spending — when they don’t like it, they’re spending less time teaching math and avoiding it, or relying on methods that were done to us. Just out of fear of trying something different, at many times. And so one thing that has become more prominent in math education since I transitioned 16 years ago into this has been the role of coaches in school systems. And so one of the questions I wanted to think about was, “What can coaches or math specialists who work with adults as well do to help the teachers that they work with?” So that was kind of the lens that I was looking at. Like, let’s think about the systems that we currently have in place. Is there something that we could be doing that would help teachers, that wouldn’t be so huge or so monumental that with little shifts in our own behavior as coaches or professional development providers that we could make that would make a difference? So that being said, this was a qualitative study, so a small group of people in very intense settings. So I kind of always wanna preface that, because in academic world, you know, there’s <laugh> all sorts of thoughts about that. So I had asked teachers from districts that I work with who self-identified as having math anxiety if they would be interested in the study. So, this is what we’re thinking of, this is what it would look like, and the scope of the support they would have.
Bethany Lockhart Johnson (20:50):
So basically you’re tracking these four teachers who self-identified as math anxious. And were you serving as their coach and kind of seeing what was working?
Dr. Heidi Sabnani (21:00):
I was serving as their coach. Yeah. I was serving as their coach during that time period. And some fairly recent research that had been done was in the idea of “Can we do some reflective conversations or reflective writing around where your math anxiety started, and how that makes you feel both as a teacher of mathematics now, because you are teaching math, and how that affects your identity as a mathematician?” And so that was the first starting point. And that was a really critical moment that I’m glad that I had stumbled across the research on, because it turned out that having someone hear and acknowledge that what happened to them was both wrong and inappropriate, in many cases, and in a couple instances, was traumatic and also abusive — that that mattered. That it was OK to feel anger and hurt and frustration based on what happened to you in the past. And then have that moment to reflect on, “OK, so what do you want the classroom environment that you’re building as a teacher to feel like for your students?” So it was turning that moment of how they felt to thinking about, then, what kind of environment do we wanna make within the math classroom? And what steps can we take to ensure that happens? So that was like, Step One is just thinking about what that looks like. What kind of math identities then do you want to create for your students? Because all of the teachers were very concerned with not continuing the cyclical nature that often happens with math anxiety, from teacher to student and back again.
Bethany Lockhart Johnson (22:54):
Well, and even that validation, right? Like, how many of them hadn’t even had, like you said, had that? We had another, when in our first episode, Dr. Gerardo Ramirez talked about that validation and how key.
Dr. Heidi Sabnani (23:09):
Yeah. That was the first thing. The next step of it, which very different from what I often do — I don’t generally go in and model for teachers — just me, taking over your classroom. I really like to co-plan with teachers and co-teach with teachers and have it not feel like they’re losing control over what’s happening in that moment. And that’s generally the way that I go in when I’m doing professional development in a classroom, right? Like, I’m working with the teacher and we’re a team; we’re doing this together. But in these four cases, these teachers were very, very resistant <laughs> to co-teaching. And so I said, “OK, well, let’s throw everything out. Let’s try whatever it happens to be.” So the modeling aspect turned out to be really important, in part when three out of the four cases, because they were like, “Oh, I can do that.” <laugh> like, Well, yeah, I know you can! Like, it was that having a moment to sit back and see someone else doing it — which is harder to do when you’re co-teaching, right? It’s harder to be reflective in the moment when you’re still thinking about the teaching choices you’re making, because you’re both co-teaching.
Bethany Lockhart Johnson (24:24):
Right. Or sometimes you see, like in co-teaching, it falls into “one teach, one manage,” you know, or something like that.
Dr. Heidi Sabnani (24:31):
Yes.
Bethany Lockhart Johnson (24:31):
I have definitely fallen into that. But you, by modeling … it was almost, I don’t know, it feels like you’re kind of holding their hand. Like, “I’ll show you!” And not that it has to exactly look like that, right? But you found if a coach is coming in and the teacher gets to sit back and basically watch their students learn, they’re probably gettinga ton of information about their students, and they’re really learning some teaching strategies for mathematics that they can then like dip their toe in. I think? <Laugh> Am I kind of thinking of this? I’m trying to picture this and it feels rich and rife with possibilities <laugh>.
Dr. Heidi Sabnani (25:16):
Well, and it, it turned it from … I think sometimes, when I go into a classroom, I learn so much from watching teachers and being able to sit and listen to students, that you don’t always have the luxury of when you’re the teacher. <Laugh> Right? It’s so much harder to be like, “OK, I’m gonna be watching what a kid does, because I’m hoping someone uses this strategy, so I can connect it to this other person’s strategy, so that we can take that apart and look at it and really have immediate discussion around it.” Those are all so many things that are happening in the moment as a teacher. You don’t get to sit back and look at it from a researcher kind of lens. Or look, you know, from the up-above lens. And when I had these conversations with teachers, I was like, “That’s what I want you to do. I want you to be able to sit back and look at all the things that are happening.” Because then you begin to notice not only the moves that the teacher — in this case, me — who was modeling for them was doing, but also the student conversations. And it was almost like having a case study within that moment, where they got to sit back and just experience, versus thinking about all the decisions that they would make at the moment. So that was something that was really surprising to me.
Dan Meyer (26:33):
Yeah. And I love the idea that they’re seeing the pedagogical moves, but they’re also experiencing perhaps a sense of math that’s de-stressed. You know, they are allowing themselves to sit next to students and feel as though they are a student, in ways that if you’re co-teaching, you are still like enmeshed in the gears of the whole lesson. I wonder if that’s a part of this too. So I’m hearing from you that we’re taking these teachers who have all admitted to some math anxiety, and that one of the interventions, or one of the findings, was that modeling worked really well for, again, this set of teachers. But you modeling lessons that highlighted mathematics, that was less anxious, that helped the teachers see that students were engaging in really productive un-anxious ways, brave ways. Were there other kinds of takeaways that you experienced there?
Dr. Heidi Sabnani (27:24):
Yeah. So in addition to that, we had to think about and start at Step One. One of the teachers that I worked with had done her student teaching with a teacher who had math anxiety, and who never taught math. And so she entered her teaching career, never having taught math before or seen it taught. And so in her situation, she had had one course in her teacher preparation program, that was on fractions.
Bethany Lockhart Johnson (27:54):
That’s often the case, right? One math methods course! Help, we have to get it all in in this semester! <Laugh>
Dr. Heidi Sabnani (28:01):
<Laugh> Yes. And so she came in and said, “I feel like I have to start at the beginning.” And so there was no question that was inappropriate, or that we weren’t going to explore or think about. And so that was, I think, the starting place with that particular teacher. And then one other, who was kind of in her same age range, where we had to start thinking about, “OK, how did you learn as a learner? What ways are you seeing your students learn as learners? And then let’s focus on those first as the areas that you wanna explore in your teaching.” And so a lot of that ended up being much more visual and hands-on ways of exploring. And so those were some of the changes in, I think, pedagogy that were the most significant. In a couple of cases, these are early elementary teachers who had had one experience with manipulatives in their whole teaching career up until that point. And so one teacher brought me a bucket of Cuisenaire rods and said, “These are in my room. I don’t know what they are. <Laugh> Are we building things with them? Are they blocks that are just small? <Laugh> Like what are they for?”
Bethany Lockhart Johnson (29:20):
Yes!
Dr. Heidi Sabnani (29:21):
And so, <laugh> it was that idea of, “OK, let’s, let’s explore all the different ways that we can use these, and that we can think about how your students might learn best with this particular tool that you have in your room.”
Bethany Lockhart Johnson (29:34):
So hearing you talk about this research — which by the way, I know, you’re like, for our listeners, it’s all, “Quick, boil down your years and hours of research and synthesize it for us.”
Dan Meyer (29:50):
Your life’s work.
Bethany Lockhart Johnson (29:50):
In a little tiny neat package. But really though, even though I know there’s so many layers to your research, and your work with these teachers, I wanna flag for our listeners that even the things that you’ve identified for us, you were giving teachers space — as coach, giving teachers space, and validating their experience as a mathematician, as you know, as a young student, right? Making space for that experience and validating “Yeah, that was really lousy and your math anxiety is real.” Like, Step One is already powerful. And then you’re creating space where they get to be in their classroom as a learner, right? And have a lesson modeled. And then you’re creating more <laugh> space for them to learn and ask questions. And I have absolutely seen teachers like, “I don’t know what to do with these,” and kind of shove aside the district-provided tools or the curriculum-provided tools. And so even those things, Heidi — Dr. Heidi <laugh> — you know, even if … I don’t know, for me, I am listening to you and just holding those points in mind and feeling like that, alone, if a coach did even just that … I know there’s so much more to it, but what a powerful opportunity for reclaiming math as an educator, right? That’s what I’m feeling.
Dr. Heidi Sabnani (31:25):
Well, and I was hoping that there wouldn’t be … I mean, OK, it’s a double-sided hope. If there was something like so novel and so fantastic that was so different from the things that we have already at our disposal, that would’ve made a much better book or dissertation. <Laugh> But the reality is, there are things that we already know work. And we don’t often take the time or, or are given the time to be able to explore those things. Right? So even as coaches, you have district initiatives or things like, “this is what we’re working on this year,” and that’s fantastic, right? We keep those things moving forward. But if we’re thinking about coaching teachers with math anxiety, no teacher with math anxiety is going to be coming to NCTM.
Dan Meyer (32:16):
Right. Right. Or the training.
Dr. Heidi Sabnani (32:19):
Or the training. They’re like, “Oh, PD day? Literacy! Yes, please! Bye!” You know, it’s that piece of it. So when we have these moments, the coaching is the opportunity to provide that just-in-time kind of professional development for teachers, if we go at it in a slightly different way. It does not have to be huge. It can be things like, they feel that they’re stronger in literacy. Well, then, let’s explore some of the ideas around math, anxiety and math identity and examples of people who’ve overcome either those things or other barriers in their life. And how can those things help form not only your students’ math identity, but your math identity. And it gives entry points in ways that you have access to if you’re a person’s coach.
Dan Meyer (33:18):
So in that sense, I’d love to know from you, if someone came to you at a coach’s meeting at NCSM and asked you, “What is something I can do right now to support the teachers at my site and my district, who are commonly experiencing math anxiety?” What is something that you would offer them in that brief moment you had with that coach?
Dr. Heidi Sabnani (33:40):
So it is hearing their story first. That’s the big one. And then, can you, in your coaching, provide opportunities to slow down? We all have these pacing guides in some form or another, that drive the things that are coming. Is there a way that you can set up meetings a month or more in advance of the content that those teachers are going to teach? Can we explore a month in advance, that content? And ways to teach it and understand it? There’s the ways to teach it, but there’s also like, “What is this math and how do kids experience this math?” What kind of experiences do we want to have ourselves as learners and then have as kids? If we can create cycles like that, that then don’t feel so rushed. It’s so hard when we’re like, “Oh, we have a planning meeting and we’re meeting with our coach!” And you’re teaching this lesson tomorrow. “Learn all this stuff about adding and subtracting on a number line. Go!” It’s so fast. And so if we had those opportunities to build in cycles, where we could slow down that process, it would make a huge difference in the lives of so many teachers. And it’s finding that time and the willingness. If you listen to teachers, they will work with you. If you validate what happens to them, and acknowledge that sometimes that still happens to us. I mean, I still have experiences like that. Sometimes I’ll walk into a classroom and I’m like, “Oh, I forgot how to do that!” You know, like, “I’ve not reached that far in my remaking of my own education!”
Bethany Lockhart Johnson (35:24):
Yehhhh, heh heh heh.
Dr. Heidi Sabnani (35:25):
<laugh>. And you think, “I don’t wanna look like an idiot. I’m the math consultant who’s here to duh duh duh.” All of those things still come up. Yeah. And stopping and saying like, “OK, everybody, this is what’s happening to me right now.” <laugh> The vulnerability you have, you have to think about that. Even if you don’t have experiences of math anxiety in your own life. Let’s say you always rocked out in math, and you’re now a math specialist and you love it. You think it’s the most spectacular thing. There’s some other element in your life where you face some anxiety. All of us do. So it’s about thinking about, “OK, this is where I experience anxiety. Can I find that in the teachers that I work with? And then, can my teachers find that in the students they work with?” You know, the teachers, as they begin to reflect on their own experiences, began noticing which students always went to the nurse during math time, always asked to go to the bathroom during math time, always couldn’t find a pencil, or whatever it happened to be. And they began to be more aware of their students’ behaviors as well, and could then say, “Hey, let’s sit and talk about how you feel in math class. Like, I’ve been noticing that when it’s time for math, like your stomach hurts. Can we talk about like why that might be?” Because those teachers with math are more attuned, often, to those students. And so it just … the time factor, I guess is, is the bottom line.
Bethany Lockhart Johnson (36:59):
I just wanna say, it’s so great to have you in the Lounge. Because I think you’re really bringing this perspective that we haven’t talked about, which … we are not expecting coaches to walk in and know it all. That’s actually the exact opposite. You are allowed to be vulnerable. We are not saying, “Come,” quote-unquote, “Fix this.” It’s like, “Hey, how can you facilitate and make space?” And I feel like you have given us just a taste of like how that might be possible. And you know, I think even if it’s just a chance for teachers to reflect on their own experience in math, even that would probably be kind of revolutionary for — and I don’t say that word lightly — for some PD spaces, especially if they have another peer in their team that is like quote-unquote, “a whiz,” or like, “Oh, I don’t feel like I can be vulnerable in my math anxiety because this teacher seems to know it all.” But you’re creating space where it’s like, “Hey, we all have strengths. We all have areas where we could support each other.” And I love that invitation for coaches. I love that invitation for teachers. And … yeah. I’m just, I’m so glad we get a snapshot of your research. Again, I know, I respect that this is not the whole thing!
Dan Meyer (38:22):
Can we find … is there a link to your dissertation in the show notes, for those of us who peruse dissertations? Can we add something here? Think about —
Dr. Heidi Sabnani (38:29):
Oh, I have no idea!
Dan Meyer (38:30):
Just think about it. Just think about it. But —
Dr. Heidi Sabnani (38:34):
It’s somewhere on ProQuest. It did get some. …
Dan Meyer (38:36):
Right on.
Bethany Lockhart Johnson (38:36):
Is that a thing, Dan? Could I go, like, Google your dissertation?
Dan Meyer (38:39):
You definitely could. Yeah, for sure. It’s around. Yeah, same way. Well, that’s awesome. And I think it’s so helpful for those who write those enormous unwieldy essays to, you know, distill it in different ways. I hope it’s been … we’ve enjoyed so much, hearing you carve up a huge project into pieces that were really helpful for us to think about here in the Lounge. Thank you so much for coming on and hanging out with us. Dr. Sabnani, it’s been a pleasure.
Dr. Heidi Sabnani (39:06):
Hey, I’m happy to do it any time. Always the biggest joy in the work that I do is little changes in a positive direction.
Dan Meyer (39:18):
Right on.
Dr. Heidi Sabnani (39:19):
That’s all that this is about. Right? Whether it’s kids, whether it’s teachers, whether it’s administration. The work that we all do is so valuable, and it is more and more difficult over time. And just giving ourselves a little bit of space to think about and acknowledge that, I think, is really important. So I appreciate you all making space as well. And thinking about this idea. Because <laugh> we’re math people! And we don’t have math anxiety! Right?
Bethany Lockhart Johnson (39:51):
<laugh>
Dan Meyer (39:51):
So people would assume
Dr. Heidi Sabnani (39:54):
<laugh>. Yeah.
Bethany Lockhart Johnson (39:54):
Thank you so much. You’re welcome back in the Lounge anytime. <laugh> Thanks so much for listening to our conversation with Dr. Heidi Sabnani, consultant and co-host of the show “Math for All.” I can’t get enough about talking about math anxiety!
Dan Meyer (40:13):
Especially from people who are working with teachers so closely.
Bethany Lockhart Johnson (40:18):
Yes, totally. I loved that lens of, “Hey, look at what happens if we actually focus on the teacher’s experience and help them kind of reclaim this comfort, this sense of identity, relationship with math that’s positive. How does that impact their teaching?” I loved talking about it, and I’m really interested in how that work continues to evolve. So thank you so much Dr. Sabnani, for your time. And you know, listeners, please keep in touch with us on our Facebook, in our discussion group, Math Teacher Lounge Community, or you can find us on Twitter at MTL show.
Dan Meyer (40:58):
If you haven’t already, please subscribe to Math Teacher Lounge, wherever you get podcasts. Also, if you like what you’re hearing, please rate us and leave us a review. It will help more listeners find the show. And it just makes me and Bethany feel good about ourselves, too. You can find more information on all of Amplify’s shows at our new podcast hub. Go to Amplify.com/hub.
Bethany Lockhart Johnson (41:20):
You know, Dan, I also always like to say, I find most of my podcasts through recommendations from other listeners, friends, folks. So if you like what you’re hearing, share it in your teacher lounge. Just, like, on break, turn it up and start vibing and having the conversation right there.
Dan Meyer (41:40):
Yep. Yep. I got a better idea. Take the link to this podcast and then copy it and find the longest — the thread in your inbox with the most people on it. One of those ones that’s like, someone accidentally cc’d like 500 people, everyone at your school. Press “reply.” This is crucial. Not “reply,” but “reply all.” Paste that link in. Press “send.” Watch what happens.
Bethany Lockhart Johnson (42:04):
Nothing but good —
Dan Meyer (42:04):
Good fortune will be yours.
Bethany Lockhart Johnson (42:06):
Nothing but good things can happen when you send this to 500 people in the next 10 minutes. Next time on Math Teacher Lounge, we’re gonna be joined by Dr. Marjorie Schaeffer of St. Mary’s College for a conversation about math anxiety, and specifically Dan, how parents and caregivers, how their disposition influences the way their kiddos feel about math.
Dr. Marjorie Schaeffer (42:29):
I think the most important thing we know from literature right now is that high-math-anxious parents, when they interact with their children, their children learn less math over the course of the school year.
Bethany Lockhart Johnson (42:40):
And get this, she’s gonna talk to us about an app that just might be something worth, you know, heading over to the app store for.
Dan Meyer (42:49):
I’ve used some apps, I have opinions, and I can’t wait. We just share recommendations on apps with Dr. Schaeffer.
Bethany Lockhart Johnson (42:56):
That’s next time on Math Teacher Lounge. Thanks so much for listening.
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Meet the guest
Heidi Sabnani is always surprised that she works in math education. She developed math anxiety as a young student and spent much of her school life and early career avoiding math. After teaching English in the United States and Guatemala, and earning her MA in World Literature, she found herself in the uncomfortable position of working in math classrooms as a school improvement consultant. Once she realized that her life was going to involve math, Heidi decided to relearn math in the ways she wished she had learned the first time around. 18 years later she is still learning with and from the students and teachers she has the privilege to serve.
Heidi’s doctoral research at Northeastern University focused on interventions for math anxiety in elementary teachers. She currently works as a consultant, speaker, and author.
About Math Teacher Lounge
Math Teacher Lounge is a biweekly podcast created specifically for K–12 math educators. In each episode co-hosts Bethany Lockhart Johnson (@lockhartedu) and Dan Meyer (@ddmeyer) chat with guests, taking a deep dive into the math and educational topics you care about.
Join the Math Teacher Lounge Facebook group to continue the conversation, view exclusive content, interact with fellow educators, participate in giveaways, and more!
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Discovering and exploring mathematics in every story
Every picture book on your classroom shelf holds mathematical treasures waiting to be discovered! What if every read-aloud could go beyond a literacy moment to become a catalyst for mathematical sense-making? This question lies at the heart of Allison Hintz and Antony T. Smith’s delightful and informative book, Mathematizing Children’s Literature: Sparking Connections, Joy, and Wonder Through Read-Alouds and Discussion.
Many teachers have used traditional counting books and shape-focused stories to support students in connecting mathematics to literature. According to Hintz and Smith, you can challenge readers to extend and expand upon these experiences in ways that provide more space for them to make sense of stories; ask their own questions; see mathematics authentically in the world; and make connections between the stories, the math, and their lives. That’s the promise of mathematizing—approaching any story with a mathematical lens.
The concept of “mathematizing” goes beyond simply finding numbers in a story. Children are naturally curious and construct meaning by noticing, exploring, explaining, and modeling. The story context becomes a place to play and practice seeing math everywhere in our world. As we read a story aloud and pause to ask, “What do you notice? What do you wonder?,” students are able to surface structure, compare quantities, model situations, and justify their ideas, all while staying rooted in characters, plot, setting, and theme. The result is a classroom where math feels joyful, meaningful, connected, and accessible.
In this post, we’ll explore simple moves to mathematize your next read-aloud, sample prompts to elevate discussion, and follow-up activities to turn your library into a launchpad for mathematical thinking!
Mathematizing process and structure
While there’s no one way to facilitate a mathematical read-aloud, the following steps can help you get started:
- Explore books in your current library. There are no hard and fast rules for choosing the right book to mathematize, because a book can spark mathematical ideas in many ways. Look for books that a) are overtly ‘mathy’ where the math is central to the story’s plot, b) have illustrations that provide opportunities to explore the math in them, and/or c) have a story that inspires mathematical thinking, even if the math isn’t central to the story’s plot.
- Read the book aloud for the first time. The first read is a wonderful opportunity for students to hear and enjoy the story itself.
- Ask students what they noticed and wondered. As students share their responses, record them on a piece of chart paper to revisit later. If no responses pertain to the math in the story, you can follow up with the question, “Where did you see math in the story?”
- Reread the book a second time or revisit a specific page in the book. At this point, you want to start to focus on the math the students will explore in the book. You can either reread the entire story and pause on strategic pages that center on the mathematical ideas, or revisit specific pages in the story. (If the story is longer,it will probably be easiest to just flip back to specific pages.)
- Elicit student thinking. Ask students what math questions they could ask based on the pages they revisited.
- Give students a follow-up math activity. This could be based on a question the students mentioned earlier in this process, or one the teacher has planned.
Mathematizing examples
To save you time finding a book to use, we’ve outlined a plan based on some of our favorite books to mathematize (listed by grade band).
| Grade level | K–1 |
| Book title and author | Bear Says Thanks by Karma Wilson |
| Mathematical focus | Counting, addition, and mathematical representations |
| Launch | Read the story aloud. Ask students, “What do you notice? What do you wonder?” Record their responses on a piece of chart paper. And ask students, “How many friends visited Bear? What different food items did Bear’s friends bring?” |
| Pages to revisit | As students describe the different foods, revisit those pages. Identify any foods the students didn’t mention. As you revisit each page, ask students, “How many of that food item did that friend bring? ”Record their responses on a piece of chart paper for each friend. |
| Activity | Arrange students in small groups of 3–4 and give them a piece of poster paper. Ask students to show each friend’s food items. They can represent them using pictures, counters, ten-frames, etc. After they’ve correctly represented each friend, ask them to show how many total food items Bear’s friends brought using numbers and equations. When they’ve finished, have them visit one another’s posters to see how others represented and added the food items. |
| Grade level | 2–3 |
| Book title and author | 100 Hungry Ants by Elinor J. Pinczes |
| Mathematical focus | Connecting arrays to expressions |
| Launch | Read the story aloud. Ask students, “What do you notice? What do you wonder?” Record their responses on a piece of chart paper. And ask students, “How did the ants rearrange themselves throughout the book?” |
| Pages to revisit | As students describe the different arrangements of ants, revisit those pages so students have a visual of the array. As you revisit each page, ask students, “How many ants are in each row? Each column? What is an equation we can write to represent the array?” Record their responses on a piece of chart paper. |
| Activity | Arrange students in small groups of 3–4 and give them a piece of poster paper. Give each group a different number of ants. Suggested numbers are: 12, 24, 36, 20, 18. Ask students to draw all of the different ways their number of ants could rearrange themselves and record an equation to match each. If it’s helpful, you can give each group a set of cubes, counters, or beans to represent the ants so they can manipulate them. Wrap up the activity by having students visit one another’s posters and discussing the similarities and differences between them. |
| Grade level | 4–5 |
| Book title and author | Dozens of Doughnuts by Carrie Finison |
| Mathematical focus | Multiplication and division |
| Launch | Read the story aloud. Ask students, “What do you notice? What do you wonder?” Record their responses on a piece of chart paper. And ask students, “How many ways did Luanne share her doughnuts as friends arrived at her door?” |
| Pages to revisit | As students describe the different ways Luanne shared her doughnuts, revisit those pages. As you revisit each page, ask students, “How many doughnuts were being shared? By how many animals? ”Record their responses on a piece of chart paper. |
| Activity | Arrange students in small groups of 3–4 and give them each a piece of poster paper. Ask them to show all of the ways Luanne shared her doughnuts. To enable variation, refrain from specifying the representation they should use. After they’ve finished, ask them to do a Gallery Walk to each other’s posters to get ideas to add to their poster. If none of the groups have a multiplication and division equation for each way, ask students to record those as well. Ask students how Luanne could have shared a dozen doughnuts with the following number of animals showing up at her door: 5, 8, 10, 14, 16, and 18. Encourage students to show their work and record multiplication and division equations. |
And with all the upcoming holidays and opportunities to gather with friends and family, we were also inspired to use Spaghetti and Meatballs for All! by Marilyn Burns in a mathematizing read-aloud. Follow this link to find K–2 and 3–5 lesson plans for this book that you can use right away!
Making reading comprehension connections
Comprehension isn’t just a process, or just a product—it’s both. And connecting reading and understanding is what most teachers are working on every day.
That fundamental connection was the focus of our recent Science of Reading Webinar Week: Comprehension Connections—Building the Bridge Between Reading and Understanding, a five-day, expert-filled series that unpacked what really drives comprehension, from early decoding to middle school mastery.
Here’s a quick look at what you’ll learn when you watch—and a few ideas you can use right away.
Day 1: What Is Reading Comprehension, Anyway?
Speaker: Susan Lambert, Ed.D., Chief Academic Officer, Literacy, Amplify; Host of Science of Reading: The Podcast
“Reading comprehension is more than just language comprehension. It’s language comprehension on the page, which makes it much more complex.” — Susan Lambert, Ed.D.
If you ask ten teachers to define comprehension, you might get twelve answers. Lambert opened the week by grounding everyone in the Science of Reading, including the Simple View of Reading and the Reading Rope. Skilled reading, she reminded viewers, is the result of multiple strands—decoding, language comprehension, and knowledge—woven together over time.
The takeaway? The most effective approaches don’t teach comprehension strategies—such as “find the main idea”—in isolation. Rather, they connect word recognition to meaning through rich texts, conversation, and writing. Whether you’re teaching second-grade reading comprehension or sixth-grade reading comprehension, students need the same thing: a clear path from sounding out words to making sense of ideas.
Day 2: Comprehension and Knowledge Building: A Two-Way Street
Speakers: Sonia Cabell, Ph.D., Sigmon Endowed Professor of Reading Education, Florida State University
HyeJin Hwang, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Department of Educational Psychology, University of Minnesota Twin Cities
“Better background knowledge leads to improved reading comprehension, which in turn enables readers to learn more from text, thereby building additional knowledge.” —HyeJin Hwang, Ph.D.
In their session, Sonia Cabell and HyeJin Hwang explored one of the clearest findings in reading research: Comprehension and knowledge develop together. Cabell began by explaining how comprehension (including oral language, background knowledge, vocabulary, syntax, and verbal reasoning) forms one of the essential strands of the Reading Rope.
Students can’t activate knowledge they don’t yet have. Teachers need to help them build it early, and intentionally. Cabell’s research found that integrating literacy and content instruction produced gains in vocabulary and content knowledge.
Likewise, Hwang’s two large-scale longitudinal studies showed that better knowledge instruction leads to better reading, which leads to even more knowledge. These findings held true across languages and grade levels, underscoring the universal value of content-rich instruction.
Classroom takeaways:
- Plan literacy units around connected science or social studies topics to build coherent knowledge.
- Use content-rich interactive read-alouds with discussion before, during, and after reading.
- Ask inferential comprehension questions (“Why?” “How?”) that require students to connect ideas using their own words.
- Encourage quick writing or drawing tasks that help students show what they’ve learned.
Day 3: Where and How to Measure Comprehension to Drive Improvement
Speakers: Danielle Damico, Ph.D., Executive Director of Learning Science, Amplify
Gina Biancarosa, Ed.D., Ann Swindells Chair in Education, University of Oregon
“Reading comprehension is both a process and a product.” —Danielle Damico, Ph.D.
Too often, comprehension is measured only as a finished product—how well students answer questions after reading—without revealing how they built understanding along the way. This session explored what comprehension actually involves: reading words accurately, understanding their meaning, applying background knowledge, and making inferences. As researcher Sharon Vaughn, Ph.D., has described, these interconnected skills all work together as students learn to read.
Biancarosa showed how looking at comprehension as a complex process helps teachers see student thinking in action. She described the major types of inferences—lexical, bridging, gap-filling, and causal—and the importance of understanding how students connect ideas and construct meaning.
Try this:
- Treat comprehension as ongoing thinking, not a one-time test score.
- Use brief think-alouds or class discussions to get a look at how students connect ideas.
- Match assessments to the precise question you’re trying to answer.
- Let assessment guide instruction—data should lead directly to next steps.
Day 4: Comprehension in Middle School: More Important Than Ever
Speaker: Deb Sabin, Chief Academic Officer, Amplify ELA
“Writing done right encodes knowledge. And discourse done right gets into the realm of higher-order thinking.” —Deb Sabin
By the time you’re teaching fourth-grade reading comprehension through sixth-grade reading comprehension, decoding should be automatic. At this stage, the upper strands of the Reading Rope—vocabulary, background knowledge, and syntax—move to the forefront. In this session, Deb Sabin highlighted how comprehension in middle school relies on academic knowledge, disciplinary vocabulary, and structured discourse—and how it truly blossoms when reading, writing, and speaking reinforce one another.
Classroom moves that help:
- Pair writing with reading: Even short, text-based responses consolidate knowledge in long-term memory.
- Use structured discussion (“accountable talk”), where students cite text evidence and build on one another’s ideas.
- Center rich, grade-level texts that challenge thinking and vocabulary.
Day 5: Finding the Missing Link in Reading Comprehension to Boost Literacy Success
Speaker: Julie A. Van Dyke, Ph.D., Clinical Assistant Professor, Yale University Child Study Center; Research Scientist, Yale-UConn Haskins Global Literacy Hub
“Teach phonics for decoding. Teach syntax for understanding.” —Julie A. Van Dyke, Ph.D.
In the final presentation of the series, Julie Van Dyke explored an often-overlooked element of comprehension: syntax—the way words combine to create meaning. Van Dyke argued that syntax is to comprehension what phonics is to decoding.
She illustrated how the Science of Reading and the Reading Rope locate syntax within the language-comprehension strands—critical to understanding who did what to whom in complex sentences. Explicitly teaching sentence structure helps all learners, including multilingual/English learners, access higher-level meaning.
Simple practices can make a difference:
- Have students paraphrase tricky sentences. (Starter question: “Who’s doing the action?”)
- Pull strong sentences from your class texts to show how structure shapes meaning.
- Encourage students to mirror those structures in their own writing.
What linked all five sessions together? The understanding that comprehension develops when teachers connect the code, the language, and the knowledge. Whether students are decoding in second grade or crafting essays in sixth, they thrive when we help them move from reading to understanding—step by step, strand by strand.
Watch all five on-demand recordings.
More to explore:
- Download your Comprehension 101 bundle.
- Read (and comprehend!): Reading comprehension strategies grounded in science
- Listen to this special Essentials episode of Science of Reading: The Podcast, where Susan Lambert and other experts distill key reading comprehension insights.
Frequently asked questions
Still have questions? We have answers. Check out the following FAQ.
Overview
- Amplify CKLA is based on research showing that closing the background knowledge gap is necessary for supporting the literacy development of all students. To that end, Amplify CKLA teaches literacy through the lens of cross-curricular domains in science, history, literature, and culture. It was developed in response to research that shows the critical impact of background knowledge on reading comprehension and college- and career-readiness.
- The program also reflects the latest early reading research showing the importance of explicit foundational skills instruction. The program develops students’ foundational literacy skills through a systematic scope and sequence with a focus on phonics.
Our research-based language arts curriculum is built on findings showing that higher-level reading comprehension depends on both automatic, fluent decoding and background knowledge. Combining well-established findings from the field of early literacy research with classroom-based feedback, Amplify CKLA ensures that children will learn to listen, speak, read, and write confidently and proficiently. For more information, view the Amplify CKLA Research Guide.
Amplify CKLA is a PreK–5 program. While the PreK and K–2 materials respect the important differences between early childhood education and formal schooling, the Grades 3–5 materials ensure a smooth transition to the academic rigors of middle school.
PreK
The focus in PreK is to maintain a developmentally appropriate early childhood setting; the structures, routines, and activities are engaging and children receive a solid foundation for future language arts instruction.
K–2
The focus in K–2 is developing fluent reading and writing skills, and enhancing language comprehension by building background knowledge and vocabulary. This is accomplished through two strands: the Skills Strand and the Knowledge Strand.
The Skills Strand focuses on decoding, encoding, grammar, handwriting, and the writing process, and it contains decodable chapter books for students to practice just-learned sound-spellings.
The Knowledge Strand builds background knowledge and vocabulary through carefully sequenced read-alouds and complex texts. Teachers read aloud stories that are more complex than the text students can decode on their own, enabling children to engage with complex texts and build background knowledge of a variety of connected topics in history, science, literature, and the arts.
3–5
In Grades 3–5, students are still focused on building reading and writing skills as well as knowledge and vocabulary, but the program no longer has two strands. The various lessons in each unit include read-alouds; whole-group, small-group, and partner reading; close reading; literal, inferential, and evaluative comprehension questions; vocabulary; grammar; writing; morphology and spelling (10–15 words per week); and unit assessments.
Program design
The Skills strand provides intentional and systematic support in building decoding skills. The lessons support learning related to phonemic awareness, sound-letter patterns (or spelling patterns), decoding (both in explicit lessons and with engaging decodable texts), writing mechanics, and writing structure and processes, for 60 minutes daily.
The Knowledge Strand develops young children’s language and background knowledge. By exposing children to rich and complex texts through daily read-alouds, engaging in text-based and analytic discussions of the text and content, and building connections from the text to the work of the classroom through extension activities, the Knowledge Strand provides daily, extensive (60 minutes) broadening and deepening of children’s oral language and comprehension.
Teaching the Skills Strand and Knowledge Strand in parallel helps students avoid cognitive overload and acquire advanced, complex vocabulary in the Knowledge Strand—in essence, reading to learn from day one—while becoming expert decoders in the Skills Strand. The program is designed to bring these two strands together in grades 3–5, as foundational skills and higher-level comprehension and meaning-making gradually intertwine.
The CKLA program takes a comprehensive approach to teaching the code of the English language in the Skills strand. While the English language has only 26 letters, these letters combine to create 150 spelling patterns that represent 44 sounds of language. In most reading programs, children are explicitly taught only a fraction of this information and must glean the rest from ad hoc and incidental exposure to these spelling patterns through text. CKLA focuses on explicitly teaching each of the 44 sounds and the 150 ways that these sounds are represented (via letters and letter combinations). This comprehensive approach assures educators that children have the knowledge they need to address any text and any word.
The Knowledge Strand reflects the fact that knowledge, comprehension, and vocabulary are intimately related. The materials are designed to provide children sustained time on a variety of domains (bodies of knowledge) through shared read-alouds and discussions. This coherent organization of content is critical to building knowledge, inferring new vocabulary, and enabling comprehension. The content-rich, intentionally sequenced nature of the read-alouds within the Knowledge Strand creates the optimal context for incidental and explicit vocabulary-learning opportunities. After the read-aloud, children analyze the text through interactive discussion questions, engage in activities that foster their comprehension of complex sentences and ideas, and extend the ideas of the read-aloud into other activities in the classroom. In this way, the lessons create rich, academically oriented, oral language experiences that promote both receptive and expressive language skills.
Amplify CKLA embeds a variety of diagnostic and classroom assessments into the program materials.
There are curriculum-based assessments of both foundational skills and content knowledge, placement assessments in Grades 1 and 2 for the Skills Strand, and end-of-year Skills Strand assessments in Grades K–3. These assessments are built into the units of instruction/domains within the Teacher Guides. In Grades 4–5, there are beginning-of-year assessments, frequent spelling assessments, and comprehensive unit assessments.
Formative Assessments are integrated into every lesson, allowing teachers to understand exactly how students are doing on meeting lesson goals and standards-based objectives.
Writing in multiple genres is taught through a process that builds from three highly scaffolded steps to seven flexible steps.
In addition to explicit lessons in handwriting, spelling, and grammar, writing is taught throughout K–5. Instruction begins with a three-step writing process: plan, draft, and edit. The process is reinforced as each new writing genre is addressed. Each genre is taught through a gradual reduction in scaffolding over a set of six lessons that includes teacher modeling, group practice, independent practice, and independent application. This systematic approach allows for continued support and predictable learning as children progress in their knowledge of text types and complexity of writing. By Grade 3, students have worked their way up to a five-step writing process: planning, drafting, revising, editing, and publishing. Beginning in Grade 4, the writing process expands to seven components: planning, drafting, sharing, evaluating, revising, and editing (and the optional component of publishing). An important change between the writing process in Grades 3–5 is that the writing process is no longer conceptualized as a series of scaffolded, linear steps that students follow in a set sequence. Rather, students move back and forth between components of the writing process in a flexible manner, similar to the process that mature and experienced writers follow. In addition to specific writing lessons, there are numerous writing opportunities for students throughout the curriculum.
Alignment to the CCSS
Fully implementing the Common Core Standards requires some shifts in prevailing instructional approaches. For early grades language arts, these shifts can be summarized as (1) balancing fiction and nonfiction text, (2) building knowledge, (3) supporting students’ capacity to learn from increasingly complex texts, (4) giving text-based answers, (5) writing from sources, and (6) explicitly supporting the acquisition of academic vocabulary. The following sections document the primary ways that Amplify CKLA meets the demands of these shifts.
- The amount of nonfiction gradually increases, reaching the 50-50 balance of fiction and nonfiction by grade 3.
- Read-alouds in the Knowledge Strand are designed according to the latest research to build knowledge and vocabulary in history, science, the arts, and more.
- The texts in both the Knowledge Strand and the Skills strand increase in complexity as the program progresses within and across grades.
- In the Skills Strand, the language and knowledge demands of the texts increase, but remain decodable based on the aspects of the code that have been taught to date.
- Both strands engage students in appropriate means of providing text-based answers—orally, pictorially, and eventually in writing.
- Together, the Skills and Knowledge Strands enable students to read and digest various sources and then write by drawing on those sources.
- In both strands of the program, Amplify CKLA teaches children the process of using the text as a springboard for understanding.
- The Knowledge Strand offers repeated exposures to academic vocabulary through authentic texts and explicit word instruction.
Materials
PreK
- Teacher Guides, Student Activity Pages, 3–4 Trade Books per domain, Flip Books, Image Cards, Transition and Center Cards, Nursery Rhymes and Songs Posters, and a Big Book (Classic Tales)
Grades K–2
- Knowledge Strand: Teacher Guides, Flip Books, Student Activity Books, Image Cards, and online resources including supplemental lessons
- Skills Strand: Teacher Guides, Activity Books, Student Readers, Big Books, Letter Cards, Spelling Cards, Individual Code Sheets, Code and Chaining Resources (Vowel/Consonant Code Flip Books, Student Chaining Folders), Blending Cards, and online resources including differentiation and remediation guides
Grades 3–5
- Teacher Guides, Student Readers, Activity Books, Poet’s Journal, Writer’s Journal, Core Quests (The Viking Age in Grade 3, Eureka: Student Inventor in Grade 4 and “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” in grade 5) and Writing Quests (The Contraption in Grade 4, The Robot in Grade 5)
Free professional learning to support your Science of Reading journey
We know you seek the best research-tested methods for your students—and want to start applying them as quickly and easily as possible. Whether you’re looking to improve your students’ writing or understand how to boost their comprehension, here are a few resources designed to save precious time!
Science of Reading: The Podcast Essentials episodes
Looking for a roundup of the latest research on key topics? Look no further! Our Science of Reading Essentials episodes can unlock insights that can truly transform your instruction. Each episode is just over 30 minutes. You can also download our discussion guides to fuel your own professional learning sessions.
Comprehension episode
Comprehension podcast listening guide
Writing episode
Writing podcast listening guide
Dyslexia episode
Dyslexia Support Power Pack
Science of learning episode
Science of Reading: A Primer—Part One
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Explore the Science of Writing
Discover the captivating journey of writing with our new guide, Science of Writing: A Primer. Explore the history of writing to understand the crucial link between reading and writing instruction—and why handwriting still matters in today’s digital world.
A year’s professional learning from Science of Reading: The Podcast
Looking for ways to bring Science of Reading: The Podcast into your professional learning communities? Here’s one starting place: Share a presentation of top takeaways to jump-start your discussions.
Science of Reading professional development on your own schedule
Science of Reading: Learning Lab offers unparalleled research-backed instruction crafted to the standards of the International Dyslexia Association. Explore enriching activities, curated resources, and guidance from Susan Lambert, Chief Academic Officer of Literacy and Host of Science of Reading: The Podcast.
Amplify Science 6–8 Review Toolkit
Simplify your science curriculum review journey with the Amplify Science Review Toolkit. Within this Toolkit, you’ll find program overview information, classroom videos, evaluation rubrics, and a free sample unit.
Amplify Science for grades K–8 has been rated all-green by EdReports. Read the review on EdReports.
What is Amplify Science?
A collaboration between the curriculum experts at UC Berkeley’s Lawrence Hall of Science and instructional technology experts at Amplify, Amplify Science is a comprehensive program that blends literacy-rich activities, hands-on investigations, and interactive digital tools. Amplify Science empowers students to think, read, write, and argue like 21st-century scientists and engineers. Highly adaptable and user-friendly, the program gives schools and individual teachers flexibility with their technology resources and preferences.
The program is backed by gold-standard research and is currently used by thousands of teachers across the US.
See Amplify Science in action
Amplify Science in Action: a week in the life (6–8)
What does a week in the life of an Amplify Science teacher look like? We asked Amy Trujillo, a sixth-grade teacher from Denver Public Schools, to talk through an example of what one week of using Amplify Science is like in her classroom.
In Amplify Science, students take on the role of a scientist or engineer to actively investigate compelling phenomena through engaging hands-on investigations, immersive digital simulations, comprehensive reading and writing activities, and lively classroom discussions.
See what Amplify Science looks like in a classroom with more topical videos:
Dig deeper into the curriculum
Amplify Science is rooted in the research-based Do, Talk, Read, Write, Visualize model of learning. Students engage with science and engineering practices, figure out disciplinary core ideas, and utilize and apply crosscutting concepts in multiple modalities across thoughtful, structured lessons, all centered around engaging anchor phenomena. Learn more about how a unique mix of activities and modalities provide students with multiple points of entry into the instruction.
- Program structure and pacing
- Phenomena and unit storylines
- Hands-on investigations
- Digital Simulations
Attend a webinar
Join the Lawrence Hall of Science for a series of free webinars! Curriculum experts will explore why embedded engineering and phenomena-based science instruction deliver results, with examples from Amplify Science.
Webinars are scheduled throughout the spring, and you can always sign to watch a recording if you’re unable to attend live.
Review rubrics
Using an evaluation rubric to review? Take a look at our filled-out TIME and EQuIP rubrics.
Test drive the program
Click submit to access a free sample unit from our middle school curriculum.
Inspiring the next generation of Louisiana scientists, engineers, and curious citizens
Amplify Science Louisiana blends hands-on investigations, literacy-rich activities, and interactive digital tools to empower students to think, read, write, and argue like real scientists and engineers.
The national edition of Amplify Science for middle school was recently rated all green by EdReports. Read the review on EdReports.
Grounded in research and proven effective
UC Berkeley’s Lawrence Hall of Science, the authors behind Amplify Science Louisiana, developed the Do, Talk, Read, Write, Visualize approach, and gold standard research shows that it works. Our own efficacy research is pretty exciting, too.
DEEP UNDERSTANDING
Do, Talk, Read, Write students outperform their peers.
ENGLISH LANGUAGE LEARNERS EXCEL
ELLs who used Do, Talk, Read, Write outperformed their ELL peers.
PROGRESS THROUGH THE LEARNING PROFESSION
Progress through the learning progression for all middle school implementations, 2017-18 school year.
A powerful partnership
Amplify Science Louisiana was developed by the science education experts at UC Berkeley’s Lawrence Hall of Science and the digital learning team at Amplify. As the Hall’s first curriculum designed to address the new science standards, Amplify Science Louisiana reflects state-of-the-art practices in science teaching and learning.
Our approach
Each unit of Amplify Science Louisiana engages students in a relevant, real-world problem where they investigate scientific phenomena, engage in collaboration and discussion, and develop models or explanations in order to arrive at solutions.
Rooted in research
Amplify Science Louisiana is rooted in the Lawrence Hall of Science’s Do, Talk, Read, Write, Visualize model of learning. This research-based approach presents students with multiple modalities through which to explore the curriculum.
A flexible, blended program
Amplify Science Louisiana includes hands-on activities, print materials, and powerful digital tools to support online and offline teaching and learning. Highly adaptable and user-friendly, the program gives schools and individual teachers flexibility based on their technology resources and preferences.
Students take on the roles of scientists and engineers.
In each unit, students take on the role of a scientist or engineer to investigate a real-world problem. These problems provide relevant contexts through which students investigate phenomena.
Phenomena-based teaching and learning
Download the “What’s so phenomenal about phenomena?” e-book
Download a free e-bookWhat’s included
Flexible resources that work seamlessly together
ElementaryMiddle School
Student Books
Age-appropriate Student Books allow students to:
- engage with content-rich texts
- obtain evidence
- develop research and close-reading skills
- construct arguments and explanations
Student Investigation Notebooks
Available for every unit, the Student Investigation Notebooks provide space for students to:
- record data
- reflect on ideas from texts and investigations
- construct explanations and arguments
Simulations and practice tools (grades 2+)
Developed exclusively for the Amplify Science program, these engaging digital tools:
- serve as venues for exploration
- enable data collection
- allow students to explore scientific concepts
- show what might be impossible to see with the naked eye
Teacher’s Guides
Available digitally and in print, the Teacher’s Guides contain all of the information teachers need to facilitate classroom instruction, including:
- detailed lesson plans
- unit and chapter overview documentation
- differentiation strategies
- standards alignments
- in-context professional development
Science articles
The middle school science articles serve as sources for evidence collection and were authored by science and literacy experts at the Lawrence Hall of Science.
Student Investigation Notebooks
Available for every unit, the Student Investigation Notebooks provide space for students to:
- record data
- reflect on ideas from texts and investigations
- construct explanations and arguments
Available with full-color article compilations for middle school units
Digital student experience
Students access the digital simulations and modeling tools, as well as lesson activities and assessments, through the digital student experience. Students can interact with the digital student experience as they:
- conduct hands-on investigations
- engage in active reading and writing activities
- participate in discussions
- record observations
- craft end-of-unit scientific arguments
Teacher’s Guides
Available digitally and in print, the Teacher’s Guides contain all of the information teachers need to facilitate classroom instruction, including:
- detailed lesson plans
- unit and chapter overview documentation
- differentiation strategies
- standards alignments
- in-context professional development
Hands-on materials kits
Hands-on learning is at the heart of Amplify Science Louisiana. Each unit kit contains:
- consumable and non-consumable hands-on materials
- print classroom display materials
- premium print materials for student use (sorting cards, maps, etc.)
Explore more programs.
Our programs are designed to support and complement one another. Learn more about our related programs.
Amplify Science Success Story
The Lawrence Hall of Science
Developed by the science education experts at UC Berkeley’s Lawrence Hall of Science and the digital learning team at Amplify, our program features:
- A phenomena-based approach where students construct a complex understanding of each unit’s anchor phenomenon.
- A blend of cohesive storylines, hands-on investigations, rich discussions, literacy-rich activities, and digital tools.
- Carefully crafted units, chapters, lessons, and activities designed to deliver true three-dimensional learning.
- An instructional design that supports all learners in accessing all standards.
Proven to work
Instructional model
The Amplify Science program is rooted in the proven, research-based pedagogy of Do, Talk, Read, Write, Visualize. Here’s how each element works:
DO
Firsthand investigations are an important part of any science classroom, and Amplify Science has students getting hands-on in every unit—from building models of protein molecules to experimenting with electrical systems.
TALK
Student-to-student discourse and full-class discussions are an integral part of the program. Students are provided with numerous opportunities to engage in meaningful oral scientific argumentation, all while fostering a collaborative classroom environment.
READ
Students read scientific articles, focusing their reading activities on searching for evidence related to their investigation and, importantly, on asking and recording questions as they read through fascinating texts on 21st-century topics.
WRITE
Following real-world practices, students write scientific arguments based on evidence they’ve collected, making clear their reasoning about how a given piece of evidence connects to one of several claims.
VISUALIZE
By manipulating digital simulations and using modeling tools to craft visualizations of their thinking— just as real scientists and engineers do—students take their learning far beyond the confines of what they can physically see in the classroom in an exciting and authentic way.
Program structure
Our cyclical lesson design ensures students receive multiple exposures to concepts through a variety of modalities. As they progress through the lessons within a unit, students build and deepen their understanding, increasing their ability to develop and refine complex explanations of the unit’s phenomenon.
It’s this proven program structure and lesson design that enables Amplify Science to address 100% of the NGSS and support students in mastering the Oregon Science Standards.
Unit types
While every unit delivers three-dimensional learning experiences and engages students in gathering evidence from a rich collection of sources, each unit also emphasizes a particular science and engineering practice.
In grades K–2:
- One unit emphasizes the practice of investigation.
- One unit emphasizes the practice of modeling.
- One unit emphasizes the practice of engineering design.
In grades 3–5, students experience the three unit types above, plus:
- One additional unit that emphasizes the practice of argumentation.
Investigation units focus on the process of strategically developing investigations and gathering data to answer questions. Students are first asked to consider questions about what happens in the natural world and why, and are then involved in designing and conducting investigations that produce data to help answer those questions.
Modeling units provide extra support to students engaging in the practice of modeling. Students use physical models, investigate with computer models, and create their own diagrams to help them visualize what might be happening on the nanoscale.
Engineering design units provide opportunities for students to solve complex problems by applying science principles to the design of functional solutions, and iteratively testing those solutions to determine how well they meet preset criteria.
Argumentation units provide students with regular opportunities to explore and discuss available evidence, time and support to consider how evidence may be leveraged in support of claims, and independence that increases as they mount written arguments in support of their claims.
Unit sequence
Our lessons follow a structure that is grounded in regular routines while still being flexible enough to allow for a variety of learning experiences.
In fact, our multi-modal instruction offers more opportunities for students to construct meaning, and practice and apply concepts, than any other program. What’s more, our modular design means our units can be flexibly arranged to support your instructional goals.
Program components
Available digitally and in print, our unit-specific reference guides are chock-full of helpful resources, including scientific background knowledge, planning information and resources, color-coded 3D Statements, detailed lesson plans, tips for delivering instruction, and differentiation strategies.
Hands-on learning is an essential part of Amplify Science and is integrated into every unit. Students actively participate in science, playing the roles of scientists and engineers as they gather evidence, think critically, solve problems, and develop and defend claims about the world around them. Every unit includes hands-on investigations that are critical to achieving the unit’s learning goals.
More hands-on with Flextensions:
Hands-on Flextensions are additional, optional investigations that are included at logical points in the learning progression and give students an opportunity to dig deeper if time permits. These activities offer teachers flexibility to choose to dedicate more time to hands-on learning. Materials referenced in Hands-on Flextension activities will either be included in the unit kit or are easily sourced. Supporting resources such as student worksheets will be included as downloadable PDF files.
Our kits include enough non-consumable materials to support a class of 36 students and enough consumable items to support 72 students. In other words, each kit can last two years! Plus, our unit-specific kits mean teachers just grab the tub they need for the unit and then put it all back with ease.
Each unit of Amplify Science K–5 includes six unique Student Books written by the Lawrence Hall of Science specifically for the program. These content-rich nonfiction and informational texts provide opportunities for students to search for evidence relevant to their firsthand investigations, see science practices and dispositions modeled, extend their science knowledge, provide real world connections as they master reading-to-learn and close reading skills, and construct evidence-based arguments.
Important note:
Students in grades K–5 are never asked to read alone. Rather, books are read to, with, and by students with ample scaffolding and support provided by the teacher. Big Books are read aloud or together with the class to introduce ideas. Student Books allow for small-group reading and reading in pairs.
Available for every unit, our Student Investigation Notebooks contain instructions for activities and space for students to record data and observations, reflect on ideas from texts and investigations, and construct explanations and arguments.
In grades K–5, one copy of the Student Investigation Notebook is included in each unit’s materials kit for use as a blackline master. Each notebook is also available as a downloadable PDF on the Unit Guide page of the digital Teacher’s Guide.
Amplify Science offers digital experience licenses that make elementary instruction more flexible for students and teachers, as well as providing additional means to engage in remote, hybrid, or in-person learning!
Student-facing digital lessons
With the digital experience, students can engage with digital lesson content in one cohesive experience. It’s the same content from Amplify science in a new, integrated format where students can interact with slides, Sims, modeling tools, videos, books, and more.
Digital student notebook pages
Students can draw, write, record audio, and insert images into their Investigation Notebook pages. Their work is automatically saved and delivered to you in real time. When students edit their work, those edits are immediately reflected on your teacher work review page. You can access student responses by clicking “View Work,” where you can see students’ Investigation Notebook pages from the lesson, updating live.
Assign in Amplify
The digital experience allows flexibility with optional features like scheduling assignments in advance and setting due dates. You can use Scheduling to determine the date and time that the assignment appears in Student Home. You also have the flexibility to schedule when assignments appear and use dates to remove assignments from Student Home.
Assign in LMS
You can also assign lessons via our integrations with Google Classroom and Microsoft Teams, or by copying a lesson link and sharing it with students through the platform of your choice. The assignment link you send will provide students with direct access to the full lesson—slides, videos, digital tools, and worksheet activities—no student platform navigation required!
Teacher platform and presentation
Teacher-facing lesson content—including sample teacher talk, student responses, pedagogical support, and possible student responses—shows on a teacher’s private Teacher Guide tab. Students only see the lesson slides that are being presented.
Explore your print samples
With your Amplify Science print samples, you’ll find unit-specific Teacher’s References Guides, Student Investigation Notebooks, and sets of Student Books for each grade level.
A note about the Teacher’s Reference Guides:
It’s important that you see the full breadth and depth of our instruction. For that reason, we provide a copy of each of our unit-specific Teacher Reference Guides.
Rest assured that teachers do not use these robust reference guides for day-to-day teaching. For that, we have a hands-free TG!
- Teacher Reference Guide: Unlike a typical TG that requires a series of supplemental books to support it, our encyclopedic reference guide is chock-full of everything a teacher needs to fully implement our program and the NGSS.
- Ready-to-Teach Lesson Slides: For daily instruction, teachers need their hands free. That’s why we created ready-to-teach lesson slides for every single lesson. What’s more, they are editable and include suggested teacher talk and point-of-use differentiation and other instructional tips. Click to learn more.
A note about the Materials Kits:
Hands-on learning is at the heart of Amplify Science, and is integrated into every unit. In order to make hands-on learning more manageable for busy teachers, Amplify Science materials are organized into unit-specific kits.
What’s different about Amplify’s unit-specific material kits? They…
- Include more materials — We give teachers enough non-consumable materials to support a class of 36 students and enough consumables to support 72 student uses. In other words, each kit will last two years.
- Are more manageable — Unlike other programs that require large groups of students to share limited sets of materials, our kits include enough to support small groups of 4–5 students.
- Include supportive videos — Each hands-on activity provides clear instructions for the teacher, with more complex activities supported by video demonstrations and illustrations.
Grade-specific lists of all materials included in each kit:
- Grade K: Materials Kit List
- Grade 1: Materials Kit List
- Grade 2: Materials Kit List
- Grade 3: Materials Kit List
- Grade 4: Materials Kit List
- Grade 5: Materials Kit List
Access your digital samples
Explore as a teacher
When you’re ready to explore the teaching experience on your own, follow these instructions to access the Amplify Science digital teacher platform.
- Click the Access Amplify Science Platform button below and bookmark the page.
- Select Log in with Amplify.
- Enter the username: t1.jeffersoncounty@demo.tryamplify.net
- Enter the password: Amplify1-jeffersoncounty
- Click on Science on the left hand side.
- Click on the Program Menu in the top center of the screen and select any grade.
- Select any unit.
To help familiarize yourself with navigating the digital platform, watch the below navigational video.
Explore as a student
When you’re ready to explore the student learning experience on your own, follow these instructions to access the Amplify Science digital student platform.
- Click the Access Amplify Science Platform button below and bookmark the page.
- Select Log in with Amplify.
- Enter the username: s1.jeffersoncounty@demo.tryamplify.net
- Enter the password: Amplify1-jeffersoncounty
- Click the backpack icon on the top right.
- Click Science K-5
- Select any unit.
Resources to support your review
Welcome to Amplify Science 6–8!
Amplify Science is an engaging core curriculum designed for three-dimensional, phenomena-based learning.
With Amplify Science, Oregon students don’t just passively learn about science concepts. Instead, they take on the role of scientists and engineers to actively investigate and figure out real-world phenomena. They do this through a blend of cohesive and compelling storylines, hands-on investigations, collaborative discussions, literacy-rich activities, and interactive digital tools.
Publisher presentation
The Lawrence Hall of Science
Developed by the science education experts at UC Berkeley’s Lawrence Hall of Science and the digital learning team at Amplify, our program features:
- A phenomena-based approach where students construct a complex understanding of each unit’s anchor phenomenon.
- A blend of cohesive storylines, hands-on investigations, rich discussions, literacy-rich activities, and digital tools.
- Carefully crafted units, chapters, lessons, and activities designed to deliver true 3-dimensional learning.
- An instructional design that supports all learners in accessing all standards.
Proven to work
Instructional model
The Amplify Science program is rooted in the proven, research-based pedagogy of Do, Talk, Read, Write, Visualize. Here’s how each element works:
Do
First-hand investigations are an important part of any science classroom, and Amplify Science has students getting hands-on in every unit—from building models of protein molecules to experimenting with electrical systems.
Talk
Student-to-student discourse and full-class discussions are an integral part of the program. Students are provided with numerous opportunities to engage in meaningful oral scientific argumentation, all while fostering a collaborative classroom environment.
Read
Students read scientific articles, focusing their reading activities on searching for evidence related to their investigation and, importantly, on asking and recording questions as they read through fascinating texts on 21st-century topics.
Write
Following real-world practices, students write scientific arguments based on evidence they’ve collected, making clear their reasoning about how a given piece of evidence connects to one of several claims.
Visualize
By manipulating digital simulations and using modeling tools to craft visualizations of their thinking— just as real scientists and engineers
do—students take their learning far beyond the confines of what they can physically see in the classroom in an exciting and authentic way.
Program structure
Our cyclical lesson design ensures students receive multiple exposures to concepts through a variety of modalities. As they progress through the lessons within a unit, students build and deepen their understanding, increasing their ability to develop and refine complex explanations of the unit’s phenomenon.
It’s this proven program structure and lesson design that enables Amplify Science to address 100% of the NGSS, and support students in mastering the Oregon Science Standards.
Unit types
While every unit delivers three-dimensional learning experiences and engages students in gathering evidence from a rich collection of sources, each unit also serves a unique instructional purpose.
In grades 6–8:
- One unit is a launch unit.
- Three units are core units.
- Two units are engineering internships.
Launch units are the first units taught in each year of Amplify Science. The goal of the Launch unit is to introduce students to norms, routines, and practices that will be built on throughout the year, including argumentation, active reading, and using the program’s technology. For example, rather than taking the time to explain the process of active reading in every unit in a given year, it is explained thoroughly in the Launch unit, thereby preparing students to read actively in all subsequent units.
Core units establish the context of the unit by introducing students to a real-world problem. As students move through lessons in a Core unit, they figure out the unit’s anchoring phenomenon, gain an understanding of the unit’s disciplinary core ideas and science and engineering practices, and make linkages across topics through the crosscutting concepts. Each Core unit culminates with a Science Seminar and final writing activity.
Engineering Internship units invite students to design solutions for real-world problems as interns for a fictional company called Futura. Students figure out how to help those in need, from tsunami victims in Sri Lanka to premature babies, through the application of engineering practices. In the process, they apply and deepen their learning from Core units.
Unit sequence
Our lessons follow a structure that is grounded in regular routines while still being flexible enough to allow for a variety of learning experiences.
In fact, our multi-modal instruction offers more opportunities for students to construct meaning, and practice and apply concepts than any other program. What’s more, our modular design means our units can be flexibly arranged to support your instructional goals.
Program components
Available digitally and in print, our unit-specific reference guides are chock full of helpful resources, including scientific background knowledge, planning information and resources, color-coded 3D Statements, detailed lesson plans, tips for delivering instruction, and differentiation strategies.
Hands-on learning is an essential part of Amplify Science, and is integrated into every unit. Students actively participate in science, playing the roles of scientists and engineers as they gather evidence, think critically, solve problems, and develop and defend claims about the world around them. Every unit includes hands-on investigations that are critical to achieving the unit’s learning goals.
More hands-on with Flextensions:
Hands-on Flextensions are additional, optional investigations that are included at logical points in the learning progression and give students an opportunity to dig deeper if time permits. These activities offer teachers flexibility to choose to dedicate more time to hands-on learning. Materials referenced in Hands-on Flextension activities will either be included in the unit kit or are easily sourced. Supporting resources such as student worksheets will be included as downloadable PDF files.
Our digital Simulations and Practice Tools are powerful resources for exploration, data collection, and student collaboration. They allow students the ability to explore scientific concepts that might otherwise be invisible or impossible to see with the naked eye.
Available for every unit, our Student Investigation Notebooks contain instructions for activities and space for students to record data and observations, reflect on ideas from texts and investigations, and construct explanations and arguments.
In grades 6–8, one copy of the Student Investigation Notebook is included in each unit’s materials kit for use as a blackline master. Each notebook is also available as a downloadable PDF on the Unit Guide page of the digital Teacher’s Guide.
These customizable PowerPoints are available for every lesson of the program and make delivering instruction a snap with visual prompts, colorful activity instructions, investigation set-up videos and animations, and suggested teacher talk in the notes section of each slide.
Full coverage of the Oregon Science Standards
Amplify Science was designed from the ground up to meet the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS). As such, it aligns to the Oregon Science Standards, which were also borne out of the NGSS.
The guidance below is meant to provide support for integrating additional activities that support full coverage of Oregon’s standards. Organized by grade level, each section below will outline:
- Additional activities that support 100% alignment to the Oregon Science Standards.
- The standard being addressed with the activities.
- The recommended placement of the activities within a specific Amplify Science unit.
- PDFs of any accompanying materials that are necessary to implement the activities.
Activity Title: Meet a Scientist Who Changed How We Think About Brain Cells
About this activity: In this activity, students read a short article about a scientist who studied the nervous system.
Recommended placement: Metabolism unit, Lesson 3.2
Materials:
Instructions: Download the PDF “Meet a Scientist Who Changed How We Think About Brain Cells” above and remind students of the Active Reading guidelines. Before students read the article, invite them to share prior experiences. Then have students complete the copymaster above.
Activity Title: Meet a Scientist Who Studies Underwater Currents
About this activity: In this activity, students read a short article about a scientist who studies ocean currents.
Recommended placement: Oceans, Atmosphere, and Climate unit, Lesson 2.1
Materials:
Instructions: Download the PDF “Meet a Scientist Who Studies Underwater Currents” above and remind students of the Active Reading guidelines. Before students read the article, invite them to share prior experiences. Then have students complete the copymaster above.
Activity Title: Meet a Scientist Who Studies How the Environment Affects Our Traits
About this activity: In this activity, students read two short articles, one about current research on genes and proteins, and one about a scientist who is studying how the environment can affect our traits.
Recommended placement: Traits and Reproduction unit, Lesson 2.4
Materials:
Instructions: Download the PDF “Meet a Scientist Who Studies How the Environment Affects Our Traits” above and remind students of the Active Reading guidelines. Before students read the article, invite them to share prior experiences. Then have students complete the copymaster above.
Activity Title: Who Becomes a Space Scientist?
About this activity: In this activity, Students read a short article about a scientist who studies space.
Recommended placement: Geology on Mars unit, Lesson 3.1
Materials:
Instructions: Download the PDF “Who Becomes a Space Scientist?” above and remind students of the Active Reading guidelines. Before students read the article, invite them to share prior experiences. Then have students complete the copymaster above.
Activity Title: Meet a Scientist Who Studies How Plants Find Water Underground
About this activity: In this activity, students read a short article about a scientist who studies how plants’ roots get water.
Recommended placement: Matter and Energy in Ecosystems unit, Lesson 1.6
Materials:
Instructions: Download the PDF “Meet a Scientist Who Studies How Plants Find Water Underground” above and remind students of the Active Reading guidelines. Before students read the article, invite them to share prior experiences. Then have students complete the copymaster above.
Activity Title: Bringing Back the Buffalo
About this activity: In this activity, students change one competing population to try to decrease the other in the Sim, and read a short article about a scientist who studies buffalo.
Recommended placement: Populations and Resources unit, Lesson 3.2
Materials:
Instructions: Download the PDF “Bringing Back the Buffalo” above and remind students of the Active Reading guidelines. Before students read the article, invite them to share prior experiences. Then have students complete the copymaster above.
Activity Title: Rereading “A Continental Puzzle”
About this activity: In this activity, students reread “A Continental Puzzle” and think about how patterns were helpful to Wegener’s work.
Recommended placement: Plate Motion unit, Lesson 3.2
Materials:
Instructions: Direct students back to “A Continental Puzzle” above and remind students of the Active Reading guidelines. Before students re-read the article, invite them to share prior experiences. Then have students complete the copymaster above.
Activity Title: Meet a Scientist Who Studies Variation in Monkey Populations
About this activity: In this activity, students read a short article about a scientist who studies variation of traits in monkey populations.
Recommended placement: Natural Selection unit, Lesson 1.6
Materials:
Instructions: Download the PDF “Meet a Scientist Who Studies Variation in Monkey Populations” above and remind students of the Active Reading guidelines. Before students read the article, invite them to share prior experiences. Then have students complete the copymaster above.
Activity Title: Extinctions and Human Impacts
About this activity: The purpose of this lesson is for students to see how increases in human population and consumption of natural resources can negatively impact Earth’s systems.
Recommended placement: Natural Selection unit, Lesson 4.5
Materials:
Instructions: Download the PDF “Extinctions and Human Impacts” above and remind students of the Active Reading guidelines. Before students read the article, invite them to share prior experiences. Then have students complete the copymaster above.
Activity Title: Steno and the Shark
About this activity: In this activity, students read a short article about Nicolas Steno, a scientist from the 1600s whose studies of fossilized sharks’ teeth embedded in rock layers laid the foundation for the modern understanding of stratigraphy.
Recommended placement: Evolutionary History unit, Lesson 2.4
Materials:
Instructions: Download the PDF “Steno and the Shark” above and remind students of the Active Reading guidelines. Before students read the article, invite them to share prior experiences. Then have students complete the copymaster above.
Activity Title: Scale in the Solar System
About this activity: In this activity, students read and annotate the articles “Scale in the Solar System” and “The Solar System Is Huge.”
Recommended placement: Earth, Moon, and Sun unit, Lesson 1.2
Materials:
Instructions: Download the PDF “Scale in the Solar System” above and remind students of the Active Reading guidelines. Before students read the article, invite them to share prior experiences. Then have students complete the copymaster above.
Explore your print samples
With your Amplify Science print samples, you’ll find unit-specific Teacher’s References Guides and Student Investigation Notebooks for each grade level.
A note about the Teacher’s Reference Guides:
It’s important that your committee sees the full breadth and depth of our instruction. For that reason, we provided a copy of each of our unit-specific Teacher Reference Guides.
Rest assured that teachers do not use these robust reference guides for day-to-day teaching. For that, we have a hands-free TG!
- Teacher Reference Guide: Unlike a typical TG that requires a series of supplemental books to support it, our encyclopedic reference guide is chock-full of everything a teacher needs to fully implement our program and the NGSS.
- Ready-to-Teach Lesson Slides: For daily instruction, teachers need their hands free. That’s why we created ready-to-teach lesson slides for every single lesson. What’s more, they are editable and include suggested teacher talk and point-of-use differentiation and other instructional tips. Click to learn more.
A note about the Materials Kits:
Hands-on learning is at the heart of Amplify Science, and is integrated into every unit. In order to make hands-on learning more manageable for busy teachers, Amplify Science materials are organized into unit-specific kits.
Our unit-specific kits:
- Include more materials — We give teachers enough materials to support 200 student uses.
- Are more manageable — Unlike other programs that require large groups of students to share limited sets of materials, our kits include enough to support small groups of 4–5 students.
- Include supportive videos — Each hands-on activity provides clear instructions for the teacher, with more complex activities supported by video demonstrations and illustrations.
At your request, we did not include our materials kits with our submissions samples. However, we did provide grade-specific lists of all materials included in each kit, which you can also find with the links below.
Access your digital samples
Explore as a teacher
Follow these instructions to explore the Amplify Science digital platform as a teacher.
- Click the Access Amplify Science Platform button below and bookmark it.
- Select Log in with Amplify.
- Enter the username: t.or68sci@tryamplify.net
- Enter the password: Science5OR
- Click the Science icon.
- Click on the Grade Menu in the top center of the screen and select any grade.
- Select any unit.
To help familiarize yourself with navigating the digital platform, watch the below navigational video.
Explore as a student
Follow these instructions to explore the Amplify Science digital platform as a student.
- Click the Access Amplify Science Platform button below and bookmark it.
- Select Log in with Amplify.
- Enter the username: s.or68sci@tryamplify.net
- Enter the password: Science5OR
- Click the Science icon.
- Click on the Grade Menu in the top center of the screen and select any grade.
- Select any unit.
Resources to support your review
- Oregon standards correlation for grades 6–8
- QCD Science Adoption Criteria 2022 for grades 6-8
- QCD IMET Citation guidance for grades 6-8
- Oregon Science IMET for grades 6-8 (Excel download)
- Oregon QCD-IMET Citation guidance for grades 6-8
- Research behind Amplify Science
- Phenomena in grades 6–8
- Program structure for grades 6–8
- Active Reading in grades 6–8
- Engineering in Amplify Science
- Approaches to assessment in grades 6–8
New Mexico Educators: Welcome to Amplify Science 6–8!
Amplify Science is an engaging core curriculum designed for three-dimensional, phenomena-based learning that is rated ‘all green’ on EdReports.
With Amplify Science, New Mexico students don’t just passively learn about science concepts. Instead, they take on the role of scientists and engineers to actively investigate and figure out real-world phenomena. They do this through a blend of cohesive and compelling storylines, hands-on investigations, collaborative discussions, literacy-rich activities, and interactive digital tools.
Amplify Science Success Story
The Lawrence Hall of Science
Developed by the science education experts at UC Berkeley’s Lawrence Hall of Science and the digital learning team at Amplify, our program features:
- A phenomena-based approach where students construct a complex understanding of each unit’s anchor phenomenon.
- A blend of cohesive storylines, hands-on investigations, rich discussions, literacy-rich activities, and digital tools.
- Carefully crafted units, chapters, lessons, and activities designed to deliver true 3-dimensional learning.
- An instructional design that supports all learners in accessing all standards.
Instructional model
The Amplify Science program is rooted in the proven, research-based pedagogy of Do, Talk, Read, Write, Visualize. Here’s how each element works:
Do
First-hand investigations are an important part of any science classroom, and Amplify Science has students getting hands-on in every unit—from building models of protein molecules to experimenting with electrical systems.
Talk
Student-to-student discourse and full-class discussions are an integral part of the program. Students are provided with numerous opportunities to engage in meaningful oral scientific argumentation, all while fostering a collaborative classroom environment.
Read
Students read scientific articles, focusing their reading activities on searching for evidence related to their investigation and, importantly, on asking and recording questions as they read through fascinating texts on 21st-century topics.
Write
Following real-world practices, students write scientific arguments based on evidence they’ve collected, making clear their reasoning about how a given piece of evidence connects to one of several claims.
Visualize
By manipulating digital simulations and using modeling tools to craft visualizations of their thinking— just as real scientists and engineers do—students take their learning far beyond the confines of what they can physically see in the classroom in an exciting and authentic way.
Program structure
Our cyclical lesson design ensures students receive multiple exposures to concepts through a variety of modalities. As they progress through the lessons within a unit, students build and deepen their understanding, increasing their ability to develop and refine complex explanations of the unit’s phenomenon.
It’s this proven program structure and lesson design that enables Amplify Science to address 100% of the NGSS and support students in mastering the New Mexico STEM Ready! Science Standards.
Unit types
While every unit delivers three-dimensional learning experiences and engages students in gathering evidence from a rich collection of sources, each unit also serves a unique instructional purpose.
In grades 6–8:
- One unit is a launch unit.
- Three units are core units.
- Two units are engineering internships.
Launch units are the first units taught in each year of Amplify Science. The goal of the Launch unit is to introduce students to norms, routines, and practices that will be built on throughout the year, including argumentation, active reading, and using the program’s technology. For example, rather than taking the time to explain the process of active reading in every unit in a given year, it is explained thoroughly in the Launch unit, thereby preparing students to read actively in all subsequent units.
Core units establish the context of the unit by introducing students to a real-world problem. As students move through lessons in a Core unit, they figure out the unit’s anchoring phenomenon, gain an understanding of the unit’s disciplinary core ideas and science and engineering practices, and make linkages across topics through the crosscutting concepts. Each Core unit culminates with a Science Seminar and final writing activity.
Engineering Internship units invite students to design solutions for real-world problems as interns for a fictional company called Futura. Students figure out how to help those in need, from tsunami victims in Sri Lanka to premature babies, through the application of engineering practices. In the process, they apply and deepen their learning from Core units.
Unit sequence
Our lessons follow a structure that is grounded in regular routines while still being flexible enough to allow for a variety of learning experiences.
In fact, our multi-modal instruction offers more opportunities for students to construct meaning, and practice and apply concepts than any other program. What’s more, our modular design means our units can be flexibly arranged to support your instructional goals.
Program components
Available digitally and in print, our unit-specific reference guides are chock full of helpful resources, including scientific background knowledge, planning information and resources, color-coded 3-D Statements, detailed lesson plans, tips for delivering instruction, and differentiation strategies.
Hands-on learning is an essential part of Amplify Science, and is integrated into every unit. Students actively participate in science, playing the roles of scientists and engineers as they gather evidence, think critically, solve problems, and develop and defend claims about the world around them. Every unit includes hands-on investigations that are critical to achieving the unit’s learning goals.
More hands-on with Flextensions:
Hands-on Flextensions are additional, optional investigations that are included at logical points in the learning progression and give students an opportunity to dig deeper if time permits. These activities offer teachers flexibility to choose to dedicate more time to hands-on learning. Materials referenced in Hands-on Flextension activities will either be included in the unit kit or are easily sourced. Supporting resources such as student worksheets will be included as downloadable PDF files.
Our kits include enough materials to support 200 student uses. In other words, teachers can easily support all five periods and small groups of 4-5 students each. Plus, our unit-specific kits mean teachers just grab the tub they need and then put it all back with ease.
Our digital Simulations and Practice Tools are powerful resources for exploration, data collection, and student collaboration. They allow students the ability to explore scientific concepts that might otherwise be invisible or impossible to see with the naked eye.
Available for every unit, our Student Investigation Notebooks contain instructions for activities and space for students to record data and observations, reflect on ideas from texts and investigations, and construct explanations and arguments.
In grades 6–8, one copy of the Student Investigation Notebook is included in each unit’s materials kit for use as a blackline master. Each notebook is also available as a downloadable PDF on the Unit Guide page of the digital Teacher’s Guide.
These customizable PowerPoints are available for every lesson of the program and make delivering instruction a snap with visual prompts, colorful activity instructions, investigation set-up videos and animations, and suggested teacher talk in the notes section of each slide.
Full coverage of NGSS and New Mexico STEM Ready! Science Standards
Amplify Science was designed from the ground up to meet the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS). As such, it aligns to the New Mexico Science Standards, which were also borne out of the NGSS.
K-8 NGSS Correlation by Dimension
K-8 NM STEM Ready! Standards Correlation
Explore your print samples
With your Amplify Science print samples, you’ll find unit-specific Teacher’s References Guides and Student Investigation Notebooks for each grade level.
A note about the Teacher’s Reference Guides:
It’s important that your committee sees the full breadth and depth of our instruction. For that reason, we provided a copy of each of our unit-specific Teacher Reference Guides.
Rest assured that teachers do not use these robust reference guides for day-to-day teaching. For that, we have a hands-free Teacher Guide!
- Teacher Reference Guide: Unlike a typical Teacher Guide that requires a series of supplemental books to support it, our encyclopedic reference guide is chock-full of everything a teacher needs to fully implement our program and the NGSS.
- Ready-to-Teach Lesson Slides: For daily instruction, teachers need their hands free. That’s why we created ready-to-teach lesson slides for every single lesson. What’s more, they are editable and include suggested teacher talk and point-of-use differentiation and other instructional tips. Click to learn more.
A note about the Materials Kits:
Hands-on learning is at the heart of Amplify Science, and is integrated into every unit. In order to make hands-on learning more manageable for busy teachers, Amplify Science materials are organized into unit-specific kits.
Our unit-specific kits:
- Include more materials — We give teachers enough materials to support 200 student uses.
- Are more manageable — Unlike other programs that require large groups of students to share limited sets of materials, our kits include enough to support small groups of 4–5 students.
- Include supportive videos — Each hands-on activity provides clear instructions for the teacher, with more complex activities supported by video demonstrations and illustrations.
Access your digital samples
Explore as a teacher
Follow these instructions to explore the Amplify Science digital platform as a teacher.
- Click the Access Amplify Science Platform button below and bookmark it.
- Select Log in with Amplify.
- Enter the username: t20.sci6-8@tryamplify.net
- Enter the password: AmplifyNumber1
- Click on Science in Your Programs
- Click on the Program drop-down menu and select your desired domain
- Select any unit.
To help familiarize yourself with navigating the digital platform, watch the below navigational video.
Explore as a student
Follow these instructions to explore the Amplify Science digital platform as a student.
- Click the Access Amplify Science Platform button below and bookmark it.
- Select Log in with Amplify.
- Enter the username: s20.sci6-8@tryamplify.net
- Enter the password: AmplifyNumber1
- Click Science in Your Programs
- Click on the Program drop-down menu and select your desired domain
- Select any unit title.
Additional resources to support your review
Welcome to Amplify Science 6–8!
Amplify Science is an engaging core curriculum designed for three-dimensional, phenomena-based learning.
With Amplify Science, Detroit students don’t just passively learn about science concepts. Instead, they take on the role of scientists and engineers to actively investigate and figure out real-world phenomena. They do this through a blend of cohesive and compelling storylines, hands-on investigations, collaborative discussions, literacy-rich activities, and interactive digital tools.
What is Amplify Science?
The Lawrence Hall of Science
Developed by the science education experts at UC Berkeley’s Lawrence Hall of Science and the digital learning team at Amplify, our program features:
- A phenomena-based approach where students construct a complex understanding of each unit’s anchor phenomenon.
- A blend of cohesive storylines, hands-on investigations, rich discussions, literacy-rich activities, and digital tools.
- Carefully crafted units, chapters, lessons, and activities designed to deliver true three-dimensional learning.
- An instructional design that supports all learners in accessing all standards.
Proven to work
Instructional model
The Amplify Science program is rooted in the proven, research-based pedagogy of Do, Talk, Read, Write, Visualize. Here’s how each element works:
Do
First-hand investigations are an important part of any science classroom, and Amplify Science has students getting hands-on in every unit—from building models of protein molecules to experimenting with electrical systems.
Talk
Student-to-student discourse and full-class discussions are an integral part of the program. Students are provided with numerous opportunities to engage in meaningful oral scientific argumentation, all while fostering a collaborative classroom environment.
Read
Students read scientific articles, focusing their reading activities on searching for evidence related to their investigation and, importantly, on asking and recording questions as they read through fascinating texts on 21st-century topics.
Write
Following real-world practices, students write scientific arguments based on evidence they’ve collected, making clear their reasoning about how a given piece of evidence connects to one of several claims.
Visualize
By manipulating digital simulations and using modeling tools to craft visualizations of their thinking— just as real scientists and engineers
do—students take their learning far beyond the confines of what they can physically see in the classroom in an exciting and authentic way.
Program structure
Our cyclical lesson design ensures students receive multiple exposures to concepts through a variety of modalities. As they progress through the lessons within a unit, students build and deepen their understanding, increasing their ability to develop and refine complex explanations of the unit’s phenomenon.
It’s this proven program structure and lesson design that enables Amplify Science to address 100% of the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) and support students in mastering the Pennsylvania Science Standards.
Unit types
While every unit delivers three-dimensional learning experiences and engages students in gathering evidence from a rich collection of sources, each unit also serves a unique instructional purpose.
In grades 6–8:
- One unit is a launch unit.
- Three units are core units.
- Two units are engineering internships.
Launch units are the first units taught in each year of Amplify Science. The goal of the Launch unit is to introduce students to norms, routines, and practices that will be built on throughout the year, including argumentation, active reading, and using the program’s technology. For example, rather than taking the time to explain the process of active reading in every unit in a given year, it is explained thoroughly in the Launch unit, thereby preparing students to read actively in all subsequent units.
Core units establish the context of the unit by introducing students to a real-world problem. As students move through lessons in a Core unit, they figure out the unit’s anchoring phenomenon, gain an understanding of the unit’s disciplinary core ideas and science and engineering practices, and make linkages across topics through the crosscutting concepts. Each Core unit culminates with a Science Seminar and final writing activity.
Engineering Internship units invite students to design solutions for real-world problems as interns for a fictional company called Futura. Students figure out how to help those in need, from tsunami victims in Sri Lanka to premature babies, through the application of engineering practices. In the process, they apply and deepen their learning from Core units.
Unit sequence
Our lessons follow a structure that is grounded in regular routines while still being flexible enough to allow for a variety of learning experiences.
In fact, our multi-modal instruction offers more opportunities for students to construct meaning, and practice and apply concepts than any other program. What’s more, our modular design means our units can be flexibly arranged to support your instructional goals.
Program components
Available digitally and in print, our unit-specific reference guides are chock-full of helpful resources, including scientific background knowledge, planning information and resources, color-coded 3D Statements, detailed lesson plans, tips for delivering instruction, and differentiation strategies.
Hands-on learning is an essential part of Amplify Science, and is integrated into every unit. Students actively participate in science, playing the roles of scientists and engineers as they gather evidence, think critically, solve problems, and develop and defend claims about the world around them. Every unit includes hands-on investigations that are critical to achieving the unit’s learning goals.
More hands-on with Flextensions:
Hands-on Flextensions are additional, optional investigations that are included at logical points in the learning progression and give students an opportunity to dig deeper if time permits. These activities offer teachers flexibility to choose to dedicate more time to hands-on learning. Materials referenced in Hands-on Flextension activities will either be included in the unit kit or are easily sourced. Supporting resources such as student worksheets will be included as downloadable PDF files.
Our kits include enough materials to support 200 student uses. In other words, teachers can easily support all five periods and small groups of 4-5 students each. Plus, our unit-specific kits mean teachers just grab the tub they need and then put it all back with ease.
Our digital Simulations and Practice Tools are powerful resources for exploration, data collection, and student collaboration. They allow students the ability to explore scientific concepts that might otherwise be invisible or impossible to see with the naked eye.
Available for every unit, our Student Investigation Notebooks contain instructions for activities and space for students to record data and observations, reflect on ideas from texts and investigations, and construct explanations and arguments.
In grades 6–8, one copy of the Student Investigation Notebook is included in each unit’s materials kit for use as a blackline master. Each notebook is also available as a downloadable PDF on the Unit Guide page of the digital Teacher’s Guide.
These customizable PowerPoints are available for every lesson of the program and make delivering instruction a snap with visual prompts, colorful activity instructions, investigation set-up videos and animations, and suggested teacher talk in the notes section of each slide.
Explore your print samples
With your Amplify Science print samples, you’ll find unit-specific Teacher’s References Guides and Student Investigation Notebooks for each grade level.
A note about the Teacher’s Reference Guides:
It’s important that your committee sees the full breadth and depth of our instruction. For that reason, we provided a copy of each of our unit-specific Teacher Reference Guides.
Rest assured that teachers do not use these robust reference guides for day-to-day teaching. For that, we have a hands-free TG!
- Teacher Reference Guide: Unlike a typical TG that requires a series of supplemental books to support it, our encyclopedic reference guide is chock-full of everything a teacher needs to fully implement our program and the NGSS.
- Ready-to-Teach Lesson Slides: For daily instruction, teachers need their hands free. That’s why we created ready-to-teach lesson slides for every single lesson. What’s more, they are editable and include suggested teacher talk and point-of-use differentiation and other instructional tips. Click to learn more.
A note about the Materials Kits:
Hands-on learning is at the heart of Amplify Science, and is integrated into every unit. In order to make hands-on learning more manageable for busy teachers, Amplify Science materials are organized into unit-specific kits.
Our unit-specific kits:
- Include more materials — We give teachers enough materials to support 200 student uses.
- Are more manageable — Unlike other programs that require large groups of students to share limited sets of materials, our kits include enough to support small groups of 4–5 students.
- Include supportive videos — Each hands-on activity provides clear instructions for the teacher, with more complex activities supported by video demonstrations and illustrations.
At your request, we did not include our materials kits with our submissions samples. However, we did provide grade-specific lists of all materials included in each kit, which you can also find with the links below.
Access your digital samples
Explore as a teacher
Follow these instructions to explore the Amplify Science digital platform as a teacher.
- Click the Access Amplify Science Platform button below and bookmark it.
- Select Log in with Amplify.
- Enter the username: t1.dps68sci@demo.tryamplify.net
- Enter the password: Amplify1-dps68sci
- Click the Science icon.
- Click on the Grade Menu in the top center of the screen and select any grade.
- Select any unit.
To help familiarize yourself with navigating the digital platform, watch the below navigational video.
Spanish-language support
Amplify Science is committed to providing support to meet the needs of all learners, including multiple access points for Spanish-speaking students. Developed in conjunction with Spanish-language experts and classroom teachers, several components are available in Spanish across the Amplify Science curriculum.
Spanish-language materials include:
| COMPONENT | TEACHER/STUDENT |
| Student Investigation Notebooks | Student |
| Science articles | Student |
| Video Transcripts | Student |
| Digital simulation translation keys | Student |
| Printed classroom materials Unit and chapter questions, key concepts, vocabulary cards, etc. | Teacher |
| Copymasters | Teacher |
| Assessments | Teacher |
| Digital student experience license This license gives students access to the student resources in Spanish, including instructional text, articles, and assessments. Teachers can control student access to Spanish-language content through the digital Teacher’s Guide. | Teacher |
| Spanish teacher support license This license includes teacher talk, projections, downloadable PDFs of all print resources, and video transcripts and closed captioning in Spanish. | Teacher |
Explore as a student
Follow these instructions to explore the Amplify Science digital platform as a student.
- Click the Access Amplify Science Platform button below and bookmark it.
- Select Log in with Amplify.
- Enter the username: s1.dpsscience@demo.tryamplify.net
- Enter the password: Amplify1-dpsscience
- Click the Science icon.
- Click on the Grade Menu in the top center of the screen and select any grade.
- Select any unit.
Resources to support your review
Amplify Science Overview
The Lawrence Hall of Science
Developed by the science education experts at UC Berkeley’s Lawrence Hall of Science and the digital learning team at Amplify, our program features:
- A phenomena-based approach where students construct a complex understanding of each unit’s anchor phenomenon.
- A blend of cohesive storylines, hands-on investigations, rich discussions, literacy-rich activities, and digital tools.
- Carefully crafted units, chapters, lessons, and activities designed to deliver true 3-dimensional learning.
- An instructional design that supports all learners in accessing all standards.
Instructional model
The Amplify Science program is rooted in the proven, research-based pedagogy of Do, Talk, Read, Write, Visualize. Here’s how each element works:
DO
First-hand investigations are an important part of any science classroom, and Amplify Science has students getting hands-on in every unit—from building models of protein molecules to experimenting with electrical systems.
TALK
Student-to-student discourse and full-class discussions are an integral part of the program. Students are provided with numerous opportunities to engage in meaningful oral scientific argumentation, all while fostering a collaborative classroom environment.
READ
Students read scientific articles, focusing their reading activities on searching for evidence related to their investigation and, importantly, on asking and recording questions as they read through fascinating texts on 21st-century topics.
WRITE
Following real-world practices, students write scientific arguments based on evidence they’ve collected, making clear their reasoning about how a given piece of evidence connects to one of several claims.
VISUALIZE
By manipulating digital simulations and using modeling tools to craft visualizations of their thinking— just as real scientists and engineers do—students take their learning far beyond the confines of what they can physically see in the classroom in an exciting and authentic way.
Program structure
Our cyclical lesson design ensures students receive multiple exposures to concepts through a variety of modalities. As they progress through the lessons within a unit, students build and deepen their understanding, increasing their ability to develop and refine complex explanations of the unit’s phenomenon.
It’s this proven program structure and lesson design that enables Amplify Science to address 100% of the NGSS, and support students in mastering the standards.
Unit types
While every unit delivers three-dimensional learning experiences and engages students in gathering evidence from a rich collection of sources, each unit also emphasizes a particular science and engineering practice.
In grades K–2:
- One unit emphasizes the practice of investigation.
- One unit emphasizes the practice of modeling.
- One unit emphasizes the practice of engineering design.
In grades 3–5, students experience the three unit types above, plus:
- One additional unit that emphasizes the practice of argumentation.
Investigation units focus on the process of strategically developing investigations and gathering data to answer questions. Students are first asked to consider questions about what happens in the natural world and why, and are then involved in designing and conducting investigations that produce data to help answer those questions.
Modeling units provide extra support to students engaging in the practice of modeling. Students use physical models, investigate with computer models, and create their own diagrams to help them visualize what might be happening on the nanoscale.
Engineering design units provide opportunities for students to solve complex problems by applying science principles to the design of functional solutions, and iteratively testing those solutions to determine how well they meet preset criteria.
Argumentation units provide students with regular opportunities to explore and discuss available evidence, time and support to consider how evidence may be leveraged in support of claims, and independence that increases as they mount written arguments in support of their claims.
Unit sequence
Our lessons follow a structure that is grounded in regular routines while still being flexible enough to allow for a variety of learning experiences.
In fact, our multi-modal instruction offers more opportunities for students to construct meaning, and practice and apply concepts than any other program. What’s more, our modular design means our units can be flexibly arranged to support your instructional goals.
Program components
Available digitally and in print, our unit-specific reference guides are chock full of helpful resources, including scientific background knowledge, planning information and resources, color-coded 3-D Statements, detailed lesson plans, tips for delivering instruction, and differentiation strategies.
Hands-on learning is an essential part of Amplify Science, and is integrated into every unit. Students actively participate in science, playing the roles of scientists and engineers as they gather evidence, think critically, solve problems, and develop and defend claims about the world around them. Every unit includes hands-on investigations that are critical to achieving the unit’s learning goals.
More hands-on with Flextensions:
Hands-on Flextensions are additional, optional investigations that are included at logical points in the learning progression and give students an opportunity to dig deeper if time permits. These activities offer teachers flexibility to choose to dedicate more time to hands-on learning. Materials referenced in Hands-on Flextension activities will either be included in the unit kit or are easily sourced. Supporting resources such as student worksheets will be included as downloadable PDF files.
Our kits include enough non-consumable materials to support a class of 36 students and enough consumable items to support 72 students. In other words, each kit can last two years! Plus, our unit-specific kits mean teachers just grab the tub they need for the unit and then put it all back with ease.
Each unit of Amplify Science K–5 includes six unique Student Books written by the Lawrence Hall of Science specifically for the program. These content-rich nonfiction and informational texts provide opportunities for students to search for evidence relevant to their firsthand investigations, see science practices and dispositions modeled, extend their science knowledge, provide real world connections as they master reading-to-learn and close reading skills, and construct evidence-based arguments.
Important note:
Students in grades K–5 are never asked to read alone. Rather, books are read to, with, and by students with ample scaffolding and support provided by the teacher. Big Books are read aloud or together with the class to introduce ideas. Student Books allow for small-group reading and reading in pairs.
Available for every unit, our Student Investigation Notebooks contain instructions for activities and space for students to record data and observations, reflect on ideas from texts and investigations, and construct explanations and arguments.
In grades K–5, one copy of the Student Investigation Notebook is included in each unit’s materials kit for use as a blackline master. Each notebook is also available as a downloadable PDF on the Unit Guide page of the digital Teacher’s Guide.
Amplify Science offers digital experience licenses that make elementary instruction more flexible for students and teachers, as well as providing additional means to engage in remote, hybrid, or in-person learning!
Student-facing digital lessons
With the digital experience, students can engage with digital lesson content in one cohesive experience. It’s the same content from Amplify science in a new, integrated format where students can interact with slides, Sims, modeling tools, videos, books, and more.
Digital student notebook pages
Students can draw, write, record audio, and insert images into their Investigation Notebook pages. Their work is automatically saved and delivered to you in real time. When students edit their work, those edits are immediately reflected on your teacher work review page. You can access student responses by clicking “View Work,” where you can see students’ Investigation Notebook pages from the lesson, updating live.
[IMAGE TO COME]
Assign in Amplify
The digital experience allows flexibility with optional features like scheduling assignments in advance and setting due dates. Teacher can use Scheduling to determine the date and time that the assignment appears in Student Home. They also have the flexibility to schedule when assignments appear and use dates to remove assignments from Student Home.
Assign in LMS
You can also assign lessons via our integrations with Google Classroom and Microsoft Teams, or by copying a lesson link and sharing it with students through the platform of your choice. The assignment link you send will provide students with direct access to the full lesson—slides, videos, digital tools, and worksheet activities—no student platform navigation required!
Teacher platform and presentation
Teacher-facing lesson content—including sample teacher talk, student responses, pedagogical support, and possible student responses—shows on a teacher’s private Teacher Guide tab. Students only see the lesson slides that are being presented.
Explore your print samples
With your Amplify Science print samples, you’ll find unit-specific Teacher’s References Guides, Student Investigation Notebooks, and sets of Student Books for each grade level.
A note about the Teacher’s Reference Guides:
It’s important that you see the full breadth and depth of our instruction. For that reason, we provide a copy of each of our unit-specific Teacher Reference Guides.
Rest assured that teachers do not use these robust reference guides for day-to-day teaching. For that, we have a hands-free TG!
- Teacher Reference Guide: Unlike a typical TG that requires a series of supplemental books to support it, our encyclopedic reference guide is chock-full of everything a teacher needs to fully implement our program and the NGSS.
- Ready-to-Teach Lesson Slides: For daily instruction, teachers need their hands free. That’s why we created ready-to-teach lesson slides for every single lesson. What’s more, they are editable and include suggested teacher talk and point-of-use differentiation and other instructional tips. Click to learn more.
A note about the Materials Kits:
Hands-on learning is at the heart of Amplify Science, and is integrated into every unit. In order to make hands-on learning more manageable for busy teachers, Amplify Science materials are organized into unit-specific kits.
What’s different about Amplify’s unit-specific material kits? They…
- Include more materials — We give teachers enough non-consumable materials to support a class of 36 students and enough consumables to support 72 student uses. In other words, each kit will last two years.
- Are more manageable — Unlike other programs that require large groups of students to share limited sets of materials, our kits include enough to support small groups of 4–5 students.
- Include supportive videos — Each hands-on activity provides clear instructions for the teacher, with more complex activities supported by video demonstrations and illustrations.
Grade-specific lists of all materials included in each kit:
- Grade K: Materials Kit List
- Grade 1: Materials Kit List
- Grade 2: Materials Kit List
- Grade 3: Materials Kit List
- Grade 4: Materials Kit List
- Grade 5: Materials Kit List
Access your digital samples
Explore as a teacher
When you’re ready to explore the teaching experience on your own, follow these instructions to access the Amplify Science digital teacher platform.
- Click the Access Amplify Science Platform button below and bookmark the page.
- Select Log in with Amplify.
- Enter the username: t1.jeffersoncounty@demo.tryamplify.net
- Enter the password: Amplify1-jeffersoncounty
- Click on Science on the left hand side.
- Click on the Program Menu in the top center of the screen and select any grade.
- Select any unit.
To help familiarize yourself with navigating the digital platform,watch the below navigational video.
Explore as a student
When you’re ready to explore the student learning experience on your own, follow these instructions to access the Amplify Science digital student platform.
- Click the Access Amplify Science Platform button below and bookmark the page.
- Select Log in with Amplify.
- Enter the username: s1.jeffersoncounty@demo.tryamplify.net
- Enter the password: Amplify1-jeffersoncounty
- Click the backpack icon on the top right.
- Click Science K-5
- Select any unit.
Resources to support your review
Welcome to Amplify Science Pennsylvania
(K–5)!
Amplify Science is an engaging core curriculum designed for three-dimensional, phenomena-based learning.
With Amplify Science, Pennsylvania students shift from learning about to figuring out science through authentic three-dimensional (3D) learning and phenomena-based exploration. In each unit, students take on the role of a scientist or engineer to investigate a real-world problem. This prepares them to become critical thinkers who can solve problems in their communities and beyond.
What is Amplify Science Pennsylvania?
Customized lessons for Pennsylvania
Amplify Science Pennsylvania (K–5) combines our nationally recognized, proven curriculum with custom lessons specifically designed to ensure you are meeting Pennsylvania’s STEELS standards.
The Lawrence Hall of Science
Developed by the science education experts at UC Berkeley’s Lawrence Hall of Science and the digital learning team at Amplify, our program features:
- A phenomena-based approach in which students construct a complex understanding of each unit’s anchor phenomenon.
- A blend of cohesive storylines, hands-on investigations, rich discussions, literacy-rich activities, and digital tools.
- Carefully crafted units, chapters, lessons, and activities designed to deliver true three-dimensional learning.
- An instructional design that supports all learners in accessing all standards.
Proven to work
Instructional model
The Amplify Science Pennsylvania program is rooted in the proven, research-based pedagogy of Do, Talk, Read, Write, Visualize. Here’s how each element works:
Do
Firsthand investigations are an important part of any science classroom, and Amplify Science Pennsylvania has students getting hands-on in every unit—from building models of protein molecules to experimenting with electrical systems.
Talk
Student-to-student discourse and full-class discussions are an integral part of the program. Students are provided with numerous opportunities to engage in meaningful oral scientific argumentation, all while fostering a collaborative classroom environment.
Read
Students read scientific articles, focusing their reading activities on searching for evidence related to their investigation and on asking and recording questions as they read through fascinating texts on 21st-century topics.
Write
Following real-world practices, students write scientific arguments based on evidence they’ve collected, making clear their reasoning about how a given piece of evidence connects to one of several claims.
Visualize
By manipulating digital simulations and using modeling tools to craft visualizations of their thinking— just as real scientists and engineers
do—students take their learning far beyond the confines of what they can physically see in the classroom in an exciting and authentic way.
Program structure
Our cyclical lesson design ensures that students receive multiple exposures to concepts through a variety of modalities. As they progress through the lessons within a unit, students build and deepen their understanding, increasing their ability to develop and refine complex explanations of the unit’s phenomenon.
It’s this proven program structure and lesson design that enables Amplify Science Pennsylvania to address 100% of the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) and support students in mastering the Pennsylvania Science Standards.
Unit types
While every unit delivers three-dimensional learning experiences and engages students in gathering evidence from a rich collection of sources, each unit also emphasizes a particular science and engineering practice.
In grades K–2:
- One unit emphasizes the practice of investigation.
- One unit emphasizes the practice of modeling.
- One unit emphasizes the practice of engineering design.
In grades 3–5, students experience the three unit types above, plus:
One additional unit that emphasizes the practice of argumentation.
Investigation units focus on the process of strategically developing investigations and gathering data to answer questions. Students are first asked to consider questions about what happens in the natural world and why, and are then involved in designing and conducting investigations that produce data to help answer those questions.
Modeling units provide extra support to students engaging in the practice of modeling. Students use physical models, investigate with computer models, and create their own diagrams to help them visualize what might be happening on the nanoscale.
Engineering design units provide opportunities for students to solve complex problems by applying science principles to the design of functional solutions, and iteratively testing those solutions to determine how well they meet preset criteria.
Argumentation units provide students with regular opportunities to explore and discuss available evidence, time and support to consider how evidence may be leveraged in support of claims, and independence that increases as they mount written arguments in support of their claims.
Unit sequence
Our lessons follow a structure that is grounded in regular routines while still being flexible enough to allow for a variety of learning experiences.
In fact, our multimodal instruction offers more opportunities for students to construct meaning, and practice and apply concepts, than any other program. What’s more, our modular design means our units can be flexibly arranged to support your instructional goals.
Program components
Available digitally and in print, our unit-specific reference guides are chock-full of helpful resources, including scientific background knowledge, planning information and resources, color-coded 3D Statements, detailed lesson plans, tips for delivering instruction, and differentiation strategies.
Hands-on learning is an essential part of Amplify Science Pennsylvania and is integrated into every unit. Students actively participate in science, playing the roles of scientists and engineers as they gather evidence, think critically, solve problems, and develop and defend claims about the world around them. Every unit includes hands-on investigations that are critical to achieving the unit’s learning goals.
More hands-on with Flextensions:
Hands-on Flextensions are additional, optional investigations that are included at logical points in the learning progression and give students an opportunity to dig deeper if time permits. These activities offer teachers flexibility to choose to dedicate more time to hands-on learning. Materials referenced in Hands-on Flextension activities will either be included in the unit kit or are easily sourced. Supporting resources such as student worksheets will be included as downloadable PDF files.
Our kits include enough non-consumable materials to support a class of 36 students and enough consumable items to support 72 students. In other words, each kit can last two years! Plus, our unit-specific kits mean teachers just grab the tub they need for the unit and then put it all back with ease.
Each unit of Amplify Science Pennsylvania (K–5) includes six unique Student Books written by educators at the Lawrence Hall of Science specifically for the program. These content-rich nonfiction and informational texts provide opportunities for students to search for evidence relevant to their firsthand investigations, see science practices and dispositions modeled, extend their science knowledge, provide real-world connections as they master reading-to-learn and close reading skills, and construct evidence-based arguments.
Important note:
Students in grades K–5 are never asked to read alone. Rather, books are read to, with, and by students with ample scaffolding and support provided by the teacher. Big Books are read aloud or together with the class to introduce ideas. Student Books allow for small-group reading and reading in pairs.
Available for every unit, our Student Investigation Notebooks contain instructions for activities and space for students to record data and observations, reflect on ideas from texts and investigations, and construct explanations and arguments.
In grades K–5, one copy of the Student Investigation Notebook is included in each unit’s materials kit for use as a blackline master. Each notebook is also available as a downloadable PDF on the Unit Guide page of the digital Teacher’s Guide.
Amplify Science Pennsylvania offers digital experience licenses that make elementary instruction more flexible for students and teachers and provide additional means to engage in remote, hybrid, or in-person learning!
Student-facing digital lessons
With the digital experience, students can engage with digital lesson content in one cohesive experience. It’s the same content from Amplify Science Pennsylvania in a new, integrated format, in which students can interact with slides, Sims, modeling tools, videos, books, and more.
Digital student notebook pages
Students can draw, write, record audio, and insert images into their Investigation Notebook pages. Their work is automatically saved and delivered to you in real time. When students edit their work, those edits are immediately reflected on your teacher work review page. You can access student responses by clicking “View Work,” where you can see students’ Investigation Notebook pages from the lesson, updating live.
Assign in Amplify
The digital experience allows flexibility with optional features such as scheduling assignments in advance and setting due dates. You can use Scheduling to determine the date and time that the assignment appears in Student Home. You also have the flexibility to schedule when assignments appear and to use dates to remove assignments from Student Home.
Assign in LMS
You can also assign lessons via our integrations with learning management systems (LMS) such as Google Classroom and Microsoft Teams, or by copying a lesson link and sharing it with students through the platform of your choice. The assignment link you send will provide students with direct access to the full lesson—slides, videos, digital tools, and worksheet activities—no student platform navigation required!
Teacher platform and presentation
Teacher-facing lesson content—including sample teacher talk, student responses, pedagogical support, and possible student responses—shows on a teacher’s private Teacher Guide tab. Students only see the lesson slides that are being presented.
Explore your print samples
With your Amplify Science Pennsylvania print samples, you’ll find unit-specific Teacher’s References Guides, Student Investigation Notebooks, and sets of Student Books for each grade level.
A note about the Teacher Reference Guides:
It’s important that you see the full breadth and depth of our instruction. For that reason, we provide a copy of each of our unit-specific Teacher Reference Guides.
Teachers do not use these robust reference guides for day-to-day teaching. For that, we have a hands-free Teacher’s Guide!
- Teacher’s Reference Guide: Unlike a typical Teacher’s Guide that requires a series of supplemental books to support it, our encyclopedic reference guide is chock-full of everything a teacher needs to fully implement our program and the NGSS.
- Ready-to-Teach Lesson Slides: For daily instruction, teachers need their hands free. That’s why we created ready-to-teach lesson slides for every single lesson. What’s more, the slides are editable and include suggested teacher talk and point-of-use differentiation and other instructional tips. Click to learn more.
A note about the Materials Kits:
Hands-on learning is at the heart of Amplify Science Pennsylvania, and is integrated into every unit. To make hands-on learning more manageable for busy teachers, Amplify Science Pennsylvania materials are organized into unit-specific kits.
What’s different about Amplify’s unit-specific material kits?
- They include more materials. We give teachers enough non-consumable materials to support a class of 36 students and enough consumables to support 72 student uses. In other words, each kit will last two years.
- They’re more manageable. Unlike other programs that require large groups of students to share limited sets of materials, our kits include enough to support small groups of four to five students.
- They include supportive videos. Each hands-on activity provides clear instructions for the teacher, with more complex activities supported by video demonstrations and illustrations.
Grade-specific lists of all materials included in each kit:
- Grade K: Materials Kit List
- Grade 1: Materials Kit List
- Grade 2: Materials Kit List
- Grade 3: Materials Kit List
- Grade 4: Materials Kit List
- Grade 5: Materials Kit List
Spanish-language support
Amplify Science Pennsylvania is committed to providing support to meet the needs of all learners, including multiple access points for Spanish-speaking students. Developed in conjunction with Spanish-language experts and classroom teachers, several components are available in Spanish across the Amplify Science Pennsylvania curriculum.
Spanish-language materials include:
| COMPONENT | TEACHER/STUDENT |
| Student Investigation Notebooks | Student |
| Student Books | Student |
| Printed classroom materials Unit and chapter questions, key concepts, vocabulary cards, etc. |
Teacher and student |
| Copymasters | Teacher |
| Assessments | Teacher |
| Spanish teacher support license This license includes teacher talk, projections, and downloadable PDFs of all print materials in Spanish. |
Teacher |
Resources to support your review
Contact us
Support is always available. Our team is dedicated to helping you every step of the way.
Contact your dedicated Pennsylvania representative.
Publisher presentation
The Lawrence Hall of Science
Developed by the science education experts at UC Berkeley’s Lawrence Hall of Science and the digital learning team at Amplify, our program features:
- A phenomena-based approach where students construct a complex understanding of each unit’s anchor phenomenon.
- A blend of cohesive storylines, hands-on investigations, rich discussions, literacy-rich activities, and digital tools.
- Carefully crafted units, chapters, lessons, and activities designed to deliver true 3-dimensional learning.
- An instructional design that supports all learners in accessing all standards.
Instructional model
The Amplify Science program is rooted in the proven, research-based pedagogy of Do, Talk, Read, Write, Visualize. Here’s how each element works:
DO
First-hand investigations are an important part of any science classroom, and Amplify Science has students getting hands-on in every unit—from building models of protein molecules to experimenting with electrical systems.
TALK
Student-to-student discourse and full-class discussions are an integral part of the program. Students are provided with numerous opportunities to engage in meaningful oral scientific argumentation, all while fostering a collaborative classroom environment.
READ
Students read scientific articles, focusing their reading activities on searching for evidence related to their investigation and, importantly, on asking and recording questions as they read through fascinating texts on 21st-century topics.
WRITE
Following real-world practices, students write scientific arguments based on evidence they’ve collected, making clear their reasoning about how a given piece of evidence connects to one of several claims.
VISUALIZE
By manipulating digital simulations and using modeling tools to craft visualizations of their thinking— just as real scientists and engineers do—students take their learning far beyond the confines of what they can physically see in the classroom in an exciting and authentic way.
Program structure
Our cyclical lesson design ensures students receive multiple exposures to concepts through a variety of modalities. As they progress through the lessons within a unit, students build and deepen their understanding, increasing their ability to develop and refine complex explanations of the unit’s phenomenon.
It’s this proven program structure and lesson design that enables Amplify Science to address 100% of the NGSS, and support students in mastering the Oregon Science Standards.
Unit types
While every unit delivers three-dimensional learning experiences and engages students in gathering evidence from a rich collection of sources, each unit also emphasizes a particular science and engineering practice.
In grades K–2:
- One unit emphasizes the practice of investigation.
- One unit emphasizes the practice of modeling.
- One unit emphasizes the practice of engineering design.
In grades 3–5, students experience the three unit types above, plus:
- One additional unit that emphasizes the practice of argumentation.
Investigation units focus on the process of strategically developing investigations and gathering data to answer questions. Students are first asked to consider questions about what happens in the natural world and why, and are then involved in designing and conducting investigations that produce data to help answer those questions.
Modeling units provide extra support to students engaging in the practice of modeling. Students use physical models, investigate with computer models, and create their own diagrams to help them visualize what might be happening on the nanoscale.
Engineering design units provide opportunities for students to solve complex problems by applying science principles to the design of functional solutions, and iteratively testing those solutions to determine how well they meet preset criteria.
Argumentation units provide students with regular opportunities to explore and discuss available evidence, time and support to consider how evidence may be leveraged in support of claims, and independence that increases as they mount written arguments in support of their claims.
Unit sequence
Our lessons follow a structure that is grounded in regular routines while still being flexible enough to allow for a variety of learning experiences.
In fact, our multi-modal instruction offers more opportunities for students to construct meaning, and practice and apply concepts than any other program. What’s more, our modular design means our units can be flexibly arranged to support your instructional goals.
Program components
Available digitally and in print, our unit-specific reference guides are chock full of helpful resources, including scientific background knowledge, planning information and resources, color-coded 3-D Statements, detailed lesson plans, tips for delivering instruction, and differentiation strategies.
Hands-on learning is an essential part of Amplify Science, and is integrated into every unit. Students actively participate in science, playing the roles of scientists and engineers as they gather evidence, think critically, solve problems, and develop and defend claims about the world around them. Every unit includes hands-on investigations that are critical to achieving the unit’s learning goals.
More hands-on with Flextensions:
Hands-on Flextensions are additional, optional investigations that are included at logical points in the learning progression and give students an opportunity to dig deeper if time permits. These activities offer teachers flexibility to choose to dedicate more time to hands-on learning. Materials referenced in Hands-on Flextension activities will either be included in the unit kit or are easily sourced. Supporting resources such as student worksheets will be included as downloadable PDF files.
Our kits include enough non-consumable materials to support a class of 36 students and enough consumable items to support 72 students. In other words, each kit can last two years! Plus, our unit-specific kits mean teachers just grab the tub they need and then put it all back with ease.
Each unit of Amplify Science K–5 includes six unique Student Books written by the Lawrence Hall of Science specifically for the program. These content-rich nonfiction and informational texts provide opportunities for students to search for evidence relevant to their firsthand investigations, see science practices and dispositions modeled, extend their science knowledge, provide real world connections as they master reading-to-learn and close reading skills, and construct evidence-based arguments.
Important note:
Students in grades K–5 are never asked to read alone. Rather, books are read to, with, and by students with ample scaffolding and support provided by the teacher. Big Books are read aloud or together with the class to introduce ideas. Student Books allow for small-group reading and reading in pairs.
Available for every unit, our Student Investigation Notebooks contain instructions for activities and space for students to record data and observations, reflect on ideas from texts and investigations, and construct explanations and arguments.
In grades K–5, one copy of the Student Investigation Notebook is included in each unit’s materials kit for use as a blackline master. Each notebook is also available as a downloadable PDF on the Unit Guide page of the digital Teacher’s Guide.
Amplify Science offers digital experience licenses that make elementary instruction more flexible for students and teachers, as well as providing additional means to engage in remote, hybrid, or in-person learning!
Student-facing digital lessons
With the digital experience, students can engage with digital lesson content in one cohesive experience. It’s the same content from Amplify science in a new, integrated format where students can interact with slides, Sims, modeling tools, videos, books, and more.
Digital student notebook pages
Students can draw, write, record audio, and insert images into their Investigation Notebook pages. Their work is automatically saved and delivered to you in real time. When students edit their work, those edits are immediately reflected on your teacher work review page. You can access student responses by clicking “View Work,” where you can see students’ Investigation Notebook pages from the lesson, updating live.
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Assign in Amplify
The digital experience allows flexibility with optional features like scheduling assignments in advance and setting due dates. Teacher can use Scheduling to determine the date and time that the assignment appears in Student Home. They also have the flexibility to schedule when assignments appear and use dates to remove assignments from Student Home.
Assign in LMS
You can also assign lessons via our integrations with Google Classroom and Microsoft Teams, or by copying a lesson link and sharing it with students through the platform of your choice. The assignment link you send will provide students with direct access to the full lesson—slides, videos, digital tools, and worksheet activities—no student platform navigation required!
Teacher platform and presentation
Teacher-facing lesson content—including sample teacher talk, student responses, pedagogical support, and possible student responses—shows on a teacher’s private Teacher Guide tab. Students only see the lesson slides that are being presented.
Explore your print samples
Amplify Science physical samples can be found at the Hamersley Library at Western Oregon University. There you’ll find unit-specific Teacher’s References Guides, Student Investigation Notebooks, and sets of Student Books for each grade level.
A note about the Teacher’s Reference Guides:
It’s important that your committee sees the full breadth and depth of our instruction. For that reason, we provided a copy of each of our unit-specific Teacher Reference Guides.
Rest assured that teachers do not use these robust reference guides for day-to-day teaching. For that, we have a hands-free TG!
A note about the Materials Kits:
Hands-on learning is at the heart of Amplify Science, and is integrated into every unit. In order to make hands-on learning more manageable for busy teachers, Amplify Science materials are organized into unit-specific kits.
Our unit-specific kits:
-
- Include more materials — We give teachers enough non-consumable materials to support a class of 36 students and enough consumables to support 72 student uses. In other words, each kit will last two years.
- Are more manageable — Unlike other programs that require large groups of students to share limited sets of materials, our kits include enough to support small groups of 4–5 students.
- Include supportive videos — Each hands-on activity provides clear instructions for the teacher, with more complex activities supported by video demonstrations and illustrations.
At your request, we did not include our materials kits with our submissions samples. However, we did provide grade-specific lists of all materials included in each kit, which you can also find with the links below.
Access your digital samples
Explore as a teacher
When you’re ready to explore the teaching experience on your own, follow these instructions to access the Amplify Science digital teacher platform.
- Click the Access Amplify Science Platform button below.
- Select Log in with Amplify.
- Enter the teacher username and password found on your unique login flyer enclosed in your physical sample box.
- Click the Science icon.
- Click on the Grade Menu in the top center of the screen and select any grade.
- Select any unit.
To help familiarize yourself with navigating the digital platform, watch the below navigational video.
Explore as a student
When you’re ready to explore the student learning experience on your own, follow these instructions to access the Amplify Science digital student platform.
- Click the Access Amplify Science Platform button below.
- Select Log in with Amplify.
- Enter the student username and password found on your unique login flyer enclosed in your physical sample box.
- Click the Science icon.
- Click on the Grade Menu in the top center of the screen and select any grade.
- Select any unit.
Resources to support your review
- Oregon standards correlation for grades K–5
- QCD Science Adoption Criteria 2022 for grades K-5
- QCD IMET Citation guidance for grades K-5
- Oregon Science IMET for grades K-5 (Excel download)
- Oregon QCD-IMET Citation guidance for grades K-5
- Research behind Amplify Science
- What’s so phenomenal about phenomena? – eBook
- Phenomena in grades K–5
- Program structure for grades K–5
- Student Books in grades K–5
- Literacy-rich science instruction in grades K–5
- Approaches to assessment in grades K–5
What is Amplify Science?
The Lawrence Hall of Science
Developed by the science education experts at UC Berkeley’s Lawrence Hall of Science and the digital learning team at Amplify, our program features:
- A phenomena-based approach where students construct a complex understanding of each unit’s anchor phenomenon.
- A blend of cohesive storylines, hands-on investigations, rich discussions, literacy-rich activities, and digital tools.
- Carefully crafted units, chapters, lessons, and activities designed to deliver true three-dimensional learning.
- An instructional design that supports all learners in accessing all standards.
Proven to work
Instructional model
The Amplify Science program is rooted in the proven, research-based pedagogy of Do, Talk, Read, Write, Visualize. Here’s how each element works:
Do
Firsthand investigations are an important part of any science classroom, and Amplify Science has students getting hands-on in every unit—from building models of protein molecules to experimenting with electrical systems.
Talk
Student-to-student discourse and full-class discussions are an integral part of the program. Students are provided with numerous opportunities to engage in meaningful oral scientific argumentation, all while fostering a collaborative classroom environment.
Read
Students read scientific articles, focusing their reading activities on searching for evidence related to their investigation and, importantly, on asking and recording questions as they read through fascinating texts on 21st-century topics.
Write
Following real-world practices, students write scientific arguments based on evidence they’ve collected, making clear their reasoning about how a given piece of evidence connects to one of several claims.
Visualize
By manipulating digital simulations and using modeling tools to craft visualizations of their thinking— just as real scientists and engineers do—students take their learning far beyond the confines of what they can physically see in the classroom in an exciting and authentic way.
Program structure
Our cyclical lesson design ensures students receive multiple exposures to concepts through a variety of modalities. As they progress through the lessons within a unit, students build and deepen their understanding, increasing their ability to develop and refine complex explanations of the unit’s phenomenon.
It’s this proven program structure and lesson design that enables Amplify Science to address 100% of the NGSS and support students in mastering the Utah Science Standards.
Unit types
While every unit delivers three-dimensional learning experiences and engages students in gathering evidence from a rich collection of sources, each unit also emphasizes a particular science and engineering practice.
In grades K–2:
- One unit emphasizes the practice of investigation.
- One unit emphasizes the practice of modeling.
- One unit emphasizes the practice of engineering design.
In grades 3–5, students experience the three unit types above, plus:
- One additional unit that emphasizes the practice of argumentation.
Investigation units focus on the process of strategically developing investigations and gathering data to answer questions. Students are first asked to consider questions about what happens in the natural world and why, and are then involved in designing and conducting investigations that produce data to help answer those questions.
Modeling units provide extra support to students engaging in the practice of modeling. Students use physical models, investigate with computer models, and create their own diagrams to help them visualize what might be happening on the nanoscale.
Engineering design units provide opportunities for students to solve complex problems by applying science principles to the design of functional solutions, and iteratively testing those solutions to determine how well they meet preset criteria.
Argumentation units provide students with regular opportunities to explore and discuss available evidence, time and support to consider how evidence may be leveraged in support of claims, and independence that increases as they mount written arguments in support of their claims.
Unit sequence
Our lessons follow a structure that is grounded in regular routines while still being flexible enough to allow for a variety of learning experiences.
In fact, our multi-modal instruction offers more opportunities for students to construct meaning, and practice and apply concepts, than any other program. What’s more, our modular design means our units can be flexibly arranged to support your instructional goals.
Program components
Available digitally and in print, our unit-specific reference guides are chock-full of helpful resources, including scientific background knowledge, planning information and resources, color-coded 3D Statements, detailed lesson plans, tips for delivering instruction, and differentiation strategies.
Hands-on learning is an essential part of Amplify Science and is integrated into every unit. Students actively participate in science, playing the roles of scientists and engineers as they gather evidence, think critically, solve problems, and develop and defend claims about the world around them. Every unit includes hands-on investigations that are critical to achieving the unit’s learning goals.
More hands-on with Flextensions:
Hands-on Flextensions are additional, optional investigations that are included at logical points in the learning progression and give students an opportunity to dig deeper if time permits. These activities offer teachers flexibility to choose to dedicate more time to hands-on learning. Materials referenced in Hands-on Flextension activities will either be included in the unit kit or are easily sourced. Supporting resources such as student worksheets will be included as downloadable PDF files.
Our kits include enough non-consumable materials to support a class of 36 students and enough consumable items to support 72 students. In other words, each kit can last two years! Plus, our unit-specific kits mean teachers just grab the tub they need for the unit and then put it all back with ease.
Each unit of Amplify Science K–5 includes six unique Student Books written by the Lawrence Hall of Science specifically for the program. These content-rich nonfiction and informational texts provide opportunities for students to search for evidence relevant to their firsthand investigations, see science practices and dispositions modeled, extend their science knowledge, provide real world connections as they master reading-to-learn and close reading skills, and construct evidence-based arguments.
Important note:
Students in grades K–5 are never asked to read alone. Rather, books are read to, with, and by students with ample scaffolding and support provided by the teacher. Big Books are read aloud or together with the class to introduce ideas. Student Books allow for small-group reading and reading in pairs.
Available for every unit, our Student Investigation Notebooks contain instructions for activities and space for students to record data and observations, reflect on ideas from texts and investigations, and construct explanations and arguments.
In grades K–5, one copy of the Student Investigation Notebook is included in each unit’s materials kit for use as a blackline master. Each notebook is also available as a downloadable PDF on the Unit Guide page of the digital Teacher’s Guide.
Amplify Science offers digital experience licenses that make elementary instruction more flexible for students and teachers, as well as providing additional means to engage in remote, hybrid, or in-person learning!
Student-facing digital lessons
With the digital experience, students can engage with digital lesson content in one cohesive experience. It’s the same content from Amplify science in a new, integrated format where students can interact with slides, Sims, modeling tools, videos, books, and more.
Digital student notebook pages
Students can draw, write, record audio, and insert images into their Investigation Notebook pages. Their work is automatically saved and delivered to you in real time. When students edit their work, those edits are immediately reflected on your teacher work review page. You can access student responses by clicking “View Work,” where you can see students’ Investigation Notebook pages from the lesson, updating live.
Assign in Amplify
The digital experience allows flexibility with optional features like scheduling assignments in advance and setting due dates. You can use Scheduling to determine the date and time that the assignment appears in Student Home. You also have the flexibility to schedule when assignments appear and use dates to remove assignments from Student Home.
Assign in LMS
You can also assign lessons via our integrations with Google Classroom and Microsoft Teams, or by copying a lesson link and sharing it with students through the platform of your choice. The assignment link you send will provide students with direct access to the full lesson—slides, videos, digital tools, and worksheet activities—no student platform navigation required!
Teacher platform and presentation
Teacher-facing lesson content—including sample teacher talk, student responses, pedagogical support, and possible student responses—shows on a teacher’s private Teacher Guide tab. Students only see the lesson slides that are being presented.
Explore your print samples
With your Amplify Science print samples, you’ll find unit-specific Teacher’s References Guides, Student Investigation Notebooks, and sets of Student Books for each grade level.
A note about the Teacher’s Reference Guides:
It’s important that you see the full breadth and depth of our instruction. For that reason, we provide a copy of each of our unit-specific Teacher Reference Guides.
Rest assured that teachers do not use these robust reference guides for day-to-day teaching. For that, we have a hands-free TG!
- Teacher Reference Guide: Unlike a typical TG that requires a series of supplemental books to support it, our encyclopedic reference guide is chock-full of everything a teacher needs to fully implement our program and the NGSS.
- Ready-to-Teach Lesson Slides: For daily instruction, teachers need their hands free. That’s why we created ready-to-teach lesson slides for every single lesson. What’s more, they are editable and include suggested teacher talk and point-of-use differentiation and other instructional tips. Click to learn more.
A note about the Materials Kits:
Hands-on learning is at the heart of Amplify Science, and is integrated into every unit. In order to make hands-on learning more manageable for busy teachers, Amplify Science materials are organized into unit-specific kits.
What’s different about Amplify’s unit-specific material kits? They…
- Include more materials — We give teachers enough non-consumable materials to support a class of 36 students and enough consumables to support 72 student uses. In other words, each kit will last two years.
- Are more manageable — Unlike other programs that require large groups of students to share limited sets of materials, our kits include enough to support small groups of 4–5 students.
- Include supportive videos — Each hands-on activity provides clear instructions for the teacher, with more complex activities supported by video demonstrations and illustrations.
Grade-specific lists of all materials included in each kit:
- Grade K: Materials Kit List
- Grade 1: Materials Kit List
- Grade 2: Materials Kit List
- Grade 3: Materials Kit List
- Grade 4: Materials Kit List
- Grade 5: Materials Kit List
Access your digital samples
Explore as a teacher
When you’re ready to explore the teaching experience on your own, follow these instructions to access the Amplify Science digital teacher platform.
- Click the Access Amplify Science Platform button below and bookmark the page.
- Select Log in with Amplify.
- Enter the username: t.scienceut@tryamplify.net
- Enter the password: AmplifyNumber1
- Click on Science on the left hand side.
- Click on the Grade Menu in the top center of the screen and select any grade.
- Select any unit.
To help familiarize yourself with navigating the digital platform, watch the below navigational video.
Explore as a student
When you’re ready to explore the student learning experience on your own, follow these instructions to access the Amplify Science digital student platform.
- Click the Access Amplify Science Platform button below and bookmark the page.
- Select Log in with Amplify.
- Enter the username: s.scienceut@tryamplify.net
- Enter the password: AmplifyNumber1
- Click the backpack icon on the top right.
- Click Science K-5
- Select any unit.
Resources to support your review
- Utah K-8 High Quality Instructional Materials (HQIM) Review Rubric
- K-8 Standards Alignment to Utah SEEd Standards
- Research behind Amplify Science
- What’s so phenomenal about phenomena? – eBook
- Phenomena in grades K–5
- Program structure for grades K–5
- Student Books in grades K–5
- Literacy-rich science instruction in grades K–5
- Approaches to assessment in grades K–5
- Amplify Technical Requirements
Amplify Science professional development
Amplify Science blends hands-on investigations, literacy-rich activities, and interactive digital tools to empower students to think, read, write, and argue like real scientists and engineers. We’ve created a wide suite of professional development offerings that will help you meet your unique needs this school year. Find out more below!
Amplify CKLA, ELA, and Science professional development has been vetted by Rivet Education’s team through a rigorous three-step process and is listed in the Professional Learning Partner Guide.
Plan your professional development
We’re excited to partner with you on your Amplify journey. Flexible professional development pathways have been designed to meet your needs.
Recommended Professional Development Plan
Our team has curated a recommended professional learning path from initial launch to continuous support. Use the Professional Development Planning Guide below to discuss the plan that best meets your school or district needs with your Account Executive.
Sessions overview
| Audience | Title | Duration | Modality | Available |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Foundations | ||||
| K–5 instructional leaders | Administrators’ program overview | Half day | Onsite/Remote | 6/2022 |
| Administrators’ program overview for interactive classroom | Half day | Onsite/Remote | 6/2022 | |
| K–5 teachers | Initial training | 1 day onsite or 2 half days remote | Onsite/Remote | Yes* |
| Program overview | Half day | Onsite/Remote | Yes | |
| Initial training for Interactive Classroom | 1 day onsite or 2 half days remote | Onsite/Remote | 6/2022 | |
| Program overview for Interactive Classroom | Half day | Onsite/Remote | Yes | |
| 6–8 instructional leaders | Administrators’ program overview | Half day | Onsite/Remote | Yes |
| 6–8 teachers | Initial training | 1 day onsite or 2 half days remote | Onsite/Remote | 6/2022 |
| Program overview | Half day | Onsite/Remote | Yes | |
| Strengthening | ||||
| K–5 instructional leaders | Strengthening consultation session | 60 min. | Remote | 6/2022 |
| Strengthening consultation package | 3 1-hour sessions | Remote | 6/2022 | |
| K–5 teachers | Guided unit internalization | Half day | Onsite/Remote | Yes |
| Strengthening consultation session | 60 min. | Remote | 6/2022 | |
| Strengthening consultation package | 3 1-hour sessions | Remote | 6/2022 | |
| 6–8 instructional leaders | Strengthening consultation session | 60 min. | Remote | 6/2022 |
| Strengthening consultation package | 3 1-hour sessions | Remote | 6/2022 | |
| 6–8 teachers | Guided unit internalization | Half day | Onsite/Remote | Yes |
| Strengthening consultation session | 60 min. | Remote | 6/2022 | |
| Strengthening consultation package | 3 1-hour sessions | Remote | 6/2022 | |
| Coaching | ||||
| K–5 instructional leaders | Job-Embedded Coaching (JEC) | 1 day | Onsite | Yes |
| K–5 teachers | Job-Embedded Coaching (JEC) | 1 day | Onsite/Remote | Yes |
| 6–8 instructional leaders | Job-Embedded Coaching (JEC) | 1 day | Onsite | Yes |
| 6–8 teachers | Job-Embedded Coaching (JEC) | 1 day | Onsite/Remote | Yes |
Note for all workshops: Any single three-hour offering can be repeated on the same day with different audiences to make one full-day session.
*When delivered remotely, this full-day initial training session (6 hours) is split into two half-day sessions (3 hours each). Part 1 and Part 2 may be scheduled consecutively on the same day or on different days, ideally within ~2 weeks. The same participants should attend both sessions in order to receive all content. This flexible scheduling opportunity for remote sessions will be available starting 6/2022.
Launch sessions
For teachers
Initial training
1 day onsite (6 hours) or 2 half days remote (6 hours)*
Grade band: K–5 / 6–8
Grade level: K, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8
In the first half of this session, participants learn the essentials necessary to implement Amplify Science with success. They learn to navigate the digital Amplify Science platform and become familiar with planning resources and strategies. Through a model lesson and guided reflection, participants build an understanding of the instructional approach to teaching and learning. In the second half of this session, participants dig deeper into unit resources to start planning for instruction for their first grade-level unit.
When delivered as a grade band session, Part 1 will feature an exemplar from the following units:
- K–5 workshops feature an exemplar from the grade 4 unit Energy Conversions.
- 6–8 workshops feature an exemplar from the Metabolism Core unit.
When delivered as a grade level session, Part 1 features the following units:
- K: Needs of Plants and Animals
- 1: Animal and Plant Defenses
- 2: Plant and Animal Relationships
- 3: Balancing Forces
- 4: Energy Conversions
- 5: Patterns of Earth and Sky
6–8 workshops feature one of the following units:
- Metabolism
- Ocean, Atmosphere, and Climate
- Phase Change
Available starting 6/2022.
Audience: Teachers (administrators welcome), maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite/Remote
*When delivered remotely, this full-day initial training session (6 hours) is split into two half-day sessions (3 hours each). Part 1 and Part 2 may be scheduled consecutively on the same day or on different days, ideally within two weeks. The same participants should attend both sessions in order to receive all content. This flexible scheduling opportunity for remote sessions will be available starting 6/2022.
Initial training for Interactive Classroom
1 day onsite (6 hours) or 2 half days remote (6 hours)*
Grade band: K–5
Grade level: K, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8
In the first half of this session, participants learn to navigate with Amplify Science Interactive Classroom and prepare to start teaching. The session opens with a model lesson that introduces the functionality of the Interactive Classroom interface and highlights the Amplify Science instructional approach. Next, participants experience a guided navigation walkthrough that prepares them to use the full suite of Interactive Classroom features with their students. The session closes with time to reflect on implementation and a walkthrough of additional resources available to support further professional learning. In the second half of this session, participants dig deeper into unit resources to start planning for instruction for their first grade-level unit.
When delivered as a grade band session, Part 1 will feature an exemplar from the grade 4 unit Energy Conversions.
When delivered as a grade level session, Part 1 features the following units:
- K: Needs of Plants and Animals
- 1: Animal and Plant Defenses
- 2: Plant and Animal Relationships
- 3: Balancing Forces
- 4: Energy Conversions
- 5: Patterns of Earth and Sky
Audience: Teachers (administrators welcome), maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite/Remote
*When delivered remotely, this full-day initial training session (6 hours) is split into two half-day sessions (3 hours each). Part 1 and Part 2 may be scheduled consecutively on the same day or on different days, ideally within two weeks. The same participants should attend both sessions in order to receive all content. This flexible scheduling opportunity for remote sessions will be available starting 6/2022.
Program overview
Half day (3 hours)
Grade band: K–5 / 6–8
Grade level: 6, 7, 8
In this session, participants learn the essentials necessary to implement Amplify Science with success. They learn to navigate the digital Amplify Science platform and become familiar with planning resources and strategies. Through a model lesson and guided reflection, participants build an understanding of the instructional approach to teaching and learning.
When delivered as a grade band session, an exemplar will be featured from the following units:
- K–5 workshops feature an exemplar from the grade 4 unit Energy Conversions.
- 6–8 workshops feature an exemplar from Metabolism.
When delivered as a grade level session, the following units will be featured:
- K: Needs of Plants and Animals
- 1: Animal and Plant Defenses
- 2: Plant and Animal Relationships
- 3: Balancing Forces
- 4: Energy Conversions
- 5: Patterns of Earth and Sky
6–8 workshops feature one of the following units:
- Metabolism
- Ocean, Atmosphere, and Climate
- Phase Change
Audience: Teachers (administrators welcome), maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite/Remote
Program overview for Interactive Classroom
Half day (3 hours)
Grand band: K–5
Grade level: K, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
In this session, participants learn to navigate with Amplify Science Interactive Classroom and prepare to start teaching. The session opens with a model lesson that introduces the functionality of the Interactive Classroom interface and highlights the Amplify Science instructional approach. Next, participants experience a guided navigation walkthrough that prepares them to use the full suite of Interactive Classroom features with their students. The session closes with time to reflect on implementation and a walkthrough of additional resources available to support further professional learning.
When delivered as a grade band session, the workshop features an exemplar from the Grade 4 unit Energy Conversions.
When delivered as a grade level session, the workshop features the following units:
- K: Needs of Plants and Animals
- 1: Animal and Plant Defenses
- 2: Plant and Animal Relationships
- 3: Balancing Forces
- 4: Energy Conversions
- 5: Patterns of Earth and Sky
Audience: Teachers (administrators welcome), maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite/Remote
For instructional leaders
Administrators’ program overview
Half day (3 hours)
Grade band: K–5 / 6–8
In this session, instructional leaders become familiar with the principles of phenomenon-based teaching and learning, and experience the instructional approach of Amplify Science units. Leaders consider their essential role supporting teachers and students with the implementation of a new science curriculum.
Available starting 6/2022.
Audience: Administrators, department chairs, coaches, maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite/Remote
Administrators’ program overview for Interactive Classroom
Half day (3 hours)
Grade band: K-5
In this session, instructional leaders become familiar with the functionality of Amplify Science with Interactive Classroom and are introduced to the instructional approach of Amplify Science units. Leaders consider their essential role supporting teachers and students with the implementation of a new science curriculum.
Available starting 6/2022.
Audience: Administrators, department chairs, coaches, maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite/Remote
Strengthening sessions
For teachers
Guided unit internalization
Half day (3 hours)
Grade band: K–5 / 6–8
Grade level: K, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8
Prerequisite: Initial training or program overview
In this session, participants leverage a planning protocol to internalize an upcoming unit. They apply their understanding of how students engage in three-dimensional learning throughout the unit to plan for the diverse needs of their classrooms and students.
Audience: Teachers (administrators welcome), maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite/Remote
Strengthening consultation session
60-minute session
Grade band: K–5 / 6–8
Grade level: K, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8
Prerequisite: Initial training or program overview
This 60-minute session focuses on a specific topic that will deepen teachers understanding of Amplify Science. An Amplify facilitator will align with the school or district leadership team in advance on the topic (chosen from a menu of options) that will best meet teachers unique options.
Topics include supporting diverse learners (for K–8 teachers), Classwork/My Work/Assign/Reporting (for 6–8 teachers), and planning an Amplify Science lesson (for K–8 teachers).
Available starting 6/2022.
Audience: Teachers, maximum 30 participants
Modality: Remote
Strengthening consultation package
3 1-hour sessions
Grade band: K–5 / 6–8
Grade level: K, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8
Prerequisite: Initial training or program overview
This package consists of three 60-minute sessions that can be delivered on the same day or on different days. Each session will focus on a specific topic that will deepen teachers understanding of Amplify Science. An Amplify facilitator will align with the school or district’s leadership team in advance on the topic from a menu of options that will best meet teachers unique needs.
Available starting 6/2022.
Audience: Teachers, maximum 30 participants
Modality: Remote
For instructional leaders
Strengthening consultation session
60-minute session
Grade band: K–5 / 6–8
Grade level: K, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8
Prerequisite: Administrators’ program overview
These 60 minute sessions will focus on a specific topic that will deepen instructional leaders’ understanding in Amplify Science and equip them in driving towards stronger student outcomes. An Amplify facilitator will align with the school or district’s leadership team in advance on the topic from a menu of options that will best meet instructional leaders’ unique needs.
Topics include data analysis with Admin Reports (for 6-8 leaders), and Amplify Science classroom look-fors (for K-8 leaders).
Available starting 6/2022.
Audience: Administrators, department chairs, coaches, maximum 30 participants
Modality: Remote
Strengthening consultation package
3 1-hour sessions
Grade band: K–5 / 6–8
Prerequisite: Administrators’ program overview
This package consists of three 60-minute sessions that can be delivered on the same day or on different days. Each session will focus on a specific topic that will deepen leaders’ understanding of Amplify Science. An Amplify facilitator will align with the school or district’s leadership team in advance on the topic from a menu of options that will best meet leaders’ unique needs.
Available starting 6/2022.
Audience: Administrators, department chairs, coaches, maximum 30 participants
Modality: Remote
Coaching sessions
For teachers
Job-Embedded Coaching (JEC) services: Teachers
1 day (6 hours)
Grade band: K–5 / 6–8
Grade level: K, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8
Prerequisite: Initial training or program overview
Strengthen your implementation of Amplify Science with a coaching onsite visit for your teachers. An Amplify Science Professional Learning Specialist can visit classrooms for observation and debriefs with focused feedback and/or facilitate PLC or grade-level meetings to support teachers with planning decisions. The flexible coaching design allows for a collaborative and personalized approach to support effective program implementation.
Audience: Teachers, maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite/Remote
For instructional leaders
Job-Embedded Coaching (JEC): Administrators
1 day (6 hours)
Grade band: K–5 / 6–8
Prerequisite: Administrators’ program overview
In our Coaching sessions, instructional leaders engage in facilitated Professional Learning Walks (PLW)—non-evaluative classroom observations of Amplify Science classrooms that focus on building capacity to identify indicators of strong implementation of the program. Classroom look-fors focus on the use of instructional resources (material access/use and the Classroom Wall), instructional delivery (unpacking the unit phenomena and multimodal instruction), and monitoring of instruction (supporting all learners and use of the Assessment System). Leaders collaboratively analyze collected data in order to identify strengths and areas for growth specific to the implementation of Amplify Science for their teaching teams. Leaders leave with an action plan for supporting their teachers based on the analysis and reflection from the PLW.
Audience: Administrators, department chairs, coaches, maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite
Pricing
We offer the following pricing for training sessions and packages:
| Session type | Pricing |
|---|---|
| 2 consecutive full day onsite sessions | $4,800 |
| 1-day onsite session | $3,200 |
| 1-day remote session (2 half days) | $1,500 |
| 1-day remote coaching session | $1,200 |
| Half-day onsite session | $2,500 |
| Half-day remote session | $750 |
| 60-minute remote session | $350 |
| 3 1-hour remote sessions | $1,000 |
| Customized Amplify Science onsite or remote packages | Price will vary |
Please note that the prices are general ranges and may be subject to change.
Contact
Amplify welcomes the opportunity to partner with schools and districts to design professional development plans and answer your questions.
If you would like to order any of our professional development services, please contact your local Amplify sales representative or call (800) 823-1969.