Earth Science has always been one of my favorite subjects to teach because it’s all around us. Students may not realize it at first, but they’re surrounded by examples of weathering, erosion, plate tectonics, weather, and astronomy every single day. The challenge isn’t finding interesting topics—it’s helping students make meaningful
Science notebooks can be so much more than a place for students to copy definitions. When they include meaningful science notebook activities, they become tools students can use to organize information, make connections, apply new concepts, and show what they understand. One reason I love using interactive science notebook activities
For years, I assigned many of the same projects most science teachers have used at one point or another. Students created posters, built models, or copied information from websites into slide presentations. While some projects turned out beautifully, I often found myself wondering how much actual learning had taken place.
I’ve heard teachers say they tried interactive science notebooks once, and it was a disaster. Pages ended up out of order. Students glued papers in upside down. Half the class forgot their notebooks at home, and by October they had become a crumpled collection of loose worksheets shoved into a
There was a time when the first five minutes of every class felt completely out of my control. Students wandered into the room talking about lunch, last night’s basketball game, or whatever drama had unfolded in the hallway. Some immediately sat down and waited for directions. Others sharpened pencils, searched
Doodle notes tend to get categorized as a “support strategy.”And by support strategy, people usually mean for struggling students only. But that assumption misses the point entirely. Doodle notes don’t exist to lower expectations. They exist to make thinking visible—and that benefits far more than one group of learners. Used
When people hear the word accommodations, they often picture major lesson changes, separate materials, or completely different expectations. In reality, some of the most effective accommodations in science are small, quiet, and built right into everyday instruction. They don’t change what students learn. They change how accessible the learning is.
Hands-on projects in science can be powerful… or they can turn into a glue-covered disaster with very little learning to show for it. We’ve all seen it. Students are busy. They’re cutting, coloring, assembling. And when you ask what they learned? The answers are… vague. That’s why structure matters. 3D
Teaching science to middle schoolers with learning disabilities isn’t about lowering expectations or simplifying content until it loses meaning. It’s about designing instruction that actually lets students access the thinking. And no—what they need isn’t a completely separate curriculum or five different lessons running at once. What they need is
Differentiation is one of those words that sounds reasonable in theory and completely unhinged in practice. Differentiate for reading levels.Differentiate for learning styles.Differentiate for IEPs, 504s, ELLs, early finishers, and students who are still figuring out which notebook is theirs. Somehow, this gets translated into: “Just make five versions of
Hi! I’m Christina, a middle school science teacher with 12+ years of classroom experience and a master’s in special education. I create practical science resources that save time and boost engagement.
