Content

I want my students to be able to read a piece of text and come away with some understanding of what they just read. The problem my students have with comprehension is that the textbook and other resources are well above their reading level in most cases. We begin the year with really basic science material such as the scientific method, reading graphs, and using the metric system.

Michigan recently adopted Next Generation Science Standards. This has created a slight shift in the curriculum of middle school science at Hartford. Our content consists of MS-PS3 Energy, this standard looks at the the comparisons of potential and kinetic energy. Students are expected to understand the relationship energy among transferred energy and the conservation of energy. Students then move to MS-PS2 Motion and Stability: Forces and Interactions, within this standard students learn about Newton's laws of motion and the interactions between objects. Next students transition into MS-ESS3 Earth and Human Activity, this standard is used to help students understand Earth's natural resources, the human impact on Earth's systems, and human consumption. Students finish the year with MS-LS2 Ecosystems: Interactions, Energy, and Dynamics, students learn relationships in ecosystems and how matter and energy transfer in ecosystems.

The shift from Michigan Grade Level Content Expectations to NGSS expects students to be able to apply their knowledge of the content, where GLCEs focused on recalling information and terminology. With this shift comes more advanced content, not only do the students need to know what terms and concepts are, but they need to be able to understand and explain how the terms and concepts can be applied. NGSS expects students to use higher order thinking skills to apply these connections.

The evidence to support my problem of practice shows that the current textbook is at an average 8th grade reading level and only 18% of sixth grade students are at or above that level as shown in the STAR reading data below.