American classrooms are increasingly heterogeneous linguistically. If all students are to engage in three-dimensional learning, how are educators making classroom assessments accessible and meaningful for emergent bilingual learners? There are few classroom assessment exemplars that embody the NGSS three-dimensional vision of the…

After the summer nesting period, broad winged hawks are known for migrating nearly 10,000 kilometers, (6,200 miles) each fall from their breeding grounds in North America to tropical biomes in South America, where they spend the winter. The International Union for Conservation of Nature has labeled broad-winged hawks as a species of "least…

This article highlights how English language learners' (ELLs) prior knowledge can be used to help learn science vocabulary. The article explains that the concept of prior knowledge needs to encompass the ELL student's native language, previous science learning, native literacy skills, and native cultural knowledge and life experiences.…

Stories weave common elements of the nature of science between topics and activities, regardless of whether it's short historical narratives about scientists or current event articles that are read. Stories also can help students realize the important contributions of persons of color, women, and other traditionally underrepresented groups. In…

George Roberts has been teaching ninth-grade Earth science in Gardston, Iowa, for 10 years. This year, as chair of the Gardston High School's science department, he agreed to have all the English Language Learner (ELL) students assigned to his classes. George's goal was to learn more about the needs of these students and arrive at a set of…