The Science Penguin

Small Group Science was designed for the 5th grade science TEKS, but may be useful to those using different standards.

This is a tool for teachers to use as intervention with small groups of students who require additional support for academic vocabulary, language acquisition, and/or making connections with new material.

Why teach in a small group?

I have found that many students benefit from support in a positive small group setting where they are free to ask questions and where I can address misconceptions. The activities are specifically designed to quickly improve vocabulary and content knowledge related directly to the Student Expectation from the TEKS.

How long do the lessons take?

The lessons are designed to take 20 minutes, but this will heavily depend on your students, conversations, and teaching style. Stopping to address misconceptions or go deeper is more important than completing the included content. 

If you have extra time, you can add additional ideas to your sort, answer the multiple choice questions from the sort, make a graphic organizer of the information you discussed, or review vocabulary.

How do I use this resource?

I included a breakdown of your 20-minute small group session, all printables, and example photos. You need minimal materials that are easy to find for the stimulus section of each lesson. While the activities in the lessons are tools to help students master the content, feel free to divert from the lesson for teachable moments and clarification. If you don’t complete a lesson, it’s okay. It is more important to impact student learning than to complete all of the activities.