Strategy Guides

Strategy Guides highlight some of the most powerful instructional strategies from the Seeds of Science/Roots of Reading integrated curriculum. Each Strategy Guide provides a description of one of these strategies, an overview of how to teach the strategy with many science texts, and a specific plan for teaching the strategy with a Seeds of Science/Roots of Reading book.

Reading
Grade Book
Gathering Information from Science Texts 3-4 Weather Encyclopedia
Gathering Information from Science Texts 4-5 Tabletop Pond Guide
Interpreting Visual Representations 2-3 What’s Stronger? The Forces that Cause Erosion
Interpreting Visual Representations 2-3 Forces
Interpreting Visual Representations 3-4 Sunlight and Showers
Interpreting Visual Representations 4-5 Phase Change at Extremes
Interpreting Visual Representations 4-5 Investigating Crayfish
Searching for Information in Science Texts 2-3 Handbook of Sandy Beach Organisms
Searching for Information in Science Texts 3-4 Handbook of Body Systems
Searching for Information in Science Texts 3-4 The Handbook of Light Interactions
Teaching About Multiple Meaning Words* 2-3 My Sea Otter Report
Teaching About Multiple Meaning Words* 3-4 Falling Through the Atmosphere
Teaching Concept Mapping 2-3 What Belongs on a Beach?
Teaching Concept Mapping 2-3 Mystery Forces
Teaching Concept Mapping 3-4 It’s All Energy
Teaching Concept Mapping 4-5 What Makes Living Things Go?
Teaching Text Structure 2-3 The Black Tide
Teaching Text Structure 2-3 The Handbook of Forest Floor Animals
Teaching Text Structure 2-3 Jelly Bean Scientist
Teaching Text Structure 3-4 Water in the Desert
Teaching Text Structure 4-5 What Happens to the Atoms?
Teaching Text Structure 4-5 Ecosystem News
Using Anticipation Guides* 2-3 Solving Dissolving
Using Anticipation Guides* 2-3 Gravity Is Everywhere
Using Anticipation Guides* 4-5 Tomato Landers
Using Science Text to Visualize 4-5 Spinning Through Space
Using Text Features 2-3 What Lives on a Sandy Beach?
Using Text Features 2-3 Earthworms Underground
Using Text Features 3-4 Wet Weather Handbook
Using Visual Evidence to Make Inferences 3-4 Mystery Mouths
Writing
Grade Book
Teaching Procedural Writing 2-3 Bursting Bubbles: The Story of an Improved Investigation
Teaching Process Description Writing 3-4 Voyage of a Cracker
Teaching Scientific Comparison Writing 3-4 Blue Whales and Buttercups
Teaching Scientific Comparison Writing 4-5 Handbook of Planets and Moons
Teaching Scientific Comparison Writing 4-5 Ecosystems Around the World
Teaching Scientific Description Writing 4-5 Visit to a Pond
Teaching Scientific Explanation Writing 3-4 Light Strikes!
Teaching Scientific Explanation Writing 4-5 Chemical Reactions Everywhere
Teaching Scientific Explanations 2-3 Gary’s Sand Journal
Teaching Scientific Explanations 2-3 Handbook of Interesting Ingredients
Teaching Summary Writing 3-4 The Speed of Light
Teaching Summary Writing 4-5 Made of Matter
Listening/Speaking
Grade Book
Connecting Science and Everyday Words 2-3 What Are Roots?
Connecting Science and Everyday Words 3-4 Go with the Flow: Making Models of Streams
Connecting Science and Everyday Words 4-5 Exploring Planets and Moons
Promoting Word Consciousness 4-5 Communicating Chemistry
Promoting Word Consciousness 4-5 Technology for Exploration
Teaching About Idioms* 3-4 Can You See in the Dark?
Teaching Vocabulary with Science Texts* 2-3 Beach Postcards
Teaching Vocabulary with Science Texts* 3-4 Cameras, Eyes, and Glasses
Teaching Vocabulary with Science Texts* 4-5 Making a Difference
Using Discourse Circles 2-3 Without Soil
Using Discourse Circles 2-3 What if Rainboots Were Made of Paper?
Using Discourse Circles 3-4 The Code
Using Discourse Circles 4-5 What About Pluto?
Using Discourse Routines with Science Texts 2-3 Into the Soil
Using Discourse Routines with Science Texts 3-4 I See What You Mean
Using Roundtable Discussions 4-5 Break It Down: How Scientists Separate Mixtures
Using Roundtable Discussions 4-5 Dragonfly Explanations
Using the Cognates Strategy* 2-3 Walk in the Woods
Using the Cognates Strategy* 3-4 Drinking Cleopatra’s Tears
Using the Cognates Strategy* 4-5 How Big Is Big? How Far Is Far?
Nature of Science/Inquiry
Grade Book
Analyzing Part-to-Whole Relationships 3-4 Systems
Making Sense of Data in Science Texts 2-3 Snail Investigations
Making Sense of Data in Science Texts 2-3 What My Sister Taught Me About Magnets
Making Sense of Data in Science Texts 3-4 What’s the Diagnosis?
Making Sense of Data in Science Texts 3-4 What’s Going on With the Weather?
Making Sense of Data in Science Texts 4-5 Eat and Be Eaten: How an Ecologist Uses Food Webs
Posing Investigation Questions 4-5 Handbook of Chemical Investigations
Taking Notes Based on Observations 2-3 My Nature Notebook
Taking Notes Based on Observations 3-4 Sky Notebook
Taking Notes Based on Observations 4-5 Observing the Moon
Teaching About How Scientists Make Inferences 4-5 Science You Can’t See
Teaching About How Scientists Use Models 4-5 Planetary Scientist
Teaching About the Nature and Practices of Science 3-4 Evidence from the Past
Teaching About the Nature and Practices of Science 3-4 Secrets of the Stomach
Teaching About the Nature and Practices of Science 3-4 Why Do Scientists Disagree?
Teaching About the Nature and Practices of Science 3-4 Tornado! A Meteorologist and Her Prediction
Teaching About the Nature of Science 2-3 Shoreline Scientist
Teaching About the Nature of Science 2-3 Talking with a Habitat Scientist
Teaching About the Nature of Science 2-3 Jess Makes Hair Gel

*Strategies marked with an asterisk are particularly useful for English language learners. Learn more about how to support English language learners here.

Strategy Guides were developed to accompany the science books featured in Seeds of Science/Roots of Reading curriculum. Because of the quality of the books and the extensive information they contain, many teachers purchase the books separately. Strategy Guides include worksheets that can be used to employ that particular strategy with appropriate books, such as the one shown below:

To purchase any of the books, printed strategy guides, or other components from the Seeds of Science/Roots of Reading program please use our short response form to provide information regarding your needs. We look forward to working with you.

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