May 8, 2020
We are honored to name Constance Cobb-Zunino, 5th Grade Teacher at Prescott Elementary in Oakland, as a 2020 Science Super Star!
This past year, Constance introduced chemistry to her students, as they navigated the phenomena of mixtures and solutions.
They experimented with water, vinegar, oil, and baking soda to demonstrate how some mixtures are soluble, some separate, and some have a visible chemical reaction. She asked her students to observe mixtures, and pay special attention to the three states of matter. Her class was surprised when she told them they observed gas, and they now know that the evidence of gas was in the ‘bubbles’ or ‘fizz.’
Constance encourages discussions often, as a way to create consensus and strengthen language skills. As the students explore a lesson, such as mixtures and solutions, they naturally make discoveries that require new words to describe or explain. During the observations, she hears them coming up with their own descriptive words while discussing the process amongst each other. As they share their data, many are amazed by other group observations and began to make new conclusions about the investigation.
One of her favorite ways to cater to all of her students’ strengths, and work on their weaknesses, is by creating a class T-Chart. All students write a condensed version of their claims/evidence for the rest of the class to see. It is especially useful for students when they write summaries for their investigations. It helps students who are English Language Learners, or those who struggle with reading, to have access to clearly written thoughts. For more advanced readers and writers, it is a great visual for students to revisit and expand on their thoughts, while opening their minds to other ideas.
She speaks of the importance of how science can help with a student’s language skills through an experience she and her class shared this past year:
“One student was in our class that day because her teacher was absent. We’re 5th grade and she was 2nd grade. There was a hands-on lesson and she was able to express herself nicely with the help of a bi-lingual 5th grader to ask questions and draw her experiences with our module. Hands-on-science lessons promote language and engagement to English Language Learners in such an organic way! With the help of technology, students can translate the vocabulary words & phrases, learning new vocabulary as they learn new concepts. They are engaged in exploration.”
Constance connects what students learn in the classroom to their everyday lives. For a mixture experiment, she asked students to share what types of mixtures and solutions they might observe in their kitchens at home. Kids were eager to discuss salad dressings with their new vocabulary and concepts, and they discovered they could mix vinegar and oil to make their own salad dressings.
During another lesson on food chains, they delved deep into the concept of interconnectedness. This formed an awareness of how their own presence on the food chain, and the impacts of misused land or disruption of environmental resources.
Constance gives a view in her personal journey of teaching science, to offer advice for other teachers who are considering teaching more science:
“Make sure that you make use of the resources that CRS has to offer. Keep teaching the model, even if you think your ‘not doing it right,’ because it has always been my students’ inquiry that gave me the best ideas about what to teach from the module. Let them in on the videos. They become experts of what they’d like to learn. Once I understood this, then I become more brilliant every year at carving a path within the science learning.”