Science Super Star: Rebecca Dunning
April 16, 2020
We are honored to name Rebecca Dunning, a Kindergarten Teacher at Bella Vista Elementary in Oakland, as a 2020 Science Super Star!
Rebecca imparted a sense of mindfullness to her classroom, encouraging them to take note of, and question, the world around them. Her young learners explored the processes of phenomena they interact with daily (such as weather and their senses)
Her lessons often consist of read aloud and discussion groups, allowing space for all students to participate. She included songs with hand signs to model what happens during the water cycle. This was an easy way to add an interactive touch that helped her class conceptualize the cycle. They were able to recognize that without evaporation, there would be no water for precipitation!
When studying weather and climate, she had her students use sentence frames: The weather today is ___. When writing about the weather in their journals, she told her classroom to take close observations, so that they would be able to make use of descriptive words and draw scientific sketches.
She debunked common misconceptions (many thought that because there was no snow, it could not be winter.) While reading them books, she had them study the pictures to determine the weather (and students were able to learn of other ways to recognize winter.)
Through their study of the seasons, many students reflected on the practicalities of this knowledge. One student aptly commented that spring would be coming soon, as it follows winters. Her classroom also recognized that by having a sense of the weather, they could choose clothes they would be comfortable in. Another student was proud to share he discovered that Home Depot smelled just like the wood samples they observed when obserivng with their senses in the classroom.
Rebecca wants other teachers to know:
Don’t be shy! Learn with the kids. If you don’t know the answer, model how to do the research.