“Science rocks!” says Tracy Dordell
We spotlight Tracy Dordell, CRS Science Super Star honoree, who teaches at New Highland Elementary in East Oakland. Tracy uses science as a way to engage her students in shared, interactive, collaborative learning where they build skills in critical thinking, communication, and cooperation as they experiment and explore the natural world.
April 29, 2020
We are honored to recognize Tracy Dordell, 3rd Grade Teacher from New Highland Academy, as a 2020 Science Super Star!
Tracy and her students explored the reason behind adaptation and certain animal characteristics. As they used crayfish as a model, children began recognizing similarities in themselves. They realized that all animals are focused on continuing life, and have to adapt to the world to ensure survival. She could tell that from the many questions her students were asking, her lessons during science keep them interested and engaged. Tracy is dedicated in making sure that her science lessons encompass an all-around learning atmosphere. She noted that science is an excellent way to work on language skills, and that she had her students create a glossary (complete with illustrations!) that they continuously reference during lessons and science work.
“It is a fantastic idea to have students team up to follow a rubric to give oral presentations on various science topics – my students chose an animal… Have students become the experts on certain topics and teach the class through oral research.”
Check out our full-length feature on Tracy from October 2018 below!
One teacher who stood out last year is Tracy Dordell, CRS Science Super Star honoree, who teaches at New Highland Elementary in East Oakland where most students live in low income households, often in immigrant families where English is not spoken at home. Many children have experienced serious challenges in their young lives. Tracy uses science as a way to engage her students in shared, interactive, collaborative learning where they build their skills in critical thinking, communication, and cooperation as they experiment and explore the natural world.
Tracy encouraged a majority of teachers at her school to take the Science Super Star Challenge last year – earning the school a special Day of Science Celebration as part of their recognition. When CRS arrived on a bright Spring morning to set up a series of investigation stations that all 400 students would have the opportunity to explore, Tracy had a crew of eager student helpers to guide us, as well as welcome signs, flowers, treats, and a carefully planned schedule. Our BASIS volunteers – nearly two dozen, including employees from Bayer, Caribou, and Exponent, and graduate students from UC Berkeley – felt so welcome and happy to be there. The scientists and engineers were delighted by the students’ thoughtful comments, creative ideas, and clear interest in exploring and experimenting as they rotated through a variety of science and engineering activity stations. Kindergarteners were delighted to discover they could successfully poke a pencil into a soap bubble without popping it. Fifth graders were in awe as they discovered they could extract DNA from strawberries. Students showed great concentration and skill as they sketched natural specimens of flowers, shells, and feathers. The marble roller coaster designs they built and tested were innovative, and students demonstrated persistence and teamwork as worked together to achieve success.
“CRS is what keeps me going as a teacher!” said Tracy. “CRS is an amazing organization, and the BASIS program volunteers are phenomenal. Having volunteers who are actually in the field of science helps my students see that is something they can do when they grow up too.”