Getting Started with the NGSS: Resources for Teachers
Learn more about the NGSS standards, how to navigate them, and how to use them.
As states across the nation work to integrate the Next Generation Science Standards, teachers are in need of quality professional development to facilitate this transition. The NGSS is unique, and requires a deep understanding to truly be implemented with fidelity. Luckily there is a plethora of FREE resources available to help you navigate the NGSS. Here are my top three:
- NGSS website: The website for the Next Generation Science Standards itself offers a host of helpful features, including videos, sample tasks, rubrics, and much more. Take some time to browse their resources.
- California Academy of Sciences: This site is a renowned scientific and educational resource that now offers self-paced online PD to learn about all components of the NGSS. While you are there, also check out the additional resources California Academy of Sciences offers for educators – there is so much available!
- Ambitious Science Teaching: While not directly intended as ‘NGSS PD’, the Ambitious Science Teaching site provides a vision of ambitious science instruction for elementary, middle school, and high school classrooms. The Orientation Series of videos are particularly powerful, as they show actual students engaged in the practices, crosscutting concepts, and DCIs of the NGSS. For me, this site really brings the NGSS to life and shows me what NGSS-based science education should and could look like.
There are also excellent video resources to learn more about the NGSS, and how it looks in action:
- NGSS overview video: by me! I share a general overview of the standards
- How to read the Standards: by Achieve (the people who organized the creation of the NGSS)
- 3 dimensional teaching and learning: by Teacher Channel. Easy to comprehend explanations of the three dimensions of NGSS, with peeks into how it manifests in classrooms
Also, check out a previous post where I reviewed the main concepts of NGSS.