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SABES Literacy Library
READING- Science Resources
The library’s online website is www.sabes.org/library. Massachusetts ABE teachers
may request library materials by emailing Sandra.Darling@umb.edu. Materials will
be mailed and may be returned to your local Massachusetts library.
Watch for information on educational research and evidence-based practice at
https://www.facebook.com/pages/SABES-Literacy-Library/194548313914398
Common Core Standards for English Language Arts & Literacy in History/Social
Studies, Science, and Technical Subjects - K-12
Appendix B: Text Exemplars for grades 6-8
The following text samples exemplify the level of complexity and quality that
the Standards require all students in a given grade band to engage with. They are
suggestive of the breadth of texts that students should encounter in the text types
required by the Standards. The choices should serve as useful guideposts in helping
educators select texts of similar complexity, quality, and range for their own
classrooms.
Macaulay, David. Cathedral: The Story of Its Construction
Mackay, Donald. The Building of Manhattan
Enzensberger, Hans Magnus. The Number Devil: A Mathematical Adventure
Peterson, Ivars and Nancy Henderson. Math Trek:Adventures in the Math
Zone
Katz, John. Geeks: How Two Lost Boys Rode the Internet out of Idaho
Petroski, Henry. “The Evolution of the Grocery Bag.”
“Space Probe.”#Astronomy & Space:From the Big Bang to the Big Crunch
California Invasive Plant Council. Invasive Plant Inventory
http://www.corestandards.org/ELA-Literacy
The Common Core State Standards emphasize building knowledge through
content-rich nonfiction and practice with reading complex informational text.
This requires literacy work in both ELA classes and science and social studies
classes. On this site, teachers of science and technical subjects can access
the Standards themselves, curricular materials, and sample lessons based
on close readings of science and technical texts.
http://www.achievethecore.org/ela-literacy-common-core/literacy-science-technical/

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The LINCS Resource Collection provides free online access to high-quality,
evidence-based, vetted materials to help adult education practitioners and
state and local staff improve programs, services, instruction, and teacher
quality. The collection provides relevant instructional resources and
professional development materials, as well as research articles, policy
briefs, reports, multimedia resources, and more. Information on how to use
the featured resources to enhance teaching and learning also is available.
http://lincs.ed.gov/professional-development/collection/search
http://lincs.ed.gov/lincs/resourcecollections/science/profile_01
http://lincs.ed.gov/professional-development/resource-collections/by-topic/
Science
For reading resources in content areas supported by media resources, look
at Registration is free and the content connects to Massachusetts standards.
If you filter “Media” type and choose “Document”’ you will get a list of
materials that can be printed out, including essays, articles, books.
Registration is free and the content connects to Massachusetts chapters.
“Grade level” and “Content” can also be filtered.
PBS LearningMedia™ provides educators with strategies, tools, and
professional development resources needed to fully utilize digital
learning. It offers schools, districts, and states a cost-effective
solution for seamless media integration and customization, including:
 State standards alignment
 Robust user management
 Comprehensive analytics
 Content management system
http://www.pbslearningmedia.org/ http://mass.pbslearningmedia.org/
NOVA Labs is a new digital platform where "citizen scientists" can actively
participate in the scientific process and take part in real-world investigations
by visualizing, analyzing, and sharing the same data that scientists use.
Each Lab is unique, and focuses on a different area of active research. But
all of them illustrate key concepts with engaging and informative videos that
address why these research topics matter to students and society.
In this collection you'll find original short-form videos from the Sun Lab and Energy Lab.
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/labs/about/
The National Science Digital Library provides high quality online educational
resources for teaching and learning, with emphasis on the sciences,
technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) disciplines in local, state,
national, and international educational settings. NSDL provides access

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through Apple's iTunes Store. There is no cost to use or download materials
from NSDL on iTunes U. http://nsdl.org/
Twin Cities Public Television’s Science Unit has served youth,
parents, and teachers with TV series, activity guides,
multimedia software, and websites. Projects include the
classic PBS series Newton’s Apple, DragonflyTV,
documentaries for NOVA, SciGirls, and our newest
project, Sparticl.
http://www.sparticl.org/
For each of our TV series, we’ve created innovative
multimedia and websites taking advantage of the most
current online technology and software. For SciGirls, we
built the first safe social network for children on pbs.org and won a national
Daytime Emmy for our innovative mix of television and the web.
http://www.sparticl.org/
National Science Teachers Association Outstanding Science Trade Books
Reading science trade books is a way for students to build literacy skills while
learning science content. The books that appear in these lists were selected as
outstanding children's science trade books. Beginning in 2002, the list was
expanded to include high school as well.
http://www.perma-bound.com/Search/D5ROzZbAqBYbfbI8ns6Hwg
IRA/CBC Young Adult's Choice Award
The IRA/CBC Young Adult's Choice Award is presented by the International Reading
Association. Since 1987, the Young Adults' Choices project has developed an annual
list of new books that will encourage adolescents to read.
Although there are links to award winning science materials on other
websites, the Permabound website includes grade level equivalence and interest
levels. Because these books are award winners, public libraries are
likely to have them in their collection or regional networks.
Bill Bryson’s book is an example of a book with adult interest and a
low reading level that would be found in many libraries.
Publisher: Dell
Copyright: 2008
Pages: 169 p.
Subject Heading: Science. Juvenile literature. Science.
Reading Level: 5.0
Interest Level: 4-7
Reading Counts!: reading level:11.8 / points:11.
Lexile: 1190L
http://www.perma-bound.com/Search/sJzioeKfg-xmM4YN71__SQ
The “Scientists in the Field” book series shows people immersed in the
unpredictable and dynamic natural world. These books show adventures in
the great outdoors from climbing into a snake den, to tracking wolves,

4. swimming with sharks, and collecting bugs. The series provides an
introduction to both careers in science and to scientific investigations. These
books are widely available in the children and teen sections of public
libraries. http://www.sciencemeetsadventure.com/
General science magazines like National Geographic, Wired and Scientific
American have web companion sites. Individual articles of the websites can
be run through a grade level finder like Microsoft’s spelling check to check on
the reading level.
www.nature.com/scientificamerican/index.html
www.nationalgeographic.com
www.wired.com/magazine
4
The Lifeworks Career Finder from the National Institute of Health, Office of Science
Education sifts through 132 possibilities and creates a list of jobs to explore.
Interactive choices of interests, skills and job category leads you to a customized
career result in order of education level needed for specific careers. This site
integrates career information with science content.
http://science.education.nih.gov/LifeWorks.nsf/feature/index.htm
SLIC Initiative Publications. In
Touch With Series. As part of
the AAAS Science Linkages in
the Community (SLIC)
Initiative, these activity books
offer a range of hands-on
activities for students in grades
K-12 for use in a variety of
formal and informal settings, from
classrooms to community groups.
http://www.aaas.org/programs/ed
ucation/slic/pubs.shtml
The National Science Digital Library provides high quality online educational
resources for teaching and learning, with emphasis on the sciences,
technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) disciplines in local, state,
national, and international educational settings. NSDL provides access
through Apple's iTunes Store. There is no cost to use or download materials
from NSDL on iTunes U. http://nsdl.org/
The Boston Museum of Science has long been a leader in producing digital exhibits,
videos, and audio presentations that align with our mission: to help transform the
nation's relationship with science and technology..
http://www.mos.org/museum-online http://www.mos.org/educators

5. The NCTL will play a critical role in turning the tide and raising the understanding of
engineering by introducing engineering and technology education into curriculum
and into exhibits and programs of science museums and other informal educational
venues nationwide http://legacy.mos.org/nctl/
5
As school districts implement the Common Core State, some teachers are
reluctant to make the shift toward more informational reading. But
nonfiction isn’t just government documents and textbooks. It’s an
opportunity for teachers to explore texts that mirror their students’
experiences, as well as those that offer a window into other people’s lives
and perspectives. The trick, she says, is for teachers and students to be
thoughtful in their text selections and to understand that informational
reading takes many different forms, all of which can contribute to a more
flexible and authentic curriculum.
http://www.tolerance.org/magazine/number-45-fall-2013/incredible-true-story
http://www.tolerance.org/PDA-toolkit
Cosmic Times: Have you considered using scientific topics and concepts to teach
reading and writing skills? This NASA Goddard Space Flight Center website might
aid in that practice. “Cosmic Times is a series of curriculum support materials that
trace the history of our understanding of the universe during the past 100 years,
from Einstein's formulation of gravity to the discovery of dark energy. It consists of
6 posters, each resembling the front page of a newspaper from a particular time in
this history, with articles describing the discoveries. The language of the articles
mimics that of a newspaper from its respective era.”
The site contains a glossary, a timeline, and a section on teacher
resources http://cosmictimes.gsfc.nasa.gov/teachers/guide/index.html . The
Cosmic Times has three “editions” or reading levels, and the teacher resources
support each version.
http://cosmictimes.gsfc.nasa.gov/
Science NetLinks is a premier K-12 science education resource produced by
theAmerican Association for the Advancement of Science. At Science NetLinks,
you'll find teaching tools, interactives, podcasts, and hands-on activities, and all of
it is free!
Who is it for?
Science NetLinks provides K-12 teachers, students, and families with quality
resources for teaching and learning science.
How do I use it?
All of the resources are Internet based and free to everyone. Lessons and activities
can be printed or used online. Many of the interactives, esheets, and tools work
great on an interactive white board or in a computer lab. All of the resources are
designed to be delivered in a variety of formats and classroom settings.
Annotations adapted and abridged from reviews, websites and book covers.

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This is an ongoing list. Please send your suggestions and additions to
Sandra.darling@umb.edu. 2/14
Making Sense of SCIENCE (MSS) offers learning opportunities and professional
development materials for educators, combining in-depth science with a focus on
classroom practice, literacy support, and pedagogical reasoning. The MSS courses
prepare teachers for the new Common Core and Next Generation Science
Standards.
MSS supports teacher educators, staff developers, curriculum specialists, and
others who work with preservice and/or practicing science teachers to strengthen
their content knowledge, pedagogical reasoning, and instructional skill. In
short, MSS courses help teachers:
 Learn major concepts of K–8 science
 Examine how children make sense of those concepts
 Analyze and improve their teaching practice
 Learn ways to support science learning through literacy
http://we-mss.weebly.com/science-corner.html