Lab-Aids Kits / SEPUP Issue-Oriented Science

Teachers Guides

The Teacher’s Guides for the 7th and 8th grade core curriculum programs are comprehensive resources that provide more than 800 pages of support to:

Set up your classroom
Conduct activities
Manage practical details
Facilitate student learning
See the development of concepts within the "big picture"
Develop student understanding of science content not explicitly mentioned in the student text

Use of the SEPUP student book and Teacher's Guide fully support the teaching and learning of rigorous, age-appropriate science content. It’s like having your own personal training workshop in a binder. Many teachers tell us they can’t imagine teaching without it.

The activity overview refers to the first 2-4 pages, and can be pulled out for reference while teaching. It contains the estimated time needed for completion. The summary describes in a few sentences what students are expected to know and do. Key concepts and process skills are provided for each activity. The majority are not mastered in a single activity, but are developed and mastered over time. Key vocabulary alerts the teacher to important terminology used in the activity.		click to enlarge
A list of materials used in the activity is provided in the same format as the student book, with icons to indicate distribution.		click to enlarge
A teaching summary provides a step-by-step outline of the activity in three parts: Getting started, doing the activity and follow up.		click to enlarge
As necessary, background information is provided to help prepare teachers for questions that might arise during class. A list of topics included in the background information sections can be found in the Table of Contents.		click to enlarge
Teaching suggestions elaborates on the teaching summary, with detail on each step. This is generally the largest section. Feedback from the national field test is particularly helpful in shaping the lesson, and comments from hundreds of teachers are used to design the lesson, sequence activities, describe question prompts, etc.		click to enlarge
Teacher’s notes often suggest alternative ways to approach an activity, or point out areas of the activity that might require further clarification for the students.		click to enlarge
The follow-up section lists the analysis question along with the reasoning for the question. It also elaborates upon ways to build student understanding and connects the activity to other ideas and current issues.	click to enlarge	click to enlarge
An important resource is the Suggested answers to the analysis questions in the student book. These answers are drawn from an accumulation of responses during two years of field-testing.	click to enlarge	click to enlarge
Teachers love our unit overviews. It details information to help plan instruction. The table includes key concepts, advance prep, assessment strategy, number of teaching periods needed for each activity and more.	click to enlarge

NYC

Lab-Aids NYC Website

Look What Teachers
Are Saying...

SEPUP has brought the 'thrill' of teaching to an all time high for me. It enables me to actively engage the students in the process of learning. As I guide then through the activities, the focus shifts from me as a disseminator of 'facts' to the student as an involved learner. Curricula developed by SEPUP fosters the development of critical thinking skills and the use of evidence to make decisions, which, to me, are life long skills needed to be a contributing member of society.

Since I starting using SEPUP's Issues, Evidence, and You, I no longer have students asking why they need to learn about a particular concept or theory. They (students) see and understand the relevance to their lives since the curriculum is based on issues in the real world. While examining and investigating these issues, the students learn the science concepts and theories needed to meet the National and State science requirements.

Linda Sherrill, Teacher
Sand Springs, OK

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