4th Grade Science – Planning and Prepping for NGSS (National) or TEKS (TEXAS)

I recently received hundreds of requests for infomation on planning and finding materials for 4th grade science lessons using NGSS. So many schools have been changing over the use NGSS the past couple years, and teachers are left without the proper help to make the switch.

I really like the NGSS (Next Generation Science Standards). They cover most of the concepts I typically see for each grade level in other sets of standards, but do a very good job of encouraging a higher level of critical thinking.

For about two or three years now, I have been writing all my lessons and curriculum plans to cover both my state standards (TEKS or STAAR) as well as the NGSS. The two sets of standards match up pretty well. But for the standards that don’t match perfectly, I plan to teach the extra in their own week and add enrichment to both sets of standards.

The first tool I use when planning my year is a scope and sequence, or a year at a glance. I already have an entire year planned for 4th grade science using the NGSS and the TEKS. Click on the link to take a look. It may be the tool you need to make planning easy least this year!!

Year at a Glance Plan 4th grade science

The next tool I use to get my year planned out is my lesson planning format. I developed a format after many years of planning Science in a variety of grade levels. I call it Science in Perfect Portions. This lesson planning guide will show you what all types of materials I use to thouroughly teach each standard, as well as give give explanations for each portion and examples from an actual lesson plan. A template is provided so you can start planning your own lessons! This format has been a huge time saver for me and planning my science lessons! Click the link to get this free guide for yourself!