| course Number: | EDU 5710 S61 |
| Instructor: | Hannah Gelroth |
| Location: | In-person at Vermont Institute of Natural Science (VINS) and online |
| Dates and Times: | Apr 09 - Jul 10, 2026. April 9-10: 8:00 am – 3:30 pm. Two in-person days with learning from guest speakers on literacy and science; April 11-June 1: Six virtual evening meetings for content and skills development; June 29-July 1: 8:00 am – 3:30 pm. Three in-person days with collaborative learning and unit development. |
| Credits: | 3 Graduate Credits |
| Tuition: | Tuition is set by and payable to VINS |
Elementary classroom teachers are continuously balancing time spent on specific subjects in their classrooms. Science is a subject regularly sidelined during the school day. This course will focus on how teachers can strategically integrate science with literacy to answer this question: How can teachers work with their district’s time and programmatic requirements to create opportunities for subject integration and build student knowledge and skills in science? The course will provide teachers opportunities to connect with experts in the area of subject integration, engage in hands-on learning, and have time to build their own integrated units for implementation in the classroom.
Audience: K-5 teachers with an earned Bachelors Degree
Course Goals: The goal of this course is to provide teachers of science and literacy in grades K-5 with the framing and content knowledge necessary to build integrated units of study that authentically merge the Next Generation Science Standards and Common Core State Standards.
Course Objectives:
Outcomes of this combined professional learning series will include educators understanding:
Outcomes of this combined professional learning series will include educators demonstrating:
Costs for required readings may not be included in the course tuition. Please contact VINS for more information.
Moulding, B., Penrod, C., & Wichman, M. (2026). Using Investigation to Motivate Students to Read, Write, and Engage in Discourse: Effective instruction aligned with the framework and NGSS. Blurb.
Kober, N., Carlone, H., Davis, E.A., Dominguez, X., Manz, E., & Zembal-Saul, C. 2023. Rise and Thrive with Science: Teaching PK-5 Science and Engineering. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. https://doi.org/10.17226/26853.
Sharma, M., Rolnick, R., Stephens, A., & Hayes, K. 2023. Using Nature Journaling to identify meaningful local phenomena and support the infinite range of student sensemaking. STEM Teaching Tool 92.
Other Suggested Readings/Resources:
Next Generation Science Standards
Common Core ELA Standards
hgelroth@vinsweb.org