Click the “Show Me...” button to begin the automated introduction to a FOSS CA Teacher Guide for grade 4. The narrated tour will take about 17 minutes. At any time, you can repeat or pause the automated presentation, or switch to a self-guided exploration of the Teacher Guide, by using the control bar at the bottom of the page and the tabs at the side of the binder. The pull-down Chapter Menu shows the title of each chapter, and can also be used to navigate through the teacher guide.

1,2,4,6,8,10,12,14,16,18,20,22,24,26,28,30,31,32,34,36,38,40,41,42,44,46,48,50,52,54,56,58,62,63,70,78,86,88,90,91,137,171,199,231,232,234,261,262,264,289,290,298,301,305,306,334,336,372,373,374,376,378,380,382,384,415,416,418,420,435,436,443,444,451,452,459,464,468,470,472,477,486,489,490,492,493,494

Chapter 1 in every Teacher Guide is the module overview. Page 1 has a succinct statement of the goals of the module and a table of contents for the overview chapter. Page 2 provides a list of the California Science Content standards addressed in the module... and page 3 lists the California Investigation and Experimentation standards addressed in the module.

The next several pages are devoted to Science Background. This section provides a content refresher for teachers. The science content is presented to teachers at a level somewhat higher than the level presented to students. The Science Background section paints the science content in broad strokes and places it in a meaningful context. Pages 12 through 30 provide valuable information about the FOSS program for California. The topics include a description of the components of the program— the Teacher Guide, Equipment Kit, Science Resources book, and Website... The FOSS Teacher Guide organization...the design of the active investigations... Instructional pedagogies... Assessment... Using science notebooks ... Working in collaborative groups ... General guidelines for working with students with special needs ... Interdisciplinary and community connections ... Safety in the classroom ... A teaching schedule ... And the FOSS for California scope and sequence table. The second chapter provides information related to the preparation and maintenance of the student equipment. Page 32 has a complete list of all the items in the equipment kit. The list is organized by drawer, and the consumable items are clearly identified. Immediately following the inventory list is a section that identifies items supplied by the teacher. Most of these are standard classroom items, such as scissors, marking pens, and tape. The next two sections provide guidance for preparing a new kit, which is done only once by the first user... and preparing the kit for classroom use, which is done each time the kit is used. Pages 38 and 39 describe two strategies for using science notebooks, full 8 1/2 by 11 notebook sheets, and reduced sheets for use in a bound composition book. The last page in the materials chapter is an alphabetical kit inventory list, including packaging quantities, which is useful when planning to resupply an equipment kit after it has been used two times. The Investigation chapters describe the science instruction in detail. An investigation is a major conceptual chunk of the module. A module may have as few as three investigations or as many as six. The presentation of the investigations in the Teacher Guide follows a predictable format. Once you learn to navigate one FOSS investigation, you will be able to successfully navigate any FOSS investigation in any module....the format is always the same. The first page of an investigation identifies the CA standards addressed in that investigation. Below the image is the purpose section, a list of the learning and performance objectives for the investigation. Each investigation is subdivided into 2 to 4 parts. Each part represents several instructional sessions. The At-A-Glance chart on the second and third pages of the investigation provide a quick overview and convenient reference for seeing how the active investigations, readings, and assessment all fit together. The columns in the At-A-Glance chart include a synopsis of the activities in each part... suggested time allocation... CA science standards addressed... Concepts developed... Reading and writing opportunities... and assessment. The fourth page of each investigation chapter (in this case, page 44) is where the specific science background information for that investigation starts. In this first investigation in the Magnetism and Electricity module, called The Force, teachers find refresher information about permanent magnet interactions... magnetic poles... the magnetic force... magnetic fields... and permanent-magnet technology. The next section is called Teaching Children about.... It is a wide-ranging discussion that may include what the teaching and learning research tells us about how students learn the content addressed in the investigation as well as tips and tricks for maximizing the efficiency and effectiveness of the teaching and learning experience. The teaching of the investigation is divided into two to four parts. Parts progress from one to the next, creating a conceptual flow that sequentially introduces the important ideas in the investigation. Investigations flow from one to the next, building developmentally sound concepts that constitute the California standards that are addressed in the module. Each part starts with a comprehensive list of the materials used in that part. The list is organized into materials for each student... materials for each group... materials for the class... materials for assessment. Items preceded by a square must be photocopied from duplication masters supplied in the teacher guide. Items followed by an asterisk are provided by the teacher. Getting Ready follows the materials list. This section prepares teachers to conduct the investigation effectively. The Getting Ready section identifies science notebook sheets that should be copied, describes materials that require preparation and organization, identifies the readings in the Science Resources book, and points out the assessment tools and strategies. The Guiding the Investigation section is the step-by-step lesson plan for conducting the investigation part. The California Standards addressed in the part are printed in the sidebar column beside Step 1. The sidebar column also provides other kinds of information, such as materials reminders... and notes that call out safety warnings, management tips, and other specific considerations. Square icons in the sidebar call out places in the lesson plan where students should engage in group discussion... opportunities for notebook entries... possible breakpoints in the investigation... assessment opportunities... and vocabulary development. Text in the numbered step-by-step section that appears in italics suggests exact terminology to be used during instruction. The italicized sections may be definitions and summary statements... specific instructions to students... or question sequences to guide discussions. The active investigation of each part concludes with a Wrapping Up discussion. During the wrapping up, new vocabulary is reviewed and reinforced, and key concepts are clarified and transcribed to a content chart for posting in the classroom. The last section of each part is Reading in Science Resources. The article written specifically for the part is identified, the California Standards addressed in the article are listed in the sidebar, and strategies for reading are suggested. After the reading is complete, the questions at the end of the article are discussed. The next several pages present Parts 2... 3... and 4... all presented in the same format as Part 1. Concluding Investigation 1 brings the first investigation to a close. The conclusion includes a summary reading, a discussion of the reading, and then students take the I-Check assessment. Following the lesson plans for investigation 1 is a collection of interdisciplinary extensions. These include math, language, social studies, and science extensions related to the content of the investigation just completed. The last page of each investigation describes a home/school connection, an activity that can be taken home by students to enjoy with family and friends, which relates to the content of the investigation just completed. Investigation 2 addresses new content, but the written format and pedagogical approach are exactly the same. The curriculum continues with Investigation 3... Investigation 4... and Investigation 5. The presentation of Investigation 5 ends on page 230. That completes the teaching of the Magnetism and Electricity Module. This teacher guide is typical of the grade 3–5 module teacher guides. The first 200 or so pages comprise the specific guidance for teaching the science lessons to students. The approximately 300 pages that follow the investigations contain various kinds of support materials that are used by the teacher to make the teaching experience efficient and effective. Let’s look quickly at the contents of the 11 supporting chapters These full-sized pages are duplication masters for the science notebook sheets students use to record and process data collected during the active investigations. They can be punched and inserted into 3-ring binders. Turning ahead to page 261, immediately following the last full-sized science notebook duplication master, is a second complete set of duplication masters for reduced-size notebook sheets. These are provided for teachers who want students to keep their science notebooks in bound composition books. The smaller sheets can be glued on left-hand pages of a bound composition book while the right-hand pages are used by students for writing and drawing. Each module has several discretionary Teacher Masters that can be called into action as needed. These include a Letter Home to Parents, special function sheets of various kinds... Math Problem of the Week sheets... and Home/School Connections sheets.. Samples of student work on science notebook sheets is provided in the Teacher Answer Sheet chapter. These are model answers... not the exact responses that students should be expected to produce. Diagnostic assessments, called embedded asssessments, are incorporated seamlessly into the flow of instruction. Embedded assessments allow the teacher to monitor student understanding of the standards continuously. The three main embedded assessment strategies are teacher observation... students’ science notebook sheets... and response sheets. There is a 2-page spread describing the embedded assessment activities for each part of each Investigation. The standard addressed is indicated in the sidebar... the assessment strategy is described... and the What To Look For section describes what to look for in students’ actions or written work. Snapshots of the answer sheets that relate to the embedded assessments are shown on the facing page. The last page of the embedded assessment chapter is a graphic organizer showing the embedded assessment activities... science notebook sheets, and benchmark assessments used in each part of each investigation. Benchmark assessments include the optional pretest, which is given before instruction starts, to establish a baseline of knowledge, I-Checks, which are given at the end of each investigation, and a posttest, which is administered at the end of the module. The charts on these two pages show where each standard is assessed in the module. The Benchmark Assessment column identifies each benchmark item that assesses each standard, and the Embedded Assessment column indicates the Parts of the Investigation in which embedded assessments are found. The rest of the Benchmark Assessments chapter is scoring guides for every item in the pre/posttest and the I-Check assessments. This chapter contains the duplication masters for the benchmark assessments. This chapter identifies the correlations between the California Mathematics Standards and the FOSS investigations in EACH of the modules at the grade level. The discussion includes the math strands that are exercised... Key Vocabulary... Important math ideas, and discussion points. There is also a Math Problems of the Week heading that refers to the math extension section in each part of the investigation writeup.. A comprehensive math correlation begins on page 443. The correlation table includes math standards for the current grade, as well as math standards for the previous grade and the next grade. Reading in the FOSS Science Resources book reinforces, enhances, and extends students understanding of the California content standards. This chapter serves to remind teachers of a number of different strategies for helping students get the most out of the text. There are strategies to use before reading an article, during the reading... and throughout the entire reading experience. The next section offers strategies for vocabulary development, including a discussion of science-oriented prefixes and suffixes. The next section briefly describes a number of strategies to help students communicate their science knowledge and ideas in writing, followed by a discussion of recommended literature for students and a bibliography of books and articles about the craft of English language development. The next chapter, called Reading Extensions, lists a selection of student reading materials that are California Department of Educaton recommended and a selection of science background books and articles for teachers. The FOSS California website has been developed specifically to support students and teachers who are using the FOSS California program. This chapter briefly describes how to access the FOSS California website, some navigation pointers, and a list of resources accessible through the FOSS California website. This last chapter is provided to help teachers keep track of their coverage of the California Science Standards. The center column of the checklist describes the instructional sequence of the curriculum. The left-hand column indicates the CA Science standard addressed at each stage of the sequence, and the right-hand column indicates the page in the teacher guide where the instruction is described and the page in the Science Resources book where students read about the standard. The lefthand column has space to record the date that the standard is taught. This concludes the automated overview of a FOSS California teacher guide for grades 3–5. To revisit any section of the teacher guide, click the “explore on my own” button in the control bar and use the tabs and page turning arrows to navigate around in the Teacher Guide.