For comprehensive teaching of the science standards at grade 4, with multiple exposures, science should be taught every day. Active-investigation sessions (including wrap-up) and reading sessions might be 40–45 minutes, I-Check and assessment-review sessions 20–25 minutes.

Active-investigation (A) sessions include hands-on work with materials, active thinking about the concrete experiences, small-group discussion, writing in science notebooks, learning new vocabulary in context, and completing written embedded assessments to inform instruction.

Wrap-up (W) sessions are teacher-directed vocabulary reinforcement and science content review.

Reading (R) sessions (Science Resources book) include individual and interactive reading, answering review questions, and discussing the reading to ensure that the information is integrated into students’ understanding.

I-Checks are short summative assessments. Students respond to written prompts one day. The next day, after the teacher has scored the assessments, students review their written responses with one another and their teacher to reflect on and improve their understanding. Students are actively engaged in monitoring their own learning.