Revised Science Units Available July 1
Attention Literacy Ready Teachers
In response to feedback from teachers of the Literacy Ready science units, SREB is pleased to announce that these units have been revised.
Keeping in mind that these units are taught primarily by English teachers, we have tried to minimize the amount of highly technical science content in the units. English teachers should not have to feel that they have to teach complex science concepts to aid their instruction of disciplinary literacy.
In this new Version 2a, teachers will be able to understand the science in the units, lead discussions about the readings, and direct vocabulary instruction. The units will have greater emphasis on guiding students in independent reading and research as they prepare for their written projects.
Some teachers of the science units have experienced difficulty in purchasing the recommended science textbooks from the publisher. To make access to texts more convenient and to eliminate the cost to the schools to purchase them, we will use online text with free access and usage: selected chapters from Biology, published by OpenStax College of Rice University. The new text maintains the level of rigor and will provide the experience students should have to read and comprehend a college science text.
The text excerpts for each unit will be available at SREB.org/Ready and will include the required copyright information to download and print excerpts or download to student devices.
The revised science units will be available as of July 1, 2016.
Using valuable feedback from teachers working with the course, we hope to continue to improve SREB Readiness Courses while providing a rigorous experience for students to become college and career ready.