The curriculum developed by the SISL project consists of two inquiry-based units for linguistically-diverse 5th grade classes. Each unit centers on a compelling anchor phenomenon. As students engage in scientific inquiry to understand this anchor phenomenon, they build their understanding of key scientific concepts and develop competence with science and engineering practices.

The first unit focuses on garbage and the environment, and the second unit centers on the phenomenon of falling stars. Each unit is organized into five clusters of four to six lessons each. In each cluster, students explore a guiding question through hands-on investigations, videos, readings, modeling, and discussion. The guiding questions build across clusters, moving students toward a deeper understanding of the unit’s anchor phenomenon.

The curriculum is designed for linguistically diverse classes that include a range of students designated as “English learners,” including recently-arrived newcomer students, as well as other bilingual or multilingual students and monolingual English speakers. The units provide examples of the SISL Approach to Language Development in Science to help teachers develop the capacity to integrate opportunities for language development in their science instruction.

Preparing to Teach the SISL Curriculum

Before you start teaching the units, read the Guide to Using the SISL Curriculum to learn about intentional routines and structures SISL uses to support language development in science.

The SISL curriculum emphasizes engaging all students in rich interactions about science because we know these interactions are essential to language development and science learning. In classes with newcomer students, this may require providing explicit support to peers who can serve as “language buddies” for newcomers. In Establishing a Language Buddies Program to Support Newcomers, you can learn how to prepare buddies to work supportively with newcomers, engaging them in scientific inquiry, modeling English, and inviting them into discussions.

Navigating the SISL Curriculum on this Website

To enter a unit, select the appropriate picture above.

On the unit overview page, you'll find:

• a description of the unit,
• a list of the relevant Next Generation Science Standards,
• a link to a complete materials list for the unit, and
• a link to a more in-depth description of the science within the unit.

Once you are in a unit, access the individual clusters and lessons within the unit from the links at the left.Once you are in a unit, access the individual clusters and lessons within the unit from this menu that will appear near the top-right of the page:

On each cluster page, you'll find:

• a description of the cluster,
• a list of the relevant Next Generation Science Standards,
• a list of learning targets for the cluster, and
• a link to a printable version of the cluster that includes every lesson in the cluster.

On each lesson page, you'll find:

• the learning targets for the lesson,
• the materials needed for the lesson, and
• detailed instructions for teaching the lesson.

The lesson instructions are grouped into sections, and you have to select each section title to see the full instructions.

The instructions include specific supports for recently-arrived newcomer students. Throughout the lessons, when you see the following symbol, select it for recommendations on how to provide additional scaffolds to ensure the active engagement of newcomers who are beginning to develop English:

Throughout the lessons, you will also see the following symbol, which you can select to view videos of key practices in action during a SISL unit:

You can find all of the videos in the SISL Video Library.