First, OpenSciEd recommends that educators follow the guidance provided on individual student IEPs/504 plans, as we feel the education team that developed those plans knows the student’s needs the best. If a plan requires a teacher to pre-teach vocabulary for a unit, then it should be followed based on the expertise of the IEP/504 committee.

While many instructional materials might provide lists of vocabulary and definitions before learning a unit, our approach to vocabulary instruction is focused first on conceptual learning of science ideas rather than labeling terms upfront. Here is a good reading to consider: https://stemteachingtools.org/brief/66 

In the OpenSciEd curriculum, students develop their scientific language by figuring out ideas from investigations, reading science texts, and/or communicating their science ideas in classroom discussions or written communication. Students make sense of a science idea before discussing the word used to name that idea. For example, students might figure out that plants recombine molecules in ways to make their own food and grow. After they have figured out this scientific idea, we might label that idea as something called photosynthesis. We know that many kids can memorize words and definitions for assessments without fully understanding the bigger science concept. Because of this, we avoid assessing whether students use and define terms; rather the assessments on OpenSciEd generally focus on explaining ideas with evidence from the investigations. When words do come up in the lesson that might be tricky for kids, teachers could define it in words, put a picture next to the word, and reinforce the word in later lessons – we encourage a Word Wall for this type of support (discussed in the Teacher Handbook). However, OpenSciEd does not assess knowing science vocabulary. 

For assessment learning, we think it is important for teachers to know that students can communicate these ideas verbally or in writing, using words, pictures, and gestures. Students may say or do something in small groups or with the class that demonstrates their understanding of an idea. They might write something individually or say it to the teacher or peers.  It may not always occur in written form on a handout or assessment. And most importantly, assessing student learning on only a single assessment makes that high-stakes for the student and may not fully capture what a student knows or can do. We encourage teachers to assess students throughout a unit to gather a complete picture of what a student understands and does not yet understand about the science ideas. We have formative, mid-point and summative assessments in the program, but it is important to combine students’ ideas on these assessments with the work they’ve been doing throughout the unit. Students may not perform well on a single lab or assessment, so combining this across the unit is a fairer assessment of what they know and are struggling with. 

Students may also not use vocabulary words on an assessment, but this does not mean they do not understand the science ideas. They might understand that plants make their food by recombining molecules without ever using the word photosynthesis. That is OK! Overall, it’s better to understand a concept or process than to memorize a definition but not really understand it. For example, one student might write: A plant undergoes photosynthesis to make food. Another student might write: A plant takes in air molecules and combines them with water to make its own food and grow. The student in this second response clearly understands the process of photosynthesis without ever using the word.  

We realize this approach to learning is quite different than programs. Many programs offer worksheets and unit assessments that fill in vocabulary words, match definitions, or circle multiple-choice answers. Because of the three-dimensional approach set forth by the NextGeneration Science Standards and the standards set forth by external evaluations of the program, the investigations and assessments in OpenSciEd are much more involved, requiring the use of science and engineering practices and crosscutting concepts to explain science phenomena.  This can be challenging for many kids and is very different than more traditional approaches to learning in science class. 

We have teachers modify the program in many ways to help meet the needs of IEPs/504 plans and other needs for their context. Within a classroom, these modifications tend to be highly specific to individual student needs. In general, the strategies include:

• Reduced text on each page or using a screen reader to supplement readers who need a lower reading level when reading independently.
• Providing sentence starters or sentence frames to help support a student who is writing or speaking their ideas. 
• Giving oral options for handouts and assessments.
• Drawing a model and then verbally describing the ideas conveyed on it.
• Providing Word Wall cards with words and pictures that can describe a term. These are added to the Word Wall after the students have experienced the word conceptually. They can also be added at any point for words encountered in text that are new or unfamiliar to students. 
• Close reading strategies to underline and circle parts of the text that are confusing or may be a big idea the student wants to remember. All readings in the student edition are provided as handouts for this purpose