1 
SABES Literacy Library 
READING- Science Resources 
The library’s online website is www.sabes.org/library. Massachusetts ABE teachers 
may request library materials by emailing Sandra.Darling@umb.edu. Materials will 
be mailed and may be returned to your local Massachusetts library. 
Watch for information on educational research and evidence-based practice at 
https://www.facebook.com/pages/SABES-Literacy-Library/194548313914398 
Common Core Standards for English Language Arts & Literacy in History/Social 
Studies, Science, and Technical Subjects - K-12 
Appendix B: Text Exemplars for grades 6-8 
The following text samples exemplify the level of complexity and quality that 
the Standards require all students in a given grade band to engage with. They are 
suggestive of the breadth of texts that students should encounter in the text types 
required by the Standards. The choices should serve as useful guideposts in helping 
educators select texts of similar complexity, quality, and range for their own 
classrooms. 
Macaulay, David. Cathedral: The Story of Its Construction 
Mackay, Donald. The Building of Manhattan 
Enzensberger, Hans Magnus. The Number Devil: A Mathematical Adventure 
Peterson, Ivars and Nancy Henderson. Math Trek:Adventures in the Math 
Zone 
Katz, John. Geeks: How Two Lost Boys Rode the Internet out of Idaho 
Petroski, Henry. “The Evolution of the Grocery Bag.” 
“Space Probe.”#Astronomy & Space:From the Big Bang to the Big Crunch 
California Invasive Plant Council. Invasive Plant Inventory 
http://www.corestandards.org/ELA-Literacy 
The Common Core State Standards emphasize building knowledge through 
content-rich nonfiction and practice with reading complex informational text. 
This requires literacy work in both ELA classes and science and social studies 
classes. On this site, teachers of science and technical subjects can access 
the Standards themselves, curricular materials, and sample lessons based 
on close readings of science and technical texts. 
http://www.achievethecore.org/ela-literacy-common-core/literacy-science-technical/
2 
The LINCS Resource Collection provides free online access to high-quality, 
evidence-based, vetted materials to help adult education practitioners and 
state and local staff improve programs, services, instruction, and teacher 
quality. The collection provides relevant instructional resources and 
professional development materials, as well as research articles, policy 
briefs, reports, multimedia resources, and more. Information on how to use 
the featured resources to enhance teaching and learning also is available. 
http://lincs.ed.gov/professional-development/collection/search 
http://lincs.ed.gov/lincs/resourcecollections/science/profile_01 
http://lincs.ed.gov/professional-development/resource-collections/by-topic/ 
Science 
For reading resources in content areas supported by media resources, look 
at Registration is free and the content connects to Massachusetts standards. 
If you filter “Media” type and choose “Document”’ you will get a list of 
materials that can be printed out, including essays, articles, books. 
Registration is free and the content connects to Massachusetts chapters. 
“Grade level” and “Content” can also be filtered. 
PBS LearningMedia™ provides educators with strategies, tools, and 
professional development resources needed to fully utilize digital 
learning. It offers schools, districts, and states a cost-effective 
solution for seamless media integration and customization, including: 
 State standards alignment 
 Robust user management 
 Comprehensive analytics 
 Content management system 
http://www.pbslearningmedia.org/ http://mass.pbslearningmedia.org/ 
NOVA Labs is a new digital platform where "citizen scientists" can actively 
participate in the scientific process and take part in real-world investigations 
by visualizing, analyzing, and sharing the same data that scientists use. 
Each Lab is unique, and focuses on a different area of active research. But 
all of them illustrate key concepts with engaging and informative videos that 
address why these research topics matter to students and society. 
In this collection you'll find original short-form videos from the Sun Lab and Energy Lab. 
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/labs/about/ 
The National Science Digital Library provides high quality online educational 
resources for teaching and learning, with emphasis on the sciences, 
technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) disciplines in local, state, 
national, and international educational settings. NSDL provides access
3 
through Apple's iTunes Store. There is no cost to use or download materials 
from NSDL on iTunes U. http://nsdl.org/ 
Twin Cities Public Television’s Science Unit has served youth, 
parents, and teachers with TV series, activity guides, 
multimedia software, and websites. Projects include the 
classic PBS series Newton’s Apple, DragonflyTV, 
documentaries for NOVA, SciGirls, and our newest 
project, Sparticl. 
http://www.sparticl.org/ 
For each of our TV series, we’ve created innovative 
multimedia and websites taking advantage of the most 
current online technology and software. For SciGirls, we 
built the first safe social network for children on pbs.org and won a national 
Daytime Emmy for our innovative mix of television and the web. 
http://www.sparticl.org/ 
National Science Teachers Association Outstanding Science Trade Books 
Reading science trade books is a way for students to build literacy skills while 
learning science content. The books that appear in these lists were selected as 
outstanding children's science trade books. Beginning in 2002, the list was 
expanded to include high school as well. 
http://www.perma-bound.com/Search/D5ROzZbAqBYbfbI8ns6Hwg 
IRA/CBC Young Adult's Choice Award 
The IRA/CBC Young Adult's Choice Award is presented by the International Reading 
Association. Since 1987, the Young Adults' Choices project has developed an annual 
list of new books that will encourage adolescents to read. 
Although there are links to award winning science materials on other 
websites, the Permabound website includes grade level equivalence and interest 
levels. Because these books are award winners, public libraries are 
likely to have them in their collection or regional networks. 
Bill Bryson’s book is an example of a book with adult interest and a 
low reading level that would be found in many libraries. 
Publisher: Dell 
Copyright: 2008 
Pages: 169 p. 
Subject Heading: Science. Juvenile literature. Science. 
Reading Level: 5.0 
Interest Level: 4-7 
Reading Counts!: reading level:11.8 / points:11. 
Lexile: 1190L 
http://www.perma-bound.com/Search/sJzioeKfg-xmM4YN71__SQ 
The “Scientists in the Field” book series shows people immersed in the 
unpredictable and dynamic natural world. These books show adventures in 
the great outdoors from climbing into a snake den, to tracking wolves,
swimming with sharks, and collecting bugs. The series provides an 
introduction to both careers in science and to scientific investigations. These 
books are widely available in the children and teen sections of public 
libraries. http://www.sciencemeetsadventure.com/ 
General science magazines like National Geographic, Wired and Scientific 
American have web companion sites. Individual articles of the websites can 
be run through a grade level finder like Microsoft’s spelling check to check on 
the reading level. 
www.nature.com/scientificamerican/index.html 
www.nationalgeographic.com 
www.wired.com/magazine 
4 
The Lifeworks Career Finder from the National Institute of Health, Office of Science 
Education sifts through 132 possibilities and creates a list of jobs to explore. 
Interactive choices of interests, skills and job category leads you to a customized 
career result in order of education level needed for specific careers. This site 
integrates career information with science content. 
http://science.education.nih.gov/LifeWorks.nsf/feature/index.htm 
SLIC Initiative Publications. In 
Touch With Series. As part of 
the AAAS Science Linkages in 
the Community (SLIC) 
Initiative, these activity books 
offer a range of hands-on 
activities for students in grades 
K-12 for use in a variety of 
formal and informal settings, from 
classrooms to community groups. 
http://www.aaas.org/programs/ed 
ucation/slic/pubs.shtml 
The National Science Digital Library provides high quality online educational 
resources for teaching and learning, with emphasis on the sciences, 
technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) disciplines in local, state, 
national, and international educational settings. NSDL provides access 
through Apple's iTunes Store. There is no cost to use or download materials 
from NSDL on iTunes U. http://nsdl.org/ 
The Boston Museum of Science has long been a leader in producing digital exhibits, 
videos, and audio presentations that align with our mission: to help transform the 
nation's relationship with science and technology.. 
http://www.mos.org/museum-online http://www.mos.org/educators
The NCTL will play a critical role in turning the tide and raising the understanding of 
engineering by introducing engineering and technology education into curriculum 
and into exhibits and programs of science museums and other informal educational 
venues nationwide http://legacy.mos.org/nctl/ 
5 
As school districts implement the Common Core State, some teachers are 
reluctant to make the shift toward more informational reading. But 
nonfiction isn’t just government documents and textbooks. It’s an 
opportunity for teachers to explore texts that mirror their students’ 
experiences, as well as those that offer a window into other people’s lives 
and perspectives. The trick, she says, is for teachers and students to be 
thoughtful in their text selections and to understand that informational 
reading takes many different forms, all of which can contribute to a more 
flexible and authentic curriculum. 
http://www.tolerance.org/magazine/number-45-fall-2013/incredible-true-story 
http://www.tolerance.org/PDA-toolkit 
Cosmic Times: Have you considered using scientific topics and concepts to teach 
reading and writing skills? This NASA Goddard Space Flight Center website might 
aid in that practice. “Cosmic Times is a series of curriculum support materials that 
trace the history of our understanding of the universe during the past 100 years, 
from Einstein's formulation of gravity to the discovery of dark energy. It consists of 
6 posters, each resembling the front page of a newspaper from a particular time in 
this history, with articles describing the discoveries. The language of the articles 
mimics that of a newspaper from its respective era.” 
The site contains a glossary, a timeline, and a section on teacher 
resources http://cosmictimes.gsfc.nasa.gov/teachers/guide/index.html . The 
Cosmic Times has three “editions” or reading levels, and the teacher resources 
support each version. 
http://cosmictimes.gsfc.nasa.gov/ 
Science NetLinks is a premier K-12 science education resource produced by 
theAmerican Association for the Advancement of Science. At Science NetLinks, 
you'll find teaching tools, interactives, podcasts, and hands-on activities, and all of 
it is free! 
Who is it for? 
Science NetLinks provides K-12 teachers, students, and families with quality 
resources for teaching and learning science. 
How do I use it? 
All of the resources are Internet based and free to everyone. Lessons and activities 
can be printed or used online. Many of the interactives, esheets, and tools work 
great on an interactive white board or in a computer lab. All of the resources are 
designed to be delivered in a variety of formats and classroom settings. 
Annotations adapted and abridged from reviews, websites and book covers.
6 
This is an ongoing list. Please send your suggestions and additions to 
Sandra.darling@umb.edu. 2/14 
Making Sense of SCIENCE (MSS) offers learning opportunities and professional 
development materials for educators, combining in-depth science with a focus on 
classroom practice, literacy support, and pedagogical reasoning. The MSS courses 
prepare teachers for the new Common Core and Next Generation Science 
Standards. 
MSS supports teacher educators, staff developers, curriculum specialists, and 
others who work with preservice and/or practicing science teachers to strengthen 
their content knowledge, pedagogical reasoning, and instructional skill. In 
short, MSS courses help teachers: 
 Learn major concepts of K–8 science 
 Examine how children make sense of those concepts 
 Analyze and improve their teaching practice 
 Learn ways to support science learning through literacy 
http://we-mss.weebly.com/science-corner.html

READING- Science resources

  • 1.
    1 SABES LiteracyLibrary READING- Science Resources The library’s online website is www.sabes.org/library. Massachusetts ABE teachers may request library materials by emailing Sandra.Darling@umb.edu. Materials will be mailed and may be returned to your local Massachusetts library. Watch for information on educational research and evidence-based practice at https://www.facebook.com/pages/SABES-Literacy-Library/194548313914398 Common Core Standards for English Language Arts & Literacy in History/Social Studies, Science, and Technical Subjects - K-12 Appendix B: Text Exemplars for grades 6-8 The following text samples exemplify the level of complexity and quality that the Standards require all students in a given grade band to engage with. They are suggestive of the breadth of texts that students should encounter in the text types required by the Standards. The choices should serve as useful guideposts in helping educators select texts of similar complexity, quality, and range for their own classrooms. Macaulay, David. Cathedral: The Story of Its Construction Mackay, Donald. The Building of Manhattan Enzensberger, Hans Magnus. The Number Devil: A Mathematical Adventure Peterson, Ivars and Nancy Henderson. Math Trek:Adventures in the Math Zone Katz, John. Geeks: How Two Lost Boys Rode the Internet out of Idaho Petroski, Henry. “The Evolution of the Grocery Bag.” “Space Probe.”#Astronomy & Space:From the Big Bang to the Big Crunch California Invasive Plant Council. Invasive Plant Inventory http://www.corestandards.org/ELA-Literacy The Common Core State Standards emphasize building knowledge through content-rich nonfiction and practice with reading complex informational text. This requires literacy work in both ELA classes and science and social studies classes. On this site, teachers of science and technical subjects can access the Standards themselves, curricular materials, and sample lessons based on close readings of science and technical texts. http://www.achievethecore.org/ela-literacy-common-core/literacy-science-technical/
  • 2.
    2 The LINCSResource Collection provides free online access to high-quality, evidence-based, vetted materials to help adult education practitioners and state and local staff improve programs, services, instruction, and teacher quality. The collection provides relevant instructional resources and professional development materials, as well as research articles, policy briefs, reports, multimedia resources, and more. Information on how to use the featured resources to enhance teaching and learning also is available. http://lincs.ed.gov/professional-development/collection/search http://lincs.ed.gov/lincs/resourcecollections/science/profile_01 http://lincs.ed.gov/professional-development/resource-collections/by-topic/ Science For reading resources in content areas supported by media resources, look at Registration is free and the content connects to Massachusetts standards. If you filter “Media” type and choose “Document”’ you will get a list of materials that can be printed out, including essays, articles, books. Registration is free and the content connects to Massachusetts chapters. “Grade level” and “Content” can also be filtered. PBS LearningMedia™ provides educators with strategies, tools, and professional development resources needed to fully utilize digital learning. It offers schools, districts, and states a cost-effective solution for seamless media integration and customization, including:  State standards alignment  Robust user management  Comprehensive analytics  Content management system http://www.pbslearningmedia.org/ http://mass.pbslearningmedia.org/ NOVA Labs is a new digital platform where "citizen scientists" can actively participate in the scientific process and take part in real-world investigations by visualizing, analyzing, and sharing the same data that scientists use. Each Lab is unique, and focuses on a different area of active research. But all of them illustrate key concepts with engaging and informative videos that address why these research topics matter to students and society. In this collection you'll find original short-form videos from the Sun Lab and Energy Lab. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/labs/about/ The National Science Digital Library provides high quality online educational resources for teaching and learning, with emphasis on the sciences, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) disciplines in local, state, national, and international educational settings. NSDL provides access
  • 3.
    3 through Apple'siTunes Store. There is no cost to use or download materials from NSDL on iTunes U. http://nsdl.org/ Twin Cities Public Television’s Science Unit has served youth, parents, and teachers with TV series, activity guides, multimedia software, and websites. Projects include the classic PBS series Newton’s Apple, DragonflyTV, documentaries for NOVA, SciGirls, and our newest project, Sparticl. http://www.sparticl.org/ For each of our TV series, we’ve created innovative multimedia and websites taking advantage of the most current online technology and software. For SciGirls, we built the first safe social network for children on pbs.org and won a national Daytime Emmy for our innovative mix of television and the web. http://www.sparticl.org/ National Science Teachers Association Outstanding Science Trade Books Reading science trade books is a way for students to build literacy skills while learning science content. The books that appear in these lists were selected as outstanding children's science trade books. Beginning in 2002, the list was expanded to include high school as well. http://www.perma-bound.com/Search/D5ROzZbAqBYbfbI8ns6Hwg IRA/CBC Young Adult's Choice Award The IRA/CBC Young Adult's Choice Award is presented by the International Reading Association. Since 1987, the Young Adults' Choices project has developed an annual list of new books that will encourage adolescents to read. Although there are links to award winning science materials on other websites, the Permabound website includes grade level equivalence and interest levels. Because these books are award winners, public libraries are likely to have them in their collection or regional networks. Bill Bryson’s book is an example of a book with adult interest and a low reading level that would be found in many libraries. Publisher: Dell Copyright: 2008 Pages: 169 p. Subject Heading: Science. Juvenile literature. Science. Reading Level: 5.0 Interest Level: 4-7 Reading Counts!: reading level:11.8 / points:11. Lexile: 1190L http://www.perma-bound.com/Search/sJzioeKfg-xmM4YN71__SQ The “Scientists in the Field” book series shows people immersed in the unpredictable and dynamic natural world. These books show adventures in the great outdoors from climbing into a snake den, to tracking wolves,
  • 4.
    swimming with sharks,and collecting bugs. The series provides an introduction to both careers in science and to scientific investigations. These books are widely available in the children and teen sections of public libraries. http://www.sciencemeetsadventure.com/ General science magazines like National Geographic, Wired and Scientific American have web companion sites. Individual articles of the websites can be run through a grade level finder like Microsoft’s spelling check to check on the reading level. www.nature.com/scientificamerican/index.html www.nationalgeographic.com www.wired.com/magazine 4 The Lifeworks Career Finder from the National Institute of Health, Office of Science Education sifts through 132 possibilities and creates a list of jobs to explore. Interactive choices of interests, skills and job category leads you to a customized career result in order of education level needed for specific careers. This site integrates career information with science content. http://science.education.nih.gov/LifeWorks.nsf/feature/index.htm SLIC Initiative Publications. In Touch With Series. As part of the AAAS Science Linkages in the Community (SLIC) Initiative, these activity books offer a range of hands-on activities for students in grades K-12 for use in a variety of formal and informal settings, from classrooms to community groups. http://www.aaas.org/programs/ed ucation/slic/pubs.shtml The National Science Digital Library provides high quality online educational resources for teaching and learning, with emphasis on the sciences, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) disciplines in local, state, national, and international educational settings. NSDL provides access through Apple's iTunes Store. There is no cost to use or download materials from NSDL on iTunes U. http://nsdl.org/ The Boston Museum of Science has long been a leader in producing digital exhibits, videos, and audio presentations that align with our mission: to help transform the nation's relationship with science and technology.. http://www.mos.org/museum-online http://www.mos.org/educators
  • 5.
    The NCTL willplay a critical role in turning the tide and raising the understanding of engineering by introducing engineering and technology education into curriculum and into exhibits and programs of science museums and other informal educational venues nationwide http://legacy.mos.org/nctl/ 5 As school districts implement the Common Core State, some teachers are reluctant to make the shift toward more informational reading. But nonfiction isn’t just government documents and textbooks. It’s an opportunity for teachers to explore texts that mirror their students’ experiences, as well as those that offer a window into other people’s lives and perspectives. The trick, she says, is for teachers and students to be thoughtful in their text selections and to understand that informational reading takes many different forms, all of which can contribute to a more flexible and authentic curriculum. http://www.tolerance.org/magazine/number-45-fall-2013/incredible-true-story http://www.tolerance.org/PDA-toolkit Cosmic Times: Have you considered using scientific topics and concepts to teach reading and writing skills? This NASA Goddard Space Flight Center website might aid in that practice. “Cosmic Times is a series of curriculum support materials that trace the history of our understanding of the universe during the past 100 years, from Einstein's formulation of gravity to the discovery of dark energy. It consists of 6 posters, each resembling the front page of a newspaper from a particular time in this history, with articles describing the discoveries. The language of the articles mimics that of a newspaper from its respective era.” The site contains a glossary, a timeline, and a section on teacher resources http://cosmictimes.gsfc.nasa.gov/teachers/guide/index.html . The Cosmic Times has three “editions” or reading levels, and the teacher resources support each version. http://cosmictimes.gsfc.nasa.gov/ Science NetLinks is a premier K-12 science education resource produced by theAmerican Association for the Advancement of Science. At Science NetLinks, you'll find teaching tools, interactives, podcasts, and hands-on activities, and all of it is free! Who is it for? Science NetLinks provides K-12 teachers, students, and families with quality resources for teaching and learning science. How do I use it? All of the resources are Internet based and free to everyone. Lessons and activities can be printed or used online. Many of the interactives, esheets, and tools work great on an interactive white board or in a computer lab. All of the resources are designed to be delivered in a variety of formats and classroom settings. Annotations adapted and abridged from reviews, websites and book covers.
  • 6.
    6 This isan ongoing list. Please send your suggestions and additions to Sandra.darling@umb.edu. 2/14 Making Sense of SCIENCE (MSS) offers learning opportunities and professional development materials for educators, combining in-depth science with a focus on classroom practice, literacy support, and pedagogical reasoning. The MSS courses prepare teachers for the new Common Core and Next Generation Science Standards. MSS supports teacher educators, staff developers, curriculum specialists, and others who work with preservice and/or practicing science teachers to strengthen their content knowledge, pedagogical reasoning, and instructional skill. In short, MSS courses help teachers:  Learn major concepts of K–8 science  Examine how children make sense of those concepts  Analyze and improve their teaching practice  Learn ways to support science learning through literacy http://we-mss.weebly.com/science-corner.html