Sharing Our Ideas: a skill companion

A small set of reusable sheets that grow one inquiry skill: sharing what we saw and thought clearly, in words, a drawing or a chart, so others understand. Print the scaffolds once and slot them into the science lessons you are already teaching.

What a skill companion is

Inquiry skills are not a topic of their own. They grow inside the science units a class teaches all year, such as Looking at Living Things, What Things Are Made Of and How Things Move. So this pack is not a full term of lessons. It is three reusable scaffolds, a map of where they fit, and a short stand-alone lesson for teaching the skill on its own first.

Start here: five minutes

1. Read the pairing map on the next page: it shows which scaffold fits which science lesson.
2. Print the science-sentence frame and the share-it planner, one each per child, whenever a lesson asks children to share what they saw.
3. Cut out the sentence cards once. They are reused all year, in any topic.
4. Open the free interactive unit on your board when you want a worked example of the skill.
5. Run the one-page mini-lesson first if you want to teach the skill before folding it into a topic.

No science background needed

This pack is written for the busy generalist teacher. Each scaffold explains itself in plain words, and the answer sheet gives model responses and look-fors for every Foundation topic, so you can walk in and use it.

Slot the skill into your science lessons

The same skill of sharing an idea clearly fits into every science unit. This map shows something children can share in each Foundation topic and which scaffold to reach for. You do not run these as extra lessons; you fold them into the science you teach.

The three ways to share, and the picture that backs each one

When you want a worked example on the board, open the interactive unit and use the picture that matches the way children are sharing.

• Choose a way to share: “Pick a way to share what you saw”.
• Say it clearly enough to picture: “Which sentences clearly share what we saw?”.
• Show counts so everyone sees at once: “Share your minibeast counts as a chart”.

How the scaffolds build the skill

The science-sentence frame helps a child say what they saw and thought in words others can picture. The share-it planner helps them choose a good way to share it and who to share it with. The sentence cards sharpen the hardest part: telling a clear sharing sentence from a fuzzy one no one can picture. Used together across the year, they make sharing ideas a habit.

I can share what I saw

When you share, help your friends picture it. Finish each sentence with what you really saw and thought.

Finish these sentences

A clear sentence says something others can picture. If a friend can draw it from your words, you shared it well.

How will I share it?

There is more than one way to share. Choose a way that fits what you want to show, then plan it here.

I will share it by

Plan it here

Who will I share it with?

Teacher note: telling is quick, a drawing shows shape and where, and a chart is best when children counted things. Help each child pick the way that shows their idea most clearly.

Does this sentence share it clearly?

Cut out the cards. Sort them into two piles: sentences that clearly share what someone saw, and sentences that are too fuzzy to picture. Some cards say a feeling or nothing at all, and those do not share what was seen.

Teacher note: the two piles are “clear sharing” and “not clear”. The answer sheet lists which is which, and why. Blank cards let children add their own.

• Clear sharing: it says a number, a thing, or what happened and where.
• Not clear: it says a feeling or nothing others can picture.

Share it so a friend can picture it

Use this stand-alone lesson to teach the skill on its own, before you fold it into a science topic. It runs the three scaffolds in this pack in one short block, so children meet the whole skill in one go and then reuse the sheets all year.

We are learning to

• share what we saw and thought,
• say it clearly, so others can picture it,
• choose a good way to share: words, a drawing or a chart.

Success criteria

• I can share what I saw in a clear sentence.
• I can choose a good way to share my idea.

You need

• the sentence cards (scaffold 3), one set per table, cut out ahead or by fast finishers,
• the science-sentence frame and the share-it planner (scaffolds 1 and 2), one each per child,
• one small thing to look at together: a leaf, a rock, or a toy that moves,
• the free interactive unit on your board, if you have one (optional).

Lesson flow (about 30 minutes)

Running it shorter? Stop after Clear, or not, and pick up Say it and plan it inside your next science lesson, where children share a real observation.

Watch for these ideas

• Sharing a feeling instead of what was seen, like “it was good”. Ask what they actually saw.
• A sentence too fuzzy to picture, like “stuff happened”. Ask what the stuff was.
• Forgetting to say the number or the thing. Ask how many, or what it was.

Make it easier, make it bigger

• Easier: sort just four sentence cards, two clear and two fuzzy.
• Bigger: write a brand-new clear sentence on a blank card and swap it with another table to sort.

Answers and look-fors

The next sheet has the card answers, model shares for the Foundation topics, and a quick three-level guide.

Answers and look-fors

Sentence cards: does it share it clearly?

The blank cards children write are marked the same way: could a friend picture it, or is it a feeling or too fuzzy to draw from?

What a clear share sounds like in each topic

Responses will vary, and that is fine. The point is a share others can picture and a good way to share it. Here is what an at-standard share sounds like in each Foundation topic.

A quick three-level guide

A child at standard shares what they saw in a clear sentence and picks a good way to share it. The skill grows all year, so keep the scaffolds coming back in every science topic.