Middle School Teachers Can Learn Better Ways to Sequence Science Lessons with a New NSTA Book

ARLINGTON, Va. – Business Wire – Instructional Sequence Matters, Grades 6–8: Structuring Lessons With the NGSS in Mind, shows how simple shifts in the way teachers arrange and combine activities can help improve student learning. The new NSTA Press book introduces the “explore-before-explain” method while making it easier to put the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) into practice.

Instructional Sequence Matters discusses two popular approaches for structuring science lessons: POE (Predict, Observe, and Explain) and 5E (Engage, Explore, Explain, Elaborate, and Evaluate). The book explains what contemporary research says about sequencing and how you can make the needed changes. Ready-to-teach physical science lessons use either a POE or 5E sequence to cover heat and temperature, magnetism, electric circuits, and force and motion. Detailed examples show how specific aspects of all three dimensions of the NGSS can translate into the classroom.

The book helps both novice teachers and classroom veterans discover the rationale and the real-life examples they need to restructure the hands-on approach they now use.

Browse sample pages of this title for free at the NSTA Science Store website.

For additional information or to purchase a copy of Instructional Sequence Matters, Grades 6–8 and other books from NSTA Press, visit the NSTA Science Store.

Featured

  • FGCU Breaks Ground on New Health Sciences Building

    Florida Gulf Coast University (FGCU) has launched construction on a major new academic facility that leaders say will reshape healthcare education in Southwest Florida for decades to come, according to university news.

  • South Carolina District Starts Construction on $50M Middle School Renovation

    The Aiken County Public School District in North Augusta, S.C., recently held a groundbreaking ceremony for the $50-million renovation and expansion of North Augusta Middle School, according to a news release. The project’s funding comes from the 2024 renewal of a one-cent sales tax approved by local voters.

  • golden trophies with falling confetti

    Spaces4Learning Launches 2026 New Product Awards

    Spaces4Learning is happy to announce that we’re now accepting entries for the 2026 New Product Awards! The awards program recognizes the outstanding product development achievements of manufacturers and suppliers whose products or services are considered particularly noteworthy.

  • Chartwells Launches Campus Dining Evaluation Framework

    Contract food-service management provider Chartwells Higher Education recently announced the launch of BLUEPRINT, according to a news release. The evaluation framework was designed to provide a data-driven and customizable roadmap towards optimizing campus dining services and, by extension, the student experience.