NGSS MADE SIMPLE TEST SCORES IMPROVED
STRATEGIES FOR TEACHING WITH CONFIDENCE
Introduc on......................................................
Sec on 1: Building Depth of Knowledge with Frames of Reference.................................
Sec on 2: Introducing Disciplinary Core Ideas through Integrated Methodology.....................
Sec on 3: Allowing Students to Determine the Key Vocabulary for the Standard......................
Sec on 4: Prac cing with S mulus-Based Ques ons Using the B.U.S. Strategy..................
Sec on 5: Never Let Them Forget! Daily Poster Review for Las ng Mastery...........
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Sec on 1: Building Depth of Knowledge with Frames of Reference
Introduction to Frames of Reference
At Educational Bootcamp®, we believe that mastery of the NGSS standards requires more than rote memorization, it requires depth of knowledge (DOK). To move students beyond surface recall into deeper levels of comprehension and application, we developed a Frame of Reference Learning Strategy, built around guided practice, structured repetition, and collaborative meaning-making.
Our approach combines research-backed methods such as dual coding theory, active recall, peer teaching, and scaffolded repetition with hands-on tools like foldables, guided drawings, and task-oriented prompts. By engaging visual, verbal, and kinesthetic modalities, student retention, comprehension, and transfer of knowledge to test performance is strengthened.
Frame 1: Pictionary-Style Drawings
Students are asked to create simple, Pictionary-like sketches directly tied to the NGSS performance expectations. These sketches are not works of art, they are quick, symbolic representations of the science concept.
Example: For 4-PS3-2 (Energy Transfer), a sketch might show a spoon in hot cocoa with arrows moving toward the spoon to show heat transfer.
Why it works: According to dual coding theory (Paivio, 1991), combining words with images creates stronger memory associa ons. By drawing, students process concepts visually and linguis cally, boos ng recall during assessments.
Frame
2: Foldables with Guided Prompts
Foldables add a tactile and organizational element to learning. Students fold paper into structured sections (e.g., four squares, accordion folds, flip tabs) and record responses guided by teacher prompts.
Example: A foldable for 3-LS1-1 (Life Cycles) may have tabs labeled “Birth,” “Growth,” “Reproduc on,” and “Death.” Prompts guide students to fill in each tab with notes, sketches, or vocabulary.
Why it works: Interac ve note-taking strategies like foldables promote ac ve engagement (Marzano, Pickering, & Pollock, 2001). Students categorize and organize content, making abstract concepts concrete and retrievable.
Guided Reading Passage Strategy
Each NGSS standard is paired with a short 1–1.5 page wri en passage that explains:
The standard itself in clear language
Content limits
Key vocabulary and conceptual boundaries
The teacher reads the passage using a three-pass approach:
1.Direct Reading — Read sentence by sentence as wri en.
2.Simplified Paraphrase — Reread each sentence, subs tu ng complex terms with student-friendly synonyms.
3.Task-Oriented Reading — Read the sentence again, but this me ask what ac on the student should take:
“How would you show this in your drawing?”
“What note should we add to the foldable tab?”
Why it works: This layered reading aligns with scaffolded instruc on (Vygotsky’s Zone of Proximal Development). Repe on deepens understanding, while paraphrasing bridges gaps in vocabulary. The final task-oriented reading ensures transfer from text to student-created evidence.
Collabora ve Refinement (Peer Review)
A er comple ng their drawings or foldables, students share in pairs or small groups:
Students compare and explain their representa ons.
They refine their work by adding valid informa on and removing misconcep ons.
Volunteers or selected students share their versions with the whole class. Why it works: Peer-to-peer interac on encourages students to verbalize and defend their thinking. Research shows that collabora on promotes metacogni on and reten on (Johnson & Johnson, 1999).
Final Teacher-Led Adjustment
To consolidate learning, the teacher rereads the original passage. Students then make final refinements to their drawings or foldables, aligning their crea ons even more closely to the intended standard. This ensures misconcep ons are corrected and students walk away with a strong, aligned representa on of the standard.
Why it works: According to Ha e’s research on visible learning, feedback has one of the highest impacts on student achievement (Ha e, 2009). The final teacher-led refinement ensures accuracy and clarity.
This proprietary Frame of Reference Learning Strategy combines the following evidence-based techniques:
Dual Coding Theory (Paivio, 1991): Linking visuals with words increases reten on.
Scaffolded Instruc on (Vygotsky, 1978): Support is gradually reduced as students master content.
Peer Learning (Johnson & Johnson, 1999): Collabora ve review enhances depth of knowledge.
Feedback Effect (Ha e, 2009): Timely, specific feedback accelerates achievement.
By systematizing drawings, foldables, guided passages, peer collaboration, and teacher refinement strategies into a repeatable structure, Educational Bootcamp® ensures students do not just memorize science facts, but build deep, flexible understanding of NGSS standards that boosts test scores.
Sec on 2: Introducing Disciplinary Core Ideas through Integrated Methodology
At the heart of the NGSS are the Disciplinary Core Ideas (DCIs) — the foundational science concepts that anchor each standard. After students first engage with a Frame of Reference (drawing or foldable), the next step is to deepen comprehension by embedding those initial anchors into structured, content-rich presentations and interactive journaling tasks.
Creative framing and direct instruction is the two-part approach that creates what we at Educational Bootcamp® call the WrapAround Learning Cycle. Students begin with a concrete, studentgenerated representation and then reinforce and expand that understanding through structured teacher input, kinesthetic practice, and journaling.
Students begin with either a drawing (sketch-based) or a foldable/journal entry (written-based).
These Quick-draws represent their initial grasp of the big idea (e.g., “energy moves from hotter to cooler objects”). By externalizing thinking onto paper, students make their mental models visible, which research shows is critical for surfacing misconceptions and building conceptual change (Chi, 2009).
Research Connection:
Constructivist learning theory (Piaget, 1970; Bruner, 1986) emphasizes that students build knowledge on what they already know. Beginning with a drawing or foldable lets them link the abstract NGSS concept to their personal mental model.
Writing-to-learn strategies (Bangert-Drowns et al., 2004) demonstrate that journaling improves comprehension, recall, and conceptual clarity, especially in science.
Step 2: Direct Instructional Modules (DIMs)
Once student-generated references are in place, the teacher transitions into a Direct Instructional Module (DIM). These modules:
presenta on explains conduc on with labeled diagrams, a short embedded video clip of thermal imaging, and a kinesthe c demo (two students passing a ball to symbolize energy transfer).
Why it Works:
According to Mayer’s Cogni ve Theory of Mul media
Learning (2001), students learn best when words, pictures, and ac ons are integrated. DIMs deliberately combine these modali es to “wrap” new content around the Frame of Reference.
Rosenshine’s Principles of Instruc on (2010) show that short, direct teaching sessions, immediately followed by guided prac ce, maximize comprehension and reten on.
Step 3: Journaling Extensions During DIMs
To avoid passive listening, DIMs are punctuated with journaling extensions. Students pause to:
Add vocabulary notes or diagrams to their foldables
Respond to prompts (e.g., “Draw another example of heat moving from hot to cold in your home”)
Predict outcomes (e.g., “What will happen if ice is placed in hot soup?”)
This step “wraps” the new knowledge tightly around the foundation students already built in their drawings or foldables.
Research Connec on:
Ac ve note-taking and genera ve wri ng improve reten on by forcing students to process and reorganize informa on (Kiewra, 1985).
The genera on effect (Slamecka & Graf, 1978) shows that informa on students generate themselves is remembered be er than informa on simply read or heard.
Step 4: Appealing to Multiple Modalities
DIMs are designed to appeal to diverse learners by embedding multiple entry points:
Kinesthetic: Short movement-based tasks, like standing in groups to represent molecules in solid, liquid, and gas form
Visual: Embedded video clips, labeled diagrams, animations, and SmartArt-style infographics
Auditory: Teacher narration, student paraphrasing, and peer-topeer sharing
Interpersonal: Partner discussions, quick group comparisons of foldables
Why it Works:
The Universal Design for Learning (UDL) framework stresses that providing multiple means of engagement, representation, and action helps all students access rigorous content.
Multimodal integration increases transfer of learning, especially in science, where abstract concepts benefit from tangible demonstrations (Moreno & Mayer, 2007).
Step 5: Wrapping the Frame of Reference
The final step in the cycle is to deliberately connect the Direct Instructional Module back to the student’s initial frame:
Teacher shows the original drawing/foldable and asks: “How does this new detail change or expand what you created earlier?”
Students add, cross out, or improve their original work.
Class discussion highlights the growth from initial thinking to refined understanding.
This ensures students see learning as iterative growth, not one-time recall.
Educational Bootcamp® Research Connection
This Wrap-Around Learning Cycle is unique to Educational Bootcamp®, blending evidence-based strategies into one seamless system:
Constructivist anchoring (Bruner, 1986) through drawings/journals
Direct instructional clarity (Rosenshine, 2010) with DIMs
Generative journaling (Bangert-Drowns, 2004) for consolidation
Multimodal learning integration (Mayer, 2001) to appeal to diverse learners
By integrating these strategies into NGSS test preparation, Educational Bootcamp® equips teachers to move students from surface recall to structured understanding to deep transfer, which is the foundation of higher test performance.
Sec on 3: Allowing Students to Determine the Key Vocabulary for the Standard
The Role of Vocabulary in Mastering NGSS
Science achievement is deeply tied to vocabulary mastery. NGSS performance expectations are full of academic language. Words like conduction, erosion, ecosystem, amplitude, and variable. Students who don’t understand this language cannot fully access the standards, much less apply them during testing.
Traditional approaches often present vocabulary as pre-selected “word lists” handed down from the teacher. While this approach has some utility, it removes ownership from students and assumes the teacher knows in advance which words students will struggle with. In practice, this often means:
Students memorize words for a quiz but fail to use them flexibly in context.
Misconceptions remain hidden because students do not feel responsible for surfacing confusion.
To solve this, Educational Bootcamp® created a student-driven vocabulary discovery system, embedded in our Frame of Reference to Direct Instruction to Vocabulary Ownership cycle.
Step 1: Vocabulary Surfacing (Student Contribution)
After engaging with the Disciplinary Core Idea through drawings, foldables, and direct instruction (see Section 2), students are invited to recommend vocabulary they believe is essential.
Students will scan their journals, drawings, and passages from the first couple of days.
Any word that stood out, whether clearly understood, partially understood, or confusing, is written down.
The facilitator (teacher) collects all contributions, either:
Writing them on the whiteboard
Posting them on sentence strips with magnetic tape
Or recording them on a shared class chart
Every student’s voice is valued. If one student identifies pressure as important, it goes up, even if others assume it is obvious.
Step 2: Collective Refinement (Class Ownership)
Over the course of the week:
The vocabulary wall stays active and visible.
As lessons progress, the class reviews, discusses, and refines the list.
Once the class agrees that a word is fully understood, it can be removed from the board.
This gradual elimination process ensures that:
1.Words are not forgotten once they are learned. They are “retired” with intention.
2.Misconceptions are surfaced early. For example, the word pressure may show up in multiple contexts — air pressure in weather, water pressure in the water cycle, or pressure as force per unit area. Discussion allows teachers to clarify distinctions.
3.Students begin to see vocabulary as living knowledge, not static lists.
Why This Method Works
1.
Student Agency & Ownership
When students generate the vocabulary, they feel a sense of responsibility and control. Research on student agency (Zimmerman, 2002) shows that when learners direct aspects of their learning, motivation and achievement increase.
2.
Metacognition (Thinking About Thinking)
By nominating words they don’t fully understand, students are engaging in metacognition by becoming aware of gaps in their knowledge. Flavell (1979) identified metacognition as a key predictor of academic success.
3. Collaborative Knowledge-Building
Placing all words where everyone can see them creates a shared resource. Johnson & Johnson’s research on cooperative learning (1999) shows that group processing and consensus-building improve comprehension and retention.
4. Active Word Learning vs. Passive Memorization
Beck, McKeown, & Kucan (2013) emphasized that robust vocabulary instruction is interactive, ongoing, and contextual. The Educational Bootcamp® method transforms vocabulary from a “Friday quiz” to a weeklong process of active engagement.
5.
Misconception Repair
By surfacing words like pressure, teachers can directly address misconceptions that standardized assessments often exploit. Research shows that correcting misconceptions requires making them explicit, then reconstructing understanding (Chi, 2009).
Why Educators Should Adopt This Method
Unlike traditional approaches, this method:
Centers students as discoverers of knowledge, not just receivers Builds a culture of accountability where everyone contributes, everyone clarifies
Transforms vocabulary into a community process rather than a top-down list
Aligns directly with NGSS’s emphasis on students engaging in practices of science and sense-making, not memorization
Educational Bootcamp® is the only instructional model that systematizes this weekly cycle: Frame of Reference → Direct Instruction → Vocabulary Ownership. By using this approach, schools ensure students not only learn science words but also use them meaningfully and flexibly — the exact skill NGSS assessments demand.
Sec on 4: Prac cing with S mulus-Based Ques ons Using the B.U.S. Strategy
Why Stimulus-Based Questions Matter
NGSS-aligned assessments are built on stimulus-based questions, which are items tied to data tables, graphs, short passages, or experiment descriptions. These questions demand more than recall. Students must interpret, analyze, and apply evidence.
For many learners, these questions can feel overwhelming. To prepare students, Educational Bootcamp® integrates Quick Drawings with the B.U.S. Strategy, a structured method that makes complex tasks manageable, engaging, and evidence-based.
Linking Quick Drawings to Problem-Solving
Quick Drawings (Section 1) serve as visual anchors. When faced with a graph, passage, or table, students are reminded to:
Recall and reference the drawing or foldable they created earlier
Use the image as a guide for how the concept works in practice
Strengthen recall through dual coding (Paivio, 1991), which connects words and visuals for deeper learning
Example: A student who sketched “heat moving from hot cocoa to a spoon” can rely on that mental image to answer a stimulus-based question about conduction in metals.
The B.U.S. Strategy (Box • Underline • Solve)
Educational Bootcamp® trains students to use the B.U.S. Strategy in tandem with Quick Drawings to approach every NGSS-style question systematically:
1. B = Box Key Words
Students box the critical science terms in the question
Example: conduction, metal spoon, hot soup
Purpose: To focus attention on the exact concept being tested
Research Connection: Visual cueing improves reading comprehension and accuracy (Ozuru et al., 2013)
2. U = Underline the Task (Action Word)
Students underline the verb that reveals what the question requires: explain, identify, compare, predict
Purpose: NGSS is practice-based — verbs point to performance expectations
Research Connection: Clarifying task demands boosts achievement (Marzano, 2001)
3. S = Solve with Evidence
Students eliminate obviously wrong answers, then compare the two best remaining options
They justify their final choice by using evidence from the stimulus and their Quick Drawing or foldable
Purpose: Students learn to think like scientists, not guessers
Research Connection: Elimination strategies and evidence-based reasoning improve test accuracy and transfer (Mueller & Veinott, 2008)
Putting It All Together
Question Example: “A student places a thermometer in hot water. The temperature rises quickly at first, then slows. Which graph shows this pattern?”
Box: thermometer, hot water, temperature rises quickly, slows.
Underline: Which graph shows (task = identify/compare).
Solve:
Eliminate graphs with flat or downward lines.
Compare the two plausible graphs — select the one that rises steeply, then levels.
Evidence: Matches the Quick Drawing students made earlier of energy transfer from hot to cooler objects.
Why Teachers Should Adopt Quick Drawings + B.U.S.
Cognitive Clarity: Quick Drawings anchor abstract ideas; B.U.S. provides step-by-step scaffolding.
Research-Driven: Combines dual coding (Paivio, 1991), scaffolded task focus (Rosenshine, 2010), and evidence-based reasoning (NRC Framework, 2012).
NGSS-Aligned: Mirrors the structure of test questions while training students in science practices (arguing from evidence, modeling, analyzing).
Confidence-Building: Students enter tests with a repeatable process — recall the drawing, apply B.U.S., defend answers with evidence.
Educational Bootcamp®’s Innovation
Only Educational Bootcamp® unites Quick Drawings with the B.U.S. Strategy into a consistent NGSS test-preparation framework. Students do not just memorize science; they visualize, analyze, and reason through evidence. The same skills required on test day and in real science practice.
Sec on 5: Never Let Them Forget! Daily Poster Review for Las ng Mastery
Why Retention Matters in NGSS Mastery
One of the biggest barriers to student success on NGSS assessments is forgetting. Research shows that even when students initially learn a concept at depth, much of it is lost within days or weeks if not reinforced (Ebbinghaus, 1885; Cepeda et al., 2008). Science standards build on one another, so forgotten knowledge creates gaps that snowball into larger misunderstandings.
To solve this, Educational Bootcamp® created the Daily Poster Review Method — a five-minute practice that ensures students never lose the depth of knowledge they originally built.
The Daily Poster Review Method
How it works:
1. Create Posters by Standard
Each NGSS standard taught gets its own poster. Posters include pre-segmented questions and answers that cover every possible way the standard may be tested.
2. Five-Minute Daily Review
At the start or end of class, teachers spend just five minutes revisiting previously taught posters. Not every question is asked daily, but each poster gets touched to keep the concepts alive.
3. New Posters Introduced Strategically
When a new lesson concludes, its poster is introduced on the last day of instruction, joining the review cycle. This ensures new standards are immediately added to the longterm memory rotation.
4. Small-Group Probes
Posters can also be used in small groups where students answer probe questions. This provides immediate feedback on where within the benchmark students are struggling without the stress of a full test.
Why This Method Outperforms Tradi onal Assessments
Efficiency: Just five minutes a day keeps every standard fresh without sacrificing instruc onal me.
Continuous Retrieval: By revisiting information daily, students strengthen long-term recall far more effective than cramming before a test.
Diagnostic Power: Teachers immediately spot misconceptions or weak areas by observing how students respond to the poster questions.
Low-Stakes Engagement: Unlike formal assessments, this method feels safe, encouraging honest responses and participation.
Research Foundation
1. Spacing Effect & Retrieval Practice
Reviewing material frequently in short bursts leads to stronger retention than one-time study sessions (Cepeda et al., 2006).
This is known as the spacing effect, one of the most robust findings in cognitive psychology.
Retrieval practice — asking students to recall information actively — strengthens memory traces and makes forgetting less likely (Roediger & Karpicke, 2006).
2. Spiral Review in Science
Research shows that spiral review (frequent re-exposure to prior content) increases test performance by 15–20% compared to linear, one-and-done instruction (Marzano, 2001).
3. Formative Assessment Power
Poster Reviews act as micro formative assessments. Black & Wiliam (1998) found that consistent formative assessment strategies can raise student achievement significantly, especially for struggling learners.
Why Educators Should Adopt Educational Bootcamp® Posters
Turnkey Solution: Ready-made posters by standard save teachers hours of preparation.
Test-Aligned: Each poster includes carefully designed questions that reflect the full range of NGSS test formats — tables, graphs, passages, diagrams.
Sustained Achievement: Five minutes a day prevents the "forgetting curve" and keeps students test-ready year-round.
Immediate ROI: Teachers see results instantly as students recall, explain, and apply concepts during the reviews.
Only Educa onal Bootcamp® unites Depth of Knowledge learning (Frames of Reference) with Never Let Them Forget! daily reinforcement. This system guarantees students not only learn the standards deeply, but also retain and retrieve them under test condi ons.
These ready-made poster sets are the perfect bridge between classroom instruc on and test-day mastery, making them an essen al tool for schools commi ed to raising science achievement.
Educa onal Bootcamp® Innova on
https://www.educationalbootcamp.com/
