The Rock Challenge!

Igneous and Sedimentary Rocks

This week on Tuesday my group taught our direct instruction lesson to the 6th grade science class at Sacred Heart Elementary School. My group put in endless hours of preparation for this big day. Up until this point I have only worked one-on-one with a student; I have never taught in front of an entire class. Naturally, I was extremely nervous leading up to the big day. My group decided that direct instruction would be a great first lesson because we would be teaching the class most of the important facts and information that they need to know about igneous and sedimentary rocks.

On Tuesday, we taught out direct instruction lesson to the class. First, we decided to pre-assess our student's prior knowledge by showing them pictures in a book called A Rock Is Lively and asking the students if based on what they just looked at, could they recall anything that they already knew about rocks. Next, we used a powerpoint presentation to share with our students the important facts and information that they needed to know about igneous and sedimentary rocks. By the end of the lesson, we wanted our student's to be able to recognize and understand the differences between these two rocks. Throughout our lesson we conducted different checkpoints for understanding where we asked a question to the class and each student would answer on the dry erase board provided to them and hold it up in the air. This allowed us teachers to have a better understanding of how our students were comprehending the information we were teaching them. The students loved the dry erase boards because answering the questions was like a game to them; it was fun! To close our lesson, we had each student write down a new fact that they learned during the lesson on a post-it note. On their way out of the classroom they were instructed to stick it on the poster board that we made in the back of the classroom. As an independent practice activity, we had each student finish his or her drawing of a rock that they made on the first day of class and write two sentences about what type of rock they drew and why it is that type of rock. Overall, the lesson went well, but there were many different aspects of the lesson that my group could improve on. We took the constructive criticism that we received and used it to prepare for our next lesson on Thursday, which would be our inquiry lesson.

On Thursday, we conducted our inquiry lesson in the 6th grade class. First, we pre-assessed our student's knowledge by showing them a word cloud and asking them if they could recognize any of the words or describe any of them. Next, as a class we created the question that we were going to be solving. This question was: "Is the rock that I am observing igneous or sedimentary"? During this lesson each student was to make their own rock out of Play Doh and then observe one of their peers rocks and solve the question using the steps of inquiry. The students had a lot of fun creating their rocks and then solving the problem as a scientist. They used clues, research, and analyzation skills to solve this problem, all by following the steps of inquiry. The students behavior during the lesson was very good. Each student walked around the classroom carefully and listened to the directions without having to be told twice. To close this lesson, we had each student stand at their seat and share with the class what type of rock they made. When each student shared with the class, you could see on all of their faces that they were extremely excited to share with the class. You could also hear the joy in the student's voices when they found out if they solved the problem correctly. As an independent practice we had each student fill out a paper with some questions about his or her rock, as well as, write a short paragraph on what type of rock they made and what characteristics make it that kind of rock. This lesson went very well in comparison to Tuesday's lesson. We took the feedback that we received and used it to make our inquiry lesson better, although there is always something you can improve on!

I had an amazing experience teaching this 6th grade science class. My favorite part was seeing the excitement in the student's faces when they learned something knew or solved a problem! I was able to learn many different things to make my future lessons great. This wonderful experience made me even more excited to have my own classroom one day!

You Rock!

Lesson Planning on Rocks

This past week the first group taught their lessons to the class on Tuesday and Thursday. On Tuesday, this group chose to use an inquiry style lesson to have the class discover different types of minerals. On Thursday, they used a cooperative instruction style lesson to engage the class by working in groups to have a mineral show! This group was the first to go, which can be nerve racking, but they did a great job! By observing this group teach the class I was able to learn from their positive and negative actions! I provided the group with some suggestions that could help improve their lesson that I noticed, as well as what I think they did well!

For the past week I have been working with my group on creating our lesson plans for Tuesday and Thursday on igneous and sedimentary rocks. We have worked together to create a direct instruction lesson and an inquiry lesson plan to help our students understand the differences between igneous and sedimentary rocks, as well as new facts to add to their prior knowledge. I feel very anxious about teaching the class on Tuesday and Thursday because I want to give my students the best instruction they can receive. 

On Tuesday, we plan to teach our students many different facts, definitions, similarities, and differences that we see between igneous and sedimentary rocks. While we are teaching our lesson we plan to use dry eases boards to check for our students understanding. We will ask the class a question and the students will answer on their dry erase board and hold it in the air for us to see. After we have taught our students everything they need to know about igneous and sedimentary rocks we plan to conduct a guided practice activity where our students will observe different rocks and distinguish whether it is an igneous or sedimentary rock. After we have finished, we will close our lesson by having each of our students write down one new fact on a post it note about something new that they have learned during our lesson. They will stick this on the poster board we have created about rocks on their way out. For independent practice our students will take home their drawing of rocks that they created the first day we met and write two sentences describing whether it is an igneous or sedimentary rock. On Thursday, we plan to have our students go on a mission to make their own rocks made out of Play Doh and then create hints for their peers to use in solving the problem. Each student will choose a popsicle stick with a number on it, which will tell them which rock they must go to. Once they reach their destination the student will use the hint to decide whether it is an igneous or sedimentary rock. This is going to be a fun and engaging activity for all of the students! Although I am nervous, I am excited to share with my students new information for them to learn!