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! 

First Day Of Fieldwork!

Fieldwork Day 1

On Thursday, my class had our first day of fieldwork at Sacred Heart Catholic Elementary School with the sixth grade class. I have never been to this school before, so it was fun to be in a new setting. This class consists of 19 unique students. 

For this class, our group's goal was to get to know our 

students and see what they know about rocks. To accomplish this goal we first introduced ourselves and then asked the students to say 

their name and something about themselves or a hobby they like to do. Next, we had each student write down a fact they knew about rocks from their prior knowledge and then place it on the poster we made consisting of a bubble map about rocks. Then, we shared the pictures from the book A Rock Is Lively and asked our students what they observed as scientists. The students were very observant and pointed out the fact that rocks can be classified based on their characteristics. The students found the rock that looked like a watermelon the most intriguing because they had never seen that before! Finally, we had each student draw on one half of a paper a picture of a rock based on their prior knowledge and what they had seen in class that day. Eventually on the other half of the paper we will have the students write down something they have learned about rocks to go along with their drawing. 

This was a successful first day of fieldwork and our students enjoyed the activities that we did! I am looking forward to working with this class throughout fieldwork and watching them reach their goals while having fun exploring science!

What is the Difference Between A Unit Plan and a Lesson Plan?

Unit Plan v.s. Lesson Plan

During class we have learned a lot about the difference between a unit plan and a lesson plan. As an aspiring teacher it is important for me to understand the difference between the two so that I can provide the proper education for my students to reach their goals!

I have learned that the major difference between a unit plan and a lesson plan is that a unit plan is less specific in comparison to a lesson plan.  Also, a unit plan is made up of many different lesson plans that are taught over a longer time span. We can see that a unit plan covers many different topics or chapters, whereas a lesson plan is geared towards one specific topic. A unit plan is crafted in a way that at the end of the unit the students should have a new understanding of the entire topic taught as a whole. The objective of a lesson plan is that at the end of the lesson the students should be able to demonstrate a new skill. The goals of a unit plan are not very specific and tend to be very general because it covers a lot of material. The objectives of a lesson plan are extremely specific and contain a condition, behavior, and criteria. 

I have written lesson plans in my math methods class and my english methods class, but I have never written a lesson plan for science before. I have also never written an entire unit plan before. I am looking forward to creating lesson plans and a unit plan in this class and being able to teach it to the 6th grade class!

Adventures of Week One

Week one is in the books and I have already learned so much!

The first thing we did in week one was create our own portrait of a scientist.  Everyone in the class brainstormed ideas of what they thought a scientist looked like and we each drew a scientist in action and gave him/her a name.  After we were all done, we took a walk around the room and observed everyones portraits. The first thing I noticed was that most portraits contained a male scientist. Other things that I noticed were in most portraits the scientists had spiky hair, eye goggles, chemical tubes, and a science lab coat. After we discussed everyones portraits, we then uploaded our portraits to our class slideshow.  This is a place where we can share everything we create, such as our blogs! This was a fun activity because I was able to see the similarities and differences between everyones portraits! I think it was interesting to see that although most of the portraits followed the stereotypical idea of a scientist, every portrait had something different. I think this is a great activity to do with my students because it allows students to share their thoughts on what a scientist looks like as well as see their classmates ideas! This is a great opening activity for students!

The next thing we did during week one was everyone in the class used a different tool to create a presentation to share information about ourselves with the class. The tool that I used is called EMAZE! This tool is very similar to PowerPoint, but it has 2D and 3D templates that are pre-made and ready for you to fill in! EMAZE is a fun and engaging presentation tool that is perfect for teachers to use when creating presentations for their class! Teachers could also have their students create their own EMAZE presentation to share with the class.  While watching everyone in my class present their tool the one that stood out the most to me was Kahoot!  I believe this is a very engaging and exciting activity to use in the classroom. This would be great to use as an opening activity while getting to know your students!

This week we are focusing on working in our fieldwork groups and creating our unit lesson plans! I am very excited for this journey and I cannot wait to learn more!

Scientific Me!

I am very excited to learn how to make science fun for my students!

To me science means: learning about the behavior and structure of the physical and natural world around us through observation and experimentation! My past learning experiences have shaped my attitude towards science because I was able to understand that science is not all about experimenting, it takes a lot of observations as well.  Following the scientific method and acting as a scientist throughout my education has helped me form my definition of science!

I have had many different experiences with science throughout my education. When I was younger I enjoyed learning about science because we did fun experiments that kept me engaged and willing to learn.  My first experience with science was in first grade when everyone in my class each got a small plant to take care of. As a class we each watered our plants everyday and we kept them on the window sill of the classroom to receive sunlight. This experience was great for me because I was able to learn and observe the way plants live and grow. I will always remember learning that plants are just like us, because they also need water, light, nutrients, and air to survive and grow! I feel that I was very successful in science during my elementary school years because I had great teachers and had a lot of fun learning and experimenting.

When I was in second grade I went to a Mad Science assembly at my elementary school. There, they performed a hydrogen balloon explosion. The instructor poured pieces of Magnesium into a bottle of vinegar. The two reactants created a chemical reaction that produced hydrogen gas as a product. A balloon was placed over the bottle and allowed the gas to fill the balloon. Once it was filled, the instructor showed us what would happen if fire was a factor in the reaction. The lit candle stick was placed next to the balloon and when it popped there was a small scale explosion, due to the fire reacting with the hydrogen gas, which I learned was highly reactive.

When I was in fifth grade I remember participating in the science fair at my school with my friend from class.  This was my favorite experience that I journeyed through in science. We did an experiment on how plants growth is affected by different colored lights.  My friend and I followed the scientific method to do our experiment. We kept one plant under regular lighting and three other plants under different colored lighting.  We then each made a hypothesis and collected data over four weeks on whether the growth of the plant was affected by different colored lights.  After we had collected all of our data we made a presentation to give at the science fair.  This was an enjoyable experience for myself because I was able to do an experiment that I was interested in and then share the results that I found with my peers and the judges.  Although my friend and I did not win, we had a great experience and were able to learn a lot through our first journey at the science fair!

As I got into middle school and high school I did not enjoy science as much.  The material began to be more challenging and the experiments we were doing were not as fun and interesting. I also noticed that as I got older and was learning science the teacher would leave us to do the experiments on our own instead of guiding us through the process. The teacher would give us the lesson and then move on to the next topic without making sure we fully comprehended the concepts from the unit. This was hard for me especially because I did not have a passion for science.  I constantly found myself feeling behind and lost in the material. I have never had a passion for science, but I have always been interested to learn more.  

In my sophomore year of college I took astronomy and I found this class to be interesting because I learned about the stars, planets, and space! The most interesting thing that we did in this class was we went to the planetarium at SUNY New Paltz.  We took a class trip to the planetarium during our discussions about the planets.  This experience was very intriguing and helped better my knowledge on the solar system.  The teacher in the planetarium was very helpful and energetic about the material we were learning about.  He guided us through the solar system and shared ancient stories about the stars.  

I am very excited to begin my journey through the science methods course! I am looking forward to learning about fun and exciting ways to engage my students in making new discoveries through science. I want my students to enjoy learning about science and feel like actual scientists.  I hope to inspire my students to look forward to exploring science!