March 31, 2010-Observation 3

During the science lesson the students discussed living and non-living objects in nature. The students predicted natural objects that they believed were either living or non-living. The teacher had the students give examples of what qualifications an object had to have in order for it to be living. Many students believed plants were non-living objects. The class discussed how plants were actually living objects because they needed air and water. The students worked together in pair to make their predictions. After the class discussion, the students were able to go on a "nature walk" to observe living and non-living objects. The class discussed what it meant to "observe" and we discussed the rules on being outside. The teacher went over the importance of not touching anything that is living, especially animals. The students had to make a list of ten living objects and ten non-living objects. The class enjoyed their science "nature walk" and enjoyed debating whether or not an object was living or non-living. This was a great activity because it sparked a lot of discussion between the students and challenged them to really consider what they knew about living and non-living objects.

March 24, 2010 - Observation 2

The science lesson I observed today was also integrated with the English lesson. During the English portion of the lesson the teacher was present, but for the second science portion the teacher had to leave the classroom and a substitute taught the lesson. The class discussed dinosaurs and shared what they knew about them. First the class read a fiction (fantasy) story about cavemen and pet dinosaurs then they read a non-fiction exerpt about dinousaurs. The class compared the two pieces of literature and discussed how they knew which was non-fiction and which was fantasy fiction. They discussed "genre" as well as story elements and also completed as "story walk" before reading to brainstorm what the literature would be about. After the students completed their English portion of the lesson, they popcorn read a list of facts about dinosaurs and then discussed what they think happened to cause the extinction of the dinosaurs.
During a portion of the science lesson, I was able to work with three students to complete a "science conversation" about recycling. The conversation was excellent. The students were more than happy to talk about recycling, pollution, and the environment and had a number of thoughts and ideas on the topics. It was surprising to find just how much these students knew about recycling and how passionate they were at such a young age about the importance of recycling. I will be teaching a lesson on the environment and recycling on the week of Earth Day, so now I feel I am better prepared to create a lesson that will inspire the class in opposition to teaching a lesson at a level they are already familiar with. The teacher had me talk with one student above target level, one at target level, and one below target level. By doing this, I feel the teacher helped to give me a better idea of what the class as a whole will understand because I was able to get the ideas and opinions of students from each learning level.
Unfortunately, as interesting as my conversation was, the recorder did not tape any of the conversation. Thankfully, we completed a "mind map" while were discussing recycling and pollution so I was able to record the statements of the students. I am planning to refer to this "mind map" when creating my lesson for the class.

March 17, 2010 - Observation 1

Today was my first day of observations in the schools and luckily it was also St. Patrick's Day! The class was doing holiday themed activities so it was a lot of fun observing how the teacher creatively designed assignments that were St. Patrick's Day themed and educational! The class I observed incorporated science, math, and St. Patrick's Day in an activity called "Leprechaun Stew." The students had to follow a recipe to create the "stew," but in order for their to be enough stew for everyone, they had to figure out how to double the recipe. Because some of the measurements were in fraction form, they had to multiply to find the correct portion of the ingredient. One of the ingredients used was pistachio pudding mix; this ingredient turned the stew green. The teacher called the mix "Leprechaun Dust" and the students were thrilled to see that when they mixed it in the stew turned green. This is related science because the children had to think about why the "dust" turned the mix green. It was not because of magic, but because of science!