Ready, Steady, Go!

Lesson 6 with the kids was a blast. This week we had the kids racing to see which they could melt faster: sugar cubes or sugar granules. Before we could get to the fun part, we had to go over the serious science stuff. We wanted to introduce "hypothesis" as our science process skill of the week, so we reviewed the definition of a hypothesis and gave them a couple of examples of hypotheses we had actually made in the past to get them thinking. We then asked them to make their own hypothesis about which they thought would melt faster. They struggled with it a bit. They wanted to be right, and many of them were afraid to take a risk and make a choice. We explained to them that it wasn't important for them to be right or wrong, that the purpose of forming a hypothesis is to conduct an experiment that will either disprove their theory or support their theory. We also explained that they needed to use their prior knowledge to make their decision and asked them to think about some of the materials we've worked with in the past that might be similar to the two types of sugar. I heard many of the students discussing how the granules were similar to salt that they had melted in the past and that the cubes were similar to the effervescent tablets they used in the first lesson, and I was really impressed and happy with those discussions. It showed they were really thinking about it and using their past experiences to help them.

Once the hypotheses were formed, We started the race. Any time we can make learning fun for kids, they're going to enjoy it, and they definitely did. But what we thought would happen didn't exactly happen. I felt a little bit like "poor Sarah", that video we watched when the teacher's experiment went wildly wrong. I conducted the race three times myself at home, and each time, the sugar granules melted much quicker than the sugar cubes, so I thought we were safe. When we got into the classroom, the majority of sugar cubes melted before the sugar granules! Megan and I couldn't believe it. We had to have a moment to regroup in private when we started seeing those results! We used it as an opportunity to explain to the students that when you're in the lab, things do not always happen they way you think they will.

We also had a discussion with the students to ask them why they think we saw the results we did. The students' ideas included: the cubes were one piece and the granules were many pieces so it took longer for the granules; and some students noticed that the granules sunk straight to the bottom of the cup, while the cube floated, so it was more difficult to get the granules off the bottom of the cup. Megan and I discussed the results after class and think that it probably had to do with our tools. We gave each pair of students one spoon and one coffee stirrer, and chances are, the spoons created the faster melt. This was a problem that we didn't think about ahead of time, and I was dissapointed in myself, given that I had just done a presentation on controlling variables in class the week before! It just goes to show you how many things we need to think about when we're setting up our lessons. something as simple as a spoon vs. a wooden stirrer can affect the outcome!

However, we were able to use the mishap to our advantage. We were being observed this week on our ability to incorporate engineering and technology into our lesson, so we had put together a Powerpoint presentation that contained photographs of various types of labs. We gathered the students around the carpet and asked them to look at the pictures to see the different tools and technology that are used in the different labs. We also asked them to tell us what they think the scientists in each lab might be working on. It was a great way for them to see that science has many applications and that the tools we need to be successful will always be different. Megan did a great job tying the experiment and the discussion together by asking them what tools we could have used that might have changed our results. I thought it was a very clever way to wrap thigns up so the kids really understood.

I can't believe next week is our last week! It feels like we just started!

I Say Spaghetti, You Say Meatballs!

Now that our 5th science lesson is complete, it's so clear to me how important classroom management is. This week, we had a lot to accomplish in one hour. We did it, but it wasnt' easy. It required coordinated teamwork and paying careful attention to timing and pacing. Every teacher has his or her own technique for maintaining order in the classroom. Our classroom teacher typically does a rhythmic clapping sequence. When she claps it, the students clap it back and know that it means they are to stop what they are doing and look to the teacher. She also uses a "thumbs up" method to indicate when students are ready to move on to the next task. I know that some of our classmates have been using other methods such as the "red zone", using a xylophone, and even whistles. A friend of mine who teaches uses spaghetti and meatballs. When she says "spaghetti", her students respond with "meatballs" and know they need to listen. Whatever works is clearly the take-away here!

This week, I came upon a couple of students having a heated argument about whose turn it was to do the next step. My first instinct was to solve the fight and choose a student myself, but I quickly realized this wasn't fair to me or to the students, so I told them they needed to work it out for themselves. Instantly, they both started shouting their case back to me, and I calmly explained that they knew the rules and expectations of today's lesson and that taking turns was one of the rules and that if they couldn't figure out a way to work it out on their own, I'd have to take their materials away and ask them to sit out the rest of the lesson. The threat was enough motivation for them to come to an agreement without my intervention. I was relieved because I wasn't sure if it was going to work. I like these little learning moments. Now the next time it happens, and it will happen, I'll have a new weapon in my classroom management arsenal!

This week, we were observed on our ability to incorporate technology and writing into our lesson planning. Because we knew we had a lot of prep work to do for the materials up front, we decided to ask the students to write in their journals at the very beginning of the class. This gave them quiet, focused time to write while we set up. Our classroom teacher let us know that there is a variety of writing ability levels in the class, so we decied to use an open-ended question that would allow students to write at their own pace. We asked them to think about their favorite memory of the lessons we've done with them so far. I thought most of the students would write about the effervescent tablet lesson, because I think that is the one that I heard the most oohs and ahhs, but surprisingly, I think many of them wrote about the "Chubby Little Snowman" song that we did with them. I had to laugh when I heard them all talking about it because I did that part of the lesson that day, and I really messed it up. I kept getting the lyrics wrong (the kids kept telling me!), and my singing was horrible. Just goes to show you how important it is to ask for feedback now and then. Things we think are working/not working may be just the opposite!!

Once we began the lesson, it was time for us to really watch the clock. We had a lot to get done in a short amount of time, but we did it. The students were really great again this week. I continue to be surprised and proud about how well they do. We were working with "Prediction" as our process skill of the week, and most students successfully predicted that the gravel would be the easiest to separate from the water and the salt would be the hardest. Once we got through the experiment, we asked the students to think about what happened and to share their thoughts of what worked/didn't work and why. We also circled back to their predictions to make sure they understood that what they thought might happen, happened for a reason.

To conclude the lesson this week, Megan brought the kids over to the carpet and showed them a They Might Be Giants video that Michelle had shared with us the previous week. It's a fun, upbeat song about solids, liquids and gasses with great animation to go along with the words. The kids liked it so much they asked to view it twice! I thought it was an interesting way to incorporate technology into the lesson that I probably would not have considered doing if we weren't asked to! But it makes total sense. Today's students are very tech-savvy, and there's no underestimating the impact of the "cool factor" that slick computers and other technology can bring.

There's only two weeks left now! I'm sad to think the end is near, but I have really enjoyed the entire experience.

Gross and Disgusting are not "Science Words"

Today's science lesson centered around mixing solids and liquids. I think this was the most challenging to date because there were so many materials we needed to control, and there were many steps to complete the experiment. My partner, Megan, and I both agreed that our key to success today was going to be with classroom management and making sure the students didn't talk too much or move ahead on their own. To accomplish this, we dedicated precious minutes at the beginning of the hour to making sure that everyone understood the rules and expectations of the day. We stressed the importance of being good listeners and that everyone needed to stay focused and only talk when we asked them to talk with their partners. Much to our delight, this actually worked (for the most part!).

We were very explicit in our instruction today and broke the lesson down into very small, consumable parts. We walked the entire class together through each activity in the lesson, asking students to take turns doing the pouring or the mixing, etc. This process worked very well with these students. They really like to all be involved in the hands-on activities, so taking turns is a good, democratic way to make sure everyone gets a turn and stays happy.

Our observation tasks this week were: content vocabulary, flow of the class, and misconceptions identified.

We were actually happy to have vocabulary as one of the observations today, because it forced us to think about it more concretely and develop a method for ensuring that our students were being introduced to the new vocabulary words in a way that is meaningful and useful to them. I think we've done a good job in the past taking time to explain new words and review their meaning and importance throughout the lessons, but we took it a step further this week by creating a vocabulary hand out. We highlighted a few of the new words that we've been using in this unit (and will continue to introduce over the next couple of weeks), and we defined them in simple, easy to remember definitions. Each student received a copy of the handout, and we explained that they could keep these vocabulary sheets in their science folders and refer to them if they had any questions or didn't understand something. In addition, we created a "vocabulary word of the day" handout that provided more context and an example. Our word of the day was "solution", so we provided the definition and two examples of solutions. One example was mixing lemonade crystals with water to create lemonade, a "real world" example that most of the kids could relate to. Our second example incorporated the "effervescent tablet" experiment from our first lesson, which provided nice synergy across lessons. The students all remembered that experiment enthusiastically, so I was glad we were able to provide some more context around what we did and what became of that tablet after it "disappeared" into the water. Megan and I were delighted to hear one student at the end of the class sharing, without prompting from either of us, his ranking of which of the mixtures was the best solution in today's lesson. It was so wonderful to see that they had actually listened and that they had actually learned something from our lesson! I also think having some of my attention on vocabulary helped me to be a better teacher. As I was walking around the room during activities, some of the students would say things like "it's gross" or "it's disgusting" when I asked them to make an observation about the mixture. I was able to talk to them about how "gross" isn't really a good "science word" and asked them to think about how they could explain that in a more scientific way. It was fun to watch their wheels turns as they thought of more descriptive ways to convey their observations.

For flow of the class, Megan and I kept a very tight reign on the timing and the pacing of each step. We used a classroom management technique of "thumbs up and mouths closed" when each group completed each step. This is a strategy that the classroom teacher uses and shared with us in an early lesson. The students respond well to it, and it helps them to focus on what the teacher is saying. Our class is full of very enthusiastic talkers, so it doesn't take much to get them off track, and the room gets pretty loud pretty quick! Megan and I are very lucky to work really well together, and we worked together to keep things under control.

Identifying misconceptions was a little tricky. It's difficult to imagine what the students will think or question, but we did provide a list of possible misconceptions in our lesson plan, and we printed out a copy of that, as well as all of our handout/materials to leave with Dr. Gilmore who was observing us today. Provind the material ahead of time was a great way for Dr. Gilmore to get an understanding of what we were trying to accomplish and provided her with insight into our thinking and our planning. As were progressed through the lesson, we would ask students to record their observations on their record sheets, and by walking around the room during this time, we were able to directly address their misconceptions as they occured. In addition, in the recap at the end of the lesson, we asked students to share their observations with the class and could address misconceptions with the whole class as they came up. This worked really well today and in the past for us.

As we get more comfortable with the class and with the unit, I feel like it's coming together more and more each week. We're getting better about remembering to ask the "science question of the day", beginning our intros with a recap of what we did in the previous lesson to get their minds focused back on science, pacing the class and the activities so the students have ample time to enjoy the experiment while staying on schedule, and we're getting really great at recapping the lessons so that the students understand the purpose of why we did the particular activity and what it means from a science standpoint. This experience has been invaluable, and I really am learning so much from it.

It's been really great so far, and it just keeps getting better and better. Especially after we were done today and we had accomplished everything we set out to accomplish. It was a challenging week, and we had out doubts, but with a lot of planning and communication, we were able to pull it off! Yay us!

Things are Really Gettin' Good Now!

This week, my teaching partner, Megan and I worked with the students on the next lesson in our Changes unit. Because this lesson had many steps, Megan and I were challenged to manage the classroom effectively. In our past lessons, there's been more independent discovery time, and students could pace themselves, but with this lesson, we wanted the entire class to progress from step to step together. It was tough, but our classroom teacher taught us one of her techniques which is to ask the students to give a thumbs up once they completed the task. This helped up keep the kids focused and was an easy identifier of the students that required assistance and/or more time.

Our friend who has shown a strong interest in pickles didn't let us down. While he was observing the properties of the sea salt, he noted that it "smelled like pickles". I had to laugh when he said that!

Megan and I also focused our attention this week on posing a "science question of the day", based on feedback we received in prior observations. Our question was "what is a mixture", and at the start of the lesson, the students were able to tell us that a mixture is something that is made of more than one thing, but following the lesson, having had a chance to create and separate their own mixtures, they showed a deeper understanding and were able to articulate that in this case, even when we took two substances and mixed them together, each substance maintained its properties, and each substance was clearly visible throughout the experiment. We even had one student ask what would happen if we added water to the substance, which is what we're going to do with the class next week, so it was a good preview, and it was so impressive that she was thinking about it.

Another element Megan and I worked on was introducing process skills. We explained that when we conduct science experiments, we use process skills and that this week, we were going to practice "classifying." When I asked if any students thought they knew what it was, one student said that it was like a secret. Like when someone has classified information. Although not the definition we were looking for, it was good that they thought about it and used their prior knowledge to form an answer. We continued asking for ideas about classifying, and one student thought it was a way to "name something".
I was quite impressed with the simplistic yet accurate description. I continue to be surprised at how smart these kids are!! We explained to the students that we wanted them to practice their classification skills during this experiment by organizing the materials into groups and identifying their properties. They were able to understand this when Megan gave them a good example of how most of our closets are organized into shirts, pants, sweaters, etc. It helped them understand the concept with a real world example that I thought was very effective.

Once the experiment was complete, we returned to the front of the classroom for a wrap-up discussion, asking the students if we saw any mixtures during our lesson today and asked the students to list some of their thoughts and experiences with the mixture. We captured their thoughts on the flip chart paper and reviewed any questions they had. For instance, one group thought that they salt had changed colors during the mixing. We explained that what they were seeing was probably a shadow and removed the smaller cup from the larger cup to show them it was the same color. We also had a few groups that thought the rocks had changed into sand because when they were mixing the two substances together, the friction agains the rocks caused them to break down a bit. Megan did a great job asking them to think about were they still the same color? Were they still rocks? And the students understood. It was a great discussion!

I continue to be very proud of the students and can't wait each week to return to the classroom to work with them again.