I prepared and conducted a science lesson for my 5th grade students on October 4, 2017. For this lesson, I taught the students about electrical conductors, insulators and electrical circuits. The standards I used were:
- SC.5.P.10.1 - Investigate and describe some basic forms of energy, including light, heat, sound, electrical, chemical, and mechanical.
- SC.5.P.11.1 - Investigate and illustrate the fact that the flow of electricity requires a closed circuit (a complete loop).
- SC.5.P.11.2 - Identify and classify materials that conduct electricity and materials that do not.
- Lesson 1: Electrical Conductors and Insulators
- Students will be able to identify and describe electrical energy.
- Students will be able to classify materials that do and do not conduct electricity.
- Lesson 2: Electrical Circuits
- Students will investigate and illustrate complete circuits using a battery, wires, lightbulb and various conductors and insulators.
- Students will identify that electricity is a form of energy that can be converted into other forms of energy such as heat and light
Below is my reflection on that lesson.
Decisions About the Plan
I chose to teach these lessons because they were the next lessons in the science curriculum map and part of the unit on electricity, which the students have been working on for the past few weeks (FEAP 1b). Previously, I attended a science lesson planning meeting with the 5th grade teachers to go over lesson requirements, as well as ideas and strategies to teach this content (FEAPS 5c & 5d). I chose to teach two lessons because they were both fairly short and they directly correlated with each other and complimented each other. I used direct instruction to teach the lessons with emphasis on active teaching and high levels of student involvement. I attempted to focus on both concepts and skills by structuring the topic, explaining it to students, providing students with opportunities to practice, and giving feedback.
Evaluations of Student Response and Learning
I recorded my lessons on video to validate student learning (FEAPS 5b & 5e). As I reviewed the video, I noticed the students were very receptive to both lessons. They grasped the concepts quickly and easily. I observed them use seven out of the eight science and engineering practices. Many of the science engineering practices overlapped throughout the lessons, but they were easily identifiable as I reviewed my reflection video (FEAP 4c). I believe the students were highly engaged during these lessons because I began by applying real world situations to the content and tapping their background knowledge, which captured their interest (FEAP 3e). The students were asked to identify conductors and insulators around the room and outside of the school environment.
I was very impressed with the students when they were allotted time to experiment with their circuits (FEAP 1f). On their own accord, and without instruction to do so, they started taking items out of their backpacks and throughout the classroom to test to see if those items could act as conductors. Students used pencils, paper clips, scissors, gold chains, silver necklaces, the metal portion of a pencil and many more items to test the circuit. It validated their learning and I wish I would have included that into my lesson plan.
Self-Analysis of Teaching Performance
Upon review of my video, I realized the lesson went much smoother than I anticipated, because I used the BSCS 5E Instructional Model. Using the 5 E’s allowed me to construct the lesson plan in a coherent and effective manner. I was able to use the standards and objectives to create a step by step plan that I could easily follow. Not only did the 5 E’s facilitate my instruction, but the students seemed to learn more with a structured guide that allowed for engagement, exploration, explanation, elaboration, and evaluation. I felt that I was better prepared to teach the lesson because I used the 5 E’s to write the lesson plan and practice my instruction concurrently. After receiving feedback about my lesson plan from my science teacher, I realize I need to practice my use of the 5E instructional model. I listed many explanations under other areas that should have been under the “Explain” portion of the model. I believe that I will become better at organizing my lesson plans as I continue to practice.
I could have improved on the vocabulary instruction by using repetition throughout the lesson. Students would have benefited from seeing the definitions written on the board. For the first lesson on insulators and conductors, it would have been more engaging and meaningful if I had brought in some examples of items that act as conductors and insulators. I did not, however, because my CT was re-teaching that lesson on Friday, along with conducting a review of what the students had learned throughout the week.
I can always improve on my classroom management skills. I noticed there was some confusion when I asked one student to get the materials to conduct our experiment on circuits. It would have been more effective for me to assign a team leader and individual responsibilities for the groups, to ensure each person had a specific role when conducting the experiment.
science_ct_obs_lesson_plan_reflection_v2.docx |