Reflection
As I began to prepare my lesson, I realized I was having some issues attaining activities that would be beneficial for my students. The elementary science curriculum map for 5th grade stated that mass and volume are concepts taught in previous grades, however, district data reflects that students struggle with the conceptual understanding between the two properties. As I perused through CPALMS and the internet, I found many activities and lessons intended for lower grades. I decided to view the benchmarks for similar topic in 3rd and 6th grade, to find activities that could help my students. The 6th grade standards included concepts of density, which was not included in the unit on the properties of matter for 5th grade yet. I researched ideas and activities I could conduct in class that would allow the students to understand the differences between volume and mass.
I knew from the very beginning of the planning stage that I wanted to incorporate technology into my lesson. Based on my previous experiences with my students, I noticed they truly enjoyed the use of technology in the classroom. I was limited in the time I had to teach the lesson, due to other activities planned for the day, so I could not conduct a hands-on demonstration or science lesson on mass and volume with the use of scales and graduated cylinders. I had recently learned about simulated labs (FEAP 2g), and their effectiveness when real labs could not be conducted in the classroom. I found a great simulated lab, called a Density Gizmo http://www.e-learningforkids.org/science/lesson/iceland-mass-volume-matter/ (FEAP 2i & 3g). The problem with the lab was that I was limited to 5 minutes of lab time because I did not have a permanent account. I decided to incorporate the simulated lab anyway, because it was a great visual display of how to measure mass and volume, as well as comparing the difference between the two properties.
I chose to use a YouTube Video as well ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GnBQ6vIutDM&feature=youtu.be).
It was a short 2-minute video that explained the difference between mass and volume. The students had previously shown a keen interest in watching science videos and I decided the video was short enough where it would not interfere with my lesson. Finally, I used another website to play a fun game about matter, mass, and volume http://www.e-learningforkids.org/science/lesson/iceland-mass-volume-matter/ . The activity was supposed to be a review of what was learned in class during the lesson, as well as an interactive, engaging, and collaborative way to evaluate what the students learned.
Analysis
Upon reviewing my video reflection, I was able to use data I collected to further analyze my instruction. I had the lesson planned out for 50 minutes. Due to an unforeseen 5th grade assembly, I had to adjust my lesson to 30 minutes. I tried to incorporate everything as I had planned, but I felt rushed to accommodate all my activities. I had frequently noticed the unplanned interruptions of class, but it was a little unnerving to experience it during a formal observation. It seems to be the reality however, so I think it was a good experience for me to learn from.
Another problem I noticed while reviewing my post-observation notes and my video was that my students were already well-informed with the properties of matter. My lesson seemed too easy for them and they grasped the concepts very quickly. I realize that to avoid a situation like that, a proper pre-assessment should have been conducted before I planned the lesson, not during the lesson. Should I have known what my students knew about matter, I would have geared my lesson towards a higher standard, to challenge them more. I believe precious educational time could have been used to enhance learning for my students, instead of just following the given curriculum map. It dawned on my that some concepts will take more time than others to learn and I should use the very limited time I have more wisely.
For future lessons, I believe it to be highly beneficial, to both the students and myself to conduct a pre-assessment prior to planning the lesson. I am looking forward to interning 5 days a week, so I can have a more in-depth perspective on my students’ strengths and weaknesses with content area topics. I will continue to incorporate technology in my classroom when possible, because I have seen how my students engage with it.