Keeping Unit Plans engaging and organized!

Unit Planning!

When preparing a unit plan, you have to remember many steps to make sure it is accurate and organized. Unit plans generally consist of multiple lessons. The first lesson being taught should be a Direct Instruction lesson which introduces the topic being taught to the students. The following lessons should be more inquiry based. In this case, give the students problems to solve so they can test their knowledge on the topic. Finally, the last lesson should be a cooperative lesson. This type of lesson should be fun for students. Students can break up into groups and take what they learned turning it into engaging games. These games can also keep the students learning!

While completing a Unit plan make sure to include a rationale or overview of what you are teaching. Include an audience as in who you will be teaching the lesson to. Then, include a development section breaking down how you will teach the lesson. This part should include various different ways of how you will teach the lesson such as giving a powerpoint, guided practice, engaging game, etc. Then, include a post test part to check to see if the students understood. Always test the students knowledge. While forming a unit plan, be sure to follow the state standards given as it will help you with planning a lesson. Unit planning is a lot of work but also very fun when you are organized about it! 

Finals, Finals, and more finals! Why Stress?

It is that time of the year again when everyone is ready to break down and sleep for days! Finals time! I want to provide some advice and small things I have learned this semester that helped me. One of the main things I have learned throughout my Science Methods course was to not stress and pace out your work! Much of our work was scattered out but all due at the end of the semester. In a case like this, why wait till last minute to complete? I tried my best to keep up with the work pace and get all of my work done when it was given. This had helped me a lot due to the fact that I did not have much to worry about during the end of my semester which is now. I completed most of my live binders portfolio a few weeks back and now I have time to sit down and fix it up to make it the best I possibly can! I have time to study for other classes as well because most of my work is complete. During my time in the Science Methods course, I learned to stay organized and get things done. The professor has showed my colleagues and myself different tools to stay organized. Some tools included the live binders portfolio which had included all of our work throughout the course with descriptions on how we completed it. Also, we used google docs to save much of our files in a folder made for just this course. This course helped me get prepared and organized and definitely left me less stressed out this time of year! 

Presenting Skills

Presenting can be challenging for many individuals. As for others, it can come very naturally. For me, I used to dread presenting. My anxiety would sky rocket and I would get so numb. I disliked everything about presenting especially talking in front of a large class. No matter how comfortable I was with the class, I was still so nervous to present. During my Science Methods course, we completed many different activities that we would have to present. I feel as I had gone through different courses in college, I have presented more and more. I still get extremely nervous to present as it comes natural. After my science methods course, I have felt more confident in presenting and public speaking. Receiving various feedback whether positive or negative helps a tremendous amount. In this course, the professor has the students comment three pluses and a wish after the presenter is finished. This helped as well so I could see what I may be strong in and what may need work. To this day, I still get nervous presenting but I feel better and stronger after taking this course.

Trade Book Activity

Today in my Science Methods course, we had to present our Trade Book activity. I had chosen a trade book that had tied in with the science course and what we had learned. I had created a Book Trailer to present to my colleagues. The trailer I included was on an animoto. I created an animoto about the book and some essential facts that had occurred. This video included sound to keep the students engaged. After the video, I discussed the book and what I would do with it when I am a teacher. Some things I discusses included:

- What projects I may do with this book topic.
- How I would introduce it to the students.
- What students would find interesting in the book.
- What age group this book is best for.
- Important parts of the book.

For projects, I would allow students to create their own posters of a food chain and food web. Looking through the different examples in the trade book, the students would have to pick examples they would make on their poster project. I would introduce the book to students in a way that will keep them engaged and focused. I would show them different pictures and discuss the facts. The students might find the images in the book interesting as well as the facts about the different animals eating other plants or animals. This book would be best for a fourth or fifth grade class. 

Newsela and the various articles included.

After participating in the Science Methods course I have learned about multiple sources online in which I can make different presentation with. For my most recent presentation, I used an online timeline called "TimeToast". Here, I used different articles about my chosen topic and broken them down onto the timeline. My topic was the Spitzer Space Telescope. One of the most used sources I used throughout this course especially for this project was the website called "Newsela". On Newsela, we chose various essential articles that tied in with the Spitzer Space Telescope. Some of the articles included how the telescope found the smallest star as well as finding gas giants. This telescope was said to be one of the first infrared telescopes going into space and finding different objects.

The photo above is the actual Spitzer Telescope. It is in Space surrounded by various stars and seeing what is within a star and the different gas giants. This telescope had its first launch in the year of 2003.

Teaching Earth and Space Science.

WEATHER

Today, my group and I presented our project on weather to our colleagues. In our presentation, we included the different forms of weather such as; Rain, Snow, Freezing Rain, Clouds, Fog, Sun and more! Weather has a big impact on our Earth. Much of the climate and weather is detected by our Sun. The sun is seen as the biggest star in our solar system! As close as the sun gets to the Earth, the warmer Earth will be which is generally known as the season of Summer. While the Earth is pointed towards the Sun, that will then detect night and day. Pretty interesting! Rain forms in cloud as evaporation and condensation come into play. They form in the clouds and become heavy leading it to hit Earth making rain. When temperatures are at freezing, the rain then turns into freezing rain leaving everything to ice. That is why ice is also known as freezing rain. Snow is rain except snow occurs when temperatures are freezing and it forms little ice crystals that fall to Earth in different shapes.

SPACE

Along with Weather, we also focused on space and our solar system. I was assigned the planet called Uranus. Named after the father of the Roman God, Saturn. Uranus is the 3rd largest planet as well as the 7th planet of the Solar System. Named after the father of the Roman God, Saturn. Uranus is the 3rd largest planet as well as the 7th planet of the Solar System.  First discovered in 1781 by Sir William Herschel. Herschel had believed it was a comet but later discovered the planet. Turns on its axis once every 17 hours and 14 minutes and one trip around the sun every 84 years. Referred to as the “ice giant”. Uranus is one of the largest gas giants with mostly helium and hydrogen inside. Two sets of rings are included as well as one of the coldest temperatures going at -224 degrees Celsius. The two rings were formed when Uranus's moons were broken up. Only one spacecraft has flown to Uranus in 1986.

My Professional Portfolio

A professional portfolio is essential while studying Education. The portfolio holds all of the activities I had completed throughout the Science course. In a way, the portfolio keeps me organized and sorts my work to show my accomplishments. A professional portfolio contains many different parts that have to be filled. These parts consist of the unit plan and topic. Along with that comes the completed lessons I had created with the group evaluations. My scientific me project was also completed and attached to the portfolio along with my science fair project. These two projects show my knowledge about science and what I previously knew or studied to help me with my current knowledge on science. Also included in the portfolio are different parts that include resources I may have used along with pictures and videos of me while teaching. This is to show the reader and viewers exactly what was done so they can see for themselves. An essential part of the portfolio is my resume. This portfolio can be used for jobs I may be interested in as people can see what I have accomplished and have my resume right there to look at as well. A portfolio is a lot of work but also engaging at the same time. This is a learning experience!

Oceans and Coasts lesson

Today, my group and I presented our lesson on Oceans and Coasts. We had spent time reviewing the topic and adding different facts we have learned. We put together a simple powerpoint to share with the fellow teacher candidates. Included in the power point was simple important facts about Oceans and Coasts such as the different sea levels. Included in the powerpoint was the history of the topic like how seawater was stored in glaciers during the last ice age. My group and I each took turns on presenting different parts of the lesson to keep the candidates engaged and focused. At the end of the presentation, we had included an engaging game to complete. The game we completed was on kahoot.it. Each question included essential facts on the topic. I feel as if the candidates enjoyed the game as they were staying focused and enjoying while learning at the same time.

This topic was very enjoyable and exciting for me. I know quite a bit about the topic from previous science courses I had completed. I feel as if I broadened my knowledge on the topic and learned new facts that help me understand more.

Research Article

Literacy in the Learning Cycle

Literacy is such an essential part of elementary learning. Children use literacy to learn to read as well as expand their imaginations. The Five E learning cycle uses trade books and inquiry to successfully learn literacy. The Five-Step cycle includes engage, explore, explain, extend, and evaluate. Trade books are used in various ways to help with the Five E learning cycle.

Engage: 
Trade books can suggest a problem to be fixed, allow students to make predictions, make an activity, and develop questions. This takes students prior knowledge of the given topic and set up questions for students.
Explore:
The explore phase generally handles the hands-on portion of a lesson. This is where students use their prior knowledge from engage and practice with it. Students should learn to ask and answer questions for this part of the cycle.
Explain:
During the explain phase, students are taking what they had learned and practiced (hands-on) and explain to others. They share what they had learned and practiced. They make sense of the activity and develop an understanding for the topic.
Extend:
During this phase, students should take what they have learned and focused on and find trade books that focus on the science topic they had studied. They can use this step to read the trade book of choice to help with their understanding of the topic.
Evaluate:
During the evaluate phase students can use their trade books to find ideas to pose a question or problem. If not all, most answers for this phase are usually right in the selected reading. Students can put all they have learned and focused on and test their ideas during this.

Choosing a trade book is easy. During an inquiry lesson, students can take the lesson topic and take a trade book to help continue growth of the lesson. Students or teachers can form a test of knowledge and a problem from the book that the students can try to solve.

Misconceptions

Ever had any misconceptions?
What misconceptions did you have?
How did they affect you?

Today in my class, the teacher guided us to remember any misconceptions we had on listed topics she had given us. In my group we had topics of: Green plants, Volcanoes, and The Zoo.

Green Plants:

I had to think back to when I was a child and list my misconception of "Green Plants". I had listed that these plants could be trees, leaves, vegetables, and non-living things. As learned, plants are living things. They need sunlight and nutrients to grow.

Volcanoes:

So, thinking back to when I was a child again, I had to list a misconception that I had of volcanoes. I used to think a man was in the middle of the volcano pressing a button to make it erupt. I had also thought the volcanoes had erupted more frequently than they really do. Volcanoes erupt once every few years or more.

The Zoo:

Finally, thinking back one more time to when I was a child I had to think of a misconception I had of the zoo. I had always thought the animals were born and raised in the zoo. I never knew or understood that the animals were taken from their natural habitat.

You can have a misconception about anything. It is interesting to look back to when you were a child to see the many misconceptions you have had of things that are so normal today.

Teaching Inquiry lesson to fifth grade students.

INQUIRY!

Inquiry is the final step of teaching a lesson. In our case, our Inquiry lesson had followed the Direct Instruction lesson. Inquiry lesson planning still takes up quite a bit of time just like Direct Instruction, but not as much. For Inquiry, the students are generally taking over and showing what they have learned. During our lesson, we provided a few beginning powerpoint slides with review so the students can be reminded of what they had learned. Students are creating meaning through doing in Inquiry. It is very essential to remind them what is being taught during the lesson.

Once we had reviewed our previous Direct Instruction lesson, we provided a task and problem for the students to complete. Once they were given the problem, they had to draw a hypothesis and work together to figure out the given problem. Once finished with the work, students are encouraged to present their findings to the rest of the students. As an independent practice, we had provided a letter for the students to write. Try to refrain from saying "homework". Use a more engaging and interesting word so they do not think it is actual homework.

Teaching Direct Instruction Lesson to fifth grade students.

Preparing to teach Direct Instruction is a lot of prepared and practiced work. Direct Instruction is more of teaching the topic so students can gain the full understanding of the lesson. During Direct Instruction, my group and I provided a prepared powerpoint that we had taught to the students. Each slide of the powerpoint was well prepared with different parts of the lesson, "Changes in the Ecosystem." During our lesson, we made sure to stop at every few slides to let the children ponder and think about what they had just learned. Also, during Direct Instruction, we had made sure we provided different quick activities to keep the students engaged and focused. We included different guided practice activities the students took part in. At the end of the lesson, we had given the students a word match worksheet. During this practice, students were able to match the correct vocabulary word to the correct definition. The preparation for Direct Instruction is a long and steady process. Details have to be precise and you really cannot leave anything out. For Direct Instruction, all parts are essential for the student's learning. After much practice and reviewing my group and I had become more confident in what we were preparing and teaching for the students. I feel review and practice on what you are going to be teaching is essential. You as a teacher should always know what you are teaching so the student's will know as well. Practice does make perfect and it will make you more confident while teaching. Also, during Direct Instruction, do not forget to allow the children to stop and ponder! This will help them collect their thoughts and keep them on the right track.

Introduction- About Me.

I have always grown up around children and always had an interest in helping people. Putting the two together, I have gained a strong interest in helping children learn one day. During my high school time, I was an avid babysitter. I would take a babysitting job as much as I could. I also took part in a program called, "Early Childhood Education." This program was a two year program that I attended half day during my Junior and Senior year of high school. This program is where I gained such a stronger interest in becoming a teacher. I learned how to form lesson plans and how to work with young learners. After completing my certification here, I attended college where I am a History Major with a concentration in Elementary Education. I hope to graduate with my Bachelors and attend school for my Masters in Special Education. I would love to become an Elementary Special Education teacher. Right now, I work in a two and three year old class at a daycare. Working with children everyday is such an amazing part of my life. I love impacting their lives and helping them with whatever I can. I am so excited to see what my future has in store!

Science Fair Project

During my time in Science Methods course so far, we have mainly been preparing for lessons we are going to teach the class. We have also gotten to choose a topic that we will study more. This topic will be made into a project that will be shown at the Elementary School's Science Fair. The topic I have chosen to focus on is, How does color affect memory? I feel this topic is essential as well as interesting! I look forward to learning more about this topic.

Observations

Going into week 5, I have already learned so much through my science methods course. So far, two out of four groups have presented two lessons each to a 5th grade class. My group is approaching next and I have learned so much to complete for when I present my two lessons. Each group had a different topic. A Direct Instruction lesson as well as an Inquiry lesson was presented to the students. Students were kept engaged and were able to complete different activities during each lesson. During the Direct Instruction, students were to listen to the lesson be introduced and what they will be learning about. During this lesson, they complete guided practices to keep them focused. During the Inquiry lesson, the teachers generally review what was learned in the last class (Direct Instruction). Teachers then give students a problem they are to solve. I have learned that students seem to like Inquiry work. They can put their heads together and come up with great ideas!

"Scientific Me" Essay

Here is the LINK to my Scientific Me Essay. Our Professor had us complete an essay about our past experiences with Science. Included in the essay, I had explained my experiences from Elementary School up until now. Science has always been an interesting and essential subject for me. I enjoy doing hands-on activities that have to do with Science and I cannot wait to teach it to young learners in years ahead.

Drawing of Professor Charles Hair

Pictured is my drawing of Professor Charlies Hair. During our first day of Science Methods class, the Professor had asked us each to draw our best pictures of what we think a science teacher/class would look like. I chose the name because it was the first silly name that I could think of. Each student was given 5-10 minutes to draw their pictures without looking at anyone else's pictures.

It was very interesting to walk around the room afterwards and look at all of the other students drawings and names of their scientists. Each drawing shared something so similar. Most students drew their scientists with glasses as well as crazy hair. Most had a lab coat on as well. Each student had also came up with different and unique names for their Science teachers. Most of the names consisted of Dr. or Professor which was interesting.

I think the activity the professor had us complete was essential and exciting. It really gives each of us a chance to use our minds and begin with the important factors of what may be in a science classroom as well as what a Scientist/Science teacher may look like. I can't wait to study more and learn how to teach young children all about Science!