One artifact that I have included in this area is my simple machines: balls and ramps science unit plan I wrote and taught to my Kindergarten students during my time student teaching. With a heavy focus on math and language arts during the elementary school grades, science is unfortunately a subject that is cut from the curriculum until students move up in the grades. I believe that students can and should be introduced to science concepts as early as Kindergarten, and through the science unit plan I developed I was able to give students the opportunity to investigate properties of matter and begin to think about simple machines through an investigation of inclined planes.
I have chosen this artifact to include in my portfolio because it demonstrates my belief that students need to be presented with a variety of ways to interact with the material to gain a complete picture and understanding of what is being presented to them. One realization that I have come to over the course of my student teaching has been that it is okay for students to not have a firm grasp of the material the first time it is presented to them. The more opportunities that students have to interact with the material the more they Though I generally stuck to the unit plan I originally wrote, I also was able to develop additional lessons to include based on what questions students asked about balls as we completed out KWL chart and from there which question my students were most interested in exploring further through a tally mark vote we did together. In doing this I was still able to work to meet the overall objectives I had for my students with this unit plan while focusing on a specific question about balls and their properties that both interested and engaged them with the material.
This unit plan also illustrates my understanding and application of the "Understanding by Design" model of planning first created by Grant Wiggins and Jay McTighe. I have utilized this model both formally and informally as I have developed unit plans and this "backward design" model parallels my belief that assessment drives planning. A teacher who starts a lesson or unit plan with a clear vision of what they want students to know and be able to do at completion of the lesson or unit and who develops the tools to assess this can then be flexible in his or her plans and procedures to meet these objectives. Student response to the lessons (interest/disinterest, developing a firm grasp of the material/confusion) should dictate changes made to future lessons as needed so the original objectives can be met.
Simple Machines: Balls and Ramps Unit Attachment:
/uploads/1/3/4/8/13486870/education_449_simple_machines_unit_plan.pdf
I choose the photos posted below as another artifact because they demonstrate the high level of engagement my students had as we moved through this unit. Seeing my students be engaged and excited to learn each time we started science in addition to hearing the questions they generated as they continued to interacted with balls and ramps and made new discoveries, were indicators to me that learning was taking place.
I have chosen this artifact to include in my portfolio because it demonstrates my belief that students need to be presented with a variety of ways to interact with the material to gain a complete picture and understanding of what is being presented to them. One realization that I have come to over the course of my student teaching has been that it is okay for students to not have a firm grasp of the material the first time it is presented to them. The more opportunities that students have to interact with the material the more they Though I generally stuck to the unit plan I originally wrote, I also was able to develop additional lessons to include based on what questions students asked about balls as we completed out KWL chart and from there which question my students were most interested in exploring further through a tally mark vote we did together. In doing this I was still able to work to meet the overall objectives I had for my students with this unit plan while focusing on a specific question about balls and their properties that both interested and engaged them with the material.
This unit plan also illustrates my understanding and application of the "Understanding by Design" model of planning first created by Grant Wiggins and Jay McTighe. I have utilized this model both formally and informally as I have developed unit plans and this "backward design" model parallels my belief that assessment drives planning. A teacher who starts a lesson or unit plan with a clear vision of what they want students to know and be able to do at completion of the lesson or unit and who develops the tools to assess this can then be flexible in his or her plans and procedures to meet these objectives. Student response to the lessons (interest/disinterest, developing a firm grasp of the material/confusion) should dictate changes made to future lessons as needed so the original objectives can be met.
Simple Machines: Balls and Ramps Unit Attachment:
/uploads/1/3/4/8/13486870/education_449_simple_machines_unit_plan.pdf
I choose the photos posted below as another artifact because they demonstrate the high level of engagement my students had as we moved through this unit. Seeing my students be engaged and excited to learn each time we started science in addition to hearing the questions they generated as they continued to interacted with balls and ramps and made new discoveries, were indicators to me that learning was taking place.
Pictures of students engaged in the simple machines: balls and ramps unit: