I.

Standard
A.

II.

III.

IV.

V.

Name: Josh Rankin

Date:

Cooperating Teacher: Mr. R. Anderson

Co-Op initial:

Group Size: 29 Students

Grade: 4th

Subject: Science- Circuits

Time: 35 Minutes

Section:

3.4.4.A2- Understand that systems have parts and components that work together.
B. 3.4.4.C1- Understand that there is no perfect design.
C. 3.4.4.D1- Investigate how things are made and how they can be improved.
Objective
A. The fourth grade students will be able to create a circuit using the new materials
along with examining and rearranging circuits by recording the process they used
troubleshoot a nonworking circuit containing the new and original components.
Materials
A. Circuit kit
1.
Fahnestock clip (new component)
2.
Bulb socket (new component)
B. Science notebook
C. Writing utensil
Subject Matter
A. Prerequisite Skills
1.
Safety procedures and rules
2.
Able to read and write
B. Vocabulary
1.
Fahnestock clip- a piece to connect the wire and the cell.
2.
Bulb socket- a piece to connect the wire to the bulb.
C. Main Idea
1.
There are additional pieces that can be used that will still conduct
electricity while making the circuit easier to create and maintain.
2.
When a circuit does not work there is a process to find the
problem.
D. Additional Content
Implementation
A. Introduction
1.
The teacher will transition the students from ELA to science.
2.
The teacher will show the students the new components that will
be in the students circuit kits.
3.
The teacher will write the inquiry question of the day on the white
board.
a. How will the new pieces help the circuit run better?
4.
Students will brain storm how they may help.
B. Development
1.
The students will create their own definition for the vocabulary
words.

2.

VI.

The students will open their circuit kits and find their new
components.
3.
The students will work with an elbow buddy to create a working
circuit using the new components.
4.
The students will then switch circuit kits and make a nonworking
circuit for their elbow buddy to examine and correct the problem.
5.
The students will draw the picture of the nonworking circuit in
their science notebook.
C. Closure
1.
The students will clean up their kits and put them away.
2.
The teacher will have students discuss how their answers changed
from beginning to end of the lesson.
D. Assessment
1.
Formative- Students will explain why the circuit did not work and
what they did to fix it from step 6 and 7.
2.
Summative- There will be no summative assessment. There will
be a summative assessment at the end of the unit.
E. Differentiation/Accommodation
1.
For student 16 who has difficulty writing, the teacher will do a one
on one interview with the
Reflection
A. Report of Student Scoring
26/28 (93%) were able to correctly use the new components along with
troubleshooting the incorrect circuit. The students were able to diagram the
incorrect circuit and then explain what they needed to change to make the circuit
work.
The two students did not struggle with creating circuit that worked using their
new components, they struggled troubleshooting when the circuit did not work.
They were unable to think of the what the problem could have been. The students
were struggling to figure out what could be wrong with the new components
being in the circuit.
B. Remediation Plan
The teacher will have the students come to the horseshoe table during dismissal
time. The teacher will have a nonworking circuit and the students will have their
own version of the same circuit. The teacher will guide the students through the
steps to troubleshoot the problem. The teacher will say each step and the students
will repeat it. The teacher will then create a different nonworking circuit the
students will talk the teacher through each step out loud to troubleshoot the
nonworking circuit.
C. Personal Reflection

1.

Is having students create their own definition good for the final
assessment?
The definitions are very similar to those in the book with their own student
friendly language rather than some of the more complex words. If I need
to I can make some changes to the final assessment to reflect what was
done in class since they have a strong understanding of the vocabulary
definitions and what they mean when the students actually create a circuit.

2.

If students are unable to work together or are not listening to

directions what did I do and what might work better?
Students did very well staying on tasks without a major conflict arising.
When students did independent work they would sometimes overhear
other students working and become frustrated if they did not solve the
incorrect circuit right away. I have not had to suspend student kit use yet
but I feel it may happen in later lessons if they use the kits inappropriately.

3.

Are students exploring enough, is it inquiry based enough? Am I

being a facilitator, teacher focused or student focused?
I only spend about 10 minutes in front of the class giving them the
definitions, modeling how to do some of the work, and giving the
directions. I should probably make the experiments more inquiry based
than free experiment based by using guiding questions or more specific
parts to test out. The inquiry question of the day helps students remember
what they should be thinking about when they are working with the kits.

VII.

Resources
Electric circuits (2nd ed.). (2004). Washington, D.C.: National Science Resources Center.