Lesson Teaching Reflective Summary

Teacher Candidate for Science Endorsement: Janice Belcher

School: Dowell Elementary

Grade: Fifth

Lesson Topic: Erosion-Lesson 3 & 4

Write a brief summary or blog of your experiences teaching this lesson,
addressing the following questions:

What went well? What did not go well?

My lesson plan on the erosion of chalk using sand, gravel, water, and
vinegar went very smoothly. Students were engaged and could not
wait to dive into the various labs. When my lesson plan initially began,
I discussed with them what erosion was and gave the students
examples of when it occurs. For instance, we discussed the Grand
Canyon and debated how a river contributed to how it looks today.

How well were the lessons student performance objectives

attained?

Students then began to make connections of their own, asking if

erosion occurred at the beach or if erosion occurred when it rained,
which all very great observations and connections were made by my
students. Also, the Page Keeley probes allowed me to address any
misconceptions. One misconception that was addressed frequently
throughout the unit was that erosion is a slow process.

Did classroom activity center on science understanding, inquiry,

and sense-making by all students?

As the students completed each lab I was able to identify which

students needed additional support. I loves listening to their
conversations as they completed the labs.

Did your scientific content knowledge enable you to support

students construction of knowledge and understanding of
important scientific concepts and processes?
This lesson plan on erosion which aligns with the Georgia Fifth Grade
Science Curriculum. Throughout the lesson, my students were abler to
define and gives verbal and visual examples of erosion through the
study of the Grand Canyon.

The Grand Canyon is perhaps the most ideal example of both

weathering and erosion through which students will be able to grasp
not only the concepts of weathering and erosion but the idea of the
chemical and physical changes of the Earth over long periods of time.
The labs allowed my students to observed and recorded information
about the different agents of erosion in their journal. This was
especially meaningful because in Georgia do not have Glaciers.

When you have the opportunity to re-teach this lesson, what will
you do differently (strategies, teaching tools, assessments, etc.)
to improve student learning for all students?

I will teach this lesson in the future. One of the logistical changes I
would make is setting up the labs over a week instead of two days. My
students had little time to answer the lab question because of time
limitations. Spacing the labs over a week will allow more time for my
students to complete and process the labs.