Jolene Forte

Instructional Rounds 1
May 12, 2018
Instructional Round One- Salmon

Context: Mr. Hans’s 4th grade classroom was working on an NGSS-aligned lesson about
Earth’s systems (rivers) and Earth’s organism (salmon). Using a map of the Pacific
Northwest and a worksheet with questions, Mr. Hans used direct teaching/instruction to
inform his students the path in which the salmon take (rivers).

Analysis: During my observational round, these were times Mr. Hans was checking for
student understanding during his initial instruction:

1. “Thumbs up if that makes sense” (did not scan the room) (only a small handful of
students put their thumb up)
2. During Mr. Hans’s initial instruction, he has students repeat words or sentences to
make sure they were still paying attention (“Everybody say…(up river, Puget
sound, salmon, etc.)”)

Mr. Hans used his initial instructional time to inform and show his students the map of
the rivers in the Pacific Northwest. This map gave students a nice visual to show and
explain the movement of salmon. During this initial class instruction, Mr. Hans identified
the main rivers, watersheds, etc. which students will need know to finish their assignment
(question worksheet). While Mr. Hans was showing the class the different parts of the
map, he would ask students to place their thumb up if what he was explaining made
sense. I observed the students each time he asked this and noticed that not all students
were putting their thumb up to indicate they understood. I also observed some students
placing their thumbs up while looking at the back of the classroom or looking down
indicating they were not paying attention and most likely did not understand the
instruction. My Hans also had students repeat the rivers and other bodies of water to help
keep students engaged and on task. For example, he would have students repeat the river
he had just mention by stating, “say Whatcom Creek”. Some students would repeat
Whatcom Creek, but the majority of students stayed quiet.

After Mr. Hans finished explaining the ‘salmon map’ he gave each student a worksheet
with questions that align with the map. He then instructed students to get a laptop, pull up
the map using the link, and complete the questions on the worksheet. I think it was a
great idea to have a link previously set up on their class website page making it easy for
them to access this map for their assignment and for future references.

Problem of Practice: What other ways might we check for students understanding and
engage them? What might be some potential problems?

Reflection:
In order to address this problem of practice, we will need to plan out specific questions
and times to check for students understanding. We also need to fine connections and form
questions that will increase student engagement during initial instruction. In order to
capture students’ attention and their interest throughout the lesson, we need to determine
how to motivate them. In Wynne Harlen’s book, Taking the Plunge, she discusses
motivation by stating, “If there is intrinsic motivation for a task, a learner will persist
with it, engage in further learning and not be satisfied until it is understood” (p. 15). As a
teacher, we want our students to be intrinsically motivated, however, in order for this to
occur there needs to be personal engagement in the lesson/activity. Giving the activities a
purpose or reason behind it can do this (p.23). For example, we could connect the lesson
to the students’ hometown and personal experiences.

We could engage our students by asking them if they have ever eaten salmon before, if
they have ever same in a river, or if they have ever gone fishing? We could also tie in
culture and a little bit of history by discussing the different tribes in our community and
their role in the salmon community. By showing a map of the tribal and the rivers where
salmon live, we could bring in real life lessons that will ultimately engage and teach our
students about how and why salmon in the Pacific Northwest is so important.

During the initial instructional time, the teacher should take more pauses and ask more
questions that will allow students to discuss their thinking out loud in groups. This is also
a great method to check for students understanding of the activity/lesson.

By using these types of questions and techniques to check for students understanding, we
can help with student engagement and increase their excitement to grow their scientific
knowledge.