Pet Rocks and Rock Poems - One Amazing Day!

Yesterday was our last day teaching the adorable fourth graders we have had such a blast working with! As soon as Ben and I got to the classroom, we gave the two teachers who have helped us so much each a pound of coffee, a gift card to Dunkin’ Donuts, and a thank you card. We really wanted them to know how much we appreciated their support and guidance throughout this incredible experience.

Before we started our last lesson, the teachers and students had some very special surprises for Ben and I. They presented us each with our own pet rock. Mine has black yarn for hair and they put a little music note they made out of a yellow paper clip next to it. It was so sweet and cute! They then presented us each with a book they put together of all of their rock poems they wrote with us. The students typed them up in computer class and throughout the book there are notes to us from every student and the teachers. I seriously almost cried. My pet rock and my book are such special keepsakes! Whenever I am feeling stressed with school I can just look at these two things and they will remind me to keep working hard because it will be worth it in the end!

The students really enjoyed the lesson on luster. Ben and I took turns demonstrating things that are metallic, glassy, waxy, and dull. We then asked the students what other words we could say in place of these four new words. They came up with some great words such as “shiny” for the word “metallic.” When Ben and I were finished going over luster and how to perform luster field tests, we had the students gather their materials and get started. The students also sorted the minerals into the four groups on the chart we copied for them. They all did a great job!

Towards the end of the activity, the teacher was walking around taking pictures of the students working. She was also taking pictures of them smiling with their partners. The teacher then had us all go out into the hall for a class picture with our pet rocks. Ben and I were in the back and held our pet rocks up with everyone else. She told us she would e-mail us all of the pictures she took. Yesterday was definitely one of the best days! Before we left, the students were giving us hugs and I just kept telling them how much I was going to miss them. We couldn’t have asked for a better group of children to work with or teachers! I feel so fortunate that we were given this opportunity.

My overall impression of this experience was amazing! I looked forward to every Monday because of how much fun I had. This was definitely the perfect learning experience because we actually got to teach science to elementary students instead of just learning about it while in the classroom. Ben was a great partner and I am so glad we were able to work together. I really felt we worked great as a team. I learned that teaching science is a lot of work. There are so many things a teacher has to worry about like safety, materials, time, classroom management etc. There was definitely no way Ben and I could have gone into the classroom and teach with no lesson plan. This experience showed me how carefully you have to plan your time. We could have talked to our students for the whole period about rocks and minerals. We always had to tell them to hold on to their questions for later because we never had enough time to answer all of them if we wanted to have time for the activity. It was certainly a challenge but as the weeks went by, Ben and I really progressed with time management.

The weekly feedback we received from our advisors was extremely helpful. I loved reading our feedback because our advisors caught things we weren’t even aware we were doing. I remember our first lesson Ben and I were talking about how we did while students were observing their rocks. We should have been walking around facilitating the students and talked about how we did when we were completely done. The feedback helped Ben and I progress each week and gave us great ideas for future lessons. The classroom teachers also always had great feedback for us. Before each lesson they would be happy to answer any questions we had. After each lesson they always told us how we did and what to improve on. I really liked how the classroom teacher wasn’t afraid to be honest with us. If we told her we wanted to do something one way and she knew of a better way she would never hesitate to tell us. We all worked as a team and felt very comfortable working together. Any suggestions she would give us we would use and it later helped us understand why she did it one way and not the other.

My content knowledge about rocks and minerals has definitely increased. I remember learning about the rock cycle and field tests when I was younger but I had forgotten most of it. I loved relearning the material by studying each plan we were given and by helping the students perform the field tests. The students always had so many great questions and it was fun to try and figure out the answers. I also learned a lot about how we use science process skills all the time in all of our science lessons. I now understand why it’s important to have students focus on only one process skill per lesson. We do so many process skills without even thinking twice but it’s important for them to be aware of the one that is the most significant to the lesson. Ben and I always tried to incorporate one specific science process skill in our question and goal of the day. We wrote these things on the board so students were reminded of what they needed to focus on.

I absolutely feel that my level of confidence has changed as a result of this experience. I was very nervous before our first lesson but we learned a lot after it. During our first lesson, Ben and I kept talking over each other. The flow of the lesson wasn’t great but we knew what to do to fix it. Besides the lesson plan, we would type up a short script to just tell us who was going to talk about what so we knew. This helped my confidence level a lot because we were more prepared. I am so proud of all of us for working so hard and improving lesson after lesson! :)

I really liked blogging throughout this experience. The lessons were fun to write about and the blogs are something we can look back on to remind us of what we did. I also enjoyed reading everyone else’s blogs. I would definitely continue to use a blog. However, I love to write in my journal because I don’t have to worry about anyone reading it. It’s more personal to me so I can talk about my experiences and mention things like the name of the school that I wouldn’t be able to talk about on a blog. I have written in over 14 journals in my life so I’m definitely more of a journal writer. I think the blog was great for class work and I would not get rid of it because it tied in great with the semester.

I would just suggest keeping this in the graduate program for elementary science. I learned so much throughout all of this and I am even more excited to become a teacher. I cannot wait for the day to come when I set foot in my very own classroom!

 

 

Let it Shine!

This week’s lesson on shining a light on each of the 12 minerals went very well. When Ben and I arrived to the classroom we made sure we had all of the materials out and ready. We had small squared pieces of cardboard, wax paper, and transparency to give the students to show them what the words opaque, translucent, and transparent mean. The students were well engaged in this lesson and eager to find out the results of each mineral’s light test.

When the students came back from recess, Ben and I started off by going over the agenda, science question of the day, and the goal of the day that was written on the overhead. Our science question for them was how much light does each mineral transmit? Our goal for the students was to have them complete light field tests on each of the 12 minerals and to then record their observations under “light” in their science workbooks. We then told them to please sort the minerals by their similarities and differences going by how much light each mineral transmitted.

HEMATITE

Before having the students do the activity, Ben discussed the two minerals hematite and graphite and how they have always been important in society. Ben explained how iron is made from hematite and iron has been around for thousands of years and helped Egyptians with their metal work. Ben then explained how graphite conducts electricity and was also one of the first minerals that were used to write with. The students were very interested with Ben’s brief science/history lesson and it was fun to hear their questions they had at the end.

GRAPHITE

Next, I had the students take out their science workbooks to show them the differences between transparent, translucent, and opaque. I had the students open up to a page with lots of text and had them put their transparencies on the text to show them that because they could read the text through the transparency, the transparency is transparent. I then had the students put their piece of wax paper on another part of the text to show them that you can see the text through the wax paper, but not as clearly as the transparency. Lastly, I had the students take their cardboard and put it over text. When they all said they couldn’t see anything I told them it was because the cardboard is opaque because you cannot see through it. I also had the students give me some other words they could use besides the three new words so they would understand what they were writing about for their observations.

When it was time for the students to do the activity, they were all very excited. They all did a great job and it didn’t take them long to shine the light on each of their 12 minerals. When they were finished with that we asked them to sort them into groups. Most of the students separated the minerals into 3 groups, the minerals that were transparent, the minerals that were translucent, and the minerals that were opaque.

Ben and I were thrilled we had time to do a wrap up discussion with them! We discussed their findings and how they grouped their minerals. Everyone wanted to share and as usual their enthusiasm made us not want to leave! This was a great lesson and a really fun one too!

"Experience is the best teacher!"

This week’s lesson on describing the color of minerals went extremely well! Ben and I made sure to incorporate a writing portion and use technology to make this lesson a little different from our previous lessons. The students were surprised to discover that some of the colors of each of the minerals they observed last week made a different color when they performed the streak test on either the black or white tile. The students really enjoyed this lesson and we did too!

When we arrived to the classroom, Ben and I had to quickly clean all of the white and black tiles with soap and water. I then put all of the materials the students would need on the back table while Ben wrote out our agenda, goals, and question of the day up on the overhead. We usually write these things on the white board but we thought it would be a nice change to use the overhead and use the technology the classroom had to offer. After writing our agenda on the overhead, our teacher was kind enough to help Ben and I make a quick sheet on the computer about “How to be a rock”. She then made 25 copies for us to give the students so they could do their writing assignment.

                     

When the students came back from recess, their teacher had them sit down immediately so Ben and I could get started. It was so great to see all of their smiling faces again! When it was quiet, I began our lesson by welcoming the students back from recess. I then went over our agenda, goals for the day, and the question we wanted them to be thinking about while performing the streak tests on the 12 minerals. The question asked was, “What are the differences between the observable color of the 12 minerals and the streak tests color of the 12 minerals?”

Next, we had them look at the “How to be a rock” sheet that was placed on each of their desks before they came back from recess. Ben explained they were going to use this sheet to help them write a seven line poem about “How to be a rock” including facts they have learned about rocks. Ben then told the students we were going to go over each line together as a class and we would write down three things they could use in their poem per line or they could come up with their own if they weren’t able to mention it in the discussion. Ben and I called on the students to see what they wanted to put on each line. By completing this poem as a class, Ben and I were able to assess how much the students know about rocks and the rock cycle, and they know a lot! We are very impressed with how much they have learned from the lessons in this unit.

Here’s an example of one students’ poem:

How to be a Rock:

Don’t breathe

You can change form but you’re not alive

Don’t have a heartbeat

All rocks have observable properties

You are made up of minerals

You can do field tests on me

All life relies on me

After students were finished with creating their poems on “How to be a Rock”, Ben explained how they were going to be doing field tests, like geologists do, and performs a streak test on each of the 12 minerals. Ben demonstrated the streak test on mineral A and recorded it on the big sheet of paper we had from last week so they would know how to record their observations. Students were to scratch each mineral on a white tile and then a black tile and record the color (if any) each mineral left on them. The streak tests would help them to answer our science question about the differences between the minerals’ observable color versus the minerals’ streak test color.

After showing the students how to do the streak test activity, I asked that one partner pick up the minerals, wet paper towel, and two hand lenses, while the other partner picked up two gloves, a tray, and a black and white tile from the materials table. The students had about 15 minutes to do this activity. Ben and I walked around to make sure they weren’t spending too much time on one mineral and answered any questions they had. I found many students surprised by the results of their streak tests and they couldn’t wait to share their observations with their peers at the end.

A few minutes before Ben and I had to leave, we had to get the students attention by telling them to put their hands on their heads and to look at us. I told the students they were all doing a great job and we wanted to hear about some of the differences they found between the observable colors they recorded last week and the streak test colors they recorded today. The students were eager to share their findings with us but unfortunately we only had time to hear a few of them. One student mentioned one mineral had an observable color of turquoise while the streak of the mineral was black. This was a major difference. Another student told us that the observable color of another mineral was the same as the streak test performed on the white tile which was black. This student did not see a difference between the observable color and the streak test of that mineral.

After briefly discussing the science question and writing a few of the students’ observations on the overhead, Ben and I sadly had to leave. We told the students they all did a wonderful job today and we would see them next week. This week’s lesson was a blast and our teacher was pleased with our lesson and told us we did a great job. I am going to be very sad to say goodbye to these amazing students in a couple of weeks. This whole experience is really incredible and we are learning so much!

 

"Practice makes perfect!"

This week’s lesson on observing and describing each mineral’s appearance, texture, and smell went great! This was definitely Ben and I’s best lesson yet and we couldn’t be happier with how we have been improving week after week.

When we arrived to the classroom, Ben started filling small cups up with water and I wrote our agenda, goal, and science question on the white board. We then worked together to make sure all of the materials were set up on the back table. We had eleven egg cartons filled with the 12 minerals labeled A through L, eleven small cups of water with a dropper in each cup, gloves, hand lens, and trays. The students had indoor recess in their classroom on Monday but luckily, we were able to get everything all set before they came in for recess.

When recess was over, the students were asked to take out their reminder binders so the teacher could go over everything they had to do for homework so they could write it down. When they were finished, Ben and I began.

I started our lesson off with welcoming the students back from recess. I then went over our agenda, the goal of the day, and the question we wanted them to be able to answer for us by the end of today’s lesson. I told them to make sure they were constantly thinking about the question while they did the activity. The question asked was, what do each of the 12 minerals feel like, smell like, and look like?

Next, Ben briefly discussed what minerals are while explaining the misconception that rocks don’t have anything to do with minerals. After talking about minerals for a couple of minutes, I briefly explained two common minerals, feldspar and sulfur to the students. These two minerals are mentioned in their science workbooks but we just wanted to mention them quickly so the students know they are important. Ben then discussed what a field test is because a field test is what the students were about to do on each of their 12 minerals. After we mentioned some important vocabulary words, we told the students that we were going to hand out to them a vocabulary sheet with words that should already be familiar to them because we went over all of them at some point in our previous lessons. I told them they would be having a quiz on the vocabulary on Friday and that they would need to practice them at home. We also had them put a star next to any vocabulary words they were still unsure about so they could practice them more.                                                   

                              

                                                                                           Sulfur

The last thing Ben and I had to do before letting the students begin the activity was to demonstrate how they were going to fill in their mineral pro-file sheets. Earlier, Ben had drawn one big mineral sheet on the big paper that looked exactly like the 12 mineral sheets the students have in their workbooks. Ben then explained what they were going to do for each mineral. We used mineral A to show them how they would be recording their observations. Ben explained that in the first box labeled mineral A, the students were to draw mineral A and to then explain the observable color. The next box labeled, feel, would be where the students explained what mineral A felt like, and the last box they would fill out would be the box labeled smell. The students would use the water and the dropper to put one tiny drop of water onto each mineral and then waft to determine if the mineral smells at all and if it does, explain what it smells like. We then had the students fill in the 12 sheets where it had a blank box next to the word, mineral. The first profile sheet would be labeled mineral A; the second profile sheet would be labeled mineral B, and so on until the last mineral which was L. After answering any questions the students had about what they were going to be doing, we asked one partner to get the minerals, hand lens, and two gloves, and the other partner to get one cup of water with the dropper in it and one tray.

                                                         

Thankfully, Ben and I only took about 12 minutes to explain everything so the students had the full 30 minutes to do this activity. The teacher told us to not worry about ending this lesson because she always gives her students more time than usual to complete this activity because of how time consuming it is. As the students were working hard to record their observations, Ben and I walked around answering many questions they had for us. We also had to make sure they weren’t spending too much time on one mineral and that they were talking to each other about what they were observing.

Ben and I were very pleased with this lesson and so was the teacher. She told us it was our best lesson yet which felt great! We made sure we talked about content vocabulary and identified a common misconception that has occurred during this unit. The flow of the class also went very smoothly and we made great time so the students had a lot of time to do their activity. I had such a blast last Monday and I am feeling so much more confident than before. I guess it is true what they say, “practice makes perfect!” I can’t wait for next week’s lesson and neither can Ben!

Introducing.......The Magnificent Minerals!!!!!

Lessons four and five combined were a challenge for Ben and I. When we arrived to set up, we put the 12 minerals labeled A through L in the 11 egg cartons and put the 12 rocks labeled 1 through 12 on the eleven trays. Then I wrote our agenda on the white board as well as the process skills the students would be using today. While I was writing those things, Ben was setting up the KWL chart for minerals and then made a Venn diagram so we could finish talking about the physical properties of rocks.

Ben began our lesson with discussing the physical properties of the 12 rocks we observed last week to do a quick wrap up of rocks. Ben wrote the physical properties the students mentioned while I walked around calling on the students to answer our questions. The students had so many physical properties they wanted to share that we did not get to all of them. We realized that next time; we have to make sure we write bigger on the sticky notes because the properties were difficult for students to see.

After our Venn diagram activity, Ben gave a short lecture on minerals. Unfortunately, many of the words Ben mentioned went over the students’ heads and they were confused. We learned that next time we have to use more appropriate vocabulary for fourth graders.

After the “sophisticated” lecture, we had the students help us fill out the KWL chart on minerals. The students told us what they know about minerals and some things they would like to learn about minerals. When we finished the chart, we told them they were going to be observing and writing down the physical properties of 12 minerals with their partners. We also asked the students to write down if they saw any of the minerals in the 12 rocks we looked at last week. We explained that they would be using their hand lens to carefully observe the minerals and to then write down what they see in their science workbooks.

Before we had the students get their materials, Ben showed them the proper way to put on a glove that they would have to wear on their opposite hand they write with to handle the minerals. I then read the partners off and had each pair go to the table to collect their rocks, minerals, and hand lens.

The students were very engaged in observing the minerals. A lot of our students liked the minerals more than the rocks because they were different and more appealing to look at. Ben and I walked around asking them questions about the minerals and made sure they weren’t spending too much time on each mineral.

When the students were finished observing, we concluded our lesson by asking the students what they observed while looking at the minerals. We were a little better on time for this lesson however, their teacher still had to talk to them a little more about what they observed because we had to leave.

I definitely believe that we are improving with each lesson and we love the feedback we are getting from our professors. This lesson was the hardest for us because there was so much to cover. For our next lesson, we plan on talking less so they can spend a good amount of time on the activity. We had a blast and we are really looking forward to next week!

 

The Second Science Lesson in this Wonderful Journey!

Ben and I had another wonderful experience teaching rocks and minerals this week. I definitely feel that our lesson went much smoother this time. I opened the lesson by explaining what our goals for the class were. Ben wrote the goals and our plan for the order of the lesson on the board and then I went over them one by one. The goals were to review the rock cycle, explain the five senses, what physical properties are, observing twelve specimens, record observations, and then to share the observations. After I went over the goals, we all sang the Rock Cycle song together again which they really seemed to enjoy. After the song, Ben explained the Rock Cycle more in depth by showing how the diagrams in their science workbooks work. Ben also wrote some notes and drew pictures on the white board to help the students remember the rock cycle.

After reviewing the rock cycle, I asked them to remind me of the five senses. One student told me all of them and then added that we never use taste in science. I then asked them to remind me of what some physical properties are. As the students told us, Ben wrote them down on the board. I then reviewed the safety rules again. Before having them get their egg cartons of the twelve specimens, Ben showed them how to record their observations in their workbooks. Unfortunately, there was no chart for them to record their observations so we had them create a chart on a blank page by listing the rock numbers one through twelve. Ben then read off the partners and we had them get their egg cartons and two hand lens each. The students spread out all over the room to observe the physical properties with their partners. As the students were observing, Ben and I walked around asking them questions and making sure that they were working steadily because they didn’t have much time. This activity took about ten minutes.

After this activity, Ben and I had them look up at us so we could tell them what they were going to do next. We then talked to the students about sorting the specimens based on their similarities and differences. Ben showed them the chart they would have to create to record the groups in on the white board and did an example so they would understand. Again, we had to have them use another blank sheet in their workbooks. This chart had them record the physical property of the group they created such as color, the description of the physical property such as red, and the numbered specimens they had in that certain group. The students worked with the same partners and did very well sorting the specimens into groups. While the students sorted, Ben and I walked around asking them questions and giving them feedback on how well they were doing. Sadly, we ran out of time after the sorting activity and did not get to hear how they grouped the specimens and why. The teacher had to finish the end of the lesson for us.

The teacher gave us great feedback and she told us we definitely improved with this lesson. The one thing Ben and I have to focus on now is time management. I am nervous for the next lesson because we have to combine lessons three and four and we only have 45 minutes to do this. I think that as long as Ben and I work out a timed schedule then we will be fine. Time management is one of our big goals for next week. This lesson was a blast and the students really enjoyed it and Ben and I were happy that we improved from last week’s lesson. Let’s hope that we improve more next week!