BRENDAN C. A. MENG
Planning For Instruction Evidence
Planning For Instruction Navigation Menu:
Planning For Instruction: Introduction
Long-Range Planning
Unit Planning
Lesson Planning
Planning for Instruction: Conclusion
Lesson Planning
Lesson planning is the final stage of translating the framework, essential understandings, knowledge and skills, objectives, and instructional strategies into effective learning and real student academic achievement. It is where the diligence of long-range planning and unit planning truly translates into effective student understanding of content, knowledge, and skill. Through reflection of instructional practices and the formative assessment data acquired through each lesson, lesson planning is the ultimate driver of effective learning with regard to my students' learning needs and skill levels. The lesson exemplar which I will use as evidence below comes from the earth science unit 4 of the unit planning section above on minerals and rocks. Here, the lesson's focus is for students to represent how rocks are ever changing from one type to another through various earth systems processes of the rock cycle.
I have used numerous lesson plan templates throughout the years, and as our school is transitioning the science department to begin using the 5E model of lesson planning--Engage, Explore, Explain, Elaborate, Evaluate--this is the lesson planning template which I have found to personally be most effective at enhancing teaching and learning within my classroom. To begin lesson planning, I backwards plan for student outcomes based on which subtopic standards, knowledge, understandings, and skills that my students are to be expected to achieve by the end of each lesson. Developing my objective is the next step. The lesson objective for the evidence which follows was "SWBAT use current understandings of the rock cycle and household items to safely and accurately perform a laboratory investigation activity representing the origin, transformation, and identification of the 3 primary types of rocks based on distinguishing characteristics to 80% accuracy on their post-lab evaluations."
Above: Earth Science Rock Cycle Lesson Plan, Unit 4. As shown in the above lesson plan, I make sure to include the unit standard, objective, and essential understandings, knowledge and skills which are laid out in the DOE's earth science framework. These essential understandings, knowledge and skills are what guide which learning activities I will select and construct in order to teach my students the information necessary to further their comprehension on the topic. For this lesson, I have chosen an incredibly effective activity which allows for students to investigate the earth processes which transform rocks from one type into another. In order for this to take place in the classroom, I am using crayons to represent rocks and various procedures, like shaving, pressing, and melting the crayons to represent rock forming and changing processes. This use of materials representative of earth's natural processes is a display which proves I understand learning theory, human development, cultural diversity, and individual differences and similarities as the materials used are relevant to my learners and make the concepts accessible for understanding.
I open each lesson by introducing the lesson to my students by reviewing our daily playlist (below, left), the standard of learning for the unit, the objective, and essential questions, which I always compile into a short PowerPoint presentation (below, right) or write them on the whiteboard in front of the class. The learning activity selected and the learning experience created shows my competency at translating curriculum goals and content standards into relevant learning experiences for my students.
My students really enjoy the daily playlist because it allows them to understand exactly what learning activities we are going to be completing that day and in what order. After introduction of the daily objective and lesson essential questions, I ask several students what they are expected to complete this lesson and what those activities will allow them to understand as checks for understanding (CFU).
Following this, we began our engage activity for the day which involved students being provided a mystery cup of 5-10 rocks, based on student skill and comprehension levels as gauged throughout the until through formative assessments thus far, which they were instructed to work with an elbow partner to categorize the rocks into different groups based on how they believed the rocks should be grouped. I did not instruct the students on how to group the rocks, which characteristics to base them off of, or which rocks were included in their cups. I did however instruct pairs of students to be ready to explain their reasoning on how they grouped the rocks. During the 5 minutes of work time provided, I circled the room, monitoring progress and asked leading or clarifying questions as my collaborative teacher worked with two
groups of students who generally are in need of extra assistance and prompting to sustain activities. Once the 5 minute timer expired, I asked several groups of students to explain why they grouped the rocks the way they did and asked them to explain their reasoning. Whenever I ask students to explain a concept whole class I am prudent in urging them to utilize their known scientific vocabulary. For those of my students who required additional prompting or references to lead their thinking, I hung several examples of rock cycle and rock type information graphic posters which my students had authored and illustrated the previous class on the board (right).
Following the engagement activity, students were introduced to the crayon rock cycle lab assigned heterogeneous peer groups based on their rock cycle pre-assessment data and formative assessment to date. Safety laboratory procedures specific to each lab are introduced and CFU were asked to several students to review proper handling and safety measures for the whole class.
For those of my students who require accommodations, differentiation, and modification, there were several initiatives I took during this lesson, which are included in the lesson plan, to ensure that I was providing them with the tools and resources they needed to be successful and show evidence of their learning.
Similar CFU were utilized once students had grouped and moved to their lab stations after reading the laboratory procedure in its entirety. The laboratory procedures and laboratory student data sheet are included below (top and bottom, respectively).
For this lab I read the instruction sheet aloud whole class providing direction on when and how to complete each procedure and what to look for in order to answer each question on their student data sheet. In doing so, I am extremely careful not to tell students the answers but instead ask leading questions and provide guidance so they may form their own conclusions and answers--another example displaying my understanding of learning theory and human development as students who struggle with material initially will better remember it long-term once it is understood.
Below are several pictures of students performing the lab and the results from various stages in the lab as they weather, manipulate, compress, and melt their crayon rocks.
As you can see in the pictures to the right, this lab was incredibly engaging to all learners, especially those of my students who learn best through doing.
Additionally, this lab produced an abundance of "wow" and "ah-ha!" moments for my students to the point of several asking if they could take their cell phones out to take pictures and document what they were experiencing to show their friends, parents, and guardians.
Above: Crayon Rock Cycle Student Lab Sheets. Above are two examples of student lab data sheets which students were instructed to complete as they performed the lab procedure. These documentations of learning I use as formative assessments in gauging overall comprehension of learning against the lesson objective, essential skills, and progression of the overall unit's essential understandings, knowledge and skills.
The second student was absent the day of the lab and finally made the lab up two weeks later. Normally I would allow missed labs to be made up no more than a week later with all of the organization and preparation they require, however, this student came to me and let me know that his grandmother had passed away and he was having a very difficult time coping.
I also use student lab data sheets as ways of communicating actionable, descriptive feedback to my students.
When designing the student lab data and reflection sheets for the rock cycle lab of this lesson, I reflected back upon the student feedback which I administered and received back as an exit ticket from the previous mineral investigation lab featured in the above unit planning section. The PDF document below serves as evidence of this reflection and implementation of what students voiced to me with particular consideration for what they would change about the lab.
Above: Mineral Properties Investigation Lab Student Reflection Exit Tickets. Most student feedback was positive, some students did not like the smell of sulfur or that the minerals were not labeled (something I will change for my students next year for the minerals lab). What I gathered from my students' responses was not that they wanted less writing because they didn't want to put forth the effort, but that all the writing on the mineral lab sheet took away from their investigative experience as geologists. So, I decided to cut back on how much I required my students to write for this lab while still requiring enough writing to document and accurately assess student progress towards learning goals. This reflection on learner interest and student learning needs is a display of how I appropriately value planning as it relates to the needs of my learners and their input.
Following the completion of their lab, students were instructed to clean up their stations for a station check before returning to their seats to individually complete the crayon rock cycle lab reflection sheet. These individual assignments are better identifiers of individual student progress with regard to lesson objectives and essential understandings than group work. I have found many students who do not know the answer, or understand a concept, will simply copy from their partners paper without asking for further explanation--a skill which does not produce understanding of content in their long term memory--which is the reason I often assign heterogeneous groups of students to work together based on acquired formative and summative data.
Above: Crayon Rock Cycle Student Lab Summary Sheet. The front page of the lab reflection sheet is geared toward reintroducing key vocabulary terms and summarizing what students have been learning about rocks and the rock cycle and its processes up to this point in the unit. On pages 2 and 3, which is the back of the reflection worksheet, students found different ways of explaining their reasoning and answering questions 15-17 correctly with different means. This is evidence of true understanding of the content material and lesson overall as well as a reflection of my teaching practices and how I provide for and allow my students to demonstrate their knowledge through multiple ways.
Once students completed their laboratory reflection sheet, we played a game of Kahoot! as a vocabulary check and ext ticket. Often I will use pre-made kahoots authored by other educators, however, when specifically attempting to formatively assess my students learning on a specific topic, lesson, or vocabulary I make sure to create my own version which targets the specific learning goals at that time.
Above: Students engaging in a game of Kahoot! as a way to demonstrate their knowledge as well as for me to formatively assess their learning from the lesson's learning activities.
Overall, the lesson went very well and produced plenty of evidence of student learning through assessment opportunities. Next time I teach this lesson there are however several aspects throughout each portion of the lesson which I would alter or change.
During the engage portion of the lesson, I am going to provide the opportunity for students to walk around to other groups near them and discuss their reasoning for how they organized the rocks based on their characteristics. Also, provided I can find the time to incorporate it during this lesson or the prior, I would like to have students complete the Kahoot! prior to beginning the lesson as well as after so that I have data specific to the effectiveness of this lab at increasing rock cycle vocabulary comprehension among my students.
During the explore laboratory investigation portion of this lab, I didn't do the best job at explaining that I would be keeping pace of the lab and student procedures throughout the lab. Some students rushed ahead while others stayed with my direction. Those who rushed ahead missed several key identifiers of question answers which needed tending to while I should have been formatively assessing the progress of other groups of students. Additionally, next year when I teach this lab, I will be sure to include examples of each type of rock at each group's station for reference and real life connections between the rocks which they are modeling throughout the lab.
During the explain portion of the lab when students are completing their reflection sheets, I am going to create a comparison game consisting of key vocabulary terms and images for students who finish their reflection sheets early to play, as opposed to several of them reverting to being entertained on their phones as they waited for others to finish, and include this perhaps in the elaborate section of the lesson.
The post-lab reflection sheet and Kahoot! did provide sufficient formative data in order to gauge my students learning and compile specifics for the rock cycle review prior to their end of unit summative assessment, whose average was a 78.5% as shown by the ZipGrade data (below). I believe this lesson and the learning activities included contributed positively towards my students' academic success and achievement on the summative assessment. However, without the diligence of planning and preparation toward each and every lesson I know that I would not being doing my students justice by failing to provide them with the daily science education they deserve.
