Reflection: Blog Phase 1 - Micro Lesson 1

Reflection: Assessing Prior Knowledge & Planning

  I will start with a reminder on what matter is and what it’s three states are. I will do so using the presentation on ABCya (website). I decided to use this because it is student friendly and defines the states of matter. Then, I will transition to a whole group categorizing activity which will be done on the carpet. All students will participate by holding up fingers for which state of matter they believe an object to be. One finger will represent solids, two for liquids and three for gases.·      A formative assessment will be completed during the whole group categorizing activity. I will be able to tell whether or not the majority of my students are grasping the concept through their participation.

·      This content is a basic science topic and should be taught towards the beginning of the school year therefore the teacher will be able to scaffold upon the water cycle. My objective revolves around the artifact that I collected from the students; this lesson fulfills the first grade science standard Strand 5: Physical Science, Concept 1: Properties of Objects and Materials, and PO 2: Classify materials as solids or liquids.                                                                                                                                        

Reflection: Designing Instruction

·        I am using an interactive SmartBoard and computer activity in order to keep students continuously engaged. I also chose these means of learning so technology could be integrated into my lesson. Students will be constantly engaged throughout this lesson by having to hold up fingers in order to answer whether something is a solid, liquid or gas. Students will also need to be engaged by physically manipulating objects on the SMART Board, which can be fun for students since it seems they rarely get to use it themselves. Students also need to be engaged in the making of their artifact, which includes completing an individual activity on the computer or tablet.

Reflection: Planning Assessment

The assessment ensures that the students have a thorough understanding of solids and liquids, which is required by the standard and it goes above this by also integrating the understanding of gases into this lesson. Both the formative and summative assessment allow for the students to be evaluated on their knowledge of the states of matter through discussion, quick scanning assessment by the teacher and the artifact the students turn in will be an obvious indication as to whether or not the students understand the basics of this unit. Individual needs will be apparent when the artifact is graded. The students who did not understand the content will get a poor score, where as the students who do understand will have fewer attempts to get the correct answers.

Reflection: How does your lesson meet each of the ISTE NETs Standards?

This lesson facilitates learning by having students engaged throughout the lesson as well as being interactive with the technology being used. The lesson provides digital-age learning experiences by having the students interact with the technology on several occasions and assesses their artifact, which would be created on a computer or tablet.