Anna+D.

__ Teaching Tremendously __

Science: I was extremely nervous before I started teaching my science lesson. I had never really taught a whole lesson in front of any group of people. I thought I was prepared, but when I started talking, I became really nervous and wanted the lesson to flow smoothly. But, my group was very understanding and provided such a great, comfortable environment for me. Once I started teaching, I kind of got in the groove and felt a lot for comfortable. I got very good feedback on my lesson. My group really liked that almost every part of my lesson was hands-on. This is so could for the kinesthetic learners and keeping all of the kids’ attention throughout the lesson. But, I also learned that I should probably use some sort of picture book in my engage part instead of just a story that I read out loud. Since I did not get this story from a book, I could probably make a simple picture book myself. I think this would actually capture the children’s attention much better. Overall, I thought this lesson went very well. Math:   When it came time to teach my math lesson to my group, I felt a lot more comfortable. But, this math lesson was a lot more complicated to teach than my first science lesson. The engage this lesson seemed to be much more well-received than my first engage in my science lesson, because I used a picture book to capture their attention. They also liked that the activity was very student-centered and very integrated to other core subjects. But, I ran into major problems in the weight section of my lesson. After trying to teach this portion of my lesson, we came to the conclusion that this part of the lesson was way too abstract of an idea for a kindergartener to grasp. I wanted them to “measure their jump” with the manipulatives they used, but I do not think that they will get this concept. So, I am modifying my lesson to make it relate in another way to __Hop on Pop__ in a less abstract way that they can understand and still learn about the material. Overall, I really enjoyed Teaching Tremendously. I thought it was a great way to introduce us to the feeling of actually teaching a lesson without getting the kids involved just yet. It was also great to get feedback about my lesson. I definitely took the advice that my group gave me and modified my lesson. But, I would say that next time, we should definitely stay in our grade levels. I am in kindergarten, and my group was in first, second, and third grade. Because they were not familiar with kindergarten, it was hard for them to know what exactly a kindergartener was capable of and what was too easy/too hard for them. It was the same with me and their lessons. I did not know an older child’s learning level and therefore was not able to assess if their lessons were too easy or too complicated. If we stayed in our grade levels then I think that we would be able to get a little bit more accurate feedback about our lessons and if they were appropriate or not.

Formative Assessment:

· The Stiggins article was very interesting and concerning to me. I never realized before that through assessment the children were actually brining themselves down. I always assumed that it was the teachers and the administration that were bringing the child down. But it is actually through their actions that the children actually brought themselves down. There needs to be more that we, as teachers, can do to encourage students to believe in themselves, even when they do not get the problem right away.

· One way to create formative assessment for my classroom is to use a worksheet that presents an activity that will test what the students have learned. For example, this worksheet when teaching nonstandard units of measurement: o [] · Another way for me to use formative assessment is through communication and collaboration. In one activity I plan to use when assessing understanding of the terms //longer than, shorter than, bigger//, and //smaller//. I will give each table a box of used crayons. They will each take out two crayons from the box and figure out which crayon is longer than/shorter than the other. · A third way to use formative assessment in my lesson is through these awesome measurement worksheets. They range from easy to harder. o []

· Here are some sources that can be used when creating formative assessments— o [] o [] o []

· I will document the information I receive from these worksheets by keeping a grade book, which I could assess every night or before I move onto a new topic in the classroom. It will most likely be on the computer so I can make graphs or do anything else I want to do with the results. This will be so useful so I can assess which students are further ahead of or behind other students. I can then assess appropriate enrichments or modifications for those particular students. I can use a smartphone to but data in, so I can constantly access the progress level of each students and the entire class. I can store some activities for specific students. This way I am always prepared and organized for anything that I encounter.

__**S**__olar Farm **Student Outcomes:** · TSWBAT describe the basic principle/process behind the production of solar energy. · TSWBAT calculate the amount of solar panels that will be able to fit into a specific area.

**NCSCOS Objectives:** · **1.01** Develop number sense for rational numbers 0.001 through 999,999. · **1.03** Develop flexibility in solving problems by selecting strategies and using mental computation, estimation, calculators or computers, and paper and pencil. · **5.02** Use algebraic expressions, patterns, and one-step equations and inequalities to solve problems.

**Fieldtrip:** · Before taking the students on the fieldtrip, they need to learn a little about what solar energy actually is and how it works. First I would show them this short youtube video, [], which would just show them what a solar farm actually looks like so they can get an idea in their head. Next, I will use this information, [], as a base for what information I want to teach my students about solar energy. They can learn about solar energy, how it works, where it is found, power plants, and much more. On the field trip I want to take a guided tour of the facility so the students can see how the actual process works.

**Activity:** · While on our fieldtrip, I would have the students as the tour guide the area of the solar farm, and the area of one solar panel unit. When we got back to the classroom, I would separate the students into groups and have them figure out together how many solar panels they could fit in the farm. I could also add to this, by changing the size of the solar farm and then seeing how many solar panels could fit. We could do the same with the area of our classroom, the area of the school grounds, and many other places.

**Content:** · Math – We will be concentrating on area in this lesson by seeing how many solar panels can fit into different areas. · Literacy – In some part of the lesson I could incorporate this book called __Solar Power []__. This will teach the kids about solar power, and how it can be used in their homes and other places. · Social Studies – We can also explore which other places have solar farms and where they are located. This will focus specifically on geography. · Science – This relates to science by actually learning about solar and heat energy. · Sustainability – This is a huge part of our lesson. Using solar power is a great way to save energy and money. By further looking into this topic of solar energy and solar farms, the students will learn a lot about sustainability.

Connecting music and math How can music help you teach math? __ Content: __ I think that using music to help teach mathematics is one of the most useful things to do. This way, the lessons can capture the attention of a greater majority of the students. By incorporating music into the lessons, those students who are more musically inclined versus mathematically inclined can have the opportunity to learn the material just as well as the other students. Music can be incorporated into mathematics lessons through singing songs, looking at videos, and even musical instruments or symbols to count. __ Pedagogy: __ When I become a teacher, I will definitely use music to teach my lessons. Since I want to teach kindergarten, I will use music not only in teaching mathematics, but in all other subject areas, as well. I have observed that kids seem to embrace and learn the material much better when music is involved. My first link, [], is a sight that already has a great lesson plan about teaching math with music. This is a different way to incorporate music into math without using actual songs, like most people would think. In this lesson, the children have to count musical symbols, like notes and staffs. I love this different kind of lesson because it enables students to apply the concept of mathematics to real world situations, like reading music in this example. Through this, children can begin to realize that math relates to other things, not just numbers. __ Technology: __ I believe that technology is vital when using music to teach any subject, especially mathematics. Technology will be needed in order to play songs, watch videos, and play interactive games. This link, [], is a whole website offering different math songs about teaching math facts and concepts to help students learn. The categories include addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, advanced math, algebra, and geometry. This next video, [], is a very kid-friendly video teaching students their 3 times multiplication tables in a song. This could be a great way to introduce concepts to student and start them along a path of memorizing material. __ Sustainability: __ A different way to incorporate music, mathematics, and sustainability is through teaching about sound and noise pollution. In this video about noise pollution, [], the kids are trying to stop all the unnecessary noise in order to get the animals to come out. They teach about not making unnecessary noise. After watching this video, you can have the kids count how many loud noises there were. __ Assessment: __ One way to assess the children’s knowledge of music and mathematics could be to test their knowledge on any other the songs that you use in the classroom. You could either call the children up one at a time to sing the song. Or, if the children get nervous when singing alone, you could have the class sing the song all at once, and simply check to see which students are singing the song. __ Mobile apps: __ Play Math (app store) Description: Come to play a piano and math game (i.e. times tables) at the same time! This app is a great way to build a sense of musical rhythm. Also, it helps to practice multiplication for kids (over the second grader)

Question: How many gallons of water does your family use a day flushing the toilet?
Content: When trying to think of a question that involved counting and estimating, I tried to think of one that could relate to other areas of education, not only mathematics. By using the question, “How many gallons of water does your family use a day flushing the toilet?” I figured that social studies and science could also be used in addition to math. First, when relating this question to mathematics, we could figure out how many gallons a toilet uses per flush, and then estimate how many times your family flushes the toilet a day. We could also use real bills for water and figure out how expensive it is to use less or more water. If you want to practice counting money in your classroom in order to familiarize your students with the value of bills and coins, this website has a ton of great math worksheet to use in your classroom []. For social studies, we could figure out how much money/water we are wasting by flushing the toilet so often. Is this economically good for the environment? In science, we could research if there is any new discovery/invention that has been made in order to cut down on the amount of water that we use when flushing a toilet. This website is an excellent example of a whole lesson plan that a teacher could use when teaching about water conservation. It has activities that relate to math, science, and social studies. This is a great activity to use when tying all of the different concepts together. [] Pedagogy: Not only can this information be useful inside the classroom through all the lessons we could do, but it can also be useful outside the classroom in real life. Through the different activities, they can learn about how much water humans waste every day and hopefully go back home and do something at home to help reduce the amount of water used. A little girl at the camp I worked at put it in a good way (although kind of gross). She said, “If it’s yellow let it mellow, if it’s brown, flush in down.” Hopefully kids can communicate with not only their friends but also their families about their concern with this topic. Technology: Technology can be very useful when trying to find the answer to this question. By using smart phone or iPads, a child count keep track of how many times each member of their family flushes the toilet, or for that matter any other wasteful activity. Also we used our phones to take pictures, like in our group we took a picture of the tree to try and estimate how many leaves were on it. Sustainability: One very important topic covered in this question is the topic of water conservation. Especially at a young age, most children do not yet understand the concept of waste. They also do not realize that so many of their actions and habits are a great detriment to the environment. We as teachers must work our hardest to try and teach good conservation skills at a young age so that they can carry these skills on later in life. This video is a great little song about water conservation. Not only is it a great way to get kids excited by singing, but it also has many valuable tips. [] Assessment: When figuring out how to assess children’s knowledge of estimation, a fond memory popped into my head. In first grade, our teacher would fill up a jar full of jelly beans, and each child would write down on a piece of paper or many jelly beans they estimated to be in the jar. The winner would end up winning the candy. I think I will definitely use this mode of assessment when teaching my students. This was not only a great way to test their knowledge of estimation, but also build their excitement through using candy. Mobile Apps: Learning about counting money and conservation can be a little much for a younger student. So, before we start to learn about this, I have to make sure that their math skills are in check. With this fun and interactive mobile app, the kids can brush up on their mall skills. [] Other Media: When teaching about water waste, we can also talk about conservation in general. This great brainpop website video is great to teach kids about conservation of all types. I love how the video tell you when to pause it so you can ask your class questions first. []

Content: As my group walked around campus asking different students what we had too much of or too little of on our campus, we received many answers. Some of the answers included not enough parking spaces, not enough trash cans, not enough seats in the pit, and not enough diversity. I believe that all of these topics can directly relate to mathematics, because certain calculations need to take place in order to accommodate our student population. Along with mathematics, diversity can also call into the content area of social studies. As a class, we could analyze why exactly there are so many more white students than any other race. When studying these topics in class, we could use fractions to compare the number of students with the number of parking spaces and seats in the pit. When first teaching the students about fractions, I could use thing pizza fraction game to teach while at the same time using pizza to capture their attention. [|www.amazon.com/Learning-Resources-Pizza-Fraction-Game/dp/B00009XNTF/ref=sr_1_2?s=toys-and-games&ie=UTF8&qid=1295898920&sr=1-2] Using addition and subtraction, the class could determine how many more parking spaces, seats in the pit, or trash cans are needed. We could also use a pie chart to identify the percentages of different races of students and compare them to one another. Pedagogy: This lesson was not only helpful in terms of in-class learning, but also out-of-class learning. In the classroom, different mathematics methods and formulas can be practiced. But outside of the classroom, the students are practicing their communication skills while also raising awareness of the problems in their community. Practicing solutions to these problems with mathematical formulas could also translate to the students actually making an effort to fix the problem with the administration. Technology: Technology proved to be a very helpful tool throughout this lesson. First, we were able to use our smartphones to gather data like pictures, writing down numbers, and recording the voices of people that we interviewed. This made it very easy to recall the information accurately in class. We could also use math programs to graph our data, or programs that teach our children the importance of keeping our trash at a minimum and recycling. This is a great activity to do with younger children. [|http://web.archive.org/web/20041029075347/http://www.tnrcc.state.tx.us/exec/sbea/tes/lessons99/milk_carton_art.html] Sustainability: Sustainability would be very important when talking about Recycling and keeping our trash at a minimum. We are running out of our natural resources, and children need to realize the important of reusing our trash. Because young students like to sing, I thought this instructional and fun music video about recycling would be very beneficial. [|www.youtube.com/watch?v=RZcGx-MBr-U] Assessment: In order to test my students’ abilities on recycling and mathematics, I could get a pile of trash (real or plastic) and have them sort each material into the correct bin. After sorting the trash, I could make the students calculate how much of the total percentage of trash each material is. Mobile Apps: When first calculating the basics of how many parking spaces or seats in the pit are needed to satisfy our student body, students can use multiplication, division, addition, or subtracion. This app could be of great use to children practicing their math skills. [|www.apple.com/webapps/calculate/mathflashcards.html] Other Media: This is a great website for kids to teach them about all aspects of population growth, including humans the environment, global warming, natural resources, water pollution, air pollution, and food chains. [|www.brainpop.com/science/populationsresourcesandenvironment/populationgrowth/preview.weml]