Cassie+H.

April 14th Teaching Tremendously For my science lesson, I feel like I should have foreseen that my lesson would take much longer than I originally anticipated. In my head, things are done much faster and streamlines, when in reality kindergartners take about twice as long simply to gather materials or walk outside. My group was very helpful in accurately portraying the blissful madness that is kindergarten, and it definitely helped me to allocate more appropriate time constraints to my lesson plans. Overall, my peers seemed happy with the video tool that I used to engage the students because it was easy to remember and sing along with for the students. They also really enjoyed having a chance to make the weather band and gave great suggestions about connecting it with real bands that the students are familiar with. My group as a whole also agreed that the word-sorting section of my weather lesson could be shorter and more interactive. After watching the lesson play out, I realize that I overcompensated for the fact that kindergartners need more repetition. I think that I should have the students help make the words and cards instead of having them pre-made to make the activity more interactive.

For my math lesson, I feel as if it would have been much better if done with a smartboard instead of with just a whiteboard. Much of the lesson centered on one interactive chart, and I would have loved to use the smartboard and have students place the appropriate items in the appropriate rows and columns. This was a reminder for me that I REALLY need to download the software from the library's website. In addition, I had a hard time because the lesson centered around calendar activities that my kindergarten class does, and it was difficult to explain that to my peers without getting too off-track with the lesson. In a sense, part of the lesson is something that the students had been doing and building on all year, and is not something that could be done in one class period. However, my peers did seem to like how I used weather as a backdrop to teach patterns to kindergartners. They felt like it made an easy and relatable transfer for the students. They even suggested working with beads or something tangible to represent weather patterns as well. In fact, their main suggestion was to have more kinesthetic opportunities for learning with patterns and weather throughout this lesson. Looking at how I taught it to my peers, I again come back to the idea that using an interactive smartboard with the students moving items in the chart really would have been the best way to go.

March 31st, 2011 From reading the Stiggins article, I learned that assessment was originally intended to be a motivator. I had never thought of it in such a way because I was aware going through school of the number of students who were anything but motivated by tests. Stiggins describes this group as one that fails the system early on and disengages to prevent further embarrassment. The important piece is actually students' own perception of their performance, and those that feel unsuccessful will lose all confidence and stop trying. I never want my students to lose their motivation to work harder, so I want to work especially hard to make sure that my assessments adequately test students' progress and not just performance.

In my science lesson, I used formative assessment by giving students the opportunity to go outside, observe the weather, and draw what they see in terms of weather conditions. By walking around and having students describe their pictures, I can gauge how much they understand about current weather. A second formative assessment that I used was to have the class as a whole come up with weather terms that would be adhesive or magnetic to the board. They would then direct me as a class how to organize these terms as well. By engaging each student and encouraging participation, I could see who was confident enough with the lesson that they could answer correctly. In my math lesson, one way that I use formative assessment is to have students create a pattern to represent the weather patterns over a two week period. This hands-on activity is a good way to see how able the are to follow a pattern and understand how it applies to the weather chart.

A great resource for formative assessments is the [|website] that has general ideas of how to formatively assess students. The teacher can use whatever content necessary in these formats to specifically tailor their lesson. Another [|website] not only describes what an effective formative assessment should look like, but also gives some innovative ideas that can also be modified to be specific to any type of lesson content. A third [|website] has great ideas for reading and math specific formative assessments, but I also think that they could be applied to other subject areas as well.

I am a very verbal ad linguistic person, so I plan to keep a document for each day on the computer describing very briefly and observations that I made of the students during formative assessments. These observational notes will not be taken for a grade to be counted in class, but more for monitoring students' participation in class and their progress in that subject. I will also use is as a tool to monitor myself and see if my strategies are effective with my students. For future lessons, I can look back to see which elements gave the greatest number of students success and challenged them at the same time and then use these again. I could use mobile technology instead of documents on the computer to take these notes as well. In fact, that would probably be the most effective method because it would allow me to make the notes as I walk around the class instead of in any downtime when I may have forgotten some important items.

March 27th, 2011 I would have my kindergartners explore the following math objectives:
 * Competency Goal 3**: The learner will explore the concepts of geometry
 * 3.01** Identify, build, draw, and name triangles, rectangles, and circles; identify, build, and name spheres and cubes.
 * 3.02** Compare geometric shapes (identify likenesses and differences).

and the following science objectives:
 * Competency Goal 3**: The learner will make observations and build an understanding of the properties of common objects.
 * 3.02** Develop and use a vocabulary associated with the properties of materials:
 * Color.
 * Size.
 * Shape.
 * 3.05** Identify some common objects and organisms that are considered to be natural resources in our world.

My student outcomes would be as follows: 1. TSWBAT Identify and name the various geometric shapes found around the farm and explain their similarities and differences 2. TSWBAT Categorize items around the farm by shape, size, and color 3. TSWBAT: Name benefits of using solar power in terms of sustainability 4. TSWBAT: Identify the source and many uses of solar power

This field trip would come at the end of a lesson on shapes and characteristics of objects, including both science and math components. This would be a great way for the students to go to a farm and find these characteristics in the real world. Though this would not be a summative assessment, the trip would be a great way for the teacher to formatively assess the students and their application of learned knowledge. The trip to the farm also ties in sustainability and natural resources which are part of the same competency goal.

Before going on this field trip, I would make sure to talk about energy and sustainability in the classroom as well. I could show one of the [|Tinkerbell videos] to engage and inform my kindergartners. Though much of the vocabulary is too mature for the students, the teacher could use this [|website] as a basis for what to discuss with students and as a resource for parents to check out if they would like more information on solar energy.

At the actual farm, the beginning of the day would have a tour of the farm with the guide explaining solar energy briefly and what its purpose and benefits are. Students would be in three groups with at least one teacher/chaperon so that the trip is manageable. I would have students be encouraged to ask questions at any time and make sure to be looking around for any shapes or characteristics that they see as well. After the tour we would all come together and I would ask them to tell me anything that they learned/noticed/found interesting from their tour. I would make sure to probe them to talk about solar power and sustainability in addition to shapes and characteristics of objects. After the guided discussion, I would have the students break back up into their groups and give them a posterboard and art supplies, and some large, foam geometric shapes. Using as many of these shapes and art supplies as they want, their group would need to construct something that they saw and learned about at the farm. The students would then present and explain their work to the other groups. //Note: This activity could be done back in the classroom as well if the art supplies would make too much of a mess at the farm.//

March 2nd, 2011 Sustainability: If students want to be very creative, they could make instruments out of old school supplies or even recycled materials like cans and bottles.
 * Content:** There are so many ways that music can be incorporated into math lessons! In fact, music is more like math than any of the other core subjects. Musical instruments are largely reliant on math patterns. In addition, music has been shown to increase academic performance on math related assignments. More specifically, students with a music background have been shown to perform better on standardized tests. One specific lesson that I would love to try with students would be a fractions lesson involving the musical notes. The students would relate whole notes, half notes, quarter notes, and even eighth notes. They would not need to be able to read music, but would need to identify the types of notes. Relating how many 1/8s are in 1 is a great way to learn fractions and music all in one! The students could then find these notes in their favorite song or even compose their own song using these notes.
 * Pedagogy:** This would be a very hands on lesson that would require students to not only learn the computation of fractions but actually the concepts. We could make this lesson inquiry based by putting music notes on cards and asking students to clap the patterns that I make. They would have to count out loud or in their heads to make sure they are correct. This would be a fun and interactive math and music lesson!
 * Technology:** There are a number of ways that technology could be included in this lesson. To learn to read music, the teacher could play this fun video from http://www.brainpop.com/artsandmusic/learningmusic/readingmusic/preview.weml. This could be a great anticipatory set for a lesson dealing with music and math. Also, the website http://www.netrover.com/~kingskid/java-music/index.html is an online composer for those creative students that will create their own music at the end of the lesson. A mobile app that would be great here is the Pandora app http://appworld.blackberry.com/webstore/content/872?lang=en for the blackberry, so the teacher could play classical music in the background of this or any lesson since it is shown to help focus attention.
 * Assessment:** There are a number of ways that this could lesson could be assessed. A diagnostic assessment would be as simple as asking students if they play an instrument or like to sing. From there, the teacher could find out if they know anything about music notes or their relation to math. As a formative assessment, the teacher could ask students to clap a pattern of notes to see if they have the counting right. As a summative assessment, the students could identify the notes in their favorite song or even create their own song.

February 3rd, 2011
 * Content:** My original question was "How many leaves are on a tree?" However, I would tweak this question so that as a class we could find a definitive answer. I would work instead with the question "How many leaves are on this plant?" using a small potted tree from the classroom with a reasonable amount of leaves that I could count beforehand. I would begin with asking students to estimate about how many leaves they think is on the tree, because although estimating is not an exact calculation, it is an essential skill to have. We would discuss why they chose certain estimates to make sure everyone has an answer that makes sense. I would then break the class up into small groups and break off a branch or section of the tree for each student. I would have them count the exact number of leaves on their section and then add the number of leaves counted from each group. In this way, we are estimating, counting, and adding all in one lesson! We could then compare our estimate with the actual sum to see how close we were. I would assess the students throughout, making sure that they choose an appropriate estimate, count the leaves in their section correctly, and are able to add the sections together. As a summative assessment I would give them two options. They could either write me a step-by-step procedure on how we came to our final comparison or draw a picture of a plant with the same number of flowers as the number of leaves on the tree. This activity would integrate excellently with a science lesson on plants as well! We could talk about how leaves get their green color, what makes plants grow, or even give students a chance to plant their own little tree. For a literature connection, there is a number of "tree" themed books, my all-time favorite being //The Giving Tree//. I found the website [|Shel Silverstein e-books] that will let you watch the books come alive as you read them.
 * Pedagogy:** Though I would not have students get up and leave the classroom as we originally did last week, I would still use the inquiry method of questioning. The students are still working to solve a problem and employing critical thinking skills, so it is just as effective. I would make sure to scaffold their work by asking them to explain why they choose certain estimates and guiding them in the right direction if they are way off base. Ultimately, this lesson is about the students finding the answer out on their own, so my input would be limited to guidance.
 * Technology:** As I mentioned earlier, the literature portion of the lesson could incorporate an online, animated observation of the book //The Giving Tree//. I could play it on the smart board and read along with the illustrations. I also found an app that could be used when adding all of the sections of leaves together. [|Math Cards] creates math flashcards for students so they can practice quick arithmetic. I also found a great website that would be an option for either a closing activity for assessment or an anticipatory set. [|Estimate game] is a great tool that could be put on a smart board and used as a class. Lines can be inserted across the bottom for students that need additional help, and the pointer can increase in size for students that have trouble seeing the cursor. Different levels of difficulty make this a very versatile activity!
 * Sustainability:** Talking about sustainability is almost a given with this lesson. We can discuss the importance of planting trees and the resources that forests provide. We can also talk about the repercussions of deforestation and how our class can challenge that. In addition, we can talk about alternatives to cutting down trees and ways of being more responsible with our resources and recycling habits.

January 27th, 2011
 * Content:** When we brainstormed, we came up with the idea that there are too many students commuting to class and not enough parking spaces for their vehicles. This could be fit into many different content areas in the classroom. For one, it could be used in a math lesson. We could use percentages to find how much of the student body at Wake Forest drives to campus, or we could compare the number of students driving to school with the number of parking spaces. In addition, this could be used as a social studies lesson because we could look at the progress of the accessibility of the vehicle. Today almost all students have access to a vehicle, but in earlier decades this would not have been the case. Finally, this could be used in a literacy lesson because we could read stories about cars and other forms of transportation, having students talk about how they got to school that morning as well.
 * Pedagogy:** This method of teaching allows students to be explorative and imaginative. It will allow them to be more focused once returning to the classroom because they have had time to get out of their seats and exert energy. This active learning will provide a jumping off place when the teachers dive into the next section of the lesson. It can give the students a connection to math, literacy, and social studies in a meaningful way that they can remember.
 * Technology:** We used smartphones to gather our data, which is beneficial because many elementary students are already being introduced to this type of technology. We could also use a graphic organizer to make comparison charts of the different types of cars that are driven.
 * Sustainability:** This could be easily integrated into the curriculum through analyzing the amount of energy used to get students to class. We could discuss the importance of carpooling, biking, or walking to class in order to cut down on pollution and waste. Also, we could discuss the benefits of hybrid vehicle models. One website that has great information and resources on teaching students about hybrid vehicles is Newshour Extra. Many of the activities on this website involve technology, so it is a great way to use the technological resources available to the students. This information can be found at the url []
 * Assessment:** An assessment for this project could be a group presentation on the results of their findings. This presentation could use multimedia elements such as a video of their interviews, a slideshow of pictures with voice recorded over, and graphic organizers. The project should include an analysis of how the university could use their information to make adjustments to the campus. A rubric should be in place to guide students through the expectations.
 * Mobile Apps:** One mobile app that could be used is Analyze Mathematics, which provides formulas and functions on the go. Conversions can also be made, so students could measure the parking spaces and convert the area from meters to feet, etc. This app can be found at the url []
 * Other media:** One website that I found that could be of use to instructors is the Discovery Education site’s lesson on cars and energy. When discussing sustainability, the instructor could pull some of the procedures listed to engage the students. This website can be found at the url []