Spectacular Space Adventures with Becca

Outer Planets!  Group three's direct instruction was all about the outer planet. The outer planets are Jupiter, Saturn, Uranius, and Neptune. When I was younger Pluto used to be included in the outer planets, but now it is in a category all its own and is called a dwarf planet. Group three did a good job of covering all of the different planets. I really liked the texts that came in from Astronaut Annie to ask the students some review questions and to prompt them to write a letter describing the outer planets. I thought that was very creative.  I thought the Vortex game was very fun and engaging for the students as well. I think the students were excited to get up out of their seats to interact with the board. However, when the students were not working at the board, they were very loud. I think I would have tried to make the game seem more like a game show where the students in the audience could hold up numbers that corresponded with the planets so they were involved ...

Half Way There! Group Two's inquiry was very creative. I liked their use of the mystery bags to help the students explore the properties of the planets. It was very impressive that they included hot packs and ice packs in their bags because it showed how far they were willing to go to create an effective lesson. The lesson was introduced by a Voki who told the class he was lost in the Galaxy because he couldn't tell which planet was which. Again, I really like the use of Voki and think it is a very engaging tool. However, I think Voki is more effective when a person's voice is recorded because the cadence of speech is a bit weird when the computer reads. I think if one of their group members had recorded their voice, it would have made it a bit more engaging, however, the students still seemed very engaged the way it was. I think Group Two's modeling was very good. They went through each step of the Scientific Method before having the students begin on their mystery b...

As one group finishes, another is right on their heals ready to go.  Group two did an amazing job with both of their lessons. So far, Group Two has been my favorite to watch. Everyone in Group Two talked to the children in such enthusiastic voices and you couldn't help but be drawn in, looking for more information. The direct instruction lesson plan was called, "The Universe and Everything in it." During this lesson, the students learned about galaxies, the sun, and the inner planets. I think the trick group two taught the students was very helpful in getting them to remember the order and the names of the planets. The trick involved using their hands to create the first letter of each of the planets. The students would then remember that Venus was the second from the Sun because to form a V, they had to hold up two fingers. Then they would know the Earth was the third from the Sun because they would have to hold up three fingers. For Mercury and Mars, the students wou...

Inquiry Day One! In school, I had always found inquiry lesson to be the most fun. I mainly remember the lessons I had done through middle school and high school, but I remember doing problem-solving lessons earlier than that. I really enjoy problem-solving and trying to figure out the solution to a problem. I find it very satisfying to find the right answer after doing hard work to test my hypothesis. I think an inquiry lesson is what really gets the students to understand the material. Sure, the students can memorize facts they learn in a direct instruction, but an inquiry lesson is where the students' learning comes to life. Group One had a very interesting inquiry lesson. In their lesson, which was called "What Season is it?", the students had to use the clues they were given to help a weather lady tell what season, time of day, and phase of the moon there was in the town that day. The task was presented to the students by Voki. I really like the program Voki. I had...

The first day of lessons! I want to start by congratulating Group One on a job well done. It is a very scary thing to go first when doing something new, like teaching in front of a whole class, Group One was very brave and I would like to give "Fireworks!"  I thought the first lesson of the fieldwork season went well. The lesson title was "Earth Cycles and Patterns in the Sky" and it discussed the phases of the moon, seasons, and the stars in the sky. There was a lot of information packed in, but I thought group one did a very good job of not making it feel overwhelming. I think the major thing that made the information a bit easier to take in was the questions that were asked every few slides. I think this was a great way to make sure the students were understanding the material as well as a great way to keep the students engaged. My group, group four, will be doing something similar. We will be asking the students questions after every two slides of information. ...

The First Day of Fieldwork! Just like that, another first day of fieldwork has come and gone. I think this group of children will be a pleasure to work with. Overall, they were one of the most well-behaved groups of children I have worked with so far. This is a very curious, inquisitive, and bright bunch of students that I believe will be thoroughly engaged throughout our lessons.  Being the first day, my group played a game with the students for an icebreaker. This game was called, "Saturn's Spectacular Science Showdown." It was a board game that consisted of four different types of spaces the students could land on that corresponded with different questions to answer, act out, or ask. The four types of questions included, "All About Me Questions", "Spectacular Science Questions", "7 Second Challenges" and "Ask the Teachers." For the most part, each category was landed on pretty evenly. However, the second group we worked with ...

Two Days to Go! In t wo days, the adventure begins! I am very excited to meet all of the students and start working with them. To build a rapport with the students, my fieldwork group will be playing a game to get to know them and test their prior knowledge. Our game is called "Saturn's Spectacular Science Showdown." It consists of a game board with 12 squares, a spinner app. and three sets of question cards. The question cards are broken into three categories, "All About Me" (questions about the students), "Spectacular Science Questions" (questions regarding space and technology), and "7 Second Challenges" (the student have 7 seconds to complete a challenge based on space and technology questions).  Despite there only being three categories of question cards, there are four categories in the game. The fourth category is "Ask the Teachers" and in this category, the students get to ask the teachers (my group members and I) anything ...