PreConferenceObservationQuestions

Teacher:SamanthaHartman
DateofObservation:Tuesday,October20th,2015
TimeofObservation:1:452:30
Grade/Subject:1stgrade,Science

1. Whatis/areyourlessonobjectives?
Teacherobjective:Studentswilldemonstratethatthewaytochangethemotionofanobjectis
byapplyingtheforcesofpushandpull.
StudentObjective:lcanexplainhowforces(pushesandpulls)canchangethemotionofan
object.
Inpreviouslessons,Ihavegivenstudentsopportunitiestoexplorethespacearoundthemand
seehowdifferentobjectsmove.Theywereabletorecognizethattheycouldpushorpullthe
object,howevertheywerentawarethatthepushorpullwasactingasaforce.Nowthatthey
knowthevocabularyofpushandpull,Ineedthemtobeabletoidentifythoseactionsasaforce
thatchangesthemotionofanobject.Thiswillbetheobjectiveforthewholeweek.Theywillbe
usingthisobjectivetoexplorehowtheywillmakeballoonrocketsmove,aswellaswhenthey
havetoengineertheirballooncarlaterintheweek.Theyneedtounderstandthisweeks
contentofforcesbeforetheygettonextweeksobjective,whichtalksaboutgravity.

2.Howis/arethelessonobjective(s)alignedwiththestatecurriculumstandards?
ThefocusstandardforthisweekisSC.1.P.13Demonstratethatthewaytochangethe
motionofanobjectisbyapplyingpush/pull.FirstIwilldiscusswithstudentswhattheythink
motionisbymodelingwiththeirbodies.Wewilltalkabouthowittakesenergytochangethe
motionofanobject.Studentswillbepresentedwithanairballoonthatisnotblownup.Theywill
discusswhattheycandotomakeitmove.Whatforceswilltheyneedtogetairintotheballoon.
Then,theywillhavetouseforcesofpushandpulltochangehowfar/howtheballoonmoves.
Thestudentsaredemonstratingpushesandpullsinordertochangethemovementofan
object,buttheyaregoingdeeperintounderstandingandlabelingthosepushesandpullsasthe
forcethatisallowingtheballoontomove.

3.Whatinformation/datadidyouusetodesignthislesson?Howdidtheinformation/data
influencetheplanningofthislesson?
Inordertosucceedinthislesson,studentsneedtoknowwhatthetermspushandpullmean.In
priorlessons,studentsmanipulatedobjectsaroundtheroomandmovedthemhoweverthey
knewhow.Moststudentsautomaticallystatedthattheywerepushingandpulling.Othersstated
thattheywouldpickupacertainobject.Iwouldscaffoldquestionsandaskthem,Yes,you
pickeditup,butwhatdidyouhavetodotogetitawayfromtheground?Theywouldrespond
thattheyneededtopullit.Throughanecdotalnotes,Iwasabletorecordthattheyunderstand
whatpushandpullis,however,theythinkapushisalwayssomethingmovedawayfrom
somethingelse,whileapullisalwayssomethingthatismovedtowardanotherthing.Theyneed
tounderstandthatinapush,theobjectwillmoveawayfromtheforceactingonit,whilethepull
makestheobjectmovetowardstheforceactingonit.Byhavingaballoonthatisnotblownup,

studentswillrecognizethatitcannotshootthroughtheaironitsown.Ithastocomeincontact
withaforce,whichwillbetheairthatispushedintoit.Also,Ihaveonestudentthathasthe
misconceptionthatforceandmassarethesamething.Hebelievesthatforceandmassishow
heavyorlightsomethingsis.Unfortunately,hewillbeabsentforthislesson,butIwilltakenotes
ofotherstudentresponsestoseewhatthebestwaytodescribeittohimis.Ialsohavethe
book,AndEveryoneShoutedPull,whichhasgreatexamplesofforcewithfarmanimals.Iplan
onreadingcertainexcerptsofthebooktoclearupanyconfusionaboutforcesfromthe
students.

4.Howwillyouknowifyoulessonobjectivewas/wereachieved?
Throughoutthelesson,Iplanonlisteningintosmallgroupstogetagraspoftheir
understandingwhiletakinganecdotalnotes.Astheyareworkinginsmallgroups,Iwillaskthem
guidingquestionssuchas,Howdidyoumakeitmove?Whydoyouthinkthathappened?Are
younoticinganyforcesactingonyourballoon?Whydoyouthinkthisballoonwent
farther/shorterdistancethantheothergroupsballoon?Whatcanyoudotochangethewayit
moves?Inthebeginningofthelessonwewillbeaskingquestionswholegroupsincewewillbe
discussingwhatweasaclassthinkmotionlookslike.Aswemoveoutside,thestudentswill
respondtoquestionsintheirsmallgroups,withmyCTandmyselfcirculatingtostimulatetheir
thinking.Towardstheendofthelesson,studentswillbeformallyassessedbyrespondingtothe
question,HowdidIchangethemotionofmyballoonrocket?Thiswillbeathreeminutewrite
thattheywillrecordintheirsciencenotebook.Iftimepermits,whenwearrivebackinthe
classroomwewillgatheronthecarpetinfrontofananchorchartthathasthesamequestionas
theirwritingresponse.Wewilldiscuss,wholegroup,whatwedidtochangethemotionofour
balloonrocket.Anchorchartshavebeenagreatresourceformystudentstolookbackon
throughouttheschoolyear.

5.Whatteachingstrategieswillyouusetoteachthislesson?Whatresourceswillbeutilized?
Forthislesson,Iwillbeusingthestrategyoftheexplorebeforeexplain.Studentswillgetto
engageinthecontentwiththeirownthinkingbeforetheI,astheteacher,givemyexplicit
instruction.Therewillbemodelingatsomepointinthelessontoexplaintostudentshowto
worktheairpumps.However,mymainroleinthislessonistosupportstudentsthinkingand
helpthemtofostertheirownunderstanding.Thestudentswillbeplacedinability/socialgroups.
Theywillbeplacedwithstudentswhohavethesameunderstandingofthecontentasthem,as
wellasbeingresponsibleforcertainrolesinthegroup(leader,timekeeper,etc.)Thesearethe
samegroupstheyhavebeenworkinginforthepastcoupleofweeksandtheyhaveprovento
besuccessfulinmeetingtheobjectivetogether.Ialsowillbeusingananchorcharttobringall
studentstogetherandcollaborateonourideastoanswertheessentialquestion.
Oneactivity/discussionthatIwillusetoengagestudentsinactivelythinkingaboutmotionisthe
presentationoftheballoon.Wewillbegoingoutsidewheretheywillfindballoonsontheground
thatarenotblownup.Iwilltelltheclassthatwearegoingtoscreamattheseballoonstomake
themmove.TheclasswillscreamandIwillsayinaveryconfusedvoice,Hmmm,thatdidnt
seemtowork,letstryusingourmagicmindpowerstomovethisballoon.Wewilldothis
togetherandwhenourballoonstilldoesntmove,Iwillask,Howintheworldarewegoingto

getthisballoontomove?Thiswillleadstudentsintodiscussionwherewewilldecidehowwe
willsettheseballoonsintomotion.
Also,allthroughoutthelesson,IwillbeincorporatingWholeBrainTeachingstrategies.Ihave
createdatravelingScoreBoardthatwewilltakeoutside,theVolumeOMeter,aswellasacting
outseveraldifferentactionsthatarelinkedtodifferentvocabularywords.Thesestrategieshelp
thestudentstobementallyandphysicallyengaged.

6.Whydidyouchoosethesestrategiesandresources?
Ichosethesestrategiesbecausetheyallcontributetothefiveelementsofthecooperative
learningtheoryCollaborativeskills,groupprocessing,individualaccountability,positive
interdependence,andfacetofaceinteraction.Forallsciencelessons,thesestudentshave
beenplacedingroupsthatworktogethertomeettheobjective.Theyhavebeenexposedto
facetofaceinteractionwheretheyhavetodescribethetaskandobjectivetoeachother.These
strategiespromotepositiveinterdependencetogivethemafeelingthattheyareinthistogether,
ratherthanindividualefforts.Byusingthesestrategies,notonlyaremystudentslearningthe
subjectmatter,buttheyarealsolearningskillsofcommunication,leadership,andconflict
management.Manyofthesestudentswereunabletoshareideasinthebeginningoftheyear,
butbecauseofthesedifferentstrategies,Ifindithardtoendlessonsbecausestudentsare
alwayswondering,sharingideas,andaskingquestions.

7.Whatistheacademicrelationshipbetweenthislessonandpast/futurelessons?
Studentshavealreadybeenexposedtothelanguageofpushandpull,aswellastheprocess
skillsneededtosucceedintheirsciencecontent.Withthisnewlesson,theyaredeepeningtheir
knowledgeofforceandmotion,byexploringhowtheycanchangethemotionofobjectsby
usingthepushandpullsthattheyhaveworkedwithinthepreviousweeks.Afterthisweeks
content,theywillbelearningaboutanotherspecifictypeofforce,whichisgravity.Studentswill
needtoknowhowgravityaffectsobjectsandwhyitisimportant.Inordertoknowthis,they
needtoaccuratelydefineforce.Inthefuturelessonsofmotion,Iplantohavestudents
participateinongoingreflectionaboutwhatpushandpulldoestoanobjectbyreadingbooksor
watchingvideosofscientists.Theywillbeabletoreferbacktotheirsciencejournalsandadd
anynewknowledgeorpersonalexperiencesthattheyhave.

8.Explainanyspecialsituationsorcircumstancesofwhichtheobservermightneedtobe
aware.
Ofmy16students,IhaveoneELLwhoisunabletowriteonhisownwithoutmodelingfromthe
teacherandcanholdconversationswithsmallphrasesinEnglish.ForthisstudentIhavehim
workcloselywithstudentswhocanexplainthecontenttohim.Therearealsophysical
movementsthatweuseasaclassforcertainvocabularywordsthathelphimtostayengaged
anddiscuss.monitorsmallgroupsandhavestudentssharethinkingwhentheyhaveanAha!
moment.Thishelpsthemtorealizeideasabouttheirownexperimentsandclearupany
misconceptions.Ihavetwostudentsonalternativebehaviorplansbecausetheytendtotouch
otherclassmatesanddistractthemfromworking.OnefriendthatIworkcloselywithisalways
callingoutandhummingduringlessons.Heisverysmartandonlevel,hejustgetsexcited

aboutscience,sosometimesIjusthavetocallouthisnametogethimontrack.Wehavebeen
workingoncallingoutinourclass,butitisstillaworkinprogress.Abouthalfoftheclassneeds
scaffoldedquestions,soIThisistheclassfirsttimehavingalessonoutside,sosomemaybe
overlyexcitedandactoutbehaviorwise.ThisiswhyIamusingatravelingScoreBoardtouse
outsidetoremindthemthatasscientists,wearealwaysworkinganddiscovering,notplaying.

9.Theobserverwillprovidefeedbackonthelesson.Listanyspecificareasonwhichyouwould
liketheobservertofocus.
Iwouldgreatlyappreciateanyfeedbackyouhavetogiveme.Thankyousomuchforhelping
metogrowasateacher!:)