Jorie Pinsof

Monday, November 4, 2013,

SUMMARIZE
My goal was to have students understand friction. I wanted them to understand and learn that the ball will roll faster and for a greater, or shorter distance depending on the surface that it rolls on. To do this I first asked the students to describe the characteristics of a bowling lane. Afterwards we started the investigation by testing out different surfaces inside and outside. We started inside. While the students sat on the carpet, I rolled the ball across the carpet. They observed how far fast it rolled. I had the students measure the distance. We then moved to the hallway. I had the students line up against the wall and count off. (Three- two-one!) We measured how far the ball rolled on the tile and we observed how fast. The students enjoyed helping me keep count of the yards the added up while we were measuring. We moved outside and repeated the steps on the sidewalk and the grass. I had the students bend down and touch the all of the different surfaces and feel the differences. We then went back inside to discuss what we learned and observed. I explained friction by having them rub their hands against the tile and the carpet at the same time. They learned that their hands slid better on the tile because there was nothing holding them back. I explained that that feeling of being held back is friction.

REFLECT
I think that things went well today because I RE had timed it out very well. The students were up and moving around a lot so they werent antsy on the carpet losing interest. They were very interested in watching the balls roll on the different surfaces. I implemented control strategies by choosing friends to help who were showing me that they wanted to help, not just telling me. The students responses showed me that they were interested and learned because during our debriefing they truly understood the concepts I hoped they would. If I were to do the lesson again, the only thing I would do (and I am thinking about maybe doing it for a supplementary lesson) is I would offer more opportunities to allow the students to individually test the surfaces themselves. They watched me roll the ball, and felt the different surfaces, but only a select few got a chance to roll the ball on the surfaces. The end point was realistic because the students witnessed the speed of the ball on the different surfaces, and helped me measure the differences in distance. They also noticed that the ball would have rolled farther on the smoother surfaces things hadnt gotten in the way.

EVALUATE
The children really grasped and understood the goals of this lesson. They were excited to see the differences between with each roll and watch the different outcomes. Fiona shared with the class how different all the surfaces felt and that because the grass was the longest and roughest, the ball went the slowest and shortest on this surface. They learned that when there is a rough surface, there is more friction holding the ball back from picking up speed and going far. When the surface was smooth, the ball had no traction to hold it back. I definitely received the hoped responses from this activity because the surfaces worked exactly how I hoped they would. The ball stopped on the grass without any interference. On the tile and the sidewalk, the ball only stopped because there was something in its way. I was able to relate that to bowling in the sense that the pins are what stop the ball from continuing on a smooth surface. Ms. Chris added that the pins could even be considered friction, which contributed to the lesson beautifully and helped the students understand friction a lot better.

Jorie Pinsof

Wednesday, November 6, 2013

SUMMARIZE
My goal was to have students understand the setup of bowling and that it is setup the way it is because of the domino effect. I wanted them to investigate different methods of setting up the pins to determine which was he most effective for knocking down all the pins in one roll. I wanted the students to see that the ball doesnt have to knock down all the pins, that the pins can fall over causing the other pins to be knocked down (the domino effect). To do this I first discussed the setup with the students on the carpet and showed it to them. I then broke the class into groups of two so they could test the setup on their own. I gave each group ten dominos, a marble, and a box with the ten dots of s bowling set up already in place. I first had them test out their own set ups, and then had them put the dominoes on the black dots. I asked them to determine which setup would be best for knocking down all the dominoes in one roll. Many of the students had difficulty keeping the dominoes up which caused problems. I was able to salvage the situation by then saying that the dominoes were falling without the marble hitting them to demonstrate the domino effect of the pins. For some of the students this helped them see that the ball doesnt have to hit all the pins. We then came back to the carpet to discuss what we learned. I demonstrated with the big pins too so that the kids who werent quite grasping it, could.

REFLECT
I think that todays lesson went the way it did RE today because even though the students couldnt set up the dominoes as best as I wanted them too, I noticed that, and did the best I could to work with the situation. I made it a teachable moment. I focused on my goal of demonstrating to the students that the pins can fall over without the ball. The students even will their difficulty were able to explore with their hearts, minds, and bodies. They were stimulated the whole time, which made them focused when I taught my mini lesson at the end. This was the point where many of the students finally grasped what I wanted them too about the domino effect and the specific setup of the balls. One thing I could have been more clear on for the students would have been to reiterate more that they only had one roll to knock down as many of the pins as possible. Many of the students forgot this direction, and I think it would have created a more successful end point. I also could have created a more controlled investigation to structure the exact learning I wanted the students to reach. The end point was achievable I think I just need to be more controlled next time to make it more successful.

EVALUATE
When the lesson was complete I didnt think the students took away from the lesson quite what I wanted them too. My directions could have been more clear, especially my direction where I wanted them to determine the best way to knock down the pins using only one roll. The more we continue our learning on bowling however, it seems they did understand what I wanted them too. Lauren was bowling at center and yelled lets set it up the way Ms. Jorie taught us! She set the pins up perfectly. Other students with the continuing activities are practicing their counting while setting up the pins. While they might not have quite grasped the domino effect as much as I would have likes, they understood how the pins should be set up. They were able to take away from the activity that the ball isnt the only method that the pins can fall down. With this activity they saw that the pins can hit each other to fall down and the dominoes knocked each other over to fall as well.

Jorie Pinsof

Thursday, November 7, 2013

SUMMARIZE
My goal was to have the students observe a bowling shoe in great detail. I wanted them to understand the differences between the shoes on their feet and the bowling shoe. We first described the bowling shoe as a class on the carpet and the clothing that we wear when we bowl. I had the shoe and asked the students to think about times when they went bowling. I asked them what they were wearing and prompted them with questions like, Were you wearing flip-flops? After our discussion I took small groups of kids to observe the shoe in greater detail, and make observational drawings. Before, I explained to the whole class what my expectations and directions were. I even gave them a rough example of an observational drawing on the dry-erase board. I instructed them to observe the shoe, maybe focus on a specific part of it, and then draw. The students were able to touch and feel the shoe up close. They noticed s details that they didnt before.

REFLECT
I think that a problem with todays lesson RE was relaxed and controlled. This helped the students be successful because they werent under and time constraints, and my goals for them werent as detailed as in the past. I had a lot of support from my cooperating teachers to transition smoothly from the carpet activity to the table with me, and that was very helpful. The students really enjoyed being able to touch and feel the shoe, and then draw what they saw. I incorporated language that I have been learning in my art class to positively praise the students work, and encourage their creativity. Something that has been a consistent issue with this project is having enough materials. I only had one bowling shoe, so when students wanted to have the shoe in front of them while they drew, so did the others at the table. My end point was realistic; I just needed to chose smaller groups or find more bowling shoes to make this more successful. I went around and asked the students which part they were drawing and they all told me which part and why. Their drawings were very detailed and representative of what they wanted to draw.

EVALUATE
The children achieved the set goals because when they broke off into small groups with me and worked on their observational drawings, they really captured amazing details of the shoe. They shared stories about times when they went bowling in the past and had to wear these shoes, and what they felt like. They counted the laces and copied the letters and numbers. I didnt have that many hoped responses; I just wanted the students to explore the shoe. Because of that I was interested to see what the students came up with. Their responses were thoughtful and intriguing. Lilly had a great contribution from an experience she had earlier that morning. She was bowling in a dress and boots (using the class set during free choice) and shared that boots and dresses are bad for bowling. We discussed reasons why. The kids noticed the bottom of the shoe and how there was no traction. (They had this previous knowledge from our friction unit.) We discussed that with bowling you want to be able to move easily.

Jorie Pinsof

Friday, November 8, 2013

SUMMARIZE
Today we made a list of all the questions that we had for our expert bowler whos coming next week. My goal was to have the students think about anything they wanted to know about bowling. I had a dry erase board and I wrote down all of the questions. I explained that she was on a bowling team and that a lot of their questions can be about her team. To help them understand what I expected of them, I started out by saying, If I invited my friend whos an expert about bowling to come talk to us and answer all our questions, should we ask her about pumpkins? Because the topics differed so much they all yelled no! They knew they were to talk, and ask questions about bowling.

REFLECT
Todays lessonRE was another relaxed and stress free discussion. Things went the way they did because the students were able to think freely about their questions in a stress free environment. They enjoyed the display of the questions on the dry-erase board, and they were eager to participate. The students responded the way they did because I made them excited to have the opportunity to ask an export ANTYTHING they wanted about bowling. Something that only an expert would know. This made them really excited. They complied a great list of questions. My expectations were realistic and I am very excited for the speaker to join our class next week and help the students better understand bowling. It was a realistic end point, and a necessary lesson for the students to be prepared for her to come in. I think it went as smoothly as it could have and there really isnt much I would change.

EVALUATE
The children achieved the set goals by being able to compile a beautiful list of questions for our expert. They stayed on topic the whole time, and really worked with each other. Nathan decided he wanted to ask how our expert knocks down the pins every time, and then Camille expanded that by wanting to ask if she had any tips for us. The many questions that the students were able to come up with to ask were my hoped responses. Most of the students wanted a turn to think of a question to ask, so they were all very involved.