Paul Farbman- Science Lesson Rationale

Lesson Objective: Given the opportunity to observe and describe a variety of pumpkins and
gourds, TSW be able to name at least two traits of a pumpkin and describe how those traits help
the pumpkin to survive to demonstrate that living things have physical traits that help them to
survive.
Rationale: In order to assess the objectives of this lesson, I decided to hold individual
conferences with students to determine what vocabulary for the parts of the pumpkin they had
retained from the lesson and if they could describe what each part of the pumpkin does to help it
to survive. Students were expected to name and describe the function of at least two out of three
parts of the pumpkin when given a picture of that part of the pumpkin. This is directly tied to the
learning objective. Acceptable answers were seed, rind (or skin) and stem. Naming a part of the
pumpkin was worth one half of a point. Explanations of the function of each part of the pumpkin
were also worth one half of a point. Students should have been able to communicate that the
seed helps the pumpkin to grow, the rind protects the seeds, and the stem helps to get food and
water inside the pumpkin. I decided to award partial credit for giving the name or the function in
order to measure progress toward the objective of doing both.
This assessment was differentiated for my students in terms of procedure if not in terms
of scoring criteria. Henrietta (pseudonym), a tactile learner, was asked to name each part of a
real pumpkin as opposed to using pictures. She was able to feel the parts of the pumpkin as she
tried to connect to knowledge gained during the lesson. Extra time was set aside to assess
Cassidy (pseudonym), my student with a speech IEP, in order to ensure her adequate time to
slowly explain her answers. This student has been making much progress and met the objective
without taking the extra time provided. Of 18 students present in class on the day of the lesson,
15 met the learning objective by obtaining a score of at least 2. All other students received a
score of 1 .