Unit Reflective Summary

Teacher Candidate for Science Endorsement: Kristen Muller

Instructor: _____________________________________________________________

School: Shallowford Falls Grade: 5

Unit Topic: Constructive/Destructive Forces

This is a unit that I am excited to teach each year. We are also fortunate that it
falls at the beginning of the year because it helps to excite students for science
throughout the year. The students were able to achieve all the performance objectives
throughout all the lessons of the unit. I was so pleased with the student knowledge and
discussions in the classroom. Since we just had hurricane Harvey, the students were able
to make real world connections with an event that just impacted the United States. The
students were researching and discussing the destructiveness of hurricanes and the
lasting effects. The 5Es are useful in these lessons because it really does help excite the
students and help that they explore and at the end evaluate. I think it breaks down the
scientific method and process to make sure that all steps are taken for the students to
gain a deep understanding of these concepts. I only wish we had longer times in class to
cover all that we could with these topics. We bring this unit into reading and writing, but
the kids really get the most from the hands on activities.
There are many ways to make instructional decisions about the learning through
assessments. The pre assessment provided some insight that this was not a topic that
the students had a great amount of knowledge. As we checked science journals, STEM
packets, and listened to discussions, we were able to get a quick snapshot of the
learning and understanding. This allowed us to determine if we needed to review or
could move on. Listening and looking at student work also helps us know if we need to
add more activities to gain a deep understanding.
Since my classroom is an inclusion classroom, we have more than 1 teacher,
which helps makes sure that the tasks are appropriate for all students. I am always more
concerned with the advanced students because I want to be able to challenge and
extend their thinking. These lessons allow for students to think and explore at all ability
levels. The one student who struggled throughout all the lessons is an ELL students who
does not speak much English. We use the DHH activities for her and focus on vocabulary
and images, combined with hands on to help her with the language barrier.
Our school has a strong STEM focus, which provides such an opportunity for
students to see that it is ok to make mistakes, have failures or setbacks, and then
continue to success. This unit is a wonderful example of this thinking because we always
want them to see if the can make their design better. How can they change it? This
promotes questioning and collaboration in pairs or STEM groups.
I will use this unit again next year and I will have to make adjustments. My class
make up may be very different and I may need to adjust the lessons. I want to continue
to focus more on hands on learning and not so much paper pencil. I think the students
gain so much from these experiences. I like that so much of these assessments are more
informal and check ins of student learning. This allows the students to feel
comfortable discussing with me and other students. The science classroom is a safe
environment where students can learn and experiment.

Was there evidence of a classroom culture that honors inquiry, wrong answers,
personal challenge, collaboration, and disequilibrium as opportunities for new
learning by all students?

When you have the opportunity to re-teach this unit, what will you do differently
(strategies, teaching tools, assessments, etc.) to improve student learning for all
students?

Use this page as a cover sheet for your summary.