Early Childhood Education
Learning Experience Template
Name: Michelle Brun
Date: April 16, 2018 Grade Level: Preschool
Standard(s)/Guideline(s): Inquiry: Make predictions
Pre-assessment of current knowledge: Ask students what they know about gravity and how height affects how a ball bounces
Instructional Objectives (1-2)
One/Two Assessed Instructional
Objective(s): The student will be able
to...
• Make and state observations about
how height affects how a ball bounces
• Explore alternate heights and make
predictions
One Assessed Developmental Skill:
• Cognitive skills: in making predictions,
sharing observations, and exploring new
factors in the investigation
Safety Considerations:
• Children standing on an elevated
surface to drop the ball from a higher
elevation
Lesson Title: Exploration of Gravity Through Ball Bounce
Developmental Domain: Cognition and General Knowledge
Assessment of Student Learning Learning Experience
Identify Evidence: (What will you collect or Academic Language:
record as data to demonstrate students have Gravity, bounce, height
met your objective(s) and skill?)
Procedural steps:
I will record in the attached document the 1. Teacher asks students the pre-assessment questions about
children’s responses to posed questions about gravity and records answers. T. asks students what happens
the investigation. The questions will be when you drop a ball, if it goes up or down, if it stays on the
structured so that they assess the students’ ground or goes in a different direction, records student answers.
ability to meet the objectives and skills I am 2. Teacher models dropping a ping pong ball and watching it
assessing. bounce. T. hands each student a ping pong ball and allows them
to explore dropping the ball, observing its bounce. Teacher
reminds students not to throw ball, but simply let it fall.
3. T. then asks students what would happen if a student were to
stand on a block and drop it from higher up, after students have
started exploring height themselves. T. chooses a student to go
Program Monitoring: (How will you first and allows them to drop the ball from the greater height.
aggregate or compile your evidence into a 4. T. then encourages students to drop balls from different heights
class or group view?) simultaneously and observe the heights of the bounces. T.
continues asking questions from the form and recording student
answers.
The form on which I will record the student 5. Students take turns standing on the block and dropping the ball. T.
answers to my questions will also include allows students to explore different possibilities of changing the
student names so that I am able to see who height from which the ball is dropped, and asks them to make
met the objectives through the answering of predictions.
my questions and through exploration with the 6. Students can toss ball back into bag as an interactive cleanup
investigative materials. method and put the blocks away to conclude the lesson.
Authentic Materials: (Describe authentic real life, hands-on
materials.)
Ping Pong balls, elevated surface (sturdy wooden blocks, outdoor
playground equipment, etc), question sheet
Adult Roles:
Model investigation, ask questions, monitor student safety
 Early Childhood Education
Learning Experience Template

Resources & References:

Birth Through Kindergarten Entry - Learning and Development Standards. (n.d.). Retrieved April 16, 2018, from
http://education.ohio.gov/Topics/Early-Learning/Early-Learning-Content-Standards/Birth-Through-Pre_K-Learning-and-Development-Stand\

Reflection: (What have you learned about your students? How will this inform future instruction?)

The students were very engaged in the activity, they enjoyed the multi-colored ping pong balls that we used. I learned from past experiences to withhold
the balls until I had finished modeling and explaining, and this kept their focus on what I was saying rather than playing with the balls. The students figured out very
quickly how to alter the height of the bounce by reaching up high and dropping it from their extended arm, and I dropped a ball at the same time from a low height
in order to see which one bounced higher. Some students threw the ball to the ground, and we discussed how force makes the ball bounce higher because they
pushed down harder on it. We did the activity on a thin carpet, which had its pros and cons. The balls had a more controlled bounce and did not go flying into other
areas where students were working, but the carpet also dulled the bounce to the point where it was only a few inches off the ground instead of potentially a foot off
the ground. The lower bounces made it more difficult to see the difference in bounce height, especially from the students on the elevated blocks. I worked with a
group of four students, and that was a good size group were no one had to wait too long to take a turn on the block, and I could keep all of their attention at once
without having to reign anyone back in. One student in particular was very gracious about letting other students take a turn on the block first, and this helped the
lesson move very smoothly. The students also readily answered my questions which informed me that the questions were within a reasonable range of difficulty,
and they scaffolded the lesson well. In general, the lesson was a success though in a classroom where I am the only teacher and I have a larger group, it might be
more difficult to get the same level of in depth conversation and engagement that I got today.