Teacher from Different Grade Band Observation Reflection Form

Teacher Candidate for Science Endorsement (and grade band): Maggie Gudgel
Teacher from different grade band Initials: Lauren Ross Grade band 5th Grade

School: Frey Elementary Grade: 5th Grade

Lesson Topic: “Circuits”

Ms. Ross’ lesson went very well. She explained that this lesson was a very quick
entry at the end of her unit because the students were gearing up for Milestone
testing. The student’s independency was up to pace for this lesson. The
classroom management that Lauren has setup is critical to her instructional
time. The students switch classes so Ms. Ross has to keep up with rotating
classes causing different levels of differentiation. The students were able to
get through issues of overheating and disconnected circuits by problem solving
and rewrapping more coil; because they truly understood the way circuits
work. She had students paired in successful partnerships. The students were
keeping notes/photos from a shared iPad. This was a fun way to remember and
then reflect back at the end of the unit. The students used scan codes to
upload Sway presentations from their experiments. The students definitely met
the lesson objective. I heard comments like, “We need to reconnect the wire
to a stronger battery to keep the nail magnetized.” “I think we need to
increase the magnetism by making sure the nail is not a temporary magnet
etc.” Some of the partnerships immediately corrected the simple circuits to
make the nail pick up more paperclips. The students were completing a lab
worksheet that gave specific instructions to each group. The students used a
wire, nail, and large battery to pick up paper clips. I did see vertical alignment
with the use of circuits in 5th grade. My first graders learn about sound, light,
and electricity through Benjamin Franklin. Although my students do not
actually learn about circuits directly, my students use my simple circuits to
enjoy during free center time. My students learn about electricity in weather
and other elements but not directly related to circuits. Although our standards
are far and in between, I still believe students at the lower level need to have
fundamental understanding of circuits, patterns, electricity, and hands-on
application of experiments. My students recently did the human circuit light in
a tube experiments and LOVED IT! This does correlate with Ms. Ross’ lesson
because my students understand that our bodies are charged and our
conductors of electric currents! They enjoy keeping the circuit tube lit and
playing sounds using our bodies to keep the closed circuit flowing. I saw
discipline and structure that Ms. Ross provided for her eager scientist! She is a
STELLAR teacher! Overall, I took away from this lesson how independent 5 th
grade students can be; and how important the foundation and background
information is to be taught, before the students can truly apply the standards
into their own hands and understanding.