Perceiving Precipitation

Perceiving Precipitation

      Group #3 ventured back to the concept of climate change and specifically singled out precipitation as their topic of choice for their lesson plans. I feel that precipitation is a good concept to discuss because there are a lot of science experiments that revolve around precipitation and there are a lot of types of precipitation that someone can develop a full unit plan just based on precipitation as the ultimate theme. 

Direct Instruction:

       During the direct instruction, Group #3 emphasized the types of precipitation and the different types of clouds. I think that this topic is a very large topic and is very flexible when developing lessons and pinpointing what concepts you are going to teach about. I like how my colleagues presented a classroom set of rules for the lesson and a weather booklet for the students to take notes in. I also liked how well the group worked together to present information and that every group member had their own part of the development section. Visuals were also present to show the different concepts that were being taught which I appreciate. I also enjoyed how in the closure of the instruction, the group created a moment for "Talk to Us" in which the students were able to define their favorite type of precipitation and two reasons why based on the information that they learned. 

Inquiry Instruction:

         During the inquiry instruction, Group #3 designed a lesson where the students would cycle into different experiments that revolved around the different types of precipitation that was covered in the direct lesson. Due to the lack of time, my colleagues had to regroup and make modifications to their lesson by having the different experiments without having the students move from one station to another. The students expressed that they were excited to engage into the experiments. I liked my colleagues used the tellagami to introduce the problem. It was creative. I also liked how each station had an expert to facilitate through the lesson. 

Constructive Criticism & Overall Opinion:
          I enjoyed the concept of both lessons. They were both constructed well and I wouldn't mind using this type of structure in my own classroom one day. For the direct instruction, I wish that there would have been either more visuals and less words or just less details in the presentation that the students had to follow to fill in the blanks of their weather booklets. There was a lot of information which could have created a sense of overload for the students. For the inquiry instruction, I wish that the students would've gone through the cycling of the experiments. It would have been quite the observation to see. Time management is key to completing these two lessons together in the time frame that we were given and I think that the group lost track of time, but they successfully managed to still complete the direct and inquiry instruction with the students. Good Job with your lessons, Group #3!