Embedded Files
Bringing curriculum to life by engaging and challenging students across disciplines.
Bringing curriculum to life by engaging and challenging students across disciplines.
In the 21st century we have access to a world of knowledge accumulated over time, but accessible instantaneously. It is important to make knowledge relevant, to ask students about patterns and ideas that are transferable across disciplines and over time. I love the scientific disciplines, but use the tools of all disciplines in my classes. In all of my planning, I use literacy tools, timelines, historical investigations, and quantitative and qualitative methods of observation and analysis.
The rigor and relevance of one discipline is increased by the presence of another. At its heart, education is an attempt to understand the world around us and the world is interdisciplinary.
The rigor and relevance of one discipline is increased by the presence of another. At its heart, education is an attempt to understand the world around us and the world is interdisciplinary.
Answering and Asking Essential Questions
Answering and Asking Essential Questions
I use essential questions throughout each unit to focus on learning through discovery. Revisiting these questions can nudge students towards higher-order thinking in a natural and engaging manner.
Learning today is not just about memorizing facts, though this can be a component. Ongoing learning requires the ability to organize information and demonstrate understanding by communicating it to others who may not think like you.
Long-term engagement and active learning are less about knowing all of the answers, and more about asking better questions.
7th Grade Life Science
7th Grade Life Science
Using scale as a lens for investigation in the Life Sciences. Cellular, organism, and ecosystem level investigations in the 7th grade.
Using scale as a lens for investigation in the Life Sciences. Cellular, organism, and ecosystem level investigations in the 7th grade.
My background is in Geography, and I think a lot about how I can use scale and spatial relationships to illustrate patterns. For the Photosynthesis Unit I taught in a 7th-grade life science classroom, I decided that we would look at photosynthesis at three different scales; cellular, organism, and ecosystem.
Activities
sub-cellular level: pin-the-molecule on the diagram, using diagrams and pictures to make chemical equations relevant and interactive
cellular level: stomata and chloroplast census using compound microscopes
organism level: plant growth 'longitudinal-lab' with variable light conditions
ecosystem level: students revisited their 6th grade past ecosystem projects, and the cellular respiration unit, connecting the process of photosynthesis to their food web as the source of energy
Plant 1: Sunlight, Plant 2: 24 Hour LED Light, and Plant 3: No Light.
Plant 1: Sunlight, Plant 2: 24 Hour LED Light, and Plant 3: No Light.
Microscope
Microscope
We prepared slides with cuttings from the leaves of plants grown under three different light conditions. Students collected pictures from their lab work:
Organism Level Photosynthesis Experiment
Organism Level Photosynthesis Experiment
Students collected plant growth data over the course of two weeks. As a class, students practiced making qualitative and quantitative observations. Observations and measurements were made individually and added to a cumulative lab report for the 7th grade.
Students discussed why the plant in the dark may have had an initial growth spurt.
Students discussed why the plant in the dark may have had an initial growth spurt.
Tropic response explanation
‘I think no light went up so fast because it may have sensed it was under other plants.’ ~Mahoney Student
Extended Calvin Cycle
'The plant in the dark was stuck in the Calvin cycle so maybe it was making glucose to grow from sun energy it had saved.' ~Mahoney Student
Students took pictures and made observations while collecting measurements.
Photosynthesis at an Ecosystem-level
Photosynthesis at an Ecosystem-level
Answering the Big Question,
'How does sunlight drive life here on Earth?'
'How does sunlight drive life here on Earth?'
Resources on right:
Project Descriptor with Guiding Questions and Examples
For their final projects students revisited the ecosystems they profiled in 6th grade, adding more information about the photosynthetic organisms and the significance of photosynthesis in these ecosystems.
Writing an Additional Learning Target (ALT)
Writing an Additional Learning Target (ALT)
On their final projects, students were given the option to earn a 4 by fulfilling the assessment criteria to explain the significance of photosynthesis in an ecosystem, building on their prior knowledge of Ecosystems and Cellular Respiration, and using what we learned about Photosynthesis their ALT was to use a food web or food pyramid to explain the relationship between photosynthesis and cellular respiration within an ecosystem.
'Identifying an ecosystem where photosynthesis takes place, describing the climate and a plant within the ecosystem (Essential Learning Target), and explaining the role of photosynthesis within an ecosystem using a food-web. The explanation describes the relationship between photosynthesis and cellular respiration (Additional Learning Target).'
Peer and Self Assessment
Peer and Self Assessment
21st Century Essential Learning Target Science
In the 21st century we want students to understand the importance of relating all comments and suggestions to the group’s goal and plan.
The “I Can” goals for the initial project week were:
I can refocus my attention when receiving feedback from the teacher or group members
I can recognize when I’m off task and refocus my attention to the group
I can stay on task when I work within a group or on a team, whether within class or online
Students were asked to assess their own performance in the group, as well as their team member's performance. Some groups were assigned, some were student-choice, and some were a blend of the two.
Student who chose to work in a group with friends, were required to fill out a Team Contract outlining how they planned on meeting the Learning Targets for Collaboration, and explaining how they would handle any difficulties the group encountered.
Accessible Note-Taking in the Science Classroom
Accessible Note-Taking in the Science Classroom
Learning Objective: I can deduce the type of plate interaction that created a given geologic formation.
Learning Objective: I can deduce the type of plate interaction that created a given geologic formation.
Example: draw-along diagram (notes on back)
Vocabulary Graphic Organizer
Draw-along diagram notes as assessment tools
Draw-along diagram note taking
Draw-along diagram note taking
For the plate tectonics Unit in 9th-grade earth science, I used draw-along style notes (top left) as an instructional strategy. I chose these because diagrams were suitable for the content that we were covering, and students indicated that they preferred using diagrams to more text-driven materials.
A series of cross-sectional drawings display the processes that take place at plate tectonic boundaries, in a way that is accessible and would be useful for quick visual assessment and as a tool in future lesson plans. The diagrams were then incorporated into the vocabulary graphic organizer that I prepared for the unit (left).
Assessment
Assessment
Once completed, the draw-along Diagrams served as tools for student review and teacher assessment. We continued to use the draw-along diagrams in classes throughout the unit, pairing diagrams with locations in Google Earth and pictures of geologic features (bottom left) that we would expect to find on the surface of the earth.
Students would hold up the diagram note card that they thought correlated with the geologic feature on Google Earth or the picture on the board.
Differentiation & Universal Design
Differentiation & Universal Design
In high school classes, it can be difficult to get all students to consistently take notes. This may be due to different comfort levels with long-form writing. With draw-along diagrams, all students are able to take notes. Right away it was noticeable that all of the students were taking notes, and concentrating on their note-taking.
Math
Math
Making connections in consumer math
Making connections in consumer math
As a math tutor, I worked closely with a student attending Paths part-time. I'll call her Sara.
Sara was in the Food Service program and was struggling to pass her assessment requiring her to correctly check her till and balance it after two or three transactions.
I contacted her instructor at Paths and she provided me with a log sheet and the amount and denominations of the till that Sara worked with at Paths. With the help of the administrative assistant, I was able to set up a mock till using petty cash, using the exact denominations that Sara's till at Paths had.
Till Log
Till Log
Mock Till
Mock Till
We worked with the Speech Pathologist and incorporated role-playing into making practicing monetary transactions such as counting back correct change. The combination of the verbal practice of counting back, counting with real coins and dollars, and then incorporating Sara's speech therapy sessions once a week paid off. Sara passed her next till assessment with a perfect score.
Writing Number Stories to Tackle Word Problems
Writing Number Stories to Tackle Word Problems
One of the daily activities in my middle school Math class was students writing their own word problems. I set up write parameters for the word problem on the board, incorporating the unit and learning targets that student had already covered. While writing the number stories added a level of complexity to performing mathematical operations, it also made the students more comfortable with solving word problems.
Students would log their 'stories' daily in an ongoing google document. Part of the ongoing assignment would be that prices were realistic, and typically they would include images or drawings to illustrate the story. The latter became very important when we got to geometry.
Assignment: Write a story where the amount you spend in total is $84.48. You are purchasing 4 items of equal value.
Assignment: Write a story where the amount you spend in total is $84.48. You are purchasing 4 items of equal value.
Student work sample:
Student work sample:
Assignment: You have went on a shopping spree and spent $450,530.00. However, you have only purchased three items.
Assignment: You have went on a shopping spree and spent $450,530.00. However, you have only purchased three items.
Student work sample:
Student work sample:
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