Best Internship Reflection

This week, my mentor teacher made science relevant to students by connecting what they were learning,
which was the water cycle, to the recent water pipe breakage and sinkhole on Apache Blvd and
McClintock Dr. That day, the students, my mentor teacher, and I were all out in the courtyard discussing
trees, plants, and the transpiration of water from those plants. The students noticed that there were about
three helicopters in the area and were wondering why they were there. My mentor teacher took it upon
herself to quickly look it up and found that there was a small sink hole created by a water pipe breakage.
Even though this wasnt created by standing ground water like the water cycle indicates might happen, it
was a useful teaching moment since students were very interested in why the helicopters were in the
area. For ELLs, I think this teaching moment is useful but also uses vocabulary that they might not
immediately understand. Even though the vocabulary might be a bit of a struggle for them, ELs are quite
capable of grappling with authentic and contextualized real-world problems that enhance both language
development and conceptual understandings, and [teachers] should provide opportunities for them to do
so (Tolbert, Stoddart, Lyon, & Solis, 2014). This was a real-world occurrence and ELLs would benefit
from learning about this sinkhole as it was happening.
My mentor teacher also made science relevant to the students this week by relating the water cycle to
things that the students know and deal with on a daily basis. The students briefly investigated how
transpiration occurs through putting a plastic bag on a leaf and waiting to see how much water collects.
The students were also asked by my mentor teacher when they have seen different parts of the water
cycle occur in their own lives rather than just in nature. One student recognized that condensation in
clouds is similar to condensation in their water bottle. Another student mentioned that water evaporates
off of a pot of boiling water when they are making pasta. This was relevant to the students since they
came up with their own analogies for the different parts of the water cycle. By having the students come
up with the analogies themselves, ELLs can make their own analogies that will help them to remember
the different components of the water cycle in a way that is relevant to them.
References
Tolbert, S., Stoddart, T., Lyon, E. G., & Solis, J. (2014). The next generation science standards, common
core state standards, and english learners :Using the SSTELLA framework to prepare science teachers.
Issues in Teacher Education, 23(1), 65-74.