Amy Dillon

Lesson Reflections: Mini Unit on Rocks

Probe- Page Keely- Is it a Rock?

On the back: Have the students answer the question: Do rocks change? Explain your
answer.
This will help the teacher see what the students understandings of rocks and minerals are before
beginning the unit. This mini unit didnt provide enough information to clarify the probe items.
The question Does a rock change? was more directly tied to the unit. The students needed
further experience to determine what makes a rock a rock.
Lesson One:
I had the students draw in their journals to share. This would be more effective on the
SeeSaw platform. I would have the students take a picture of their rock and using the
drawing or text tools write to describe it. It could be projected on the SmartBoard,
shared with small groups, whole class, etc.
I would have the students bring in rocks from home next time as the playground rocks
were not very diverse. I supplemented with rocks from the lab and my collection from
MSP.
The children were interested in the rocks and liked using the hand lens to observe the
rocks. They came up with descriptions that we used to define the word attributes.
Lesson Two:
I thought that it was valuable to have the students using different texts. All students were
able to share and compare information found from the various texts since they were
accessible at all reading levels. Again I would use a platform such as SeeSaw to upload
the information. I could also use Padlet to create a class chart for all students to access
and post their observations and learnings.
Lesson Three:
The students enjoyed the lab. Next time I will make sure to have parent helpers so
that there isnt down time between the stations. I was glad that I followed this with the
journey on the rock cycle because I think that they understood the difference between the
different types of rocks, but came out of the lab viewing it as a circular rock cycle.
Lesson Four:
Following this extension, I would have the students will write a story on
SeeSaw using pictures from the game about their experience being a rock
going through this rock cycle. The students recorded in journals during the

actual lesson. This would allow them to share their stories with classmates
more readily.
Lesson Six- Evaluation
I felt that the PaperSlide gave me the basic information, but I wanted
to see how the children synthesized all of their learning so I added a
constructed response question. The students were able to use their journals
from the mini unit to cite their evidence.