What Am I?

Life Science Lesson Teaching Reflectiion

Teacher Candidate for Science Endorsement:
School: Timber Ridge Elementary

Alison Dunford

Grade:

5th

Lesson Topic: S5L1. Students will classify organisms into groups and
relate how they determined the groups with how and why scientists use
classification. a. Demonstrate how animals are sorted into groups
(vertebrate and invertebrate) and how vertebrates are sorted into groups
(fish, amphibian, reptile, bird, and mammal).
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Write a brief summary or blog of your experiences teaching this lesson,
addressing the following questions:

What went well? What did not go well? (Cite specific examples)

Last year I noticed that many of my students didnt know basic

classification or grouping of animals. It was difficult to move into the
standards without remediating this. For example, they could tell me a
fish was a fish, but they didnt know how to classify it the most
popular answer was a reptile. They had difficulty with characteristic of
mammals too. I needed a lesson that was easier to move them toward
the classification standards of 5th grade. This lesson is from
http://www.cpalms.org/Public/PreviewResourceLesson/Preview/46369
and I received it from Sally Creel some time ago. Delivery of this was
a bit too simplistic. I had added cards for sorting to make them think,
and bring up the level too. This worked well.

How well were the lessons student performance objectives

attained?

Since this was a very early lesson, all students were able to understand
their misconceptions and achieve the intended learning targets. I
think, this was also important because classification can be confusing,
and starting with beginning learning targets was helpful.

Did classroom activity center on science understanding, inquiry,

and sense-making by all students?

Yes. The sort was made more challenging by addition of animals on

cards. The output project was turned into a 4-square graphic organizer
and completed independently. Students are accustomed to 4-squares
and this helped them organize their understanding.

Did your scientific content knowledge enable you to support

students construction of knowledge and understanding of
important scientific concepts and processes?

My content knowledge of classification and characteristics is good. I

noticed that my vocabulary started falling apart when we went into
deep discussion of arthropods though. I will need to do more research
and add this to my SmartBoard lesson plans for next time.

When you have the opportunity to re-teach this lesson, what will
you do differently (strategies, teaching tools, assessments, etc.)
to improve student learning for all students?

I noticed that my vocabulary started falling apart when we went into

deep discussion of arthropods though. I will need to do more research
and add this to my SmartBoard lesson plans for next time. This was a
good, simple lesson for remediation and building up or accessing prior
knowledge prior to jumping into the main classification standard. This
was particularly good for students with special needs.