My Fieldwork Day

Today My colleagues and I taught our unit titled "Rocks Rock!" to the students at Bishop Dunn Memorial School. We started off the lesson with a pre-test and then asked the students the question "What do you think of when you think of rocks?" The students were then to write their answer down on a sicky note and place it on a rock poster at the front of the class. Then my peers and I went into our direct instruction lesson which checked for student understanding with "STop and Ponder" questions throughout the presentation. We then included an interactive SmartBoard activity  where students were able to come up to the board and see whether different rocks were permeable, wore well, or if they could float or sink. The students particularly enjoyed this activity. 

We then transitioned into our inquiry lesson where students had to look at six different kinds of rocks and say whether they belonged to the igneous, sedimentary, or metamorphic categories. Students wee given a chart in order to record their observations of the rocks' grain size, luster, shape, etc. The class was split into three groups and luckily there were three of us teaching the lesson so each of us were able to work with a group. This allowed for us to guide the students through the inquiry process and help struggling learners if need be. In my group in particular I had a student who needed help spelling almost every word we decided to record on our chart, and I was able to give him the help he needed. 

In the end, I feel as though our fieldwork was successful and that students did learn more then they knew about rocks prior to entering the classroom. When working with them in their groups, I found that they had retained the information from the direct instruction so much so that they were even naming the rock rather than just its category. For example, members of my group knew one of the rocks was obsidian because they remembered from direct instruction. I am sad that fieldwork has come to a close but I am also relieved that my colleagues and I have completed and were able to deliver the lesson with no issues.