Nichole Piccolo Lesson Date: 4/4/19

Supervisor #2 Reflection

Reflection:

What aspects of your lesson were implemented differently than you planned? Why did that

happen?

The main aspect of my lesson that was implemented differently than originally planned

was the integration of the seed labeling graphic organizer throughout the exploration of the

different parts of the seed. Initially, once the students took the seed coat off of the seed at ​34

minutes and 42 seconds​, I had them label the seed coat on the graphic organizer and write what

the role of the seed coat was once they turned and talked with their tablemates. I soon realized at

36 minutes and 46 seconds​ that the students were tearing the embryos off of the inside of the

seed because I had not yet shared with them what that part of the seed was. Once I saw that the

labeling of the graphic organizer was interfering with the students ability to interact and

investigate the seed, I made the decision to save the graphic organizer to be completed at the end

of the lesson. Because the majority of the students tore the embryos off of their seeds, I had to

walk around with my open intact seed and a magnifying glass for the students to see what it is

supposed to look like. This portion of the lesson was altered from my original plans to allow

them to give in to their curiosity and fully investigate the seed with minimal interruption until the

end of the lesson.

If you were going to teach this lesson to the same group of students, what would you do

differently? Why? What would you do the same? Why?

 If I were going to teach this lesson to the same group of students, I would have given

each student two wet seeds to explore. For the first seed, the students would have been given 5

minutes to do with whatever they pleased as long as it was appropriate and related to their

investigating using the five senses. The second seed would have been used for the students to

follow along in the graphic organizer for questions one through five. This would have allowed

them to dissect the seed and make inferences about what each part of the seed is and does before

actually learning about it. It would have also prevented them from tearing the embryo out of the

wet seed during the actual paced investigation process. I would not have had to walk around with

my own intact seed for the students to observe at ​39 minutes and 25 seconds ​because their

second wet seeds would have not gotten messed up due to utter curiosity. If I were going to teach

this lesson to the same group of students, I would have still paced the investigative process the

same way. I would have instructed the students not to touch the seed once they peeled the seed

coat off of it, but other than that the lesson flowed really well and complemented the content that

was being covered. By pacing this lesson the way that I did, the students were able to share their

observations with one another and discuss turn-and-talk questions with one another. These

sharing conversations began ​12 minutes and 30 seconds​ into the lesson where the students began

by sharing what they observed about dry seeds. The wet and dry seed venn diagram is another

part of the lesson that I would keep in the lesson because the students were able to visually see

the similarities and differences between the two seeds.

What surprised you in your lesson?

The level of engagement and high levels of participation from one of my emotionally and

behaviorally disturbed students surprised me in my lesson. This gave me an idea that this
particular student enjoys learning about science and doing investigative hands on activities. He

had an answer for almost every single question that I asked the class, and most of the time his

answers were correct. This student was very eager to share what an embryo was with the class at

47 minutes and 30 seconds​, and stated his answer loudly and proudly. He was one of the only

students that did not rip the embryo off of their seed, and was very gentle with his observation of

the seed. There were a couple of instances where he got upset that he was unable to answer

certain questions, but he handled himself much better than I have seen him handle his behaviors

in other lessons.

Analysis:

In what ways did you access prior knowledge? What misconceptions were revealed during

this lesson?

I accessed prior knowledge at the beginning of the lesson by covering the objective at ​4

minutes and 50 seconds​ into the lesson, and having the students share with one another what a

seed is (something that was learned about the day prior), and what a seed does. The objective of

the lesson was for students to identify the three major parts of a seed. In order to be able to

identify the parts of a seed, the students first needed to have an understanding of what exactly a

seed is and where it comes from. The students learned about seeds the day prior, so they were

instructed to turn and talk about what they learned a seed was the day before.They then shared it

with the class. Once misconception that was revealed at​ 6 minutes and 23 seconds ​was that seeds

come from within plants. This is an on track response but it needs to be made clear to students

that seeds can only come from the flowers or fruits that plants produce, not from the plant itself.
Claim #1: It is essential that educators review the objective at the beginning of the lesson and

clear up any misconceptions that students may have relating to the content being covered.

EVIDENCE: In the video, one student shared that seeds come from within plants.

While this is partially correct, it was essential that I shared that seeds come from both

fruit and flowers produced by plants to continue my lesson.

Consider how science was represented in the class. What explicit connections were made to

the nature of science?

The nature of science was evident throughout the entire lesson. The students were using

four out of five of their senses to observe and infer about lima beans and what their different

parts functions are for a plant to grow. After investigating their seeds, the students

turned-and-talked to collaborate with their fellow scientists and share some similarities and

differences that the students spotted using their five senses. One difference that a student shared

at ​21 minutes and 3 seconds​ was that the wet seed smelled bad and the dry seed smelled like

nothing at all. Another student shared at ​26 minutes and 10 seconds​ that when she dropped the

two seeds on her desk, the dry seed made a loud noise while the wet seed made no noise at all.

At ​10 minutes and 23 seconds,​ while the students were only investigating the dry seed, one

student commented on the texture of the seed saying that it felt soft. There were also comments

about the color of the seed, and a few students even said that the seed resembled an egg because

of its color and smooth hard outer layer.

Claim #2: When teaching science, it is essential to incorporate one NOS standard to ensure

that students are ‘doing’ science and getting the most out of the lesson.
This is the portion of my lesson plan that includes a NOS standard, which is also incorporated

into the objective.

 This is the venn diagram used during the lesson. The students shared the similarities and

differences of the two seeds that they observed using 4 out of 5 of their senses.

FEAPs and Rationale:

1e. Uses diagnostic student data to plan lessons;

The diagnostic student data that was referenced when planning this lesson was the mode

of instruction that students prefer for investigative science lessons, and as a result are most

engaged, and their understanding of the science content that was being taught during the lesson.

For an investigative science lesson such as this one, a teacher-guided investigation was planned

for the students to do to learn more about the structure of a seed.

2f. Maintains a climate of openness, inquiry, fairness and support;

Throughout the lesson, the students were free to talk with their peers about content

related topics, raise their hand to ask a question or ask for help, and investigate their seeds in an

open and welcoming space. My role throughout the lesson was to pace each part of the lesson

and guide the students to discover for themselves the information that was being taught in an

investigative setting.

3d. Modify instruction to respond to preconceptions or misconceptions;

The beginning of the lesson was focused primarily around observing the students turn

and talk about what they currently knew about seeds. I noticed that a few students thought that

seeds came straight from the plant itself rather than the fruits and flowers that it produced so I

had to clarify that concept before we were able to move on.

4b. Designs and aligns formative and summative assessments that match learning

objectives and lead to mastery;

 Throughout the lesson, but primarily at the beginning, the students engaged in multiple

turn and talks about content relating to seeds while I observed what they were talking about to

plan how I would introduce the lesson based on what the students understanding was of the

material. The summative assessment was a worksheet labeling the different parts of the seed and

writing what their functions are. This aligns perfectly with the objective of identifying the

different parts of a seed.