-I liked the KWL sheet. I am sure a lot of people did as well. Very effective and gives you the teacher some evidence which you can look at for informal assessment later. Very cool.
-I like how you had visuals (pictures), some play dough for hands on, and a worksheet for reading and gathering information.
-I liked how you used your own experience in Trinidad as a “Hook” and there was variety of things happening to keep me focused.
- You did excellent job in lesson presentation and lesson explaining. To refresh because I didn’t have time to write notes during your presentation can you please list the PLO’s for the reading aspect you were focused on. What was the Big Idea with respect to LA?
Leah Pells July 6th-2009 “KWL”: by Alana, Kerry, Kelly and Hanna This was a great differentiated instruction lesson, as they provided so many different types of learning. The topic was very interesting as I had no idea asphalt was even a naturally occurring resource. I loved the photos, the rock of asphalt we got to hold and of course the play dough! The place mat was as great group strategy and I will use that in my class one day for sure. Thank you, great lesson. Leah
I thought that it was a great idea how you combined the KWL Strategy and Placemat. I always used them separately but I can definitely see that it really works. Your lesson was fun, detailed and geared towards all different types of learner which is something that we all always need to think about. I like how you had a variety of different engagement activities as well as different materials to engage us. I thought that it was fun that we actually got the chance to do the experiment. Thank you for your lesson, and the play-dough was great.
The KWL activity was very interactive, it gave an opportunity for every student to participate with their own box. I really like that idea. The playdoh was also very fun for students however, classroom management may be problematic here. The teacher would definitely need to tell students the purpose of the playdoh. On the other hand, the class also discussed how the playdoh may be beneficial for tactile learners. The reading excerpt was concise and very clear. It answered most of the question my group had wondered
This KWL lesson was very interesting. I learned so much from this lesson so clearly it would be effective as a real classroom lesson! I liked that it was a co-operative group activity and the use of placemats to organize our thinking was great! The group work helps to support all learners because they are working together to find information. I thought the visuals of the pictures and the asphalt were very helpful, especially for visual learners. I also enjoyed how they brought in the play-doh for the more tactile learners, I found it to be very calming. This lesson really incorporated all the senses.
Like many others I really liked the colourful KWL/Placemat charts. What a great idea! I also liked how engaged the class (and the teachers) were with their topic. Considering it was a non-fiction text that is very commendable. I REALLY liked how you incorporated so many senses… when teaching science (which I found was anything but boring in our grade 4 class) I found that students had the most fun when at least 3 senses were being used. The one that was often ignored was taste, but considering the health implications of us all eating playdoh or asphalt I think it better you left that one out! Thanks for the great lesson, Crystal
Ashok... Here are all the answers to your questions:
Our Big Idea: In the context of this lesson, the K.W.L. strategy for reading comprehension allows students to connect knowledge between a previous unit on Trinidad & Tobago to a unit on Natural Resources that is just beginning.
Our PLO's:
Language Arts 5: -Read fluently and demonstrate comprehension of a range of grade-appropriate literary texts, including literature from Canada and other countries.
Social Studies 5: -Analyse the relationship between the economic development of communities and their available resources.
Thank you everyone for your comments. I'll be sure to bring the magazine the article was from for our show & share class if anyone wants to photocopy anything from it.
The lesson that your group created was excellent, it was organized, had authentic examples and lent it self to group work. As a class we were engaged, so I can only imagine that any class participating in this lesson would be just as excited about Pitch Lake. Fantastic!
I went straight home and told my husband all about what I learned at school concerning asphalt. He wasn’t as impressed as I was, but I guess he had to be there. I thought you all did a fantastic job. I LOVED the twist on placemat/KWL and I will most DEFINITELY use that again. What a great way to combine 2 strategies. Love it! I also really appreciated how you addressed so many of the differentiated learning styles. You incorporated so many of them without making us feel overloaded. I thought this was a great way to introduce your subject and an excellent way to bring language/reading into cross curricular activities. I really enjoyed your presentation.
I thought this lesson was amazing!! I absolutely loved seeing the combination of placemats and a KWL. I think this would be a great change from the typical KWL worksheet.
I liked how the group addressed how the various abilities in the classroom could all participate in this activity, where weak and strong students could buddy up.
I really appreciated the awareness of the senses in the lesson. The group was able to show the class what Pitch Lake looked like, actual examples of asphalt, and the use of the play-doh to show the class what it would feel like in some places. I think this would really help students stay engaged in the lesson and build more meaningful connections because the students are able to see and feel this 'place' eventhough they have never been there.
The lesson on Pitch Lake was very informative and interesting.
- I really enjoyed seeing the K-W-L placemats, they were so different but they fit in so well with your rationale. I think that it is important to concentrate on the idea of building knowledge in the classroom community, as you said, it helps students build confidence in themselves and creates conversation. - I loved the fact that you brought in the senses – the visual with the pictures, the tactile with the asphalt and the play-doh, and the oral with the conversations. This really was a lesson that incorporated the idea of differentiated learning. - Was this was a combination of Language Arts and Social Studies, or was it a Social Studies lesson? I was unclear on this fact.
This presentation was a good way to end the first set of presentations, great engaging activities and interesting facts.
Fantastic lesson. The place mat activity allows all of us to contribute, all of our senses were heightened, and we actually learned something! It was pretty cool, especially because I had never heard of Pitch Lake before!! So thanks for sharing such a great lesson idea with us!
This was a very interesting lesson. I had never seen the KWL strategy used in the way your group did. I think it was a very useful way to incorporate everyone’s ideas in one place. I love the fact that you had visuals and hands-on material for each of the groups. However, I do feel like the play dough could get distracting (myself included :S). The fact that this strategy can be used in cross-curricular ways is great. Excellent work!
The place mat idea for this lesson was fabulous. I think that this is a really good way to make all students feel like they contributed something – even if they’re not sure about the topic they can look at their group members’ answers and go from there. I also really liked how much time there was for discussion among the groups. I think this is also a great way to get ideas flowing, to activate prior knowledge and to keep students engaged. Finally, it was fun! Including the ashfault, playdo and pictures would definitely keep the students interested and engaged in the lesson. Thanks for teaching me about Pitch Lakes!
: Comprehension, KWL, Pitch Lake. Your concept was excellent. The scaffolding into other subjects was a great way to show “Reading to Learn”. I found this material to be so interesting! I have taught about earthquakes, volcanoes, Earth’s core and layers and this would fit right in there! We know to do science, math or anything else we need to do some reading. Without good comprehension levels, science, social studies and math can be very challenging. The inclusion of the photos made the learning very real and engaging. The children love it when they see real photos, especially if it is someone they know. One of my children’s classes followed the teacher’s friend, whom they had met, around Africa. It launched the engagement levels and cemented the knowledge they learned. My daughter still talks about it. Having said all that the KWL place mats are a great interactive and organizational tool that I will certainly use in the future: very ingenious. The kinaesthetic qualities of you lesson were also excellent. I found when teaching science the best lessons were the hands on interactive lessons. I want to repeat the same thing I said to group one: The only caution I have for you would be to think about the nervous “ah”, “umm”, and “yeahs”. Perhaps in front of children in the classroom this is not an issue. Like Crystal said, in front of the kids it is easy; it is the adults that make us nervous.
KWL Lesson The lesson was interesting and useful. I liked how the group combined the idea of the KWL strategy and placemat. It was visually appealing. The information from the article was very useful. I never thought that asphalt was a natural resource. Also, the rock of asphalt and photos were great for visual and tactile learners, but I could not see how play dough was related to the lesson. The group well presented how cooperative learning could be beneficial to individual learners.
Normally as soon as I would hear a word like asphalt or tar I would tune out because I am not too interested in science topics! But I was completely hooked on this one, and I am sure it was because of the way it was presented. The KWL got me thinking, the Trinidad aspect and pictures appealed to my love of travel and the play doh was a great way to keep us engaged. This was another great example of using more than one learning modality to reach all students. Very organized and well presented, excellent job
This was fantastic! The combined KWL/placemat sheet is in my binder all ready to pull out when I have the opportunity in a classroom - I had not seen it done this way before. There was such a great amount of cross-curricular application here; fantastic materials/resources in pictures, the placemat, handout...awesome lesson idea!!
Like many of my classmates have already mentioned, I too felt that this was a great lesson for differentiated learning. Throughout this activity we were able to read, write, have discussions within our group, and in the end we learned a lot. One of the things I really liked about this lesson was the format that your group used for the KWL. It allowed us, the students, to first write their own ideas and then during the second stage allowed us to bounce ideas off of each other in order to learn more. In addition, I thought that your lesson was really interesting! I learned a lot about asphalt and was actually really surprised by some of the things that I didn’t know. As a result, I couldn’t help thinking that this type of strategy could be used to help children learn almost anything in any subject. Thank you for sharing your lesson, P.S. The play dough was a great touch!
Like everyone else, I was really excited by the combination of a KWL and placemat activity. I also liked that you had a lesson suited for an older group of students. Your personal stories about the topic really engaged me and I can see how they would do the same for a group of students. It's a wonderful way to share your own life experiences with you class, which I think it very important. I also think it would allow you to answer the questions about a topic that aren't covered in a textbook.
Your use of differentiated learning was great and I liked that you actually *did* the differentiated activities instead of talking about them. It's always interesting to see them in action. Your topic was also not one I have seen covered in class before. Because of this and the novelty of the general topic, I found myself very interested and attentive during the lesson. Thank you for much for sharing it with us!
At first I was thinking "Pitch Lake? huh? You are teaching WHAT?!!" Then you handed out the rocks. Once I got into the lesson, I was completely engaged!
I liked the fact that you had physical, tangible examples engaging students senses and attention-- handing out the rocks, photos of Pitch Lake, Playdoh to simulate the soft rocks (and thereafter as something to "play" with ;). I also really liked your use of personal experience and the use of "small group" KWL rather than "whole class" - I had never seen this before and think students might be more likely to share their thoughts in a smaller, safer environment. Well presented, well organized.
Group : Kwl/Placemat – Pitch Lake Thank you for posting the PLO’s I needed that clarification too. I loved that you brought in photos and objects to hold. I too went home and told my husband about asphalt being a naturally occurring resource. This was a great demonstration of an integrated lesson between LA and SS.
Ashok’s 3 stars and a question for group 4:
ReplyDelete-I liked the KWL sheet. I am sure a lot of people did as well. Very effective and gives you the teacher some evidence which you can look at for informal assessment later. Very cool.
-I like how you had visuals (pictures), some play dough for hands on, and a worksheet for reading and gathering information.
-I liked how you used your own experience in Trinidad as a “Hook” and there was variety of things happening to keep me focused.
- You did excellent job in lesson presentation and lesson explaining. To refresh because I didn’t have time to write notes during your presentation can you please list the PLO’s for the reading aspect you were focused on. What was the Big Idea with respect to LA?
God Bless,
Ashok K.
Leah Pells
ReplyDeleteJuly 6th-2009
“KWL”: by Alana, Kerry, Kelly and Hanna
This was a great differentiated instruction lesson, as they provided so many different types of learning. The topic was very interesting as I had no idea asphalt was even a naturally occurring resource. I loved the photos, the rock of asphalt we got to hold and of course the play dough!
The place mat was as great group strategy and I will use that in my class one day for sure.
Thank you, great lesson.
Leah
I thought that it was a great idea how you combined the KWL Strategy and Placemat. I always used them separately but I can definitely see that it really works. Your lesson was fun, detailed and geared towards all different types of learner which is something that we all always need to think about. I like how you had a variety of different engagement activities as well as different materials to engage us. I thought that it was fun that we actually got the chance to do the experiment. Thank you for your lesson, and the play-dough was great.
ReplyDeleteKWL lesson
ReplyDeleteThe KWL activity was very interactive, it gave an opportunity for every student to participate with their own box. I really like that idea. The playdoh was also very fun for students however, classroom management may be problematic here. The teacher would definitely need to tell students the purpose of the playdoh. On the other hand, the class also discussed how the playdoh may be beneficial for tactile learners. The reading excerpt was concise and very clear. It answered most of the question my group had wondered
This KWL lesson was very interesting. I learned so much from this lesson so clearly it would be effective as a real classroom lesson! I liked that it was a co-operative group activity and the use of placemats to organize our thinking was great!
ReplyDeleteThe group work helps to support all learners because they are working together to find information.
I thought the visuals of the pictures and the asphalt were very helpful, especially for visual learners.
I also enjoyed how they brought in the play-doh for the more tactile learners, I found it to be very calming.
This lesson really incorporated all the senses.
Like many others I really liked the colourful KWL/Placemat charts. What a great idea! I also liked how engaged the class (and the teachers) were with their topic. Considering it was a non-fiction text that is very commendable. I REALLY liked how you incorporated so many senses… when teaching science (which I found was anything but boring in our grade 4 class) I found that students had the most fun when at least 3 senses were being used. The one that was often ignored was taste, but considering the health implications of us all eating playdoh or asphalt I think it better you left that one out!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the great lesson,
Crystal
Ashok... Here are all the answers to your questions:
ReplyDeleteOur Big Idea:
In the context of this lesson, the K.W.L. strategy for reading comprehension allows students to connect knowledge between a previous unit on Trinidad & Tobago to a unit on Natural Resources that is just beginning.
Our PLO's:
Language Arts 5:
-Read fluently and demonstrate comprehension of a range of grade-appropriate literary texts, including literature from Canada and other countries.
Social Studies 5:
-Analyse the relationship between the economic development of communities and their available resources.
Thank you everyone for your comments. I'll be sure to bring the magazine the article was from for our show & share class if anyone wants to photocopy anything from it.
The lesson that your group created was excellent, it was organized, had authentic examples and lent it self to group work. As a class we were engaged, so I can only imagine that any class participating in this lesson would be just as excited about Pitch Lake. Fantastic!
ReplyDeleteI went straight home and told my husband all about what I learned at school concerning asphalt. He wasn’t as impressed as I was, but I guess he had to be there. I thought you all did a fantastic job. I LOVED the twist on placemat/KWL and I will most DEFINITELY use that again. What a great way to combine 2 strategies. Love it! I also really appreciated how you addressed so many of the differentiated learning styles. You incorporated so many of them without making us feel overloaded. I thought this was a great way to introduce your subject and an excellent way to bring language/reading into cross curricular activities. I really enjoyed your presentation.
ReplyDelete"Pitch Lake - Trinidad" KWL - Kelly, Alanna, Deanna & Kerri
ReplyDeleteI thought this lesson was amazing!!
I absolutely loved seeing the combination of placemats and a KWL. I think this would be a great change from the typical KWL worksheet.
I liked how the group addressed how the various abilities in the classroom could all participate in this activity, where weak and strong students could buddy up.
I really appreciated the awareness of the senses in the lesson. The group was able to show the class what Pitch Lake looked like, actual examples of asphalt, and the use of the play-doh to show the class what it would feel like in some places. I think this would really help students stay engaged in the lesson and build more meaningful connections because the students are able to see and feel this 'place' eventhough they have never been there.
Great lesson!
The lesson on Pitch Lake was very informative and interesting.
ReplyDelete- I really enjoyed seeing the K-W-L placemats, they were so different but they fit in so well with your rationale. I think that it is important to concentrate on the idea of building knowledge in the classroom community, as you said, it helps students build confidence in themselves and creates conversation.
- I loved the fact that you brought in the senses – the visual with the pictures, the tactile with the asphalt and the play-doh, and the oral with the conversations. This really was a lesson that incorporated the idea of differentiated learning.
- Was this was a combination of Language Arts and Social Studies, or was it a Social Studies lesson? I was unclear on this fact.
This presentation was a good way to end the first set of presentations, great engaging activities and interesting facts.
Fantastic lesson. The place mat activity allows all of us to contribute, all of our senses were heightened, and we actually learned something! It was pretty cool, especially because I had never heard of Pitch Lake before!! So thanks for sharing such a great lesson idea with us!
ReplyDeleteThis was a very interesting lesson. I had never seen the KWL strategy used in the way your group did. I think it was a very useful way to incorporate everyone’s ideas in one place. I love the fact that you had visuals and hands-on material for each of the groups. However, I do feel like the play dough could get distracting (myself included :S). The fact that this strategy can be used in cross-curricular ways is great. Excellent work!
ReplyDeleteThe place mat idea for this lesson was fabulous. I think that this is a really good way to make all students feel like they contributed something – even if they’re not sure about the topic they can look at their group members’ answers and go from there. I also really liked how much time there was for discussion among the groups. I think this is also a great way to get ideas flowing, to activate prior knowledge and to keep students engaged. Finally, it was fun! Including the ashfault, playdo and pictures would definitely keep the students interested and engaged in the lesson. Thanks for teaching me about Pitch Lakes!
ReplyDelete: Comprehension, KWL, Pitch Lake. Your concept was excellent. The scaffolding into other subjects was a great way to show “Reading to Learn”. I found this material to be so interesting! I have taught about earthquakes, volcanoes, Earth’s core and layers and this would fit right in there! We know to do science, math or anything else we need to do some reading. Without good comprehension levels, science, social studies and math can be very challenging. The inclusion of the photos made the learning very real and engaging. The children love it when they see real photos, especially if it is someone they know. One of my children’s classes followed the teacher’s friend, whom they had met, around Africa. It launched the engagement levels and cemented the knowledge they learned. My daughter still talks about it. Having said all that the KWL place mats are a great interactive and organizational tool that I will certainly use in the future: very ingenious. The kinaesthetic qualities of you lesson were also excellent. I found when teaching science the best lessons were the hands on interactive lessons.
ReplyDeleteI want to repeat the same thing I said to group one: The only caution I have for you would be to think about the nervous “ah”, “umm”, and “yeahs”. Perhaps in front of children in the classroom this is not an issue. Like Crystal said, in front of the kids it is easy; it is the adults that make us nervous.
KWL Lesson
ReplyDeleteThe lesson was interesting and useful. I liked how the group combined the idea of the KWL strategy and placemat. It was visually appealing. The information from the article was very useful. I never thought that asphalt was a natural resource. Also, the rock of asphalt and photos were great for visual and tactile learners, but I could not see how play dough was related to the lesson. The group well presented how cooperative learning could be beneficial to individual learners.
Normally as soon as I would hear a word like asphalt or tar I would tune out because I am not too interested in science topics! But I was completely hooked on this one, and I am sure it was because of the way it was presented. The KWL got me thinking, the Trinidad aspect and pictures appealed to my love of travel and the play doh was a great way to keep us engaged. This was another great example of using more than one learning modality to reach all students. Very organized and well presented, excellent job
ReplyDeleteThis was fantastic! The combined KWL/placemat sheet is in my binder all ready to pull out when I have the opportunity in a classroom - I had not seen it done this way before. There was such a great amount of cross-curricular application here; fantastic materials/resources in pictures, the placemat, handout...awesome lesson idea!!
ReplyDeleteLike many of my classmates have already mentioned, I too felt that this was a great lesson for differentiated learning. Throughout this activity we were able to read, write, have discussions within our group, and in the end we learned a lot. One of the things I really liked about this lesson was the format that your group used for the KWL. It allowed us, the students, to first write their own ideas and then during the second stage allowed us to bounce ideas off of each other in order to learn more. In addition, I thought that your lesson was really interesting! I learned a lot about asphalt and was actually really surprised by some of the things that I didn’t know. As a result, I couldn’t help thinking that this type of strategy could be used to help children learn almost anything in any subject. Thank you for sharing your lesson,
ReplyDeleteP.S. The play dough was a great touch!
Like everyone else, I was really excited by the combination of a KWL and placemat activity. I also liked that you had a lesson suited for an older group of students. Your personal stories about the topic really engaged me and I can see how they would do the same for a group of students. It's a wonderful way to share your own life experiences with you class, which I think it very important. I also think it would allow you to answer the questions about a topic that aren't covered in a textbook.
ReplyDeleteYour use of differentiated learning was great and I liked that you actually *did* the differentiated activities instead of talking about them. It's always interesting to see them in action. Your topic was also not one I have seen covered in class before. Because of this and the novelty of the general topic, I found myself very interested and attentive during the lesson. Thank you for much for sharing it with us!
At first I was thinking "Pitch Lake? huh? You are teaching WHAT?!!" Then you handed out the rocks. Once I got into the lesson, I was completely engaged!
ReplyDeleteI liked the fact that you had physical, tangible examples engaging students senses and attention-- handing out the rocks, photos of Pitch Lake, Playdoh to simulate the soft rocks (and thereafter as something to "play" with ;). I also really liked your use of personal experience and the use of "small group" KWL rather than "whole class" - I had never seen this before and think students might be more likely to share their thoughts in a smaller, safer environment.
Well presented, well organized.
Group : Kwl/Placemat – Pitch Lake
ReplyDeleteThank you for posting the PLO’s I needed that clarification too. I loved that you brought in photos and objects to hold. I too went home and told my husband about asphalt being a naturally occurring resource. This was a great demonstration of an integrated lesson between LA and SS.