Lesson Reflective Summary

Teacher Candidate for Science Endorsement: Jiann Yi Liu (Jenny)

Instructor: Dawn Hudson

School: Norton Park Elementary School Grade: Third Grade

Lesson Topic: Rocks and Minerals (Mystery Minerals)

Write a brief summary of your experiences teaching this lesson, addressing the following
questions:

What went well? What did not go well? (Cite specific examples)d
In this third lesson, students had to identify the mystery minerals by looking at
the minerals physical attributes and performed simple tests on the mineral. The
students are very good describing the physical attributes using the vocabulary we
have been practicing. They were able to know texture means how soft and how
hard. They know the word luster. They are describing the minerals using their
physical properties like a pro!
What did not go well: The harder task for the students to do was using the Mohs
scale to determine the minerals hardness. Many students had difficulties reading
a table. And after they locate the hardness, a lot of them were having trouble
using decimals.

How well were the lessons student performance objectives attained?

The lesson objective-identify the mystery minerals was achieved by around 70
percent of the students. Students need a lot of help from the teacher to find the
hardness of the mineral. They had difficulty seeing if the mineral was weaker
than the nail, then the minerals hardness number should be smaller than the
number designated on the Mohs scale.

Did classroom activity center on science understanding, inquiry, and sense-

making by all students?
The classroom activity was centered around science understanding, inquiry, and
sense=making by all students. The students were very engaged with the activity.
They had discussion among peers. Since the activity was very hands on. Students
had to observe, touch the texture, and made judgement based on the evidence
they collected by their scientific observation.
 Did your scientific content knowledge enable you to support students
construction of knowledge and understanding of important scientific concepts
and processes?
Yes, my scientific content knowledge enable me to support students
construction of knowledge and understanding of important scientific concepts
and processes. Before the lesson, I reviewed the background knowledge on
rocks and minerals. Also I reviewed the misconception on rocks and minerals.

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?
When I have the opportunity to re-teach this lesson, I would review how to read
a chart during math time. Also I would introduce decimals before the lesson, or I
would just round up the numbers without using the decimals. I would also go
over greater than, less than concept with the students before the lesson.