- When does it take place? Does it take place? Think critically.
- What does it encompass?
- During science instruction, what does your CT do/ say?
- What do students do/ say? How do they respond?
- What are your opinions/ feelings about this?
- How does what you observe about science at this site connect with past clinical experiences/ early childhood theories/ and or science practices you have been learning about at ISU?
- How does knowing this inform what you will do when teaching and assessing science (either this semester, next semester in student teaching, and/or next year)?
After being in my clinical for this amount of time, I have
only seen one science "lesson".
This was during my first week of being there and I had a substitute
teacher. This "lesson" was to
be used as a time filler. The sub had no
clue as to what to talk about for the topic of simple machines. This topic was way over the children's
head. The sub read a non-fiction book to
them about simple machines. I found this
to be a developmentally appropriate practice as the students were connected to
the book. It was simple with real life
pictures. When I was watching this
lesson, I noticed the students had A LOT of questions. When the sub did finally call upon a student
to ask their question, she had no idea on how to answer it. After the reading of the book, the sub put up
vocabulary words on the board. I found
this to be a great practice, if it had pictures next to it and the vocabulary
was explained, however it was not. After
this, the students were given a worksheet.
I would say this worksheet would have been appropriate for a first or
second grade level, not kindergarten.
When the sub noticed the kids could not read the worksheet and were
struggling, they did it together. During
this time, the sub basically just gave the children the answers because they
were unable to figure out the answers. I
believe science is not focused on because my CT does not see the importance in
it. She said that most science is too
complex. I think if she even just added
a scientific book, it would be better than what the students are receiving
now. The day at my clinical revolves
around brain breaks and literacy. I have
only seen math three times for a very short time. I find this so surprising because math and
science go hand in hand in a lot of careers.
These subjects are so important and can be so fun for the students. I will be discussing with my CT this
week. In preparation for that, I have
been looking up ideas to come prepared to share ideas. I think that by using some hands on or
engaging lessons, the students will see how great science is and hopefully
spark an interest. Below are a few ideas
I have found. I really like the cloud
idea because weather is something at circle time that is ignored. I think it is important for students to go to
the window and see what the weather is like so that they begin to understand
weather a little better. We talk in 276
about how important it is to create visuals for students to reference in
science. I think these would be
something that could be kept up while they are learning about clouds and
weather. I also found this idea to wrap
students up in toilet paper and they pretend they are breaking out of a cocoon. In 277 we talk about what a great idea kinesthetic
learning is when referencing lessons. I
think reading a book and then having students do this would be a great thing
for them to connect their learning to something physical. All in all, I am so excited to implement my
science lesson in the next few weeks. I
hope I can reach one of my goals for the semester of using what I have learned
in my classes to clinical. I also hope
that I can show my CT how fun science can be and how you can integrate
subjects, even if there is not a lot of time! This is also a skill I would like to carry me through student teaching as I would love to show science in a different light because I see how often it is not being done.
Jordan,
ReplyDeleteI think you really gave the science that is (or is not) being taught in your clinical placement a lot of thought. By reading your post it seems like you have a good idea of the type of science that should be taught in a early childhood classroom. You made a lot of good points about how the substitute teacher’s lesson could be altered to be better developmentally appropriate for your particular group of students.
The ideas you shared about how you would implement science is exactly what we are being taught in class. It was very helpful that you posted pictures of such great activities. I think we have been taught many effective ways to teach science to young students in our classes this semester. I think this is the most prepared I have felt to teach science in my entire college career, Don’t you agree?
Do you intend to influence your cooperating teacher’s decision to not incorporate science?
We always talk about how important it is to teach students science at an early age but we really have never discussed why. I personally wanted to know the reasons so I decided to do some research that I would like to share with you.
Here is a link to an article about why teaching science to early childhood students is important:
http://ngl.cengage.com/assets/downloads/ngsci_pro0000000028/am_trundle_teach_sci_early_child_scl22-0429a.pdf
I thought what you had to say about your science experience was interesting and definitely relatable. I understand that it can be difficult for substitute teachers to hop in a classroom and try to teach when they have no idea what is going on, but that still does not excuse poor organization and material choice. Like you said in your post, science at this age can be very difficult for students if implemented the wrong way. Books with large words and confusing concepts are more appropriate for older students, while kindergarteners benefit more from hands-on activities. Speaking of which, I thought your toilet paper/cloud idea was adorable and would be very fun for students. This is a great activity to allow students to interact and laugh with each other, while also teaching an important science concept. I think it is awesome that you are so passionate about incorporating science into your classroom in the future, since so many teachers (including your CT) leave it out. Getting students started with an interest for science at an early age will make it easier for them in the future when more difficult concepts, like chemistry and physics, are introduced. Hopefully you can convince your CT that even though science can be complex for students, there are still ways (especially ones that you have already brainstormed about) that can make it engaging for young students.
ReplyDeleteJordan,
ReplyDeleteI agree with Yeseul and Kelsey that it is great that you are already thinking about how simple tweaks to the daily schedule and content covered in this class could strengthen the overall science learning. It is simply untrue that science is too complex for young kids. We just need to find science concepts that are at their level! I am so glad that you are now able to do that!
:)Kira