Second week of observations.

This week we are observing the second group of my co-teachers teach sedimentary rocks and igneous rocks. This group sounded smooth and their content was great. I loved being able to see them teach the class , because it helped my group know what we need to touch up on and what we don't need to talk about during our lesson. I think that they have done a great job.  I like that they were engaging to the students and that they were open to the questions that the class asked. 

The second lesson this group did was one that I thought was very fun and the students LOVED it! They made rocks out of play-doh. The kids were excited to be using their hands and getting to be creative while still doing science. Knowing that some students learn from doing, some from touching and some from writing , and some from seeing this was a great way to address all of those needs. The students got to pick if they wanted to make a sedimentary rock or igneous rock and then they created one, and a clue for the person trying to guess which rock they created. They also used the scientific method to hypothesize  and figure out another students rock. I would have liked to see some modeling on how to figure out which type of rock it was or how to make the rocks, but the students didn't seem to need that and they did great. It was wonderful to see the students getting up, moving around the classroom and yet still being on time and being quiet. It was well prepared and the timing was dead on. I thought that it was well thought out and well executed. I hope that my group does as good as a job. I thought that there was a lot that worked for the group and they stuck with what they were strong at. There were some things I would have changed. I would have explained the entire activity before handing out the play-doh, because the students lost all focus at that point. I would have liked to know what they were making a rock for, and the end product of what was expected before I started. The students didn't seem to notice or mind so it worked great for them! I think that the play-doh was great and it will tie into what my group has in store for the class with metamorphic rocks.