Reflective Journal

I like how this chapter covered different ways to explore magnets like different strengths of magnets, different ends of magnets, and how different shapes of magnets affect magnetism.  This chapter provides many ideas to get children to question and think broadly.  One activity that I really liked what the one on page 233 on how well magnets pull through things they are not attracted to.  Children can try to pick up pieces of steel wool through paper, cardboard, aluminum.  I liked this activity because it gets children extending the experiment to using different materials.

I thought the lesson in the integrating activities section on storytelling with magnet (page 239) was very interesting and would be a good idea to try in my classroom.  I thought this activity would be a good way to get children to work on many different skills like oral language, story comprehension and motor skills.  Children can make their own props that can be moved by an unseen magnet.  This activity is a good one as an extension to the activity children learned on what materials magnets can pull through from.

In general, most the activities in this chapter were ones that I plan on trying in my classroom.  However, I was a little disappointed that none of the activities offered ways to modify or accommodate children with special needs or take into consideration the different levels of knowledge or learning levels children are at.   So before I can implement any of these activities, I will have to find take into consideration the needs of the children in my classroom to accommodate accordingly.

Also, I would have liked if there was more than one activity per concept just so that I would get a broader sense of activities/lesson I could do for that concept.

I think that gravity is another topic in science that I would have difficulty teaching.  I give kudos to the authors for trying offering suggestions of different lessons teachers can use to teach this topic.  It is so hard to teach children about something that they could not use their senses (see, hear, touch, smell, taste) to explore which is why I find this topic difficult to teach.

When I began reading this chapter, I was under the impression that I would gain new insights and ideas for activities I could use in my classrooms that I have not thought of before. To my sad realization, there was only one that I would consider using which was the activity on page 248 where the teacher takes the class outside to work in small groups to test how fast items fall.  None of the activities wowed me the way I was hoping.  With the other chapters, I found activities that I would definitely try out in one way or another, but the activity  ideas in this chapter were not very interesting to me.  I want to find fun and meaningful lessons to teach gravity.     

Word count: 491

I really enjoyed reading this chapter on rocks.  I think this chapter was the best one so far in offering science activities that I could use in my future teaching endeavors.  Most of the lessons were hands-on and involved children as active participants in their learning. 

I also like that the some of the lessons offer ways to alter the lesson to accommodate the different needs of children. For example, on page 216, the authors offer a suggestion on simplifying the activity to classifying into two categories instead of three.  Throughout my years at Ryerson, I have been taught to think more broadly and to take into consideration the different learning needs of children.  I have been taught that the best way to teach children is to take what the children already know and go one step further.   In all of my previous teaching experience, I have never had a classroom where all the children were at the same learning level.  I believe that this will be the case for all the future classrooms so it is important to think about how to modify activities so that everyone can benefit from it and learn from it.   That is why I really liked the fact that the activities in this textbook offer suggestions on how to modify the activity to suit the range of needs of the children.

I taught the activity on drawing with rocks (page 217) is one I would definitely use because it connects children with some many different contexts.  The children learn that the reason they can draw with it is because of the rocks wearing away.  But the most important part of this lesson was that they can see this in objects they use everyday like pencils, chalk and the blackboard.  I like that the children can connect drawing with actual rocks with drawing with pencils and chalk because they are rocks too.  I found this activity to be really meaningful to the children because it ties in what they already know with the everyday objects and taking it a step further.  It is like a textbook example of a lesson that is based on a constructivist approach; Children are actively involved, the learning takes place in an informal setting (e.g. sidewalks), children can transfer what they learning to different contexts (e.g. finding out pencils are a type of rocks that are wearing away and looking for other rocks in their everyday environment that are examples of these rocks), and the lessons takes what the children already know one step further (i.e. children should know how to draw, they see pencils everyday, and now they learn one more concept which is that they can draw with these rocks because they are wearing away and leave marks).

This was a good chapter.  I learned many new ways to teach this unit to children and it really confirms what I have been taught throughout my years at Ryerson on what a good activity is.

Word Count: 496

I was really excited to read the chapter on air. Teaching children the concept about air is one that I found most challenging.  I thought that the textbook would be insightful in providing activities that I could use as a teacher however that was not the case. However, as I began reading, I did not like what I read very much. I found that many of the activities the textbook supplied were quite abstract for children even though the children were active in the activities.  For example, the first activity on page 152 entails children working in small groups to push a can with a hole in it into water and the children put their hand onto of the hole and asked what they feel.  For me, I do not understand how this activity would be meaningful for the children.  We have been taught to teach using a constructivist approach and this and the other activities are not quite the textbook examples of constructivism I expected.  I did not see how the teacher facilitated the children’s learning in meaningful way or how the children can transfer what they learned from this context to another.

I really enjoyed reading the chapter on weather.  There are so many learning opportunities when it comes to the topic of weather and it is something that is year round which gives teachers lots of opportunities to teach and reinforce concepts.

There was one activity mentioned in the textbook that brought back memories of something I did in elementary school.  On page 199, there is an activity that involves learning about how a thermometer works.  The lesson that I did in elementary school was integrated into a math lesson in which we kept track of the temperature everyday for a few winter months and we marked it on a graph.  The thermometer was struck outside of one of our classroom windows so that we could get an accurate reading of the outside temperature.  Everyday, a different student got to read the thermometer.  At the end of each month, we would review the chart and figure out which was the coldest day, warmest day, etc.  I never realized what a good way this activity was to introducing math concepts like graphing and how it easily it was also tied to science in learning about weather change and what affects temperature change.  This activity provides so many different learning opportunities and is a starting point for so many different concepts to be learned. 

We have learned about the importance of integrating science into different subjects areas and I am beginning to see how effective that is when done right like this thermometer activity I did many years ago.

Words: 450

On page 186, the authors suggest an activity that teachers can do with the class. This activity entails the teacher leading children to pretend to make a snowman.  The children are expected to pretend to roll different size snowballs for the different body parts of the snowman.  I thought this activity was a good idea especially on building math concepts of sequencing size but I also think that this activity could be a bit abstract particularly for children who may be new to Canada and/or never seen snow before, let alone a snowman.  I think that it would be a better idea if the teacher brought the class outside to make snowmen.  Of course, teachers must make sure that the children are properly dressed for the winter weather and make sure that all children have gloves or mittens on so that the children do not get frostbites on their hands from making the snowmen.  It would be a good idea for teachers to keep extra pieces of gloves, scarves, hats, etc for children who forgot them or who cannot afford them.  The children can work in small groups to build their snowmen.  At the end of the snowman building activity, you can take photos of it and post it in the classroom.  Also, the teacher can extend this activity by having a discussion with children about what would happen to their snowman in the summer or when they sun gets really hot.  The teacher could even bring a snowball inside and have children predict what would happen to the snowball and then watch it happen.  The teacher would start or follow with a book that deals with snowmen and it melting away when it is hot out.

On page 171, the famous sink or float activity was presented.  I love this activity because kids get really into it.  It is such a simple activity but children walk away with some much new knowledge.  I did this activity at my preschool placement during first year, and days after the activity, the children were still talking about it and I heard a few of them extend their learning to other objects with phrases like “this will float cause it’s plastic.” 

Word count: 368

On page 148, the author writes “the common practice of requiring children to report what they have eaten at home each day can threaten feelings of acceptance and reduce self-esteem.”  I do not think that is totally true. The only time that I could think of that that would be possible is in a classroom where little multiculturalism exists or is valued.  I believe children should be made comfortable about being who they are, no matter what sex, gender, age, ethnicity, and/or race they belong to.  Children as young at three years of age can recognize racial differences.  It is up to parents/caregivers and teachers and other people children come in contact with to provide children with the comfort level and acceptance and equality.  Children need to view themselves and others as equal members of the classroom and society.  Teachers need to help facilitate that.  Having children report what they eat at home is only effective if children in the classroom are comfortable with each other and proud of their culture and heritage to share it.

One way that teachers can help create an environment that embraces and celebrates multiculturalism is t make it part of the children’s everyday experience.  For example, in the daily living centre, teachers can fill it with materials children find in their homes that reflect the diversity of the classroom.  Materials can include: chopsticks, woks, different pots and pans, plastic fruits from all over the world, like mango, lychees, dragonfruit, etc.

Also, teachers can also cook with his/her students.  They can prepare meals or foods that some children eat at home while others are trying it for the first time.  That being said, the teachers also need to establish and model behaviours of trying new things.

On page 149, the authors offer the suggestion of teacher inviting parents into the classroom to share recipes and perhaps even demonstrate how to cook something from their culture.  I think that this is one way to help create an environment that values different cultures, plus it is exciting for children to participate in cooking activities.

In my elementary school, we had a multicultural night where a talent show was done where different music and dances were performed. There was also a multicultural potluck in the cafeteria.  I remember asking my grandmother to make chowmein and fried rice so I can bring it to school for the pot luck.  I remember the compliments I received on behalf of my grandmother on the food and it felt good. I was proud of my culture and my culture’s foods.

In this chapter, I found a couple things very interesting.  On page 94, under the section “Are classroom pets necessary?” the author says that a “good teachers does not insist that a fearful child make physical contact with animals.”  I think that the adjective, “good” is unnecessary.  It implies that if I was to try to find ways of making a child feel comfortable to touch an animal he/she is afraid of makes me a bad teacher.   I do not think that is the case. I do not think that the author’s opinion of a good teacher should be based on whether or not he/she forces a child to touch an animal or not.  I do not even think the author’s opinion of a “good” teacher should be included in this book.   I think the author should just provide helpful information on how to teach concepts to children and leave out the opinions.

The author also says that teachers should consider caring for animals since many urban children do not have other opportunities than classroom pets to have positive interactions with animals.  Given that fact, I think that there should have been more of an emphasis and benefits on having classroom pets than the amount that the textbook had.  I never had a classroom pet before but I have heard stories from people who had pets during elementary school and that was something memorable that people hang on to.  Children can learn so much from observing live animals in the classroom and learn responsibility when taking turns to care for it.  I think the author should have encouraged teachers to have classroom pets more instead of telling teachers to just consider it.

The author did suggest an activity on page 93 for a “borrowed pet”.  I thought this activity would be a great learning experience for children, especially to see and interact with animals they would not normally interact with like a boa, like the text suggested.  This gives the students a wider range of animals to interact with and become interested in learning more about.  When I was young, I loved having guest speakers come into my classroom or gymnasium for assemblies to teach us new things.  It was kind of like a special treat from the everyday worksheets and boring school stuff.  I think having animal experts come into the classroom with different types of animals with be something children will really enjoy because it doesn’t seem boring and school-work like but they are still learning lots of information.

I liked that this chapter provided lots of activity plans and ideas to teach plants.  It gave me some insight on how to teach particular concepts to children.  However, I wished that more examples of activities were given instead of one per question to get a broader understanding of how to teach that concept.

I found that most of the lesson plans were very step-by-step and there was not much room for experimentation and variation in the outcome.  For example, the concept: “seeds grow into plants with roots, stems, leaves, and flowers” (p.61) presented an activity which focused on answered the question, “how do seeds grow?” (p.62) This activity required the students to all make the same sprouting dome that all looks the same way and to cover it with the same materials in the same way.  I have a problem with this because it is very limiting and I think the teacher will spend most of the time making sure that everyone is on the same step and recreating this dome the same way.  I think a better approach to this activity would to have children experiment with different types of seeds and observe the growth of those seeds.  The dome could be done in advance and provided so the focus would be the growth of the seeds instead of dome making.  Students could understand the concepts that most seeds would “grow into plants with roots, stems, leaves, and flowers” (p.61) by seeing different seeds produce this outcome.

I also did not like that the lesson plans did not specify the age group that the lesson was designed for.  Some lessons were easy to guess the age, like for the first concept, “there are many kinds of plants; each has its own form” (p.58) where after a nature walk the teacher prepares bags of nature items they collected for the students to examine to find similarities and differences.  This activity is one that is not too challenging and I would suspect is designed for children in kindergarten.  But for other activity examples like the one answering “what is mold?” (p.68), this activity requires a lot more prior knowledge and more abstract thinking about how mold grows on food we eat like bread.  I would assume that this activity would be more suitable for older children but I am not sure how old.  Providing some sort of age range or age-appropriateness level would have made the lesson plans more useful.

Over the last three years here at Ryerson, we have learned that the best way to teach children is through the constructivist method.  As teachers, our job is to provide learning opportunities for children to learn based on their interests and scaffold their learning and not just feed the information to the children and expect them to learn it.  Unfortunately for me, I had teachers who taught like we had blank slates waiting to be written on with facts.  I believe this could be the reasoning behind my lack of memories of learning science in elementary school except for random field trips to the zoo and science center.  But even still, my recollection of those times is blurry.  I cannot help but to wonder that had I had a magnificent teacher who was enthusiastic and passionate about science and taught it in a way that was interactive and fun if I would have turned out to be a scientist or at least had memorable experiences with it that I could pass on to my future students and/or children.   It is unfortunate that some teachers can even fake being interested in teaching science.  I see a table in a corner of a classroom that is supposed to be the science and discovery centre but no one goes there, not even the teacher.  It is rarely updated as well. It is no wonder children are not interested in it. 

The textbook included a quote from the Council of Chief State School on the definition of assessment: "a systematic procedure for obtain information from observations, interviews, portfolios, projects, tests and other sources..." (p.48). I strongly agree with this quote and am very happy that such a definition exists because hopefully it would get more teachers to assess this way.  I think that using many different assessment tools is important because it is a more accurate depiction of what children have learned.  Interviews and portfolios are a form of assessment that I have not seen used very often but I think is very useful and a tool I would most definitely use when I assess my students.  Interviews give children to voice what they can learn and tell you things that they learn and how they understood the teaching in ways that a written test could not.