Group 4 Meets the Worms

Today was the last day of teaching the 4th graders. Since we had a snow day last Thursday group 4 was unable to teach their lesson, so it got moved to this week. This means our time with the 4th graders gets extended an extra day! 

Group 4 presented their inquiry lesson and it was really interesting. They started out by reviewing the classroom rules and had the students read them aloud. The teachers also reminded the students that they were playing the teacher vs class game and that there would be a prize at the end of the class, which the students again loved. The teachers took turns reviewing with the students about their direct instruction lesson. What I liked about this was that the teachers had the students read the definition or the answer to the questions aloud together. This is a great way to get students remembering the facts because repetition and thinking aloud is key! After reviewing the teachers moved into the scientific method and how it will relate to their experience today. When the teachers asked the students what they knew about the scientific method, they knew a lot which was really great to see because it shows they were paying attention to all the other groups. The students did great in coming up with their own hypothesis and explaining that it is put into an “if then” statement. The teachers explained to the students that they will be using a WebQuest to discover the answer to the problem created by the teachers. To introduce the problem the teachers made up a story about Gary the Goblin which I thought was such a cute and engaging idea. The students loved it!! What they had to do was help Gary find a fertile place to live based on the soil and other components they learned about worms in the direct instruction lesson. The teachers divided the classroom into 4 stations and at each station the students had to figure out the answer to the problem using clues provided at that station. One of the stations was a “meet and greet” with the worms.

I thought this was really cool because the teachers went out and bought real worms to bring in! The students loved this and many of them were carrying the worms around in their hand throughout the different stations. This made the experience very authentic and worth while. The teachers were very helpful to the students throughout the stations. They were going around to everyone and making sure that they were on task and answered any questions the students had. At the end of the station time they were asked to fill out the sheet about how they would help Gary the Goblin based on what they just found out. For the independent practice students were asked the write a letter to Gary the Goblin about why their hypothesis was correct or incorrect and why based on their evidence. I thought this lesson was really great and well thought out and planned by the teachers! The students seemed to really enjoy it and were engaged throughout both lessons. On Thursday we will be having a celebration of learning with the 4th graders which means we will see them for the final time. I’m excited to see how that class goes!