27 May
Video recording of the lesson had problems with the sound.
Had to watch it on a laptop. Learners found the worksheet a bit confusing as
there were too many instructions given in each question. Some of the
demonstrations were a bit too long and learners got impatient to get to the
conclusion of the experiment.
What we have learned?
- Have to communicate clear instructions to the learner before the actual lesson starts
- Choose the demo’s that is done by the teacher very carefully. Some experiments are more suited for group practicals
- Give one instruction at a time in worksheets – especially for the lower grades
- Give learners ample time to do their group discussions
20 May
Fleshed out the worksheet that the learners should complete
during the teachers demonstration. Stressed again that questions should be
asked very precisely in order to get the answers we are looking for from the
learners. Teachers notes should not be included in the learner workbook. Repeat
the same questions for different situations in order to fix the concept. Exit
ticket questions are important to check for understanding.
13 May
Lesson topic: Change of state (Grade 8)
Lesson suitable for teacher demonstration. Will cover the
definitions of evaporation, sublimation, melting, freezing, condensation. Each
definition will be demonstrated practically by the teacher while the learners
are completing an accompanying worksheet. Lesson will be done over two periods.
Will end the 2 lessons with an individual worksheet for the kids.
What have we learned?
- Keep the activities short to increase the dynamics in the lesson
- A series of short demonstration experiments have a place in the science class
- Include question in the worksheet where learners have to draw pictures of the processes in order to make it more visual
6 May
During the lesson learners had to use a hypothesis to guide
their investigation, but for the next lesson the hypothesis will be left out.
It made the lesson too prescriptive – we prefer a more “open-ended” learning to
have taken place during this phase of the lesson. Instructions on worksheets
should be very clear and guide the learners in a definite direction. Assistance
from the teacher is necessary during all parts of the lesson. Verbal guidance
from the teacher is required with each group as a unit as well as struggling
individuals.
What have we learned?
- Circulation of the teacher and facilitation is key to a lesson like this
- Answers should not be given straight away by the teacher, but guided questions should be asked instead to guide their thinking
- Teachers should focus on “wait time” (10 – 15 seconds) where you give a child a chance to formulate an answer – do not be too quick to give the answer or the guided question
- A child should have time to formulate a comprehensive answer before starting to answer
- The class should be taught to not shout out answers
In general the lesson worked very well. The concept was fixed
well for most of the learners and all of them were very involved with the work.
22 April
Topic: Different types of energy - Grade 7 NS
What did learners
find difficult in this topic?
- What energy is
- Definitions for energy and different types of energy
- Law of conservation of energy
How will
we help them to understand this?
- Definitions for energy- to be kept simple (Ek and Ep)
- Focus on the concept rather that the word-for-word explanation of the definitions
- Law of conservation of energy – abstract
- Cannot always understand the conversions that take place.
- Need to focus on teaching strategies
How will
we solve this?
- Less “what” questions and more “why” questions
- Classification worksheet where answers are given and learners have to explain why
- Rich discussion took place regarding how much depth we need to go in this for the grade 7’s
- Teachers used most of the session to simplify the definitions and think up teaching strategies that will suit the age group and get the content across
