Unit Teaching Reflective Summary

Teacher Candidate for Science Endorsement: ___Tida Bruce-Banfield ______________

Instructor: ____________Marlee Tierce/Terri George __________________________________
School: ___Mableton Elementary_________________________

Grade: ____5______

Unit Topic: _______Earthquakes! ____________________________________

Write a 1-2 page summary of your experiences teaching this unit, addressing the
following questions:

How well were the units student performance objectives attained? Were
there opportunities for the students to develop conceptual understanding
through engaging in the learning cycle (5Es)?

How did you use formative assessments to inform instructional decisions

during the unit?

Were the lessons/tasks scientifically worthwhile for all students? Were

there students that had difficulty achieving the goals of the unit?

Was there evidence of a classroom culture that honors inquiry, wrong

answers, personal challenge, collaboration, and disequilibrium as
opportunities for new learning by all students?

When you have the opportunity to re-teach this unit, what will you do
differently (strategies, teaching tools, assessments, etc.) to improve student
learning for all students?

Use this page as a cover sheet for your summary.

The Earthquakes unit was designed to provide students with opportunities

to learn about earthquakes and plate tectonics through different modalities. I am a
Gifted Teacher who collaborated with a fifth grade teacher for science co-teaching
opportunities. Therefore, was an emphasis on differentiation and acceleration since
more than 50% of the class have been identified gifted learners? The other 45%
percent are advanced learners not identified as gifted. However there were 4
students who are not advanced and had EIP/ELL services and were on RTI. The 5 E
model helped with the design of the lessons through a backwards by design
approach. We began with the evaluation and what we wanted them to know and be
able to do. When we decided where we wanted the students to go we came up with
activities to get them there.

The formative assessments gave me an opportunity to see if the students

were acquiring the knowledge and the vocabulary of earthquakes and to gain a
sense of their background knowledge as they began and progressed through the
unit. We used to Page Keeley probe for earthquakes to launch the unit and it was
evident that the students did not have much background knowledge about the
science behind earthquakes. They enjoyed going to the USGS site and finding current
earthquakes to report to the class. Also the tic-tac toe choice board provided
students with an opportunity to apply their content knowledge with tasks designed
around the multiple intelligences. The requirements for specific Math and ELA time
components greatly reduces science instruction. The flipped portion of the unit
provided access to content so that students had a preview activity/ lesson prior to

applying the knowledge in class. Using the flipped model for the unit allowed us to
use the classroom time effectively to allow students to work with the science
application and clear up any misconceptions. We focused on inquiry and exploration
during the in class portion of the units. There is a sense of an open forum in the
classroom and students were told to use the classroom time as an opportunity to
ask questions and explore.
Students were able to demonstrate mastery of standards and their
acquisition/application of knowledge though a variety of ways and therefore I am
very proud of the unit. There were many activities embedded in the unit that
required students to create and evaluate putting their knowledge into use. The final
project was a STEM design challenge that required them to build an earthquake
proof structure. The students were able to take what they had learned about
earthquake proof structures to design their own. Students were able to use the
vocabulary and knew terms extensively to be able to apply that to their tasks
throughout the unit. I am always concerned that my students are able to transfer
their learning and in this unit I feel confident that they were able to do that.
Students could be heard generating statements like remember the base has to be
solid to withstand the shocks. The posttest average was 92%. The grade level
average was 72%.
If I had to change one thing moving forward in the unit, it would be to extend
the time and include more opportunities to embed literacy in the unit. I would use
books about earthquake in guided reading and writing responses to help embed the
content in numerous subjects. I felt like there was a lot of information thrown at the

students and although they stuck through it and were successful I was worried
about them not getting the information and that they were connecting with the
content. Summary feedback by the students in their journal helped with that and on
days where students noted they were unclear we gave additional days for review.
Overall, I really enjoyed designing and implementing the unit. Fifth grade
science has always been content that I enjoyed teaching! What is interesting is this is
the first concept unit I designed after the summer MSP session for Earth Science. I
learned so much and was amazed by how differently I thought based on the
knowledge I had acquired. I guess you really are never too old to learn something
new!