Learning About Ecosystems

The third group taught the 4th grade about Ecosystems! This lesson was incredibly detailed and the class seemed very interested in what the teachers were teaching them. One of the teachers introduced the lesson: "Learning About Ecosystems!" Along with introducing what the students will be learning about, each student was given a happy and sad face emoji stick. This was to check for their understanding! If they understood what was going on and was ready to move forward, they were to hold up their happy face emoji, and if they were confused and needed more time, they were to hold up their sad face emoji. This was a technique I've never seen before so I loved it, and so did the class! A different teacher then introduced a teacher vs. students game. If the students were cooperating and staying quiet, they received a "flower" as their point, but if the students were being loud and not listening to directions, than the teachers received a "flower." If the students win the game, than the group would give each student a prize, which gave the class something to work for, which I loved. Next, a different teacher took the time to review material from the previous lessons that were about water, the water cycle, weather and climate, and light energy. The 2nd group to go didn't do this so I loved that one of the teachers took the time to review over this important information with the class. Along with the new key terms that were introduced in the butterfly word art, the students were given a key terms packet to follow along with the slides. 

All of the teachers during the lesson seemed incredibly confident with the material that they were teaching. The lesson was jam packed with important information which unfortunately resulted in the teachers having to skip over their guided practice activity :( They were running out of time but moved quickly into the independent practice which was to test their knowledge on what they learned from the lesson! I really enjoyed how the teachers walked around the room to monitor the students' volume and make sure that they were independently completing this activity. Overall, this was a great lesson to observe! There was so much material to cover so it's very hard to manage time, but for next time I would definitely love to see the guided practice activity, because that seems like the time where students are fully engaged. Beautiful slides and confidence from all four teachers really brought this entire lesson together!