Gwynedd Mercy University

School of Education
Seeking Truth, Mercy, and Justice

Your Name: Tim Kearney

Date: December 1st, 2015

School: Gwynedd Mercy University

Grade/Topic: 1st Grade, Magnets

STANDARD: PDE Science and Technology

3.2 Physical Sciences: Chemistry and Physics
Pennsylvania Early Learning Standards
2.9 Geometry
PERFORMANCE EXPECTATION(s)/STUDENT LEARNING OBJECTIVE(s):
Students will identify and differentiate the various characteristics of magnetism by
experimenting objects that are both magnetic and not magnetic by charting the objects magnetic
properties.
I.

PLANNING AND PREPARATION:

1.

Briefly describe the students in your class, including those with special needs, explain
how you will meet the needs of all learners.
In this first grade classroom, there are thirteen female students and twelve male
students. I have students who show signs and characteristics of ADHD, yet are not
diagnosed due to their age. Some of these characteristics are hyperactivity and lack of
focus/inattention, which is seen mostly in science and math. For the students with
lack of focus, I will have multiple activities ensuring it is within their attention span.
This will guarantee that there is nothing to affect their academic progress. For
students who show signs of hyperactivity, having different manipulatives are each
station will help them to stay on task. There is also one English Language Learner in
this group of students. This child will work closely with another student throughout
the lesson to make sure that he is staying on task and understanding the objectives.
The four learning styles play a crucial part in this lesson.

2.

What are your expectations for this lesson? What do you want students to learn and be
able to do with the knowledge?
My instructional outcomes I have for this lesson is for my students to work
together to determine whether the objects are magnetic versus nonmagnetic. The
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goals set for this group of students is based solely on observations. Considering this is
the second month of school, my observations of the students are all I can reference.
The most important considerations for my instruction is that some of my students
cannot sit still, no matter what the topic is. Having the students move around the
classroom will help them with this lesson. There will certainly be options for my
students throughout this lesson. Students who need extra help will be able to ask
myself, or their partners/classmates questions at any time. For those who have
mastered the topic, will still need to follow the two-minute time limit at each station.
There are two special stations for the students to build known shapes. I will listen to
every discussion in the classroom to the best of my ability.
3.

Why are these expectations suitable for this group of students?

This group of students is full of tactile and visual learners with a mix of
students who possess ADHD characteristics. As a result, I have planned this lesson
and the activities accordingly. This lesson will give the students plenty of
opportunities to interchange different objects to get numerous outcomes. Using the
different objects will help the students differentiate magnetic objects and nonmagnetic objects. Allowing students to have a change of scenery will allow the
students to focus. Social learning is a big part in this lesson because the students will
need to cooperate to complete the chart provided.

4.

How do these expectations support the school districts curriculum, state standards,
and content standards?
These expectations support the PDE state standards.
PDE Electrical and Magnetic Energy 3.2B Physics
3.2.3 Identify and classify objects and materials as magnetic or non-magnetic.
Pennsylvania Early Learning Standards
2.9 Geometry
- Draw two and three-dimensional geometric shapes and construct rectangles, squares,
and triangles on the geoboard and on graph paper satisfying specific criteria.

5.

Explain the psychological principles/theories you used in constructing this lesson.

The psychological theory I used while constructing this lesson is Vygotskys
Social Development Theory. Small group work plays a vital role in my lesson, and
allowing students to work together ties in this theory.

II. CLASSROOM ENVIRONMENT:

6.

Describe the effective classroom routines and procedures resulting in little or no loss
of instructional time.
To ensure that there is no loss in instruction time, I will have all the materials
on the tables before the lesson begins. The students will enter quietly and take their
seats. This lesson involves the students to be grouped, which involves a lot of
thought! Due to the behavior of my students in past lessons, I know which students
cannot work together. Grouping students is a good opportunity to make sure that a
struggling student is grouped with a student that knows the material. With that, the
two students will have a chance to help each other to complete the task. To make sure
all of the students are staying on task, I will walk around the classroom and offer
assistance where needed! Getting the students into the groups is going to be very
smooth and no problems should occur. Students will have numbers on the top left of
their sheet to tell them which station they should go to first. These students will have
a reference on the PowerPoint to show which station is next. I will also discuss the
protocol before the students move to the next station.

7.

Identify what you will do to set clear standards of conduct and behavior management
of student behavior.
The classroom rules, which are emphasized daily, are as followed: Respect
others, hands to yourself, and have fun. These rules are to always be followed
whenever we are together as a class. For a behavior plan, I will have a back up box
with materials for the student that does not stay on task. At first, I will give the child a
warning that he/she will have to work alone if the disruptive behavior continues. If it
continues, I will move the student to a separate area so he/she can complete the tasks
as well.

8.

Identify what you will do to establish expectations for student achievement.

For my lesson, I will give the students a chart that needs to be filled out over
the span of the class. As a group, students will experiment which objects are magnetic
and which are not. I will also tell them that I expect their best work for todays lesson.
I will also walk around the room and see if there are any problems and I will motivate
the students as well.

III.

INSTRUCTION:
9.

What will you do to motivate students?

To motivate my students, I will have a pyramid made out of Magnetix in the

front of the room when they walk in. This jumping off point will make the students
interest in what is going to happen. They will recognize and connect to the 3D
pyramid because the students learned about this shape the prior day making it prior
knowledge for this specific lesson.
10.

What will you do to activate prior knowledge?

To activate prior knowledge, I will ask the students two questions.
1. What objects are Magnetic? (Knowledge)
2. What are the two poles? (Knowledge)

11.

How do you plan to engage students in the content? What will you do? What will
students do?
During the lesson I will need the following materials:
- PowerPoint
- Paper Clips (3)
- Rubber bands (2)
- Colored Bears (4)
- Pennies (2)
- Safety Pin (2)
- Donut (2)
- Key (1)
- Bingo Markers (3)
- Paper Fasteners (2)
- Magnetix (for building at 2 stations)
- Station Sheets
- Lab Sheets
- Magnets (6 2 per station)
To begin the lesson, I will:
- Before my lesson even begins, my motivation (a big pyramid made of Magnetix will
be sitting on the front table)
- Let my students know the expectations I have for them
- Start talking about magnets
- Activate them the prior knowledge questions (found in #10)
- Go over rules to the lesson (Mr. Potato Head)
- Give the directions to the lesson
- Model different magnet objects that are not in the chart
- Tell students about the grouping
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During the lesson, I will:

- Discuss what prediction means
- Allow time for students to make their predictions on the 9 objects they are going to
test during the lesson
- Discuss predictions (call on approximately 4-5 students)
- Students will find others with similar color circle (3 or 4 to group)
- Students will go to each of the 5 stations
- Station 1: The students will test paperclips, rubber bands, and colored bears
- Station 2: The students will construct a pyramid (rules on the station sheet)
- Station 3: The students will test pennies, safety pin, and donuts
- Station 4: The students will construct a cub (rules on the station sheet)
- Station 5: The students will test bingo markers, key, and paper fasteners
- Ask the students if they need any help
- Listen to the different discussion to ensure learning is occurring
- Observe learning, and how they are working together (Informal Assessment)
- Review objects on the chart with the class on the PowerPoint
- Compare their predictions to the result
- Discuss why Penny and Key are non-magnetic
- Watch a clip from Toy Story 3 that has magnets in it
- Collect their Lab Sheets (Formal Assessment)
- Closure (Found in #15)
12.

13.

Describe the use of questioning and discussion strategies that will encourage students
to participate in class.
The use of questioning in this lesson will be Knowledge and Comprehension
from Blooms Taxonomy. These questions will aid the learning of all the students
present in the classroom.
1. What are the two poles? (Knowledge)
2. What objects are magnetic? (Knowledge)
3. What objects at your house are magnetic? (Comprehension)
4. What is a prediction? (Knowledge)
5. What objects do you think are magnetic? (Knowledge)
6. What objects are non-magnetic? (Knowledge)
7. What objects did you get correct? (Comprehension)
8. What objects did you get incorrect? (Comprehension)
What difficulties do students typically experience in this area, and how do you plan to
adapt/modify to meet their needs?
Difficulties occur in every classroom. If the students do not know what is
occurring, I may need to reteach this certain topic. If a student gets done early, I will
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ask them to test the objects again to make sure they are correct. I will also ask them to
see if their partners need help. These will occur at the odd stations, where as the even
stations no problems should occur. The students at the even stations will have two
minutes to build different shapes. This lesson may be easier for some students, so
having a time limit will level the playing field. Using redirection with my students
will be a big part of this lesson, especially after they come from the even stations (the
ones I termed fun).
14.

Identify what informal and/or formal assessments you will use to monitor student
learning.
During my lesson, I will informally and formally assess my students. Informal
assessment is seen as I observe the students. I will make sure the students are
answering the questions correctly, make sure they are handling the equipment
properly, and see how they are working together. Formal assessment is seen as the
students hand in their individual lab sheets. These sheets will be assessed to ensure
full understanding of our topic.

15.

What will you do to bring closure to the lesson?

To bring closure to this lesson, I will quickly but strategically end the video on
a cliffhanger to ensure the students are listening to me. I will review the number of
poles a magnet has (2), and discuss the objects we believed to be magnetic but were
not (Penny and Key).

* Modifying this lesson to be used for 1st graders is a great opportunity for the future!
We never know what grade we are going to teach, so having the knowledge to quickly
switch up a lesson for another grade was great. Being able to think quick on your feet
is something I hope to be able to do on a daily basis in my future classroom!
Thank you, Dr. Walsh!