Teacher Work Sample-Task 2: Unit Plan

Carmen Bento

A. Course name: Science           Grade level: Third grade        Topic: Science of sound

Standards: Core Standard-Observe and describe how sound is produced by vibrations. (3.1.1, 3.1.2, 3.1.3)

3.1.1 Generate sounds using different materials, objects and techniques. Record the sounds and then discuss and share the results.

3.1.2 Investigate how the loudness and pitch of sound changes when the rate of vibrations changes.

3.1.3 Investigate and recognize that sound moves through solids, liquids and gases (e.g., air).

            This unit will be presented to a third grade general education class that includes students with mixed ability levels. This class is located in a low SES area and many of the students are facing significant learning challenges. There are three main learning goals that go along with this unit and also being presented is one learning objective for each goal. This is not the only way these learning goals will be addressed.  

Goal 1- Students will become familiar with and understand subject specific academic language that relate to the study of how sounds are created and transmitted.

            Objective: Given a word bank students can complete a cloze paragraph describing the concept of pitch and volume using the correct academic vocabulary with at least 80% accuracy.

Goal 2- Students will understand the relationship between sound, vibration, pitch and volume.

            Objective: After conducting a hands-on science experiment where they create sounds with different pitches using different methods, students will be able to predict whether a pitch will be lower or higher based on a vibration speed at least 80% of the time.

Goal 3- Students will be able to use hands on science experiments to record their own observations about sound, how it moves and its properties.

            Objective: While conducting a hands-on science experiment that demonstrates how sound moves through air and water, students will be able to record a relevant observation 80% of the time.

Teacher Work Sample: Task Two- Assessment Rationale

Carmen Bento

Pre-assessment

          The pre-assessment that I will use in the unit is a two part assessment. The first part of the pretest is a formal paper and pencil test given to the students prior to introducing any of the sound concepts in the unit. This pre-test consists of 10 multiple choice questions and was pulled from the FOSS Physics of Sound Teacher Guide (University of California at Berkeley, 2005). Five of the questions are vocabulary questions that are designed to assess students’ knowledge of the academic language, while five of the questions cover the key concepts that are presented in the unit. This pretest is a valid measurement of learning goals one and two because it gives the teacher a chance to see if the students possess any prior knowledge of the academic vocabulary or concepts to be presented in the sound unit. Because of the unfamiliarity of the language used in the pretest and the below third grade reading level of a large part of the class, these multiple choice questions will be read aloud by the teacher to give each student the opportunity to show what they know regardless of their reading level.

            For the second part of the pre-assessment I chose to conduct an informal assessment during the first hands on science experiment. One of the key components of learning goal three is that the students are able to make and record observations during hands on science experiments. The reason this was included is because this class has had almost no hands on science during this school year for one reason or another. The class as a whole struggles with making and recording observations and even with just putting their thoughts and ideas into their writing in other content areas. For this reason the pre-assessment I chose for this learning goal is a teacher checklist that goes along with the first sound investigation from the FOSS teacher manual (University of California at Berkeley, 2005). The blank checklist, labeled with student names will provide an opportunity for me to walk around the room and use questioning to see if the students understand what it means to make observations. On the checklist they get a plus for a careful observation, a check for an observation that comes close to the central ideas of the experiment but could be better and a minus sign if their observations don’t make sense or are not related to the central questions of the experiment. Are students able to articulate what they are seeing and hearing? If they are then we need to focus on translating what they are saying into written observations. If the students are struggling with the concept of what an observation is then I need to back up and teach that prior to going forward with any more experiments. This is a valid measurement for the third learning goal because it gives me a baseline to help plan the lessons for the rest of the unit.

Informal and formal formative assessments

            Formal

            The two main formal formative assessment pieces that will be used throughout this unit will be observation logs and a word bank that will be completed by students during and directly after each lesson or experiment. These assessments will be specific to each experiment but will always include a place for a student to record observations and the key vocabulary that is covered by each experiment. By looking over these logs the teacher can get a clear idea of whether students understood the conceptual information presented in the lesson and using the word banks as a resource the students can become familiar with the academic vocabulary of the sound unit. The students will also do other varied formal assessments such as a cloze paragraph to test key vocabulary and an activity where they predict whether a pitch will be higher or lower based on vibration speed. These activities are more specifically assessing the students’ progress toward individual objectives as opposed to the overall unit content. That is why these are formative assessments. They will give the teacher valuable information she can use to guide instruction pace during the unit.

            Informal

            For informal assessment during this science unit the teacher will use questioning during hands on science experiments and class discussion after each hands on science lesson. This is a valid formative assessment because talking to students individually gives the teacher a chance to see if students are making connections between what they are doing and the core concepts presented in the unit, while wrapping up with a class discussion driven by students gives those who might not have made those connections as solidly during the hands on part a chance to hear the concepts and how they connect to the experiment before moving forward. During these informal assessments the teacher can note students who seem lost or who are not participating in class discussion so that they can receive targeted instruction using a different modality.

Post Assessment

The post assessment that I will use in the unit is a two part assessment. The first part of the post test that the students will be repeating the same ten question multiple choice assessments that they took for the pretest. This pre-test consists of 10 multiple choice questions and was pulled from the FOSS Physics of Sound Teacher Guide (University of California at Berkeley, 2005). Five of the questions are vocabulary questions that are designed to assess students’ knowledge of the academic language, while five of the questions cover the key concepts that are presented in the unit. This posttest is a valid measurement of learning goals one and two because it gives the teacher a chance to see if the students’ knowledge of the key unit vocabulary and concepts has grown over the course of the unit. Because of the below grade level reading level of a large part of the class, these multiple choice questions will be read aloud by the teacher to give each student the opportunity to show what they know regardless of their reading level.

            For the second part of the post assessment students will be completing and handing in a written observation during the last hands on science experiment. Students will have been practicing their observation skills during each hands-on science experiment and receiving academic feedback to improve their performance in this area. This assessment is a valid measure of learning goal three because it gives the teacher an opportunity to see how the students have grown in their ability to translate their spoken observations from the pretest into scientifically written observations that describe what the students are seeing and hearing. The observation sheets that the students will use for this assessment were taken from the FOSS Physics of Sound Teacher Guide (University of California at Berkeley, 2005).