| Author |
Post |
|
|
|
|
I want my students to work on making predicting and anticipating possible outcomes. What would be a good way to do so? Charts? Journaling? Group discussions? Any activity suggestions? Thanks!
|
|
|
|
|
|
I believe that this would be the perfect opportunity to integrate science along with reading/writing. You could read a book with no ending or with just pictures and then have the students predict what will happen next and why. This will help them practice both their listening and writing skills as well as help them make predictions. You could even have a mystery box to anticipate or engage students into making predictions based on the physical appearance of the box and the objects inside it.
|
|
|
|
|
|
i would use graphic organizers. You can do a KWL chart for the class. Just write K-W-L on the white board and have students write what they Know and what to Learn on two different colored post-its. You can then select a few and review them before starting the project. They at the conclusion of the project, they get another colored post-it and write what they learned. This is a good way to see what prior knowledge they have on the subject and guide your questioning.
|
|
|
|
|
|
I love the ideas stated in the post above. I think the mystery box would be a wonderful idea, since the students would have to use clues to predict what is coming.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Whenever you first introduce making predictions, it helps to start off with picture. You could show the students a picture and ask the students to predict what is going to happen.
|
|
|
|
|
|
I agree, that reading a book where students are asked to anticipate outcomes or completing an open-ended demo would work. The Sheep in a Jeep, or Mirror, Mirror lessons from NSTA's Picture-Perfect science lesson books have stories that lead to making predictions during read-alouds. I love this series, just wrote a blog post about it here: http://www.shareitscience.com/2016/04/pollinators-picture-perfect-science-lesson.html
|
|
|
|
|
|
I think chart and journals will work good for predictions. This is a good time to do an activity with planting. Pinterest has a lot of good ideas and charts you could use. You could allow the class to chart their observations as a whole class or small group and write in their journals to see individual knowledge.
|
|
|
|
|
|
I think a group discussion would be a good way to get them started. You can show them a picture, and get them to talk about their prior knowledge. Once they have discussed, and are interested in the topic you can have them start composing predictions, and questions. They can come up with some as a group, and then some individually.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Hi Brooke,
Great discussion starter! In my biology classroom I have always enjoyed using discrepant events. Where the outcome of a demonstration is unexpected. That is the 'hook'. Then I have my students discuss what they think made the difference or was the most important variable. I have them make predictions about if they change one aspect then something else will change and why they think that. I have them use their lab note books and draw out the system or set up of the experiment and what will happen. One of my favorite ways to start the year and set us up for future investigations is the ice melt experiment. Here is an overview of the lesson. http://cosmictimes.gsfc.nasa.gov/teachers/downloads/lessons/1993/Melting_Ice.pdf
Any other favorites out there?
|
|
|
|
|
|
I like using the book "Fortunately" by Remy Charlip because it has an engaging storyline, a happy ending, a pattern of events, and opportunities to discuss and predict on every page.
|
|
|
|
|
|
I think using a science notebook could be a great way to accomplish what you want. It would give the students freedom to write what they truly think without being nervous about saying the wrong thing in front of the class.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Having a journal can really help. I have used journals in my classes, and I have seen other teachers use them in their classroom. They can be very beneficial and you can use it in independent or group time.
|
|
|
|
|
|
In a preschool classroom I worked in, the teacher got one of the little animals that grow when it is placed in water. On the first day of the experiment, the students were not told that it would grow, just that it would change. The students were able to predict what it would do. Each day, the alligator (that was the chosen animal) was measured and charted. The students then got to each make a prediction of how long the alligator would be the next day by drawing a line some distance above the newly charted one. At the end of the experiment, the students were asked to come up with ideas to figure out if we could make the alligator grow faster/slower the next time. They came up with putting it in the shade vs. in the sun, leaving it in the fridge so it was cold water instead of room temperature water, putting more water in the container, and lots of other good testing ideas. They each got an animal to take home themselves as well so they could test their experiments and brought their data charts back with them over the next few weeks.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Oh my goodness this sounds so cute!! I cannot wait to try it out!!
|
|
|
|
|
|
I was looking for new ideas and found two excellent ones. The book "Fortunately" that Peggy wrote about and the idea with the many steps with the grow things are both ones that I will use.
|
|