Kylie Evans

TX

Mon, Apr 13, 2020 4:41 PM
Bringing Moon Phases Down to Earth

I chose this article because it was about a simple hands on activity to get students to understand the phases of the moon. I learned that you do not always have to have extravagant activity for your students to do get involved. Having simple and easy to understand activities can sometimes be best because they students can understand the astronomy concepts. This would be a great activity for second graders. They could use the TEK 8C “observe, describe, and record patterns of objects in the sky, including the appearance of the moon”. This TEK would be used every night for the month while the students are observing and recording the phases of the moon. The only problem I had with this article is that the link for the lunar observation chart does not work, but you can simply look it up on Google to find one. Overall, I enjoyed this article because it was well written and easy to understand. This activity reminded me of an activity I did when I was in middle school where we recorded the phases of the moon.

Mon, Apr 13, 2020 4:09 PM
A Pond Investigation

I chose this article because when I was in grade school we had a pond that I always wanted to investigate. I thought this article would give good ideas on how to do that and it did not disappoint. I learned that every grade level could use the same pond to investigate and still learn something new every year. From grades Kindergarten through 5th grade, each have a TEK under ‘Scientific Investigation and Reasoning’ that has to do with collecting and recording data. As the grades develop the TEKS get more developed. For example, Kindergarten starts out as (2C), “collect data and make observations using simple tools”. Whereas 5th grade TEK (2B) develops to “collect and record information using detailed observations and accurate measuring”. These TEKS could be used to collect and observe the data that articles states for each grade level. Such as Kindergarten measuring the amount of rain, while other grades measure the other parts of the pond the article suggests throughout the year. I really enjoyed this article and didn’t have any questions after reading it. I liked how the upper elementary teachers came together to help the lower elementary teacher come up with ways for them to utilize the pond as well. I loved the ideas that they came up with to get all the grades involved and sharing what they all found.

Pushes, Pulls, and Playgrounds

Mon, Apr 13, 2020 3:25 PM
Pushes, Pulls, and Playgrounds

I chose this article because the title was intriguing, and it gave an idea for a lesson plan. I learned that force and motion can be taught as early as kindergarten because children have a natural curiosity of the moving of objects. In kindergarten the TEK 112.11 (b) 6 D would be perfect for this article. It is about the movement an object has such as straight line, zig zag, up, down, and more. All of these movements were talked about in this article as they were observing different sports item. There was not anything in this article that I disagreed with or had questions about. It was written very well and really easy to understand. I thought this article gave great ideas of how to get students involved in the investigation of push and pull motions.