Lesson Teaching Reflective Summary

Teacher Candidate for Science Endorsement: Janice Belcher

School: Dowell Elementary

Grade: 2nd

Lesson Topic: lifecycle-Butterfly

Write a brief summary or blog of your experiences teaching this lesson,
addressing the following questions:
How well were the lessons student performance objectives
attained? Did classroom activity center on science
understanding, inquiry, and sense-making by all students? Did
your scientific content knowledge enable you to support
students construction of knowledge and understanding of
important scientific concepts and processes? When you have
the opportunity to re-teach this lesson, what will you do
differently (strategies, teaching tools, assessments, etc.) to
improve student learning for all students?
On April 25, 2016 I observed Ms. Lankford teaching a lesson on the life cycle
of butterflies, she began the lesson by asking the students why they think it's
important to learn about the life cycle of a butterfly. How is the lifecycle of a
butterfly the same and how they are different from different animals?
Using Kidspiration, she led a class in a brainstorming session on the lesson's
topic and asked her students to tell her everything they know about the life
cycle of butterflies. After a 5-6 minute brainstorming session, she engaged
students in a class discussion to organize and categorize the different ideas
raised by the students. She then summarized the discussion and highlight the
main categories and ideas that emerged during the brainstorming session.
The students returned to their work areas and drew what they think the life
cycle of a butterfly looks like.
When children return to the group circle, she asked them to bring their life
cycle butterfly pictures. She read Watch Me Grow, Butterfly by Lisa Magloff, to
the class. As she read, she asked her students questions about the book to
keep them engage and focus on the critical features in the life cycle of the
butterfly. Throughout the book she highlighted the 4 stages of the butterfly
lifecycle and asked one of the children to write name of that stage on the
board.

As she continued to read, she asked her students to share what they are
discovering about each stage such as egg, little, white, found on a leaf. After

she finished reading the book and asked summarizing questions (e.g. What
did you learn about butterflies? What part of the book did you like
best?).Next, the students to shared their picture of the butterfly life cycle with
a partner and discuss whether and how they would change the picture that
they drew.