Day 4 and 5

Rock Inquiry Task

Date: Thursday and Friday, September 15th and 16th, 2016
Subject: Science
Common Core Standard(s):
Presentation of Knowledge and Ideas
6. Produce complete sentences when appropriate to task and situation in order to
provide requested detail or clarification. (See grade 2 Language standards 1 and 3 on
page 26 for specific expectations.)
NH Curriculum Framework
Science Process Skills
S:SPS1:2:1.1 Make observations and explore materials using all of their senses (one
sense at a time).
Earth Space Science
S:ESS1:2:2.2 Use observable properties, such as color and texture, to classify and
organize rocks and minerals.
Objective(s):
1) Students will be able to sort their rocks by different attributes including size,
shape, and color.
2) Students will be about to explain why items, such as rocks in their rock collection,
could be sorted in more than one way.
3) Students will be able to work in a partnership to share the task and ideas.
Resources/Materials List:
Book: Lets Go Rock Collecting by Roma Gans and Holly Keller
Rock Collection Inquiry Task Sheets one set per student
Pencils students have at their tables
Clipboards if students need a hard surface to lean on, they are kept in their
cubbies
Rock collections students are keeping in egg cartons on the book shelf.
Procedure:
The teacher will ask for students to go to gather on the large group rug
The teacher will tell the students that they will be learning more about rocks and
minerals and that they will first be reading a book and then working in a
partnership to examine their rock collections
The teacher will read the book pausing to ask questions along the way
The teacher will then have students turn to see the document camera so they can
look at their science pages they will be working on.
The teacher will read the rock collection story to the students
She will then partner the students up to collect their rock collection and choose a
quiet spot in the classroom to work. The teacher will remind students to make a
1

Annie Vincent

good choice about where they are sitting or she might need to choose a new spot
for them.
The students will complete the task sheets. While students are working together,
the teacher will walk around, observe, and comment with students.
Once the science time is over, the teacher will call students by partnerships to turn
in their papers and put their rock collections on the book shelf.
If time at the end, the teacher will gather the students on the large rug and ask
what they found when they starting sorting their rocks.

Plans for differentiation:

I plan on partnering students up heterogeneously. We recently gathered all of their
assessment data so I will use that knowledge to partner up the students. There may be
one or two partnerships that need additional support and they could be asked to work
with the other teacher in the room, or I could continue to walk around and check on
them.
The rock collections that the students have brought in are already in school and
being stored in an egg carton. We had a chance to look at the rock collections as a large
group last week and I do believe I recall most of the rocks had different attributes, there
could be an occasion, however, where a student has collected rocks in the same type of
place, thus collecting rocks that are very similar and hard to classify into different
groups.
Assessment:
I will be walking around amongst the groups as the students are working in their
partnerships. I will be looking to see if they are staying on task and working
cooperatively with their partner. I will also be looking to see how they are classifying
their rock collections.
I will be collecting the inquiry task papers at the end of the lesson time and will
review to see if students met the objectives.
Plans for accommodation/modification:
There is one student with an IEP and I know that she gets frustrated easily with
writing and reading, so I may give her more support in the writing portion of the inquiry
task. I plan on reading the short conversation rock collection story to the whole group
so that those who are struggling with reading will be able to easily understand the first
part of the task. I will also choose wisely who I partner her up with for peer support.
Whats next?
The students will be continuing on their exploration of rocks and minerals in the
next lesson.
Reflection:

Annie Vincent