Investment Plan

Name: Aaron Estes & Natasha Nethero Date: March 4 – March 28, 2019
Grade Level: 6th Subject: Science
Big Goal: Students will learn about different forms of energy as well notable inventors
while striving for a differentiated goal of 80% average on exit tickets for some students
and 60% for others.
Class-wide Tracking Systems
Where will you post this? What will it look like? When and how will you reference this
visual throughout the unit?

The class-wide system will involve students, as a class, conducting short research on a
group of notable inventors, scientist, and contributors to Energy Science. Individuals will
then vote on a representative inventor to be the class mascot (one class can be Edison,
another Tesla, etc.). Depending on what individuals are selected, different inventions
will be printed out, cut up, and used to track progress and build towards a final goal of
using solar ovens to make some snacks. (For example: if Edison is selected, an image
of an incandescent lightbulb will be cut up and used to track the group progress.)

The poster where all this will be placed is at the front of the class where there are two
construction paper-covered corkboards. They will have the name of the
scientist/inventor, a little bit about him, and the invention that is being put together
slowly.

When the class is behaved well or performs well on any particular day, another piece
will be added to the invention. If they complete the invention prior to the end of the unit,
students will take part in an activity where we make solar ovens and use them to cook
snacks.

Individual Tracking Systems

Who will maintain this (teacher or student)? When will it be updated? Where will it be
stored?

The individual tracking system – following our theme of energy and heat – will be a set
of thermometers they use to record their results on daily exit tickets as well as respond
to what was learned in class that day. Because our classes are heavily differentiated, so
too will our exit tickets be. We will either create two sets of exit tickets per day for the
differentiated classes, or we will have different goals for the classes – 80% for one class
and 60% for the other.

The sheets will be updated daily, and students will have a chance to reflect on them at
the end of the week. They will be stored in their student folders with their Passports and
other documents. Students will be given time at the end of each class to quickly record
their responses, and depending on if you graded exit tickets as a class or turned them in
they will either record their scores at that time or when they receive their exit tickets the
next day in class.

Communicate with Students’ Families

What information will you share with families? What will the format be? How often will
you communicate with families?

Passports already exist as a way of communicating student behaviors and assignments

to parents, this tracking system will augment that. Students will take the five responses
they write each week and use them to write a longer response about what they learned
in the entire week. This will go with their passport to be signed by their parents.

Building in Time for Students to Reflect on Their Learning

When will you do this? What will it look like? What preparation is needed?

This is a daily and weekly activity. Students will daily respond to what they learned with
a word, phrase, sentence, or a picture. And at the end of the week they will reflect back
on what they had learned and write their responses to be sent home.

It will require about three minutes set aside for most weekdays, with approximately 10
minutes set aside on Fridays. Students will have the opportunity to share these
reflections with shoulder partners, groups, and the whole class if time is permitting.

Investment Plan Reveal

How will you reveal the investment plan and tracking system to students, in a student-
friendly manner?
The investment plan will be introduced through the use of a small, class-wide research
activity where student will conduct short research on a group of inventors and scientists.
Students will then be asked to vote for a representative figure and invention to be their
class mascots. Once students have that personal investment and interest in the project,
it will be revealed what the mascot and invention are being used for, and what the end
activity will be if students can complete their invention (a solar oven snack bake).

The individual tracking sheets will be introduced and explained in three ways. First, they
allow students to see their own growth and track their understanding of the unit and the
concepts. Second, it allows us teachers to better understand the needs of the students
and make sure we are properly addressing needs. And finally, it gives their parents a
tool to see what the students are doing in the classroom.