

Table of Contents

Overview Video of the Five-Day Learning Sequence

You will be viewing a video summary of day one, day four, and day five of the five-day learning sequence. In this summary, the teacher’s learning goals for the students are:

  1. Learn about different chemical reactions
  2. Discover through experimentation how to identify those reactions
  3. Practice balancing chemical reactions
  4. Connect the chemical reactions to the principle of conservation of matter
  5. Deepen their learning of science through writing, reading, and discussions

Throughout the learning sequence, students practice writing, using their understanding of the science content through short journal entries—a “daily science journal”—in their science notebooks (day one, two, and three); reflect on their understanding of new content material through short writing at the end of each day—a “daily science reflection”; plan and write a lab report (day three and four); and develop an extended writing about their weekly learning in preparation for testing (day five).

The teacher used the learning sequence template to plan lessons. He used a template which explains how the daily science journal is to be completed in the science notebook. Students also receive a handout prior to conducting their experiments on day four. You may want to download and print the handouts before beginning the video.

The first part of the video is of day one. As you view the video, notice strategies the teacher uses to engage students in exploring, practicing, and explaining their understanding. Pay attention to how the teacher uses the speaking and listening, language, reading, and writing standards.

In the second part of the video, during day four, students are performing experiments to identify five different types of chemical reactions based on their observations. Several literacy standards are addressed in this section of the video.

Time to View

While viewing this classroom lesson, write your observations in the High School Science Lesson Engagement Charts.