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26 views

Assignment 1

Uploaded by

api-731793669
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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A Long Way Down: Designing Parachutes Lesson 3 in Fall River, MA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dzM5x9iyHNA

Event: (8:34 - 9:03) The students have completed making their different parachutes, and the
teacher explains how they will test them to see which ones fall the slowest.

T - We’re testing each one of these materials three times. Why do you think we’re not just testing
it once? How come we’re not just going to drop it, go “Yep, call it a day, we know what works
and what doesn’t work!” Devin?

D - Because it might not work the first time.

T - Exactly. It might not work the first time. And, not only that, you need a lot of data to make
sure something is one way or another, okay? You don’t just test it once, you test it several times
to be sure that you have accurate information.

Formative assessment: This is an example of intentionally structuring into a piece of teaching


opportunities for students to express their understanding. This is an informal diagnostic
formative assessment to see what students know about collecting data before they begin testing
their parachutes.

How it improves learning: Asking students why they will test their parachutes multiple times
allows her to check their understanding. It is diagnostic to help her answer the questions, “Who
is and is not understanding the lesson?” and “What adjustments should I make to instruction?”
When she asked this question, only a few students raised their hands, indicating that her class
does not have much understanding about data collection. Because of this, and because the
student she called on gave an incomplete answer, she was able to make informed choices and
adjust her instruction. Instead of simply telling them to test their parachutes three times, she took
this as a cue to give her class a further explanation about collecting data and why it’s important
to have more than one trial.
A Long Way Down: Designing Parachutes Lesson 3 in Fall River, MA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dzM5x9iyHNA

Event: (11:14 - 13:28) The students have tested their parachutes and collected data. The whole
class comes together to discuss the results of the testing. The teacher has a chart at the front of
the room where she records their answers, sorting the information into two categories,
“parachutes fall more slowly” and “parachutes fall more quickly”.

T - …So, let’s see what we learned about that, about the materials with the variables that we
tested… Those three groups, what did you guys test?

S - Canopy size

T - Your team, what do you think?

S - We think, well, the small one fell the fastest, the large one fell the slowest, and we think it fell
the slowest because since it is so big it caught a lot of drag which made it fall slowly to the
ground.

The teacher records this in the chart. Then she asks, “Everybody agree?” She then asks the
groups who tested suspension line length what they observed during testing. There were multiple
groups testing each factor, so she checks with students from all groups. She repeats and adds on
to their responses…

T - Why is it more open?

S - The strings didn’t hold it close together.

T - There you go. The longer the lines are, the more open the canopy can get, right? So, you’re
right, you’re absolutely right. (To another group) Did you guys find the same thing? The longer
the lines are, the more that canopy can open up. And if the strings are shorter, it’s not allowing it
to open up to catch that air to have resistance and cause drag.

She records this in the chart. She then checks with the groups who tested canopy material, again
hearing responses from each group.

Formative assessment: This is an example of thoughtful and reflective dialogue between students
and teachers focused on exploring understanding, as the teacher invites them to share their
findings. This is used as an informal diagnostic formative assessment, because she is checking
their progress. It is also an opportunity for students to get teacher feedback as she confirms and
adds on to their ideas.

How it improves learning: Having students share what they observed in their testing of the
parachutes allows her to check their understanding. It is diagnostic to help her answer the
question, “Who is and is not understanding the lesson?” She checks with each group to ask them
what they observed and to hear their ideas about why different variables caused the parachutes to
fall more slowly or quickly. If students gave answers that didn’t make sense, or if different
groups disagreed, this would be a cue to add to her instruction to clear up any confusion. In this
case, none of the groups were confused, but she did add clarifying information for those who
gave less detailed responses to make sure they understood what they observed.

Along with using this dialogue as a diagnostic assessment, she also uses this as a time to give
students feedback. After each group shared, the teacher gave feedback by confirming their
responses and elaborating on their ideas about why the parachutes fell at different speeds. She
used academic language to repeat their ideas for the whole class to hear. This showed students if
their answers were correct, or if they needed to add a bit to them. She also filled in the chart so
that students could check their own understanding and see the learning goal for the lesson. This
gave them feedback by showing them the intended learning. More learning gains will be seen if
students examine this information, including the chart and verbal feedback, use it to self-assess
their understanding of the lesson content, and act on it.

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