First Week Of School Plan

By: Imran Malik

The First Class
 The First Class
Sign will be posted on door so students know
they are in the right room
Welcome to Grade 9 Science
Will greet students at the door with a Hello,
welcome to Grade 9 Science
Seating plan to be posted on Smartboard
Arrangements will be determined using past
knowledge of the students, or info from other
teachers
Desks will be arranged in groups of 4 if possible
For use in opening class group activities
 The First Class (contd)
Will open the class with attendance, a bit
about myself (attached My Life ppt) and an
ice-breaker (fun) activity
Followed by an introduction to science video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tpBAmzQ_pUE
Video used to link science to our every day
understanding of the world around us
Following this we will move into chart paper
group opening activity
*See next slide*
 The First Class (contd)
Each group will have a piece of chart
paper with a question at the top of it at
their desk, including a coloured marker to
write answers
LEARNING GOAL: By the end of the class
students will have shown their prior scientific
knowledge, and will have an idea of what
science is and how it helps our everyday lives
Questions will pertain to science in our lives
Each group will have a different coloured
marker
 The First Class (contd)
Each group will have 3-5 minutes to
answer the question on their chart
paper, after which all groups will
rotate to the next group table, with
their marker in hand
Chart paper remains at the table, this
way each group will have had a chance
to answer all questions by the end of the
activity
 The First Class (contd)
Chart paper questions
1) What does science mean to you?
2) Name a past scientific discovery,
what did it teach us about the
world/universe?
3) Give examples of how scientific
understanding is used in our everyday
lives
4) Name some famous scientists
5) Name some jobs that require science
knowledge to perform well
The Second Class
 The Second Class
During this class we will be talking about how to
make scientific observations
LEARNING GOAL: By the end of this lesson, students
will understand what makes a good observation, and
how to go about making scientific observations in
general
First we will perform a simple scientific experiment
(similar to the fake snow one, or lighting a conical
tissue paper on fire and watching it rise)
Before beginning the experiment, the teacher will
explain how to perform the experiment, and leave
instructions on Smartboard during class
Students will then (as a group) write down some of their
hypotheses as to what might happen
 The Second Class (contd)
Students will perform the simple
experiment
After students will make observations as to
what happened during the experiment
We will then re-group as a class and discuss
some of their observations
After that we will again break into their groups,
and students will discuss and record WHY they
think experiment proceeded the way it did
As in they will try to describe their observations
scientifically
 The Second Class (contd)
Again we will re-group as a class and
discuss their explanations
Each group will have to present at least one
possible explanation
Teacher will then explain the correct
reasoning behind what happened
As a class we will finish by talking about
what makes a good observation,
comparing to their examples, and
discussing any elements that were missing
The Third Class
 The Third Class
In this lesson we will begin looking at
how to plan a scientific experiment
LEARNING GOAL: By the end of the
lesson students will be beginning to
understand how to plan an experiment
to test a research question
 The Third Class (contd)
We will begin again by performing a
simple scientific experiment (maybe
parallel and series circuits)
Instructions will be provided for this part
of the lesson (should take about 20
minutes to perform)
Students will again work in their groups
 The Third Class (contd)
After the experiment has been completed, we will
discuss the format of the method given to perform
the experiment
How do we go from having a research question, to
testing that questions appropriately

Now the teacher will ask the students to perform

an experiment similar to the one just performed,
only with a twist/difference explained by the
teacher
Students will now have to write their own experimental
method for the similar experiment
The Fourth Class
 The Fourth Class
Today we will start with a review of what
we did last class, focusing on how we went
about planning an experimental method

Todays lesson will focus on how to gather

data and analyze that data after
performing an experiment
LEARNING GOAL: By the end of todays
lesson students will have an idea of how to
record data during an experiment, and how to
begin analyzing that data for significance
 The Fourth Class (contd)
Students will perform the experiment they
planned yesterday (parallel vs series circuits)
During the experiment they will record any
observations and data, mostly about light bulb
strength and number lit
After as a class we will look at how each group
went about recording data
Then we will talk about what was done well, what
didnt work so well, and how we can improve our
data recording
We will then talk about statistical analyses briefly,
just to explain how they are used to test for
significance in our data, using a few examples
The Fifth Lesson
 The Fifth Lesson
Today we will start by reviewing last class,
how we collect and analyze data

Todays lesson will focus on how we now

draw conclusions and communicate our
experimental results
LEARNING GOAL: By the end of todays
lesson I will have an idea of how to translate
my results into meaningful conclusions, and
have an idea of a few ways we might visually
show and present our findings
 The Fifth Lesson (contd)
Using the data collected in the
previous lab, students will work on
converting those results into figures,
tables, diagrams, etc..

Then students will convert those

figures and results into meaningful
conclusions
 Next Week
We will start to look at how, after an
experiment has been completed, we
may go about communicating our
findings
 Behavioural
Considerations
I will keep paper and pencils in the
classroom for those who forget to
bring
Write name on board if borrowing pencil

Early on I would have a class

discussion about what I expect the
classroom attitude to be
Positive, respectful, accepting of
differences, etc
Behavioural Considerations
Use of deck of cards
Each card with a student name on it, used
when no one will answer (one pass allowed),
used to pick groups (might be fixed)
Set up an active classroom
Room to move about
Pictures/poster/demonstrations on wall
Science quotes, discoveries, etc
Lots of different reading materials to
encourage reading in general, try to have
more scientific readings
Behavioural Considerations
Teacher-student relationship
Build some personal relationships early on
Gain students trust by showing you care
about them as more than just a student
Student-student relationship
Respect for all
Teacher-parent relationship
Open environment where discussion is
encouraged
 Cognitive Practices
When posing a question to the class
as a whole, I like to use wait-time as
a way of allowing each student a
chance to think about the answer
before an answer is given
In situations where no one answers, this
is when I would have them discuss the
question as a group
After discussion, we will come back
together as a class and discuss the
correct answer
 Cognitive Practices
Mistakes are encouraged!
In my classroom mistakes are encouraged, as I feel
that we often learn best through the mistakes we have
made and have corrected
I want an environment where people are not afraid that
they will be ridiculed for making an incorrect response
Collaborative environment
I like using group activities, as I feel it allows students
the chance to show other side of their skills
(leadership, teamwork, etc.)
If groups are not working well (getting off task,
arguing, goofing around, etc) then I will move towards
more independent work, hopefully teaching them the
privilege of group work
 Cognitive Practices
Student-centered learning

Try to use various activities to build

teamwork, independence, and also a
fun-learning environment
 Routines
For the group activities, I would like to try and keep
the students in the same groups throughout the
first activity
To allow them to work together to complete the entire
process
Groups will be changed often throughout the year, as I
would like to create a classroom environment where all
have a chance to work with each other at some point

I would like to start each class with a video or news

article about a current issue to do with science
Used to show relevance and relationship of science to
our everyday lives
 Routines
Students will hand in their work before they leave the
classroom each day
This will either be in the form of exit card questions, or just
what they had been working on (as in this case)
Seating arrangements will be changed depending on
class behaviour
I would like to have students sitting in groups, as I like to have
them discuss questions that no one has answered in groups
If groups are leading to too much talking during teaching, etc.
then I will re-arrange the class as necessary
I would also like to try and incorporate a 2-3 minute
movement break into all my lessons around the midway
point
Used to prevent students from getting to antsy
Allow students a chance to reset their brains