Prior to the learning experience, the students each complete the “Phases of the Moon” pre-assessment. The worksheet helps to determine the level of the students in relation to this LE in the class. This in turn helps to determine which areas need more explicit instruction and which students will need extra support. The first question on the worksheet asks the students “What do you think causes the phases of the moon?” This question provides students with an idea as to what they will be learning and gets them thinking about the phases of the moon. The second half of the pre-assessment worksheet requires students to try to match the phases of the moon terms with the correct images of the moon phases. Following the pre-assessment, the class goes over the answers together. This helps the teacher to assess the background knowledge the students have on the lesson.t goes here.
At the beginning of the lesson, the teacher will go over the vocabulary with the students. The students will voice their opinions and ideas for the definitions of the words and have an active role in the vocabulary by coming up to the board to reveal the answers and writing them in their notebooks. This process helps the teacher to guide their idea and assess their schema. During the lesson, the students share what they know and what they learned from the reading. The teacher quickly assesses the level of comprehension from the students during this time. The students have a chance to represent the relationship between the Earth, the Moon, and the Sun by holding up the models provided. As the students hold the models of the three objects, the students will simulate the relationship by rotating the Moon around the Earth and rotating the Earth around the Sun. During this process, students will orally state the different phases of the moon. Following this, students will create their own moons. Each student receives a Styrofoam ball and will color half of the ball. The students will then be able to place the ball on a stick and spin it to see the different phases. Using the moons, students will then fill in their phases of the moon chart. The chart has the names of the phases, but it requires students to use their moon to draw the phases to match the correct phase term. Then, the class goes over the worksheet and the students orally explain the phases; four students come up to the board to draw the phases.
In order to summarize the lesson and assess the ability of the students, the students complete the “Phases of the Moon” post-assessment sheet. The sheet requires the students to understand the vocabulary terms and the different phases of the moon images and terminology. Using the Phases of the Moon rubric, the teacher assesses the students on completion, accuracy, the ability to draw the different moon phases, and comprehension of the vocabulary. The Phases of the Moon rubric directly relates to the NYS standards and Performance Indicators by assessing the students’ ability to draw the different moon phases, sequence them in order, and explain the relationship between the Sun, Moon, and Earth. Each of these tasks are on the Phases of the Moon post-assessment. The NYS standard and performance indicator states, “The Earth and celestial phenomena can be described by principles of relative motion and perspective.” The tasks on the worksheet directly relate back to the standard. The Phases of the Moon rubric is used as a guideline for the first semester of science. This astronomy unit is the first unit of the school year. As a result, the Phases of the Moon rubric is used to assess the level of comprehension and ability level of each student. The rubric provides a baseline supported with evidence, which is used to show specific strengths, weakness, and other academic information related to the semester grades. The teacher is able to review the semester grades and use the Phases of the Moon rubric to assess which specific areas require more support.
Phases of the Moon Rubric:
Category |
4. Excellent |
3. Good |
2. Fair |
1. Poor |
Writing Activity: The students write down what they know and what they learned about. Score: ______ |
The student provides three or more complete sentences under each section for the writing that are on topic with the relationship between the Sun, the Moon, and the Earth. |
The student provides two answers or topics under each section for the writing that are on topic with the relationship between the Sun, the Moon, and the Earth. |
The student provides one to two answers for the writing OR the answers are off topic from the relationship between the Sun, the Moon, and the Earth. |
The student provides an answer for the writing section that is off topic from the relationship between the Sun, the Moon, and the Earth. |
Worksheets:
Score:______ |
The student shows complete comprehension of the relationship between the Earth, Moon, and Sun by completing the worksheets with 100% accuracy. |
The student shows comprehension of the relationship between the Earth, Moon, and Sun by completing the worksheets with one to two errors. |
The student shows comprehension, but could use more support as he/she completes the worksheets with three to four errors. |
The student needs direct support to gain full comprehension of the relationship between the Earth, Moon, and Sun as he/she completes the worksheets with five or more errors. |
Matching Section: Score:______ |
The student shows complete comprehension of the moon phases by completing the section with 100% accuracy. |
The student shows comprehension of the moon phases by completing the worksheets with one to two errors. |
The student needs some support to show comprehension OR needs more explicit details for matching activities. |
The student needs direct support to gain full comprehension of the moon phases OR needs more explicit details for matching sections. |
Drawing: Score:______ |
Exceptionally well designed, neat, and attractive AND can explain each phase of the moon. |
Neat and relatively attractive AND able to decipher the different phases. |
The drawing of the moon and shaded areas are difficult to follow. |
Appears thrown together with little effort or comprehension. |
Vocabulary: Score:______ |
The student shows complete comprehension of the phases of the moon vocabulary by completing the section with 100% accuracy. |
The student shows comprehension of the phases of the moon vocabulary by completing the section with one error. |
The student shows some comprehension, but needs extra support as a result of errors OR student needs more explicit details when working with vocabulary and word banks. |
The student needs direct instruction while completing a worksheet to ensure comprehension of the task and material, based on multiple errors. |
Oral response: Score: _____ |
The student is constantly active and engaged during the lesson and offers answers more than four times. |
The student is active during the lesson and offers answers three times. |
The student is engaged during most of the lesson and offers answers one to two times. |
The student struggles to remain on task OR struggles to provide answers and ideas. |
Total:________/24
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