The teacher writes the morning agenda on the board, which instructs the students to take one of the “Phases of the Moon” pre-assessment worksheets. The students complete the worksheet independently. The majority of the lesson is completed as a whole group instruction; however, there are chances for individual students to participate in independent work throughout the lesson.
This part of the lesson is whole group instruction. The teacher states, “Boys and girls, have you ever looked up at the moon at night and thought it was growing bigger or smaller? Does the moon really grow and shrink? Who can tell me the phases of the moon? What causes the different phases of the moon? Today we are going to be learning about the different phases and the relationship between the Earth, Sun and Moon and the Moon’s phases. First, we are going to go over the vocabulary so we are not confused about the terminology in this unit.” The teacher first asks the students to provide a guess as to what the vocabulary words mean. This helps the teacher to see the level of vocabulary the students have. The teacher then asks the student who provided the correct answer to come to the board and reveal the correct answers to the vocabulary. The students write the definitions in their science notebooks. For the students with a writing disability, the teacher provides the students with the definition already written out.
This modeling portion of this lesson is whole group instruction. Following the vocabulary, the teacher states, “Boys and girls, I would like everyone to please take out a blank piece of paper and draw a line down the middle. On the left side, write at least two things you want to learn about the relationship between the moon, the earth, and the sun. Once everyone has done this, we will read pages 102-106 from our textbook. I want you to pay close attention during the reading. I want you to write down at least two things you learn from the reading. You can write these things on the right side of your paper. After the reading, we will share what we learned. Please open your science textbooks to page 102C. We are going to learn about the effects of the Moon’s movement.”
After the reading, the teacher calls on students to share what they learned. The students write this information on the board. This serves as a chart of newly acquired information for the students. The teacher then presents a short video called Space Exploration: Phases of the Moon. “Boys and girls, this video helps to explain the relationship between the Earth, Sun, and Moon. Make sure you pay close attention so you will be able to help us during our class activities.”
Following the video, the teacher picks three students. One student represents the Sun with the flashlight, another represents the Earth with the Earth Styrofoam ball, and the third represents the Moon with the Styrofoam moon ball. The three spread out in a line to portray the relationship between the three objects. The students reenact the movement of the Earth and Moon to display the Moon phases. This large scale model of the process helps students fully visualize the relationship and comprehend the movement of the Moon. The teacher provides each small group of students with a sun, moon, and Earth to represent the relationship. Each group spreads out throughout the room. The students take turns in their small groups to recreate this process. The teacher walks around the room to monitor the students during this process.
The teacher models a small Styrofoam ball for the students in whole group instruction. “Boys and girls, you are each going to receive a small Styrofoam ball to create a model of the moon. How can we color this moon to represent the different phases of the moon?” The teacher models how to color half of the moon to represent the different phases. The teacher passes out the Styrofoam balls to the students and provides them with time to create their moons. The teacher walks around the room to guide students during this process. The students independently create their moons. After the class colors their moons, they represent the different phases by turning their moons. The teacher states, “Boys and girls, show me what a full moon looks like with your new moon.” The class goes over each phase to ensure each student comprehends the concept of the moon models before moving on.
After the students finish coloring half of their moon and the class reviews the concept of the moon models, the teacher hands them the Phases of the Moon During the Lesson worksheet to complete. The worksheet requires the students to use their moon to help them draw the different phases. The students complete the worksheet individually. The students who finish early quietly quiz their neighbor on the different phases of the moon and check their answers from the worksheet. Once everyone finishes the worksheet, the teacher asks students to come up to the board to draw the different moon phases. This portion of the lesson is whole group instruction. This also serves as a summary and a quick way for the teacher to assess comprehension. The students also receive a worksheet for a post-assessment to test their knowledge on the phases of the moon. This worksheet will be given at a separate time during the day or for homework to be completed individually. This worksheet quizzes the students on their vocabulary, the different phases of the moon, and the relationship between the Sun, Moon, and the Earth.
To review and summarize the lesson, the teacher uses whole group instruction. The teacher states, “Boys and girls, using our new vocabulary, who can explain the relationship between the Earth, Sun, and Moon?” This information is presented on the board to serve as a reference for the students. By reviewing this process with the vocabulary, the students will have a stronger understanding of the material before moving to the post-assessment. The teacher plays a short segment from the previous video, Space Exploration: Phases of the Moon, and instructs the students to follow along and model the video with their new moon creations. This helps reinforce the different phases of the moon and the concepts of the lesson. As a way to keep reinforcing the concept behind the lesson, the class creates a moon calendar. Each night the students have to draw the moon and bring in their drawings the next day. As a class, the students record the moon drawings on the moon calendar.