Are you looking for some light lesson plans for your third, fourth, or fifth grade class? You’ve come to the right place!
Ms. Sneed Prepares Light Lesson Plans
Our favorite fourth grade teacher sat at the side table with her teaching partner, Mr. Frank. As she spoke, she rifled through their light unit. “We have so many physical science activities to get through. How much time should we spend on this?”
Mr. Frank sat down in front of the computer. “I can see spending one or two weeks on it. Let’s generate ideas for 5-day and 10-day light lesson plans.”
“Okay. You type. I’ll go through the activities.”
5-Day Light Lesson Plans
“If we use the main light activities as stations, we could create our light lesson plans for just five days,” Ms. Sneed told her teaching partner.
Mr. Frank pulled out the list of investigations and the materials needed:
- How does light travel? (four mirrors, paper, pencil, hard-covered book, flashlight)
- Which materials are transparent, translucent, opaque? (flashlight, twelve or more materials to test)
- Which materials reflect light? (flashlight, twelve or more materials to test)
- What is refraction? (pencil, clear cup, opaque cup, penny, wax paper, eye dropper, beaker of water, paper with writing on it)
- What is color? (flashlight, prism and/or CD, bubbles, crayons)
“On the first day, we could administer the pretest. That way, we get a handle on students’ current understanding,” said Mr. Frank.
“Then on Day 2, we can do the activities as science stations. Students would spend 10 to 15 minutes at each center. Then they’d make generalizations to discover energy concepts on their own.”
“The next day, we’d use videos. These would ward off misconceptions and deepen understanding.”
“Then we will use the flashcards from the light unit to review vocabulary and concepts.”
“Although the actual learning sequence would only be three days, I think we’d be ready to administer a parallel assessment on the fifth day,” said Ms. Sneed.
“Then compare results to the pretest and celebrate kids’ growth!” exclaimed Mr. Frank.
Working together, the two teachers soon came up with a five-day set of light lesson plans.
10-Day Light Lesson Plans
“Now let’s type up our light lesson plans for using the activities as labs instead of stations,” said Ms. Sneed.
“Okay. And after each lab, we can show a video to reinforce the concept,” added her colleague. “This part will take six days:
- Pretest
- How Does Light Travel?
- Which Materials Are Transparent, Translucent, Opaque?
- Which Materials Reflect Light?
- What Is Refraction?
- What Is Color?”
On the seventh day, kids will use the light article to extend and clarify their understanding.”
“Hey, with the 10-day plan, we gain an extra day,” said Ms. Sneed. “We could choose to make white light, separate colors with chromatography, or play with shadows.”
“I’d like to take time for these no matter what,” said Mr. Frank. “Whether we use stations or labs, these give us the opportunity to include inquiry and a fair test.”
“Finally, we’d review and assess,” said Ms. Sneed.
Once again, the two teachers worked on a set of light lesson plans. This time, they’d stretched activities to ten days.
Enjoy Teaching
“Well,” said Mr. Frank, “What do you think?”
That slow teacher smile spread across Ms. Sneed’s face. “You know that I love stations. But I’d like to add all of the extension activities: two white light investigations, a chromatography experiment, and two shadows projects.”
Mr. Frank snickered as he moved back to his computer to type up one more set of plans. “Okay, let’s pack in as much as we can!” he exclaimed.
Ms. Sneed and Mr. Frank love hands-on science. When they use stations or short labs, they enjoy teaching so much more! To make your light lesson plans shine, let kids get their hands on science.
