Lesson+6+-+Hatching+Chicks

=**Hatching Chicks - A Preschool Lesson (adaptable for elementary grades!)**=
 * //(Statistics taken in 2001-2002 reveal that the largest group of new Internet users was 2-5 year olds (Ching, Wang & Kedem, 2006).)//**
 * **Video Resource: @Egg Hatching**


 * NYS Learning Standards:
 * **Science 4**: Students will understand and apply scientific concepts, principles, and theories pertaining to the physical setting and living environment and recognize the historical development of ideas in science.
 * **ELA 1:** Students will read, write, listen, and speak for information and understanding.

>> Students will be able to verbally recall and summarize what they have seen.
 * **Objectives:**
 * Students will verbalize and write or draw predictions.
 * Students will gather information using video technology. **(Using technology may motivate students to learn (Roschelle & Pea, 1999, p. 23). Goals include more productivity, making education more learner-friendly and student-centered, and helping students to become more computer-literate (Cuban, 2001).) **
 * Students will use discussion, writing, and/or drawing to compare discoveries to predictions. **//("Clear communication encompassing a variety of media is comfortable and natural for today’s students and engages them in creative thinking and planning" (Armstrong et al., 2004, p.5).)//**


 * **Teaching the Lesson:**
 * Step 1: Show children the chicken eggs in the incubator in the classroom. Ask them what they see. Record their observations. Throughout this lesson, students will be exposed to the chicks and eggs in the form of books, videos, and real specimens (RL).
 * Step 2: Provide the children with paper and writing/drawing materials. Ask them to write or draw what they think the egg and chick look like when they hatch. How does the egg crack? What does the chick look like? Have them tell you what they are doing and record them (either written or audio.) This supports their background knowledge and allows to you to later address misconceptions (RL).
 * Step 3: Show the children the video of the chick hatching (linked above). This provides content in a different, engaging way (AL). Ask them what they are seeing. Highlight the critical features of the chick and the egg (RL). //("...[videos] allow students to engage in activities that would otherwise be too expensive, dangerous, or impractical to conduct in the classroom" (Berson, 1996, p. 489).// **"Computers are a potentially valuable visual aid that can diversify the ways in which teachers present material" (Berson, 1996, p. 493).)**
 * Step 4: Ask children to write or draw what they now know about the egg and chick hatching. Show them various examples of how you and other students have documented your information (drawings, descriptions, tables, etc.) This provides them with flexible models (SL). Discuss how this compares to what they originally thought. Record their responses.
 * Step 5: Have two children compare their observations with each other. Ask them to give each other feedback, and make any changes they would like to make based on their new information (SL).
 * Step 6: If possible, make a chart that compares the students' predictions to their discoveries. Students can do this independently or with a partner, or with the teacher. If necessary, you can provide various scaffolds to allow the child to practice with support - blank charts to be filled in, statements to be sorted, etc. (SL). This also provides adjustable levels of challenge (AL).


 * **Assessment:**
 * Students will produce a spoken, written, or draw summary of how a chick hatches, including what the shell and the chick itself look like. Students should have the freedom to demonstrate their abilities and understanding in a way that is interesting, motivating, and successful for them (SL). Students will share their discoveries with other students in the class, helping to intrinsically motivate them to want to work hard and have something valuable to share (AL). //**(Student-centered meaningful technology integration can result in understanding by promoting student reflections (Ching, Wang & Kedem, 2006).)**//


 * **Technological Knowledge Needed**
 * embedding a video from Youtube, or linking to the video
 * using the class computer
 * using or not using headphones or speakers


 * **Pedagogical Content Knowledge**
 * One computer will be used among two or three children to encourage collaboration.
 * Be accommodating of individual learning context preferences (AL). Determine which students will work independently, which with partners, which with teacher support, which with scaffolded organizers, which with digital organizers, etc.
 * PREVIOUS INSTRUCTION: students should already have been introduced to the idea of chicks coming from eggs and should know what both an egg and a chicken look like
 * PREVIOUS INSTRUCTION: students should be familiar with making predictions and using descriptive words through repeated practice doing so through dialogue, writing, and other formats (RL)
 * FURTHER INSTRUCTION: As the classroom eggs (or other living, growing things in the classroom) progress, students should have opportunities to photograph or video record their own observations, in addition to making written observations. //**(Allowing student to take their own photographs and create a photo journal was an effective way at facilitating the integration of technology into the physical spaces and social fabrication of the classroom. Students were given the opportunity for students to reflect on their environment and social networks (Ching, Wang & Kedem, 2006 p. 265).)**//

>>
 * Colored sentences are based off of information on Universal Design for Learning using technology found in:
 * Rose, D. H., & Meyer, A. (2002). Teaching Every Student in the Digital Age: Universal Design for Learning. Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.
 * RUBRICS:
 * [|Revision with Research]
 * [|Revision with UDL]