NGSS Science Lesson- The Rock Cycle with Airheads
Lesson Context: Mrs. Scherle’s 5th-grade WIN class. This lesson will take place at
Bluffview Elementary School in Dupo, Illinois. The students who are in this WIN class have been placed
here because of test scores indicating the need for extra help in ELA. There are 17 students in the
classroom. On the day of teaching (11/10/25 & 11/12/25), I had the students in special education and the
students in Title I intervention participating in the lesson.
Brief Description of Lesson/Activity: In this lesson, students engaged in the engineering design process
by building marshmallow-and-toothpick towers aligned to the NGSS ETS1-2, which asks students to
generate and compare solutions based on criteria. Working in small groups, they constructed an initial
plan, constructed their tower, and then created an earthquake simulation by using a book rocking back
and forth. As they built, students identified weaknesses, revised their designs, and applied problem-solving skills to improve structure. The lesson concluded with groups comparing their towers, discussing
which design features supported stability, and reflecting on how well their final structure met the criteria.
Lesson Plans
Student Work Samples
Cooperating Teacher Feedback
The Name Jar- Comic Strip Sequencing with Multicultural Literature
For this lesson, I was measuring comprehension and composition of multicultural literature. For this lesson, I had students read the book The Name Jar, aloud. While students were reading, I did a miscue analysis to measure fluency while reading. After we discussed the book, students created a comic strip sequencing the events of the book using "first," "then," and "finally." This showed comprehension of the story and also provided the opportunity for a mini-lesson about sequencing events, something that students had previously tested low on. After completing their comic, students showcased their comic to the class and discussed what stood out to them in the book the most.
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