Tectonic Plates Lesson Review

For this lesson plan, the objectives were for the student to label the parts of
the Earth, show his understanding by answering questions from the Smartboard, and
explain natural disasters by conducting an experiment and applying his new knowledge.
These objectives were definitely carried out; Jack showed that he understood the new
vocabulary and the new concepts demonstrated to him through the Smartboard and
through the experiment.
For the vocabulary development part of the lesson, I feel that the three of us
did a good job at reinforcing the new vocabulary throughout the lesson. We would
have Jack repeat after us when we introduced new vocab. Although Jack had
already learned a little bit about tectonic plates, we felt as though this was a good
review for him. He definitely was building his language and vocabulary through
our Tier Three vocabulary words tectonic plates, volcano, earthquake, continental
drift, inner core, outer core, mantle, crust, and plate boundaries.
There was no distinct part in the lesson where I thought Jack did not
understand. He even knew what caused earthquakes when one tectonic plate goes
on top of the other. He caught on extremely fast and we were all very taken back by
how much he already knows, especially since he is only in the fourth grade. The
part that I thought was maybe too easy was when we had him label the continents.
He labeled them with no problem and we probably did not have to go over that part
of the lesson, but it was definitely a good review.
The part of the lesson I thought did not work the way we expected was the
slide on the SmartBoard slideshow where he had to connect all of the continents

together to make what was once Pangaea. The Smartboard was acting up and the
continents did not connect perfectly. This was actually a good segway into a part of
the lesson we did not plan for; we then discussed how they do not perfectly fit
together because of changes that have occurred overtime on the planet such as
earthquakes, volcano eruption, tsunamis, and other natural disasters.
I think the lesson itself went very well. We first gave the lesson through the
SmartBoard and then introduced the experiments, which he found exciting. He also
had fun dragging the definitions and matching them with the correct term. The most
fun he had throughout the entire lesson was definitely the volcano experiment,
which was extremely successful. We used baking soda, dish soap, red food
coloring, and vinegar to make the volcano explode. This was a great experiment for
young kids, especially Jacks' age. I will definitely use this experiment in my future
classrooms if tectonic plates or natural disasters are apart of the science
curriculum!
If we were to repeat this lesson with an English Language Learner student
who is the same age as Jack, I would have changed the lesson by adding labels on
the Smartboard with the new vocabulary words. For example, when talking about
tectonic plates, I would have had a label underneath the words tectonic plates in
his or her language. I would also have him or her repeat the words in English and
point to an image that represents the new vocabulary word. Images and other
visuals are a good way for ELL students to comprehend new vocab because they
can actually associate the word with something they recognize. However, I would
definitely still have the student come up and be interactive with the Smartboard

lesson like Jack was. Some learners are visual, but some learners are kinesthetic
learners and are taught best through hands-on activities. This lesson was absolutely
an eye-opening lesson because I realized how difficult it might be for an ELL
student. When I have my own classroom, I will do my best to assure every student
understands the content I am teaching them.