*evaporation

*condensation

*precipitation

*groundwater

1.01 Participate in partner and small group playwriting.

3.01 Participate in making artistic choices in a small group.

4.02 Demonstrate responsible behavior such as sharing, flexibility, leadership, negotiating and teamwork

8.07 Participate in presentations.

Big Ideas:

Objectives:

1. TSW present the stages of the water cycle.
2. TSW identify the important parts of the water cycle.
3. TSW recognize the importance of the water cycle.

Multiple Intelligences:

Bodily/Kinesthetic- students can choose this venue to represent the water cycle

Musical/Rhythmic- students can choose this venue to represent the water cycle

Interpersonal- working collaboratively in their groups toward making a presentation on the water cycle

Verbal/Linguistic- listening to the presentations, using the scripts

Visual/Spatial- watching the presentations of the other groups with visuals

Universal Design:

EC/ESL/AIG- these groups will be mixed together to draw on each other’s strengths and weaknesses; students who are not comfortable verbally representing the water cycle can do it through movement instead; there is a great deal of flexibility in the presentations so everyone can find their niche

Materials: the assigned grouping, the presentation rubrics, and teamwork rubrics

Procedure:

1. Tomorrow is the big day when we are able to teach the water cycle to Ms. Moyers’ first grade class through our interesting skits and raps.
2. Today we are going to practice our presentations for each other. As each group is presenting please be respectful. We can show our respect by not talking and paying attention the whole time. We should only laugh if the presenters have purposefully made it funny. As you watch the other groups perform, notice how they showed evaporation, condensation, precipitation, groundwater, heat, and what clouds are made of. Tell them one positive thing about the presentation and one thing they could improve before tomorrow.
3. I will give them 5 minutes to split up into their groups for one last rehearsal of their own. After the 5 minutes I will ask for groups to volunteer.
4. Once the presentations are complete, I will pass the constructive criticism to the groups and give any of my own comments. Students will be given time to make any changes necessary to their performance.
5. Everyone has been working very hard on their presentations and I’m proud of all of you. I would like you to grade your group members on how well they worked together. I will hand out the Team Work Rubric to all the students. They will be given instructions to write each of their group members on the back of the sheet and give them a score for each category.

Debriefing & Assessment:

1. Did everyone enjoy the presentations today?
2. Put your thumbs up if you think the presentations explained the water cycle well. Keep your thumbs up if you think the first graders will learn about the water cycle tomorrow by watching these presentations. Can someone tell me why they think these presenations will work well?
3. What do you want to make sure the first graders know by the end of your presentations about the water cycle? (write this down on a sheet of paper and turn it in)

Reflection:

Today, I was frustrated with the class. There were loose ends that had not been taken care of during all the practice time they had been given. The group that I had difficulty getting to focus on their work (in previous days) had the most problems with not being ready for the dress rehearsal today. They were missing parts of the script. I was very thankful to Mrs. Bateman, who pulled the group outside of the classroom to straighten out the situation because it was interrupting valuable time for the other students. In my own classroom I would not be able to remedy the problem without taking up important class time of the other students though.

While the students were performing, I felt that none of the performances had been rehearsed enough. I’m glad that we had the dress rehearsal today because I think it made them recognize the reality of their performance. After everyone performed, I allowed them to break into their groups again to look at what other students had suggested for their performances. I was able to visit with each group and read what other students had suggested and give my own suggestions for what they needed to focus on to be ready for tomorrow. I discussed with the whole class the importance of beginning the performance as soon as they got to the front of the room. As a whole, all of the students needed to project their voices better. Once again, by noticing the need for these things made me appreciate that I was able to do the dress rehearsal with the groups today. With my own class, I would want to have a discussion about why their performances were not completely ready to present. Many of the groups did not manage their time well and I think that needs to be addressed with them. I was disappointed as a whole with their preparation, but I felt like because these are not truly my students I was not able to have this discussion with them.