Curriculum Materials Analysis Benchmark Assignment
Joanna Rubinstein
FOSS Kit on Fabrics
Standards and Learning Goals
Disciplinary Core Idea: ESS3.A: Natural Resources
Living things need water, air, and resources from the land, and they live in places
that have the things they need. Humans use natural resources for everything they
do. (K-ESS3-1)
Cross-Cutting Concept: Cause and Effect
Events have causes that generate observable patterns. (K-ESS3-2), (K-ESS3-3)
Knowings: Students will know that:
1. Some fabrics can be used to absorb water.
2. Which fabrics will absorb water more than others.
3. The properties of the materials that absorb water and properties of those that do
not.
Doings: Students will be able to:
1. Feel and explore the testable fabrics.
2. Attempt to absorb water using different fabrics and track results.
3. Discuss which fabrics absorbed the most and why.
Question Stage
1. Experience Phenomena
a. Is there an initial experience with phenomena that sets the context for
the instructional sequence?
b. Is this phenomenon a familiar experience to students?
2. Establish a Question
a. Is there a driving question related to the learning goal? If so, what is
it?
b. Is the driving question introduced to students?
c. Is this problem/question relevant and interesting to my students?
Why/how? (think about students’ experiences and funds of knowledge)
3. Elicit Students’ Initial Ideas
a. Is there an opportunity to find out what ideas students have at the
beginning of the lesson? If so, how?
b. Is there an opportunity for the teacher for find out what students think
about the driving question? If so, how?
c. What are the ideas related to the question that my students already
have?
d. What cultural resources can I likely draw on?
Your analysis based on the above questions.
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There are initial experiences with the fabrics provided by several activities given to
explore with the fabrics (i.e. feely bag, sorting). These were unfamiliar to the
students in my classroom as they have never done something like this. The driving
question of this investigation is “What does water do on fabrics?” And it is the
overall question asked throughout the investigation. It may be interesting to my
students because they’ve done these initial activities with the fabrics and have
found them interesting thus far. There is a time provided for the introduction of the
investigation in which the teacher is supposed to ask the students what they think
will happen. My students already know that the different materials have different
properties due to the sorting activity we did. This may help them understand why
they absorb the water differently. There were no cultural resources mentioned.
Modifications you could make.
Modifications I could make would be changing the phrasing of the driving question.
Rather than asking what does water “do” I am going to ask “What happens when
water gets on fabrics?” I think this is more beneficial to think of it in the sense of
cause and effect as related to the cross-cutting concept that matched this activity.
Although this was not mentioned, one cultural resource I could draw on is talking
about what kinds of clothes have they worn when it rained in Tucson? What did the
fabric feel like? Did the water absorb or do something else?
Explore & Investigate Stage
1. Explore Phenomena
a. Do the students explore (have experiences with) a variety phenomena
BEFORE explanations are offered? What are the experiences?
b. Does the lesson connect or take advantage of the types of experiences
and funds of knowledge my students have? Why/how?
c. Are there opportunities for students to engage in scientific practices? If
so, which ones? How?
2. Identify patterns
a. Does the activity help students identify patterns in their experiences?
If so, what are the patterns that the students are supposed to see?
b. Are there opportunities for students to engage in scientific practices? If
so, which ones? How?
c. What questions will students likely have?
Your analysis based on the above questions.
The lesson in itself is an exploratory activity. The student will receive a set of
fabrics and will be able to use the dropper to drop water on the fabric and observe
the effect. The lesson may connect to the students’ experiences or funds of
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knowledge by having them use fabrics they’ve worn or seen before. The students
will be engaging in investigating, observing, and recording data. The activity could
help students identify patterns of water observation due to properties of the fabrics.
Question’s that the students may have is “how does this happen?” “Why isn’t this
one absorbing?” “Why is this one absorbing?”
Modifications you could make.
The exploratory phase is really good in this lesson. I think a potential modification
would be to possibly do this lesson in small groups while the other groups are
working on something else at other tables, so that I could take the opportunity with
the small group to generate a real discussion and ask more in depth questions.
Explain Stage
1. Students Explain Patterns
a. Does the lesson provide an opportunity for students to share their
explanations for phenomena and/or patterns? If so, how?
b. What explanations will my students likely come up with or models will
they draw?
2. Introduce Scientific Ideas
a. Does the teachers’ guide (or other curriculum resource) direct the
teacher to present scientific ideas related to the learning goal AFTER
students explore? If so, how?
b. Will these scientific ideas/representations be understandable to my
students? Why/how?
c. Are there opportunities for students to engage in scientific practices? If
so, which ones? How?
3. Compare Student Ideas
a. Does the teachers’ guide (or other curriculum resource) provide
opportunities for the students to compare new science ideas to their
own previous ideas and note similarities and differences? If so, how?
Your analysis based on the above questions.
The lesson does not provide a formal time for students to share explanations after
the whole investigation. They may come up with some rich and accurate or
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interesting explanations that should be shared. The guide does not provide
directions for the teacher to present scientific ideas related to the learning goal. The
guide says that the children at this age “may not understand the concept of
evaporation.” There are questions that the teacher are given to generate discussion
and explanations throughout the investigation, but there is not a formal sharing
time for the wrap-up.
Modifications you could make.
For my lesson, I want to use the questions given to generate discussions and
explanations throughout the investigation, but I also want to have a formal wrap-up
where the whole class comes together and discusses their observations and
possible explanations and ideas. I also want to try to find a YouTube video that
might provide some insight or explanation to water absorption that is child-friendly.
If not, I will find an explanation and attempt to simplify it so that the students are
getting some sort of formal explanation in case they are asking the aforementioned
questions.
Apply Stage
1. Near & Novel Contexts
a. Does the teachers’ guide (or other curriculum resource) direct the
teacher to allow students to apply their new ideas to new situations
related to the learning goal? If so, how?
b. Are there opportunities for students to engage in scientific practices? If
so, which ones? How?
c. Are these application situations relevant and interesting to my
students? Do they take advantage of my students funds of knowledge?
Why/How?
Your analysis based on the above questions.
There are investigations that follow this one such as washing stains out of fabrics
and tie-dye that could possibly tie into this one and apply some of their new ideas.
The students can talk about which fabrics would be best to tie-dye or which fabrics
might be difficult to get a stain out of due to their experiences with the water
absorption activity. They will be participating in more investigations, continuing with
their observations and real-world connections. They will also be able to participate
in class discussions (hopefully more like a scientific argument) and share their
hypotheses, ideas and explanations. These may be interesting and relevant to my
students due to their current interest in the fabrics. It does not take advantage of
many students’ funds of knowledge the way it is presented in the book.
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Modifications you could make.
One idea that I would try to have for a follow up activity would be to have the
children draw or write about an item of clothing they would wear in the rain. They
would describe what fabric the item is, and why they would wear it. Also, if it
rained, I would refer back to this investigation and try to hear any possible
connections being made. I would also connect the future applications to funds of
knowledge or personal experiences by asking the children if they’ve ever gotten
their clothes dirty. What was it from? Were you able to get rid of the stain? Do you
know how your mom or dad got it out? What kind of fabric was it? Or things along
those lines that connect to family and personal experiences.
Reflect Stage
1. Reflect on Learning
a. Do students have opportunities to compare their initial answers to the
driving question to their final answers?
2. Reflect on Doing Science
a. Do students have opportunities to think about how what they did fits
scientists’ science?
Your analysis based on the above questions.
The guide does not provide a formal time for these connections between initial
answers to the driving question to the final answers. Also, the opportunity is not
provided, but my Kindergarten students do not know a great deal about what
scientists’ science is as this is one of the first science units they have done.
Modifications you could make.
I would absolutely provide the wrap-up time at the end as I mentioned previously
for the children to make these formal connections. Perhaps I would even have the
children write their hypotheses in their journal that morning or before the lesson,
then have them read their hypotheses aloud at the end and compare their
experiences to what they wrote. Also, I could take this opportunity for their first
real investigation to introduce the concept of scientist science and then allow for
this reflection on whether or not what they did fits that concept.
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Language
1. How
2. How
3. How
4. How
Goals
do the
do the
do the
do the
materials
materials
materials
materials
support
support
support
support
students in speaking about science?
students in reading in science?
students in writing in science?
English Language Learners in science?
Your analysis based on the above questions.
The materials significantly support students speaking about science. There is a lot
of opportunity provided for their discussion throughout the investigation. There are
no reading or writing opportunities given explicitly in the materials. The English
Language Learners would be really supported by the amount of discussion,
especially if done in small group, that would come after the observation and
application. They would get the chance to not only see and feel what happens with
the water, but have the opportunity to discuss and listen with other students in
order to work on their language use and fluency. Also, there is a set of vocabulary
given that can be pre-taught to the class in order to help with this lesson which
would help support the ELLs as well.
Modifications you could make.
I would definitely add the opportunity for the children to write in their journals
about the investigation, specifically their hypotheses and then their observations. I
would also put the chart we made with the fabrics and their labels and descriptive
properties up for the children to use as a reference, which would support their
reading in science.
Summary and Individual Contributions
In your own words, answer the following questions.
a. What are the overall strengths of your curriculum materials?
b. What are the overall weaknesses of your curriculum materials?
Your summary.
The overall strength of the curriculum materials is that it is an extremely
hands-on activity that provides students with the opportunity to really conduct a
scientific investigation. They can make predictions, observations and form
explanations. They will be learning new vocabulary and learning a concept that they
can apply in real-life situations. The materials also provide a lot of opportunity for
discussion among the students and the teacher. It is very focused on application
and discussion, which is really a great thing.
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However, there are a couple of weaknesses with the materials as well. They
don’t provide a significant conclusion or wrap-up. There are only two questions
given for closure and one is “What material would you use to make a rain coat?”
Many of my student’s might not even know what a rain coat is due to the weather
patterns of students. This lesson might be more beneficial in the sense of “What
kind of fabric would be best to clean up a spill?” because these students can
connect that to past experiences. Also, there are not significant opportunities given
for the students to engage in reading and writing in science. In all, the curriculum
materials are good and can be easily modified for improvement.
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Rubric for Curriculum Materials Analysis
For details on grading categories, please see complete rubric in syllabus.
Category
Criteria for Exceeds Expectations
Curriculum
Materials
Curriculum materials and lesson are clearly and
completely identified
Points
Your
Points
Comments
½
Learning goals are for planned lesson.
Learning
Goals
Complete and relevant knowings & doings
identified and related to Disciplinary Core Ideas
and Cross-Cutting concepts.
½
Includes all relevant practices
Includes relevant language goals
2 point
Copy of curriculum materials are turned.
Color-Coded
Lesson
Procedures are color-coded to fit I-AIM stages.
I-AIM stages are correctly identified.
½
Extensive annotations for modifications.
Analysis of materials thoughtful and thorough for
each stage of the I-AIM instructional model.
I-AIM
Analysis shows deep understanding of each stage
of I-AIM.
2
Analysis is related to learning goals and curriculum
materials
Students’
Science
Toolkits
Language
Support in
Science
Modifications
Includes specific examples for each stage.
The analysis demonstrates insightful consideration
of students’ science toolkits (conceptual ideas,
funds of knowledge & special needs/talents)
1
Evidence or rationale is provided
Insightful analysis of how the curriculum materials
support students in speaking, reading, and writing
in science.
½
Insightful analysis of how curriculum materials
support English Language Learners in science.
Extensive and original modifications are suggested
in all areas that strengthen fit to I-AIM, match
students’ resources & needs, and align with
learning goals.
½
Thoroughly summarizes analysis.
Summary
Identified strengths and weaknesses are based
upon analysis.
½
Evidence is provided for claims.
3 points
Total
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