Observation - Project Beyond con't

I observed Jane in the Project Beyond class again, as they continued with their crime scene investigation. Apparently Jane had been absent from the last Project Beyond class, so she did not have time to work on the assignment. The other students had begun to write up a report from a detective's point of view. The students included notes on the experiments they had conducted in earlier class sessions. The teacher reminded students to include information about all of the evidence and come up with a theory as to what exactly happened and who was responsible.

The teacher prompted the students with some questions like:

• If there is a trial, what happens to the forensic report and the detective's report?
• Who will question the suspect?
• What are the roles of the prosecutor and defense lawyers?

The teacher prompted students to re-read and edits their stories, share their stories with a partner for critical analysis, revise and edit, and read their stories to the class. As Jane was absent last session, she was instructed to read her parter's story and discuss with her partner. The partner explained a few points before Jane started reading. Jane again exhibited shyness.

Jane asked her partner a few questions to help with comprehension. The partner had to come close to Jane, ask her to repeat. It was a struggle to hear Jane, even right next to her as she talks with such low volume. The partner prompted Jane to see if there were any points in her story she wanted clarified. The partner was active in trying to engage Jane by asking her about what Jane had written in her own investigation packet. The peer-to-peer sharing activity lasted about 12-15 minutes.

The teacher had to prompt some students to stay on task and finally asked "Who will come up and read their story NICE AND LOUD?"

After one student read her story, other students raised their hands and offered suggestions to improve the story. 

• "You forgot to mention about the all of the evidence."
• "You didn't mention the perfume."
• "What happened to the dye?"

Other students took a turn reading their stories as well. In the remaining minutes, there was a class discussion about the students' frustration at not being told who exactly committed the crime. They wanted to know what the teacher's edition said. The teacher responded by telling students that the teacher's edition does not have an answer, but says to conduct the experiments to find out who did it. 

I really enjoyed observing this lesson and was amazed at the intelligence of these 4th grade students. I was impressed with the concepts taught including: the process of an investigation, and criminal trial, and  forensic science. I will try to use this lesson in my classroom.