Part C

Overall Unit Reflection

Overall, I very much enjoyed teaching this Unit. New Jersey has always been my home and
teaching about it is a pleasure. Some of the struggles that I faced, unfortunately were out of my
control, such as the fact that I did not know the students well at the time of teaching. Knowing
students personally always assists in making lessons more personalized and accommodating
exceptional learners.
Planning
Planning is where I saw most of my mistakes. I was over ambitious with how many elaborate
maps and things I could make beforehand in order to make the lessons more interactive. This,
however, did not affect the lesson itself but rather my own time spent preparing for the lessons.
Instruction and Changes I Would Make
During the instruction, on occasion I got caught up in discussing students views and Do Now
answers. Considering I only allotted five minutes for discussion, it tended to cut into the lesson
time. I was excited that students were excited to share their opinion and it was difficult to not
let everyone do so. Also, I believe that the writing portions were a little too advanced for the
students. Some changes must be made here.
Overall Class Learning Gains Related to Unit Outcomes
A. Map Reading
Anticipated Outcome: Students will be able to depict their knowledge of globe
and map skills at 90% mastery level. This will be assessed by the clay Earth
project. (Standard 6.1.P.B.: Everyone is part of a larger neighborhood and
community).
Student Results: Students were successful in completing this objective. Most
students were able to recreate the globe accurately and many had time left over
to locate and label other places on earth.
B. New Jersey on a Map
Anticipated Outcome: Students will be able to envision New Jersey as part of the
world through maps and globes at 80% mastery level. This will be assessed by a
New Jersey Map quiz and class map recreating. (Standard 6.1.4.B.1: Spatial
thinking and geographic took can be used to describe and analyze the spatial
patterns and organization of people, places, and environments on Earth).
Student Results: Most students got a 3-5 on this quiz which accurately displays
the 80% mastery level. Also, they were excited and active in the map recreation
we did as a class.
C. Geological New Jersey
Anticipated Outcome: Students will be able to sort descriptive words and
phrases into corresponding Natural Regions at 75% mastery level. This will be

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assessed by the group matching activity. (Standard 6.1.4.B.4.: Places are jointly
characterized by their physical and human properties).
Student Results: Students exceeded expectations on this project. Although, it
was difficult to assess as the groups and class as a whole worked together. Some
of the students could have been left behind because of this. Therefore, I would
say 75% accuracy is a valid description.
D. Social New Jersey
Anticipated Outcome: Students will be able to recognize what causes the social
differences in New Jersey Regions at 75% mastery level. This will be assessed by
the string locating activity. (Standard 6.1.4.B.4.: Places are jointly characterized
by their physical and human properties).
Student Results: Students very much enjoyed this activity. However, not all were
capable of putting their research into words. In the end about 60% mastered
this concept but mostly because of the nature of the assessment.
E. Where We Are in New Jersey
Anticipated Outcome: Students will be able to persuade readers on their opinion
of Monmouth Beachs geographical, geological, and social location in New
Jersey at 80% mastery level. This will be assessed by the opinion paper.
(Standard 6.1.4.C.14: Economic opportunities in New Jersey and other states are
related to the availability of resources and technology).
Student Results: As the previous project, the mastery level was lower than
expected here but most likely was a result of the difficult form of assessment.
Students enjoyed attempting to persuade an audience of their opinion but
lacked the literature skills to do so properly. 60% mastery level would be more
accurate.
In the Future
In the future, teaching this unit I will have some issues already solved. The fact that the
manipulatives are already made from this time, I will save myself a lot of time and have to do
much less prep. I will also have more detailed notes on what to discuss after Do Nows and limit
student responses to two or three as to not run into lesson time with Do Now discussion. For
those who did not get to share their opinion, I would have them hand in their Do Now so that I
could read and respond to them and they would not feel as if their opinion was ignored. In order
to make the writing portions simpler I would provide everyone with an outline and spend an
extra day filling it out together and modeling how to convert an outline into a paper. Overall, I
am proud of this Unit and excited to share it with future students.

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