DeAnna Von Halle

Field Lesson Plan

Magnets for Kindergarten
Teaching Date: November 19, 2014
I. Purpose

The purpose of this lesson is to serve as an introduction to magnets for

the students. It will supply students with opportunities to freely explore
magnets and their properties. The lesson will also allow students to begin
to draw connections between attributes of items that magnets attract and
those that magnets do not attract. The lesson will also allow the students
to think like scientists by using observations, developing questions, and
making predictions.

Virginia Science Standards of Learning

o K.3 The student will investigate and understand that magnets have
an effect on some materials, make some things move without
touching them, and have useful applications. Key concepts include
a) magnetism and its effects; and
b) useful applications of magnetism.
o K.1 The student will demonstrate an understanding of scientific
reasoning, logic, and the nature of science by planning and
conducting investigations in which
a) basic characteristics or properties of objects are
identified by direct observation;
b) observations are made from multiple positions to
achieve different perspectives;
c) a set of objects is sequenced according to size;
d) a set of objects is separated into two groups based on a
single physical characteristic;
e) nonstandard units are used to measure the length,
mass, and volume of common objects;
f) observations and predictions are made for an unseen
member in a sequence of objects;
g) a question is developed and predictions are made from
one or more observations;
h) observations are recorded;
i) picture graphs are constructed;
j) unusual or unexpected results in an activity are
recognized
k) objects are described both pictorially and verbally.

National Science Education Standard

o B. Physical Science

o Light, Heat, Electricity, and Magnetism: Magnets attract and

repel.
o Properties of Objects and Materials: Objects can be described
by their properties and classified accordingly.
o Teaching Notes (directly from the VDOE Curriculum Framework): Magnets
have an effect on certain metals and can cause objects to move without
physically touching them. Standard K.3 focuses on developing a basic
understanding of magnetism that will be expanded in standards 2.2 and
4.3. It is intended that students will actively develop scientific
investigation, reasoning, and logic skills (K.1 and K.2) in the context of the
key concepts presented in this standard.
A magnet has two ends called poles, one of which is called a north pole or
north-seeking pole, and the other is called a south pole or south-seeking
pole. The north pole of one magnet attracts the south pole of a second
magnet, while the north pole of one magnet repels the other magnet's
north pole. One way to state this is that like poles repel and unlike poles
attract. Repulsion is the force that pushes like poles of magnets apart. A
magnet creates an invisible area of magnetism all around it called a
magnetic field. The north end of a magnetic compass always points
roughly toward Earth's North Pole and the south end of the compass
needle always points toward Earths South Pole. That is because Earth
itself contains magnetic materials and behaves like a gigantic magnet. If
you cut a bar magnet in half, you get two new, smaller magnets, each
with its own north and south pole.
Magnets will attract certain metals (iron-bearing, nickel, and cobalt).
Magnets have an effect on some items and can cause them to move.
Some items are not affected by magnets and remain stationary. Because
some metals are attracted to magnets, magnets have many simple useful
applications in the home such as can openers, magnetized screwdrivers,
magnetic cabinet door latches, and magnetic games. The force of a
magnet can move something without actually touching it.
Students will be introduced to the vocabulary attract/repel, non-attraction,
metal, and nonmetal in grade two. In order to meet this standard, it is
expected that students will predict and test which common objects will be
attracted to magnets and which will not be attracted to magnets, classify
objects as being attracted or not attracted to magnets, such as an iron
nail, an iron-bearing paper clip, cereal, and a book, explain in their own
words how an object such as an iron nail, an iron bearing paper clip,
cereal, or a book is affected by a magnet, identify items in the home or
school that contain a magnet or magnets, such as can openers,
magnetized screwdrivers, magnetic games, magnetic cabinet door
latches, refrigerator magnets, and magnetic letters.
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The focus of the investigations in this standard should be on the concepts,

not the terminology.
II. Objectives
The student will be able to give at least two examples of objects that
attract magnets and objects that do not attract magnets.
The student will be able to identify an attribute of objects that attract
magnets. (Contain iron)
The student, given an assortment of objects, will be able to sort the
objects into two piles based on if they attract a magnet or do not
attract a magnet with 80% accuracy.
The student, given a random object, will be able to make a correct
prediction about if the item will attract a magnet or not with 80%
accuracy.
III. Procedure
a. Introduction: (Visual & Auditory)
1st E: Engage activate prior knowledge with guiding questions, promote
curiosity with hook demonstration, form connections between home,
school, and todays activity
1. Begin the lesson off with a hook: Bet the students that you can
pick up a metal ring without touching it! Ask if the students
think you can do it: Why? Why not? Pick up item using a magnet!
(hide a strong magnet in hand for added effect)
2. Ask the students guiding questions to activate and gauge prior
knowledge about magnets:
How was I able to pick up the object without touching
it?
Possible student answers: Magic! You tricked us! A magnet.
What is a magnet?
A tool to pick up items. A thing for your refrigerator. It sticks
to stuff.
Where would you find a magnet at home? At school?
On the refrigerator, cabinet doors, metal detectors, compass,
clasps/closures, jewelry, stud finder, can opener, toys, cranes,
magnidoodle!
When an object sticks to a magnet it is called
attraction, the object is attracted to the magnet. Are
all things attracted to magnets?
We will get to find out later
3. Segue into the next activity where students will get to use magnets
to do hands on tests for attraction.
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Safety Note:
Make sure the students know that they should not put the magnets or
any of the test objects in their mouths (choking hazard).
Magnets should not be put near phones or computers
Magnets and other items should be used appropriately (out of mouths,
in hands, away from friends) or they will be taken away for a period of
time.
b. Procedure: (Kinesthetic, Visual, Auditory)
2nd E: Explore first hand experiences using magnets to test for attraction,
application of learned terms (attraction, attracted, non-attractive),
opportunity to test out new ideas
1. Review safety notes and expectations for working in partners. Partners
will be determined by proximity at tables. If magnets, or items, are
used incorrectly (thrown, put in mouth, used as on another person)
they will be taken away. Demonstrate how to test objects and make
two piles: one for attracted to magnets, and one for items not
attracted to magnets, offer a third pile for items students are not sure
of.
2. For the next 3-5 minutes (or more if necessary) students are free to
explore the items with their magnets. They should test items to
see if they are attracted to a magnet or not attracted to the
magnet and sort the items into piles accordingly (attracted to a
magnet/not attracted to a magnet).
* Advanced groups may come up with a third category: repelled
by magnets
3. Once finished going through all the items, groups can re-check items to
make sure items are in the correct pile
4. The teacher should circulate the room and ask students to draw
conclusions based on the two piles:
Look at the two/three piles you made. What are
similarities between items in each pile?
Possible student answers: These items are all one color. These
items are all hard. These items are all shiny. These items all
have metal. Those items are all different shapes. These items
are all small. Etc.
Why do you think these items are attracted to magnets and
the other ones arent?
Because thats what magnets do. Because magnets attract
some items and not others. Because magnets attract metal
objects.

* Differentiation: Students are working in groups for collaborative

learning to help students who are struggling with the concepts. For
students who finish early and seem to firmly grasp the concepts, they
can explore what happens when two magnets are put near each other,
of do one of the extension activities:
Finish a magnet maze: use a magnet on one side of a paper
plate to make the metal washer travel through the maze
drawn on the plate
Explore the magnet jar - plastic container filled with pieces of
pipe cleaners
3rd E: Explain focus attention and experience gained from exploration into
definite facts and observations, share information gained from exploration
with others, directly introduce the concept that magnets attract most metal
objects (recognize exceptions to this rule)
5. When all groups have finished sorting and exploring the items with
magnets draw attention to the front of the room. If students seem like
they can sit in groups without being distracted, lead the discussion
from the tables. If students are distracted, have them clean up the
work space and bring them back to the carpet for this portion of the
lesson.
6. Lead a discussion of findings from the exploration by doing a group
sort. Using a bag of objects, create a T-chart on the board. Ask
students what the two attributes should be for the chart (attracts
magnets, does not attract magnets). Have students come up to tape
objects on the board. When each side has about 5-7 objects, discuss
findings:
Which items ended up in each pile?
Why do you think ___ ended up in that pile?
What can we say about the two piles? How are the
items in the attracted pile similar or different? What
about the non-attracted pile?
Can we make any predictions or general statements
about what items magnets attract?
8. If time allows, share the bag of iron ore with the students and how it is
SUPER attracted to the magnet. Discuss how metals with iron in them
are attracted to magnets, some metals are tricky and do not contain
iron.
4th E: Elaborate application of learning from exploration and explanation
to items in everyday life, a chance for students to broaden and extend
knowledge of magnets and the types of objects and materials magnets
attract
7. Let the students know they will be going on a Magnet Hunt in the
classroom to have some more free time to test out

predictions/general statements with a partner and magnet by

wandering the room. They can go back to the original items on the
tables or test out objects around the room. Remind students of
expected behavior: stick with your partner, walking feet, whisper
voices to partners, put things back where you find them (SAFETY
NOTE: Magnets should not be used anywhere near the computers
have Ms. Muzik stand watch, just in case)
8. Circulate the room and see what students are testing out, what they
are coming up with, help lead them to conclusions about magnets and
items that are attracted to magnets.
9. If a set of partners makes a special discovery, draw it to the
attention of the group and see if anyone can provide an
explanation or reason.
c. Summary:
5th E: Evaluate students can self-assess by seeing if they were right or not
about the predictions for items from the mystery bag, students will get three
chances to self-assess and can make a personal goal to explore more if
struggling or come up with new questions to ask if advanced
1. Bring students back from partner work and have them clean up tables
from earlier activity if materials are still out. Collect magnets and have
them sit on the carpet.
2. Introduce the MYSTERY BAG and explain that we will select three items
from the bag and make predictions about if the items will attract
magnets or not and why. Call on student volunteers who are exhibiting
excellent behavior or who you have not heard from much during the
lesson to pull an item out of the bag.
3. Discuss the item and take predictions and reasoning from student
volunteers about if the item will attract a magnet and why/why not.
Check with the class to see if anyone does not agree, or has anything
to add.
4. Test the prediction to see if it is true. (this can be done by a
student volunteer)
5. Discuss the answer. Were you right? Why? Were you wrong? Why?
6. Repeat with two additional objects.
7. Close the lesson with a review of the attributes of items that attract
magnets. Have students come up with some examples of objects that
attract magnets and objects that do not. Encourage students to keep
searching for items at home!
IV. Materials

Magnets (ideally 1 per student)

Bags of assorted objects (one for each pair of students)

o Items can include, but are not limited to: paper clips, pennies,
rubber bands, cotton balls, feathers, pieces of cork, stones, nails,
crayons, modeling clay, Styrofoam, silverware, nails, screws,
plastic straws, playing cards, magnetic letters, etc.
Mystery bag with assorted large items (magnetic and nonmagnetic)
rolling pin, whisk, book, metal cup, plastic cup, washcloth, wooden
spoon, fork, banana, etc.

For students who finish early/activity extension materials

Magnet mazes paper plates with maze drawn or glued on, metal
washers or plastic magnetic balls, magnet wands
Plastic containers with lids and pieces of cut up pipe cleaners inside
(kids are fascinated by these)
Books about magnets
V. Evaluation Part A
This lesson will involve general checks for understanding, as it is an
introductory lesson to a new topic. Information collected on each student
from this lesson will guide small group instruction in the coming weeks and
even individualized lessons for struggling students and advanced students.
General checks can be done during the small group activity, when calling on
students to contribute to the discussion, and when partners are exploring the
room.
Rubric for sorting activity:
Above and Beyond Students worked together to sort items into two or
three piles; they are able to justify the attributes of items in the different
piles. Items are be sorted correctly as attracted to or not attracted to
magnets.
Target Students sorted items into two piles. They are able to justify a
reason for placing items in one pile or the other. Items will be sorted with at
least 80% accuracy.
Below Target Students either had one big pile, or many small piles. Piles
were not based on if the item was attracted to a magnet or not. Students
were not able to justify the reasoning behind the different piles and

VII. Evaluation Part B

Did the students meet your objectives?

The students did not completely meet my objectives. This is my first lesson
introducing a completely new topic that has not already been covered in the
classroom. I may have set my objectives too high for an intro lesson. My
objectives are more realistic for the end of the first week of a unit, or even a
units end. By the end of the lesson I realized that the students were getting
used to the concept of magnets, but still a little confused. Many students
said that things were made of plastic when they were metal, or called a
penny a quarter basic knowledge of the materials that things are made of
is a necessary part of understanding in this standard and will take more than
one lesson to build. Overall, I think the students got positive experiences
with using scientific techniques and have the begun building a base of
knowledge about what types of objects attract/do not attract magnets.
I focused my measurement for student knowledge on the sorting activity; I
thought this would be a clear way to see where students were grasping the
concept or struggling with it. In reality, the students were so excited to use
the magnets they were distracted with the task of testing them out. Even
though I had demonstrated how to sort the objects and checked to see if the
students understood, few groups actually sorted the objects. Many had a
large pile or had divided the objects into one pile for each partner. It may
have been a little much to expect the students to be able to focus on sorting
when exposed to such new and exciting materials. I also could have
structured the exploration part of the lesson differently, but will be discussed
later in the reflection.

How did you know?

I know that many students did not meet the objectives because of my
observations during the lesson. I wandered from table to table during the
exploration part of the lesson and observed how pairs of students were

sorting objects. Many of the groups were not sorting them, and were instead
absorbed by picking up as many things as they could with a magnet or
making magnets swirl around. I was happy to see the engagement and
involvement and tried to prompt students to make two piles, but was largely
unsuccessful except with a few tame sets of students. Even the students that
were not sorting were gaining knowledge about magnets and testing the
limits of the materials, so I was okay with their actions and made note to
maybe restructure or recalibrate my expectations for the lesson.
During the group sort, most of the students remembered correctly which
items were attracted to magnets and which ones were not. If a student was
unsure, they could use a magnet to retest and figure it out. Classroom
management at this point in the lesson got a little out of hand and many
students were yelling out answers, I addressed it, but it was hard to tell if the
first few students actually knew where to put the objects or if they were
swayed by the group.
During the closure of the lesson, most (about 70%) of the predictions
students made were correct. Some students made false predictions due to
confusion about the material the item was made of (ie, thinking a golden pail
was plastic instead of metal). According to this part of the lesson, it was a
successful lesson, but some students need a little more time to explore with
magnets and test out what materials they attract.

Did your lesson accommodate/address the needs of all your learners?

I think the partner work and hands on nature of the lesson did accommodate
most of my learners. This class has one child that has been a real challenge
for the teacher. He is always moving, often distracted or distracting the class,
and does not do well when asked to complete tasks independently. He really
enjoyed this lesson. He got to interact with a peer, be active (moving around
the room at times), and was rewarded with some participation opportunities
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for sitting nicely with the group during the discussion. I was happy to see
that he was able to be included in the lesson. Another student is an
advanced learner and sometimes causes distractions when he is not
engaged. He was so excited about the hands on materials and came up with
some very unique tricks with the magnets (making the magnets spin and
dance across the table, making a chain of paperclips, etc).

What were the strengths of this lesson?

The strengths of the lesson were in the hands-on nature of it. The students
loved getting to use real magnets and test whatever objects they wanted to.
Students found lots of items in the classroom that were attracted to magnets
and were very excited to see the connection between testing items at their
tables and testing objects in the room.
We started the lesson off by pretending to put on our science thinking caps,
lab coats, and protective eyewear. This got the students very excited and
zoned in on the task at hand. It would be fun to establish this as a regular
routine before science lessons. It would also be an easy way to refer to
scientific thinking outside of the classroom or designated science time block.
Students could have homework to wear their science thinking caps over
the weekend and come up with questions, predictions, and observations of
the world outside of school.
The items I selected for the test objects were all real objects that students
encounter at school and home (nails, bobby pins, erasers, playing cards,
game tiles, marbles, feathers, paperclips, key rings, etc.). This helped relate
the lesson to the world outside of school. The majority of students should be
able to repeat the activity at home with caregivers and siblings.

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What were the weaknesses?

The biggest weakness of my lesson was classroom management. I tried to

pull out all my tricks, lowering my voice to a whisper to tell a secret, waiting
for students to quiet down, offering a reward for students who exhibited
excellent behavior, and being crystal clear with expectations for transitions
and activities. Even so, the lesson was long (over an hour) and had many
transitions. Some students would get tired of sitting, or have a squabble with
a partner showing me that they were not engaged. I also had a lot of
materials to pass out and collect which allowed students down time to get
distracted or loud.
The sort did not go at all as I had planned. I imagined students testing
objects and making piles, but instead it was just testing excitement, which
got a little chaotic. The fact that I did not get much data from the students in
regards to the sort was not an accurate measure of student knowledge, I
think it was a fault in the design of the lesson and way the lesson was
structured.

How would you change the lesson if you could teach it again?

The Kindergarteners have a behavior chart and clips that can be moved up
for good behavior or down for misbehavior. I did not feel comfortable moving
clips. I felt that was the role of the teacher and that it was outside of my
territory as a practicum student. The students caught on to this and saw that
the normal consequences for misbehavior did not apply during my lesson. As
a result, they acted out more often than normal. If I were to do the lesson
again, I would ask the classroom teacher ahead of time about me moving
students clips. This is something she mentioned in the feedback as a
management suggestion. Having students move their clips would have sent
a message to all students that I am the teacher of the lesson and that I know
how their class works.

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As mentioned earlier, I would also change the structure of the sort. I would
introduce the activity 2 parts, free exploration and a sort. I would make a
clear procedure for transitioning from exploration to the sort using the
classroom chime. The activity would begin with 3-5 minutes of pure, free
exploration. To signal the transition into soting I would use the classroom
chime to get student attention (make sure all eyes are on me and hands are
away from the magnets/table) and let students know they should begin to
sort the items and that I would be coming around to check their work. I also
might hand out a paper T-chart that students for students to use to
designate the two piles. I originally had this as a material in the lesson, but
took it away because I wanted to see how students would chose to sort if
uninstructed. I now see that they needed that additional structure for this
introductory lesson, and to understand exactly what I was looking for.
Students who grasped the sort could be asked to find alternative ways to sort
without the T-chart as a lesson extension.
If I were to do the lesson again, I might break it up into two or even three
lessons and make it shorter. An hour was a long time, even though it was
broken up into 10 or 15-minute sections.
The last thing I might change is the bags of test items. The items I chose
were from around my house and the manipulatives from the science lab.
Many of the items were small and some were sharp. None of the students
used the materials inappropriately, but many of the items ended up all over
the place and Im not sure I got them all back. Using fewer, larger items (i.e.
just a playing card, feather, wooden cube, big metal washer, big paperclip,
and key) would still allow students to explore them thoroughly and then let
them go on to the sort afterwards. I may have overwhelmed the students
with so many objects (approximately 20 assorted objects in each bag).
Simplifying it in this way would not detract too much from the objectives, and
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would still allow for students to experience a variety of materials, but would
make the lesson more manageable and keep goals more attainable.

How would you follow up the lesson if this were your classroom?

I would follow up this lesson with more explorations about the effect of
magnets on other magnets and practical applications of magnets. I would
incorporate either a test station (similar to the exploration piece of this
lesson, items to test with a magnet for attraction) and/or a container of the
pipe cleaner pieces and a magnet as a station in the science center or
science rotation to allow students to continue to build on the information
they learned concerning the properties of magnets. Incorporating a test
station into the science center of the classroom would allow for a rotation of
everyday objects, a way to expose students to many objects a small batch at
a time. I would also be sure to introduce some books about magnets to the
classroom library, both nonfiction books and fiction books such as What
Makes a Magnet? By Franklyn M. Branley and True Kelley, Magnets: Pulling
Together, Pushing Apart by Natalie M. Rosinsky and Sheree Boyd, What
Magnets Can Do by Ann Fowler, Martas Magnets by Wendy Pfeffer, Shivers
in the Fridge by Fran Manushkin, and The Magic of Magnets y Mary Fetzner.

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