Teachable Moment

Moments like this are the reason I love doing what I do:
Our first unit in science is matter. We were talking this week about elements and that all matter is made up of elements. The science book showed them pictures of neon, gold, iron, silver, carbon and aluminum. We then read that water is made up of the elements hydrogen and oxygen. I walked over to the white board and wrote H2O. I asked the class how many of them had seen this before or heard of H2O. Many of them raised their hand. I asked what is H2O and they answered water. I explained that this was the scientific name for water. Then, I asked them to tell me what elements make up water and why would we use an H and O to name water. You should have seen their excitement as the "light bulbs" went off! I couldn't contain the grin on my face! My favorite part of teaching is seeing students make a connection between what they already know and the information we are learning. I believe that then is when the most meaningful instruction happens!