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Journal Critique: Wrapping It Up
Gracie Frame
EDUC 324 Teaching Elementary and Middle School Science
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Journal Critique: Wrapping It Up
Science Scopes Journal article titled Wrapping it Up by Kaitlyn McGlynn and Janey
Kelly is a phenomenal article that expresses the importance of planning and assessing closure
activities in the classroom. The student’s response to a lesson closure activity often paves a way
to the next steps in the classroom (McGlynn, 2021). Oftentimes in the classroom we end a hectic
day wondering if our students met the objectives of the lessons we prepared. This feeling is often
because we did not prepare a lesson closure. This article explains the importance of lesson
closures, how to effectively plan the lessons, and strategies to re-engage the students and assess
the day’s learning.
Summary
Building a classroom that consists of an effective routine is necessary to conduct lesson
closures. Students thrive when they know what to expect in the classroom (McGlynn, 2021). An
activity mentioned in the article is the Whip Around activity. This is where you “whip around”
your class to receive answers from each student. These questions can be customized daily to fit
the lesson and can be made fun. It may not be necessary to add these lesson closures at the end of
each lesson but adding them at least a couple times a week benefits the students in ways our
normal lesson plans do not (McGlynn, 2021).
Analysis
This article is directed to teachers of general education and special education. This article
can be helpful for any grade level because it is applicable at all stages of learning. The authors
clearly discussed the main points of the topic. McGlynn and Kelley provide effective ways to
plan the lesson closures for all different types of students. There would not be anything different
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that I would have done differently if I had written the article. Every area was fully explained and
there were plenty of examples and activity ideas to create beneficial lesson closures.
Personal Application
There were many helpful things I learned from this article. First, I learned there are many
different activities that can imply lesson closures. Lesson closures are often skipped over and
forgotten but they are a crucial part in assessing a student. We often believe that it is not big deal
if the students with IEP’s and other learning disabilities miss out on these lesson closures. These
students often miss this part of the day because they are pulled out for other instructing. The truth
is, these are the students that need it the most, and there are plenty of short and simple lesson
closures that we can provide for these students.
Conclusion
This article provided me with the perfect was to plan and assess instruction in the
classroom. The information that I gained through this article provided me with not only the
importance of planning and assessing in the classroom, but ways to properly plan and assess
instruction in a diverse classroom. The goal of every classroom is to have the students meet the
objectives. The best way to assess students to see if they met the objectives is to provide them
with a lesson closure. We are benefitting ourselves and the students by providing them with a fun
and simple activity to assess their understanding. This article has been saved to my library and I
am looking forward to using it during my student teaching and in my future classroom to help
develop critical thinkers.
