Teacher Candidate: Sara Tulley School: Nitro Elementary School Lesson Topic: The Lorax and the Environment

Instructional Objectives/Student Outcomes

Date: April 19, 2012 Grade/Subject: 2nd Grade Science/Reading

Students will develop respect and responsibility for the environment by recycling. Students will comprehend questions after reading a story that is developmentally appropriate. Students will use information gained from illustrated and words to demonstrate understanding of the characters, setting and plot in a story. Students will know and understand important aspects of how to care for the Earth.

WV CSOs SC.O.2.3.6: Develop respect and responsibility for the environment by engaging in conservation practices (e.g., recycling, trash clean-up, or power consumption reduction). RLA.O.2.1.10: Respond to both literal and interpretive comprehension questions after reading a short story selection that is developmentally appropriate. National Standards ISTE Grades PK-2 Standard 1: Illustrate and communicate original ideas and stories using digital tools and media-rich resources. (1,2) Common Core Second Grade Reading for Information Standard: 7. Use information gained from the illustrations and words in a print or digital text to demonstrate understanding of its characters, setting, or plot. ACEI Development, Learning, and Motivation--Candidates know, understand, and use the major concepts, principles, theories, and research related to development of children and young adolescents to construct learning opportunities that support individual students development, acquisition of knowledge, and motivation. 2.2 ScienceCandidates know, understand, and use fundamental concepts of physical, life, and earth/space sciences. Candidates can design and implement age-appropriate inquiry lessons to teach science, to build student understanding for personal and social applications, and to convey the nature of science

Management Framework Overall Time 65 minutes 20 minutes Introduction/Read The Lorax 10 minutes Discuss recycling 30 minutes Play interactive game 5 minutes Closure

Strategies Teacher led discussion Group practice Demonstration Cooperative groups

Differentiated Instruction Needs-Based Planning Learning Differences Sensory Differences I will assist students who have a reading For students with visual differences, I will disability by reading the book aloud. I will have them sit in the front of the classroom also read each individual category, question closest to the Smart Board. If they are unable and answer aloud during the entire game so all to see at all, I will read the question and answer students know and understand the questions choices aloud so they have a full understanding and answer choices. For students with learning without actually seeing written words. Also, I disabilities, I will read the question and answer will assist students with hearing differences by choices several times before they answer. placing them close to where I will be standing More time will be allotted for students with while reading the questions and answers. I will learning differences. be sure to speak very loud and clearly to ensure they can hear and understand the questions. Attention Differences Behavioral Differences For students with attention differences, I will To keep students with behavioral differences walk around the classroom so students will not on task, I will monitor their group participation get bored focusing on one area for too long. regularly. I will keep an eye on students with Also, I will focus my own visual attention to behavioral differences to let that student know students who have attention differences. that, as the instructor, I am aware when they When I have whole group questions, rather misbehave. I will very closely monitor than directing questions to individual students, students to be sure they are following all rules I will direct them to the group the student with and give their teammates a fair chance in the attention difference is in. playing the game. Motivational Differences Ability Differences The game in itself should keep students Allow students with low ability to consult with motivated. By constantly reminding students a classmate of their choice when they have that they should pay close attention to the story difficulty answer a question. This promotes and discussion in order to do well and maybe low/high achievement collaboration and will win a prize, students with motivational ultimately teach the student the answer to the

differences will be more inclined to do well in the lesson. Physical Differences Allow to student with severe seizures to stay seated during their turn in the game. This will prevent any injury from happening if a seizure were to happen while he should be in front of the classroom. Communication Differences When students with communication differences are called upon to give input about how to keep the environment safe and healthy, allow them to use their personal dry erase board to write answers in order to communicate with their peers. Multiple Intelligence Addressed (bolded) Verbal/Linguistic Spatial Logical/Mathematical Bodily-Kinesthetic Musical Procedures Introduction:

question. Extra time will be allotted for students with ability differences. Cultural Differences Give students various examples of ways to keep the environment healthy and safe that may better fit their cultural background.

Enrichment Allow enriched students to elaborate on their understanding of The Lorax, things about the environment that they know are important and give personal experiences on ways they have kept the environment clean and safe before.

Naturalist Interpersonal Intrapersonal Existential Other

This lesson coordinates with the learning principle that Students motivation determines, directs and sustains what they do to learn. This activity is used to motivate students by implementing technology in a way they have never used it in this classroom. Once they are motivated by the educational game created to fit the learning objectives, they will learn the material in a more effective way. Have Interactive Power Point game open on the Smart Board ready for students to play. Provide each student with a small sheet of paper and prompt them with the question What do you think you can do to respect the earth that we live on? After allowing the students several minutes to ponder and write down their thoughts, I will collect the papers and have the students transition from their desks to the carpet by rows. Tell students that today we will be reading The Lorax by Dr. Seuss and learning about the importance of recycling. Tell students that it is very important for them to be quiet and pay very close attention because all of the things that we will be talking about will be in the game we will be playing. Ask the students if they have ever heard of the Dr. Seuss book The Lorax. Remind the students that it was recently made into a movie, which they may be more familiar with. Call upon one student who is familiar with The Lorax and ask what the main purpose of the story (or the movie) is. Explain that in the book, Dr. Seuss is trying to tell the children who read his books to treat the environment in a healthy way. Ask students if they know ways that they can keep the environment healthy and clean. If students are stumped, give hints such as recycling. Tell students that Earth Day on April 22nd and is a day

when we are reminded that we should do good things for the Earth, such as help pick up trash that was littered or plant a tree. Body/Transition: Read The Lorax. o How do you think the Bar-ba-loots felt when they had to leave the Loraxs forest? o There are a few different kinds of pollution. Who can tell my some types? If students are unsure, explain air pollution, water pollution and land pollution. o What kind of pollution do you think caused the Swomee-Swans to leave? Hint: Where does the SMOG go? In the air, on the land or in the water? o What kind of pollution do you think caused the Humming Fish to leave? Hint: Where does the GLUPPITY GLUP go? In the air, on the land or in the water? After reading, ask the students questions & explain: o Why do you think the Loraxs forest got black and dreary after all of the trees were cut down? Does anyone know what trees give to us that keep us alive, while also keeping the Earth green? If students are unsure, explain to students that oxygen that we breathe comes from trees and other green plants. o Does anyone know a way you can help keep the environment healthy? After students discuss their answers, tell students that one of the easiest ways that we can help keep the environment healthy is by recycling. Explain to students that when we recycle things, the materials that we recycle are turned into new things. Show students the picture of the playground. Prompt students to think about what recycled material could have made the playground. After students have thought for a few seconds, pull a milk jug out of my bag. Explain to students that the playground is made from recycled milk jugs. Show students the picture of the toilet tissue. Prompt students to think about what recycled material could have made the toilet tissue. Pull out a stack of paper and explain to students that some kinds of toilet tissue are made from recycled paper. Tell students that paper cannot be recycled over and over again, so we have to keep cutting down trees to make new paper. Show students the picture of the bicycle. Prompt students to think about what recycled material the bicycle could have made from. Pull a metal can from my bag. Explain to students that when metal is recycled, it could possible by turned into bicycle parts. While asking questions, simultaneously have student select a Lorax or Truffula Tree card at random. This will put them into groups. Go over list of things that we can all do to help keep our environment healthy (found of Seussville.com). Remind students again that it is very important for them to keep their ears open because some of the things I will be reading will be in the game. Tell students who have a Truffula Tree card to move to stay on the carpet. Tell students who have a Lorax card to sit in the first two rows of desks. Introduce The Lorax and the Environment Game. Explain all rules and how to play. Remind student it is very important to be supportive, but quiet when a student is trying to answer a question. To being the game, select a student to go first for their team at random. After that student goes, a student from the other team will go. Teams will alternate. I will be keeping score on the dry erase board.

I will read aloud the question and answer to the students to ensure they all understand what the question is. Give the students hints and allow students to choose a group member for help as needed.

Closure Have the students on the carpet transition back to the desks. I will distribute Earth Day Pledge slips that I found on Seussville.com in The Lorax Project. On the Pledge, students will complete the sentence I Pledge To This will give me an understanding of what the students took away from the lesson and how I can help clear up any misconceptions about the environment that they had. I will walk around the room to keep students on task, while reading their responses to be sure they understand the ideas of a healthy environment. Assessment Diagnostic: Students will be prompted to think of ways they can have respect for the environment and be responsible citizens. Students will be prompted to come up with one way they can respect the earth. (Objective: Students will develop respect and responsibility for the environment by recycling). Formative: Students will be answering questions about recycling, the environment, and comprehension of The Lorax by Dr. Seuss (Objective: Students will comprehend questions after reading a story that is developmentally appropriate). Summative: Students will fill complete Earth Day Pledge by using information gained from The Lorax to demonstrate ways to be responsible in the environment (Objective: Students will know and understand important aspects of how to care for the Earth). Materials The Lorax by Dr. Seuss Microsoft Power Point Smart Board Metal can Scrap paper Milk jug Toilet tissue and bicycle pictures (printed from Microsoft Clip Art) Playground picture (printed from http://www.playmart.com/) What Can You Do? list (copied from http://www.seussville.com/loraxproject/) The Lorax Project Earth Day Pledge (printed from http://www.seussville.com/Educators/lorax_classroom/assets/downloads/SLM_Lorax_W ebUpdates_PlgTreeSlip.pdf) Truffula Tree cards (printed from http://looking2live.blogspot.com/2011/04/truffula-treein-poland.html) Lorax cards (printed from http://www.squidoo.com/the-lorax)

Extended Activity

If student finishes early, have the student draw what they think the Loraxs forest will look like after the boy plants the last Truffula Tree seed. If lesson finishes early, do a review of recycling, the environment and The Lorax to check what students have learned, misunderstandings they have made and what else they may want to know. During this time, allow students to ask questions.

Data-Based Decision Making To assess student learning and make decisions based upon my diagnostic assessment, I used a checklist to gather data. On this checklist, I used simple yes and no answers for my own personal use based upon how the students responded to a specific question. If the students were on target, I issued a yes for the student understanding. If the students were unsure or didnt answer the question in a way that demonstrated understanding, I issued a no to show the student needed additional instruction. The question was What do you think you can do to respect the environment and earth we live on? I compared this answer to how the students responded on their I Pledge sheets, where they gave one or more ways they could respect the earth. The circle graph below gives visual representation on how the students improved on their understanding of how they could work to respect the environment.

Before

After

8 students

14 students

Yes No

22 students

Yes No

Before the lesson when the students answered the prompting question, many of them had somewhat of an idea of how they could best respect the environment. For instance, the most popular answer was Pick up trash. Some students were completely off-based though, with answers like Feed animals. Using a checklist, I calculated that 14 of 22, or 63%, of the students had a decent understanding of this topic, while the remaining 8 had misconceptions. After seeing some of the students responses and how they misunderstood certain aspects of how to respect the environment, I was better able to target their needs. Although I am aware that the developmental stage of the students is on-point, I realize that they have little to no instruction on environmental information, so meeting this objective was my ultimate goal. Throughout the lesson, I highlighted specific points that I found common in the incorrect responses, as well as the correct responses. This reinforced the students who were on target and corrected the students who were unsure. At the completion of the lesson, the students completed an I Pledge to sheet, where they pledged to perform a certain act to respect the earth, keeping it safe and clean, in honor of Earth Day. I found that 100% of the students took adequate knowledge from this lesson by proving their understanding for the topic. I feel that the student

improvement was due to the integration of the game using technology because many of the students answers on the I Pledge slips contained answers that were a product of knowledge from the game. To improve this lesson for the future, I would use more hands-on activity, along with the technology instruction, to create a more personal understanding for the students so it will mean more to them. This is due to my belief that an aspect of student learning that needs to be enhanced is their ability to manipulate objects and work in a group. Though they are developmentally able to work cooperatively, they get little to no opportunities to do so. Lesson #3 Reflection School: Nitro Elementary Principal: Mr. Pack Teacher: Mrs. Holliday Grade/Subject: 2nd/Reading & Science Title of Lesson: The Lorax and the Environment Date: 4/19/2012 Planning All parts of planning and my lesson plan as a whole are very important during my instruction. For this specific lesson, I believe having all of my materials ready as soon as the lesson began was very helpful to keep up the flow of my lesson. I was very prepared, which disallowed any downtime between rotations, which I find to be very important to keep the students attention. In my planning, I implemented ways to challenge the higher order and divergent thinking skills of my students by providing literal examples and giving visual stimulation in the entirety of the lesson. This prompted questions from the students that I had not expected and was not necessary prepared to answer, but I was pleased to see that the students were so engaged in the lesson that they were critically thinking. Now that the lesson has been completed and I have thought about the strengths and struggles of the lesson, I would change a few things regarding the placing of the students. Because of the way the classroom is set up, there is not a very functional way to implement a group-based interactive game such as this. I had to leave one group sitting on the carpet, which is offset from the center of the classroom where the Smart Board is located. Because students had problems seeing the Board at times, they were constantly standing and moving around. There were many times I had to address this problem because it was becoming a distraction. If this were my own classroom, I would rearrange the classroom so all students could sit at desks with their group members. The WV CSOs fit into my lesson plan very well. However, I did feel limited because there were very few CSOs that characterized my lesson perfectly. There was only one Science CSO for environmental awareness, which was very suitable in my lesson. Implementation There were many parts of my lesson that went exactly as I had planned. I was very excited in the closure of the lesson because of how surprisingly successful it was. A part of my lesson that went well was the reading of The Lorax and the interactive Power Point game. I gave very specific rules to the students prior to beginning my lesson on my expectations from them, which I believe ultimately, helped the lesson run smoothly and efficiently for all involved. A weakness of the lesson was the arrangement of students in their team during the interactive game. Because I was very limited on where to place students so they could all

participate and see the Smart Board, the arrangement of the group sitting on the carpet caused problems. While the students sitting in the first two rows of desks had no problem going in order, the students on the carpet were confused on who should go next. This was a very minor problem that did not impact the time management of the lesson, but it did cause frustrations within the students. My objectives, strategies and assessments were very age appropriate. The students were surprisingly knowledgeable about how to keep the environment healthy and clean and ways they could help. Also, the majority of the students had already read or watched The Lorax, which gave them a background in comprehending the story. The time management that I had planned worked out perfectly for the first time. There was enough to do in my lesson and it finished at nearly the exact time that I had planned. My sequence of procedures did work out very well. This was the first time that I had incorporated transition within the students, which I was very nervous about. I was afraid the students would become distracted during the transition and need to be regrouped, but they complied very well with my plans. My space arrangement was something that worried me prior to the lesson, because I was not sure how the students would react to having a lesson primarily based on the carpet, rather than desks. I was concerned about how they would seat themselves and if I was going to have to intervene while reading, which I was prepared for. However, though I had many reservations, the space arrangement worked out perfectly. I did not imagine they would do so well, so it was definitely a pleasant surprise. A difficulty I had in distributing my materials was placing the students in groups. I did not realize that it would be difficult to physically walk around the students to have them select a card for the group they would be in, so I simply gave the students the responsibility to pass around the bag and choose for themselves. This worked out okay, but I did have to regain their attention afterwards. I did follow through with my closure and summary at the end of my lesson. I was essentially worried that my time management would not allow me to follow through with my closure, which was the I Pledge slip, however I had plenty of time at the end to allow students to complete the form. Due to the game, the pace was very lively. The students were continuously engaged in their own learning, while also helping their classmates along the way. Students did sometimes get a little excited, so I had to regroup them but they were never lost. I feel that for the most part, I was rooted in one spot. This was only because I was using the Smart Board and obviously there was no way to move around. However, there were times when I had to walk around the classroom to keep the students behavior in check. Clarity of Presentation My voice and the way I present my lessons, in my opinion, are very strong qualities of my overall experience. I consider myself to be very soft spoken in large groups so I really try to bring out my personality by being enthusiastic in the way I speak and express myself in front of the classroom. I do think I could use more practice in the way I present material to the class. They all were completely understanding of what the lesson was going to consist of, however I feel that I could have presented it in a better, more organized way. I have been trying to monitor the pet phrases I use within my lesson implementation, but I did catch myself saying words like OK and so often. I believe I talk to the class in an enthusiastic way and at a normal pace. It may have been difficult for some of the students to hear and understand me due to the air conditioning, so I clear it up I tried to circulate the class as often as possible and speak loud

and clear. My examples were very clear and helpful. I printed off a few pictures to show to the students, such as a recycling symbol, and they all could see it perfectly and knew exactly what it was. Attention to Individual Differences I really do believe that my choice of strategies and activities did accommodate individual differences and learning styles. I included several different strategies to help students with learning differences, which I was very excited about. One strategy I implemented to help students with learning disabilities was to give the students an option to consult with a teammate if they needed assistance answering a question during the game. This gave those students the opportunity to collaborate with whatever students they wished, creating a high achiever/low achiever team. I included a variety of oral, visual and auditory delivery in my lesson, which was engaging for all students involved. They never once got bored, even while I was reading The Lorax. I dealt with inclusion students and their needs by helping them along when they were in need. Whenever I got the I need help look, I offered them assistance myself, while also allowing them to collaborate with their teammates. I did make provisions for them within my lesson plan, as I did with early finishers. Focus on Relationships and Student Response The students and I relate to each other very well. We were especially connected on the day of the lesson because it was my last day. They were extremely cooperative and calm, which I didnt expect for this type of instruction. However, I made my expectations for my last day in their classroom clear and they complied wonderfully. They were very with me, attentive and enthusiastic about the lesson. This is so far outside of their typical routine, so they were extremely excited about what could happen next. I dont believe I ever lost the students. I did have to invent ways to deal with responses because they were very curious and asked several questions that I wasnt necessarily prepared for, but improvised. Because the students were in teams, they related to each other very well within those teams. They were encouraging and cheered on their teammates when they got a question correct and offered reassuring words when their teammate was incorrect. I was so pleased to see them working so well together. The entire lesson revolved around collaborative work. As I mentioned before, the students worked collaboratively when one needed assistance in answering a question and they also strategized about what category and point range would be best to choose. They were very respectful, helpful and supportive of each other. I made sure to have just enough questions in the game so every student had an opportunity to participate. Planning and Implementing Higher Order Thinking Skills I gave students a variety of examples that Im sure they could all relate to on some level in order to create new insights and invent ways of using what they learned. I allowed my students to make decisions and solve problems by implementing the game. They were able to decide for themselves the answer to the question they chose, and think about it critically to decide the answer. I let my students self-assess by having them fill out the Pledge slip at the closure of the lesson. This let them reflect on what they learned throughout the lesson. I let the

students relate to what they were learning to their current lives by the examples I gave them, the fun book I read, and the interactive game we played. The examples were very much on their level and things they were very familiar with. The book was Dr. Seuss, which is always engaging and helped draw ties to my overall lesson. This let the students critically think about what Dr. Seuss was saying in the book to the things we were learning about in the science lesson. The interactive game was a strong use of technology, which the students are somewhat acquainted with but continuously engaged by. The students learned a lot about ethical implications through this lesson, because it was all about what we can all do to make the Earth a better place. This requires the students to think about the differences between right and wrong. Obviously, the students were very engaged in technology in the lesson. The Smart Board was a very efficient was to get all of the students interacted, which made the lesson very successful. Assessment I tried to implement a variety of assessment measure in the lesson; however Im not sure they were very effective. For the diagnostic assessment, I used the question What would you do to show respect for the earth we live on? as an opening question and had the students write their answer on a sheet of paper. I wanted to get a feel of what the class as a whole knew about recycling and preserving the environment, so I used a checklist to see the overall result from the diagnostic question. I was so surprised and excited to hear that the students had a pretty good range of background knowledge on what the lesson would revolve around, which I thought would make the lesson run more smoothly. As the formative assessment, I used the game to assess the reading comprehension of The Lorax and the discussion of recycling and the environment. After completing the lesson, Im not fully confident this was sufficient in assessing the students. It did help me understand, however, what the students didnt understand about the lesson. On each Correct and Incorrect slide, there was an explanation to the question. This cleared up misconceptions that the students were confused about, which I do believe was very beneficial to their learning. As a summative assessment, the students completed the I Pledge slips, which I used to create data by comparing them to the diagnostic assessment question. This helped me understand on what level the students understood the main idea of the lesson. I was very pleased with all of their answers. I found that they really had a good understanding of multiple ways to keep the environment a safe and healthy place for us to live, indicating a level of mastery of their knowledge. I did provide helpful feedback to the class as well as individual students to inform them of their progress. I walked around the classroom to read their responses in the summative assessment to give them praise, as well as clearing up misconceptions that they may have exhibited. I feel that my students learned a lot during my teaching. This time, I feel that content was not the most important thing that they learned. The students gained a better understanding of how to work with their peers in a cooperative and encouraging way, which as a teacher in training, was a very fun and encouraging learning experience for me especially. The students did get what I wanted them to. I know this by the range of assessments that I implemented. I learned from this lesson and the students that it is possible to break from the norm and maintain a calm and effective learning environment. They were so excited about learning, which I find encouraging each time I step in front of the classroom with a new interactive lesson for them.