INSTRUCTIONAL PLANNING TEMPLATE

Overview and Context

Your name(s):
Carl Baird
Grade level and school:

4th Grade, Wines Elementary

Title of lesson/activity:
Watery Earth Lesson
Teaching date(s) and time(s):
Session 1: 4/3/14
Session 2: 4/4/14
Estimated time for
lesson/activity:

Session 1: 1 Hour
Session 2: 1 Hour

Overview of lesson:
Session 1:
1. Students engage in a whole-group brainstorming activity
in which a class list of ideas on various environmental and
water-related issues is created. Students learn that they
will have the opportunity to select one of those listed
issues to address in an environmental action prezi
presentation.
2. Instructor models what the final product (or finished
presentation) will look like, and establishes the following
expectations for the assignment:
-Presentations must include a detailed description of the
issue being addressed.
-Presentations must include one of the following: A
potential solution to the problem, a strategy that can be
used to reduce the problem, OR a way to educate others
about the issue.
-A conclusion and time for questions from peers.
(UDL: Multiple Means of Representation)
3. Students take five minutes to select the issue they wish
to address and begin thinking about their solution(s) and/or
public awareness strategies.
4. Students share their ideas with the person sitting across
from them and make suggestions, ask questions, and
compare their ideas about how their presentations will be
designed.

University of Michigan, Undergraduate Teacher Education Program

For interns beginning the program in Fall 2012 and beyond

page 1 of 5
Rev. June 2012

Session 2:
1. Students are instructed to retrieve their computer from
the laptop cart and to open safari. Their instructor will have
the google search bar projected on the board, and will lead
the group through how to log in to the class Prezi account,
and how to create a new presentation. Students will then
follow along as I model how to navigate the Prezi webpage,
and are given explicit instruction as to the expectations for
behavior and volume level during their independent work.
2. Students create their presentations and work on their
opening slides with help from their instructor as he/she
circulates the room.
3. Students save their work and are dismissed for a special.
4. Students return to their work and present their final
product to a peer, who will help with the revision process.
Note: This lesson may be broken into other sessions
depending on the time available for students to complete
their presentations.
(UDL: Engagement)
5. Students return their computers to the cart and listen to
their peers as they present. Note: Students who are
finished early are encouraged to work silently on unfinished
bellwork, math boxes, and to prepare for the Watery Earth
Unit Test using their science notebook as a resource.
(UDL: Expression)
Context of lesson:
Watery Earth Unit
Students have explored the following content areas:
Where water is on earth
How water is used by various organisms
How water is affected by humans
This lesson introduces the content area of:
How water is protected, conserved, and restored

University of Michigan, Undergraduate Teacher Education Program

For interns beginning the program in Fall 2012 and beyond

page 2 of 5
Rev. June 2012

LEARNING GOALS:

STANDARD(S):

Learning Goal #4:

Students will be able to describe the harmful
effects of humans on the Earths limited water
resources.
Learning Goal #5:
Students will be able to describe ways in which
water can be protected, conserved, and
restored.
(Note: This lesson aligns particularly well
with GLCE standard S.RS.04.11: Students
will be able to demonstrate scientific
concepts through various performances,
illustrations, models, exhibits, and
activities.)

NETS-S Standard
ISTE2B: Students will be able to
communicate information and ideas
effectively to multiple audiences using a
variety of media and formats.

Attending to the Learners

Anticipating student ideas:

Students have seen Prezi presentations in World Language,

and have had experience working on Macs and with other
apple products in communications and humanities specials.

ARTIFACTS (SEE NEXT PAGE)

REFLECTION:
1. I decided to use prezi for this lesson because it is fairly easy to navigate and my
students have never tried it before. The way in which ideas can be put within larger
ideas fit very well with our discussions about how every environmental issue has
multiple parts.
2. This lesson (and the technology used for this lesson) fit the triple E framework by
having students do a whole-group brainstorm, by having them observe what a proper
presentation would look like, and by giving them the opportunity to create their own
presentations and to report out to the whole class.
3. Both sessions of this lesson went very well. In the future I would select a few Prezi
templates from which my students could choose. (Some templates are harder to
navigate than others)

University of Michigan, Undergraduate Teacher Education Program

For interns beginning the program in Fall 2012 and beyond

page 3 of 5
Rev. June 2012

University of Michigan, Undergraduate Teacher Education Program

For interns beginning the program in Fall 2012 and beyond

page 4 of 5
Rev. June 2012

University of Michigan, Undergraduate Teacher Education Program

For interns beginning the program in Fall 2012 and beyond

page 5 of 5
Rev. June 2012