DIXIE STATE UNIVERSITY DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

ELED 4300 SCIENCE LESSON PLAN TEMPLATE

(8/23/14)
Teacher Candidate _Paula Finlinson___ Grade Level __2_ Title __Characteristics of living animals_____
CONTEXTUAL FACTORS (classroom factors)
Contextual Factors:
20 Students
10 Girls
10 Boys
1 Pacific Islander (Mesepa)
4 Hispanic (David, Ethan, Ruth, Aron)
1 Behavioral IEP (Wesson)
3 Academic IEP (Wesson, Ethan, Natalya)
3 Speech IEP (Aron, Natalya, Macy)
3 ELL (Aron, Ruth, David) WIDA levels are unknown
2 High Level Learners (Lachlan, Chloe)
2 SPED Students

Classroom environment:

Large room. Multi colored rug at the front of the room. Students are organized in tables
of 4 with all students facing the front. The room has a promethean board, 4 iPads,
clickers, and projector. Large tiki reading hut in the corner of the room.
WALK-AWAY (As a result of this lesson, what do I want the students to know, understand, and be able to do?)
State Standard/Objective:
2nd Grade Standard 4 Objective 2.a Communicate and justify how the characteristics of living things helps them meet
their basic needs.

Content Walk-Away:
I will write what characteristics all living animals share.

Language Walk-Away:
I will write what physical characteristics all animals share.

Vocabulary:

basic needs, waste removal

ASSESSMENT EVIDENCE (What evidence do I need to show the students have

learned the Walk-Away?)

tions (ELL, IEP, GATE, etc.)

Formative Evidence (checking for understanding throughout the lesson):

ELL: Keywords are

already written in their
foldable.

Foldable, picture sort, discussion, questioning

Content Walk-Away Evidence (Summative):

HLL: Write a short

paragraph about the
favorite animal that
they chose.

I will write the characteristics of a living animal.

Language Walk-Away Evidence (Summative):

Low: I pre-taught them

the vocabulary words
and pre-folded their
foldable.

I will write the characteristic of a living animal.

Approx
.
Time

Modifications/Accomoda-

ACTIVE LEARNING PLAN

Approximate length of entire lesson:_45__ minutes.
______

Teaching time: from _____to

Activate/Building Background Knowledge

We have learned all about animals that live in different habitats. What are the habitats that we learned
about? What are some of the animals in those habitats? I have this picture sort for us to do. We need to move
the living things into the right column and the non-living things into the left one. I wonder what
characteristics every living animal has no matter where they live? Today well learn all about what all living
animals do and need.
SIOP 1,2,3,7,8,9
Formative assessment: Students will be paying attention.
Learning Goal
Students will understand that

Success Criteria
Students will help me sort the

Assessment Strategy
Questioning and observation.

some things are living and some

are non-living.

pictures.

Modification/accommodations: (ELL, IEP, GATE, etc.)

ELL: Write down the names of the habitats as the class shares them.
Low: Allow them to come up and move some of the pictures to keep them engaged.
High: Ask them if they know what living animals do and need.

Focus Lesson (I do it)

All living animals need to drink water. Animals need water in order for their brains and bodies to function
properly. Most animals get their drinking water from lakes, rivers, streams, and some even get it from the
inside of a cactus. Animals that dont live in the ocean cant drink sea water because there is too much salt in
it. The salt content would make them sick. The next thing that all animals need is food. Animals food comes
from all different places. Some animals eat grass, vegetables, fruit, or other animals. Animals need to eat food
because it provides their energy so that they are able to hunt for food and interact with each other. Another
thing that all animals need is air. Air is very important for animals because this is how they get oxygen into
their bodies. Some ocean animals come up to the surface for air such as whales. Did you know that fish also
need air? They dont come up to the surface for air though. Their gills filter the water so that they can get
oxygen into their bodies. The last thing that all animals do is waste removal. Go ahead and get your giggles
out now but whatever goes in must also come out. All animals do waste removal.
Formative Assessment: Students will be watching, paying attention, and responding to questions.
Learning Goal
Students will understand that all
living animals need water, food,
air, and waste removal.

Success Criteria
Students will pay attention.

Assessment Strategy
Observation.

Modification/accommodations:
ELL: Have pictures on the slideshow.
Low: Have printed words next to the slideshow pictures.
High: Ask them to take notes of any high level questions they could ask at the end.

Guided Instruction (We do it)

I have made a foldable for everyone. Lets label each of our tabs. Label. Lets work together to fill in our
foldable. Under the water tab, draw a picture of water. It can be a lake, stream, river, cup of water. Whatever
you want. What should we write down for why animals need water? Under the food tab draw a picture of
some kind of food that animals eat. It can be grass, leaves, fruit, another animal. What should we write about
why animals need food? Under the air tab draw something that makes you think of air. I think ill draw a
cloud. What should we write here? Last one is waste removal, we wont draw waste removal but lets just think
of a good sentence to write about why animals need waste removal. Dont do anything under the favorite
animal tab yet.
SIOP 22,
Formative Assessment: Students will label and write in their foldable.
Learning Goal

Success Criteria

Assessment Strategy

Students will understand why

animals need water, food, air, and
waste removal.

Students will write why animals

need water, food, air, and waste
removal.

Students will write in their

foldable.

Modification/accommodations:
ELL: Have their labels pre-filled out.
Low: Give them a paper with keywords on it so they can quickly check spelling.
High: Before the lesson, ask them to write a sentence that is different than ours.

Collaborative/Cooperative (You do it together)

All of you have a goldfish cracker at your desk. Work together as a table and fill out the paper about whether
or not the goldfish cracker does each of the things listed. When your table is done, wait quietly. Im giving you
2 minutes. What did your tables decide? Does your goldfish cracker need water, food, air, or waste removal?
No, I didnt think so. What about this goldfish? (Pull the sheet off the goldfish tank that has been covering it.
Wait for the students to calm down. This is our new class pet goldfish. Well hold a class vote later on about
what his name should be. On your paper theres a place where it says real goldfish. As a table go through the
checklist on that side and decide if this real goldfish needs all of the things listed.
SIOP 4,5,6, 13, 14, 15 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21
Formative Assessment: Students will check off their list of living things criteria.
Learning Goal
Students will understand that our
class lizard is living and exhibits
the characteristics that all living
things exhibit (needs water, food,
air, and waste removal).

Success Criteria
Students will correctly check off
their checkmark sheet.

Assessment Strategy
Worksheet.

Modification/accommodations:
ELL: Write goldfish cracker and real goldfish in Spanish next to the English part.
Low: Check on their tables and make sure they are participating in the discussion
High: Verbally ask them if they can think of anything else that a living animal needs to meet its basic needs.

Independent (You do it alone)

Flip to the last page of your foldable. The one that says My Favorite Animal. Working by yourself I want you
to draw a picture of your favorite animal, write a sentence about where it gets its water, what kind of food it
eats, where the air comes from that it breathes (habitat), and whether or not it does waste removal. Ill call up
the tables one at a time to look at our lizard while youre finishing your foldable.
SIOP 10,11, 12, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30
Summative Assessment:Students will fill in the last page on their foldable about their favorite animal. They

will say where it gets its water, food, air, and if it exhibits waste removal.

Modification/accommodations:
ELL: Allow them to work with their table partner.
Low: Allow them to draw pictures for 2 of the items and write the other 2.
High: Ask them to write a short paragraph expanding on the animal and its characteristic needs.

Closure/Review of walk-aways, vocabulary, and essential questions

(Note: Closure includes student interactions, reflection, and/or demonstrations.)

Today we learned that all animals have the same characteristic need to do 4
things. Lets name the 4 things that they all exhibit or use. Who would like to
share what they wrote down in their foldable and their favorite animal and
where it gets its air, food, water, and whether or not it does waste removal.
Can something be living if it doesnt have waste removal? No, anything that
goes in must go out right? What characteristics does our class lizard have that
helps him meet his basic needs?
SIOP Indicators
Preparation: 1-Content objectives, 2-Language objectives, 3-Content appropriate, 4-Supplementary
materials, 5-Adaptation of content, 6-Meaningful activities
Building Background: 7-Linked to background, 8-Linked to past learning, 9-Key vocabulary
Comprehensive Input: 10-Appropriate speech, 11-Clear explanation, 12-Variety of techniques
Strategies: 13-Students use learning strategies, 14-Scaffolding, 15-Higher-order thinking,
Interaction: 16-Opportunity for interaction, 17-Grouping supports objectives, 18-Wait time, 19Opportunity for L1 students
Practice/Application: 20-Hands-on materials, 21-Activities to apply content/language knowledge, 22Language skills (reading, writing, listening, speaking)
Lesson Delivery: 23-Content objective supported, 24-Language objective supported, 25-Students
engaged, 26-Pacing
Review/Assessment: 27-Review vocabulary, 28-Review concepts, 29-Feedback, 30-Assessment

TEACHING NOTES
What do I need to remember to do? What materials do I need to have ready? What is the approximate time needed for
this lesson?

goldfish
goldfish crackers
1 hour

have foldables folded

picture sort
REFLECTION AFTER LESSON
How can I use the assessment data to reflect on & evaluate the outcomes of teaching and learning? How can I transfer
what I learned from teaching this lesson to future teaching? What was effective and not effective? What goals can I set
to improve my practice and student learning?
Once again, my low level learner and ELL student really struggled with the assessment. I can hardly even read what the
low level learner wrote down so its hard to determine if he understood the 4 things living animals need. He also did not
draw a picture. I had written the directions on the board so they could visually see what they were supposed to write in
their booklet. My ELL student copied the directions word for word. He didnt tell me what the animal eats, where it lives,
where it gets its water, or whether it does waste removal. He also didnt tell me what the animal was. My high ability
student did a great job. From this lesson I learned that I almost need to sit by the ELL and low student the entire time. I
thought that writing the directions on the board would help them, but I was wrong. The foldable was very effective for the
majority of the class. They seemed to enjoy filling in each page. They also really loved the introduction of the class fish. To
improve my future teachings I need to spend more time clarifying directions for my ELLs and low students. I felt that I
went over the directions multiple times, had the students repeat directions, and I had them written on the board. I need to
find some other way to help them understand the directions for assessments.

Note: You must arrange to have at least 40 minutes to teach your lesson.