ASPIRA Lesson Plan Template

Teacher: Mr. Bauer

Unit:
Cells

Room:
361
Topic: Organelles

Note: This class period lasts 80 minutes.

Standard(s) (Which state standards will this lesson address?)
Bio.A.1.2.1
Objective/Learning Target (What should students know and do as a result of this lesson?)
SWBAT to understand the structure and function of organelles in plant and animal cells.

Materials (What materials will I need to prepare prior to this lesson?)

Powerpoint
Guided notes for students
Functions of organelles on paper to hang on walls of classroom
Philadelphia/Organelle Activity
Opening (How will I engage students in learning? How will you connect the lesson to their prior knowledge? ex. Do
Now, Hook, Discussion/Reflection Question)
Introduction:
Do Now: Based on the content of last lesson, list the defining characteristics of prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells. Students
will first list the characteristics independently, then they will share them with their table, and lastly, each group will come
up with one characteristic they will share out with the class.
Lesson Presentation and Student Activity (How will I include appropriate components of Gradual Release?)

Lecture on organelles. Students will receive a graphic organizer that lists 11 different organelles inside the cell.
There will be space for the students to write in the function, check-off whether the organelle is only in plant
cells, draw a picture, and make a comparison to something in Aspira Excel Academy. I will model one or two
comparisons to Aspira Excel Academy, then the students will come up with the rest
Following the lecture, the students will get into pairs of two and label a drawing of a cell based on the functions
and pictures they received during lecture
Gallery Walk: Each student will number his or her paper 1-11, and walk around the room and match the function
on the wall to the correct organelle
Philadelphia City Organelle Activity. Students will be able to apply the organelle vocabulary they learned to the
different parts of the city of Philadelphia by creating analogies. For example, the nucleus is like Philadelphia City
Hall. Then they need to write a sentence explaining how this organelle relates to the city structure. Students will
work in pairs of two and will be given a map of Philadelphia to help spark their imagination.
After students complete the Philadelphia City Organelle Activity, they will swap assignments with other groups
in the classroom. Each group will offer one piece of praise and one piece of criticism to the group project they are
reviewing.
Differentiated Technique:
Gallery Walk:
SLD: Give the SLD students a sheet of paper with a word bank with the organelle terms
ESOL: Give the ESOL students a separate sheet of paper with a numbered list of the images of the
organelles so that they can determine the organelle name with both the function and the picture.
Gifted: In addition to matching the term with the function, they have to draw a picture of what the organelle looks like.
Questions (How will I scaffold my questions in a way that moves students towards the new learning? Varied,
Sequenced, Purposeful/Coherent)
What are the major differences between the organelles in the cell?
Why is each organelle important to the overall functioning of the cell?
Which organelles belong specifically to plant cells

ASPIRA Lesson Plan Template

Assessment
Formative: (How will I monitor student progress throughout the lesson?)
Taking notes during the lecture and completing the gallery walk
Mastery Assessment: (How will I know that my students have mastered the objective?)
Completion of Philadelphia City/Organelle activity
Exit Ticket: Students will take an exit ticket to assess how they are doing with the content material

Examples of Worksheets from this class:

Graphic organizer for students to take notes

Philadelphia organelle activity worksheet

ASPIRA Lesson Plan Template

This lesson plan is an example from my biology class at Aspira Excel Academy.
Aspira Excel Academy is a school for over aged, under credited students from Olney
Charter High School who are seeking to receive their high school diploma. In order to get
their high school diploma, they must pass all of their classes. Many of the twenty-three
students in my biology class have taken biology before and failed the course and question
its relevancy in their lives. This class falls in the block right after lunch, so the students
are pretty rowdy and have a hard time staying in their seats during the class period. For
these reasons, I have implemented creative, engaging activities that challenge traditional
ways of teaching biology.
My lesson starts off with a traditional lecture. This ties in very closely with my
vision for my classroom because I want all my students to prepared for college or
whatever post-secondary option that they choose after graduation. Although not every
student matriculates in college or a post-secondary option, the reality is that students
going to college are going to be in a big lecture hall and will be forced to take notes on
what the professor says. For this reason, I am seeking to build these crucial skills in my
classroom so that my students are ready to tackle one of things in college that I found
most challenging. In the guided notes during my lecture, I have created a box where I
compare the function of the organelle to an aspect of Aspira Excel Academy. This
represents my attempt to make the information relevant to my students lives and make
them realize that the school they attend is a lot like a functioning cell.
The rest of the class is all about applying what the students have learned in lecture
and extending and stretching this knowledge. Immediately after taking notes,

ASPIRA Lesson Plan Template

students are given a picture of cell and asked to label it using the pictures and definitions
from their notes. Since I have a wide variety of levels in my classroom, I will pair up the
gifted students with the SLD and ESOL students. This way the gifted students will be
challenged to explain the concepts to the SLD/ESOL students and the SLD/ESOL
students will be given the proper support because it is hard for me to address every
struggling student in the classroom.
I have implemented a gallery walk in this lesson because my students have a hard
time staying put in their seats during the whole class period. This activity fits into my
vision statement because I want to make learning as fun and interactive as possible. This
also gives me an excellent time to differentiate during the lesson because there are ways
to increase the rigor of this activity and provide handicaps for some students. For the
gifted student, in addition to matching the orgaelle with the function, he or she has to
draw a picture of what the organelle looks like. For the SLD student, he or she is given a
sheet of paper with a word bank of the organelle terms. Lastly, the ESOL student is given
a separate sheet of paper with a numbered list of the images of the organelles so that they
can determine the organelle name with both the function and the picture.
The last activity is truly an extension of what the students have learned during the
lesson. This activity is called the Philadelphia Organelle Activity. Students will be able
to apply the organelle vocabulary they learned to the different parts of the city of
Philadelphia by creating analogies. For example, a student would write, the nucleus is
like Philadelphia City Hall. Then, they need to write out the function of the organelle
and a sentence explaining how this organelle relates to the city structure they have
chosen. This activity comes last in the lesson because the student is forced to apply the

ASPIRA Lesson Plan Template

knowledge that they learned during the lesson and connect it to their own personal lives
and the city they live in. This is the final assessment to know if the students have
mastered the objective and it is a non-traditional assessment. I was inspired to implement
a non-traditional assessment into my classroom because I wanted to make an assessment
that would cater to the non-traditional learners needs.
Overall, this lesson has a nice mixture of both traditional and non-traditional
assessments. This lesson has components that every type of learner can understand and
interact with, from traditional lecture to interactive activities. I tried to make many parts
of the lesson relevant to the students lives by incorporating analogy-centered activities
so students can relate these difficult biological concepts to real life. I am excited to see
how the students respond to this lesson!