LESSONPLANTEMPLATE

YourName:BethanyCoady
TitleofLesson:AreSolarMosaicsaViableSolutionToOurEnergyNeeds
Grade:5thgrade

STANDARDS
5.W.1Writeopinionpiecesontopicsortexts,supportingapointofviewwithreasonsandinformation.
ScienceStrand3:Concept1:PO3Evaluatethepossiblestrengthsandweaknessesofaproposedsolution
toaspecificproblemrelevanttohuman,animal,orhabitualneeds.
LESSONSUMMARY/OVERVIEW

Thislessonendsthe5dayunitonsolarenergywithlettingthestudentstakeallthattheyhavelearnedandapplyit
totheirownopinionaboutwhethertheconceptofsolarmosaicsareagoodideatohelpensureenergyforsociety.
Thestudentswillbeevaluatingthestrengthsandweaknessesofsolarmosaicsandoncetheyhavereachedan
opiniontheywillwriteapersuasivelettertoanArizonaofficialonwhethersolarmosaicsshouldbeusedorifthere
isabetteroption.
OBJECTIVES
The students will write an opinionative letter about the use of solar mosaics by using the previously learned
informationonsolarenergytoevaluatethepossiblestrengthsandweaknessestoreachanopinion.
ASSESSMENT/EVALUATION
Thestudentsletterswillbeassessedusingthisrubric:

Traits

Organizatio
n

Theintroductionis
inviting,statesthe
goalorthesis,and
providesan
overviewofthe
issue.Information
ispresentedina
logicalorderand
maintainsthe
interestofthe
audience.The
conclusion
stronglystatesa
personalopinion.

Theintroduction
includesthegoal
orthesisand
providesan
overviewofthe
issue.
Informationis
presentedina
logicalorderbut
doesnotalways
maintainthe
interestofthe
audience.A
conclusionstates
apersonal

Theintroduction
includesthe
maingoalor
thesis.Most
informationis
presentedina
logicalorder.A
conclusionis
included,butit
doesnotclearly
stateapersonal
opinion.

Thereisnoclear
introduction,
structure,or
conclusion.

opinion.
Goalor
Thesis

Thereisonegoal
orthesisthat
stronglyand
clearlystatesa
personalopinion
andidentifiesthe
issue.

Thereisonegoal
orthesisthat
statesapersonal
opinionand
identifiesthe
issue.

Apersonal
opinionisnot
clearlystated.
Thereislittle
referencetothe
issue.

Reasonsand
Support

Threeormore
excellentreasons
arestatedwith
goodsupport.Itis
evidentthatalot
ofthoughtand
researchwasput
intothis
assignment.

Threeormore
reasonsare
stated,butthe
argumentsare
somewhatweak
inplaces.

Tworeasonsare Argumentsare
madebutwith
weakormissing.
weakarguments. Lessthantwo
reasonsare
made.

Attentionto
Audience

Argument
demonstratesa
clear
understandingof
thepotential
audienceand
anticipates
counterarguments.

Argument
demonstratesa
clear
understandingof
thepotential
audience.

Argument
demonstrates
some
understandingof
thepotential
audience.

Argumentdoes
notseemto
targetany
particular
audience.

Word
Choice

Wordchoiceis
creativeand
enhancesthe
argument.

Wordchoice
enhancesthe
argument.

Thereis
evidenceof
attentiontoword
choice.

Wordchoiceis
limited.

Visuals/
Delivery

Visualsare
appealing,highly
relevant,andadd
supporttothe
argument.
Deliveryisfluent,
withanengaging
flowofspeech.

Visualsare
appealingand
addsupportto
theargument.
Deliveryis
fluent.

Visualsare
relatedtothe
topic.Delivery
lackssome
fluency.

Visualsarenot
directlyrelated
tothetopic.
Deliveryisnot
fluent.

Grammar,
Mechanics,

Therearenoerrors
ingrammar,

Therearefew
errorsin

Thereareseveral
errorsin

Thereare
numerouserrors

Thepersonal
opinionisnot
easily
understood.
Thereislittleor
noreferenceto
theissue.

&Spelling

mechanics,and/or
spelling.

grammar,
mechanics,
and/orspelling,
buttheydonot
interferewith
understanding.

grammar,
mechanics,
and/orspelling.

ingrammar,
mechanics,
and/orspelling.

PREREQUISITEKNOWLEDGE
Studentswillknowhowsolarenergyfunctionsandthecostsandbenefitsofthemsothattheycanusethe
knowledgetochooseanopinionandsupportit.Theycanaccesssomeofthisknowledgewiththeirnotes.
Studentswillknowtheformatofaletter.
Studentswillknowthepartsofapersuasiveletter.

MATERIALS
Solarmosaicsvideo
Persuasiveletterrubric
Paper
Writingutensils
Notebookswithpreviousdaysnotes
Whiteboard
Projector
VOCABULARY/KEYWORDS
Persuasive
Solarenergy
Solarmosaic
Solution
Letter
Evaluate
TEACHINGPROCEDURES
ProceduralSteps(Stepbystepinstructionsforteachingthelesson):
Beginwithtellingclassthattheyaregoingtolearnaboutamethodtogainmoresolarenergythatpeople
havecreated.
Showsolarmosaicvideo
Havestudentsgetintogroupsanddiscusstheprosandconsthatthisideahasmakingsuretotakenotes
aboutthem.
Callongroupstolistaprooracon
Tellstudentsthattheywillneedtodecideiftheyagreethatsolarmosaicsareagoodideaordisagreeand
thattheywillneedtopersuadeofficialsofArizonaontheiropinion.
Putthemintogroupsandhavethemdiscussdetailstheywillusetoprovetheirpoint.
Displaytherubricforapersuasiveletterontheboardandgothrougheachsecond.
Givestudentstimeforindividualworktocreatetheiropinionstatement,supportingpoints,keydetails,
endingstatement,andputtingitintopersuasiveletterformat.
Calloutstudentsattimesforexamplesofwhattheychoseastheirmainpoint/detailetc.
Observeandwalkaroundforindividualhelp.
RESOURCES

Fink,L.(2010).DearLibrarian:WritingaPersuasiveLetter.NationalCouncilofTeachersofEnglish.Retrieved
November17,2015,fromhttp://www.readwritethink.org/classroomresources/lessonplans/dearlibrarian
writingpersuasive875.html?tab=1#tabs
WeDesignStories.(2011)."SolarMosaics."Youtube.RetrievedNovember1,2015,from
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CLJP2dqP4V4
WAYSOFTHINKINGCONNECTION
Althoughanassignmentlikethiscanapplytoallformsofthinking,theprimarytypesofthinkingbeingusedhere
arefuturesandvaluesthinking.Itisawholelessonbasedonstudentsdeterminingwhatcouldbethebestoptionto
helpensurerenewableenergyforthefuturebyusingtheircurrentknowledgeandopinion.Atthesametime,these
studentsalsoneedtothinkabouthowothersopinionsonsolarmosaicsandsolarenergyare,andtrytopersuade
othersvalueswhilestillbeingrespectfultowardsthem.Bothfuturesandvaluesthinkingareanecessitytobeable
toachievethesetasks.