Tornadoes Lesson DAY 1

Name: Casey Thies and Kathryn Lawlor

Date: December 11, 2015
Grade Level/Subject: 2nd Grade/Science
Prerequisite Knowledge: Students should know what a tornado is because of previous schooling
or from social media. They will also be able to read and write as well as complete individual and
team activities.
Approximate Time: 60 minutes
Student Objectives/Student Outcomes:
SWBAT state the process of tornado formation based on Earths physical properties by
completing both the individual and team activities.
SWBAT create and design their own safety plan, based on their acquired knowledge of tornado
likelihood, formation, and effects, in order to share the information with community members in
a threat of a tornado warning.
Content Standards:
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.2.1
Ask and answer such questions as who, what, where, when, why, and how to demonstrate
understanding of key details in a text.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.2.6
Identify the main purpose of a text, including what the author wants to answer, explain, or
describe.

Materials/Resources/Technology:
1. Tornadoes by Jim Mezzanotte
2.
3.
4.
5.

Action Plan Worksheets

Ipads for the class
Science Journals
Foldable Worksheet

Time

10 mins

Opening of lesson: (Objectives, hook, behavior expectations)

Tell the students that we will be learning about a new science unit called
tornadoes. Start by asking the class to raise their hands and tell you what
they know about tornadoes. Ask the class some of the following questions:

-Have you ever seen a tornado before? If so, where?

-Where do you think tornadoes happen?
-How do tornadoes happen? When do they happen?
Once you have asked these questions to get the students brains flowing,
tell the students to all come to the carpet for a book reading. Have all the
students sit on the carpet and show them the cover of the Tornadoes book,
Tell them that we are going to read a quick story about tornadoes to give
an introduction about what tornadoes are. Accommodation: Provide a copy
of the book for students identified as ELL or IEP so that they can read along and
make visual and oral connections to the words and images on the pages.
Students can bring the copies of these books home to practice reading with
their families.
While reading the story to the students, ask some of the following questions:
-Did you know that tornadoes can happen at any time?
-Have you seen a tornado like this one before? Where?
-Why do you think people are afraid of tornadoes?
After the book is finished, ask the students to raise their hand and tell you
something new they learned from the book. After receiving a few answers
from students, have them return to their seats quickly.
Accommodation: the ELL student will be reminded that she can use the
bilingual picture dictionary during the lesson and will be given extra time to
complete the individual activity.
45 mins

Procedures:
Once students are all in their seats, tell them that we are going to be
doing a bunch of different activities to learn more about tornadoes. Pass
out the action plan worksheets to the students and explain the worksheet
to them. Explain that there are 2 activities that they must do on their own
and then they have to choose 2 more out of 4 options to also do on their
own. Accommodation: ELL/IEP students will be allowed to choose 1
individual activity. Then they have to do 2 activities with a group and then
they have to also choose 2 more out of 4 options to also do with their group. We
will be doing this for the next few days and so they will have plenty of time to
finish everything. They have room on the worksheet to write down the
dates that I tell them certain activities are due and they can circle the
activities that they choose to do as well. Accommodation: dates will be
provided to students and the TA/aide will help model how to fill out the
checklist.
After you have explained these directions, ask the students if they have

any further questions about the activities. Answer any questions that may
come up. Then tell the students that we are going to begin the action plan
by completing one of the individual activities today. Everyone is going to
have the next 20 mins to work on one of the required individual activities.
Tell the students that they can choose to do either one of the required
individual activities but they must work on one of those for the next 20
minutes. Accommodation: More time will be provided for the students
requiring extra time. Tell the students that they will have to turn in these
activities by the next morning, so they should be working diligently to get
these finished. If there are no questions, then let the students go ahead and
work on their individual activities for the next 20 minutes.
When these 20 minutes are up, tell the students to put their materials
down because we are going to start on the next activity.
Now tell the students that there are some group activities that they have to
do and so the teacher has created groups for them. Accommodation: IEP/ELL
students will be paired in teams with non ELL and non IEP students.
Read off the groups to the students and tell them that they are going to have the
next 20 minutes to work on one of the required group projects. They can
choose to do either one of the required group activities but tell them to once again
work diligently because they will have to turn these group activities by the
next morning. If there are no questions, let the students go ahead and start
working with their groups on the required group activities.
Once the 20 minutes are up, tell the students to turn in their finished
assignments in the back of the classroom and return to their seats. Also
tell them that if they have not finished one of the activities that they will
have till the next morning to turn it in. They can either work on it during
free time later today or they can work on it at home later.
5 mins

Summary/Closing:
After all students are back at their seats, ask students to raise their hands
and tell you one interesting fact that they learned about tornadoes during
the activities. Accommodation: Answer stems will be provided for students
to explain their interesting facts. Students unable to speak will be allowed to write
their answer and turn it into the teacher.
Once you have received a few different answers, tell the
students that we are going to be working with tornadoes for the next
few days. Also tell the students to keep that action plan worksheet for the
next few days because they will need that to see what they still need to accomplish.
Lastly, ask the class to give a thumbs up if they are interested

in tornadoes and a thumbs down if they think tornadoes are not interesting.
This is just a fun way to get a quick assessment of the students interest.
40 mins

Student Assessment:
While the students are working on their individual and group work
activities, the teacher will be able to walk around to help any students
that are confused or falling behind. While the teacher is walking around,
they will be able to informal assess how the students are doing based on
how far they have gotten and how their work looks. The teacher can also
ask students questions as they are walking around to assess what the
students have learned so far.
In the next morning, the teacher will be able to collect all of the students
individual and group work from the day before. The teacher can then
formally assess their assignments based on previous criteria. The
activities are each worth 10 points and are graded based on cooperation
and condition of the activity. Accommodation: each activity will be worth 20
points and assessment will take into account the IEP and ELL Access WiDA
score. For example, a 5/10 for a non IEP or ELL student may equate to a
9/10 or 10/10 for an IEP or ELL student, depending on test scores.