Lesson Plan

Date:

11/16/15

Grade and Period: 9th Grade, 2A (ESL)

Strengths of the Class: This class is full of bright students who are eager to participate in class discussions even
though their English language skills are still developing.
Unique Needs of the Class: We have 19 students from various countries. Students within this class have varied levels
of English language skills. Two students in particular have only been in the country for a few months. We have Ms.
Casarras who is an ESL aid. She speaks Spanish and is very helpful with all of the students.
Subject: Earth Science ESL LEVEL 1
Curriculum Standards: USOE Earth Science Standard 2, Objective 3
Lesson Topic: Make a Continent
Homework (if any) from previous day: Hot Spot notes and the rate of plate motion on pg. 39
Content Objectives for the Lesson: SWBAT understand Earths internal structure and the dynamic nature of the tectonic
plates that form its surface.
Learning Objectives for Students: SWBAT model tectonic plate movement and compare the results of plate movement
along the different plate boundaries.
Language Objectives for Students: SWBAT describe convergent, divergent, transform boundaries and hot spot locations
around the world and incorporate examples in their own work. SWBAT cite evidence using scientific language for their
hypothetical tectonic processes that affect their continent.
Starter: Define Hot Spot. Give an example of a hot spot location on Earth.
Class Procedures: Students begin each class in assigned seats and work on a bell ringer or starter question that is written
on the board. Choosing sticks are used to determine which student is asked to answer the starter question. If they are
unsure, they may defer to one of their classmates. These starter questions are used as a review and a formative assessment
on the previous topics covered in class. Students are encouraged and rewarded for participating in the review discussion
with Grizz bucks. Students are allowed to work in collaborative groups on the project with assistance from the teachers
and aid.

Class Work (Questions/Activities): Students are given the Make a Continent worksheet with clear verbal and written
instructions as to the expectation and guidelines for the project. Students must make their own (unique) continent in any
shape, but can work in groups as they discuss how they will formulate their project. The teacher models the first few steps
of the project on the board. Students are then able to move from their assigned seats and work in small groups.
Plans for Assessment: Formative assessment: Starter question. Summative Assessment: Students are tasked with designing
their own continent with tectonic forces at work. Students will demonstrate their understanding of these forces throughout
the activity and will display their work in their science notebooks that will be checked and graded by the instructor as a
summative assessment of the lesson material.
Homework: Complete Make a Continent on pg. 42 (initial continent). The following day we will begin work on the future
tectonic model of their continent on pg. 43.
Plans for Enrichment Students who finish their initial continent may move on to their future tectonic diagram.
Plans for Remediation Small group work will assist students that need additional help. The teacher, student teacher and
the ESL aid will assist these students during the class period by the use of modeling and direct instruction.
Plans for English Language Learners The instructions for this activity are given verbally, distributed in written form.
The activity itself is visual in nature, creating an opportunity for students to demonstrate their understanding in a nonlanguage intensive format. Collaborative groups with language learners and native speakers are utilized in this class.
GPJH is a very inclusive school and ESL students of varying backgrounds typically have large peer groups who facilitate
translation for low level students. In order to address the needs of the ESL students, we discussed and reviewed the
content by asking what if statements regarding the different plate boundaries. Before students were allowed to
move into groups we modeled the different effects of each plate boundary together and how they may change the
formation of a continent over time.
Reflection: The legend for the different boundary types and the ways in which scientists depict such boundaries was
written on the board. Students referred to this often, but were unfamiliar with these images. Next time I would
incorporate these images into the direct instruction portion of the notes so they can act as a recognizable visual of
the vocabulary. In this class we struggle more with talk outs. The students are eager to participate, but dont
always do so in an appropriate way. They can easily get each other off task. Students in this class were not always
working on the project. It can be difficult at times to distinguish between the needs of each student. Some students
disengage with the content when it is not accessible, while others respond as typical adolescents and simply decide
to be off task because of lack of interest. For this class, I would potentially restructure this lesson so that it was
more of a modeling activity that the whole class engaged with collectively. This would offer more opportunities to
ask the students critical thinking and inquiry questions and allow for language and content growth simultaneously.

Make-A-Continent
Introduction:
Plate tectonics is the process the earth goes through in recycling, deforming, and creating
crust. The main processes that perform this are subduction, rifting, spreading, collision,
and transform motions. Each of these contributes to the world we know today and the
planet we can study in the past.
Procedures:
1. Draw (on the first page designated in your notebook) a hypothetical model of a continent that
you have created, in landscape (turn your book sideways). If you like, you can use your continent
in geography as a model (though it can not be the exact same picture). It would greatly help your
world to color in the world with land, forests, oceans, and ice. Make sure that your world has all
of these tectonic features listed below with labels for each boundary:
-at least one (1) land mass/continent and at least two (2) oceans (name them as well)
-ocean/ocean subduction (with a volcanic island chain)
-ocean/continent subduction (with a chain of mountain volcanoes)
-active continental collision or an eroded mountain range from an old collision
-mid-ocean ridge/seafloor spreading
-continental rift valley
-newly-formed, narrow ocean (like the Red Sea)
-transform boundary/fault (name it as well)
-arrows of plate movement
-For extra credit: fully completed and connected tectonic boundaries (no floating
boundaries or changing boundaries, E.G. where a divergent becomes a convergent)

Make sure to make a legend! Have volcanoes (red triangles), mountains (purple triangles),
earthquakes (green dots), trenches (blue line), mid-ocean ridges (red line with marks), rift
valleys (orange line with marks), etc.

2. On a second page (as designated by your teacher), draw a second map, this time about 250
million years in the future. Make sure to label the original landmasses, and show them in their
new tectonic framework (e.g. have some of them collided? have some of them split in half?). Be
sure to leave some room to answer questions. You do need to label everything that you have like
above! You may not still have all of the features, but you have to label what you have!

Analysis
Answer these on the bottom of the second page in complete sentences, using the
question as part of the answer.
1. Which diagram was harder to draw? Why?
2. How did your first map compare to a modern continent, like North America?
3. How did your second map compare to a modern continent, like North America?
4. What would a third map, after another 100-200 million years, look like? How would it compare
to a modern continent, like North America?
5. Did any of the maps look like a supercontinent, like Pangaea? Why or why not?
6. Imagine a hot spot has formed in the exact center of your page. Draw it in as a large red
triangle. Now, add the trend of extinct, older volcanoes in purple on your second map, plus the
active hot spot. What direction does the trend of volcanoes go? ____ What direction is the plate
moving? ____