1Living Organisms

Writing

Name: Cindy Teague

Date: 11/26/16
Subject: Languages Arts/Science
Length of Lesson: 45 minutes
Grade Level: 3

Language Arts Core Curriculum:

Writing Standard 2:
Write informative/explanatory texts to examine a topic and convey ideas and information clearly.
b. Develop the topics with facts, definitions, and details.
c. Use linking words and phrases (e.g., also, another, and, more, but) to connect ideas within
categories of information.
d. Provide a concluding statement or section.

Science Core Curriculum:

Standard 2:
Students will understand that organisms depend on living and nonliving things within their
environment.
c. Classify living and nonliving things in an environment.

Vocabulary words to know:

Organisms
Environment
Living
Nonliving
Survive
Terrarium
Aquarium

Preparation:
How Do Organisms Use Their Environment?
Smart board
Graphic organizer

Purpose:
Know what living organisms are
Fill out graphic organizer
Turn prompt into statement

Essential Question:
How Do Organisms Use Their Environment?
TIME: LESSON: MANAGEMENT:

11:10- Have students join you at the carpet and introduce new Attention cue to quickly come
11:15 writing article on organisms. Ask students what they to the carpet.
know about organisms, living and nonliving things.
(write this on the board) Give out Star Cards to those
Tell students that we are about to read about organisms who promptly follow
and how they use their environment. directions.

Pass out article to each student.

11:15- Read How Do Organisms Use Their Environment? Stop at bolded vocabulary
11:25 as a whole group. words and define.

Read picture captions and

Quick assessment: After reading the article, ask labels.
students to answer the following questions for
comprehension: Show students picture
Use blow it in your hand, and release technique examples on smart board
1. What is an environment? (pg 1)
2. What is a terrarium? (pg 2)
3. What is an aquarium? (pg 3)

If students are struggling, have them go to the page to

find the answer.
11:25- Explain to students that we will be writing an
11:30 explanatory piece on living organisms and how they
use their environments. Students are familiar with the
graphic organizer. We will write three big ideas and
two supporting details, evidence, to back up our ideas. Give star cards out to students
who are engaged and actively
Have students row by row come up and get a graphic participating.
organizer and return to their seats.

11:30- Fill in graphic organizer with students in whole group.
11:55 Ask students to read our prompt together and how we
can use our prompt to turn it into a statement. This
statement can be used for our topic sentence.
Ask students for big ideas of how organisms use their
environment. Once we have three big ideas, have
students go back into the article and find evidence to
If students are having a hard
time, direct students to main
ideas that can be found in the
article. i.e., go to page 2
paragraph 3 and reread.
 support those main ideas.

Wrap up.
We may or may not finish the graphic organizer in one
day. If not, advise students that we will finish
tomorrow before we begin writing. Have students put
graphic organizer away in writing folders and line up
for lunch.

ELL Considerations and Adaptations:

Visual supports. Have pictures up on the board to provide extra support as well as pictures on the
article. Have the prompt posted on the board as well.

Think-Pair-Share during reading to provide support for ELL students

Assessment
Informal assessment: After reading the article, ask students to answer the following questions for
comprehension:

Use blow it in your hand, and release technique

1. What is an environment? (pg 1)
2. What is a terrarium? (pg 2)
3. What is an aquarium? (pg 3)

If students are struggling, have them go to the page to find the answer.