Lesson Planning Template

Lesson Title: Plants! Plants! Roots to Shoots Grade: Pre-K

Learning Target: The students will be able to verbally identify the four phases of the plant growth
cycle.

Content Curriculum Focal Points Ohio State Standards Interdisciplinary Connections

NCTM Curriculum,
Measurement: Identifying
measurable attributes and
comparing objects by using these
attributes Children identify
objects as “the same” or
“different,” and then “more” or
“less,” on the basis of attributes
that they can measure. They
identify measurable attributes
such as length and weight and
solve problems by making direct
comparisons of objects on the
basis of those attributes.
Pre-K: Ohio State
Standards, Exploration of
Living Things: With
modeling and support,
demonstrate an
understanding that living
things change over time
(e.g., life cycle)
Pre-K: Ohio State
Standards, Cognitive
Skills: Communicate about
past events and anticipate
what comes next during
familiar routines and
experiences.
Science:
 Plants are real living
organisms, growing and
breathing daily
Math:
 Students will be asked to
describe the mathematical
sizes of the plant during its
four phases in terms of
“more than” and “less than”
(NCTM)

Pre-K: Ohio State

Standards, Learning and
Speaking: Use language to
communicate in a variety of
ways with others to share
observations, ideas and
experiences; problem-solve,
reason, predict and seek new
information.

Pre-K: Ohio State

Standards, Relationships;
Empathy: Show regard for
the feelings of other living
things.

Academic Language: The students will learn the words: cycle, uncoil, and bud. In order to teach these,
I will define them with concrete objects or examples as we read the book together page by page.

Students’ Needs: Students will need to know about plants in the outside world. Whether having
experience directly with the objects at home or simply through sight in the common surroundings, the
students will need to be aware that plants exist in order for the lesson to work. Direct experience with
vegetation would be highly recommended, as students could connect the memories and experiences of
gardening with the topics of growth and cycles discussed in the class.
 English Language Learners
-I would research main
vocabulary words in the
student’s own language for
terms such as “seed” and
“sprout” and print those out
for a visual reference as we
read along
-I would offer the student
an iPad with an application
in his or her language that
states the plant’s growth
phases before we start out
read-aloud so that he or she
may gain familiarity with
the topics without the
struggle of decoding it in a
new language at the same
time as the learning.
Special Needs (can be a
group such as “struggling
readers” or individuals)
-Struggling readers: I
would use a line-reader so
that the student could only
focus on one line of reading
material at a time as I read-
aloud
-Gifted students: I would
ask them to create their
own version of a Big Book
(it can be very small and
messy) as opposed to doing
the worksheet as their
recapitulation method.
Students with ADHD: I
would offer the student an
exercise ball for energy
release during the read-
aloud since it can be
difficult to sit still.

Materials:
-Plants! Plants! Big Book
-Pipe-cleaner flowers
-Plants printable worksheet

Language Function: I will relate the book to the students’ lives to engage in higher-level thinking. I
will have the students imagine their own garden. I will ask them what it would look like and how long
they would like their items to grow there. The students will then engage in thinking further in terms of
their own timeline and plant ownership.

Analyze, Argue, Describe, Evaluate, Explain, Interpret, Justify, Synthesize

Lesson Plan

Before: I will ask the students to tell me what they know about plants, ask who has seen plants
growing, what the students’ favorite fruits and vegetables are, and other questions such as these. The
beginning will be very discussion based and consist of connections made by the students.

During: During the lesson, the students will be listening to me giving the read-aloud of my book. Here
they will be actively participating as we go through each page together as a class. I will ask multiple
questions per each page and expect replies and hypotheses from the students.

After: I will ask the students how their view of plants changed. We will discuss what the four phases
 and are I will ask the students to describe certain characteristics from each step. Lastly, we will work on
the Plants worksheet together as a class. If multiple copies are printed, the students can color the objects
on the page to further reinforce the visual imagery of the items.

Assessment:

Type of Description of Modifications to Evaluation Criteria- How good is

assessment assessment
(formal or informal; What will students do
formative or to show what they
summative) have learned?
I will use both the
Plants worksheet as
Formal and well as much
informal; formative discussion to assess
who absorbed the
material and who did
not.
the assessment so good enough to meet standards?
that all students (related to the learning objectives)
may demonstrate Include scoring guide, rubric or other
learning criteria
Students may If a student can verbally list and detail
complete the all four growth phases, he or she
discussion successfully completed the lesson with
without finishing the highest grade. If the student can
the worksheet. verbally list the four phases but cannot
Students may also detail them, he or she passes but extra
point to each of time with the book is recommended. If
the pages in order a student cannot verbally list the phases
when I offer the nor offer any details, the student should
verbal prompt. have a one-on-one reading session with
the teacher with more intense teaching
and discussion.

Resources:
- Plants worksheet
https://www.myteachingstation.com/worksheets/preschool/plants-animals

Analyzing Teaching:

What worked? Young students love bright colors, sensory items, and
What didn’t? For whom? large readable print. This lesson is being taught directly
before the in-class presentation. The students will love
the design, the real paint, and the added images.
Adjustments I would add more textile objects for the students to touch,
What instructional changes do you need to make as remove, hold, and share.
you prepare for your next lesson?
Proposed Changes Whole class: This will be done as whole class
instruction. It was designed for that instruction even
though a smaller group or individual grouping would be
preferred in the future.

Groups of students: If this lesson were to be done with

groups of students, I would encourage a lot more
discussion and asking of questions.

Individual students: It would have been fun to teach this

lesson with individual students because then I would be
 able to really take my time and ask the student specific
questions about the book, how it makes them feel, their
favorite aspects of it, and so on such as that.
Justification These changes will make the learning experience much
more meaningful for the students. With more meaning,
they will be more memorable, too! This could be
connected to Reggio Emilia’s approach of including
hands-on and artistic learning experiences.