LESSON PLAN TEMPLATE

Name: Christine Pawlowski Date: October 21, 2011 Grade Level/Subject: Third grade science and literacy Prerequisite Knowledge: Students will be aware that Illinois is a state with many Prairies, and that there is a great

deal to learn about the elements that make up a prairie. Students will have a made a drawing of what they think makes up a prairie after being read the book, If You Are Not From the Prairie
Students will have completed a diorama of what is found in the prairie after going on a prairie walk

Approximate Time: 1 one week about 30 minutes a day or as a morning warm-up and activity to work on when they finish other work Student Objectives/Student Outcomes: Students will be able to create a picture alphabet book of the prairie. For every letter, there will be a picture and short paragraph of something that begins with that letter found in the prairie. WIDA Language Objectives: Compare and contrast features of the prairie from oral and written information Interpret information or data Summarize information from graphics or notes Edit and revise writing Construct a model based on oral discourse Explain phenomena, give examples, and justify responses Content Standards: 3.B.2b Establish central idea, organization, elaboration and unity in relation to purpose and audience. 3.A.1 Construct complete sentences which demonstrate subject/verb agreement; appropriate capitalization and punctuation; correct spelling of appropriate, high-frequency words; and appropriate use of the eight parts of speech. 3.C.1a Write for a variety of purposes including description, information, explanation, persuasion and narration. 3.C.1b Create media compositions or productions which convey meaning visually for a variety of purposes. 11.A.1d Record and store data using available technologies 12.B.1a Describe and compare characteristics of living things in relationship to their environments. Materials/Resources/Technology: Resource book box of box on the prairie, provided by the teacher Blank premade alphabet book provided by teacher Colored pencil

Notebook of observations from the prairie walk

Implementation:

Time
1 class period 30 minutes Opening of lesson: (Objectives, hook, behavior expectations) Read the book A Tall Grass Prairie Alphabet Book to model what an alphabet book about the prairie looks like and entails. Pass out the blank prairie alphabet book template and explain that we will all be a making our own prairie alphabet book. Students will be able to (and very much encouraged) to use the resource book box the teacher has in the back of the classroom in addition to the notes, observations, and pictures they might have drawn or taken from our class prairie walk. We are only going to focus on the Illinois prairie, though there are various prairies found in the world. Explain that underneath or above each picture we draw for each letter, we will write a short paragraph of at least two sentences that describes the animal or plant and where it is found in the Illinois prairie. Give students about ten minutes at the end to brainstorm ideas. They may do so in their notebooks or in pencil in their prairie alphabet book. Procedures: Include critical thinking questions and accommodations for individual needs Provide students with color pencils and let them work on their prairie books. Give time as needed. When students finish one activity, instead of reading or having free choice, have them work on their prairie books. Make sure that the students are drawing pictures and writing sentences that accompany the pictures. When walking around and observing the students work, ask them Does this sentence make sense? Is it describing what it is occurring in your picture? Make sure that in addition to the writing being clear and concise, the handwriting in legible. Do the students indent for each new paragraph? Do they correctly punctuate the sentence? Does the number of the noun correlate with what they are trying to explain? Be sure to ask these questions as you walk around and observe what the students are creating in their book. This will serve as an incredibly informal writing conference. For students who are learning English as a second language, provide them with books from the book box that have pictures that are a good representation of the plant or animal or concept they are working with that is found in the prairie. There are bilingual Spanish-English dictionaries or Google translate if you need to explain the concept in the students first language. Summary/Closing: Have the students share with their partners at their tables their prairie books. Ask them to discuss, and perhaps write on the board so they remember, are your prairie books similar? For what letters did you have the same plant or animal? Do the sentences about the drawing reference the drawing? What more did you want to know as the reader that the sentences did not explain? Call on a few students to share

3 -5 class periods

1 class period

Student Assessment: Did the students draw a picture for every letter in the alphabet? Can every representation be found in the Illinois prairie? Do they use correct grammar and punctuation on each page? Does the book look neat and follow the order of the letters in the alphabet? Are the pictures accurate drawings instead of scribbled drawings done quickly?

This lesson models both inquiry through science and literacy strategies because students went on a prairie walk, listened to a prairie book, and now are generating their own ideas of what is found in prairie via writing. The reading process parallels that of scientific inquiry. Both require skills in questioning, setting a purpose, analyzing, drawing conclusions, and communicating results. The book box that I have in the back of the room should be used for reference and examples for the students when they are completing this prairie alphabet book. In addition, I think this is a good example of combing science with literacy because students are actively learning about the life forms that are found in the prairie while perfecting their writing skills. They will be familiar with writing for a purpose and how to construct sentences. Teaching both writing and science can be difficult and I expect there to be bumps along the way while students are working on their prairie books. But as the reading mentions, when students read more, they increase their reading comprehension, conceptual knowledge, problem-solving skills in science, and motivation to read. By reading the book box books and the other students books, hopefully they will retain much information about the Illinois prairie. ELL Modifications: Modifications I can make towards ELL students is by explicitly teaching the prairie vocabulary. I can make copies of the pictures in the book and write the word at the top so my students who are unfamiliar with English will know what the different aspects of the prairie look like. If students are particularly struggling, I can even provide them with a word for their A through Z and then they can compose the two sentences on what it is and where it is found in the prairie. I will encourage students to talk to me about anything they may be struggling with and help them develop their academic vocabulary while encouraging them to ask their own questions and try to see what peaks their interests and what they would want to include in their alphabet book to draw and explain. If needed, I would let them originally write it in L1 and then work with them to translate it into L2.