USF Elementary Education Lesson Plan Template

Cassidy Fulton
Grade Level Being Taught: Subject: Science
Group Size: Whole Class
Date:
What Standards (national
or state) relate to this
lesson?
(You should include ALL
applicable standards. Rarely
do teachers use just one:
theyd never get through
them all.)
Essential Understanding
(What is the big idea or
essential question that you
want students to come away
with? In other words,what,
aside from the standard and
our objective, will students
understand when they finish
this lesson?)
MW: What one piece will
students walk away with
understanding after
engaging in this lesson?

SC.K.P.8.1 Sort objects by observable properties, such as size,

shape, color, temperature (hot or cold), weight (heavy or light)
and texture.

Essential Question:
What are some words that we can use to describe and sort by
observable differences between objects?
Science Concept:
Asking questions and making observations.
Process Skills/ Science Practices:
Observing
Classifying
Communicating
Nature of Science:
Science demands evidence
Science uses a variety of methods
Science asks questions about the natural world
One thing students will walk away from this lesson with
understanding about is different characteristics of objects and
how to sort by those characteristics.

Objectives- What are you

teaching?
(Student-centered: What will
students know and be able to
do after this lesson? Include
the ABCDs of objectives:
action,behavior, condition,

and degree of mastery, i.e.,

"C: Given a sentence written
in the past or present
tense,A: the student B: will
be able to re-write the
sentence in future tense
D:with no errors in tense or
tense contradiction (i.e., I
will see her yesterday.)."
Note: Degree of mastery
does not need to be a
percentage.)
Rationale
Address the following
questions: Why are you
teaching this objective?
Where does this lesson fit
within a larger plan? Why
are you teaching it this way?
Why is it important for
students to learn this
concept?

I am teaching this lesson in order to educate my students about

the different ways that they can describe what they are able to
observe about an object, what questions they can ask to help
them, and how they can use these observable characteristics to
then sort the objects.
This fits within a larger plan because as the students go
throughout school and everyday life they will need to know of
ways to characterize objects in order to communicate about
them. It also teaches them to be more observant about the
world around them.
I am teaching it this way in order for students to have more
experience with working outdoors and to learn how to
communicate with their peers to further their knowledge.

Evaluation Plan- How will

you know students have
mastered your objectives?
Address the following:
What formative evidence
will you use to document
student learning during
EACH phase of the lesson?
What summative evidence
will you collect, either

Formative Evidence:
Engage: I will know that students are engaged by observing to
be sure they are paying attention to me and the video and if
they are asking any questions about what they will learn.
Explore: I will know that students are exploring by watching if
they are observing the area around them, if they are asking
questions about what they saw or trying to answer my
questions, and if they are picking up 3 different rocks that are
significantly different.
Explain: I will know that students are trying to explain their

during this lesson or in

upcoming lessons? Be sure
to include a scoring guide.

thinking by listening to their conversations with their partners

and hearing if they have come up with any words that they can
use to describe their rocks. I will also pay close attention to if
they are listening to their partners words.
Elaborate: I will know students are attempting to elaborate by
paying attention to and make note of which partnerships are
coming up with a variety of ways to short their rocks into the
chart and which partnerships are having trouble with coming
up with new ways to characterize their rocks.
Evaluate: While going from group to group I will listen to and
make not of how the students are describing their sorting and
what they chose to characterize by.
Summative Evidence:
After some more practice in the classroom with classifying
objects I will give each student 5 random objects from a hat
and instruct them to make a T-Chart for each different way that
they think they could sort the objects and what characteristic
they would be using.

What Content Knowledge

is necessary for a teacher
to teach this material?

What background
knowledge is necessary for
a student to successfully
meet these objectives?
How will you ensure
students have this
previous knowledge?
Who are your
learners? What do
you know about
them?
What do you know
about their readiness

In order to teach this lesson, as a teacher, I would need to know

of the different attributes that could be used in order to
characterize and sort objects. I will also need to know about
our outdoor classroom in order to answer any questions that my
students may have about what they are observing.

for this content?

What misconceptions
might students have about
this content?

Students may get stuck and not be able to think about any other
properties that could be observed just because of lack of
experience. For example, they may not know what texture is.

Teaching Methods
(What teaching method(s)
will you use during this
lesson? Examples include
guided release, 5 Es, direct
instruction, lecture,
demonstration,partner word,
etc.)

I will utilize the 5 Es teaching model for this lesson. Below are
the purposes of each phase of the 5E model.
Engage: Lessons should engage students and interest them with
an event or a question. By engaging students, teachers are
showing them how they can connect what they know and what
they are able to do. Teachers generate interest, curiosity, and
questions. Students show interest and ask questions to further
their learning.
Explore: Lessons should encourage students to work with one
another while doing hands on activities. Students explore in
order to clarify their understandings of the content being
learned. Teachers ask probing questions in order to get
students minds thinking in different ways and gives students
time to think through problems. Students think freely while
forming predictions, testing those predictions, and recording
their ideas.
Explain: Lessons should probe students to explain and discuss
their understandings about what they are learning and doing
while teachers clarify these understandings and introduce new
concepts and ideas to think about. Teachers encourage students
to explain their thinking about the content in their own words
and uses students prior knowledge to help explain new
content. Students questions and listen critically to their peers
responses while trying to comprehend the teachers
explanations.
Elaborate: These lessons should challenge students to apply
what they have learned and build onto their previous
understanding to extend their knowledge. Teachers expect
students to use formal definitions and explanations that they

have learned, remind them of alternative explanations, and

encourage them to apply the concepts in new situations.
Students use previous information to ask questions while
applying new explanations to new situations and check for
understanding of peers to generate reasonable conclusions.
Evaluate: Lessons should allow students to assess and check
what they know, have learned, and are able to do. Teachers are
able to evaluate students performance and progress. Teachers
observe the students and look for evidence to show that they
have changed their thinking or behaviors throughout the
learning. Teachers assess students skills and ask open-minded
questions. Students answer these questions by using evidence
from their observations and previously accepted explanations
to demonstrate their understanding of the concept. They
evaluate their own progress and knowledge and ask related
questions that could further the investigation.
Step-by-Step Plan
(What exactly do you plan
to do in teaching this lesson?
Be thorough.Act as if you
needed a substitute to carry
out the lesson for you.)

Each content area may require a different step-by-step format.

Use whichever plan is appropriate for the content taught in this
lesson. For example, in science, you would detail the 5 Es here
(Engage/Encountering the Idea; Exploring the Idea;
Explanation/Organizing the Idea; Extend/Applying the Idea;
Evaluation).

Where applicable, be
sure to address the
following: What
Higher Order
Thinking (H.O.T.)
questions will you
ask?
How will materials
be distributed?
Who will work
together in groups
and how will you
determine the

Engage: Bring the students to the carpet to have a discussion.

Ask the class what kind of things they know that they can find
in their outdoor classroom (answers may be bugs, plants, rocks,
animals). Tell students that today in their outdoor classroom
they are going to find some things that may look the same, but
they will also find many that are different. Show the YouTube
video introduction to the book Whats Different... Whats the
Same?. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MpHzjuowDjM)
Tell them to pay close attention to the words that the singer is
using to describe the differences between the objects the
students are observing. Answer any questions that students
may already have about the terms being used. Remind them of
the rules they must follow while in the outdoor classroom.

grouping?
How will students
transition between
activities?
What will you as the
teacher do?
What will the
students do?
What student data
will be collected
during each phase?
What are other adults
in the room doing?
How are they
supporting students
learning?
What model of
co-teaching are you
using?

They must be respectful of their teacher and classmates but

also to the area around them.
Explore: When first arriving to the outdoor classroom allow
students to walk around and observe and explore without
having to collect any data. Encourage students to work together
to pay close attention to the kinds of rocks that they are able to
see. Bring the group back together and sit in a circle on the
ground. Ask students about the kinds of rocks that they were
able to find. Were they all the same? Were they different?
How? After students have had some time to think about these
questions allow them to continue looking at rocks but this time
each students should choose 3 rocks (ones that they are able to
hold) that are different in some way from one another. As a
teacher, collect 3 different rocks yourself to use to demonstrate.
Explain: Once students have had sufficient time to find their
rocks, pull the group back together in the discussion circle on
the ground. Tell students to quietly look at their rocks and think
of the different ways in which they could describe each one.
Then, have them each turn and talk with a partner next to them
and share the words that they have thought of to describe their
rocks (smooth, hard, big, small, brown, white, etc.). After
about 5 minutes of this conversation give each partnership two
sticks. Show the class how you can use the two sticks to create
a T-Chart on the ground. Assist any students who may need
help setting up their T-Chart. As a whole class, discuss one
way in which they can group their rocks (ex. all big rocks go
together on one side and all small rocks go together on the
other side). While modeling this with your rocks, invite
students to watch you while also sorting their different rocks
into the two sides on their own T-Chart of sticks. Using your
own model, ask students to count how many rocks are on each
side of the chart. Direct them to then discuss with their partner
how many are on each side of their own chart.
Elaborate: Ask students to talk with their partner about other
ways they could sort their rocks- other than size. Have them

then show this on their T-Chart. Instruct the partnerships to

raise their hands once they have come up with a new way to
sort and have separated the rocks into the chart. Once you have
seen what they have done, challenge them to come up with an
even different way of how to sort their rocks, if they cannot
think of a new way give them one by asking probing questions
of what their rocks look like (texture, color, weight).
Evaluate: While going to each partnership pay attention to
which students are able to think of new ways to sort and which
were having trouble. Bring students attention back to you and
ask questions for students to think about about what different
ways they could sort their rocks. Ask what different senses
they had to use to come up with new ways that the rocks could
be sorted. Allow students to choose one of the ways that they
sorted their rocks in the chart and record a detailed sketch of
the chart and the rocks into their science notebooks. Giving
them about 10 minutes to record this, direct students to close
their notebooks and return their rocks as close as they can to
where they found them before lining up to go inside.
What will you do if

Meeting your students

needs as people and as
learners

If applicable, how does this lesson connect to the interests and

cultural backgrounds of your students?
This lesson connects to the interests of my students because
they do not get to work outside very often so this will be an
exciting and relatively new experience for them. It may
connect to the cultural backgrounds of my students if they
come from a culture that is much more aware of the outside
world around them, therefore these students may be able to
come up with more ways to characterize their rocks because of
their experience.
If applicable, how does this lesson connect to/reflect the local
community?
The local community has many places where students are able

to play and experience the outdoors so students may be more

familiar with the things that they see in the outdoor classroom.
Accommodations (If
needed)
(What students need specific
accommodation? List
individual students
(initials), and then explain
the accommodation(s) you
will implement for these
unique learners.)
Materials
(What materials will you
use? Why did you choose
these materials?Include any
resources you used.This can
also include people!)

Pencils
Science Notebooks
Sticks collected outside (1 per student, 2 for the teacher)
An available outdoor classroom with plenty of rocks
A projector
A computer with access to the internet