Unit Plan: Organisms

Context

Program Particulars
Language: English
Program Model: collaboration/ ESL Science for Dual Development
Language Program
90/10
Student Characteristics
Grade Level: 1
Language Competence Level:
Speaking Proficiency Levels: 15 students are at level 1; 18
students are at level 2, 9 students are at level 3, 4 students are
at level 4, and 8 students are at level 5 or suspected to be native
level proficiency (he is new and not yet been tested)
Language used in home is identified as Spanish
Ethnolinguistic Background: Spanish-speaking; many students families
are from Mexico
and Ecuador
Assumptions about What Students Already Know and Can Do
Essential Skills
Copy words
Use 4 senses
Turn and talk with a
partner, given a sentence
prompt
Use inventive spelling
(often with Spanish
phonetics)
Provide information on a
graphic organizer
Utilize visual aids for writing
Identify main parts of text
Utilize WIDA-based chart on
language complexity
(exemplars of what it
looks/sounds like at each
level)
General Description of Curriculum

Identify initial consonant

sounds
Name the 4 senses orally
Consonant sounds in
English
Students know their WIDA
speaking level

This unit is based upon the STC kit Organisms. Please see the Unit
Overview of Academic Language, the Week at a Glance examples, and the
Lesson Overview of Academic Language for more details (all under the
Goals tab).

Desired Results
Unit Theme: Organisms
Big Idea: We can investigate different organisms, or living things, by making
observations over time. Organisms can be observed and compared, and
need common basic things to survive.
Big Question: How do organisms survive in their habitat? How does a
habitat help specific organisms to survive?
Key Content Concepts:
Targeted Standards:
Minnesota
WIDA- Standard
State Content
4, the Language
Standardsof
(gr 1)
Science

Listening:
Identifyandcomparelivingorganisms
frompicturesandoralstatements(level
1)
fromobjectsandoralstatementsand
descriptions(level23)
fromoraldescriptions(levels45)

1. The Nature of Science and Engineering

1.1.1.1.1 When asked "How do you
know?, students support their answer
with observations 1.1.1.1.2 Recognize
that describing things as accurately as
possible is important in science because
it enables people to compare their
observations with those of others.
4. Life Science
1.4.1.1.1 Describe and sort animals into
groups in many ways, according to their
physical characteristics and behaviors.
1.4.2.1.1 Recognize that animals need
space, water, food, shelter and air.
1.4.2.1.2 Describe ways in which an
animal's habitat provides for its basic
needs.

Speaking:
Describeandcompare/contrastorganisms
usingpictures,singlewords,andphrases
(level12)
usingcompletesentences(level3)
usingaseriesofdescriptiveandcomplex MN Common Core ELA Standards (gr
1)
sentences(level45)
Reading Benchmarks:
Predictchangeinorganisms
1.3.0.1 Demonstrate understanding of the
usingpictures,singlewords,andphrases organization and basic features of print.
(level12)
1.3.0.2 Demonstrate understanding of
spoken words,
usingcompletesentences(level3)
syllables, and sounds (phonemes).

usingaseriesofdescriptiveandcomplex
sentences(level45)
Explainhowtheneedsofaorganismare
metinahabitat
usingpictures,singlewords,andphrases
(level12)
usingcompletesentences(level3)
usingaseriesofdescriptiveandcomplex
sentences(level45)
Reading:
Identify,describeandcompareorganisms
fromlabeleddiagramsandpictures
(level1)
fromwrittensentenceswithpicturesand
agraphicorganizers(level23)
fromwrittensentencesandtext(level4
5)
Writing:
Identifyanddescribeorganisms,and
compareorganismsandexplainhowthey
surviveinahabitat
bylabelinganddrawingpictures,and
copyingwordsfromwordbanks(level1)
bycompletingsentencesusinga
sentenceframeandlabeledpictures(level
2)
bywritingcompletesentencesto
describeapicture(level3)
bywritingaseriesofrelatedsentences
(levels45)

Writing Benchmarks:
1.6.2.2 Write informative/explanatory texts
in which they name a topic, supply some
facts about the topic, and provide some
sense of closure.
1.6.7.7 Participate in shared research and
writing projects (e.g., explore a number of
how-to books on a given topic and use
them to write a sequence of instructions).
Speaking, Viewing, Listening, and Media
Literacy:
1.8.1.1 Participate in collaborative
conversations with
diverse partners about grade 1 topics and
texts with peers and adults in small and
larger groups.
1.8.2.2 Ask and answer questions about key
details in a text read aloud or information
presented orally or through other media
(e.g., stories, poems, rhymes, songs).
1.8.4.4 Describe people, places, things, and
events with relevant details, expressing
ideas and feelings clearly.
Language Benchmarks:
1.10.1.1 Demonstrate command of the
conventions of standard English grammar
and usage when writing or speaking (use
frequently occurring adjectives)

Unit-Level Goals:
Enduring Understandings and Essential Questions:
What is an organism?
What do different organisms need to survive?
How do organisms change over time?
How can we observe and describe organisms?
How can we compare organisms?

Are humans similar to other organisms?

Students will understand that (process)

Organisms are living things that can be observed and described
We can observe organisms over time and see how they change
Venn diagrams can be used to compare and contrast organisms
Knowledge and Skills
Students will know (content)
Organisms have basic needs
(food, water, air, space, shelter)
Each organism has specific needs
Living things are diverse
Organisms grow, change, and die
over time
Some plants grow from seeds
Some plants are similar, some
animals are similar, and some
plants and animals share
similarities
Humans share similarities with
animals
Describing words for animals and
plants, names of animals and
plants and their parts

Observe and describe plants and

animals in woodland and
freshwater environments
Compare plants and animals in a
Venn diagram
Explain how an animals needs
are met in its habitat using a web
and table hang
Apply knowledge of organisms to
self
Record observations in words,
drawings, and organizers
Construct a habitat in a triarama
Say and write an organism
name+ have/has or are/is+
plant/animal words
Say and write complex sentences
with detail
Apply knowledge of habitats and
needs by finding information in a
book and writing in a triple Tchart organizer with information
from the book (photos/text)

Evidence
Unit- Level Summative Performance Assessment Tasks:
Students will create a habitat triarama for a new organism that they
read about with a partner. Students will demonstrate how the organisms
needs are met in their habitat by including its water, shelter, and food. They
will write in a three column T-chart about how the organism gets food, water,
and shelter in its habitat. After the have done the writing and triarama

creation, they will share with another group and compare their organisms
and habitats. This final part (the share out) will go unscored. Students will
also participate in a one-on-one oral interview with a teacher about living
things. See Assessment tab for more information.
Other assessment tasks:
Pre-assessment: circle maps of what different organisms need to survive.
Students work in groups but each student has a different color marker so I
can see who writes/draws what.
Formative assessment- Much of what I am assessing formatively here is the
work they have been doing daily and have been collecting in their science
notebooks.
I also conference with students periodically to discuss their language levels
and goals- we meet to figure out what they can do to try to improve their
speaking and writing in class. Students play a role in self- and peerassessment.