Lesson Plan Template

NEPF + Components of an Effective Lesson Hybrid

Name

Lauren Miller

Grade Level

First Grade

Subject Area

Life Science

Main Topic

Plant Growth

CCSD Standard

Life Science: Investigate, observe, and describe how plants grow and change throughout their life cycles.

**Be sure to include any strategies, resources, and/or technology that will be used to answer the question where
appropriate. You should have a technology tool integrated into each effective lesson component.**
Standard 1: Learning Purpose and Connections
What will the students be learning?
What are the big concepts for the lesson?
How will students know the objectives for the lesson? [Daily Objective]
How will students know the purpose and relevance of the lesson?
What resources/technology will help students make connections to previous learning? [Daily Review]
How will students receive feedback for their review?
How will students build their current knowledge?

How will the lesson be introduced? [Introduction]

Students will be learning about the life cycle and different parts of plants/flowers. Teacher will post the daily objective on the smart board
at the front of the class, and explain to students the purpose of the lesson, and why plant growth is important. Teacher will then present
a BrainPop video that gives a brief overview of a plants growth, on the smart board or projector. This will build the students knowledge
and also give a good introduction to the topic. A class discussion will then take place, where the teacher poses simple questions about
how plant growth is relatable to the students and their lives. They will receive verbal feedback from their teacher during discussion.

Standard 2: Learning Tasks and Cognitive Demands

How are students supported in achi
eving the learning goals?
What Depth of Knowledge levels will students experience in the learning tasks?
How will students be supported to experience deeper learning? Address any SPED, Gifted or ELL students [Concept and Skill
Development and Application]
How will students be challenged to advance their thinking and skills? [Concept and Skill Development and Application]

Being that students are young, and this may be their first time being introduced to this topic, the depth of knowledge levels may not be
as deep as with other subjects that they are familiar with and ready to learn more about. Students will make a class trip to the computer
lab, so that each student has access to a personal computer. Students will access an online educational lesson and game on
TurtleDiary.com for them to learn about how a plant grows. This is an interactive website, that allows students to work at their own pace
Students that are interested in learning more in depth about plants will have the option of skipping the intro lesson, and go on to labling
the plant parts.
Students will then be instructed to access a different website (http://www.firstschoolyears.com/science/living/interactive/growingplants.swf ) and this will be a more challenging activity, to see if they know the information that has been presented and advance their
thinking past the learning process.

Standard 3: Engagement Strategies and Discourse

How will students engage in interactive dialogue and/or discussions? [Guided/Independent/Group Practice]
How will students develop their skills in argumentation, explanation, and critique, using logic/evidence to support or refute a claim or
position?
How will students use multiple representations of concepts in their thinking? (i.e., graphic organizers, visuals, drawings, concept maps,
videos, simulations, data formats)
What opportunities will students have to use their personal experiences and knowledge to connect to the new concepts and skills?

How will students collaborate with each other?

Students will be separated in to small groups of 2 or 3, and each group will be given a digital camera. The class will take a mini field
trip outdoors, and be instructed to find and take a photo of plants at different stages in their life cycle, and the different parts of plants.
Students will have a chance to discuss with each other what phase they think the plant is in, and try to find one in each stage of life
(seed, stem, leaf growth, flower, etc.)
After students are done taking photos, they will return to the classroom, and photos will be transferred onto the computer so that
students can drag and drop them in order into powerpoint slides to create their own personal diagram of the steps of plant growth. Each
group will present their powerpoint to the class.

Standard 4: Student Understanding of and Responsibility for Learning

How will students reflect on their learning progress through structured metacognitive activities?
How will students reflect on the learning goals, the performance criteria and purpose of the lesson?

How will students share their progress?

How will students be supported in revising their learning strategies based on their progress?

For the first step in reflecting on the lesson, the class will use a classroom set of clickers that pair with a program on the smart board.
The teacher will pose the question What stuck with you today? with a variety of answers for the students to choose from, and they can
choose all that apply. The results will be revealed, so that both students and teacher can see what main concepts were grasped.
Students will then use Meernotes, the app that they use on their iPads to keep their reading and science journals in. They write down
the most interesting thing they have learned and add their favorite plant picture they took to their digital journal entry. Some students will
be chosen to share with the class.

Standard 5: Assessment Integrated into Instruction

How will student progress be assessed?
How were student pre-assessments or work samples used to plan this lesson?
What evidence of student learning will be generated during the lesson? (i.e., writing, one-to-one conferencing, discussions with peers,
instructional tasks)
How will students receive formative feedback?
How are instructional adjustments made based on student formative assessment results?
What homework will be issued to support the lesson. [Homework]
How will the lesson be closed? [Closure]
How will the lesson be reviewed? [Long-term Review]

Student progress will be assessed by the teacher, to be sure that everyone grasps the main concepts, but a quiz will not be taken for a
grade because this is the students first time being introduced to this subject. The teacher will create or find a Kahoot quiz that is relevant
to what students have learned about parts of plants and plant growth. Students will use their class sets of ipads to answer the questions
presented. Feedback will be given to them, because they can see what questions they answered right and wrong. The teacher will know
if any adjustments need to be made to the lesson or thought out for further review, based on what percentage of students answer each
question correctly. Homework will be to bring in a real life example of a living or non living plant or plant piece/ diagram etc.
The lesson will be closed with another discussion, and throughout the year, when talking about animals and humans during other
lessons, we will relate back to plant growth, and why it is so important!