Childhood/Early Childhood Department

Early Childhood Lesson Plan

Name of Teaching Candidates: Jennifer Falk, Katie Rutter, Shareefah
Pereira, Patrick Stasiak
Date of Lesson: 3/10/2016
Length of lesson: 3 days (for us 30 minutes)
Grade level(s):3-4
Age range 8-10

1.

Prior Knowledge:
From the previous lessons students will have knowledge on a turtles life
cycle
Students will understand what a habitat is and how turtles habitat differs
from others.
Students will know how to use a T-charts
Students will have basic prior knowledge of Bar Graphs
Students will be able to identify untreated, threatened, endangered species.
Prerequisite Skills:
Students must know the format of a letter and be able to write a letter as
their final assessment. (See attached rubric)
Central Focus of the Learning Segment
Sea creatures and the environment they live in.
Rationale
Teaching students about biodiversity and key aspects that can impact the
environment.
Title of Lesson:
Turtle, Turtle, Watch Out
Theme or Unit
Sea Creatures and their habitats
Content Information
Engage:
During the engage section we had the students listen to a read aloud and
create a I wonder/I learned chart. The book that the students will be read to
is called Turtle Watch by Saviour Pirotta.
Each student will have their own ThinkPad so they will be able to write down
any questions or inferences they may have during the read aloud.
The teacher will create a large I wonder/I learned chart and in pairs the
students will write one thing they learned and one question they have about

sea turtles from the text on a sticky note and then the notes will be placed
on the chart.
2. Explore:
During this section of the lesson the teacher will introduce
the game Turtle turtle, Watch Out!
The teacher will hand out the fortune teller game already
created and gather the students in two groups.
The teacher will tell the students that they are all baby
turtles and the object of the game is for them to hatch safely and
to reach the ocean safety.
The teacher will explain the directions and rules of the
game to the students and allow them to play for a few minutes.
3. Explain:
After the game the students will gather together as a whole group and
discuss the results of the game using a turtle t-chart and turtle line graph.
The teacher will ask the students:
What kinds of dangers did the turtles encounter?
Based on the graph, what can you conclude about the number of baby sea
turtles that survived?
How do you think this compares to real life?
What things can people do to help sea turtles?
After discussing the results of the game have students answer the questions
at the bottom of the Turtle T-chart.
4. Elaborate and Evaluate: Write a letter!
The students would be shown a video on baby turtles
hatching and going towards the ocean
The students will then be prompted to write a letter
following the writing steps the students would have been taught
and practicing.
The letter would consist of three facts about turtles, three
ways sea turtles are harmed by human actions as well as one
reason endangered turtles should be helped and one question
about sea turtles.
After the students complete the writing process all the
letters will be sent to a number of organizations that support sea
turtle rescue and rehabilitation.
Content Vocabulary
Habitat

Nature

Endangered

Conservation

Hatched

Predator

Migrate

Biodiversity

Species

Curriculum Area(s) or Learning Domain(s): (Examples of productive

questions throughout the lesson activity)
Science
o What do you see and hear, in the video that you may have seen
before?
o What will happen if humans continue to destroy the turtles
habitat?
o What do you think about the conditions that sea turtles are living
in?
English Language Arts
Can you find a way to support the endangered sea turtles?
Can you find a way for humans to ensure the safety of the turtles habitats?
Math
How long does it take the eggs to hatch and reach to the ocean?
Learning Objectives/Outcomes/Targets and
Students will learn about the life cycle of the sea turtles through literature
(using the book Turtle Turtle Watch Out!)
Students will understand the major threat to sea turtles and ways humans
can help them survive, such as services or companies that help turtles.
Standards:
MST standards
LS3.C. What happens to organisms and ecosystems when there are changes
in the environment? (Ecosystems Dynamics, Stability, and Resilience)
LS4.D. What is biodiversity and how do humans affect it and how does it
affect humans?
CC ELA
RL.3.2 Recount stories, including fables, folktales, and myths from diverse
cultures; determine the central message, lesson, or moral and explain how it
is conveyed through key details in the text.
SL. 3.1 Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-onone, in groups, and teacher-led) with diverse partners on grade 3 topics and
texts, building on others' ideas and expressing their own clearly.
W.3.4 With guidance and support from adults, produce writing in which the
development and organization are appropriate to task and purpose.
Assessment
Informal:

 Discussion I wonder/ Learned Chart before and after reading, Turtle, Turtle,
Watch Out
In game groups students make a bar chart based on the game Turtle, Turtle,
Watch Out! This would happened after each round when each turtle sat
down. For example, round 1 10 turtles sat down this would be documented
on the chart.
Formal:
Students complete the T chart with Natural Factors that harmed/ helped the
turtle. Then Human Factors that harmed/ helped the turtle. Each student
then answers the question Do Human Actions help or harm sea turtles
explain? Do you think humans should interfere with nature by helping sea
turtles? Why/ Why Not.
Students will write a letter based on the attached rubric

4 Point Response

3 Point Response

2 Point Response

1 Point Response

0 Point Response

Materials

The student's letter includes three

important facts about sea turtles,
clearly demonstrates understanding
of three ways sea turtles are harmed
by human actions, effectively
communicates one reason sea
turtles should be helped, and
requests information about sea
turtles.
The students letter demonstrates a
flaw in the understanding of the
concepts OR is missing one of two
elements.
The students letter demonstrates a
flaw in the understanding of the
concepts and is missing one of two
elements OR is missing three or four
elements.
The students letter demonstrates a
flaw in the understanding of the
concepts and is missing three or four
elements OR is missing five
elements.
The students letter shows no
understanding of the concepts OR
does not write a letter.

Think Pads
I Wonder/ I Learned Chart
Turtle Line Graph
Turtle Watch By: Saviour Pirotta
Turtle Turtle Watch Out! By:April Sayre
Student Resources:
Fortune Teller Templates
Turtle Line Graph
Turtle T- Chart
Closure: This would be the final assessment, the letter with the attached
rubric.

Planning Sheet ( One Per Group)

Group Member Names:
Katie Rutter, Pat Stasiak, Shareefah Pereira, Jennifer Falk
Lesson Topic & Objectives:
Students will learn about the life cycle of the sea turtles through literature
(using the book Turtle Turtle Watch Out!) .
Students will understand the major threat to sea turtles and ways humans
can help them survive, such as services or companies that help turtles.
Strategy(ies) to be used:
Team Teach
Introduction:
Co-presenters started off the presentation by stating that students would
have prior knowledge of certain concepts from previous lessons.
Procedures

 We talked about the different aspect of our lesson plan. Each team member
had a different aspect to speak about. We all took turns describing and
elaborating on our various slides.
Closure
We closed the lesson activity by describing the importance of the game and
how it can be played with students in a variety of setting and ways.
Roles/ Responsibilities
PowerPoint setup
Turn taking changing slides on the PowerPoint during the presentation.
Game Facilitator Jennifer
Classroom Set-up
No classroom set-up needed.
Materials and who will be responsible
PowerPoint -Group responsibility. Each member was responsible for the part
that they presented
Books -Katie
Handouts for game- Shareefah P.

Shareefah Pereira
EDU 374-Teach Elementary School Science
Professor Beth Kline
33 march 2016
Picture Perfect Integrated Science Teaching Reflection
Part I: A brief description of the lesson/component you did with the group

For the presentation component of the lesson we described the

inclusion of math and science in an ELA/Literacy lesson. We spoke
about books such as Turtle Watch by, Saviour Pirotta and Turtle, Turtle,
Watch Out! By April Sayre which were used to engage the students and
have them fill out a Turtle T-Chart that analyzed the different natural
and human factors that affect turtles in the wild. I included a video that
the other pre-service teachers could utilize to activate the students
background knowledge. Another element to our lesson included a
letter that the students could write to an organization to support the
rescue and rehabilitation of sea turtles.

Part II: A reflection or reaction to what the participants were

thinking/doing/saying as they worked on your planned activity.

For audience participation we had them play the turtle fortune-teller

game. We had a volunteer from the audience come up and
demonstrate how to fold the fortune-teller. The way the group set up
the instructions for the game to with our peers were different from the
way we would have played it in a classroom with students. After
everyone folded their fortune-tellers it was time to play the game. We
split the classroom into two groups and had each group play separately
following the instructions that were provided in the Picture Perfect
Science Book. We realized as we were playing that the instructions,
rules and other aspects of the game might have to be modified and
adjusted deepening on the students who would be participating.

Part III: A reflection on your plan and on your role as teacher.

As co-presenters we had enough adults to students so we were

able to monitor the activity and how it was played. There were 2
presenters for each team. We were able to talk about how we would be
able to differentiate and modify the game for different students and
various classroom types. The activity showed me how easy it is to
integrate science and math while including literacy instruction for all
grades in a fun and engaging way. In the future I would modify the
content of the fortune-teller activity so it can easily fit into other
content areas. I would love to teach the lesson my group presented on
as a unit or theme that can be extend over a longer period of time. It
can be extended to sea creatures and other aspects of animal

endangerment throughout the earth.

Part IV: A reflection on your plan and on your role as teacher/leader.
Team presenting the lesson definitely helped with the work load, it
helped the brain storming process by hearing different perspectives
and ideas from the other presenters. However, it was hard to actually
asses the teaching of the lesson because we didnt have enough time
to actually demonstrate every aspect of the lesson.
We had to change the academic language, try to make it engaging
when we presented to our peers. We used other elements such as a
video that was not located in the Picture Perfect science book so that
our peers could see that other resources could be used with the same
lesson. Modeling the lesson to our peers helped to give an overview of
what may or may not work when teaching the lesson. The positive
criticism we received was motivating to help keep us as pre-service
teachers open-minded and flexible.