Benchmark Assignment: LRC 517 Written Lesson Plan: The Water Cycle

Xin Zhang, Julie Koningsor, Patricia Stewart, Kelly Ann Larkin May 1, 2013

I. Introduction to lesson:

This lesson is intended to teach Second Grade students about the Water Cycle, a standard according to the AZ Dept. of Education. Through this lesson, we will reinforce language objectives of writing skills, identifying subject/predicate and working collaboratively as groups.

II. Content Area Taught:

Science, Language Arts, Music

III. Description of Students Taught: These standards are from the Arizona State Standards for Second Grade. Therefore, we would

expect that our classroom would be of primarily seven to eight year old children, with a variety of backgrounds. We will use Spanish, Chinese and English to help reinforce vocabulary and science terms. One could presume that the classroom may have ELLs or Special Education students as well as ‘typically developing” children. Typically in Second Grade, children are still reinforcing reading and writing skills, so the levels of academic achievement in these areas may range from “needing improvement” to “exceeds”.

IV. AZ State Content Standards & Common Core Standards

AZ Science Standards Strand 1: Inquiry Process Concept 1: Observations, Questions, Hypothesis (observe, ask questions and make predictions) PO.2. Predict the results of an investigation (e.g., in animal life cycles, phases of matter, the water cycle) Concept 2: Scientific Testing (Investigating and Modeling): Participate in planning and conducting investigations, and recording data. PO.2. Participate in a guided investigation in life, physical and Earth and Space Sciences. PO.4. Record data from guided investigations in an organized and appropriate format(lab book, notebook, chart paper)

Concept 4: Communication (Communicate results of investigations)

PO.1. Communicate the results and conclusions of an investigation (verbal, written and drawn)

PO.2. Communicate with other groups to discuss the results of an investigation.

Strand 2: History and Nature of Science

Concept 2: Nature of Scientific Knowledge (understand how science is a process for generating questions)

PO.1. Identify components of familiar systems

Strand 5: Physical Science

Concept 1: Properties of Objects and Materials (classify objects and materials by their observable properties)

PO.2. Classify materials as liquids, solids and gases PO.3. Demonstrate that water can exist as a: • gas – vapor • liquid – water • solid – ice

AZ Common Core Standards for English Language Arts

Reading Standards for Informational Text Key Ideas and Details 3. Describe the connection between a series of historical events, scientific ideas or concepts, or steps in technical procedures in a text. (2.RI.3) Craft and Structure 4. Determine the meaning of words and phrases in a text relevant to a grade 2 topic or subject area. (2.RI.4)

Writing Standards K-2

Production and Distribution of Writing 4. With guidance and support from adults, produce writing in which the development and organization are appropriate to task and purpose. (Grade-specific expectations for writing types are defined in standards 1–3 above). (2.W.4) a. With guidance and support from adults, produce functional writing (e.g., friendly letters, recipes experiments, notes/messages, labels, graphs/tables, directions, posters) in which the development and organization are appropriate to task and purpose. (AZ.2.W.4)

8. Recall information from experiences or gather information from provided sources to answer a question. (2.W.8) Presentation of Knowledge and Ideas 6. Produce complete sentences when appropriate to task and situation in order to provide requested detail or clarification. (See grade 2 Language standards 1 and 3 specific expectations.) (2.SL.6)

V. Content Objectives: 1. With guidance and support from adults, students will produce functional writing in which

the development and organization are appropriate to task and purpose. 2. Students will be able to understand and explain how the water cycle works.

VI. Language Objectives:

1. Students will be able to write simple sentences identifying the subject and predicate. 2. Students will be able to identify the sequence of words, (First, Next, Then, Finally). 3. Students will be able to write a short paragraph (4-5 sentences) about the Water Cycle.

VII. Key vocabulary ( in English/Spanish/Chinese)

Water/ aqua/水shuǐ Other forms of water (or bodies of water): puddle, river, pond, ocean and lake Cloud/Nube/云yún

Evaporation/Evaporación/蒸发zhēng fā

Condensation/Condensación/ 冷凝lěng níng

Precipitation/Precipitación/降雨jiàng yǔ

Rain/Lluvia/雨yǔ

Snow/Nieve/雪xuě

Land/Soil/ Tierra/Suelo/大地dà dì

Sun/ Sol/太阳tài yáng

Other words:

Subject

Predicate

Flow

Cycle

VIII. Supplementary Materials:

Power Point presentation of The Water Cycle…Created by Julie; edited by Xin Supplies: Poster board, cut outs of water cycle items, glue sticks Highlighters Handout for Written paragraph You Tube Video of child Singing The Water Cycle Song

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-DTS-UAGveU Words to Water Cycle Song

The Water Cycle Song (sing to She’ll be Coming ‘round the Mountain)

Water travels in a cycle, yes it does

Yes it does! Water travels in a cycle, yes it does it

Yes it does!

Goes up as evaporation Forms clouds as condensation Comes down as precipitation,

Yes it does! Yes it does!

and then there's run off (sing in a movie star voice!)

IX. SIOP Components (from Presentation on April 22)

Water Cycle for 2nd grade Science

a. Lesson Preparation

In previous classes students have learned simple sentences, what subject and predicate is, and how to

make a short story by creating paragraph using the words sequence of First, Next, Then and Finally. This

class will be a review of those language objectives and an introduction to the water cycle.

b. Building background

● Teacher will ask students - What they like/dislike about rain, by answering with one simple sentence. - Where do they think rain comes from and what do you do when it rains?

● Teacher will ask; what is the subject in a sentence? What is the predicate in a sentence? What makes a simple sentence?

● Teacher will read a sentence without a subject, and ask students if it makes sense, what they think is missing? What word would they add?

● Teacher will read a sentence without a predicate, and ask students if it makes sense, what they think is missing? What would they add to the sentence?

c. Comprehensible input

● Teacher will explain what the words from the vocabulary in simple words. ● Teacher will show pictures of the vocabulary words for students to know what they look like in real

life. ● Students will have an opportunity to share ideas about weather, like rain. ● Students will have an opportunity to guess words that align with photos

d. Effective Strategies:

● Students will be presented with opportunities to: - Organize materials into a chart that replicates the water cycle - Summarize in a 4-5 sentence paragraph how The Water Cycle works. - Self-monitor behavior to stay on task with small group project and when working in pairs.

e. Interaction & Practice:

● Students will group in groups of 5; teacher will give blank cardboard and individual pictures for each step of the water cycle to each group for students to create the water cycle as they understood.

● Students will work in pairs and write a paragraph of the water cycle how they understood it using First, Next, Then and Finally. After students are done writing their paragraph they will identify the subject and the predicate by highlighting each with different colors.

f. Practice and Application: ● After watching PowerPoint on The Water Cycle, in a small group students will create a poster of the

Water Cycle ● Students will use key vocabulary to identify components of the Water Cycle ● In pairs, students will write a paragraph explaining the water cycle. Words such as First, Next, Then

and Finally may be used as prompts. ● In pairs, students will highlight the subject and predicate of each sentence. ● As a class, students will learn and sing The Water Cycle Song to build reinforcement of key science

terms.

g. Lesson Delivery:

Teacher will explain water cycle with simple words. (First, sun heats water from oceans and

evaporates [rise], next, water transform into clouds (Condensation), then, water falls (Precipitation)

in the form of rain because clouds cannot hold it anymore, finally, land absorbs water and it returns to

the oceans.)

Teacher will ask students how they think each step will happen before explaining it.

Teacher will explain the water cycle with pictures on the Power Point presentation.

h. Review/Assessment:

● Students will volunteer to explain 1 step of the water cycle individually in front of the whole class. After each student is done explaining the step teacher will ask if everyone agrees and understands, then another student will volunteer to explain the next step, until the cycle is complete.

● Whole class will review water cycle by singing a song of the water cycle that teacher will teach and guide students through.

X. Reflections: Overall, I felt that as a group, we executed a fun and engaging lesson for “second graders”. I feel that it is difficult to present a lesson plan as a group. Typically, you would be one person teaching to a group of children. I think that it is difficult to pace yourself when teaching it to a group of adults who are pretending to be seven years old. I feel that we probably had too much to try and do in a 20 minutes presentation, but teaching can be like that, as well. It’s always better to be prepared than to not have enough content to keep your students engaged and interested. Kelly Ann In agreement with Kelly Ann, the lesson for The Water Cycle squeezed into a 20 minute presentation was a tad too much content to adequately teach/present within the intended scope of time. With ELL’s in mind, less words and more time on vocabulary explanation, elaboration, and illumination would be extremely beneficial. Almost going without stating the obvious, the energy levels of second graders would have been much higher and excitable during the presentation. This would have allowed for an increased amount of opportunities for the presenters/teachers to ”feed off of” that energy, which would have been conducive to creating an “eager to learn” environment. Overall, I feel that the four of us banned together rather well, especially given our different backgrounds, to teach a target audience of second graders The Water Cycle. In retrospect, I would have not included as many vocabulary words and given more time for the activities. Julie K. I think that the lesson was very complete for ELL’s because of the simplicity of it and the hands-on activities. This lesson should be intended to be taught in more than 1 class to be able to cover every detail of the cycle. Overall I believe that this lesson is something that can be done in real life and were the second grade students will learn and have fun at the same time. It was hard to present a second grade class to a group of adults, because it made the “goofiness” harder to happen. I know our lesson was not as effective as we would have like, and that is because of the audience and because of the time frame, but if those 2 factors change were the class will be full of 2nd graders and having a full time class for the lesson this can be done effectively. Patricia S. I think that our lesson plan was well-developed. Both the language and content objective fit well with

the state standard. Although it is kind of difficult for me personally to imagine what it is like to teach

second grader for real, my belief is that the activities and methodologies are designed in such a way that

have taken into consideration the target age group and their possible language and cultural

background. A strength of our group is the division of teaching assignments and responsibilities. Instead

of dividing the teaching tasks equally among the group members, we did try to consider each person’s

forte and strength. That is, although we were formed as a group “randomly,” we did try to apply the

grouping strategies and utilizing the skills that each individual possess. I agree with the others that we

might have stuffed too much into a twenty minutes class, but then the whole idea of this teaching demo is

to demonstrate that we have learned and also the ability to apply what we have been taught in class. In

that regard, I think we did rather successfully as a group.

Xin

The Water Cycle

Vocabulary

• Rain and Precipitation

• Condensation

• Evaporation

• Sun

• Clouds

• Oceans, Lakes, Ponds, and Puddles

• Soil and Ground

Rain/Precipitation

Lluvia/Precipitación

降雨jiàng yǔ

• Definition:

– water that falls in drops from clouds in the sky (http://www.learnersdictionary.com/search/rain%5B1%5D)

Snow/Nieve/雪xuě

• Definition:

– soft, white pieces of frozen water that fall to the ground from the sky in cold weather (http://www.learnersdictionary.com/search/snow)

Condensation

Condensación

冷凝lěng níng • Definition:

– small drops of water that form on a cold surface (http://www.learnersdictionary.com/search/condensation)

Evaporation

Evaporación

蒸发zhēng fā

• Definition:

– Water turning into gas or vapor

Sun/Sol/太阳tài yáng • Definition:

– the star that the Earth moves around and that gives the Earth heat and light (http://www.learnersdictionary.com/search/sun)

Clouds/Nubes/云yún

• Definition:

– a white or gray mass in the sky that is made of many very small drops of water (http://www.learnersdictionary.com/search/clouds)

Water/Agua/水shuǐ

• Definition: – The clear liquid that has no color, taste, or smell,

that falls from clouds as rain, that forms bodies of water, and that is used for drinking, washing, etc. (http://www.learnersdictionary.com/search/water)

Bodies of Water

Pond

Ocean

Puddle Lake

Land/Tierra,Suelo/大地dà dì

• Land:

– Definition: the solid part of the surface of the Earth : an area of ground (http://www.learnersdictionary.com/search/land)

The Water Cycle

Group

Work • 5 groups of 5

• Materials: 1 bag of cut outs with vocabulary words, 1 piece of construction paper, and 1 glue stick

• Put the words in the order they go in according to the water cycle

Handout • In Pairs

• Write 4 sentences about The Water Cycle using:

– First

– Next

– Then

– Finally

• Turn in once complete

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-DTS-UAGveU