Forest Tour Lesson Plan

Taking Virtual Tours in the Classroom

Overview and Description:
Students are learning about forests and animals in the forests this week such as owls, deer, foxes,
and skunks. Several texts such as Carolyn Lynns Forests are helping to support their learning. Kindergartners
have little to no background knowledge on forests. This makes it hard to comprehend a concept such as the
Redwood Forests by just reading a page in the book that says, The redwood forest has some of the biggest
trees in the world. Instead of simply using the texts, I would supplement the text with a Google Tour of
forests I can talk to students about from my own experiences. There are three stops I would make on the
Google Tour: Oregon, Colorado, and California. I would spend the most time on Colorado because my
backyard there was a forest and I have several videos of animals I could share. A week would be spent on the
forests, as it is part of a bigger unit on Animal Habitats. Each day the class would visit a different destination
on Google Tours.
Standards/Objectives/Resources:
Standards:
Nevada Content Science Standards:
(K) 1.4 ask questions about the world
(K) 3.2 observe, describe, and record seasonal changes
(K) 4.2 observe and explain that animals have offspring that are the same kind of animal
(K) 4.4 recognize and explain that animals live in different places
(K) 4.5 sort animals by observable characteristics

NETS-S Standard:
NETS-S 3.b: Research and information fluency students apply digital tools to gather, evaluate, and use
information. b. Locate, organize, analyze, evaluate, synthesize, and ethically use information from a
variety of sources and media.
Objectives:
o Student will be able to ask questions about forests and its inhabitants.
o Student will be able to describe and record seasonal changes when observing changes in
forests.
o Student will be able to recognize forests animals offspring.
o Student will be able to describe and explain the forest habitat.
o Student will be able to recognize and explain why certain animals live in the forests versus
other habitats.
o Student will be able to sort animals by habitats.
Technology resources and materials:
Elmo
speakers
Smartboard
laptop
internet access
projector
books about forest and forest animals
chart paper
chart paper markers

Procedures:
Motivation/engagement:
Begin with an introduction to focus students' attention. This should reference prior knowledge, and,
if appropriate, may serve as a pre-assessment.
T: We have been reading about forests. What is a forest?
A: Example: A place with many trees together.
T: Thank you, a forest is a place where there are many trees growing together.
(Review anchor chart on the forest students made after reading books on forests. Read facts.
Examples: Redwoods are some of the largest trees in the world. When a tree dies it falls and decays.
This review will draw off knowledge that has been built thus far).
T: We dont have any forests near our school but I have been to many forests. In California I have
seen Redwood National Park, in Oregon I lived next to a forest and in Colorado I lived where there
was a forest in my backyard! These forests were all different but they had something in common;
they all had trees growing together that made a habitat for animals.
Today I am going to take you on a trip to the forests I have been too! We are going to start at our
school Dean Petersen in Las Vegas, Nevada and then travel to California, Oregon, and
finally,Colorado! Are you ready for the trip!?
Developmental activity:
Activities used to teach the objectives/concepts:
Travel to one location each day. At each location allow students to select video from Smartboard.
Afterwards talk and add pictures of own trip.
Allow students to turn and talk about something they learned about the forest of the day to build
language, practice vocabulary, etc.
Add learning to concept map after discovering every area on the trip.
Closure:
Adding to the concept map will ensure students have linked new knowledge with prior knowledge.
At the end of each lesson allow students to practice writing about forests and animals who live in the
forest they just learned about.
Have students share writing on Elmo at end of lesson and take recommendations and compliments
from other students on their writing and the content of their writing.
Accommodation, Modifications and Differentiations for Learners:
As the majority of students are English Language Learners, the visual of forests can really help
students to link the vocabulary and text they have been reading to the concepts. Building in turn and
talk and many opportunities for discussion will also allow students the time they need to practice the
language and new vocabulary that ties into the lesson. For A.S. a student who is gifted in my
classroom, I would allow addition opportunities for him to conduct internet research in which he
could report back to the class at a later time. For J.T. who struggles with writing I would help walk
her through the writing process by helping her get her sounds down on paper through blending and
segmenting words with her.
Extension/Enrichment:
Allowing students to research a forest animal of their choice or add more to their writing would act
as an extension activity. Students may also edit peers work for the 6 Star Writer Checklist (a rubric
used for kindergarten writing). When editing they can give feedback such as, Maybe you could label
the claws on your fox or You need to add punctuation and finger spaces.
Instructional handout/procedures for students:
Detailed directions for your students: Because my students are in kindergarten I will include a
template for them to take on their Tour of forests. I will also send home a note to families that
include a link to help build a home-school connection for the content.
Tutorial: Tutorial will be a handout for families including the website (attached at end of lesson
plans).
Student assessment/evaluation:
Although many science standards are listed. This portion of the unit would focus on the following:
o (K) 4.4 recognize and explain that animals live in different places
o NETS-S 3.b: Locate, organize, analyze, evaluate, synthesize, and ethically use information
from a variety of sources and media.
With that, standards (K) 4.4 and NETS-S 3.b will be assessed with the Forests Tours Journal. The
writing students choose to include in this journal will be a strong indicator of the learners ability to
glean information from an online sources with assistance (the kindergarten standard sites with
assistance) and recognize and explain where and why animals live in forests (attached at end of
lesson plans). I would grade this assignment based off content versus writing ability. Proficiency
would be ranked from 1-5, with 6 being exceeds, 4-5 meets, 2-3 approaching, and 1 emerging. Score
would be determined based on facts students included in writing. If students were able to write 2 or
more facts about each forest habitat than they would receive a grade of exceeds. If the total was 5
facts in the assignment the score would be meets and so on.
Student sample:
Because all Kindergarten standards site for the student to be able to complete a task with assistance,
students would not be expected to run or create their own Google Tour. Students would be expected
to gain information from the Google Tour and be able to put it into use in their writing.
A sample of an artifact I would use to help guide instruction and offer students the information
needed for the assessment is:
https://tourbuilder.withgoogle.com/builder#play/ahJzfmd3ZWItdG91cmJ1aWxkZXJyEQsSBFRvdXI
YgICAyLbQ8AsM

















Student Assessment Piece:
Page 1:
_______________________s
Forests Tour Journal
Page 2:
When I took a tour to the Redwood Forest in California I learned:
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Page 3:
What are some facts you learned about an animal that lives in the forest? Why is the forest its
habitat?
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Page 4:
When I took a tour to Forest Park in Oregon I learned:
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Page 5:
What are some facts you learned about an animal that lives in the forest? Why is the forest its
habitat?
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Page 6:
When I took a tour to the Rocky Mountain National Forest in Colorado I learned:
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Page 7:
What are some facts you learned about an animal that lives in the forest? Why is the forest its
habitat?
__________________________________________________________________________________
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Parent Letter Home:
Dear Families,
Your child has been learning about forests habitats. This week we took a tour via Google Tours of several
forests in the United States. To see what your child is learning and learn with them check out the following
website:
http://tourbuilder.withgoogle.com/builder#play/ahJzfmd3ZWItdG91cmJ1aWxkZXJyEQsSBFRvdXIYgICAyLb
Q8AsM
Enjoy
Ms. Cross