DIXIE STATE UNIVERSITY DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

ELED 4300 SCIENCE LESSON PLAN TEMPLATE

(8/23/14)
Teacher Candidate Elaine Segner __ Grade Level 1st__ Title Orbiting Earth____
CONTEXTUAL FACTORS (classroom factors)
Contextual Factors:
Total students: 23 students
Boys & Girls
2 ELL Students
Ivan- WIDA Level
Scarlett- WIDA level

No current students on an IEP

Special Considerations:
Kenna: vision problems (Sees
Doubles)
Behavior: Alex- Speaks Out
Landis: Listening, limited attention,
and completing work
Korbin: Speech

High Level Readers:

Mason
Ryker
Kalei
Jaren

Likes Science:
Mason

Low Level Readers:

Kenna
Joslyn
Korbin

Classroom environment: The classroom is set up in a group setting. There are about six children at a group of tables. The
classroom has a reading table and also has a sink and a large counter top. The classroom is mostly carpet but it does have a
small stretch of tile. The classroom also has a large rug area with a white board right next to it. That is the only place in the
room to really do large group work. The classroom has an extensive library area that is the perfect size for a small group.
The classroom has a door that leads directly outside of the classroom into the playground. The classroom has a limited
amount of technology. The only available technology in the classroom is computers, a projector, a c-d player, and an ebeam. The classroom is safe, and has a lot of pictures, childrens work, and objects on the walls and ceiling.

WALK-AWAY (As a result of this lesson, what do I want the students to know, understand, and be able to do?)
State Standard/Objective:

Standard 2
Earth and Space Science. Students will gain an understanding of Earth and Space Science through the study of
earth materials, celestial movement, and weather.
Objective 2
Observe and describe the changes and appearance of the sun and moon during daylight.
a. Observe the sun at different times during the day and report observations to peers.
Content Walk-Away: I will observe how the Earth moves around the sun.
Language Walk-Away: I will write about how the Earth moves around the sun.
Vocabulary: Solar System, Orbit

SIOP 1, 2, & 3
TEACHER BACKGROUND INFORMATION:
Our solar system is comprised of a sun, planets, asteroids, and moons. All of these things were created
out of a rotating cloud of dust. Some of the dust at the beginning pulled together and created the sun. The
sun experienced gravitational pressure at high speeds of rotation. Both of these factors led to the sun
exploding. The sun shot out debris. This debris became all of the planets and the moons. The sun is the
central force of our solar system because all matter and planets were created because of the sun.
In our solar system we have nine planets. These planets are Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter,
Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto. Pluto has been largely debated to be a planet. We will be included
Pluto as a planet in this lesson. All of these planets Orbit around the sun and are made up of many
different materials. The planets that are closer to the sun typically are warmer than the planets that are
farther away. Planets also can have their own rings or planets and moons that surround them. Earth for
example has its own moon that orbits around it.

Earth orbits around the sun. When a planet orbits around the sun they move around the sun. The
earth orbits around the sun every year. While the Earth is orbiting the Earth spins on an axis. The reason
that we have a day and a night is because of this spinning. The spinning allows different parts of the Earth
to be facing the sun. When one part of the Earth is facing the sun it is the day. When the part of the earth
is not facing the sun it is night. The earth orbits around the sun in a year.
A way the students can investigate whether the Earth is moving is by recording their shadows. They
can measure themselves outside or trace their shadows at multiple times of the day. At different times of
the day the shadows will be in different parts. This displays that the Earth is moving around the sun, and
spinning on an axis.
ASSESSMENT EVIDENCE (What evidence do I need to show the students have
learned the Walk-Away?) 5E-Evaluate
Formative Evidence (checking for understanding throughout the lesson):
Questioning, Make sure students are using the vocab words correctly. Group
discussions.

Modifications/Accomodations (ELL, IEP, GATE, etc.)

Content Walk-Away Evidence (Summative):

Students will demonstrate how the earth moves around the sun with the puppets. The
students will receive one point for making the Earth move, one point for making the
Earth orbit, one point for making the Earth spin for a total of 3 points.
Language Walk-Away Evidence (Summative):
Students will demonstrate and say how the earth moves around the sun with the
puppets. The students will receive one point for making the Earth move, one point for
making the Earth orbit, one point for making the Earth spin for a total of 3 points.

Orbits and vocabulary

will be posted on the
board to help aid the
ELL students while
explaining.
Landis will receive
reminders to stay on
task.

SIOP 30
Appro ACTIVE LEARNING PLAN
Approximate length of entire lesson:40_ minutes.
Teaching time: from 9:30_to 10:10__
x.
Time
Activate/Building Background Knowledge
2-3
Boys and girls, how do you know when it is time to wake up in the morning? Turn to your pinky partner and for
min

one minute tell them how you know? SIOP 16 & , 18, 19, 17, 26 Listen to the children as they give responses.
Some might include (Mom wakes me up, my alarm goes off, my body just wakes me up.) Guide children to the
statement that the sun comes up. Oh, You wake up in the morning because you see the sun. When do you know
it is time to go to bed? Turn to your partner and talk to them about how you know it is time to go to bed. You
know it is time to go to bed because it becomes very dark outside and the sun is gone. Do you know why the sun
comes in the morning and then goes away at night time? Today we are going to learn about the sun and why we
have a day and a night. SIOP 7
Formative assessment:
Learning Goal
Children will come to the
conclusion that they know when
to wake up and fall asleep because
of the sun and the

Success Criteria
Students will describe to each
other how they know that the sun
comes up in the morning and they
go to bed in the evening.

Assessment Strategy
The students will pair and
discuss.

Modification/accommodations: (ELL, IEP, GATE, etc.)

Pair ELL students with partners who can help them discuss and stay on topic. Make sure to remind Alex to raise
his hand if he wants to speak (positive reinforce if he does).

5min

Focus Lesson (I do it) 5E-Engage

Boys and girls we live in a solar system. Show picture of a solar system on the E-beam. Say solar system with me
please. SIOP 9 & 4 The solar system is made up of a bunch of planets. These are planets. (point to the each
planet). Lets count the planets together. Wow there are nine planets in the solar system. Raise your hand if you

know one of the planets in the solar system? SIOP 8 Turn to your partner and share with them one planet you
know. SIOP 16 & 17, 19What planet do we live on? We live on Earth. Show the globe. This is earth. Remember
how we talked about how we know when it is morning and when it is night. SIOP 8 We talked about the sun.
The sun is very big and bright. The Earth orbits around the sun. Everyone say the word Orbit. When something
Orbits, it moves around them. Ask Landis to stand up. Landis is going to orbit around me. Landis will you move
around me. Look how Landis is orbiting around me. Everyone stand up quietly and line up behind me. We are
going to Orbit some things in the classroom. Remember when we Orbit something we move around them. As we
move around the classroom though we are going to pretend to be a planet. Planets need to be quiet when we
orbit. Orbit around the desks. Keep whispering wow look how we are orbiting around the desks. Lets all go sit
back down in a circle. SIOP 4, 6, 9, 21, 25
Formative Assessment:
Learning Goal
The students will understand that
when things orbit they move
around something

10
min

Success Criteria
The students will orbit around
different items in the room.

Assessment Strategy
The students will physical
complete the action of orbiting.

Modification/accommodations: Have Landis help demonstrate to the class what orbiting is. Make sure that
Landis is pretty close to the front and not at the back of the line. Have Ivan stand closer to the front too. Repeat
the word orbit multiple times to support vocabulary development for ELL students.
Guided Instruction (We do it) 5E-Explore
Pull out a lamp. I want to show you how the Earth moves around the sun. So to do that I brought my sun. The
globe is going to be Earth because that is Earth. SIOP 4, 5, 12, 20, 21, 25 I am going to look for children sitting
quietly on the rug to help me today. Pick one child to sit and hold the sun in the middle of the carpet. Pick
another child. SIOP 16, So remember how we talked about things that Orbit and that Earth Orbits around
them. What do you think that looks like? Right so earth goes around. Have child walk around earth with globe.
The Earth is orbiting the sun. When the Earth goes all the way around the sun it has been one year. Does the sun
move? No. What is moving? Thats right the Earth is. Have children switch. Alright now I want you to put your
thinking caps on. Remember how we said that we know it is morning when the sun comes up and it is evening
when the sun goes down? Watch the planet; do both sides of the planet get sun? I want you to look carefully.
Have the child go around the sun. Did both sides of the planets get sun? No it didnt. So one side of the planet
stayed at dark all year long. Do we have sun all year long? Do we have dark all night long? How do you think the
planet Earth gets sun and dark every day? Turn to the person next to you and talk about what you think it does.
Test multiple childs theories. Finally end with spinning in a circle. Did both of the sides get planets every day?
Yes. So when the earth orbits around the sun what does it do? It spins and rotates. SIOP 10, 11, 14, 15, 22, 23,
24, 29 Lets watch this video of the Earth and how it moves. SIOP 4 & 12
http://www.classzone.com/books/earth_science/terc/content/visualizations/es0408/flash/es04
08_rotating_earth.swf
Show class model of Sun and Earth. SIOP 5
Formative Assessment:
Learning Goal
The students will understand that
the Earth orbits around the sun
and that it spins.

10
min

Success Criteria
The students will say how the
Earth Orbits.

Assessment Strategy
Questioning, group discussions,
physical models/demonstrations

Modification/accommodations: Provide multiple demonstrations, visuals, and models to support learning for
ELL students as well as low-level learners. Make sure that Mason is highly involved in answering the
questions so that he can stay engaged and help guide the students learning.
Collaborative/Cooperative (You do it together) 5E-Explain
Class should we test out our prediction? Should we see if the earth is moving around the sun right now? Alright
class this is what I want you to do. We are going to go outside and your partner is going to trace your shadow.
Then we will go back later today and trace our shadows. We will see if the shadows stay in the same place. How
will we know if the Earth is moving? Thats right we will know that the Earth moves if our shadows move too.
Allow students to go outside and trace themselves with partners. SIOP 13, 16 Provide feedback to the students
about their tracing. SIOP 29 Tell children we will come out later and draw our shadows again to see if the Earth

moved. Clarify that even though it looks like the sun is moving is it moving? No, we on earth are moving around
the sun. SIOP 29
Formative Assessment:
Learning Goal
The students will observe how the
Earth moves around the sun.

Success Criteria
Students will trace themselves
twice at different times of the day
and compare them.

Assessment Strategy
Perform an experiment and test
hypothesis.

Modification/accommodations:
Pair Landis with a well behaved partner like Ryker so they stay on task. Demonstrate how they are to trace the
students to support ELLS as well as Low-level learning.

10
min

Independent (You do it alone) 5E-Elaborate

Students, what did you notice when you were outside? Did our shadows move? We know that the earth moved
because our shadows moved. What you get to do now is we are going to make sun and earth puppets. I want you
to color them and cut them out. While you are making your puppets Mrs. Corpaci and I are going to walk around
and ask you to show us with these puppets how the earth orbits around the sun. SIOP 21, 30
Summative Assessment:
Students will demonstrate how the earth moves around the sun with the puppets. The students will receive one
point for making the Earth move, one point for making the Earth orbit, one point for making the Earth spin for a
total of 3 points.
SIOP 30
Modification/accommodations:
Orbits and vocabulary will be posted on the board to help aid the ELL students while explaining.
Landis will receive reminders to stay on task.
Closure/Review of walk-aways, vocabulary, and essential questions
(Note: Closure includes student interactions, reflection, and/or demonstrations.)

2-3
min

Today we learned a lot about the sun and the Earth. What planet do we live on? What does the Earth do?
How do we have a day and a night? Does the sun move? How do we know that the earth is moving? Thank
you boys and girls for being great listeners and helping me out today. I want you to take your puppets that
you made today and go home and tell your mom and dad about how the Earth orbits around the sun and
how we have days and nights. SIOP 27, 28, 30

SIOP Indicators
Preparation: 1-Content objectives, 2-Language objectives, 3-Content appropriate, 4-Supplementary materials, 5-Adaptation
of content, 6-Meaningful activities
Building Background: 7-Linked to background, 8-Linked to past learning, 9-Key vocabulary
Comprehensive Input: 10-Appropriate speech, 11-Clear explanation, 12-Variety of techniques
Strategies: 13-Students use learning strategies, 14-Scaffolding, 15-Higher-order thinking,
Interaction: 16-Opportunity for interaction, 17-Grouping supports objectives, 18-Wait time, 19-Opportunity for L1 students
Practice/Application: 20-Hands-on materials, 21-Activities to apply content/language knowledge, 22-Language skills
(reading, writing, listening, speaking)
Lesson Delivery: 23-Content objective supported, 24-Language objective supported, 25-Students engaged, 26-Pacing
Review/Assessment: 27-Review vocabulary, 28-Review concepts, 29-Feedback, 30-Assessment

TEACHING NOTES
What do I need to remember to do? What materials do I need to have ready? What is the approximate time needed for
this lesson?
Globe and Sun Lamp
Actual model of sun and globe
E-beam interactive
Sun and moon puppets and straws
Chalk
Vocab word: Orbit

REFLECTION AFTER LESSON

How can I use the assessment data to reflect on & evaluate the outcomes of teaching and learning? How can I transfer
what I learned from teaching this lesson to future teaching? What was effective and not effective? What goals can I set
to improve my practice and student learning?
The assessment data allowed me to have a clear picture about what the students know as well as what I can do to
improve the lesson. I felt that the lesson went well. I feel that the students understood what I was teaching and that they
were really excited about it. I feel that the students engagement in the lesson helped the students to be successful. I was
pleased to see that the students wanted to know the answer and that they worked harder in the lesson so that they could
understand the lesson. I felt that the students could handle this amount of information because of their engagement level
and interest in science materials. I dont necessarily know if I would do this for every first grade lesson, but I feel like the
students in my classroom were prepared to learn and try this. The students performed well on the assessments and the
majority of the students understood the topics and they were talking about the content the rest of the day.
First of all, I would restructure this lesson. I feel that it was too much information for the students at one time. I
would have loved to maybe space out this lesson over the course of a few days but because I had to have this supervised it
all had to be on the same day. I feel that the students may have had a greater opportunity to have absorbed the
information and understand the content at a greater depth if I would have had more time. I decided to take the students
out the day before to trace their shadows. I felt that this saved me a lot of time on my lesson because it allowed the
students to trace themselves without being rushed and it allowed them to be more interactive with what they were
learning. I also like that it allowed them to have the opportunity to walk around and look at everyones and to see that they
all had the same thing happen to their shadows and that they all looked the same. I think that the activity was meaningful
and made sense.
It was effective to have a lot of meaningful activities and visuals. I feel that this really helped make an abstract
concept more concrete. The students also enjoyed the activities because they were engaging and they appealed to many
senses and learning styles. The students also enjoyed making their puppets. They diligently worked hard on making them
look perfect. I have never seen my first graders color those puppets so nicely before. I think that time and content was
probably too much for a lesson in 40 minutes. I think that it probably would have been better to space it out more.
A goal that I can set next time is to plan this lesson to be a multiple day lesson. I could also expand on the content
more and elaborate to the students so they can achieve a greater understanding. I feel that the students had fun and that I
would make sure to keep them engaged. I also like how I took them out earlier. I would make sure that I did that again the
next time that I did it. I think that I just need to work on making the content more approachable for the students.

Note: You must arrange to have at least 40 minutes to teach your lesson.