Assignment7:PlantsofaPrairie

Name:DanaRomano
Class/Subject:3rdGradeScience
Date:12/11/15
StudentObjectives/StudentOutcomes:
Studentswillbeabletorecalltheplantsthatliveonaprairiethroughcreatingafoldable.
Studentswillbeabletoorganizeinformationaboutprairieplantsduringresearch.
Studentswillbeabletoconstructanargumentrelatingtowhyeachplantcansurviveona
prairie.
Studentswillbeabletoaskandanswerquestionsaboutplantsbasedonthereadaloud.
ContentStandards:
NGSSStandard:
Constructanargumentwithevidencethatinaparticularhabitatsomeorganismscansurvive
well,somesurvivelesswell,andsomecannotsurviveatall.3LS43
LiteracyStandard:
RI.3.1.Askandanswerquestionstodemonstrateunderstandingofatext,referringexplicitlyto
thetextasthebasisfortheanswers.
Materials/Resources/Technology:
APrairieAlphabetbyJoBannatyneCugnet
WebsitesforCenters
o http://www.mbgnet.net/sets/grasslnd/plants/2.htmhttp://schools.bcsd.com/fremont
/4th_sci_life_eco_prairie.htm
o http://dnr.wi.gov/org/caer/ce/eek/nature/habitat/whatprai.htmhttp://www.duckster
s.com/science/ecosystems/grasslands_biome.php
o http://kids.nceas.ucsb.edu/biomes/grassland.html#plants
o http://www.museum.state.il.us/muslink/prairie/htmls/eco_adapt.html
Plantsinclearpot

Computerpaper
Markers,crayons,markers,pencils
Scissors
Sciencejournals
TeachersGoals:
Introducethetopicofprairieplantsinawaythatdoesnotgiveexplicitanswerstowhatstudents
areresearching.

Procedure:
StartofClass(5minutes):
Askstudentstoputeverythingattheirdesksaway.Oncethisiscompletedtheyshouldcometo
thereadingrugandsitquietlyuntilalloftheirclassmatessitdown.Remindstudentsthatwe
havebeenlearningaboutprairiesandthecharacteristicsofaprairie.Askstudentswhatthey
knowaboutaprairiealready.Askquestionssuchas:
Whatisweatherlikeonaprairie?
Whatdoyoufindonaprairie?
Wherecanyoufindprairies?
Whatdoplantslooklikeonprairie?
Howmanydifferenttypesofplantsdoprairieshave?
IntroductionofLesson(15minutes):
Introducetostudentsthattodaytheywillbelearningabouttheplantsthatareinprairies.Explain
thattherearemanydifferenttypesofplantsinaprairie,notjustone.Alsoexplainthatthereisa
differencebetweentheplantsinaprairieandtheflowersinaprairie.Makesuretopointoutthat
plantsareallovertheworld,buttodayweareonlyfocusingontheprairiehabitat.Beginaread
aloudbyreadingthebook,APrairieAlphabet.Throughoutthereadaloud,pausetoaskstudents
aboutthestorythatalsorelatetotheideaoffoodchains.Questionsinclude:
Whatareyounoticingisapartoftheprairie?
Whatdifferenttypesofplantshaveyouseen?
Afterthisstory,instructstudentstocompleteaThinkPairShare.Theywillhave1minuteto
thinkaboutwhatthisstorywasaboutandhowitrelatestotheplantsofaprairie.Then,theywill
eachhave2minutestosharethesethoughtswiththestudentnexttothem.Monitorthese
conversationsinordertoassessstudentsandwhattheytookawayfromthestory.
LessonInstruction(30minutes):
Whilestudentsarestillsittingonthereadingrug,introducethecenterstheclasswillbegin.Our
goaltodayiscreateourowncollectionofplantsonaprairie.Inordertodoso,thestudentswill
needtofindthetwodifferenttypesofplantsonaprairieandexamplesofthem.Thesetwotypes
ofplantsinclude:
Forbs
Flowers
Writethesethreewordsontheboard.Tellthestudentsthattheywillbecompletingresearchto
definethesetwowordsandfindexamplesofthem.Remindthemthattheyarefocusingon
prairies,sotheirexamplesshouldbeplantsfromaprairie.Showthestudentsthethreecenters
aroundtheclassroom.Ateachcentertheywillbecompletingadifferenttypeofresearch.

Center1:Books/Online.Therewillbeabout10to12booksaboutprairieplants.
Studentswilllookthroughthesebookstofindinformation.Studentswillalsohavethe
opportunitytousetheirChromeBookstoexploredifferentwebsitesaboutprairiefood

chains.Thewebsitesthattheycanlookatwillbelistedonalaminatedpieceofpaperon
thetable.Whilestudentsarereadingaboutthisinformationtheywillberecordingwhat
theyfindintheirsciencejournals.Remindthestudentsthattheywillbeusingthis
recordedinformationintheirfinalassessment.
Center2:PlantStructure.Studentswillhavetheopportunitytoobservethestructuresof
differenttypesofplants.Atthiscenterdisplayclearpotsinwhichdifferenttypesof
plantshavebeenplanted.Someplantsshouldbeplantsfromaprairiesuchas:
o BigBluestem
o PrairieGrass
o PurpleConeflower
Theotherplantscanbeanydifferenttypeofplantthatdoesnoliveinaprairie.Besureto
labelwhichplantsliveinprairies.Theseplantsshouldbeplantedinaclearcontainerso
thatthestudentscanobservetheplantsallthewaydowntotheroots.
Havethestudentscompareandcontrastthedifferenttypesofplants.Theyshouldalso
payattentiontowhattheplantsfromprairieshaveincommon.Theyshouldbethinking
aboutwhatstructuresallowtheseplantstosurviveinprairies.Studentsshouldbe
recordingthisobservationandthinkingintheirsciencejournals.
Center3:Flowersvs.Forbs.Allowstudentstoreadthearticleaboutthedifference
betweenplantsandforbs.Intheirsciencejournals,studentsshouldthencreateaVenn
Diagramcomparingandcontrastingthetwo.
Studentswillhave10minutesateachcenter.Theyshouldhaveapencilandtheirscience
journalswiththematalltime.Whentheyfindimportantinformationaboutprairieplantsorfind
anexampleofeach,theyshouldrecordthisintheirjournal.Intheend,theyshouldhavea
definitionofeachcomponentandatleastoneexampleofeach.
Duringthistime,walkaroundtoeachcenterandmonitorstudentsresearch.Whileateach
centeraskstudentstoholdupanumber1through3.Thenumber1showsthatstudentsare
strugglingtofindinformation.Thenumber2showstheyarefindingsomeinformation,butthey
stillhaveworktodo.Thenumber3showstheyhavefoundallinformationandareworkingon
findingadditionalinformation.Thisallowstheteachertoseewhatstudentsneedmoreguidance
intheirresearch.Ifastudentholdupthenumber1theywillwritetheirnamesontheteachers
notepad.Thisallowsthatstudenttosignupforanindividualconferencewiththeteacherduring
thelesson.
Afterstudentshavevisitedeachcenter,havestudentscleanuptheircentersandgobacktotheir
seatswiththeircompletedsciencejournal.
Assessment/CheckforUnderstanding(20minutes):
Explaintothestudentsthattheywillusewhattheyjustresearchedtocompletetheirownprairie
orflowersandforbs.Theywilldothisbyconstructingafoldable.Asawholeclass,instruct
studentsonhowtocompleteafoldable.Thefoldableshouldhaveasectionforeachdifferent
plant.Requirestudentstoincludeatleastfiveplants.Thefrontofeachflapshouldhavethe
nameofeachplant,apictureoftheirexample,andwhetheritisafloweroraforb.Underneath
theflap,studentsshoulddescribeeachplantandconstructanargumentastowhythistypeof
plantcansurviveonaprairie.Givestudents15minutestocompletethisontheirownattheir
desks.Thiswillbeusedasasummativeassessment.

Closure/WrapUp/Review(10minutes):
Givestudentstimetosharetheirfoldableswiththeclass.Thisshouldbedonebyputting
studentsingroupsof5,sotheycansharewiththeirpeers.Instructstudentstolookatthe
similaritiesanddifferencesbetweentheirsandtheirpeers.Askstudentsiftheycouldreplace
otherstudentsproducers/consumers/decomposerswiththeirs.Wouldthefoodchainstillbethe
same?
Extension:
Incorporatemaththroughprovidingmathematicalmodelsthatrelatetothistopicofplants.Have
thestudentscompletetheseproblemsingroups.Askstudentstorepresenttheirsolutionsthrough
usingmanipulativessuchasobjects,pictures,etc.Examplesinclude:
Therewere10flowersintheprairie.Thewindsknockeddowntwoplants.Howmanyare
leftintheprairie?
IamcreatingEnglishLanguageaccommodationsforanELLstudentattheLevel3,Developing,
WiDastage.

Introductionofplantsandprairiehabitat(Modification)
o Createalistofkeyvocabulary.Thevocabularywordswillincludethefollowing
Prairie
Plant
Flower
Forb
Roots
Soil
Withthesewordscreateawordwall.Theworldwallwilldisplaythekeywords
alongwiththeirdefinitionsinwordsandinpictures.Allowstudentstimetowalk
aroundtheclassroomandexplorethewordsandthedefinitionsandpicturesthat
addtothekeyvocabularywords.Thiswillhelpstudentsunderstandthemain
conceptsofthelesson.Fromthepicturesthestudentswillbeabletovisualize
whateachwordmeansinordertogivethemabetterideaofthekeyvocabulary.
ReadAloud(Accommodation)
o Printoutimagesfromthestorysillustrations.Theseimagesshouldrepresentthe
eventsthatoccurredthroughoutthestory.Attheendofthereadaloudhavethe
studentsputtheseimagesinchronologicalorderaccordingtotheplotofthestory.
Then,havestudentsdescribewhatishappeningineachimageandhowitrelates
tothestoryplot.Thiswillallowstudentstosummarizewhattheyheardduring
thestory.Physicallybeingabletoorderimageswillassistinorganizingtheplot
ofthestory.
IntroducingCenters(Accommodation)
o Printoutpicturestohangaboveeachcentersostudentswillbeabletoreference
eachcenterbyvisuallyseeingwhatishappeningateachcenter.
TodaysGoal(Accommodation)

o Recitetodaysgoalwiththeentireclassbyreadingitfromtheboardandsayingit
aloud.Thisallowsstudentstorelatewrittenwordstoorallanguageand
understandwhattheyarecompletingtodayandwhy.
Readingthroughbooks/textbook(Accommodation)
o Includebookswithsimplervocabularyandcontent.Includebooksthatcontain
manypicturesandgraphs.Thisallowsstudentstoworkatasimplerlevel,butstill
gainthesameamountofinformation.
Explorewebsites(Accommodation)
o Addwebsitestothelistthathaveabilingualoption.Thisallowsstudentstoread
theinformationintheirnativelanguage,butalsorelateittotheEnglishlanguage.
Recordresearchinjournal(Accommodation)
o Providestudentswithagraphicorganizertorecordtheirnoteson.Thisdirects
studentsonwhattolookforintheirresearch.
Definitionoffoldable(Accommodation)
o Havestudentsfillintheblanksdefiningeachtypeofprairieplant.Thisallows
studentstofocusonkeyconceptsandbigideas.