Please download a copy of this

form and fill it out electronically on

your computer

Lesson Plan Format Form

First Name

Last Name

Email

Date

Mia

Murray

mbrandon@hawaii.edu

9/24/15

Semester

Year

Grade Level/Subject

Lesson Duration

2015

50 min

Title
Hawaii and its unique characteristics
Central Focus (Enduring Understandings)
A description of the important understandings(s) and concept(s)

Hawaii has many physical and human characteristics that make it unique.
Content Standard(s)
The Common Core State Standards (CCSS) or Hawaii Content & Performance Standards III (HCPS III) that align with the central focus and
address essential understandings, concepts, and skills

Benchmark SS.3.7.3 Describe the physical and human characteristics that make different regions unique
Student Learning Objectives
Outcomes to be achieved by the students by the end of the lesson or by the end of the multi-lesson learning segment

Students will be able to describe what physical and human characteristics are.
Students will be able to list some of the physical and human characteristics of Hawaii.
Students will be able to draw an image of a physical and human characteristic of Hawaii.
Assessments
The procedures to gather evidence of students learning of learning objective(s) to include formative (informal) assessments applied throughout
the lesson and a summative assessment (formal) of what students learned by the end of the lesson (include any assessment tools)

v5.01 08/24/15
Elementary Education Program (EEP) College of Education University of Hawaii at Manoa

Lesson Plan Format Form

Please download a copy of this

form and fill it out electronically on
your computer

For summativeassessment students will fill out this (below) graphic organizer at the end of the lesson. They will also
draw pictures of physical and human characteristics of Hawaii. They will include at least one of each in their image.
Name

3 words I
know
about the
character
istics, or
features
of Hawaii

1.

2.

3.
2 things I
wonder
about the
character
istics, or
features
of Hawaii

1.

2.

v5.01 08/24/15
Elementary Education Program (EEP) College of Education University of Hawaii at Manoa

Lesson Plan Format Form

1 way
that
Hawaii is
alike or
different
than
other
places

Please download a copy of this

form and fill it out electronically on
your computer

1.

Students Prior Academic Knowledge and Assets

The students content knowledge, skills, prior academic experiences, and personal/cultural/community assets to draw upon to support learning

The students live in Hawaii, many of them have lived here for their whole life. They have seen characteristics of Hawaii
such as landforms, plant and animal life, people surfing and fishing and so on. The students have had experience filling
out graphic organizers as well as drawing.
Academic Language and Language Supports
Oral and written language that the students need to learn and use to participate and engage in the content. The planned instructional supports to
help students understand, develop, and use academic language.

Words that may be new to the students include characteristic and unique. I will have the definition/synonyms of these
posted. We will also discuss them as a whole group. We will also classify the characteristics as physical or human. I
will repeat these terms several times and give the students opportunities to repeat them as well.

Instructional Strategies and Learning Tasks

A description of what the teacher will do and say and what the students will do during the lesson that 1) uses clear steps that convey the use of
multiple strategies, supports, and resources and 2) list opportunities offered for multiple modes of participation

Summary
For the instruction portion of the lesson the students will watch a short video on Discovery Education about Place and the
relationship with place.
v5.01 08/24/15
Elementary Education Program (EEP) College of Education University of Hawaii at Manoa

Lesson Plan Format Form

Please download a copy of this

form and fill it out electronically on
your computer

For the portion of the lesson in which the students construct understanding we will discuss as a whole group what
physical and human characteristics are and which ones we have in Hawaii. Also in this portion of the lesson, the students
will view a collection of images and they will describe what characteristics they see in the images and classify those
characteristics as human or physical.
For the assessment portion of the lesson students will fill in a graphic organizer in which they write about some of the
things we discussed during the building understanding portion including 3 characteristics of Hawaii, 2 things they wonder
about the characteristics of Hawaii, and 1 way that Hawaii is alike or different than other places. Students will also draw a
picture of a physical and a human characteristic of Hawaii.
Steps:
(4min) Students will watch a video on Discovery Ed about Place.
(4min) The students will view a power point (attached) that lists the different types of characteristics of a place. Such as:
landforms, bodies of water, plant life and so on. It will also have a list of questions to consider when trying to think up the
characteristics of a place.
I will then be introducing a modified version of the 3-2-1-bridge strategy. Since the students havent worked with this
strategy before and since this whole lesson is taking place in one day I have adapted the method to fit this lesson. We will
be doing the first response as a whole group.
(4min) After we go over the above mentioned slides, I will post a slide titled, What do we know? I will ask the students to
offer one word descriptions of characteristics in Hawaii and to determine if that word should go into physical or human
side of the sheet. I will fill in the student responses on the slide. This is similar to the 3 words step of the method.
(5min) Then we will move in to the 2 question step in which the students generate questions that they have about the
characteristics of Hawaii.
(5min) Then we will move into the final step which is similar to the metaphor step except I will ask
the students how the characteristics are alike or different than other places. This aligns with the
standard that I am addressing in this lesson (how characteristics of different regions make them
unique) and also refrains from introducing any more new vocabulary at this time such as metaphors
or similes.
(10min) The students will view a slideshow that displays physical and human characteristics of
Hawaii. As we go through the slideshow I will ask the children to name the characteristics they see
and classify them as physical or human.
(22min) The students will be asked to fill out the graphic organizer. While they are working on this I
v5.01 08/24/15
Elementary Education Program (EEP) College of Education University of Hawaii at Manoa

Lesson Plan Format Form

Please download a copy of this

form and fill it out electronically on
your computer

will post the slide that lists the types of characteristics and the questions to consider. I will also
explain that after they are finished with the graphic organizer they are to select a sheet of colored
paper and draw at least one physical and one human characteristic of Hawaii on it. If they have
extra time they will include more characteristics on their drawing.
Differentiation
Adaptations to instructional strategies, the learning environment, content, and/or assessments to meet the needs of students who require further
support (e.g., ELL/MLL, struggling, accelerated, 50/IEP, etc.)

There will be modified expectations for the graphic organizer for struggling students. They will be asked to think about the
last step but will not be required to complete it. They will be required to fill in the 3 words and at least 1 question.
Instructional Resources and Materials
Books, texts, and other materials needed for the lesson
-Video from Discovery Education : Place and relationship within a place

-2 Slideshows
https://docs.google.com/a/hawaii.edu/presentation/d/1VA3479iQtxFfz5G-td_sBpzQdd_ezSOBKXZeX9Ixxhk/edit?usp=sharing
https://docs.google.com/a/hawaii.edu/presentation/d/1v_nuGKB5k7A7hIfSjnnLGtl-xU9BQunDiRAkinh84HE/edit?usp=sharing
(Please let me know if these links wont open for you)
-3-2-1 graphic organizer

Lesson Plan Reflection (if lesson is carried out)

An analysis of what worked, what could be changed, and the next steps for teaching
What changes would you make to your instructionfor the whole class and/or for students who needed greater
support or challengeto better support student learning?
oWhy do you think these changes would improve student learning? Support your
explanation with evidence of student learning AND principles from theory, recommended practices, and/or research.
Based on your reflection and your analysis of student learning, describe the next steps for instruction to support
students learning.
v5.01 08/24/15
Elementary Education Program (EEP) College of Education University of Hawaii at Manoa

Lesson Plan Format Form

Please download a copy of this

form and fill it out electronically on
your computer

I would like to allow more time to engage in this lesson. Next time, I think I would spread it out over a couple of days so that I dont feel
rushed. I think taking more time to develop the concept would support student learning because they would have adequate examples to think
about before being asked to fill out their graphic organizer.
I didnt do a thorough job of explaining the video before it started. I should have asked them to be looking for specific characteristics as they
watched. Also, I could have paused throughout the video to explore what they saw while watching. Maybe it wouldve been more meaningful if we
had first discussed the theme of characteristics instead of watching the video first. Then, the students would have a better idea of what they were
looking for.
It seemed like several students were not fully engaged. I would like to get more students involved in contributing ideas about what kinds of human
and physical characteristics we have here in Hawaii. Perhaps I could do this by splitting them into pairs and each pair being responsible for
adding a physical and a human characteristic. If each student had to write a characteristic on a post it and then stick it to a chart paper, each
student would be required to contribute. I also should have moved closer to students who werent engaged, so that I could regain their attention
just by using my physical presence.
I also should have been more clear in my expectations for part 3 of the graphic organizer because many students did not write full sentences so it
was hard to know if they really understand by looking at their sheets.
Another thing I could have done differently is just focusing on physical characteristics first. Also I could have showed them an image of our town
and compare it to an image of a place that is very different than ours, such as a huge city or a desert. They could then make a venn diagram to
compare the two. We could talk about how many different characteristics they see. We could then learn about Human characteristics after they
really understood this concept.

v5.01 08/24/15
Elementary Education Program (EEP) College of Education University of Hawaii at Manoa