Running Head: LEARNING OPPORTUNITY 1: LESSON PLAN

Learning Opportunity 1: Lesson Plan

Shirley Serah Moryoussef
260637327
EDEC 253 Second Prof. Seminar
Professor: Marcia Kennedy-Gaul
McGill University
May 20th, 2016

LEARNING OPPORTUNITY 1: LESSON PLAN

Lesson Plan Topic:

Cycle/Grade:
Time needed: Subject:
Protecting our Dear Planet Earth
Cycle 1, Grade 1 70 minutes
English Language Arts
Lesson
This lesson aims to have students:
Objective
- Be aware that our Earth is in danger but have them recognize that
they can do something to save it.
- Brainstorm ideas on how they can help protect our Earth
- Identify concrete examples of things they can do to help keep the
world healthy from day-to-day activities.
- Write and illustrate in their journal one or more ways they can help
keep the Earth healthy.
Lesson
Goals

The long-term goals of this lesson:

- Students will recognize their role as citizens of the world to help
protect our planet and all things that are part of our world.
- Students will recognize that every action counts.
- Students will recognize that together we can make a difference.

Context
of the school

This lesson was designed for a typical public school in Montreal, where
students come from various multicultural backgrounds and various income
families. The topic of recycling is relevant to all students as it aims to have
students recognize that no matter who they are, where they come from, or
what available materials they have, they can all contribute to the
betterment of our world. All students can find relevance in this lesson as
they will recognize that every action counts and that together, we can
make a difference and save the world by keeping our environment a
healthy place. This lesson also took into consideration that the school has
access to a SmartBoard and internet connection.

Group
Size
and Organization

This lesson was planned for a group of 18 students, however, it can be

used if there are a few more or a few less students. In this classroom,
students are seated in groups of 4 and one group of 5. As well, students are
grouped according to strengthens and weaknesses. As such, when the
teacher goes around, she or he can answer questions that would benefit all
the students grouped together. In addition, the teacher assistant can easily
assist the students who require additional help and guidance.
How can WE make a difference and protect our environment?

Guiding/Inquiry
question
Essential
Questions

How is the environment in danger?

How can we protect the environment?
What are things we can do in our everyday routine to contribute to
the protection of our environment?
Why is it important to take action and do everything we can to
protect the environment?

LEARNING OPPORTUNITY 1: LESSON PLAN

Professional
Competencies

1. To act as a professional inheritor, critic and interpreter of knowledge or

culture when teaching students.
2. To communicate clearly in the language of instruction, both orally and
in writing, using correct grammar, in various contexts related to teaching.
3. To develop teaching/learning situations that are appropriate to the
students concerned and the subject content with a view to developing the
competencies targeted in the programs of study.
4. To pilot teaching/learning situations that are appropriate to the students
concerned and to the subject content with a view to developing the the
competencies targeted in the programs of study.
5. To evaluate student progress in learning the subject content and
mastering the related competencies.
6. To plan, organize and supervise a class in such a way as to promote
students learning and social development.
7. To adapt his or her teaching to the needs and characteristics of students
with learning disabilities, social maladjustments or handicaps.
8. To integrate information and communications technologies in the
preparation and delivery of teaching/learning activities and for the
instructional management and professional development purposes.
9. To cooperate with school staff, parents, partners in the community and
students in pursuing the educational objectives of the school.
12. To demonstrate ethical and responsible professional behavior in the
performance of his or her duties.

English
Language Arts
Competencies

Cross-Curricular
Competencies

Competency 1: To read and listen to literacy, popular and

information-based texts: Students will touch upon this competency
as they will listen to the reading of the book Dear Children of the
World by Schim Schimmel.
Competency 2: To write self-expressive, narrative and
information-based texts: Students will touch upon this competency
as they will write in their journal about how they can contribute to
ensure the world remains a safe and healthy place for all living things.
Competency 3: To represent her/his literacy in different media:
Students will touch upon this competency as they will illustrate
through drawing how they can contribute to ensure the world remains
a safe and healthy place for all living things.
Competency 4: To use language to communicate and learn:
Students will touch upon this competency as they will communicate in
oral, written, and through illustrations throughout the lesson.
Competency 1: Uses information: Students will touch upon this
competency as they will use the information they already know about
recycling and everyday events, to form their opinion about ways in

LEARNING OPPORTUNITY 1: LESSON PLAN

Broad Areas of
Learning

Materials

which they can help keep the world a healthy place for all living
things.
Competency 2: Solves problems: Students will touch upon this
competency as they will brainstorm and find ways to keep the world a
safe place.
Competency 3: Exercises critical judgment: Students will touch
upon this competency as they will think critically about why it is
important to take action in relation to taking care of our Earth.
Competency 4: Uses creativity: Students will touch upon this
competency as they will use creativity to illustrate their ideas.
Competency 7: Achieves his/her potential: Students will touch
upon this competency as they will recognize their role in society, as
well as their potential in relation to helping their environment.
Competency 8: Cooperates with others: Students will touch upon
this competency as they will cooperate with others to brainstorm ideas,
and listen to one another when they share ideas in the classroom.
Competency 9: Communicates Appropriately: Students will
touch upon this competency as they will use proper language to share
answers orally, as well as in written.
Environmental awareness and consumer rights and
responsibilities: Students will touch upon this broad area of
learning as they will become aware of their environment and
recognize their responsibility to ensure the world remains healthy.
Citizenship and community life: Students will touch upon this
broad area of learning as they will become aware of their role as
citizens of the world to take responsibility and be aware of their
actions that contribute to keeping the world a safe place for
everyone and everything.

Subject Specific Content

The book Dear Children of the World by Schim Schimmel
Plastic animals (play animals from the dollar store)
A blackboard
A SmartBoard
Access to the video Save our World, which can be found on
YouTube
Journals
Pencils
Markers or crayons
List of things we can do to protect the environment (for students
who struggle with writing and spelling)
List of things we can do to protect the environment with images
(for students who struggle with reading, as well as writing and
spelling)

LEARNING OPPORTUNITY 1: LESSON PLAN

Essential Prior
Knowledge

- Magic sticks (popsicle sticks with the name of students on them)

For this lesson, it is essential for students to have background knowledge
on the fact that our earth is in danger and that action must be taken in
order to ensure our planet remains a safe place for all living things.
This lesson was designed to have students use their prior knowledge on
the REDUCE, REUSE, RECYCLE unit they took part in earlier in the
school year.
In the case the students did not already learn about recycling, the
teacher can still use this lesson as part of a unit on recycling.
(However, in my second stage, students have already learned about
the 3Rs (Reduce, Reuse, Recycle) and this lesson would work
perfectly well at this point in the year as it would remind them of
their important role to keep reducing, reusing, and recycling.)

Time

Instructions, Activities, and Procedures

10 minutes

Introduction (ENGAGE)
To ensure the smooth development of the lesson, the teacher will clearly
state her or his expectations for the lesson, which include to raise their
hand to speak or to get up, to listen to one another when they speak, and
participate in the lesson.
To begin the lesson, the teacher will start a class discussion by asking
students how they liked the Earth Rangers presentation they assisted the
previous week. (Earth Rangers is an organization that specializes in
raising youths awareness about wildlife and their slow disappearance in
the world. Their ultimate goal is to get young students and adolescents to
take action and help save endangered species. They also inform students
on ways in which they can help protect the environment). The teacher will
then ask students what was the main thing they learned or remembered
from the presentation (activating prior knowledge is a great way to get
students engaged and involved in the lesson; it also serves to let the
educator know how much students know about the subject).
(For this lesson, I decided to begin this way as the theme of the month in
the school I did my second field experience is Earth Rangers, as Earth
Rangers came to their school and all students assisted at the school
assembly.)
Guiding questions for the discussion about Earth Ranger
Presentation:
- If you enjoyed the Earth Rangers presentation show me a big
smile and a thumbs up.

LEARNING OPPORTUNITY 1: LESSON PLAN

-

If you liked all of the animals they brought, clap your hands.
What did you like the most?
What stood out from the presentation? What did you learn?

In the event where students and the school did not take part in the Earth
Rangers assembly, the teacher can still use this lesson. However, instead
of having students share about their experience from the Erath Rangers
assembly, he or she can show pictures of polluted forests and waters, and
ask students what is wrong with the images. Through such discussion,
students will come to recognize that the trash in the forest and waters can
cause harm to species and to our environment.
Google image of a forest with a lot of garbage (image was labelled for
reuse):
https://pixabay.com/static/uploads/photo/2013/03/01/19/01/ecology88153_960_720.jpg
Google images of water filled with garbage (image was labelled for
reuse):
https://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4013/4290848934_5c04d84db2_b.jpg

20 minutes

Guiding questions for the viewing of the images:

- What do you notice in the forest? In the water?
- How do you think trash got on the floor in the forest? In the
water?
- Is the trash on the floor in the forest/water good for the
environment? for the animals? Why yes or why not?
- What would happen if we would not start to take action and do
everything we can to protect the environment?
Reading of the Book (ENGAGE)
Transition: To move students from their desk to the reading corner of the
classroom, the teacher will call out a letter of the alphabet and students
whose first name start with that letter will make their way to the reading
carpet. This will ensure that students do not all run at once. This is also a
way to have students practice listening to the teacher as they wait for the
first letter of their name to be called out. As well, it gets students to
practice their alphabet and the sound of each letter. This will also allow
the teacher to place students who get distracted easily near her.
* Students who have a hard time focusing and staying still will be seated
right in front of the teacher to ensure she or he can refocus their attention
when she or he noticed them spacing out.
To further engage the students in the lesson, the teacher will read to his or
her students Dear Children of the World by Schim Schimmel.
Throughout the reading of the book, the teacher will stop to have students

LEARNING OPPORTUNITY 1: LESSON PLAN

20 minutes

share comments about illustrations and of the text. Engaging students in

the reading of a book is important as some students have a hard time
keeping quiet for a whole twenty minutes. The teacher will also tell
students that if they listen well to the story, he or she will pass around
plastic animals for them to look at and touch. (Kinaesthetic learners will
benefit from this as they enjoy learning by moving, or manipulating
objects).
Brainstorming Ideas and Short 3 minutes Video (EXPLORE)
Transition: The teacher will send students back to their seat. However,
this time, students will go back to their seat if the letter the teacher calls
out is the first letter of their last name.
After the reading of the book, the teacher will ask students to share ideas
about ways in which we can help keep the earth clean. The teacher will
model the process by giving the first example. For instance, she or he
would explain that an example of something we can do to protect the
environment is to write on both sides of a paper, as it allows us to use less
paper. The teacher will then give students ten minutes to THINK-PAIRSHARE.
The teacher will then use his or her magic sticks to choose a student to
share an idea (in a cup, the teacher will have popsicle sticks with each
students name written on it; the popsicle sticks will also be colored and
every student in a group will be the same color to ensure it is not the same
group answering all the questions). The teacher will record on the board
answers students share.
*Students will be grouped according to where they are already seating in
order to avoid unnecessary disruption. Students are always seated in small
groups of 4 or 5 as that is the set up of the classroom.
(EXPLAIN)
The teacher will then ask students to explain how the ideas they listed can
contribute to protect the environment.
After having students share ideas, the teacher will show students a
YouTube video titled Save our World. This video will provide students
with more ideas about ways in which they can help the environment. This
video will also serve to help students who learn better through visual and
auditory aids understand the content of the lesson.

20 minutes

Link to the video (the video is 3 minutes):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bn8R_XqjjI0
Journal Writing/ Illustrations (EXPLAIN)
The teacher will then distribute to students their journals and explain to

LEARNING OPPORTUNITY 1: LESSON PLAN

them what they need to do. He or she will clearly explain that they need to
write a sentence or two explaining what they can do to help the
environment. The teacher will write on the board I can help the
environment by and explain to students that they need to copy this
phrase in their journal and finish off the sentence. For students who
struggle with writing and spelling, the teacher will provide them with a
list of possible things they can do to help the environment. However, to
get students to practice reading and comprehending what they read, the
sentences will not have any images near them. On the other hand, for the
students who struggle with reading, writing, and spelling, the teacher will
provide them with a similar list of options but will provide them with
images near each option (look at APPENDIX).
During journal writing, the teacher will walk around and assist students
and facilitate their learning. The teacher will ensure students are on the
right track by asking them what they are writing and drawing. This will
also help the teacher evaluate who understands the lesson and who
requires more help.
Guided practice for struggling learners: In this classroom, there is
always an assistant available to help the three struggling students in the
class. She would be near them to help them with their journal and
drawings. She would help them read the list of options to choose from.
After they each choose one on the list, they will recopy it on their journal.
They purposely need to recopy it as opposed to cut it out and glue it, as I
want them to practice writing. The one student for whom it would be too
difficult to write a long phrase, the teacher assistant would have her
choose recycling or a similar thing as it is only one word and she would
be able to recopy it. However, his or her drawing would have to be more
detailed in order to show what kind of things can be recycled. The teacher
will also be there to help them if additional help is needed.

LEARNING OPPORTUNITY 1: LESSON PLAN

15 minutes

Conclusion (ELABORATE)
To conclude the lesson, the teacher will ask two or three students to share
their illustration and explain what they wrote in their journal. The teacher
will pick students by using the magic sticks.
The teacher will say a few things we can do to help the environment and
if the students think it is a good idea they need to put a thumbs up and say
yes, yes, yes and if it is not a good idea, they need to put a thumbs
down and say no, no, no. This will serve to help the teacher evaluate
who understood the lesson and who still needs more explanation.
Example of things:
- Recycling paper, glass, and cardboard (yes, yes, yes)
- Throwing garbage on the floor (no, no, no)
- Use reusable water bottles (yes, yes, yes)
- Give away things you dont need anymore but that still work well
(yes, yes, yes)
- Buy things you dont need (no, no, no)
Questions the teacher will conclude with:
- Who is responsible to help protect the environment?
- What will happen if we continue using things and do not think
about reducing, reusing, and recycling?
- What will happen if everyone helps protect the environment?
Students will come to understand that although every action counts,
together, through collaboration, we can make a different. We are all
important in this mission and we are all needed in order to make a
difference.
EXTENTION ACTIVITY
To extend the lesson, the teacher can plan a following lesson where
students would work in groups to create posters that show ways in which
individuals can help protect the environment. These posters would then be
hung in the school hallways to invite other students and staff members to
take action and contribute to the protection of our dear earth.

Evaluation
(EVALUATE)

Formative Assessment:
To assess students formatively, the teacher will pay close attention to
students answers during class discussions. The teacher will also
formatively evaluate students as she or he will walk around when students
will work in their journals.
Evaluation Criteria:
The teacher will look at every students journal and will evaluate their
writing and illustrations (observable data). Students will not be evaluated

LEARNING OPPORTUNITY 1: LESSON PLAN

10

on their artistic talents or perfect writing; rather, students will receive full
marks if they have completed the required task, which is to complete the
phrase I can help the environment by and if they have an illustration that
corresponds to their writing.
Modifications:
To create an inclusive classroom atmosphere, all students are able to participate in this lesson.
For the ENGAGE part of the lesson, every student is able to participate in the classroom
discussion and every student is able to listen to the reading of the story. During the reading of
the story, however, the educator will have plastic animals to show students at the end, to ensure
those who learn better though manipulating objects feel engaged in the lesson. During the
EXPLORE phase, students are all able to brainstorm ideas on how they can help the
environment. Additionally, the video shown by the explore phase will captivate every students
attention, especially those who learn better through visual and auditory aids. With regards to
the journal activity, this is where students would need additional help and support. For those
students who read well but have a difficult time with spelling, the teacher will provide them
with a list of options (of things they can do to help the environment) to choose from. For those
who have a hard time with reading, as well as with writing and spelling, the teacher will
provide them with a similar list but will add images near each option to help them (the list will
have fewer options to choose from as these students also get anxious when they have too many
things to choose from).

The list of options to choose from is included in the APPENDIX.

For advanced students, the teacher will challenge them to write at least two sentences in their
journal. The teacher will also provide them with a word search to complete if they finish their
work early and are waiting for everyone else to finish.
The word search is included in the APPENDIX.
How this lesson targets various learning styles?
Kinesthetic: fake animals to touch and manipulate and the thumbs up and clap of hands
when answering questions (refer to lesson plan).
Visual: pictures in the book, and the video
Auditory: reading of the book, and the video
Verbal (speech and written): classroom discussions and journal writing
Logical: student have the opportunity to use reasoning and answer critical thinking
questions about how they can protect the environment
Interpersonal (social): students have the opportunity to share answers and help one
another (think-pair-share and class discussions).
Intrapersonal: students can work alone when they write and draw in their journal
Naturalist: the topic of the lesson is the environment, which will include discussions
about nature and the world.

LEARNING OPPORTUNITY 1: LESSON PLAN

11

Classroom Management:
The lesson includes activities appropriate for diverse learners and include differentiation in
terms of simplicity and difficulty, which greatly contributes to the smooth development of the
lesson as students usually misbehave when they cannot fully engage in the lesson. As well, the
teacher would state his or her expectation at the very beginning of the lesson to ensure students
know exactly what is expected of them throughout the lesson. However, if students were to
disturb by talking or getting up without permission, the teacher would stop and look at them. If
students call out answers, the teacher would ignore them and pick on those who raised their
hand and would praise their wanted behavior. If the unwanted behavior keeps occurring, the
teacher would have the student seated near him or her to ensure the student would not start
again.
For positive reinforcement, the teacher would use the smiley face strategy, which is when the
teacher draws a smiley face near the name of a student who is acting properly. The teacher
would also praise the student for his or her behavior.
To get students to the reading corner and back to their seats, the teacher would use the
Alphabet Letter Strategy, which is to have students move according to the letter he or she calls
out. This strategy would help the teacher ensure not everyone runs at the same time and it
would allow him or her to sit students who get distracted easily near him or her.
Finally, to have students share answers, the teacher would use popsicle sticks, this way,
students will have to listen as the teacher can call on them at any minute. It would be important
for them to listen as I can ask them to repeat or add to a comment a student shared right before
them.
Alternative activity in case one of the activities do not work out:
Although teachers work hard to ensure their lessons go according to plan, it can happen that
students are simply uninterested or something unexpected comes up. In such a case, it is
important for the teacher to have a backup plan. For this specific group of students (my second
field experience class), I would put on a longer video as they enjoy videos and most students
are visual and auditory learners. The longer video would also captivate their attention and have
them calm down. Link to the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=TjnNOCbuoCA&spfreload=5
If it is a nice day, I would then take students outside have them contribute to protect the
environment by having them pick up any trash they might find in the playground. Taking
students outside for fresh air is also a good way to have them calm down. Sometimes students
just need a few minutes to walk around and breath some fresh air. *This activity would not be
seen as a punishment, rather it would be seen as a way to start right away to take action by
taking care of our environment.
If it is not a nice day or it is not possible to take them out, I would have students play a
recycling game. I would put on the SmartBoard random objects and ask them if they think it
could be recycled or not. If the object is recyclable, they would have to say in which bin (paper,
glass, or plastic).

LEARNING OPPORTUNITY 1: LESSON PLAN

APPENDIX
List of things we can do to help the environment:
I can help the environment by

1. Not wasting water

2. Recycling

3. Giving away good things I do not need anymore

4. Not buying things I do not need

5. Using reusable water bottles
6. Turning off lights I am not using (to save energy)
7. Reusing plastic bags instead of throwing them out
8. Air drying clothes instead of using the drying machine

12

LEARNING OPPORTUNITY 1: LESSON PLAN

List of things we can do to help the environment:

I can help the environment by

1. Picking up garbage I find on the floor

2. Recycling

3. Giving away good things I do not need anymore

4. Using reusable water bottles

5. Air drying clothes instead of using the drying machine

Pictures used from Google labelled for reuse
1. https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8a/US_Navy_080820-N-4515N327_Local_children_help_Operations_Specialist_Seaman_Stephanie_Bell_pick_up_trash.jpg
2. https://pixabay.com/static/uploads/photo/2014/04/02/17/01/recycling-bin-307682_960_720.png
3. https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/89/Helping_the_homeless.jpg
4. https://pixabay.com/static/uploads/photo/2015/05/19/22/32/bottles-774466_960_720.jpg
5. https://pixabay.com/static/uploads/photo/2014/04/02/10/42/clothesline-304282_960_720.png

The teacher will have an extra copy of each image in case the images are too small for the student to see what
is happening in each picture.

WORD SEARCH

13

14

LEARNING OPPORTUNITY 1: LESSON PLAN

B X F H M G

J O B E

S C H B C

J K M X A U S

O I R E C Y C L I N G X A J R L O P J N C U
K A C O G X W F R V
L E A O E

S A D H M U O O T M M A L M E L

B I S C E M E L S R
X B Y E N V

J H R S E X E L N I M N

S O S I

A A B N S A V E

R O N M E N T W L R T D L R G

R O C A A F A L E N

P A S E A R T H S

T H

L N H N Q E U F A M A E B R G K O T S R H T
F L O W O R L D O K W T Y E R E T T E B L T
WORDS TO LOOK FOR:

ENVIRONMENT
WORLD

Reflection:

EARTH

RECYCLING

BIRDS
WATER

ANIMALS
SAVE

OCEAN
BETTER

LEARNING OPPORTUNITY 1: LESSON PLAN

15

As I got to know my students throughout the three weeks of my second field experience,
I decided to plan a lesson that would be of their interest and appropriate for the diverse learners
in the classroom. As I got to know the school culture, I also took that into consideration as I
planned my lesson. This lesson plan is not one I had the chance to teach in the classroom, but it
is one I would have like to teach had I had more time with the students. Although this lesson was
not directly planned with my cooperating teacher, I took into consideration the teaching and
classroom management strategies she uses.
For this lesson, I decided to write about the importance of protecting the environment as
the school theme this month is Earth Rangers. A few days before my last day in the classroom,
students participated in a school assembly where the organization Earth Rangers came to speak
to them about ways in which they can help endangered species and how they can protect the
environment. After the assembly, students were all excited and shared comments about how they
loved the presentation. Students had also just finished a unit on recycling and a unit on planting,
which would go well with this lesson to follow. As such, I decided to develop this lesson, which
would definitely be of their interest. As well, I planned the lesson as to provide students with the
opportunity to be engaged in their learning. In fact, as Lang and Evans (2006) discuss in the
chapter Classroom Management, effective teachers create learning opportunities where
students are engaged and interested in the subject matter. As students have shown great interest
to the subject, I have no doubt that they would have enjoyed this lesson. I also though this would
be a great lesson as I noticed that students often threw recyclable items in the garbage; thus, such
a lesson would remind them of the importance of recycling.
However, Lang and Evans (2006) also discuss that in order to ensure no issues of
classroom management arise, teachers must develop lessons that are appropriate to all students

LEARNING OPPORTUNITY 1: LESSON PLAN

16

by using various teaching strategies. As Lang and Evans state, varying your choice of teaching
strategies and methods and becoming proficient at using basic instructional skills helps make it
possible for all students to succeed (p. 196). In my lesson, I ensured to use various strategies
that target all learning styles. As well, the authors of Becoming a Teacher, Parkay, Stanford,
Vaillancourt, Stephens, and Harris (2012) discuss the multiple intelligences and diverse learning
styles, highlighting that there is no one specific learning style that is any better than another.
Thus, I included most of the multiple intelligences, for instance: kinesthetic (the manipulation of
fake animals), auditory and visual (book and video), verbal (classroom discussions and journal
writing), interpersonal (classroom discussion and think-pair-share), intrapersonal (individual
work), and naturalist (the topic of nature and the environment). I also ensured activities are
appropriate for all learners, meaning that no activity is neither too difficult nor too easy for
students. As Parkay et al., (2012) also state the importance of meeting the needs of advanced
learners, I planned a challenging word search, which would have them pay attention to
vocabulary words and spelling as they would have to look at each letter closely to find it in the
word search. For those who require more scaffolding and guidance, I planned appropriate
materials (sentences with illustrations) to help them, in addition to the teacher assistant or my
own guidance. In fact, professional competencies 6 states, To plan, organize and supervise a
class in such a way as to promote students learning and social development. (Gouvernement du
Quebec, 2001, p. 88). It is the educators role to create learning opportunities appropriate for
every student.
Moreover, to ensure I developed a successful lesson plan that would allow me to reach
my lesson objectives, I planned my lesson with the backward design model in mind
(Understanding by Design). Hence, I first though of my desired end product; the end result I

LEARNING OPPORTUNITY 1: LESSON PLAN

17

would like my students to achieve. As my goal for the lesson was to get students to find ways in
which they can contribute to the protection of our planned, I planned activities that would allow
them to arrive at such a conclusion. Thus, to understand that action must be taken, I would begin
by the reading of the book where Mother Earth tell them of their role to protect the environment.
Next, the brainstorming activity would have students discuss in small groups possible steps we
can take to protect the environment. Finally, the journal writing and drawing would have each
and every student think about how they can personally help protect the environment. Thus, I first
made sure my end desired result was clear, then I thought of ways to assess students learning
(evidence of learning), and finally, I planned activities that would allow me to arrive at my
desired result. Evidently, I also planned my lesson according to the Quebec Education Program
(QEP). As this lesson would be appropriate for an English Language Arts (ELA) lesson, I made
sure to target the ELA competencies as well as some of the Cross-Curricular Competencies.
My lesson also follows the 5Es model:
ENGAGE: Firstly, I planned an engaging beginning to the lesson. By starting with a short
discussion about the Earth Rangers assembly, students would be excited as they all loved the
presentation. In the event where students did not take part of the Earth Rangers assembly, the
alternative activity where I would show pictures of polluted forests and waters, would also
engage the students. As well, the reading of the book would also engage students on the topic.
The book includes incredible illustrations and the writing is clear and appropriate to grade 1
students.
EXPLORE: To have students explore possible steps they can take to protect the environment, I
would have them brainstorm ideas in small groups (students would use their prior knowledge

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from their unit on recycling and on plants) and then share them with the class. Students would
also explore more ideas by viewing the YouTube video.
EXPLAIN: Students would have the opportunity to explain their ideas after the explore phase as
well as through their journal writing and illustration at the end of the lesson.
ELABORATE: Elaborate will also take place at the very end of the lesson where students will
have the opportunity to participate in a class discussion about their journal activity and when
they will answer questions such as: Who is responsible to help protect the environment? What
will happen if we continue using things and do not think about reducing, reusing, and recycling?
What can happen if everyone helps protect the environment? What would possibly happen if we
do not take action?
EVALUATE: Students will be evaluated formatively throughout the lesson through the class
discussion. I will also be able to assess students through their journal writing and drawing.
Although I did not have the chance to do this lesson, based on the lesson I did have the
opportunity to do in that classroom, I noticed that I need to give clearer instructions, state my
questions more clearly, and give more wait time when I ask questions. When I did another lesson
in front of the whole class during my second field experience, although the overall lesson went
really well for a first time teaching in front of a large classroom, I realized that my instructions
were sometimes a bit unclear and that caused students to ask the same question more than once. I
also found that I did not give enough wait time between asking questions and taking answers,
which would often have the same few students (who were quicker to think) sharing answers. As
such, if I get the chance to do this lesson in my third stage, or when I will teach any other lesson,
I will make sure to be clear when I give instructions and I will give wait time so I can give the
chance to all students to be ready to share their answer. The popsicle stick strategy, which I had

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19

not used in my other lesson, would also contribute to ensuring it is not always the same students
answering questions. As Lang and Evans (2006) discuss, clear instructions contribute greatly to a
smooth lesson. They also state that just as you plan lessons and units, you need to plan
management (p. 168). As such, I devoted a square in my lesson plan where I planned classroom
management strategies and examples of things I would do throughout the lesson to ensure
learning can occur in a positive classroom atmosphere.

References:
Gouvernement du Qubec, Ministre de lducation (2001) Teacher training- orientationsprofessional competencies, Changes in Teaching Practices. Retrieved from
http://www.education.gouv.qc.ca/fileadmin/site_web/documents/dpse/formation_ens_a.p
df
Lang, H. R., & Evans, D. N. (2006). Mastering the fundamentals: Classroom management. In
models, strategies, and methods for effective teaching (pp. 164-200). Pearson.
Parkey, F., Standford, B., Vaillancourt, J., Stephens, H., & Harris, J. (2012). Becoming A
Teacher (4th ed.). Toronto: Pearson Canada Inc.