SPORTS

UNIT
By Ashley Miller
Professor Beltran
December 9th, 2014

Lesson 1
TEACHER:
Ms. Ashley Miller

INSTRUCTIONAL UNIT
DATE:
GRADE/Acquisition
October 7, 2014
Level:
3rd/Emerging
SUBJECT
Math

LESSON TITLE:
Pitchers Problems
LESSON OBJECTIVE:
All students will be able to
correctly answer at least
80% of their 10
multiplication problems.

LANGUAGE STANDARDS AND CONTENT OBJECTIVES

California Content Standard
Common Core Math Standard
N/A
3.OA.A.1
Represent and solve problems involving
multiplication and division.
1. Interpret products of whole numbers, e.g., interpret
5x7 as the total number of objects in 5 groups of 7
objects each.
Common Core ELD Standard
Part I 5. Listening actively-Demonstrate active
listening to read alouds and oral presentations by
asking and answering basic questions with prompting
and substantial support.
Culturally Responsive Pedagogy
Respecting their peers while playing a fun board game with elbow partner.

MODIFICATIONS FOR ELs

Using lots of visuals like the
baseball diamond board and
using dice to make the problems
instead of seeing numbers on a
worksheet.

ADAPTATIONS FOR LEARNERS

RATIONALE
REFLECTION
Incorporating visuals into
Students were really excited when
mathematics makes lessons more they saw the game board and
engaging and sometimes easier for especially when they saw they
students who pose a hard time with were using M&Ms for baseball
the subject. Instead of just focusing players.
on numbers on a worksheet, the
students are able to use
manipulatives and thus create their
own word problem to solve.

MODIFICATIONS FOR Special RATIONALE

Challenges

REFLECTION

For ADHD students who may

have a hard time focusing, the
game will engage them into
wanting to learn and play with
their elbow partner.

My ADHD student really enjoyed

the game and was engaged the
whole time but he did not
understand the rules when I was
explaining them.

For any visually impaired

students, the book is made on a
PowerPoint

By playing a game in order to learn

about multiplication, students who
have a hard time focusing are more
likely to want to participate.
By showing the book on a
PowerPoint and enlarging it on the
screen projector, all students get a
fair opportunity in following along
and reading the story with the
whole class.

Multiple Intelligences Addressed RATIONALE

The book is offered on a

PowerPoint so all students are
able to see the story and the
students had no problem seeing it
and followed along just well.

REFLECTION

Logical-Mathematical

Its a math lesson

Most of the class enjoys math

Intrapersonal

Solving the riddles

independently

They shouted out the answers when

they knew them and didnt solve
them quietly on their own.

Interpersonal

Working with a partner

They enjoyed working together.

Verbal

It got loud a few times when they

Having discussion, ticket
were discussing the riddles.
out the door

Bodily Kinesthetic

Visual

Helped the students who had ants

Playing with the dice,
in their pants and they are
standing up in agreement accustomed to this strategy and
knew just what to do.
The game board,
childrens book, and
picture samples

All the students responded well to

the PowerPoint and riddles, some
riddles were harder than others,
but having them large and visual
for all made it easier to go over
them together as a class.

ASSESSMENT
STRATEGY FOR ASSESSMENT
To assess the students, the teacher will check for understanding while answering multiplication riddles.
Students will turn in a paper with 10 multiplication facts ranging from factors 1-12 and must answer 8
out of the 10 correct. Teacher will also be observing the students while they play a baseball board game.
Teacher will also have a discussion Ticket Out the Door at the end of the lesson.
LEARNING ENVIRONMENT
MATERIALS, EQUIPMENT, and TECHNOLOGY NEEDED
Baseball picture samples, game board, 48 dice (two colors and 4 each for the 12 groups), spinner for
every group (12), bag of M&Ms, pencil, paper, and childrens book (The Grapes of Math) on
PowerPoint.

INTO
Teacher begins lesson by
grabbing the students attention:
Who here likes to play or watch
baseball have a small
discussion.

INTO, THROUGH, and BEYOND

RATIONALE

The hook, making it a personal

connection.

Students have been learning

about multiplication facts up to
12 and today will be reviewing
them.
Teacher will start by showing
a picture on the projector
screen. The picture will be of
10 baseballs in the order of 5
rows with 2 balls in each.
Teacher will then explain to
the students that a way to find
out how many baseballs are
on the screen is by simply
counting them, but what if
there are a lot of baseballs
and takes too long to count
them one by one.

Transitioning from addition to

multiplication.

REFLECTION
A few students responded that
they play baseball and about 90
percent of the class raised their
hands saying they like baseball.

Because they havent mastered

multiplication yet, I wanted to go
over it a little more with them
and make a fun game out of it.
They didnt like that we were
working on multiplication, but
once I explained we would play a
game with it, they got excited.
The students are accustomed to
arrays and had no problem
solving this.

 Teacher shows example of 12

rows with 5 balls in each.
Teacher will then explain to
the students that there is an
easier way of adding up all
the balls without actually
having to count them all
The teacher will then read a
poem titled Baseball and
show how taking the amount
of rows (12) and counting
just the first rows amount (5)
will give the answer without
having to count each ball
individually.
Teacher will model this
example on the white board
(12x5=60).
Teacher will then show 3
more examples of baseball
items and show the students
how to solve each one.
Teacher then tells the
students they will be
practicing these
multiplication fact tables
from 1-12 today.
THROUGH
Teacher will begin by reading
the book, The Grapes of Math
by Greg Tang.
This book is not baseball
themed, but with the poem
from earlier, the book riddles
tie into the theme of other fun
multiplication riddles.
Students will number a piece
of paper 1-8.
The teacher will read one
riddle at a time and have the
students take time to answer
each one on their piece of
paper. There are a total of 8
riddles. After each one, the
teacher will call on students
to see what they got for the
answer.
Teacher will ask the class to
stand up if they agree with
the students answer.
Teacher will then say the
correct answer and solve the
riddle with them. Teacher
may ask multiple students
how they got their answer
because each riddle may be
solved in different ways.
o There are a total of 8
riddles

2 students shouted out the answer

to the riddle before I was done
reading it. For the rest of the
class I explained the riddle to
them after I read it. They seemed
to all understand.

Providing more examples will

help the students in solving the
riddles in the next portion of the
lesson.

One array was harder for the

class then the others, but the class
understood the examples shown.
I think I should of called on more
students for this activity rather
than just show them how to solve
it because I could of checked for
more understanding.

RATIONALE

REFLECTION

On a PowerPoint so all students

can see it, follow along, and
solve the problems.

Checking for
understanding/assessment

Reflecting back on this now, even

doing the 8 riddles out of the
possible 16 from the book, I
should of condensed it more and
not have done the problems that
involved subtracting. These were
confusing to some students to
multiply first and then subtract.

I did this strategy because I have

seen my master teacher do it and
the students react well to it. I
wanted to pick something they
already knew. They students were
a bit loud when doing this
activity and I dont think I called
on enough students. I should of
picked their names like popsicle
sticks and have it random
instead of calling on the same
students each time. I tried to
diversify it as much as possible,
but some students like to share
more than others.

BEYOND
Students will be working in
groups for this activity, but
teacher will walk around the
classroom to observe and assess
the students individually on their
understanding of multiplication.
Teacher will explain these rules:
Students will be working in
groups of two for this activity
called Pitchers Problems,
and will work with their
elbow partner
Teacher will hand out a
baseball diamond board, a
spinner, and a packet of
m&ms to each group.
The spinner will be labeled
single (1 point), double
(2 points), triple (3 points),
and homerun (4 points).
Students will also need a
piece of paper labeled with
their name on it and a pencil.
One player is the batter and
the other player is the
pitcher.
The student with the smaller
class number goes first. They
will be the batter. They will
spin the spinner to see their
amount of points they will
receive (if they get their
problem right).
Students will each bat (roll
their dice) 10 times
consecutively before
switching roles.
Students will number their
paper from 1-10 and as they
spin their 10 turns, they will
write down their
multiplication problem,
answer, and points received.
At the end of their 10 turns,
they will also add up the
amount of players that
reached home plate.
As the students are moving
their m&m players on the
board, they must remember to
keep each of the players that
reached home plate on the
bottom of the game board so
they can add those points into
their final score.
Pitcher will roll four dice to
set up the problem. Green
dice will be added together to
get one number; the white
dice will be added together to
get the other number. For
example the four dice rolled

RATIONALE

REFLECTION

Checking for understanding

Letting the students know they

are working with their elbow
partner is a must so that way they
are not wasting time roaming the
class looking for a partner to
work with.

Allowing the students to tie in a

baseball theme into
multiplication allows for them to
be engaged and have fun while
learning.

I dont think this part of the

lesson was made clear enough to
the students and they were still
left confused. I felt that time was
against me and I didnt have
enough time to explain
everything thoroughly.

Deciding who goes first can be

an issue so having it already
decided for them makes it easier
and causes nobody to be upset.

I should have provided an example

of problems to the students so they
Using four dice for each group
could see how to write it down on
because there are only 6 numbers their paper. They were a bit
on each dice and we need a total confused on this part of the lesson
of 12. Students are working
as well.
hands on with their 1-12
multiplication facts.

Giving a limit on runs allows

Students wanted to eat the M&Ms
each student to get a fair chance and the class got a bit crazy
in playing the game.
because of this. If I were to do the
lesson again I would chose
something besides food, or candy
for that matter to make the
baseball players.

are 3, 4, 5, and 2. The green

dice are 3 and 4 and the white
dice are 5 and 2. Adding them
together are 7 and 7. The
batter will add these results
up and then get the final two
totals and multiply them. So
7 x 7 is 49. They will write
this problem on their piece of
paper and solve it. If they get
the answer correct, a hit,
the batter will add his amount
of points next to the problem
that he spun and move their
m&m player to that base,
while possibly moving up
their other m&m players as
well.
If they get it wrong they
receive a strike, which is
awarded no points spun.
Once both students in the
group have gone their 10
turns, they will add up their
points to see who has the
most. The most points wins.
If students finish early, they
may continue playing without
keeping score.
Students will turn in their
paper at the end of the lesson
so the teacher can assess their
understanding. Students must
get 8 of the 10 problems
correct.

Providing this discussion allows

the teacher to check for
understanding again and is their
ticket out the door.

Students didnt get to finish the

lesson, it would have been best to
do it in two days.

To wrap up todays lesson,

teacher asks the students to raise
their hand and voluntarily
answer,
o What is something new
you learned today?
o What is something you
enjoyed today?

Lesson 2
TEACHER:
Ms. Ashley Miller

INSTRUCTIONAL UNIT
DATE:
GRADE/Acquisition Level: LESSON TITLE:
October 24, 2014
3rd/ Bridging
Baseball-Catching/Throwing
SUBJECT:
Physical Education

LESSON OBJECTIVE:
All students will be able to
correctly practice all four
catching positions in baseball.

LANGUAGE STANDARDS AND CONTENT OBJECTIVES

California Content Standard
Common Core ELD Standard
1) Students demonstrate the motor skills and
movement patterns needed to preform a variety of
physical activities:

[Part 1] 1.Exchanging information & ideas:

Contribute to class, group, and partner discussions,
including sustained dialogue, by following turn-taking

1.7 Catch, while traveling, an object thrown

by a stationary partner.
1.10 Throw and catch an object with a partner,
increasing the distance from the partner and
maintaining an accurate throw that can be
easily caught.

rules, asking relevant questions, affirming others, adding

relevant information, building on responses, and providing
useful feedback.

2) Students demonstrate knowledge of movement

concepts, principles, and strategies that apply to the
learning and performance of physical activities:

2.2 Explain and demonstrate the correct hand

position when catching a ball above the head,
below the waist, near the middle of the body,
and away from the body.
Common Core Standard
N/A
Culturally Responsive Pedagogy
Playing a game of baseball acknowledges both students differences and commonalities.
Students also promote mutual respect while playing as teammates.

MODIFICATIONS FOR ELs

Using a power point

The diagram of how the
players should be
positioned when
practicing their catching
and throwing.
Students also will be
working with teams
during the practice and
also in the actual baseball
game.

MODIFICATIONS FOR Special

Challenges

ADHD students are

provided many
opportunities to release
built up energy

Multiple Intelligences

ADAPTATIONS FOR LEARNERS

RATIONALE
REFLECTION

Visual aids

Provides help where needed

RATIONALE

Helps kinesthetic learners

RATIONALE

Kinesthetic
Naturalistic
Visual
Intrapersonal

Interpersonal
Linguistic

Logical

REFLECTION

REFLECTION

Physical activity
Taking place outside
Visual aids
Individually assessed,
forming hypothesis
Working as a team
Taking notes and forming
hypothesis
Developing and concluding
hypothesis and using critical
thinking skills

ASSESSMENT
STRATEGY FOR ASSESSMENT
Teacher will assess by having the students turn in their notes, their hypothesis/results, observing while the students
practice throwing and catching a baseball, joining in conversation about results, and assessing during the game when
newly learned skills are put to the test.

LEARNING ENVIRONMENT
MATERIALS, EQUIPMENT, and TECHNOLOGY NEEDED
Power point, handout, pens, soft balls (not baseballs), open area to practice at, and baseball field

INTO

INTO, THROUGH, and BEYOND

RATIONALE

REFLECTION

Teacher will say:

There are many ways to catch a baseball. Who can show
me an example of how to catch one?

Builds on prior
knowledge

Students will provide different positions such as catching

a ball over the head or a ball rolling on the ground etc.
Teacher then explains that the way you catch a ball just
depends on where the ball is traveling and how it is
thrown.
Today we are going to pretend to be professional baseball
players and are going to practice accurate throwing and
catching.

The hook

Lets first learn about the four catching positions:

Above the Head
Below the Waist
Middle of Body
Away from Body
Teacher will provide handout and will play a series of
videos for students to take notes on.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1kLwkivjyD8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XdBKGMYlMcE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2mRuWPJS64E
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JTuopUgmg1w
Once students, individually, finish taking their notes,
teacher asks the students to form a hypothesis and write
on their notes handout which position they believe they
will be the best at and explain why.

The problem

THROUGH

RATIONALE

Teacher will now have students pair up into small groups

of 3 or 4.
Outside, students are given soft balls to use instead of
baseballs and will take turns practicing catching and
throwing.

ELD standard (taking

turns)

Teacher will explain to students that there will be three

throwers and 1 catcher at a time. Students will switch
roles after each player catches 10 times and will continue
until each player has gotten a turn to both catch and throw
the ball.
The throwers will throw one ball at a time and go to next
player and so on.
As students are catching the ball, they will record their
data on their handout after their turn is over. Altogether,
each player should catch 10 balls (on their turn) and throw
to the other 3 players (while it is each of their turn)

Teacher can show this

image as an example of
how they should be lined
up while doing the

REFLECTION

activity
(helps visual learners and
possibly others who are
not kinesthetic learners)

Part of the standard

The catcher will be moving towards where the ball is

going, while the throwers will remain stationary.

Students will observe one

another and discuss with
each other how they did
with their throwing and
catching and will provide
feedback on how they can
improve on these skills.
(ELD standard)

After all students have had their turn, it is time to go

inside and discuss results of hypothesis.
Students will write on their handout whether their
hypothesis was true or not.
With the same group, students will discuss their results.
Teacher will walk around the classroom, listening and
joining in on the conversations.
BEYOND

RATIONALE

Intended for next day:

Students will now play an actual game of baseball.
Students will be split into two teams and will come up
with a team name (ie: Dodgers, Cardinals, Yankees,
etc.)

Students now can practice what they learned yesterday

about the different catching positions and use that in
their game.

Even though students are

in teams, they are being
observed individually on
how they practice their
catching of the ball.

Checking for
understanding
Summative Assessment

Teacher will be observing the game and assessing the

students through the correct catching positions.

REFLECTION

Lesson 3
TEACHER:
Ms. Ashley Miller

INSTRUCTIONAL UNIT
DATE:
GRADE/Acqu. Level:
November 11, 2014
3rd/Emerging
SUBJECT:
Language Arts

LESSON TITLE:
Baseball Biographies
LESSON OBJECTIVE:
All students, as teams, will
be able to design a
baseball card with specific
qualities about their
chosen baseball player.

LANGUAGE STANDARDS AND CONTENT OBJECTIVES

California Content Standard

Common Core Language Arts Standard

N/A

Research to Build and Present Knowledge:

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.3.7
Conduct short research projects that build knowledge
about a topic.
Text Types and Purposes:
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.3.2
Write informative/explanatory texts to examine a topic
and convey ideas and information clearly.

Common Core ELD Standard

[Part 1] 2. Interacting via written English: Collaborate
with peers on joint writing projects of short
informational and literary texts, using technology where
appropriate for publishing, graphics, etc.

Culturally Responsive Pedagogy

By doing this baseball activity with different players, students are learning about
different peoples backgrounds and where they came from and why
they began their sport.
MODIFICATIONS FOR ELs
Working as a team

ADAPTATIONS FOR LEARNERS

RATIONALE
REFLECTION
Being able to work as a team, they
are able to get help and bounce
ideas off of one another instead of
working individually.

MODIFICATIONS FOR Special

Challenges

RATIONALE

Students with ADHD are able to

get up and move around the
classroom during this activity.

Releases some energy

Hearing and Vision Impaired

students are able to work with
others. Using big visuals and

Working as a team allows for

these students to group up with
others and receive aid where they

REFLECTION

speaking loud and clear.

may need it.

Multiple Intelligences Addressed: RATIONALE

REFLECTION
Interpersonal
Teams
Intrapersonal
Collecting research
individually
Bodily Kinesthetic
Moving around the class
looking for their team
members & viewing the
baseball cards
Baseball card graphics
Visual
Researching & reading
Linguistic
Designing cards
Logical
ASSESSMENT
STRATEGY FOR ASSESSMENT
Teacher will assess the students in two ways, first by observation through the roundtable activities and
also, looking around the classroom at the students baseball cards information to check for
understanding. Both are formative assessments that involve the teacher monitoring the students work
and providing ongoing feedback that can be used to improve learning.
LEARNING ENVIRONMENT
MATERIALS, EQUIPMENT, and TECHNOLOGY NEEDED
Poster paper, computer/internet OR biography handouts, baseball hat with paper slips of names, markers,
pens, and PowerPoint examples
INTO, THROUGH, and BEYOND
INTO

RATIONALE

Who can tell me a famous baseball

player? What do you know about
them, besides just their team? Lead
discussion

Building prior knowledge

Now who can tell me what a

biography is, why do people write
biographies or read them?
Why do people want to know about
other people and about their lives?
Lead discussion
After teacher and students discuss
these topics for a few minutes,
teacher will then explain the lesson to
the students.
Teacher: Today we will be working
as teams and will get to explore
different baseball players and present
findings to the class.

The hook, getting the students

interested

Now before we get to the actual

lesson, I want to create our teams.

Cooperative learning,
teambuilding activity

Find your Match: Here I have a

baseball hat that contains 6 different
baseball players names. There are 4
copies of each name and once all the
papers are picked out, each student
must find their team by finding their

REFLECTION

matching player.
(Derek Jeter, Babe Ruth, Jackie
Robinson, Lou Gehrig, Pete Gray,
and Albert Pujols)
Once teams are established, students
will sit together at the tables in their
teams.
THROUGH

RATIONALE

Teacher will provide biography

handout to each team about their
chosen player.

If this were my actual lesson I

taught as a teacher, I would
actually incorporate technology
and have the students/teams
research their player, but when I
teach the lesson now; I will
provide handouts instead for the
students to read through.

Students will now research their team

players name by doing a Timed
Roundtable activity: Students will be
given 10 to 15 minutes to
individually read their handout. Once
complete, each student will take their
turn in their teams to share what they
read about. (Key ideas)

The students are working as a

team, but still have to work
individually as well.

As students are sharing what they

read, they will write it on a piece of
paper and pass it around to next team
member. They will have their
collective notes on the paper to use
for the next assignment. (do not
repeat ideas)

By writing the ideas down on

paper, the students are able to
go back and reread what they
said without having to read the
handouts over again. They are
able to solely focus on the key
important details instead of the
whole reading.

BEYOND

RATIONALE

Once each team has spent time jotting

down key ideas about their team
player, they will now move on to the
next activity and will be making a
Baseball Card. All students must
participate.

A fun activity that includes all

students working actively in
their teams.

Teams will each get their own poster

paper to use as their baseball card
and they are in charge of how they
want to design it and what they want
to write on it to teach the rest of the
class about their player. They may
use markers, crayons, draw pictures,
etc.
Important qualities MUST be
included such as (name, birthdate,
death if appropriate, baseball team or
teams, years they played, height,
weight, bats left or right, position
they play, hometown, their most
famous attributes, any type of records

Allow students to get an idea

of what to create

REFLECTION

REFLECTION

or awards they may have, and so on)

Show examples
Students will have 20 to 30 minutes
to complete their cards and once
finished will hang it up for the rest of
the class to see.
Each team will now stand up do a
gallery walk and view each baseball
card and read about the players.
No more than one team should be at
each card at a time.
After 5 minutes or so, when all teams
are finished, they will sit down
together as a team still and participate
in a Simultaneous Roundtable: Each
member will answer this questionWhat is the one thing that you
learned [that stood out to you most]
about each player?
and then move clockwise to next
member).

This allows for the teacher to

check for understanding as
well while they observe the
students work.

To limit the foot traffic at each

card
Assessment, checking for
understanding

Example of Final Product

Lesson 4
TEACHER:
Ms. Ashley Miller

INSTRUCTIONAL UNIT
DATE:
GRADE/Acquisition
November 20, 2014
Level:
3rd/ Emerging
SUBJECT:
Science

LESSON TITLE:
Extinct vs. Living
LESSON OBJECTIVE:
All students will be able to
conclude that animals
alive today resemble
animals that once lived
long ago.

LANGUAGE STANDARDS AND CONTENT OBJECTIVES

California Content Standard
Common Core ELD Standard
Life Sciences
3) Adaptations in physical structure or behavior
may improve an organisms chance for survival.
As a basis for understanding this concept:
e. Students know that some kind of organisms

[Part 1] 3. Offering Opinions:

Offer opinions and negotiate with others in
conversations using basic learned phrases (e.g., I
think), as well as open responses in order to gain
and/or hold the floor.

that once lived on Earth have completely

disappeared and that some of those
resembled others that are alive today.
Common Core Standard
N/A
Culturally Responsive Pedagogy
Motivating students to become active participants in their learning.

MODIFICATIONS FOR ELs

ADAPTATIONS FOR LEARNERS

RATIONALE
REFLECTION

Using a PowerPoint
Stand Up Pair Up

The students respond well to the

Visual aids
Working with others for Power Points I create for them.
feedback and hearing each
others opinions.

MODIFICATIONS FOR Special RATIONALE

Challenges

ADHD: Stand Up Pair

Up

Visually Impaired
students: PowerPoint

Multiple Intelligences

Letting the kids move

around a little bit and
release some energy
Will be shown on a large
projector screen so all
students can see it and
follow along together

RATIONALE

Naturalistic
Visual
Bodily-Kinesthetic

Intrapersonal

Interpersonal

Logical

REFLECTION
I purposely added this strategy into
the lesson for two particular
students with ADHD. It is
important for them to be able to
move during the lesson.

REFLECTION

I was able to incorporate most

Working with science
multiple intelligences within this
PowerPoint pictures
lesson to adhere to all the students.
Moving around during
Stand Up Pair Up
Doing the activity
individually
Sharing and getting
feedback from others
Thinking abstract and
figuring out the hypothesis
on their own

ASSESSMENT
STRATEGY FOR ASSESSMENT
Teacher will assess by looking at the handout the students do, observing while they are completing the
work, when asked questions and given feedback, and walking around and observing during the Stand Up
Pair Up activity,
LEARNING ENVIRONMENT
MATERIALS, EQUIPMENT, and TECHNOLOGY NEEDED
PowerPoint, paper handout, picture cards, scissors, pen/pencil
INTO, THROUGH, and BEYOND

INTO

RATIONALE

Teacher will begin lesson by

showing the students a
PowerPoint

Visual aid

The first image is a picture of a

sports team, the Toronto Raptors.
Teacher will ask the students,
what is this picture of? What
kind of animal is it?

Tying into the theme of sports

Next, the teacher will ask, do we

see dinosaurs around anymore?
Why not?

The hook

Students will then do a white

board activity where they will
answer what they think
extinction is or what causes it.
Once finished they will hold up
their board to show the teacher
they are done with their
response.

Builds on prior knowledge

One student right away said

dinosaurs are not around because of
extinction. I made sure to praise
them for that and told them YES
exactly, that is what we will be
learning about today.
Students enjoyed working with the
white boards but for about 10
minutes, we had a dilemma because
none of the white board markers my
master teacher provided me with
were working. So this caused the
lesson to get out of hand a bit.
Students love doing this activity.
They loved sharing with their
partner and all were proud to show
their drawings or answers to the
white board question.

THROUGH

RATIONALE

Next the teacher will define for

the students what a species is
and what extinction means.

The students are able to know if

what they shared with a partner
or heard from a partner was
accurate.
Acronyms make learning fun and
remembering easier.

Teacher provides pictures on a

PowerPoint of these causes and
goes more in depth about each.
Teacher provides handout:
Hypothesis: Form an opinion
on whether or not you think
animals living today could
possibly look like animals that
lived once before.

I noticed from my other lesson that

they liked the PowerPoint I made so
I wanted to make another for them
to learn by and follow.
One student right away knew it was
the Toronto Raptors before I said
anything.

Next, the students will Stand Up

Pair Up and share their response
with a partner.

Teacher will then explain the

main causes of extinction and
show them by using the acronym
HIPPO. (habitat, invading
species, pollution, population,
and overharvesting/hunting)

REFLECTION

REFLECTION

Even though I went over this

acronym with the students, I
didnt come back and remind the
students of it while they were
doing the rest of the lesson. I
should have talked about it a bit
more. I did talk about other
species being extinct as well as
the dinosaurs and the students
were surprised when I explained
the Dodo bird to them.

Students get to thinking that

maybe animals from long ago
possibly resemble animals alive
today.

Teacher will then pass out a

matching activity to the students
called Extinct vs. Living
Students will be given directions
on what to do:
First, they will cut out
provided animal picture
cards.
Second, observe the set of

A simple and fun activity to get

the students thinking and
understanding extinction

Before I handed out the paper, I

should have clarified the
instructions better and showed
them an example of how to do it.
I explained the instructions one at
a time once I gave the students
the paper and this got them off
task. Only some students paid

cards and note the features

of each species.
Third, compare each of the
cards
Fourth, the students will
classify and match each
extinct looking species to a
species that is still alive
today
Fifth, place the picture cards
into matched pairs on
provided chart in the correct
columns
BEYOND

attention to the instructions as I

was reading them, some students
did it on their own or didnt do it
at all.

RATIONALE

REFLECTION

Once students are finished with

the matching and sorting
activity, they will move on
to the conclusion part of the
lesson.
Students will turn to the second
page in their handout and
answer the provided
questions.
Students will turn in this handout
for the teacher to assess.

The students are going to be

turning this in and the teacher is
able to assess the students by
looking at what they answered.

The students were able to finish

the lesson today and they had a
bit of trouble with the conclusion
part of it. I took this part of the
lesson right out of their science
book, but should of clarified it
better as well because many
students were confused on the
questions asked. The words were
hard to understand.

Lesson 5
TEACHER:
Ms. Ashley Miller

INSTRUCTIONAL UNIT
DATE:
GRADE/Acquisition
November 30, 2014
Level:
3rd/Emerging
SUBJECT
Science

LESSON TITLE:
Fossils
LESSON OBJECTIVE:
All students will be able to
correctly identify what a
fossil is and can correctly
label their groups picture
of an animal fossil.

LANGUAGE STANDARDS AND CONTENT OBJECTIVES

California Content Standard
Common Core Science Standard
Life Sciences
N/A
3. Adaptations in physical structure or behavior
may improve an organisms chance for survival.
As a basis for understanding this concept:
e) Students know that some kinds of
organisms that once lived on Earth have
completely disappeared and that some of
those resembled others that are alive
today.
Common Core ELD Standard
Part 1- 2. Interacting via written English: Collaborate
with peers on joint writing projects of short
informational and literary texts, using technology
where appropriate for publishing, graphics, etc.

Culturally Responsive Pedagogy

All students will be motivated in becoming active contributors in their
own learning and thinking critically.

MODIFICATIONS FOR ELs

EL learners being paired up in
groups.

ADAPTATIONS FOR LEARNERS

RATIONALE
REFLECTION
These students can benefit from a
group project because if they
struggle with computers or with the
reading and research, their peers
can help them where they need it.

MODIFICATIONS FOR Special RATIONALE

Challenges
Autism students-working with a
graphic organizer

This strategy helps those who need

organization and benefit from their
thoughts being written down
because they are able to go back
and review their notes whenever
they need to.

Multiple Intelligences Addressed RATIONALE

Interpersonal
Intrapersonal
Visual
Linguistic
Logical

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REFLECTION

Working with a group

Brainstorming
Looking at fossil pictures
Graphic Organizer
Research, critical thinking,
designing web quest

ASSESSMENT
STRATEGY FOR ASSESSMENT
Teacher will assess the students graphic organizers and correct any misleading information for the
students to use on their web quest. Teacher will also assess the students joint web quests to check for
understanding and make sure they finish their project. Teacher will observe and walk around the
classroom to make sure all students are participating.

LEARNING ENVIRONMENT
MATERIALS, EQUIPMENT, and TECHNOLOGY NEEDED
Computer lab, graphic organizers, pen/pencil, paper, pictures of animal fossils

INTO
This is the fifth and final lesson
of the unit and follows after the
lesson on extinction.
Teacher will begin lesson by
asking the students if they
remember what extinction is and
what can cause it.
Then, the teacher will build on

INTO, THROUGH, and BEYOND

RATIONALE

Extends the learning about

extinction

REFLECTION

their prior knowledge and

remind them that from their
previous lesson they learned
scientists learn about animals
from long ago by studying their
bones.

Tapping into prior knowledge

and previous material

Teacher will then set up a

scenario that The University of
Phoenix football Stadium is
currently being remodeled and
while workers were digging up
the dirt on the field, they found
some strange items.
Teacher will go over key
vocabulary:
Fossil
Paleontologist
Paleontology

Going over the key vocabulary

before the lesson begins, lets the
students assume the roles and
really understand what they are
supposed to be doing.

Teacher will then hang up 6

examples of the fossils that were
found.
Teacher will ask the students,
How can we identify these
animals and see if they still
exist? How long ago did they
live? If not alive, does it have
any descendants?
THROUGH
Students will brainstorm on their
own for a few minutes and the
teacher will then ask for a couple
examples and write them on the
white board.

Guiding Question(s)

RATIONALE
By writing it down for the class
to see, they understand they are
being recognized and they can
refer back to the answers when
they conclude the lesson.

Teacher will then discuss how

fossils are formed and how they
are studied.
Students will be put into groups
of 4 and teacher will then pass
out 1 animal fossil to each group.
Students will be acting as
paleontologists for this part of
the lesson. Students will be
given a graphic organizer to jot
down and organize what they
research about their animal. This
graphic organizer will be used
for the next part of the lesson.

Graphic organizers are great tools

to use for this kind of lesson
because when it is research
based, it is easier to finalize the
product when there are notes to
look over. It is also a great tool to
use for those who need
information written down to refer
back to.

REFLECTION

BEYOND

RATIONALE

This next part of the lesson is

intended for next day because
the research will take some time
to do and fill out the graphic
organizer.
Still in the groups of 4, the
students will now create a web
quest on their specific animal
fossil and what they learned
about it. Students will use their
graphic organizer to plan out
their project.

Students are already familiar with

using the computer and with web
quest projects.

These web quests will be shared

with the rest of the class during a
gallery walk.

Allows for all students to learn

about each different fossil and to
give and receive feedback from
others on their own fossil.

REFLECTION