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Teacher Candidate Name:

Grade Level:

2nd Grade

Date:

March 10, 2024

Unit/Subject:

Literacy and Science

Instructional Plan Title:

Exploring Plant Life Cycle

Lesson Summary and Focus:

This lesson focuses on teaching students about the life cycle of plants, integrating literacy by reading a relevant story and discussing key vocabulary. Students will practice reading comprehension and fluency while learning about basic plant biology.

Classroom and Student Factors/Grouping:

The classroom includes diverse learners, including ELL students and a few students with IEPs focusing on reading comprehension. Grouping will be mixed ability, allowing peer support and scaffolding. Visual aids and sentence frames will be used to support understanding and expression for all students.

National/State Learning Standards:

· CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.2.1 – Ask and answer such questions as who, what, where, when, why, and how to demonstrate understanding of key details in a text.

· NGSS 2-LS2-1 – Plan and conduct an investigation to determine if plants need sunlight and water to grow.

Specific Learning Target(s)/Objectives:

· After reading a story about plant life cycles, students will be able to identify and describe the four main stages of the plant life cycle: germination, growth, reproduction, and seed spreading.

· Students will use specific vocabulary related to plant life cycles in a group discussion to demonstrate their understanding of the text and the science concept.

Academic Language

· General Vocabulary: cycle, growth, stage, change

· Content-Specific Vocabulary: germination, photosynthesis, reproduction, pollination

· Teaching Strategy: Introduce vocabulary with real-life images and examples, use vocabulary in sentences, and apply terms in the context of the story and the science concept.

Resources, Materials, Equipment, and Technology:

· Book: “The Tiny Seed” by Eric Carle or a similar story about plant life cycles.

· Chart paper to create a class anchor chart of the plant life cycle.

· Individual whiteboards and markers for students to draw the plant life cycle.

· Access to online videos or interactive games about plant life cycles (e.g., BrainPOP Jr. on Plant Life Cycles).

· Worksheets for students to label or sequence the stages of a plant life cycle.

Anticipatory Set

· I will show a short video clip about plant growth from seed to flower to grab the students' attention and activate prior knowledge.

· I will use a KWL chart (Know, Want to know, Learned) to record students' prior knowledge and questions about plant life cycles. This will also help to gauge their interest and curiosity.

· I will introduce a real plant and have students make observations, discussing what they know about how plants grow.

Time Needed

10 minutes

Multiple Means of Representation

· I will use guided notes that accompany a read-aloud of the story to help students follow along and identify key information.

· Visual aids, such as diagrams of the plant life cycle, will be displayed and referred to throughout the lesson.

· I will provide a hands-on activity where students can arrange picture cards in the correct sequence to show the stages of plant growth.

Differentiation:

· ELL: Provide vocabulary cards with visuals and definitions in simple language. Use sentence frames to support discussion participation.

· Special needs: Offer guided notes with more structure and fewer words per page, use manipulatives for the sequencing activity.

· Gifted abilities: Provide additional resources for deeper exploration, such as books or articles on unique plant species.

· Early finishers: Have additional related activities ready, such as drawing their own plant life cycle or researching a specific plant.

Time Needed

20 minutes

Multiple Means of Engagement

· Role-playing activity: The students will be taking turns to enact the stages of plant's life cycle.

· Group discussion: They will talk in small groups about what they got from the story and the video and use academic vocabulary.

· Interactive whiteboard game: Students will drag and drop from the plant life cycle onto the class whiteboard in the correct order.

Differentiation:

· ELL: Use visual cues and have them paired up in peer groups for role play activity.

· Special needs: Give precise, step-by-step directions and a peer partner for the interactive games.

· Gifted abilities: Motivate these student groups to organize their own discussions or lead certain aspects of plant biology.

· Early finishers: Encourage them to help their friends or look for other sources that are related to the lesson topic.

Time Needed

15 minutes

Multiple Means of Expression

· Students will develop a storyboard that demonstrates the steps in the plant life cycle, writing in sentences to describe each step.

· Students will do a formative assessment such as a pair-share discussion to tell the program coordinator their level of understanding.

Differentiation:

· ELL: Student to use the combination of illustrations and words on their storyboards, provide sentence starters.

· Special needs: Provide a storyboard template with drawn images to be labeled or sequenced by the students.

· Gifted abilities: Request these students to add more details or processes to their storyboards, for instance, photosynthesis and pollination.

· Early finishers: They could write a poem or short story on what a plant passes through during its life cycle or make a highly detailed story board.

Time Needed

15 minutes

Extension Activity and/or Homework

· Students will take home a worksheet where they can draw and label the plant life cycle, reinforcing the lesson's objectives.

· As an extension, students could be asked to observe a plant at home or in the schoolyard, record their observations, and compare them to the plant life cycle stages they learned in class.

Time Needed

10 minutes for explanation, variable for completion