Integrating Reading, Writing, and Math into a Science Lesson

Teacher Candidate:

Grade Level:

Date:

Unit/Subject:

Instructional Plan Title

I. Planning

Lesson Summary and Focus:

In a few sentences, summarize this lesson, identifying the central focus based on the content/skills you are teaching. Clarify where this lesson falls within a unit of study.

Instructional Materials, Equipment, and Technology:

List ALL materials, equipment, and technology the teacher
and
students will use during the lesson. Add or attach copies of ALL printed and online materials at the end of this template. Be sure to address how you will teach the students to use the technology in Section II. INSTRUCTION.

Classroom and Student Factors:

Describe the important classroom factors (demographics and environment) and student factors (IEPs, 504s, ELLs, non-labeled challenged students), and the effect of those factors on planning, teaching, and assessing students to facilitate learning for all students.

National / State Learning Standards:

Identify the relevant grade level standards, including the strand, cluster, and standards by number
and
its text.

Specific Learning Targets/Objectives:

Specify exactly what the students will be able to do after the standards-based lesson.

Lesson Focus Question:

Write a question which is aligned to the learning target and which demonstrates the overall “big idea” students should learn through this lesson.

Academic Language:

Key Vocabulary:

Include the content-specific terms you need to teach and their meanings according to this lesson.

Instruction and Development:

Include instructional strategies for teaching the selected academic vocabulary terms, as well as vocabulary development activities to allow students to practice and apply the terms.

Summative Assessment:

Include details of any summative assessment as applicable. Explain how the summative assessment measures the learning targets/objectives.

Differentiation Strategies

Instruction

Activities

Assessment

Describe instructional differentiation strategies to be used throughout the lesson to enhance instruction and make the content comprehensible for all students.

Describe instructional differentiation strategies to be used throughout the lesson to scaffold learning and engage all students.

Describe differentiation strategies for formative and summative assessments to allow all students to demonstrate what they know or have learned.

II. Instruction

The 5Es

Probing Questions

Engage

Designed to help students understand the learning task and make connections to past and present learning experiences. It should stimulate interest and prompt students to identify their own questions about the topic. Typical activities in this stage include posing a question, defining a problem, or demonstrating a discrepant event, then using small group discussions to stimulate and share ideas. Instructors help students connect previous knowledge to the new concepts introduced in the unit.

Develop a few questions which help students access prior knowledge and get them thinking about the big idea of the lesson.

Explore

Students have the opportunity to get directly involved with key concepts through guided exploration of information. They begin identifying patterns and make connections to other disciplines. Frequently, students will diverge from the slated activity to explore their own questions, continually building on their knowledge base. In this stage, instructors observe and listen to students as they interact with each other and the information provided. Probing questions help students clarify their understanding and redirect their investigations when necessary.

Develop a few probing questions which help students move towards mastery of the learning target and promote critical thinking and inquiry-based learning.

Explain

Activity:
Students are introduced more formally to the lesson’s concepts. Through readings and discussions, students gain understanding of the major concepts and can verify answers to questions or problems posed earlier. In addition, more abstract concepts not easily explored in earlier activities are introduced and explained. As students formulate new ideas, appropriate vocabulary can be introduced.

Develop a few questions for class discussion which help students work through misconceptions, gain a deeper understanding of the content, and move students toward mastery of the learning target.

Elaborate

Activity:
Students expand on what they have learned and apply their newfound knowledge to a different situation. They test ideas more thoroughly and explore additional relationships.

Closure:
Providing closure to the lesson and verifying student understanding is critical at this point.

Develop a few questions, aligned to the learning target, which allow students to apply new knowledge in a different context. Include the focus question here.

Evaluate

Formative Assessment:
The instructor continually observes students’ learning to monitor their progress using questioning techniques and discussions. More formal evaluation – traditional assessments in the form of quizzes and alternative assessments such as concept maps, summary projects or reports – can be conducted at this stage. The assessment should be aligned with the content of the learning experience.