Ostendorf Stage 3 Plan Learning Experiences WHERETO

Exit cards: will be given every day after lessons in order to give the students opportunities to self-assess as well as reflect. Questions will include: What about todays lesson is still confusing to me? What did I do to help/hider my learning today? What is one thing I need the teacher to talk more about next class? These will be collected and the teacher will review them daily Learning menu: time will be given on Thursdays for at least half of an hour. I will increase or decrease menu time depending on the pace of my students. This menu is differentiated by content, process, and product. Informal checks for understanding: After the end of each lesson I will do a quick check for understanding with the students. I will ask them if they had a clear understanding of what we just learned. If things were clear they will put one finger up, if things were a little confusing they will put two fingers up, and if they are completely and utterly lost they will put three fingers up. This will be used as a quick informal check for understanding. If there are a lot of threes in the air we will have a group discussion on what needs to be clarified more. 1. I will begin this unit with a short video clip (6 minutes) from the PBS animal adaptations movie. Students will go to the computer lab to complete an online simulation to gain interest in this new topic. 2. I will give students a pre-assessment that touches on all the main points they will be learning about. 3. Begin with a question (How could we use adaptations to overcome obstacles threatening our survival?) to hook the students into thinking about adaptations in reference to themselves. 4. Large KWL chart: ask students to talk to the person next to them about what they know about adaptations? Can you think of any examples? What types of things adapt? Each student will write one thing they know about adaptations and place it on the giant KWL cut out. This will be a running KWL chart throughout the unit that we will add to daily. This differentiates content and product. 5. Introduce the unit to the students; share the Essential Questions and the performance tasks (human relocation and animal discovery). 6. I will discuss with the students that it is important to learn about adaptations because some behaviors need to be taught in order for animals survive and some animals are born with instinctive natural behaviors. These allow animals to respond to life needs. This concept is also true for humans for we also adapt to our environment in order to survive (for example, we wear different clothes depending on the weather and eat different types of food depending on where we are located on Earth). 7. Read a book about adapting animals. Talk about important key terms, ideas, and examples of adaptations that the book told us. We will add to our KWL chart. 8. Hide and show: create our vocabulary hide and shows that will be referred to throughout the unit for vocabulary practice at least twice a week. We will use these

Ostendorf

whenever a student may have any free time as well. This will be differentiated by product. 9. Expert groups: to describe and explain the vocabulary students will be divided into five groups. Each group will receive a vocabulary word: mimicry, dormancy, camouflage, hibernation, and migration. They will spend time researching each word and create a poster presentation that will be shared with the class. Each poster has to include pictures, examples, and a kid-friendly definition that are NOT used in their learning tool. 10. For homework the students will write a diary entry reflecting on what they have learned about hibernation, migration, dormancy, camouflage, dormancy, and mimicry. Tell the students they can also include some ideas about what they would still like to learn about the explorers. 11. Show the students another video clip from PBS animal adaptions documentary. 12. Flash cards: children will complete and practice with flashcards to help review thevocabulary mimicry, dormancy, camouflage, hibernation, and migration. 13. Vocabulary quiz: mimicry, dormancy, camouflage, hibernation, and migration. 14. Learning menu: introduce learning menu, explain when it is due, and expectations. Give time in class to start this. 15. Habitat shoebox creation: to describe specific examples of how animals gather food and create their different shelters students will be given an animal. They may use whatever resources are in the classroom to research their animal and they will create a habitat that their animal would live in. This will be differentiated by content and product. 16. Effort scale- Students will be asked to assess their level of effort on the shoebox creation on a scale 1-3, 1 being the lowest level of engagement and 3 being the best work they could have turned in. If they give themselves anything lower than a 3 they will write what they could do better to create a better product. 17. Habitat shoebox show and tell day. This time will be dedicated to sharing the different animals, where they live, and what they eat. They will be displayed on a back table but will be shared using the document camera. This is differentiated by content and product. 18. Have a class discussion reviewing the KWL chart and examples of how animals gather food and live differently. Add any addition information to the KWL chart that the students think of and share. We will revisit Essential Question #1 during this discussion. 19. Adaptation drawing: Students will draw an adaptation to ensure survival of an animal specific to a given environment. This will be differentiated by content and product. These will all be hung up in the classroom so that we are surrounded by adaptation. This will be differentiated by product. 20. Performance task #1: Animal discovery 21. Students will share their animals with another 3rd grade class. Have students share with one another and talk about their experiences. Bring class together as a whole to share some ideas and discuss their animals. 22. Journal reflection: I will ask the students to self assess their learning for the day in their journals. I will ask the students to assess themselves as a learner, by identifying what they did well or what they need to improve on for future lessons. 23. Effort scale- Students will be asked to assess their level of effort on the shoebox creation on a scale 1-3, 1 being the lowest level of engagement and 3 being the best work

Ostendorf

they could have turned in. If they give themselves anything lower than a 3 they will write what they could do better to create a better product. 24. Introduce the difference between instinct and learned behaviors 25. Predator/prey matching game: To compare and contrast instinct and learned behaviors students will have to decide which animal (A, B, or C) they would rather eat according to the way each looks. They all are similar animals but have slight changes in the way they present themselves to show whether or not they are poisonous (coloration). 26. Habitat drama presentation: to demonstrate different instinctive and learned behaviors of adapted animals in their habitats. This is differentiated by process. 27. Journal writing: the students will self assess their learning for this presentation in their journals. I will ask the students to assess themselves as a learner and listener, by identifying what they did well or what they need to improve on for future lessons. 28. BrainPop webquest: this webquest explores, first, the most basic definition of behavior and some examples of it in the natural world. It introduces the two main categories of behavior--instinctual and learned--and the difference between the two, with some examples. It also explains why it can be so hard to decipher between something thats instinct and something thats learned 29. Class debate: Debate which instincthibernation (staying inactive during winter months) or homing (always knowing how to find your way home)is more important to a bear's survival. Give reasons for your arguments. Students will be able to defend an animals ability to adapt to its environment in order to survive through this debate. 30. Journal writing: Analyze some behaviors that both humans and animals displaypurring, crying, or playing. Write whether they are instincts or learned behaviors. For every learned behavior, explain how it was learned. Was it taught by a parent or learned through some other experience? 31. Essential Question #2 will be reviewed here. 32. Venn Diagram quiz: children will identify and describe the difference between natural and learned behavior by filling out a venn diagram quiz 33. Human behavior list: Students will with partners create a list of 20 of their own behaviors throughout the day, such as waking up, brushing your teeth, walking, eating, or reading. Which of these are learned and which are instinctual? If they were learned, how did you learn them? This will be differentiated by content. 34. Performance Task # 2: Human relocation 35. Broadcast day: Students will share their broadcasts with the class and their NASA representatives. 36. Discussion groups: Students will break off into small groups discuss the information that they have been given amongst themselves. They will go over things that they understand and other aspects that may be a little unclear. This will allow the students to gain perspective on their own interpretation and those of their classmates as well. 37. Students will talk about their experiences as news reporters, things they found easy, the things they found hard, and the things they liked and didnt like. They will share new information they learned. Students will then self-assess their work and reflect on how they applied the past to the present. 38. Journal reflection: I will ask the students to self assess their learning for the day in their journals. I will ask the students to assess themselves as a learner, by identifying what they did well or what they need to improve on for future lessons.

Ostendorf

39. Effort scale- Students will be asked to assess their level of effort on the shoebox creation on a scale 1-3, 1 being the lowest level of engagement and 3 being the best work they could have turned in. If they give themselves anything lower than a 3 they will write what they could do better to create a better product. 40. Students will end the unit with a letter where they reflect on the essential questions one last time. Ill keep these letters until right before the SOL test and then they can read their letters as a review.