Tarbox 1

Celeste Tarbox
EDU 521
NancyLee Bergey
November 16, 2014
Lesson Plan Draft
Core Designs of Lesson Design
What
Students will be introduced to different types of seeds. Using seeds, students will
have an opportunity to practice skills such as identifying and using their five senses,
describing an object, and classifying objects into specific categories. Students will
have the opportunity to explore seeds and develop a better understanding of their
complexity and how much they range in shape and size. Students will have practice
verbalizing their thoughts after selecting a group characterization. Students will
have practice working together to come to a conclusion Students will have practice
describing an object to their classmates. Students will feel comfortable sharing their
ideas with the group and to know that no answer is wrong!
How
First and foremost, I will model whatever skill I wish the students to practice. We
will review the five senses before starting the activity. I will pull information and
access their prior knowledge about the five senses. Second, I wanted this lesson to
be hands-on because I believe that active participation leads to discovery and
internalization. In using their five senses, I have made this lesson hands-on.
Why
I picked the topic of seeds after I accompanied my students on their field trip to
Solly Farms in Warminster, PA. On their tour of the farm, they were shown a variety
of different squash and played with maraca gourds. I had the idea of bringing in
different types of seeds to explore (sort, categorize/classify, taste). From this idea, I
decided to highlight the use of students senses to describe the characteristics of
seeds.
I wanted to access students prior experience on the farm and that is why I chose a
topic that was related to this particular experience but that went beyond what they
may learn in the classroom. I want to introduce them to all different types of seeds
because Im curious if when they think of seeds, they think of pumpkin and apple
seeds. (The 1st Grade recently completed two thematic units on pumpkins and
apples.) I want to facilitate that moment when a students prior knowledge clashes
with what is being presented to them. Seeds arent just small and black (apple
seeds) or pale and taste great with salt (pumpkin seeds) Seeds can be nuts! Seeds

Comment [NRB1]: This should go before

the plan itself! It explains why we see what
we are going to see in the lesson, and why
we got there.
Comment [CT2]: Oops! I moved it.
Comment [NRB3]: I think you have missed
some important ideas you are actually
attacking here: There is very little in this
sentence section about seeds. I suspect that
you are so caught up in what you are doing
that you simply forgot to highlight any
content here, but I think you need some.
Comment [CT4]: I agree. I was very caught
up in what I was doing (the activity). What
is really comes down to is that I wanted
them to see that seeds come in all different
shapes and sizes.
Comment [NRB5]: Too many I want
statements. I like it in this last sentence.
Why not make the rest declarative: Students
will
Comment [CT6]: I changed the statements
to Students will

Comment [NRB7]: Here all the I

statements make sense.

Comment [NRB8]: We often speak of

teaching children about the senses, but that
is actually silly - they have been using their
senses since before they were born.
I think what we really mean by that is that
we help children to develop precise
vocabulary to describe what they
experience with their senses.
And as far as hands-on is concerned, we
can agree that using any sense other than
touch does not likely require hands. This is
why you hear me refer to materials-based
lessons or experiential learning.

Tarbox 2
can be tiny! Seeds can be big (coconut)! Seeds can float in the air. Seeds can float on
water.

Comment [NRB9]: I think that these last

two would benefit from examples as you did
with apple and pumpkin.

I firmly believe in Gardners theory of multiple intelligences and I try to address

multiple intelligences in my teaching. In this lesson, students will handle objects
skillfully (bodily-kinesthetic), they will use logical reasoning (logical-mathematical)
when defending their classifications of the seeds, they will use their five senses,
including hearing (musical-rhythmic and harmonic), they will use a graphic
organizer (visual-spatial), they will interact with their classmates (interpersonal),
and they will classify natural forms (i.e. seeds) (naturalistic).
Goals/Objectives
Students will observe and describe the characteristics of seeds. Students will discuss
ways to find out how seeds are alike and different. Students will have practice using
their senses while observing a variety of seeds. Students will draw and describe
seeds using an observation data table.
Standards
CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.K.MD.A.1
Describe measurable attributes of objects, such as length or weight. Describe several
measurable attributes of a single object.
CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.K.MD.A.2
Directly compare two objects with a measurable attribute in common, to see which
object has more of/less of the attribute, and describe the difference.
CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.K.MD.B.3
Classify objects into given categories; count the number of objects in each category
and sort the categories by count.
Framework of K-12 Science Education
Dimension 1: Scientific and Engineering Practices
1. Analyzing and interpreting data
2. Obtaining, evaluating, and communicating information
Dimension 2: Crosscutting Concepts
Structure and function. The way in which an object or living thing is shaped
and its substructure determine many of its properties and functions.
Dimension 3: Life Sciences
LS1.A: STRUCTURE AND FUNCTION
A central feature of life is that organisms grow, reproduce, and die.
They have characteristic structures, functions, and behaviors.
LS1.B: GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT OF ORGANISMS
Plants and animals have predictable characteristics at different stages
of development.

Comment [NRB10]: These are excellent

standards to relate to what you are doing

Comment [NRB11]: I am not actually sure

that your activity relates to these, although
the text probably does.
Comment [CT12]: I agree. I do not really
touch on the structure or development of
organisms (i.e. seeds).
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Materials and Preparation

3 egg cartons (labeled)
10 different types of (edible) seeds (sunflower, sesame, almond, pistachio, pecan,
rye, poppy, chickpea, lima bean, pumpkin)
Seeds by Ken Robbins
6 Describe it! graphic organizers
6 classification data collection worksheet
Five Senses chart (with laminated pieces)
Sticky tack
Basket with 12 pencils and 3 erasers
3 bottles of glue
6 mini magnifying glasses
6 jumbo play tweezers

Comment [NRB13]: I really appreciate

that you have given them something that
they really CAN taste.
Comment [NRB14]: I need to understand
this better, see below.
Comment [CT15]: A picture has been
included in my Analysis.

Learning Environment and Management Issues

I will remove six students from the general education classroom. We will move
together to the conference room on the 1st floor. This room does not contain a
printer/copier so it is often unoccupied during the day. I do not anticipate any
interruptions. The six students will sit at a round table. There are only four wooden
chairs; therefore, two office chairs with wheels will need to be used. I anticipate this
potentially being an issue with my students, but I will address this issue at the
beginning of the lesson by setting expectations.

Comment [NRB16]: Yes, it probably will

be

Plan/Procedure
1. The hook. (5 minutes)
a. I will start with a guided discovery of seeds. I will bring in a tray of
fruit that is cut in half (avocado, apple, kiwi, pomegrante). I will show
the tray of fruit to the students. I will ask them to observe the objects
and to share out any noticings. I want to know what they remember
about seeds from their unit on pumpkins. I want to reintroduce the
topic of seeds to generate interest and excitement as well as the
opportunity to review vocabulary and access students prior
knowledge.
i. Questions/Comments:
1. I have this instrument in my hand. Can someone tell
me what its called? Right! Its a maraca! Now, can you
guess whats inside? Seeds! Did you remember from our
field trip when the farmer let you play with different
squash maracas?
2. Not only did I bring in a maraca, but I also brought in
lots of different seeds with me today (show them egg
cartons). My friend Adam works in community gardens
throughout Philadelphia. He let me have some of his

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special seeds to share with all of you! Now I know you
have learned about seeds before, can someone share
something they remember about seeds?
3. Lets start reading to find out more! Keep your ears and
eyes open for different kinds of seeds that we might
have in our cartons!

Comment [NRB17]: Why not do the

senses activity right here as the warm up?
Comment [CT18]: I moved the Senses
anchor chart to the beginning of the lesson.
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2. Activity. Seed Exploration.

a. Give students three trays of assorted seeds and tools to . Model how to
use magnifying glasses and tweezers.
b. Allow students to play with seeds and prompt them with questions.
ii.i. My friend Adam works in community gardens throughout
Philadelphia. He let me have some of his special seeds to share
with all of you! Now I know you have learned about seeds
before, can someone share something they remember about
seeds?
3. KWL.
a. FYI: That morning, I decided to add an informal KWL section into my
lesson.
b. I asked students after they had explored the trays of seeds what they
knew about seeds. I used Post-its to record their knowledge.
b.c. I asked students if they had any questions about seeds. I used Post-its
to record their knowledge.
d. I asked them how we might answer some of these questions. Through
books and exploration, we might answer some of our questions.
i. We are going to learn more about seeds by using our senses!
2. Read-aloud. (10 minutes)
a. I will read Seeds by Ken Robbins (photo attached). This informational
text will give students an opportunity to listen about seeds and to
generate interest in the topic before we continue
3.4.
DemonstrationActivity. Using Our Senses. (15 minutes)
a. Were going to use our senses to describe seeds.
b. Background. (5 minutes)
i. We will review the senses as a group using an anchor chart
(picture attached). I will ask the students to name the five
senses. With their help, we will fill in the statements, I can
smell/hear/taste/touch/see with my [blank]. Students will fill
in the blank on the anchor chart in their writing. Once we have
filled in the chart, we will continue with the activity.
c. Graphic Organizer. (see attached) (3 minutes)
i. I will replicate the graphic organizer on a large piece of chart
paper. I will demonstrate how to fill in a section on the
worksheet using an example (i.e. sunflower seed).
1. Example Seed (sunflower seed)

Comment [NRB19]: Why not do the

senses activity right here as the warm up?
Comment [CT20]: I moved the Senses
anchor chart to the beginning of the lesson.
Comment [CT21]: I added the impromptu
KWL section into the lesson plan. I added it
in the morning before my lesson. I
acknowledge why this did not work in my
Analysis.

Comment [NRB22]: As you know, I prefer

the reading to come at the end. I think that
working with materials gets the children
invested and generates questions, which
then the text may help to answer. It gives
reading more purpose when the children
have a personal question.
Comment [CT23]: I moved the read-aloud
to the end of the lesson.
Comment [NRB24]: I?
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Tarbox 5
a. Brainstorm as many words as they can to
describe the seed. Prompt them by asking about
the shape, color, texture, or size of the seed.
b. Use the Describe it! graphic organizer to organize
their thoughts and observations.
2. Students Choice Seed.
a. Each student picks a different seed.
b. They record their observations on the Describe
it! graphic organizer by recording words that
describe their seed just like as we practiced
together.
c. Students glue down their example seed next to
where they wrote what they are describing.
5. Share out. (15 minutes)
a. Each student will share out one word for each sense (i.e. I chose the
pistachio. It is hard, it smells salty, it tastes salty, it feels smooth).
b. I will record their observations on an anchor chart
c. After each student has shared out their data, we will look at the chart
as a group.
i. I will ask the students if they see any similarities or differences.
d. Ask one student to share their observations of their seed with the
class.
e. Ask if any of the other seeds have characteristics that are similar.
Place the bag of seeds that are similar on the chart board. Ask
students to describe how this group is similar. Give a category name
to this group (i.e. black seeds).
f. Continue asking for similar groups of seeds and descriptive categories
until all the seeds are classified.
g. Using a large version of their graphic organizer, demonstrate on the
board how students can transfer their classification of the groups of
seeds to the graphic organizer.
i. Black seeds
White seeds
Brown seeds

Comment [NRB25]: I find these next three

directions very confusing. If I do, the
children are likely to.
Comment [CT26]: After meeting with Ann
Superfine, we decided on creating a data
collection chart to organize their data. There
will be a row for each student and their seed
and a column for each sense.
Comment [NRB27]: How will you do this?
Comment [NRB28]: It feels like there is a
lot of literacy in this lesson (naming
categories, writing observations,
concentration on which sense is being used,
and relatively little time to compare and
contrast the seeds.
Comment [NRB29]: I would like you to try
to modify this lesson so that the children get
to do more with the seeds.
Suggestions include:
divide by color, pointiness or other
characteristics as we did with rocks last
summer. (directed classification)
Teach, and have children apply a
measurement technique such as seeing how
many squares on a graph paper each kind of
seed fills. (area covered by each seed - 2
dimensions.
You could also have kids measure the
longest dimension of each seed. The easiest
way to do this might, again, be by having
students place the seeds, one at a time, at
the edge of a piece of graph paper, mark the
top, then take the seed away and count the
squares. (biggest linear dimension, 1
dimension)

...
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ii. Students will fill out classification graphic organizer in pairs.

6. Read-aloud. (10 minutes)
a. I will read Seeds by Ken Robbins (photo attached). This informational
text will give students an opportunity to listen about seeds and to
generate interest in the topic before we continue
Assessment of Goals/Objectives

Formatted: Bullets and Numbering

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Comment [NRB30]: As you know, I prefer
the reading to come at the end. I think that
working with materials gets the children ...
Comment [CT31]: I moved the read-aloud
to the end of the lesson.
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Tarbox 6
I will perform informal (and formative) assessments at the beginning of the lesson
by asking students about their prior knowledge of seeds. I will also gather
information about their learning through the two graphic organizers that they will
fill out during the 45 minute lesson. The Describe it! graphic organizer will
demonstrate if they are able to describe the characteristics of seeds using their five
senses. The second classification worksheet will display their (mis)understanding of
the task at hand (classifying different types of seeds into categories).
Anticipating Students Responses and Your Possible Responses
1. Management Issues
a. I plan to pick students that have demonstrated an interest in sScience
and therefore, may not be the most compliant students. Prior to
starting, I plan to go over expectations. Despite the new space, I will
make clear to them that they are still in a classroom and that Mrs.
Sharp trusts them to act appropriately, like Peace Makers and not
Peace Breakers.
b. I predict that allowing students to each choose a different seed may
not go well, but I want them to learn to negotiate and decide on their
own who gets which seed. There are twelve seeds and six students.
There may be overlap in their choices, but I have faith in them that
they will be able to sort it out with a little guidance from me.
c. I want the students to be able to taste the seed that they choose.
Certain seeds are edible raw, but others, I will need to have prepared
ahead of time (chickpeas, beans, corn, lima bean, etc.)
d. One of their classmates is allergic to nuts, so she will obviously not be
present in the conference room, but to make sure that the students
wash their hands (prior to the lesson and) after the lesson before
returning to their classroom.
2. Response to Content of the Lesson
a. Students may struggle with the classification activity, but hopefully
through modeling it with one of their seeds, they will be able to
succeed. I am also pairing them up at this point in the lesson, so with
assistance, they will are more capable of succeeding (zone of proximal
development).
Accommodations
1. Accommodations for students who may find material too challenging
a. If the student struggles with the Describe it! graphic designer, I will
give the student a large index card and guide them to write down any
word that they can use to describe the seed and will prompt them to
write down the color, shape, texture, and or size.
2. Accommodations for students who may need greater challenge and/or finish
early
a. For the student that needs a greater challenge, I will ask her to think
about how seeds travel. She can classify the seeds this way.

Comment [NRB32]: You might ask about

what questions they have during this preassessment and then after the activity, and
then after the reading you could ask which
questions they had originally have been
answered and what questions they still have.
It is great if they have more questions
(inquiry after all) and it would be
interesting to know if their questions have
greater depth at the end.

Comment [NRB33]: ?? Wouldnt those

who have demonstrated interest be the
most compliant?

Comment [NRB34]: Yes, this may be

difficult. Think about whether you want to
make this easier on yourself since this is
early on and taking too much time on this
may not get you where you want to go.
Comment [CT35]: This is one of my main
points in my Analysis. I took on way too
much.
Comment [NRB36]: Great!
Comment [NRB37]: This is very
thoughtful and appropriate.

Comment [NRB38]: Yes.

Tarbox 7
b. If a student finishes early, I will ask them to draw their seed on the
back of the Describe it! graphic organizer.
Core Designs of Lesson Design
What
Students will be introduced to different types of seeds. Using seeds, students will
have an opportunity to practice skills such as identifying and using their five senses,
describing an object, and classifying objects into specific categories. tudents have
practice verbalizing their thoughts after selecting a group characterization. tudents
have practice working together to come to a conclusion have practice describing an
object to their classmates. tudents feel comfortable sharing their ideas with the
group and to know that no answer is wrong!
How
First and foremost, I will model whatever skill I wish the students to practice. We
will review the five senses before starting the activity. I will pull information and
access their prior knowledge about the five senses. Second, I wanted this lesson to
be hands-on because I believe that active participation leads to discovery and
internalization. In using their five senses, I have made this lesson hands-on.
Why
I picked the topic of seeds after I accompanied my students on their field trip to
Solly Farms in Warminster, PA. On their tour of the farm, they were shown a variety
of different squash and played with maraca gourds. I had the idea of bringing in
different types of seeds to explore (sort, categorize/classify, taste). From this idea, I
decided to highlight the use of use their students senses to describe the
characteristics of seeds.
I wanted to access students their prior experience on the farm and that is why I
chose a topic that was related to this particular experience but that went beyond
what they may learn in the classroom. I want to introduce them to all different
types of seeds because Im curious if when they think of seeds, they think of
pumpkin and apple seeds. (The 1st Grade recently completed two thematic units on
pumpkins and apples.) I want to facilitate that moment when a students prior
knowledge clashes with what is being presented to them. Seeds arent just small and
black (apple seeds) or pale and taste great with salt (pumpkin seeds) Seeds can be
nuts! Seeds can be tiny! Seeds can be big (coconut)! Seeds can float in the air. Seeds
can float on water.
I firmly believe in Gardners theory of multiple intelligences and I try to address
multiple intelligences in my teaching. In this lesson, students will handle objects
skillfully (bodily-kinesthetic), they will use logical reasoning (logical-mathematical)
when defending their classifications of the seeds, they will use their five senses,

Comment [NRB39]: This should go before

the plan itself! It explains why we see what
we are going to see in the lesson, and why
we got there.
Formatted: Strikethrough
Comment [NRB40]: I think you have
missed some important ideas you are
actually attacking here: There is very little
in this sentence section about seeds. I
suspect that you are so caught up in what
you are doing that you simply forgot to
highlight any content here, but I think you
need some.
Comment [NRB41]: Too many I want
statements. I like it in this last sentence.
Why not make the rest declarative: Students
will
Comment [CT42]: I changed the
statements to Students will

Comment [NRB43]: Here all the I

statements make sense.

Comment [NRB44]: We often speak of

teaching children about the senses, but that
is actually silly - they have been using their
senses since before they were born.
I think what we really mean by that is that
we help children to develop precise
vocabulary to describe what they
experience with their senses.
And as far as hands-on is concerned, we
can agree that using any sense other than
touch does not likely require hands. This is
why you hear me refer to materials-based
lessons or experiential learning.
Comment [NRB45]: I think that these last
two would benefit from examples as you did
with apple and pumpkin.

Tarbox 8
including hearing (musical-rhythmic and harmonic), they will use a graphic
organizer (visual-spatial), they will interact with their classmates (interpersonal),
and they will classify natural forms (i.e. seeds) (naturalistic).

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