LONG FORM LESSON PLAN TEMPLATE

Name:

Lauren Checker

Content Area(s)

Date: 4/23/15

Scientific Thinking

Rationale/Context
(What do I know about the
students in this class that will help
me plan the lesson?)

Grade(s):K4

Previously the students have explored their five senses. They

spent time in the beginning of the school year discovering how
we can understand the world around us using our senses.
They have spent a good duration of time understanding the
two main senses I plan to use on my nature walk; seeing, and
feeling.
The children have also been on many walks around the school
so they are familiar with the outdoors and their surroundings.
They are familiar with the differences between city and country
life. The children know that although they live in a city area,
there is nature around them such as trees, grass, flowers, etc.
The children enjoy the outdoors and I believe they will be
engaged in the nature walk.
The children have also used their journals to document their
learning and draw or write things they notice. Some students
are beginning to sound out words and can decode even further
with guidance.

Lesson Domain(s)

The children have not yet been introduced to the word

observation, but they are well prepared to learn what it is. I
know they enjoy exploring new things and I believe that
introducing them to making observations will prepare them
even more for K5.
Scientific Thinking, Curiosity, Engagement, and Persistence

WMELS, Kostelnick

Learning Goal(s)/
Standard(s)

PERFORMANCE STANDARD: C.EL. 1 Uses observation to

gather information.

(WMELS)

PERFORMANCE STANDARD: C.EL. 2 Uses tools to gather

information, compare observed objects, and seek answers to
question through active investigation.
PERFORMANCE STANDARD: A.EL.1 Displays curiosity, risktaking, and willingness to engage in new experiences.
PERFORMANCE STANDARD: A.EL. 1 Uses multi-sensory
abilities to process information.

Instructional Objectives

The students will show awareness in their environment

so that they can use their senses of sight and touch to
make observations on the nature walk.

The students will recognize differences in objects during

the nature walk such as grass, rocks, leaves, and etc. so
that they can make observations of these items.

The students will seek information through observation

of an item they collected to satisfy curiosity.

Students will makes comparisons between objects that

have been collected or observed (i.e. rocks, blades of
grass.)

The students will be willing to join their peers in the

nature walk and try this new experiences within their
environment.

The students will use their senses to explore the

environment.

(observable behaviors
(WMELS)

Assessment
(Criteria/Look Fors)
(WMELS)

Content
( Concepts & Academic
Language Focus)
WMELS, Curricular Resource)

Questions

(Kostelnick, Based on lesson,

goals, knowledge of students)

I will be informally assessing the students during the beginning

portion of my lesson. I will be giving a brief mini lesson in
which I will look for student participation and overall
understanding of the concept observation. I will check for
their comprehension by asking questions and listening to their
thoughts they share with the group. Then on our nature walk, I
will be observing children who are engaged and looking at
different objects of nature during our walk. We will be taking a
couple stops along our journey to observe different things we
notice. The students will be collecting a few items they observe
during our time outside. When we come inside, they will be
journaling things they notice or observed in the baggies they
collected. When journaling, I will be more formally assessing
the students by the pictures they draw, or letters they make to
represent their objects. The journals will be more of the formal
assessment portion.
-

Using our senses seeing, feeling, and smelling.

Observation ( this will be the big term I introduce)
Observing items in nature and how to do this

What do we use our senses for?

What are some things we see in nature?
What are some things that we can see when we take a walk
outside, or at recess?
How can we notice things around us?
How can we make observations?
What are some things we noticed outside?
What does your item look like, or feel like?
How could we write/draw about this in our journals?

Instructional Strategies
(Kostelnick May include but are
not limited to: Task Analysis,
Scaffolding, Behavior Reflections,
Paraphrase, Modeling, Effective
Praise, Telling, Explaining,
Questioning, and Turn &Talk/Pair
Share.)

Materials
DAP
Instruction Procedures
(w/Time - Total & by section
Kostelnick)

Introduction
Demonstration
Participation
Practice

I will use scaffolding in my lesson. When explicitly explaining to

the students what we will do on our nature walk I will model for
the students. Then I will give them a chance t to try, and even
journal about it later. So I will also be using telling and
explaining to let the children understand what observations
are. I will really be focusing on questioning during my lesson
because it is scientific based. The children will be exploring so I
will be using questioning to redirect them and allow them to
understand nature and how we observe.
Plastic baggies, objects from nature (i.e. rock, blade of grass),
journals.
Introduction- 2 minutes
-

Good morning everyone, I want you to scoot, scoot, and

scoot towards me.
I will look for children who have their hands in their lap,
bubbles in mouths, and are criss cross applesauce.
Today we are going to be doing something super
exciting, but we wont be able to do it unless everyone is
super good listeners.
Today we are going on a NATURE ADVENTURE outside.
We are going to look at different things around us and
then write/draw in our journals when we come back
inside.

Demonstration- 5 minutes
- Do you remember how we use our senses to notice
things around us?
- Today on our walk we are going to use our eyes to start
noticing things very closely in the outside world.
We are going to make very special things called
OBSERVATIONS
- Observations are what we use when looking at
something very closely.
- Lets all say that. OBSERVATIONS.
- So we are going to go on a nature adventure around the
school today.
- I will tell the children what I expect during the walk and
how we will make observations.
- We are going to stop TWICE on our walk to look at
things around us to make observations of them
- We will only stop to observe when I say.
- I will tell the students that they all have a baggie with
their name on it that they will be in charge of during the
walk.
- I will model myself on a pretend walk and act like I am
looking at something in the grass, I will bend down and
put a piece of grass in my bag. I will say hmm I can
really observe this piece of grass because its very green
and soft, I am going to put it safely in my baggie and
make sure to close it tight!
- Im not going to play with my object, just put it right in

my baggie and keep looking at the world around me!

Participation- 15 minutes
-

I will call the students off who are sitting criss cross
applesauce to go get their coats and line up by the door.
- Mr. Kyle and Mrs. Schlipmann will help me to pass out
the baggies with the students names on them while they
are in line.
- I will remind the students that the baggies are for
collecting things we see outside and will get taken away
if they are being played with.
- We will begin our journey outside around the block.
- Once we are outside I will be at the front of the line
directing students to hold onto their baggies tight.
- Once we reach the side of the fence area I will ask the
students to stop and observe and collect something they
notice around them, I will give them an example briefly:
a rock.
- I will get the group back together by saying clap clap,
snap snap, and redirect them to walk hands by their
sides.
- I will stop again and repeat this process.
- During this time I will be asking students what they are
collecting and why.
- We will go back inside.
- Once inside I will be at the entry way of the classroom to
collect the baggies.
- I will ask the students to find a letter and sit down.
- I will model for the students how I would use what I
collected in my baggie and make out loud observations
about it.
- I will explicitly instruct to the students that we will be
using our journals to write or draw our observations we
collected in our baggies.
- I will ask a couple students in the circle what object they
found and what they noticed about it.
Practice- 7 minutes
I will call the students off by names on their journal.
- Once all students are sitting down at a table with their
journals I will then re-pass out their baggies with their
objects.
- I will have pre-set out markers and crayons for the
students to use.
- I will be conferring with students during this time asking
them what objects they collected from nature and what
they are noticing or observing about it.
Closure
(Summarize the lessons learning,
connect to objectives, foreshadow
next day)

I will tell the students I enjoyed looking at their observations in

their journals. For those who wish to finish I will tell them they
can do so during their free time. I will ask the students to close
their journals and either throw away their baggies of items
they collected, or put them in their book bags.

Student Accommodations
(Modifications to support students
who are challenged to understand
the content or have an advanced
understanding)

I will ask the chatty students to come sit by me when I am

modeling both before and after outside. I think the nature walk
will be a good for the students who like to move and explore.
One student sometimes has a hard time using large motor, so I
will have one of the teachers maybe stay towards the back
with him so he can go at his own pace. It will be good that we
will take frequent stops to observe so he can catch up. During
the journaling activity I will have a chance to confer with
students who are maybe confused or need more redirection.

Self-Reflection
(How well did my lesson support
students understanding relative to
the objectives? What worked, did
not work? What adjustments
might be made in the future?)

To be completed.