Online Learning Lesson Plan

Teacher: Ivana Milic-Strkalj

Mentor Teacher: Christina Brown
Grade: 2nd
Content Area: Science
Date: 4/17/20

1. Content and Standards:

 Standard - 3.1.2.A3 Identify similarities and differences in the life cycles of
plants and animals.

2. Prerequisites:
 Students should know that animals have life cycles
 Students should know that silkworms become moths and caterpillars
become butterflies
 Students should know moths and butterflies have similarities and differences
(students will be able to reference their Venn diagrams completed during the
last class)

3. Essential Questions:
 How do silkworms change during their life cycle?

4. Materials and Equipment:

 Computers/headphones – students will need computers at their homes
 Teachers’ computer – the teacher will need a computer to connect with
students via Zoom
 Videos – used during the before session for students to learn about silkworm
life cycles
 Silkworm life cycle worksheet – completed by students
 Paper/pencils – students will need paper and pencils to draw the silkworm
lifecycle and write down what metamorphosis is
 Powerpoint – the teacher will have a powerpoint about the silkworm life
cycle to share with students during the online live session.

5. Instructional Objective: Students will know that insects go through metamorphosis

during their life cycles. Students will be able to explain what metamorphosis is and
describe the stages of a silkworm life cycle.

6. Instructional Procedures:
 Before: The teacher will send out the week’s learning schedule, which instructs
students to complete independent learning activities on Monday and
Wednesday. Over these two days, students will watch two videos about the life
cycle of ladybugs: https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=ws_D5nXOAJg&feature=youtu.be and butterflies
 https://jr.brainpop.com/science/animals/butterflies/. Students will also look at
a graphic of a silkworm lifecycle and read about metamorphosis.
 During: On Friday, the teacher will host a live science lesson on Zoom. The
teacher will greet students and ask each student how they are doing and what
they enjoyed most about their science learning this week. The teacher will tell
students that they are going to review what metamorphism is and then create a
silkworm lifecycle chart. The teacher will share her screen with the students and
read aloud about metamorphosis from the same worksheet the students read
from earlier in the week. The teacher will ask students to explain what
metamorphosis is in their own words. The teacher will show students pictures of
eggs, moths, silkworms, and cocoons out of order and ask students to put them
in order and explain the lifecycle of the silkworm. The teacher will move the
images around on her screen as students explain the lifecycle. The teacher will
ask students how the silkworm lifecycle is similar or different from the ladybug
and butterfly lifecycle that they learned about through the videos. Students will
share their ideas. The teacher will show students the worksheets that they need
to complete after the live Zoom session and ask students if they have any
questions. Students will ask questions and have chance to say good-bye to their
teachers and friends.
 After: Students will complete the lifecycle of the silkworm worksheet and
answer the question what is metamorphosis. Students will send their work to
the teacher by email.

7. Assessment: The teacher will note which students are answering questions and
offering ideas during the Zoom session. The worksheet will also be a form of written
assessment about this week’s lesson. These will be formative assessments of
students understanding of the life cycles of insects.

8. Differentiated Instruction: The teacher will be available during office hours for one
hour each day during the week. Students are encouraged to meet with the teacher
during that time if they have questions or need support accessing the online content.
Students will be allowed to write or draw their answers.

Lesson Analysis

As we have had to rapidly transition to online learning, Danielson’s (2013) domain 1

of Planning and Preparation has required a lot of attention. In regards to content and

pedagogy, the content may be the same, but how the lesson is delivered has to be adapted. I

have to consider what my students can access independently at home, how I can support

them virtually, and then what learning activities we can do together during live online
sessions. I also need to consider what resources students can access that will “extend

content knowledge and pedagogy” (Danielson, 2013, pg. 19). For this lesson, I decided to

have students view some videos about insect life cycles and read a short description of

metamorphosis. Then during the live session, I planned to review those materials and

facilitate a discussion about insect life cycles and metamorphosis. Finally, students would

complete the lifecycle of a silkworm and write about metamorphosis in their own words. I

believe that I was able to design a coherent lesson with a variety of learning activities that

followed a structure for online learning. The challenge was planning a lesson that allowed

students to work independently from home but also feel supported by the teacher and their

classmates.

In regards to domain 2 the Classroom Environment (Danielson, 2013), I made up

four rules for live zoom sessions. They are: be respectful, use kind words, one voice at a

time, and be responsible with technology. At the start of each zoom session, we review the

rules. The students have been learning to use the technology, and during this lesson some

students discovered they could draw on my screen when I am using screen sharing. I

reminded the students of the rule about being responsible with technology and they

quickly erased their marks on the screen. Even though we are in a digital environment, it is

important that students are respectful and responsible in the virtual classroom.

Since this is an unprecedented time, I have tried to make sure that the live Zoom

sessions allow students to share with their classmates and feel like they still are members

of a classroom community. At the start of the live session, I make sure to ask every student

individually how they are and to share something about their week, in this case, what they
liked about this week’s science learning. I also end the session with a time for students to

say good-bye to their peers and share anything else on their minds.

Instruction in a digital setting requires that I pay even more attention to domain 3a

Communicating with Students (Danielson, 2013). Since we are not face-to-face, I need to

make sure that all my instructions are clear and that I can communicate with both students

and their parents if they have questions about the assignments or lessons. I have done this

through email, phone, and having scheduled office hours where students and parents can

check in. For this lesson, one of my instructional goals was to engage students with the

content before the live lesson, so that students would be able to discuss with their peers

what they had learned. I found that many students were excited to share their ideas about

metamorphosis and that students understood the concept of the insect life cycle. They were

able to compare and contrast about insect lifecycles using what they had learned from the

videos and reading.

As our school has transitioned to online learning, reflecting and sharing ideas within

our professional community has been essential. Since this is new to all of us, we need to

learn from each other. I have been engaged with domain 4d Participating in the

Professional Community and domain 4f Growing and Developing Professionally by

attending weekly staff and grade group meetings as well as reading blogs and articles

written by other teachers (Danielson, 2013). It has been essential to collaborate and share

thoughts about teaching and learning in this new context.

The greatest challenge of this lesson, and the virtual environment overall, has been

ensuring that I am reaching all of the students. About fifty percent of students attend the

live sessions. This is a challenge of the circumstances we are in. Going forward, I need to
think about how to create other spaces where students can participate if they cannot

attend the live sessions. On the other hand, the greatest success of this lesson was that

students were able to discuss the science topic in a digital environment. They shared ideas

and demonstrating their understanding of the content. For a moment, they felt like

students in a normal classroom!

Artifacts:

References:

Danielson, C. (2013). The framework for teaching: evaluation instrument. Princeton, NJ:

Danielson Group.