Revised February 2018

Lesson Plan Template

For Special Education Teacher Candidates
(& Anyone Else Who Wants to Be Awesome)
Overview

Teacher(s): Michael Subject: Science Grade: 5th

Bacon

Lesson length: ~30 Lesson Topic/Unit: Cells

minutes

Learning Objectives:
I. By the end of this lesson, students II. By the end of this lesson, students III. I will know that students have met
will know: will be able to: this objective when:

Cells are the smallest living part of
living things.
Provide the definition of a cell.
Recognize diagrams and
microscopic images of cells.
Students can explain that cells are the
smallest unit of life.
Students can identify a picture or
diagram of a cell.

IV. Essential question(s) for students to answer

What is the smallest unit of life?

How can you identify whether something has cells or not?

State Standards:
In this section, identify and list the VA SOLs standards (or other) that are addressed in this lesson.

5.5 The student will investigate and understand that organisms are made of one or more cells and have distinguishing
characteristics that play a vital role in the organism’s ability to survive and thrive in its environment. Students will understand:

a) basic cell structures and functions;

Context for Learning/Background Information

Situating the Lesson: In this section, list/describe topics of previous lessons related to the topic of this lesson that
students should be familiar with.

 Living things and their needs

 Plants
 Animals

Lesson Content: Students will receive pre-skill review on the the living things and their needs, plants,
animals. Students will then be introduced to the concept of cells and examples of representations of
cells they may encounter.

Lesson Rationale: Students will begin their exploration of cells by learning that cells are the smallest
unit of life and how to identify them in pictures and diagrams. This is important foundational
knowledge to understand future concepts such as cellular structures, cellular processes, and
prokaryotic/eukaryotic organisms.

Individualized Instruction
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IEP Goals: By the end of the IEP period, given a grade-level lesson and the use of a graphic organizer, WL will
demonstrate on-task engagement with the lesson by answering instructor questions, discussing content with peers, and/or
completing required work on 4 out of 5 weekly opportunities.

IEP Accommodations: WL, LA, and LT – access to graphic organizer

Accommodations for Students from Diverse Cultural &/or Linguistic Backgrounds: N/A

Instrinsic Load: Given the abstract nature of cells, and that the students are being introduced to the concept for the first
time (no background knowledge), the content being taught in this lesson is likely to have a high intrinsic load on students. In
order to prevent confusion based on the interactivity of concepts within this unit, the lessons for the overarching concept of a
cell, animal and plant cells, and cellular structures have been seperated. Students are also provided with a significant review of
the concept of life, plants, animals, and needs of living things in order to ensure sufficient foundation for this content. Visual
aids will be used throughout the lesson to provide a concrete model for these abstract concepts. Students will be given
significant opportunities to respond in order to increase motivation surrounding this lesson.

Co-Teaching & Collaboration

Co-Teaching: In this section, select the co-teaching Grouping: In this section, describe the way(s) in which
format that you will be using in this lesson. students will be assigned to instructional groups. Which
Check one or more. It is possible to use several strategies teacher will lead/instruct each group?
during a lesson.
This will be a small group lesson taught in a resource room
☐ One Teach, One Support setting. Students will not break into smaller groups in this
☐ Station Teaching lesson.
☐ Team Teaching
☐ Alternative Teaching
☐ Parallel Teaching

What is each teacher’s role within the model(s) you selected?

N/A

Assessment of Student Learning

Assessment Procedures: In this section, describe the assessment procedures that will be used to measure learning of
the objective(s). Assessment procedure must be concrete and tangible, and teacher observation (without a record of it) is
unacceptable. Attach assessment probe or checklist to lesson plan. Multiple forms of assessment are strongly encouraged.

Assessment Type(s): Assessment Criteria: Students Feedback: Students will be given

 Independent practice
worksheet
 Graphic Organizer
 Formative OTR Checklist
will provide the definition for cells (The
smallest living part of living things) and
will accurately explain that living things
have cells and non-living things do not.
Students will accurately identify images
and representations of cells.
immediate feedback during the lesson
as they answer questions related to the
characteristics of cells and identifying
them. Students will be specifically
encouraged to use scientific language
and given positive feedback for doing
so. If students become confused, they
can be asked to refer back to the
relevant part of the definition.

While doing independent work,

instructor will monitor and provide
students with feedback on their process.
If students are struggling, challenge
them to explain their thought process
and direct them back to the two stops
 Revised February 2018

from the lesson.

Materials & Resources

Teacher Materials (I need): Student Materials (They need): Graphic organizer

worksheet, independent practice sheet, writing utensil
Powerpoint, Student progress checklist

Behavior Management

General Concerns: Students are
aware of classroom values, rules,
and procedures and these have been
pre-taught in the classroom. Anchor
charts are also posted with
reminders to these specific
behaviors in the instruction area.
Students will be reminded of these
before instruction begins.
Specific Concerns: My students
struggle with long periods of teacher
talk, have working memory issues, and
lose focus easily. These struggles can
often lead to problematic behaviors. In
order to address this, I include frequent
opportunities to respond and visual
representations of concepts to keep
students engaged. The use of graphic
organizers also helps to address the
working memory issues that may lead
to behaviors.
Feedback: Students will be
specifically praised for actively
participating in the lesson and
exhibiting expected behaviors. If
students are not exhibiting expected
behaviors, a general reminder the
specific expected behavior will be given
to the whole class. If this behavior
continues, two individual reminders
will be given before progressing to
additional consequences.

Preparing Students for Instructional Content

Estimated time: ~1 minute (objective only, review will occur in next section)

Review of prerequisite skills: See review of essential
vocabulary below. Students will also engage in a brief
discussion of needs of living things in order to ensure a solid
concept of living versus non-living things and provide a
foundation for later instruction on the functions of cells.
Student-Friendly Objective: Today we are going to
start a new unit on living things! Today, we are going to learn
about the smallest unit of life, it’s called a cell! This is
important because knowing about cells will improve our
scientific thinking about living things and how they survive
and thrive in the word!

Essential Vocabulary
Estimated time: ~5 minutes
Reviewing vocabulary: Pre-teaching vocabulary: In this section, identify any
vocabulary you need to introduce or pre-teach ahead of the
 Living things main lesson. If this is a vocabulary-centered lesson, skip
 Animal this section.
 Plant

Instruction
Estimated time: ~20 minutes

Direct Instruction (I DO):
Students will be given a student
friendly definition of cell with a series
of representations of cells: microscopic
images of multiple and single cells and
Guided Practice (WE DO):
Students will be presented with several
examples of living or non-living things
and will be asked if cells can be found
in the given example. Afterwards, for
Independent Practice (YOU
DO): Students will be asked to do a
worksheet in which they will:
a). Identify which pictures depict living
 Revised February 2018

illustrated diagrams. The teacher will
model the concept of the smallest living
part of living things with two examples
and a non-example. Students will
respond chorally at first, gradually
being asked more individual questions
to keep them engaged with this part of
the instruction.
the living things, students will be things (and thus will have cells)
presented with an image or
representation of a cell (or a non-cell b). Identify pictures and representations
smaller part) and asked if this could be of cells.
a cell of the living thing. On the first
example, students will be told what to
consider when making decisons. If
students successfully do this, for the
next two, students will be asked to what
they are thinking, and on the final
example students will be reminded to
reference the definition while
considering the example.. Additional
examples can be done if necessary
before moving on to independent
practice.

Closure
Estimated time: ~4 minutes

Lesson Review: Restate the lesson
objective: “Today, in our lesson, we
learned about cells to begin a new unit
learning about living things here on
Earth.” Ask students to provide an
example of what they learned with a
peer and ask a student or two to share
out. .
Forward Look: Direct students to Homework: N/A
look back at their graphic organizers.
Let them know that know that they
know about cells, we will soon talk
about the different types of cells in
plants and animals.

Extraneous Load: Slides are low on text and use visual representations to explain vocabulary concepts. Slides also
provide cues for the teacher during instruction which will help manage the teacher’s extraneous load. Wait time will be
provided for students after teacher questions in order to allow processing without putting stress on the students. Choral
opportunities to respond provide the students with low-stakes rehearsal of the content that will allow them to become more
confident before scaffolds are faded. Clear and concise language will be used to avoid creating additional confusion for
students over the course of the lesson.

Preparation for CLASS Scoring (For Dimensions Not Already Explicitly Included Above)

What steps will you take to ensure the lesson will occur within a positive climate, show sensitivity to students and
demonstrate regard for student perspectives?

How will you maximize instructional time and keep distractions and non-instructional time to a minimum to
ensure productivity?

Are your instructional learning formats organized to facilitate active engagement and clear learning?

Are you planning to help students utilize higher order thinking skills? And apply their knowledge in some unique
way?

What are you planning to do to support content understanding and clear up misconceptions?

How will you promote active dialog between you and your students, and among the students? (As appropriate)

What explicit steps can you take to keep students engaged throughout the lesson?

References, Notes & Other Information

 Revised February 2018

In this section, list any references for lesson plans, resources, or other ideas you used that are not primarily yours. This is
also where you will list the APA citations for the articles that were referenced.

In this section, include any other helpful information that is relevant for the lesson plan.