Gwynedd Mercy University

School of Business and Education

Name: Tian Butler Grade/Level: 2nd grade

Topic: places/regions and Animals in the world

PA Core or Academic Standard(s): (1 point)

a. Standard area 3.1: Biological science
a. Standard 3.1.2.C2: Explain that living things can only survive if the
needs are being met
b. Standard area 7.2: physical characteristic of places and regions
a. Standard 7.2.2A: identify the physical characteristics of places

Big Idea(s): (1 point)

a. Geographical (places) conditions determine survival for animals.

Essential Questions: (1 point)

1. What type of weather do arctic animals need in order to live (survive)?
2. How does the physical characteristics of a place effect animals’ survival?

Objective/Performance Expectation: What will students know and be able to do as a

result of this lesson? (1 point)
a. Student will be able to identify different animals and know the specific
characteristics in region/place they live in, in order to survive.

I. PLANNING AND PREPARATION:

1. Briefly describe the students in your class, including those with special
needs. Explain how you will meet the needs of ALL learners
(Differentiated Instruction). (2 points)
a. This is a 2nd grade class with 21 students. There are 11 male
students and 10 female students in the class. There is 1 child with
an individualized education program (IEP) in the class. One of the
students is diagnosed with Autism Spectrum disorder and is
accommodated by having extra time on tasks, that means extra
time on tests or quizzes, and is allowed extra time transitioning
from one subject to the next. Overall the class demonstrates that
they are kinesthetic learners. They like to be moving around and
using hands on materials to help their learning process. There is
one aide in the classroom who helps out the student with autism
but floats around the room helping other students if they have

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 questions. The class is diverse and there are several students who
speak English as a second language so when they are working on
activities they are paired up with another student in the classroom
so they have peer support.
2. List the specific standard and expectations as outlined in the PA
Core/Academic Standards (SAS). (1 point)
a. Standard 3.1.2.C2: Explain that living things can only survive if
the needs are being met-Expected to learn that animals can only
survive if their needs are being met.
b. Standard 7.2.2A: identify the physical characteristics of places-
Expected to learn the different characteristic of geographical
places.

3. Explain the psychological principles/theories you used in constructing this

lesson and explain how it is manifested in the lesson. (2 points)
a. I used Howard Gardner’s because his theory of multiple
intelligence is, “that people do not have just an intellectual
capacity, but have many kinds of intelligence, including musical,
interpersonal, spatial-visual, and linguistic intelligences” and this
is important to remember when being a teacher and coming up
with lessons that all students learn differently and some students
may be better at one subject than another. I used John Dewey’s
theory which is, “he believed that human beings learn through a
'hands-on' approach.” I decided to have students work in pairs
using clay and markers. One student will sculpt an animal and the
other person will draw the animal’s environment and the things the
environment needs to have in order for that animal to live. This
allows students to work together but also to use the hands-on
material, which I think allows more creativity and more thinking.

II. CLASSROOM ENVIRONMENT:

4. Describe the effective classroom routines and procedures resulting in

little or no loss of instructional time. (1 point)
a. Students follow the regular classroom routines and expectations.
Social studies class starts with them doing a “do now” that is up on
the board when class starts. Once they have completed the “do
now” independently and raise their hand they will be partnered up
and will discuss the “do now” with one another. Once all students
are done the “do now” everyone goes back to their seats and the
lesson starts. The students are excited and motivated for the lesson.

5. Identify what you will do to set clear standards of conduct and behavior
management of student behavior. (1 point)

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 a. Students will be expected to follow the classroom behaviors that
were talked about at the beginning of the school year. On the wall,
there is a classroom list of expected behaviors that every student is
to follow. Before every lesson, the classroom expectations are read
aloud so the students remember them. Every student follows the
classroom expectations and if during the lesson students have
followed the expected behaviors, 2 points will be added to the
class dojo points. If students have been misbehaving, 1 point will
be taken away. The goal is for the class to have 15 points by the
end of the week. Every student is constantly reminded of the
expectations and behaviors for the classroom.

6. Identify what you will do to establish expectations for student

achievement. (1 point)
a. The students’ expectations for the lesson are stated when giving
the directions for the particular lesson. Students will work in pairs
of 2. One student will create an animal out of clay and the other
student will draw its habitat and what it needs in order to live
(survive). For this activity, I will give the direction at least 2 times
and I will have an example on the front table for them to come and
look at. Before I hand out the materials I will ask the students if
there are any questions. Students will complete the activity in a
pair of 2, while I walk around and provide feedback and help to
those who I see need help or need some inspiration of what to
create.

III. INSTRUCTION:

List Materials Needed

1. Clay (play-doh)
2. Blank paper
3. Markers
4. crayons

7. Motivation Activities/Strategies: (1 point)

How will you generate interest or focus your lesson for the students?
a. I will generate interest by asking them what their favorite animal
is. After a student says an animal I may ask them a question like,
“where might that animal live?”
8. Prior Knowledge Activities/Strategies: (1 point)
How will you activate prior knowledge, build background, or review
previous lessons?
a. I will build background knowledge by going over a few key vocab
words. Some vocab words are, “region” “survival” and
“characteristics”. I will also go over how us humans need to live

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 on land (rather than under water) with air because otherwise we
would not be able to survive.

9. Sequence of Lesson: What learning activities/strategies will you use to

engage the students in the learning? What will students do to use and
apply new concepts or skills (independent practice if relevant)? How will
you monitor and guide their performance? Include relevant vocabulary.
(Please use bullets to sequence your lesson) (3 points)
a. Teacher will say, “in today’s lesson we are going to learn about
animals and how they need specific characteristics in a place in
order to live (survive).
b. Teacher will ask the students what their favorite animal is (I will
have one student answer) and then will explain how animals like
penguins need certain characteristics in a place in order to live
(survive).
c. Teacher will put relevant vocab words on the board and leave them
up for the entire lesson so the students can reference them.
d. Teacher will ask students for a thumbs up, down, or in the middle
if they understand what has been said so far in the lesson
e. Teacher will explain the different types of animals and the
characteristics that they need in order to live. Example: fish need to
live in water in order to live, if they are put on land they will not be
able to live.
f. Teacher will ask students if they have any animals and what things
they need in order to live. (student could say, “I have a dog and he
needs a house to live in”).
g. Teacher will tell students that for today’s activity they will work in
pairs of 2 (their table partner) and they will make an animal of
their choice out of clay (play-doh) and then they will draw specific
things (characteristics) that animals needs in order to live.
h. Teacher will walk around classroom and ask students if they need
help.
i. Teacher will then have a few groups stand up and share what they
made and drew.
j. Teacher will wrap up the lesson by reminding students why it is
important that places have certain characteristic for the animals to
live in.
10. Level of Learning/Assessment Evidence (1 point)
How will you know if students grasped the material? What
techniques/strategies will you use to assess learning (Bloom’s
Taxonomy)? Identify what informal and/or formal assessments you will
use to monitor student learning. Also identify if this will be formative or
summative.
a. For an informal way to assess the students’, I will ask them to give
me a thumb up, thumb in the middle, or thumbs down so I can

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 assess whether or not they understand the key vocab words. During
the activity, I will walk around and assess each student and see if
they are achieving the activity with proficiency, having a little bit
of trouble, or if the activity is challenging them (formative
assessment). I will have students work in pairs to create an animal
using clay (play-doh) and draw specific characteristics of that
habitat so the animal can live. (if they penguin, they should draw a
cold and icy place, not a hot desert).

11. What will you do to bring closure to the lesson? How will you summarize
this lesson and preview the lesson that will follow? (2 points)
a. To end this lesson, I will explain again that in order for an animal
to live (survive) in a specific region/place it must provide all the
things that animal needs in order to live. I will remind the students
that today in partners they sculpted an animal out of clay (play-
doh) and then drew a habitat with specific characteristic for that
animal to live in. I will ask students if they have any questions and
if none of the student have a question I will ask them one. I will
ask, “why is it important that a place has specific characteristics in
order for an animal to live (survive)?” After a student has
answered I will then preview tomorrows lesson. Today we learned
about why animals need certain characteristics in places in order to
live (survive)