CURRINS 541
Lesson Plan Format
Name
Sam Habeck
Lesson Title
Needs for life Date 12/08
University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Language Education Program
Note: This format is condensed on one page, but the actual lesson plans will need more space.)
Time Duration: (Does not have to be one day)
Class level
3 days of lessons, at one hour each
Grade 2 levels 2
(L1, age, grade, specific issues, configurations, program information etc.)
Targeted Standards:
F.4.1 Discover how each organism meets its basic needs for water, nutrients, protection,
and energy in order to survive
Lesson (Content and Language) Objectives: Students will:
Content objective: Students will be able to identify living things and list what they need to survive.
Language objective: Sort living things according to descriptions according to what they need to survive using
pictures and phrases with graphic organizers (e.g., T charts)
Verbally share sorts of living things and their lists of what they need to survive using the following script ( this is a .
. . and it needs . . . to live),
Match pictures of living things with what they need to survive ( plant = sun, water, air, dirt)
Identify living objects and what they need to survive with partners outside on field trip.
Assessment: Students will create a set of living organism pictures, labeling the organism and identifying
(through drawings, cutouts, and copied terms) the basic needs of an organism. Worksheet matching activity
completed.
Materials
Realia (such as stuffed animals, plants, bugs, etc.), picture big book with basic sentences demonstrating the needs of
living things, construction paper, pictures of organisms and their needs for students to cut out if needed, coloring
tools. Worksheet with picture matching activity. Check off worksheet with word bank.
Background and Assumptions
Students’ families have their own gardens, or are farmers or farm hands. They are familiar with plants. Students are
not newcomers, they have been in school (not necessarily this school) since K5, and their families speak Spanish
mostly. There are a few Hmong speaking students too.
Anticipated problems
Students have trouble with needs that aren’t tangible (sun for energy, oxygen for breath, a need)
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CURRINS 541
Procedures:
Day 1:
Warm Up (15 minutes)
Garden growing, who has grown a garden or plant at home. Draw a picture of a garden, show what they think a garden needs to
grow in the picture
Introduction (15 minutes)
Introduce vocabulary: animal, plant, insect, survive, to live, water, air, sun, shelter, need, living thing. Have every student take
turns repeating the word.
Sort (15 minutes)
Have student take words with pictures above them to scaffold, and sort them between living things and their needs. Sort under
labels living things and needs. Verbally share using script “ this is a . . . and it needs . . .”.
Include Assessment
Formative: while introducing vocabulary have every student repeat the word. Participation in sort activity
Summative: Students sharing verbally their completed sorts will allow for a summative assessment to see if the concept and
language is understood.
Closure (15 minutes)
Have students take out their warm up pictures and share with a partner what their plant or garden has in the picture that it
needs to survive.
Follow-up/Reinforcement Take home picture of garden/ plant and add things it needs if they didn’t have all of them
( water, sun dirt air)
Day 2:
Warm up ( 10 minutes)
Take put pictures from last class and show what they added to their pictures. Trying to use vocabulary
learned.
Introduction (15 minutes)
Review vocabulary words with a matching worksheet. It will have a word with a picture
above it to scaffold, and students needs to match it with the best scenario of needs (plant
would need sun, air water,dirt, rather than house, food, water, clothes)
Big book activity (30 minutes)
Read through big book activity using pre read acitvities like scanning for details and a
backwards book walk. Then we will read through it together. Then we will go back through
and do questions like “what did the baby tree need to go big like the mama tree?” and we
can go through and point out the needs in the pictures.
Assessment:
Formative: I will ask students questions while reading through the book to check if they are
following along or not. Ask leveled questions,” lower twos point out where… higher twos
tell me what this is …” not acutally using high/low 2 instead of their names obviously.
Summative: Students will turn in their matching work sheet as assessment for this day
Closure: (5 minutes)
Remind students to bring their coats as we are going to go outside the next day to find the
things from the big book in real life and identify what they need to keep living.
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CURRINS 541
Day 3:
Warm up (15 minutes)
Realia activity – have realia (some will be examples of living things and others needs) ready
when students arrive each student will take an object. Student with living things will have
to find students holding the things they need to live. After 10 minutes, we will as a class
help those still looking, and then say the living thing and the needs will name themselves.
(I have a plant, a plant needs water, a plant needs dirt, etc.)
Introduction (5 minutes)
Review words from previous lesson verbally using picture cards and repeat exercises.
Field Trip (30 minutes)
Take class outside to playground/ around school (our school has a little forest-type area with plenty of space
to explore) with a paper check list. Break students into groups. Each group will check off when they find a
plant and using the word bank on top of the sheet fill in what needs the living thing has. (plant, animal, bug,
person)
Assessment
Formative: participation in the warm up, it will show how well students understand topic.
Summative: Completed worksheet when we return inside, and finished garden picture.
Closure (10 minutes)
Students will each share one thing they found outside using script “ I found . . . it needs . . .” using their
worksheets and their group members to help them. Students will turn in worksheet before leaving.
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