Marc Carlos
EDEE 490
TITLE: The Plant Life Cycle
GRADE LEVEL: 2nd Grade
TIME FRAME & SETTING: 45 minutes/Classroom
CONCEPTUAL/PROCEDURAL KNOWLEDGE: Following this lesson and activity,
students will know the sequence of the plant cycle and the procedures in planting and
growing a seed into a plant.
STANDARDS (CCSS):
Classification
Benchmark SC.2.4.1
Sample Performance Assessment (SPA)
Explain how plants and animals go
The student: Illustrates the stages o
germination/birth, growth, reproduct
animals, pointing out some details t
OBJECTIVES:
• Students will be able to sequence the stages of the plant life cycle by
completing a fill-in-the-blank worksheet using a word bank
• Students will be able to prepare soil, plant seeds and water them
• Students will be able to illustrate a seed growing into a plant
• Students will be able tell what plants need in order to grow
MATERIALS:

Teacher-made fill-in-the-blank worksheet

Crayons and pencils

Plastic cups

Sharpie markers

Soil

Seed packets (beans)

Aluminum trays

Water
Marc Carlos
EDEE 490

Read aloud book
ASSESSMENT:
Students will be first be assessed formatively at the start of the lesson when
prompted to recall what they know about how plants grow. During and following the
read aloud of The Tiny Seed by Eric Carle, they will be assessed during think pair
share time (TPS). I will be listening in on discussions to assess their predictions, their
inferences and the information they had acquired from the book.
I will also assess students by their completed worksheet, looking to see if they
applied the knowledge from the read aloud to help them figure out the correct
sequence of words from the word bank to fill in the blank. Additionally, their
illustrations will give me a clear understanding of what they understand the process
of a seed growing into a plant to look like.
Finally, in engaging in the activity of planting their own seed, students will be
assessed to see if they again can apply newly acquired knowledge to the real life
experience of planting seeds and growing them into plants.
REFLECTION:
Students seemed to enjoy this lesson as much as I enjoyed teaching it. While
attending LCC, I became drawn to plant sciences such as horticulture. In building
student knowledge, I felt really qualified in sharing my own knowledge and
experiences with them. It also seemed to engage them as they were interested in my
college experience.
The read aloud seemed to be a challenge because most had either read the
book before or had had the book read to them already. This caused me to reflect on
how well I prepared for the lesson and researched my students background
knowledge.
The illustrations and worksheet proved to be an effective formative assessment.
I enjoyed analyzing their illustrations and appreciated deeply the different ways each
student thought. I feel like I could've scaffolded the lesson by requiring the higher
students to write their own paragraphs, middle students to complete sentences and
the lower students to fill in the blanks.
Marc Carlos
EDEE 490
As for the activity, it was hands on and fun. Students at this age love to get
their hands dirty and I learned that because each student was invested in his or her
own seed, it made the learning experience relevant and meaningful.
Marc Carlos
EDEE 490