Professional Documents
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Classroom/Lesson Context
__ Whole Group _____ Small Group _____ One-on-One
_____ Students with IEPs/504s _____ ELL Students
____ Other (Please specify:
_______________________________________________________________________)
Please specify the number of students:
___13__ Girls __11___Boys
Learning Central Focus
Lesson Plan Title: Volcanic Eruptions
Grade Level: Fifth grade
Central Focus:
What is the central focus for the content in the learning segment?
The central focus for the content in learning segment is to describe how volcanoes can be
destructive and constructive processes. During this lesson, the students will also write a story or
poem about volcanoes using figurative language.
Content Standard:
What standard(s) are most relevant to the learning goals?
Science- S5E1. Students will identify surface features of the Earth caused by constructive and
destructive processes.
a. Identify surface features caused by constructive processes.
Deposition (Deltas, sand dunes, etc.)
Earthquakes
Volcanoes
Faults
longer have a lava supply, they are extinct, but it can be quite difficult for scientists to know if
and when this is the case. The lifespan of a volcano can be measured in millions of years, so a
volcano that has not erupted in thousands of years would most likely be classified as dormant,
rather than extinct.
Instructional Strategies and Learning Tasks
Launch: 10 minutes__
How will you start the lesson to engage and motivate students in learning?
I will start the lesson to engage and motivate students to learn by using a clap pattern that they
must repeat. I will state the procedures and expectations during instruction time. I will let them
know that we will be discussing how a volcano can be a constructive and destructive process.
The students will do a KWL activity to see what they know about the differences in constructive
and destructive processes and how volcanoes fit into each of those categories.
Instruction: 20 Minutes
What will you do to engage students in developing understanding of the lesson
objective(s)? How will you engage students to help them understand the concepts? What will
students do? How will you determine if students are meeting the intended learning objectives?
To engage students in developing understanding of the lesson objective and the concept I will
have the class do a group experiment where we make a volcano and make it erupt five different
times. To make this volcano we will need a large platter, a small cup, food coloring, baking
soda, vinegar, and different color play doe. We will start off with the small cup in the center of
the platter. We will put a small amount of baking soda in the cup followed by some vinegar for
each eruption. After we do the first eruption we will mold play doe where the lava from the
volcano landed. We will repeat this process until we have 5 layers of play doe around our
volcano. We will then take a clear straw and poke it through all 5 layers of play doe. When we
extract the straw you should be able the 5 different layers of play doe. This will give the students
a visual of how a volcano is constructive. To show them an example of how the volcano can be
destructive we will add small people, trees, cars, and other objects and make an eruption occur.
The lava will flow down the volcano knocking over trees and people and destroying cars. After
we perform the experiment, I will ask each student to tell me something that theyve learned
about volcanos, destructive, and constructive processes and I will write each response on the
board. This is how I will determine if students are meeting the intended learning objective.
How will you link the new content (skills and concepts) to students prior academic learning and
their personal/cultural and community assets?
This particular lesson will serve as a review for their unit test which will take place tomorrow
(3/11/15). Since this lesson is a review there will be no new content learned simply a review.
What will you say and do? What questions will you ask?
I will ask questions such as:
Student Interactions
How will you structure opportunities for students to work with partners or in groups? What
criteria will you use when forming groups?
The students will work in groups of four to fill out their KWL charts and also to prepare the
materials for each eruption. There will be no particular criteria when forming groups.
What Ifs
What might not go as planned and how can you be ready to make adjustment?
I think the possibility of an eruption not working might occur but I will be prepared with plenty of
vinegar and baking soda to make a new eruption.
Theoretical Principles and/or Research Based Best Practices
Why are the learning tasks for this lesson appropriate for your students?
Piaget stressed the importance of learning by doing, especially in science. According to Piaget,
"a sufficient experimental training was believed to have been provided as long as the student
had been introduced to the results of past experiments or had been allowed to watch
demonstration experiments conducted by his teacher, as though it were possible to sit in rows
on a wharf and learn to swim merely by watching grown-up swimmers in the water. Piaget's
research clearly mandates that the learning environment should be rich in physical experiences.
Involvement, he states, is the key to intellectual development, and for the elementary school
child this includes direct physical manipulation of objects.
Materials
What materials does the teacher need for this lesson?
For this lesson, we will need a large platter, small cups, food coloring, baking soda, vinegar,
different color play doh, toy cars, and toy houses.
Academic Language Demand(s)
Language Demand
Identify one of the following: reading, writing, listening/speaking, or demonstrating/performing.
The demand will require more or less scaffolding (support) depending on the needs of the
students.
The students will focus on listening and writing for this lesson. They will listen carefully to the
material being taught and will write to fill in their KWL chart, complete the volcano worksheet, as
well as write the story using figurative language.
Language Function
What language function do you want students to develop in this lesson? What must students
understand in order to be intellectually engaged in the lesson?
Students must understand the concept of constructive and destructive forces in order to be
engaged in this lesson. They must also have a basic understanding of figurative language.
Identify the purpose for which the language is being used, with attention to goal and audiencethe one verb from the standard; ex. demonstrate.
The verb of this lesson is Identify.
Vocabulary
What content specific terms (vocabulary) do students need to support learning of the learning
objective for this lesson? Identify key words specific to the content area derived from the
standard- ex. drama, prose, structural elements, verse, rhythm, meter, characters, settings,
descriptions, dialogue, stage directions.
Vocabulary for this lesson includes:
Volcano, destructive process, constructive process, eruption, figurative language, metaphor,
simile, personification, onomatopoeia, and alliteration.
Language Discourse
How will the students of the content area speak, write, and participate? What is the structure of
the written or oral language?
They will participate by listening to the lesson, asking questions, performing the experiment, and
writing a story at the end of the lesson using figurative language.
Language Syntax
What are the organizing symbols, words, and/or phrases in the written and oral language
structures?
The words and phrases that are associated with this lesson are constructive and destructive
forces, figurative language, metaphor, simile, personification, onomatopoeia, and alliteration.
Students' Use of Language
What specific way(s) will students need to use language (reading, writing, listening and/or
speaking) to participate in learning tasks and demonstrate their learning for this lesson?
Students will need to use language to participate in this activity. They will have to read the
directions of each activity, they will have to write to fill out their chart, and they will have to speak
to ask questions or if they have comments.
Students' Abilities
What are your students abilities with regard to the oral and written language associated with
this lesson?
They are able to identify key terms and show progress on the written assignment from the oral
presentation.
Support
How will you support students so they can understand and use the language associated with
the language function and other demands in meeting the learning objectives of the lesson?
By practicing vocabulary for this lesson they can use and understand the language involved with
the learning objectives.
Assessments
Describe the tools/procedures that will be used in this lesson to monitor students learning of the
lesson objective(s). Attach a copy of the assessment and the evaluation criteria/rubric in the
resources section at the end of the lesson plan.
Evaluation Criteria
Type of
assessment
(Informal or
Formal)
Description of
assessment
Modifications to the
What evidence of student
assessment so that all
learning (related to the
students could
learning objectives and
demonstrate their learning. central focus) does the
assessment provide?
Informal
Informal
Informal
Worksheet with
questions about
volcanoes
Group discussion
about what was
learned
KWL chart
Analyzing Teaching
Worked/Didn't Worked
What worked?
The experiment worked perfectly. Each eruption was violent and the food coloring really made
the lava pop. I was afraid the play doe wouldnt stick well around the cup but it all worked out
fine.
What didnt?
For one group, the play doh was an issue. They were too busy playing with it and not listening
to the lesson.
For whom?
One group of students got a little too excited with the play doh and they kept disrupting the
class.
Adjustments
What instructional changes do you need to make as you prepare for the lesson tomorrow?
Since we will be using vinegar and baking soda in this lesson, I need to be sure I stress the
behavioral objectives and expectations that I have to prevent accidents.
Proposed Changes
If you could teach this lesson again to this group of students what changes would you make to
your instruction?
Whole group:
If I could reteach this lesson, I would probably do the entire experiment and just let the students
watch. I let them help out with the materials but they were excited and started to get a little
careless with it all
Group of Students:
Individual Students:
Justification
Why will these changes improve student learning?
By making these changes, the students will be less focused on the play doe and baking soda,
and more focused on learning how a volcano can be destructive and constructive.
What research/ theory supports these changes?
Jacob Kounins determined that the mastery of classroom management must include the ability
to teach to the learning style of the group instead of the individual, and organizing of lessons
and teaching methods. The goal of classroom management is to create an environment which
not only stimulates student learning but also motivates students to learn. Kounins approach
theorizes that the keys to successful classroom management is in preventing management
problems from occurring in the first place by putting into place good organization and planning.
By not letting the students work individually with the materials, they will be more focused and
motivated to learn about volcanoes. I will prevent the problem from even happening by planning
to handle the materials myself.
Resources
Attach each assessment and associated evaluation criteria/rubric.
https://voicethread.com/new/share/6818189/ - Voice thread
https://youtu.be/yPWze7f40_k - Movie maker
https://www.evernote.com/shard/s564/sh/e302cca2-131a-4711-b0b54695811007ea/a8d5ff90f98b88f430d8521eeb795426 - EverNote
Name: _______________
Volcanoes
1. What is a volcano?
Name: ___________________________________
Date: ____________________________________
ALL ABOUT VOLCANOES
What I Know
Name: ______________________________
__________________________________
Date: