Part 1: Matrix
Select a grade level, Next Generation Science Standard, and develop two learning objectives related to the selected standard. Detail each component of the 5E Lesson (Engage, Explore, Explain, Elaborate, and Evaluate) and how it could be applied to the selected grade level standard by selecting one appropriate instructional activity for each and providing a rationale why the activity would be effective for implementing the 5E instructional model components with all students. You will also describe assessment ideas that could be used to support the instructional strategies. Note that you will adapt the information from this template to complete the Topic 6 “Science Lesson Plan” assignment.
| Grade Level: | Second |
| Next Generation Science Standard: | 2-LS2-1. “Plan and conduct an investigation to determine if plants need sunlight and water to grow” (Next Generation Science Standards, 2013). 2-LS2-2. “Develop a simple model that mimics the function of an animal in dispersing seeds or pollinating plants” (NGSS, 2013). |
| Specific Learning Targets/ Objectives: | 1. Students will be able to determine if plants need sunlight and water to grow. 2. Students will be able to explain and diagram how animals help with seed dispersal and how a disruption in this interdependent relationship could impact plants and/or animals. |
| 5E Lesson Component Description (In your own words, describe the component as it relates to science processes and practices in 1-2 sentences). | Instructional Activity and Rationale (In 2-3 sentences describe an instructional activity that would be appropriate for the standard and provide a rationale for why it would be effective in helping to implement the 5E instructional model with all students). |
| Engage: The teacher will help students make connections between a past and new science lessons’ content by checking for prior knowledge. The teacher will have students mentally focus on the question, what do they already know about what plants need in order to grow? | Activity: Anticipatory Set: Show students a video on what plants need to help them grow. Think-Pair-Share activity. Ask students do plants need sunlight and water to grow? Then pair students with a partner and have them discuss their answers based on what was seen in the video and their prior/background knowledge. They will make a list of all the things needed to help plants grow, including sunlight and water, and then share their responses with the class. Rationale: This activity will allow students to gain a better understanding of what plants need in order to grow. Students will engage and use their prior knowledge to make connections with new science instruction, while being encouraged to dive into deeper thinking to determine if plants depend on water and light to grow. The engagement phase of the 5E model will help students make connections between past and present learning experiences by expressing different ideas, sharing observations and their understanding of the concept (San Diego County Office of Education, 2021). |
| Explore: During this phase, the teacher will be the facilitator of learning and encourage student-to-student interaction. It gives students the opportunity to explore their ideas after engaging in activities. Students will work collaboratively in planning and conducting investigations, where they will observe, describe, record data and compare ideas with their partner/group members. | Activity: While students think about the seed attributes and how they will create their seed dispersal methods, they will watch a video on how animals disperse seeds to get a better understanding of the process. To explore more, students will play an online seed sorting game as the teacher model the activity before engaging in the activity. Within small groups, students will communicate to their share their big ideas to determine how seeds can be dispersed. They will create a cause and effect storyboard to diagram a seed and how it is carried by an animal and released. Rationale: This activity will encourage students to use critical thinking and increase communication skills that will help them determine the importance of relationships between the seed and an animal. It will allow time and opportunity for students to investigate objects, materials and different situations to arrive at the best solutions (San Diego County Office of Education, 2021). The exploring phase will also allow students to engage in this activity and try different ways to solve the problem or find a solution to the question (San Diego County Office of Education, 2021). |
| Explain: This phase within the 5E model will give students the opportunity to share their initial models and learning experiences from the videos, game and hands-on activities. It will allow them to listen critically to and questions explanations offered by others. It will also allow the teacher to provide time for students to compare their ideas with others and make revisions when necessary. | Activity: After each group complete their cause and effect storyboard, they will explain their learning experiences by recalling key concepts, vocabulary and the question of the day, how can seeds be dispersed, as they present their different dispersal methods. Students will display vocabulary words on the smartboard such as blade, bud, germination, gravity and seed, then in their own words, students will present a meaning of each key word and write them in their spelling notebooks. Rationale: This activity will allow students to explain their learning experiences with focus on the key vocabulary that will help them get a better understanding of the lessons’ content as well as being able to respond to questions that will help them make sense of their learning experiences and be able to redirect themselves when necessary. |
| Elaborate: The focus in this phase is to allow students more space to apply what they have learned. This phase also help students develop a deeper understanding through presentations, quizzes, etc. to reinforce the new skills that they have learned and allow them to strengthen their knowledge prior to being evaluated (Leslie University, 2021). | Activity: The keywords blade and bud will be written on the smartboard. Pair students with their table partner and ask them to provide a definition of each word in a way that they understood it and then draw sketches of the blade and bud of a plant. They could choose an image of their choice and be able to elaborate on their findings. Then have students complete a vocabulary worksheet as it relates to other key vocabulary Rationale: From this activity, students will be given more space that will allow them to elaborate more on their learning experience on how they drew reasonable conclusions in different ways that they used to determine if plants need sunlight and water to grow, along with what role an animal have when dispersing seeds, while making connections between prior and new experiences. Students will be able to get a better understanding of the content by communicating their understandings to others. |
| Evaluate: This is the last of the 5E model phases and it is a very important phase. It demonstrates what the students have learned from the lessons’ content through formal and informal assessments. “It encourages students to assess their understanding and abilities, as well as allowing teachers to evaluate individual student progress toward achieving learning goals and outcomes” (San Diego County Office of Education, 2021). | Activity: Students will play Kahoot, an educational technology game-based learning platform (Kahoot.com, 2021) that will be used as a formative assessment to check for understanding of the lesson. Students will play this game as teams to answer a mixture of questions as it relates to what plants need in order to grow, what animals do to disperse seeds, differences in the blade and bud of a plant and new vocabulary. Independently, students will take an end of unit summative exam. Rationale: This activity will demonstrate which students understood the lessons’ content and which students did not. As the teacher, these assessments will allow me to check what students did well in and what I need to do to help those students who did not fully understand, get a better understanding of the lesson’s content. The teacher will be able to ask additional questions that will help students dig deeper in thought and express their thoughts by giving feedback to others that could help them recall something that they have learned, along with assessing their own progress. |
Assessment Ideas: Describe three ideas for formative and/or summative assessments. Include at least one idea for a technology-based assessment. Briefly explain each assessment idea and discuss how it could be used to support one or more of the instructional activities listed above.
1. Kahoot is an educational technology-based formative assessment that I will use to support either of the above instructional activities. It will allow me to check for understanding of a lesson’s content. Students will be able to engage in this competitive game and it will motivate student learning and make it fun and exciting while demonstrating what they know.
2. Think-Pair-Share is among many formative assessments that could be used to demonstrate understanding of the science lesson. It can be used as an anticipatory set to get students to think about a question asked and pair with a partner to discuss ideas and then share responses to the class. This an opportunity for teachers to check for prior/background knowledge to see what students already know about the topic, which will be a support for the instructional activity during the engagement phase of the 5E model that will allow students to engage in making past and new connections.
3. A group project or final exam will be summative assessments that could be assigned to students at the end of the unit on plants, seeds and how different animals function to disperse seeds or pollinating plants. This project or final exam will support the instructional activity under the evaluating phase and it will allow students to demonstrate their knowledge of the lesson’s concept.
References: Support your instructional activities and rationales with 2-3 scholarly resources and cite them below.
Part 2: Vocabulary Terms and Instructional Strategies and Practice Activities
Use the grade level, Next Generation Science Standard, and learning objectives you selected in Part 1 to complete the chart. Identify key academic vocabulary terms, an instructional strategy for teaching the terms, and two activities you could implement to allow students the opportunity to practice and apply their knowledge of the term. The activities should involve reading, writing, listening, and speaking.
| Academic Vocabulary Term | Instructional Strategy for Explicitly Teaching the Term | Practice Activities to Allow Students to Apply Their Knowledge of the Term (Include identification of what skills are used: reading, writing, speaking, and/or listening.) |
| Attributes Blade | Create a Flocabulary Game: use keywords and definitions to encourage students to have fun while learning new vocabulary and definitions. | New vocabulary words will be introduced to students by showing them a Flocabulary hip-hop video to demonstrate each word, along with a |
| Bud Dispersal | Create a Vocabulary BINGO Game: students will play bingo to assess their vocabulary knowledge and have fun! | kid-friendly definition of each. I will write the words on the board and have students repeat them after me. Next, students will write the words |
| Germination Gravity | Word Wall: have students add new words to the existing word wall. Make it fun by adding mystery words and encourage students to guess, using hints. | in their journals and use the definitions presented in the video. Then, students would be paired with a partner to practice spelling each word using semantic mapping. I will have students take turns |
| Observation Seed | Group activity– using the online visual thesaurus (Edutopia, 2016), have students find synonyms and antonyms for each vocabulary word. | thinking of words that comes to mind to make connections with the new words (Power Up.org 2021). |
| Sorting Symbiotic relationship | in the video. The teacher and students will discuss the definitions and provide examples for each as they relate to the unit’s science topic, “The Needs for Plants.” |
Differentiation Strategies: Identify two differentiation strategies that could be employed to meet the needs of ELL students and students with exceptionalities when teaching academic vocabulary terms.
- Differentiation Strategy 1: Word repetition would be a strategy that could be beneficial for both Ells and students with disabilities. Students would be able to work in a small group, get 1:1 support from a peer, teacher or paraprofessional. Say the word and have students repeat or point to a picture representation of each word. Have students circle vocabulary words each time they see them in a passage or have words written on a worksheet and with support have students write each word 3 to 4 times.
- Strategy 2: Vocabulary and Images is another strategy that could be employed to meet the needs of Ell students and students with disabilities. Students would be able to play a memory matching game by pairing the vocabulary and images as it relates to the needs of plants. They could also create a vocabulary posted around in the room so students can associate each word with its corresponding image to help them learn vocabulary.
Communication Techniques: Explain why it is important for educators to use verbal and nonverbal communication methods to encourage students’ active inquiry, collaboration, and supportive interaction. Include examples of one verbal communication method and one nonverbal communication method.
- Explanation: Teachers will play a major role in the success of their students and it is important for them to use the above skill because they will be able to attract student’s attention to more understanding, along with motivating their students and even bring excitement to the bored students through the use of non-verbal language (National Center for Biotechnology Information, 2017).
- Verbal Example: Having a conversation face-to-face or having a phone call with someone, a speech or presentation, which is also an alternative to non-verbal communication (Business Terms, 2021). Small group communication is an example of verbal. It is when there are more than two people involved in the exchange of information and communication is not just about speaking but it is also about the ability to listen and present oneself (Business Terms, 2021).
- Nonverbal Example: Plays a significant role in our lives in everyday life. It can improve a person’s ability to relate, engage, and establish meaningful interactions (Good Therapy, 2021). When there is a better understanding of this type communication, it may lead people to develop stronger relationships with others (Good Therapy, 2021). Facial expressions such as eye contact and a genuine smile, gestures, body language, tone and voice are examples of nonverbal communication.
References: Support your selection of instructional activities and practice activities with 2-3 scholarly resources and cite them below.
Part 3: Questioning Strategies
Use the grade level, Next Generation Science Standard, and learning objectives you selected in Part 1 and complete the chart. For each of the 5E’s, develop one question based on Webb’s Depth of Knowledge levels. Each question should align to the learning objectives, activate students’ prior knowledge, and encourage exploration and problem-solving.
| Engage | Explore | Explain | Elaborate | Evaluate | |
| DOK Level 1 | Who can tell me what plants need in order to grow? | Can you identify some animals that disperse seeds? | Recall key concepts on how animals disperse seeds. | Define key vocabulary by matching each word with the correct image. | Illustrate the process of how a plant grow from a seed. |
| DOK Level 2 | Who can predict what will happen when germination take place? | What is the cause/effect of plants needing sunlight and water to grow? | Make observations on which animals can disburse seeds. | Use context clues to identify the meaning of unfamiliar words from the passage. | Summarize the seed germination process and the process in which animals use to disperse seeds. |
| DOK Level 3 | How does this impact what we already know about the growth of plants? | What facts could be used to support the argument that sunlight and water are vital to plant life? | Explain and justify the best answer to this open question: Do plants need sunlight and water to grow? | What is your interpretation of a Blade? Support your ideas. | What conclusions can you draw from animals dispersing seeds! |
| DOK Level 4 | What information can you gather to support your idea about the way plants grow? | Analyze and create information from multiple sources on the different seed types. | What changes could you make to revise ways to provide needs for plant growth? | Use a Venn Diagram to illustrate the blade and bud of a plant. | Design a storyboard demonstrating how animals disperse seeds from one plant to another. |
References
Business Terms. (2017). Verbal Communication Definition. Retrieved from https://businessterms.org/verbal-communication/
Good Therapy. (2021). Nonverbal Communication. URL: https://www.goodtherapy.org/blog/psychpedia/nonverbal-communication
Edutopia. (2016). Building Vocabulary through Fun and Games. URL: https://www.edutopia.org/article/buliding-vocabulary-through-
fun-and-games-rebecca-givens-rolland
Flocabulary. (2021). Retrieved from https://www.flocabulary.com/how-it-works/
Kahoot. (2021). URL: https://kahoot.com/
National Center for Biotechnology Information (2017). U. S. National Library of Medicine. The Impact of the Teachers’ Non-verbal
Communication on Success in Teaching. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5346168/
Next Generation Science Standards. (2013). 2nd Grade – Topic Model – Bundle 3. The Needs of Plants. URL:
Power Up.org. (2021). Semantic Mapping. URL: https://powerupwhatworks.org/strategy-guide/semantic-mapping
San Diego County Office of Education. (2021). Science Resource Center. 5E Model of Instruction. Retrieved from
