Sarsawati Chhetri

Science Lesson Plan

Benchmark Assignment

Time Needed: 1 hour and 30 minutes- 2 hours

Lesson Overview

The lesson is going to be about solid and liquid for 1 grade. This is not something that my mentor
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teacher has taught. When I asked him for the topic, he told me to choose whichever I liked. The free

choice option that he gave was little tough for me at first because I could not find more help on doing

something meaningful. As told by my mentor teacher, students have not learned about solid and liquid

in his classroom. The only thing that they do for science is the ecology project that the school has.

Therefore, this is the stand-alone lesson and I am planning to review this again next semester since I

will be student teaching in this classroom. The lesson contains activities that the students will do in

peers and in small groups. We will also have group discussions to start the lesson and the review time

before ending the lesson. Therefore, for the organization, the lesson is a whole class lesson, peer, and

also small groups.

There is a student I am little concerned about for this lesson. A student does not understand

English to be able to participate and the teacher aid always pulls him out of the lessons. However, I

disagree with that because I believe that if he is around his classmates more and if he is learning what

others are learning with accommodations instead of being pulled away then slowly but eventually he

will learn. Therefore, I will request the teacher aid to not pull him away from this lesson and I will

make it more hands-on than writing so that he will not have as much difficult time as if he would with

writing. Few other things I will do are; will peer him up with a Spanish speaker who will be able to

translate to him whenever needed, I will be visiting him more often to see if he is understanding the

instructions, I will be allowing him to write in Spanish if needed, and I will also encourage him to draw

his ideas if writing will not help (just like the reading recommends).
 The classroom contains few ELLs therefore, I will be careful in the way I speak, give

instructions, ask students to complete tasks, and what I will have them write. I will be asking questions

by going around the room to help students talk out their ideas. When I was an ELL and still now, I get

multiplies of ideas on my head but putting it out on the paper is difficult. However, when someone asks

me questions to help me with thinking or if asks me to talk my ideas aloud then it helps me to write

them down. Therefore, I will walk around and ask questions to help them think critically and also to

continue with their thinking. I will also ask them to repeat the ideas that are on their head to help them

write the ideas down on their notebook. I will do more hands-on activities and have them draw more

than write so that students who have difficult time writing in English will not feel left behind or

discourage to learn.

Materials

There are 20 students and I will have 5 groups of 4. So, the materials that I will need will be for group

instead of each student.

Solid: paper (5), plastic spoon (10), blocks (handful for each group), and wax papers/aluminum foil.

Liquid: water (1 cup per each group), colored water (1 cup for each group), milk (1 cup for each group),

and dish-wash soup (small amount).

Materials I will need: handouts, cups, water droppers, plastic bags to hold water, cups (different for

each liquid),

Worksheets/handouts: 22 copies of each activity/assessment (3 times 22= 66)

Preparation

Since I am planning to teach the lesson after lunch, I will set up the materials, handouts, write my

objectives and lesson focus on the board and organize the table if necessary during lunch when students

will be out. There will be 5 groups of 4 which means I will have 5 workstations for students to test out

and experiment the solids and liquids. The tables are already set up as groups however since we will be

using liquids I want to make sure that everyone is safe and that the floor will not be as dirty and messy.

Therefore, I will make sure there is enough space for students to walk around their table. There are six
 tables in the classroom but I will only use 5 for the lesson. I was planning to use all 6 and dividing 3 for

solids and 3 for liquids but I thought doing that will not give them chance to think critically and

figuring out which is solid and which is liquid. Therefore, I am planning to fix the solids and liquids for

each table (5 tables). So, when they do the experiments with them, they will see the characteristics to

differentiate which is solid and which is liquid.

I will have both solids and liquids in each table which will make 8 materials all together which

might be little too much for 1 graders. So maybe I will cut down to 3 for each solid and liquid rather
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than 4. So, it will be 6 items/materials rather than 8. I will have 8 material/items per each table and each

table there will be 4 students (5 groups of 4). I will have cups for liquids and plastic bags so they can do

experiments with the waters. I will have appropriate amount of each item for both solids and liquids for

each group so it will not be too much or too less. After they are done, I will simply through the liquids

on the sink and throw the solid like paper and foil and keep the blocks. I will also have extra paper

towel in each group just in case they spill the liquids.

Safety

The materials are not dangerous but I will explain some rules in using them. For example, they should

not pour the liquids on each other or on the table, do not taste/swallow the experiments, no spill, not

hitting or throwing experiments at each other, giving each other a chance to observe/play/experiment

the items, do not fix the experiments during, do not throw any experiments after (I will throw them).

Lesson

First, I will have all the students on the carpet where my objective, driving question and lesson focus

will already be written on the board. Objective: Students will be able to identify differences between

solids and liquids. Driving question: How are solids and liquids different from each other? Lesson

Focus: Solid and liquids. I will explain what we are doing by saying; today we will be learning about

solid and liquid. Has anyone heard the words solids and liquids and does anyone know what they are?

Who knows what solids are? What are liquids? How are they different? We will have short discussion

about their funds of knowledge. However, I am told by my mentor teacher that they have not learnt
lesson about solids and liquids so I am expecting that not many students will know what they are. Yet, I

will still ask so that we can make our predictions which we will use at the end for our reflection after

they are done with the experiments.

Therefore, my first activity/part of the lesson will be discussion (questions) to lead them towards the

experiment but without giving them so much information about solids and liquids. I will not say exact

definition because I do not want to give away everything. I want them to explore and find those

differences between solids and liquids by themselves. I want them to explore, experiment, discuss with

their group and come up with their findings to figure out the differences. During this, I will introduce

my topic, objective, lesson focus, what I have planned to do, what I expect from them. I will write down

all the predictions that we will come up with about solids and liquids during this activity/part of the

lesson.

After the discussion/predictions/introductions during the first activity, I will divide students into groups

of 4 (5 groups). Then have them go to one table where the materials will already be placed carefully and

in needed amount of space between each. After every group will be carefully on their table, I will ask

them to listen to few of my safety instructions, what are on the tables and how to use them. I will

explain what each material is and how we can use them. For example, there will be water dropper so I

will not only talk to them about it but will also model it for them. This is why I did not give this

instruction when they were on the carpet. I want them to be able to see the materials that I am modeling

for them to understand it better. If I only talk about it without modeling or they seeing the materials,

they will not understand it clearly. Therefore, I will ask them to look at the material that I am modeling

on their table. After the modeling part is done for every material that is on the table, I will give safety

instructions. I will tell them to not put the experiments on their mouth, not to throw or spill them on the

floor or each other, not to fix them, not to taste them or swallow them. I will make sure that I will not

talk a lot of time giving instruction here because I want them to have at least 30-40 minutes for each

handout that I have created for them that they fill out while working on the experiments. Before they

begin, I will again share the driving question and the objective with them so that they will know what
exactly they are doing and why. I want them to have purpose for this and them being able to carry it

with them for years to come.

After guiding them to the experiments, I will allow them to explore without me giving any more

instructions or having any more discussions. I want them to learn from their explorations rather than

from the information I will provide. I will give them 3 minutes to see, touch, smell, hear, and feel the

materials that are on the table before starting the activity so that they can get excited about the

experiments. After that, the handout for activity will already be on their table so they can work on it

individually while sharing the materials. I want them to do this individually so they can come together

and discuss about it together by comparing their answers. This will help the ELLs to listen to what

others have to say and also gives them chance to write down what they think instead of having to talk

about it before writing it down. While they will be doing the activity, I will be walking around to ask

questions for further ideas/thinking, giving positive feedbacks and providing any other kinds of support

that the students might need. Some questions that I am planning on asking are; how does it feel when

you touch it from outside and how does it feel from inside? What can you say about its look? How does

it look and why do you think it looks like this? I will not ask too many questions to give away the

answer but to help them think more critically. Also, sometimes asking questions to guide their thinking

helps an ELL to think more and put their thoughts on the paper. I will always give positive feedback

such as; I like how you are being supportive, thank you for giving everyone a chance to explore, thank

you for working appropriately and nicely, I like how you explained that drawing, I am really glad you

saw that on their drawing.

After that activity, I will have them share what they drew and wrote with a partner in their group and

then talk as a group again for short period of time.

After the group discussion, I will have them move to another activity which is an extension of the last

activity.

I will explain what they will be doing, what I expect from them and also model it with them so that they

will understand how to do it in better ways. Similar to last activity, I will walk around the classroom to
ask questions, give feedbacks and provide support. Then, when they will be done with the activity, I

will ask them to share like before; first with the partner then whole group. I will remind them about our

objective and driving question as I will be walking around so they will be thinking about why they are

doing what they are doing and what I expect them to learn by the end of the lesson.

After they are done with two handouts, I will want them to come to the carpet with both of their

handouts and we will have discussion about what they found out. We will then use the predictions that

we made before the experiment and connect it with what they found. We will talk about if the

predictions matched our findings or if we found something new. We will also refer back to the driving

question and the objective to see if we achieved what we planned on achieving. We will first talk about

their data that they collected for their first handout and I will write them down on the big poster. Then

we will talk about the second handout. After that, we will talk about what solid and liquid are. How they

are different and how they found that out. We will connect the driving question and support it with the

data that they collected. For example, they can say solid are harder and liquids are flowy. They can

compare the materials that were provided to them for solids and liquids. Last activity for this lesson will

focus on reflections. Reflecting not only on the objective and the driving question but also how the

lesson went in overall. What they taught of the lesson and the strengths and weakness of the lesson that

I as a teacher can keep in mind for next time.

Include 3-5 activities

For each activity, list your formative assessment. This is what you will look for in student

activity/talk/writing that will tell you what students are thinking and what progress they are making.

For each activity, list what accommodations are necessary for students with special needs and English

Language Learners.

Activity 1

Instruction: Trace the object and explain what you see.

Draw Explain
1 Title: Drawing and Explaining I-AIM Stage & Function

Explore and investigate

Explore Phenomena for patterns

Step-by-step directions for teaching. Include what students do and what the teacher says/does.

1. The handout for activity will already be on their table so they can work on it individually while

sharing the materials. I want them to do this individually so they can come together and discuss about

it together by comparing their answers. This will help the ELLs to listen to what others have to say

and also gives them chance to write down what they think instead of having to talk about it before

writing it down. While they will be doing the activity, I will be walking around to ask questions for

further ideas/thinking, giving positive feedbacks and providing any other kinds of support that the

students might need. Some questions that I am planning on asking are; how does it feel when you

touch it from outside and how does it feel from inside? What can you say about its look? How does it

look and why do you think it looks like this? I will not ask too many questions to give away the

answer but to help them think more critically. Also, sometimes asking questions to guide their

thinking helps an ELL to think more and put their thoughts on the paper. I will always give positive

feedback such as; I like how you are being supportive, thank you for giving everyone a chance to

explore, thank you for working appropriately and nicely, I like how you explained that drawing, I am

really glad you saw that on their drawing.

After that activity, I will have them share what they drew and wrote with a partner in their group and

then talk as a group again for short period of time.

activity.

Assessment:

What will you look for in student talk/writing/activity that will tell you what students are thinking?

Be sure to align with your knowings and doings.

I will look for how they are comparing the different materials that they are testing. For

example, I would expect to hear, this material is flowing but this one is staying at one place. I

expect to see that they will talk about how it feels when they touch it, soft and hard, flowy and

staying in one place.

Accommodations/Adaptations:

1) How will you support students who are second language learners?

I will allow them to make a list instead of writing sentences for their explanations if that is the

best they can do. Also, they can write in their first language if that will help them to understand

the concept better. I will partner them up with something who is little more fluent in English

and also can speak their native language to be able to translate if needed. I will also try helping

in translating or finding someone to translate the names of the materials that they are using for

the experiments.

2) What accommodations are necessary for students with special needs?

(Use the 9 accommodations reference sheet for suggestions.)

Few accommodations that my special student might need for this particular activity are time,

level of support (language support and asking questions to help with thinking), having him to

do little less at a time, having someone beside him whether it is his classmate or me just to sit

next to him, and make the wording bit less difficult (maybe I will ask if I can have it in spanish

for him).

Activity 2
 First Grade Science

Name_______________________________________________

1. Trace the object you have on this paper. Trace them again.

Did any of them change shape? ___________________

Talk about why or why not.

2. Choose an object that you can hold in your hand. Look at it. Put it behind your back. Take it out and

look at it again.

Did it change size? ___________________

Talk about why or why not.

2 Title: Tracing the objectives I-AIM Stage & Function

Explore and Investigate

Identify Patterns.

Step-by-step directions for teaching. Include what students do and what the teacher says/does.

1. I will explain what they will be doing, what I expect from them and also model it with them so that

they will understand how to do it in better ways. Similar to last activity, I will walk around the

classroom to ask questions, give feedbacks and provide support. Then, when they will be done with

the activity, I will ask them to share like before; first with the partner then whole group. I will remind

them about our objective and driving question as I will be walking around so they will be thinking

about why they are doing what they are doing and what I expect them to learn by the end of the

lesson.

Assessment:

What will you look for in student talk/writing/activity that will tell you what students are thinking?

Be sure to align with your knowings and doings.

example, I would expect to hear, this material is flowing but this one is staying at one place. I

expect to see that they will talk about how it feels when they touch it, soft and hard, flowy and

staying in one place.

Accommodations/Adaptations:

1) How will you support students who are second language learners?

I will make sure that they will get to touch, feel, smell and see the materials one by one so that

they can process their thinking. I will also have their partners help them to build onto their

ideas. I will allow them to also write on their native language if that will help them to

understand their thoughts better.

2) What accommodations are necessary for students with special needs?

(Use the 9 accommodations reference sheet for suggestions.)

Few accommodations that my special student might need for this particular activity are time,

level of support (language support and asking questions to help with thinking), having him to

do little less at a time, having someone beside him whether it is his classmate or me just to sit

next to him, and make the wording bit less difficult (maybe I will ask if I can have it in spanish

for him).
Activity 3

3 Title: Reflection I-AIM Stage & Function

Reflect

Reflect on changes in ideas

Step-by-step directions for teaching. Include what students do and what the teacher says/does.

1. After they are done with two handouts, I will want them to come to the carpet with both of

their handouts and we will have discussion about what they found out. We will then use the

predictions that we made before the experiment and connect it with what they found. We will talk
about if the predictions matched our findings or if we found something new. We will also refer back

to the driving question and the objective to see if we achieved what we planned on achieving. We will

first talk about their data that they collected for their first handout and I will write them down on the

big poster. Then we will talk about the second handout. After that, we will talk about what solid and

liquid are. How they are different and how they found that out. We will connect the driving question

and support it with the data that they collected. For example, they can say solid are harder and liquids

are flowy. They can compare the materials that were provided to them for solids and liquids. Last

activity for this lesson will focus on reflections. Reflecting not only on the objective and the driving

question but also how the lesson went in overall. What they taught of the lesson and the strengths and

weakness of the lesson that I as a teacher can keep in mind for next time.

Assessment:

What will you look for in student talk/writing/activity that will tell you what students are thinking?

Be sure to align with your knowings and doings.

I will look for how students will compare and contrast solids and liquids using words like soft,

hard, flowy, moving, making movements, staying in one class, changing shape, not changing

shapes.

Accommodations/Adaptations:

1) How will you support students who are second language learners?

- I will give them more time to process their thoughts before they have to share them aloud. I will

also allow them to read off their paper instead of just summarizing off of their head. They can also

ask their partner or group members for help with the words or the explanations if they need it. I will

not pick on them without they being aware of it. If they will not get the answer right away, I will tell

them that I can come back to them if they will remember it later.

2) What accommodations are necessary for students with special needs?

(Use the 9 accommodations reference sheet for suggestions.)

can translate to the class and me. I will also encourage him to share them in English so that it will

also help his language.

Accommodation:

There is a student I am little concerned about for this lesson. A student does not understand English

to be able to participate and the teacher aid always pulls him out of the lessons. However, I disagree

with that because I believe that if he is around his classmates more and if he is learning what others are

learning with accommodations instead of being pulled away then slowly but eventually he will learn.

Therefore, I will request the teacher aid to not pull him away from this lesson and I will make it more

hands-on than writing so that he will not have as much difficult time as if he would with writing. Few

other things I will do are; will peer him up with a Spanish speaker who will be able to translate to him

whenever needed, I will be visiting him more often to see if he is understanding the instructions, I will

be allowing him to write in Spanish if needed, and I will also encourage him to draw his ideas if writing

will not help (just like the reading recommends).

Student Science Toolkits

Describe how your lesson connects to and builds on student ideas.

- We will be making predictions before beginning the experiments and it will not only use

their funds of knowledge but also helps them to think about more ideas relating to the

predictions they made. While they are doing their experiments, they can think about the

predictions they made and connect to what they are doing and how they are relatable or not

relatable. This will help them to think more critically and also come up with new and more

ideas.

Describe how your lesson connects to and builds on students funds of knowledge
- I will be using materials for the experiments that my students are familiar with such as papers, milk,

and water. They will be able to connect to how they felt, saw, heard or thought about these materials when

they were using it before the experiments in their daily lives. Then they will be able to connect to solids

and liquids which they might not have known before. They will understand that these items that they used

in their daily lives are actually something that science uses.