Kristen Snow Mrs. Shiller 4th Grade School of Education The College of New Jersey March 7, 2013 Dr.

. Seuss Lets You Run Your Own Zoo Topics and Big Ideas: Create an animal and develop a written description of it. Essential Questions: How will students create their animals? Based on known zoo animals, variations of animals, and/or insects. How will students develop their habitat, living resources, and names pertaining to their animals? Standards: 3.2.12.A.1 Engage in the full writing process by doing so daily and for sustained periods of time. 3.2.12.C.1 Use Standard English conventions in all writing (sentence structure, grammar and usage, punctuation, capitalization, spelling). 3.2.12.B.7 Use primary and secondary sources to provide evidence, justification, or to extend a position, and cite sources from books, periodicals, interviews, discourse, electronic sources, etc. Learning Objectives & Assessments: Objectives Students will be able to create their own unusual zoo animals. Students will be able to develop a description pertaining to their zoo animal. Assessments Question students during a class discussion about animal characteristics, habitats, and living resources. Observe students as they create their animal and write the descriptive information about their animal: habitat, characteristics, and food source.

Materials: If I Ran a Zoo, pencil, markers/crayons, imaginations, handout. Pre-Lesson assignments and/or prior knowledge: a. Student Analysis: Students have learned the structure of a writing prompt. Students have created their own stories using descriptive language, complete sentences, and punctuation. b. Teacher Analysis: The teacher should clearly understand the writing components, in particular using details, paragraph structure, sequence, and verb tenses.

Lesson Beginning: Share with your students that this week in March, Read Across America celebrates Dr. Seusss birthday. Ask the students to raise their hand if they enjoy Dr. Seusss writing, creativity, and stories he has created. Let the students know that today you will be reading his story If I Ran a Zoo. Ask that the students to pay close attention to the descriptions throughout the reading, specifically the details used to describe the characters. Instructional Plan: Explain to the students that the childrens zoo called last night and asked for the classs help to choose new animals for exhibits at the zoo. Tell the students to use their imagination and create any animal they would like. Refer back to Dr. Seusss illustrations of the various animals found within his zoo. Brainstorm characteristics (legs, fur/skin, size), environments (land, water, cold/hot climates), and food (other animals, plants, meat). Provide the students with the instruction of the activity. Also, model the activity with an animal you have created for the zoo. Share with the students your description of the imaginative creature. Each student will be given a handout with space to illustrate his or her unusual animal. The students will also be given a worksheet where they will be required to write a description of their animal, including its name as well as describing its habitat and food sources.

Differentiations: Monitor the students as they work individually to create their animal for the zoo. If they have trouble brainstorming, assist the student with further examples in which he/she can use in their own prompt. If a student has not been to a zoo, assist the student with examples of zoo animals as well as their characteristics. Allow students more time to complete the assignment if they are having difficulty finishing it. Assessments will be made based upon how well the students follow directions throughout the lesson, as well as their connections to the story If I Ran A Zoo. Questions: What types of animals are in a zoo? How does the zoo create environments for all the different animals? (Indoor/Outdoor) What are specific animal characteristics? Provide examples of skin, size, legs, etc? In what different types of places can animals be found? (Under water, on land, in trees, in the sky) What types of food do animals need to survive? What makes Dr. Seusss animals unusual?

Classroom Management: o Throughout the lesson, the teacher will call on students to answer questions and present their work to the entire class. o Students must raise their hand in order to be called on. Those students who are not paying attention, allows the teacher to identify who needs extra assistance. o The teacher will allow equal opportunity for her students by alternating back and forth between gender when asking students to answer/volunteer. o The teacher will provide her students with enough wait time in between each question in order for her students to think about the material. o Strategies to rephrase questions can be executed by the teacher to meet all of her students needs. Closure: Each student will clean up his or her writing utensils (markers/crayons). Have each student share the name of their animal, illustration, and one characteristic about their animal for the zoo. After they have presented their work, have the students hand in their work. Inform the students that you will create a booklet with all of the students animals and descriptions for their zoo. The students will be able to look through the booklet to read about their classmates creations when they have free time. Website: http://havefunteaching.com/worksheets/themes/dr-seuss-worksheets/dr-seuss-worksheetif-i-ran-the-zoo.pdf

Kristen Snow Mrs. Shiller 4th Grade School of Education The College of New Jersey April 22, 2013 Photosynthesis Topics and Big Ideas: Develop an understanding of photosynthesis. Essential Questions: What is photosynthesis? What are the parts of a plant? How do plants make food? What role does the sun play in generating energy? Why is photosynthesis important to the environment? Standards: New Jersey Standards: 5.3.6.B.1: Describe the sources of reactants and trace their pathway to the products of photosynthesis. 5.3.12.B.4 Explain how environmental factors (such as temperature, light intensity, and the amount of available water) can affect photosynthesis as an energy storing process. Pennsylvania Standards: S3.1.6.A.2: Describe how energy derived from the sun is used by plants to produce sugars (photosynthesis) and is transferred within a food chain from producers (plants) to consumers to decomposers. Learning Objectives & Assessments Objectives Students will be able to define photosynthesis. Students will be able to explain photosynthesis and the environmental factors which affect its energy storing process. Students will be able to demonstrate the process of photosynthesis along with the roles of the cycle. Materials: Living Sunlight Photosynthesis Play Cards and Props Assessments Discuss photosynthesis and the process in which photosynthesis takes place with the students. Question the students about the environmental factors discussed in Living Sunlight. Conduct a group session which addresses those factors. Instruct the students to act out the photosynthesis play. Question the students about each role of the cycle.

Two Photosynthesis Worksheets Pre-Lesson assignment and/or prior knowledge: a. Student Analysis: Students will know the characteristics of a plant, as well as what they eat and drink. b. Teacher Analysis: The teacher should clearly understand photosynthesis along with the environmental factors that affect its energy storing process. Lesson Beginning: Introduce the students to the book Living Sunlight. Ask the students what they think the book will be about based upon the cover. Discuss with the students some of their predictions about the book with logical reasoning. Read the story to the students. Throughout the story, question the students or repeat important contributions about the topic of photosynthesis. After the story is read, discuss with the class what the book was about. Discuss photosynthesis and its energy process. Instructional Plan: Explain to the students that the process of photosynthesis is important for plants as well as humans. Ask the students to think in the perspective of the plant, just as the book was told from the suns point of view. Inform the students that they will be given the opportunity to imitate the plant and experience photosynthesis. Each student will play a role in the process of photosynthesis. Each group will be assigned a prop and receive a role in the production of photosynthesis. Go through the steps of photosynthesis with the students. As each step is introduced, have that group come to the front of the class and share their role. As each step of photosynthesis is completed, elaborate on the process to further the students comprehension of it. After each step in the cycle has been presented, have the class put the entire production together. As a whole class, they are now an important part of the plant and cycle of photosynthesis. Differentiations: Ask a variety of questions to differentiate the levels of comprehension of Living Sunlight. Allow students the appropriate amount of time to discuss the process of photosynthesis and the importance of energy involved. If the student has not learned the essential living components of the plant, discuss with the class how a plant grows. Allow the students to present their work with their group and contribute to the importance of their role in photosynthesis. Assessments will be made based upon how well the students follow directions throughout the lesson and their connection to the story, Living Sunlight. Questions: What is photosynthesis? What role does the sun play in photosynthesis? What do plants need to grow?

What is the cycle of photosynthesis? Why is each stage of the cycle important? What will happen if one of the stages in the cycle does not take place? Classroom Management: Observe student conversation and make sure the students remain on task. Before beginning an activity, give directions so that students know what is expected of their performance. Students must raise their hands in order to be called on. The teacher will allow equal opportunity for her students by alternating back and forth between gender when asking students to answer/volunteer. The teacher will provide her students with enough wait time in between each question in order for her students to think about the material. Strategies to rephrase questions can be executed by the teacher to meet all of her students needs. Transition: Transitions can be found within the lesson plan. Closure: Have the students return the play cards that they used to act out the process of photosynthesis. The students will then return to their seats. Ask the students how photosynthesis would affect frogs in wetlands. Discuss how even though photosynthesis is directly related to plants, animals rely on plants for their energy. In wetlands, plants provide animals with the energy they need to live. Emphasize the fact that energy is needed in every environment in order for all living things to exist. Tell the students you are going to see how much they can remember about the play. Hand out the Photosynthesis diagram worksheet. Ask the students to label the diagram using what they just learned about photosynthesis. Afterwards, the students should hand in their worksheet, grab their Photosynthesis homework assignment, return to their desk, and read until their classmates have completed the activity. Website: http://steckvaughn.hmhco.com/HA/correlations/pdf/p/photosynthesis.pdf