November 17, 2014

Dear Parents/Guardians,
I would like to formerly introduce myself as your childs Student Teacher, Ms.
Howlett. I am a 4th year Bachelor of Education student at Vancouver Island
University and I am completing my practicum at the school. I will be participating in
Mrs. Hs grade 5 classroom for the duration of the school year by assisting in lessons
and teaching my own lessons to the students. I am preparing a lesson plan for the
upcoming week that I am eager to share with you. I recently attended a workshop
titled, Project Wild, which encourages teaching students about environmental
education inside and outside the classroom. Project Wild is an extremely
influential program, as it raises students awareness of wildlife and human impact
on the environment in order to create a healthier planet.
The lesson is derived from the Project Wild Activity Guide that I received from the
workshop. The students will not need a textbook, as I will provide the materials and
resources for the lesson. The specific materials include: a hand-magnifying lens, a
digging tool, pencil, and instruction sheet. The students will be working in small
groups of 3-5 students. The lesson is referred to as a Microtrek Scavenger Hunt and
incorporates activities both inside and outside of the classroom. The goal of the
activity is to allow students to state that humans and wildlife share environments,
demonstrate that humans do not have exclusive use of environments, and generalize
that wildlife can be all around us even if we do not see or hear it. In other words,
students will learn the diverse places they can find wildlife in all forms and how
humans can impact their environments. The activity incorporates Science, Language
Arts, and Socials Studies.
We will begin the lesson by providing the students with a set of instructions
(ensuring that all safety precautions are followed and no wildlife is harmed in this
activity) and a scavenger list of things to find outside of the classroom in the field
and nearby forested area. The students will be told what behavior is expected of
them during the lesson. Specifically, they will not allowed to physically contact any
wildlife that they find in order to avoid potential harm to the animal, they must stay
within the boundaries that are set, and they must be careful when exploring certain
areas in order to avoid harming an animal or habitat. The students have practiced
behavioral expectations in scenarios outside of the classroom previously, so I expect
that we will not have an issue. An example of one thing the students will be
instructed to find is: evidence that wildlife ranges from small in size to very big; an
example of this may be a ladybug and a deer. Once the students are given the
instructions, the groups will be divided in small groups, and we will go outside to
gather the evidence for our scavenger hunt list. The students will be given 30
minutes to scavenge within the boundaries that were set and will be supervised by
Mrs. H and myself at all times. After the students are given 30 minutes outside, we
will return to the classroom and discuss the evidence that we have found. Each
group will report their findings and share something that they found to be the most

interesting thing, such as a type of bird or a bug they have never seen before. The
students will be graded on participation in this activity and how actively they were
engaged with the activity, group members, and sharing of their thoughts. A 100%/A
grade level will be given to students who contribute to the lesson and assist their
group members in completing the activity. I will be observing the students
throughout the lesson to assess them.
Following the scavenger hunt, we will develop the activity into a language arts
lesson by beginning a creative writing activity. The students will use the species
observation that they found most interesting and characterize it. I will be calling the
lesson Create-an-Animal. The students will characterize their special animal by
giving it a name, describing its basic needs (food, shelter, etc.), how the animal
meets its needs, where your animal lives, and a colored illustration of the animal in
its natural habitat. The creative writing aspect allows students to make up their own
description of the animal, as it does not have to be the actual characteristics of that
specific animal. Once each student has developed their own animal, they will begin
to construct a story based on that animal. The conclusion of the Scavenger
Hunt/Creative Writing lesson will be allowing students to share the stories and
characters they have written, if they are comfortable. Students will be given the
option to share, as reading aloud is a great way to improve upon a students reading
confidence and skill. The students will be handing in their stories following sharing
and I will be marking them on a set criteria including: clarity of ideas, writing style,
conventions (spelling, punctuation, grammar), and formation of the writing
(opening, organization/sequence, and conclusion). The students will be given a
letter grade based on how well they meet the selected criteria and are based on the
Grade 5 Performance Standards for Personal Writing.
I wanted to share this information with you so you are aware what your child will be
learning and participating in over the next week. Parent participation is strongly
encouraged in our classroom, which is why I feel it is very important that you are
aware of the activities that I will be doing with the students. Please feel free to
contact me at any time via e-mail if you have any questions or concerns on the
material/lessons that I will be covering with the students throughout the duration
of the school year. Please find an attached signature sheet on the final page of this
document; I would appreciate if you could return it back to me with your contact
information and any additional comments you would like to include.
Thank you,
Ms. Larissa Howlett
Larissa_howlett16@hotmail.com

I ______________________ have read the above guidelines for the upcoming lesson.
(Parent Signature)
Parent/Guardian Contact Information:
NameE-mailPhone NumberAddressEmergency ContactAdditional CommentsPlease return this signed sheet to me via your childs personal planner by
Friday, November 21, 2014.