EXPLICIT INSTRUCTION LESSON PLAN FORMAT

Name: Lainey Losekamp

Date of lesson:11/15/14
Lesson:#2
Lesson Title : Dinosaurs Today
Content Area: Earth Science, Writing
Grade: Third
School: Ivy Tech Elementary
Time allotted: 20 minutes per day for writing and researching over the course of two weeks.
Introductory
Multicultural Goals: None.
Type of Lesson:
Practice/Review
(CHOOSE ONE)
Mastery
Objective(s): Students will be able to write an
Assessment Tool(s): A rubric will be used to check if
imaginative story about dinosaurs living on Earth today
students are able to develop a main idea in their story
and to make connections with the information they
and connect their ideas related to information they
have learned previously about fossils.
have learned about fossils.
Assessment Criteria: A checklist will be used with 80%
accuracy since it is mastery.
Academic Standards: 3.2.4 Identify fossils and describe how they provide evidence about the plants and animals
that lived long ago and the nature of their environment at that time.
3.W.3.2: Write informative
compositions on a variety of topics that

for the introductory paragraph, and

group related information together.
details.
information using words and phrases.
graphics) when useful to aid
comprehension.
section.
Differentiation/Adaptations: None.
Background Knowledge/Prerequisite Skills: Students will
know what fossils are and how they are made.
Students will understand how we used fossils to
determine that dinosaurs existed on the earth a long
time ago.

Multiple Intelligences/Learning Styles & Blooms Levels:

None.

Materials: If the Dinosaurs Came Back by Bernard Most,

pencils, journals, textbooks on fossils and dinosaurs

Technologies Implemented: (Optional) A computer lab

if students wanted to be able

Modifications: None

Anticipatory Set: Read the book called, If The Dinosaurs Came Back by Bernard Most to the whole entire class.
(This book discusses about how much life would be easier if dinosaurs still existed on earth today.) Continue with a
st
class discussion about different jobs dinosaurs could do if they lived in the 21 century.

Procedures: After the class discussion proceed lesson by stating, Today class, you all will be writing an imaginative
story about what life would be like if dinosaurs lived on the earth today. You all will use what we have all learned
previously about fossils and dinosaur. Teacher will ask, here are some questions I like you to think about when
you all begin writing your story:

st

How might the dinosaurs have survived into the 21 Century?

Have they evolved into very different kinds of creatures from the ones paleontologists have
pieced together for us?
Have humans found ways to tame these wild beasts?
Are they aiding scientific research? Are they hunted or protected? Do they perform any useful
functions for humankind? Or are they simply big, adorable pets?
In your story, are we living peacefully with the dinosaurs living in terror?
Have students go back to their desks and pull out their journals
Students should have a pencil and began writing their story.
In their story, remind students to have a title, main idea, at least three supporting details, and
conclusion.
Students will spend a couple of days researching and writing their story during literacy time.
Students can research on the computer, books about fossils, and what they have learned in class.

Closure: Each student will share their story to the class. Each student will discuss what information they learned
about fossils and what sparked their imagination when writing this story.

UDL Chart: None.

N.A. (2014). If Dinosaurs Were Alive Today. Scholastic, Inc.

Rubric

3
Main Idea
Supporting
Details
Conclusion

Connection
with Fossils
and
Dinosaurs

Creativity

Punctuation
Grammar

3 or more At least 3
1 or 2
No effort
details
details
details
A
Something No
No effort
conclusion
more
conclusion
that is
thorough
strong and
besides
is a
the end
paragraph
Spot on
Little
No
No effort
connection connection connection
with fossils
and
dinosaurs
in the story
Very
Original
Very little No effort
creative
thought
and
original;
imaginative
Less than 5 No more
None
No effort
errors
than 10
errors