Lauren Pollard

ELED 3221-090
April 6, 2015
edTPA Indirect Instruction Lesson Plan Template
Comparing Types of Fossils
_____________________________________________________________________________
Big Idea: The big idea addressed in this lesson is the importance of the formation of the earth
and how changes over time are shown through fossils. Students will be able to classify different
types of fossils by how they are formed.
Grade Level: 4th
NC Essential Standard(s): 4.E.2.1 Compare fossils (including molds, casts, and preserved parts
of plants and animals) to one another and to living organisms.
Next Generation Science Standard(s): 4-ESS1-1. Identify evidence from patterns in rock
formations and fossils in rock layers to support an explanation for changes in a landscape over
time.
Four Strands of Science Learning:
Strand 3: Examining pictures of fossils and classifying them based on observable characteristics
like real scientists.
Strand 4: Group work and collaboration during fossil classification activity.
21st Century Skills:
Collaboration was chosen because students will work together to categorize pictures of fossils.
Initiation & Self-Direction was chosen because students will be motivated to ask themselves
where else they might be able to make connections between fossils and the earth today.
Academic Language Demand
Language Function: Categorize was chosen because students will be able to separate
fossils into groups based on their characteristics.
Analyze

Argue

Categorize

Interpret

Predict

Question

Compare/contras
t
Retell

Describe

Explain

Summarize

Scientific Vocabulary: body fossil, trace fossil, mold fossil, cast fossil, fossil fuels, peat

Instructional Objective: Given a worksheet, students will be able to categorize different types
of fossils based on formation and observable characteristics with 80% accuracy.

Prior Knowledge (student): What are fossils made of, where do fossils come from, how long do
they take to form.
Content Knowledge (teacher): What a fossil is, how are fossils formed, how long do fossils take
to form, what can we learn from fossils, what are the different types of fossils
Connections to Students Lives: Students will be able to see that the formation of fossils over
millions of years shows how the earth changes over time and how it can be preserved for
millions of years.
Accommodations for Students with Special Needs (individual and/or small group): Students
with special needs can collaborate in a small group with/without teacher assistance as needed
during the independent activity.
Materials and Technology Requirements:
BrainPop Fossil video: https://www.brainpop.com/science/diversityoflife/fossils/
BrainPop Fossil Video Notes (attached)
Fossil pictures and sorting chart (attached)
BrainPop activity worksheet: https://www.brainpop.com/science/diversityoflife/fossils/activity/
Total Estimated Time: One day
Source of Inspiration for the Lesson:
BrainPop.com
Safety Considerations: Children are spread out during group work. Students follow all regular
classroom rules.

Content and Strategies (Procedure)

In your procedure, be sure to include all of the following 5Es. Your procedure should be
detailed enough for a colleague to follow. If you will be relying on technology (e.g., a YouTube
video), describe your back up plan thoroughly. Imagine your most novice colleague needing to
teach from your plan. Dont just answer the questions. Additionally, I expect you to include
possible questions you could ask for each section. This needs to include higher-order
questions.
Engage: Begin with a KWL chart for students on fossils. (one sticky for Know, one sticky for
Want to know) Go over some of the questions on the want to know section versus what people
might have thought they know. Where do we think fossils come from? Why do fossils form?
What can fossils tell us? How old are fossils? What do we use fossils for?
Explore: Pass out BrainPop Fossil Video notes sheet and instruct students to follow along with
the worksheet while watching the corresponding video. While watching the video, pause at each
vocab word and ask a student to share his or her answer for that word. After the video, ask
students What is a fossil? Why might it take so long for these fossils to form? Based on
how long fossils take to form, what can we assume about what they tell us? If fossils take so
long to form, does that make them more or less valuable? Why?
Next, pass out the fossil sort activity to groups of four students. Instruct students to sort the
various pictures according to their definitions from the video notes and class discussions. As
students work in groups, go around and ask questions like How did you know that was ____?
Can you explain some differences between ___ and ___?
Explain: Do the following activity on a Smart Board or board. Draw the chart from the sorting
activity and have various students come up one at a time to place a fossil in the correct place.
Continue to ask questions like Can you tell me how ___ is formed? What kinds of things can
we use ___ for in present day? What do you know about how ___ versus ___? For students
that are incorrect, ask for their reasoning behind why they chose that name for that fossil. Ask for
characteristics of both types in order to clarify.
Elaborate: Next, students will be given the BrainPop worksheet to do on their own. While
students are working, they will be allowed access to the BrainPop video again. The teacher
should be ready to assemble a small group of students who need further assistance to work
through the problems together. On the worksheet ask students questions like Where else might
you find that type of fossil? What other materials could this type of fossil be made of? What
kinds of things are left in this type of fossil? What do we use this type of fossil for today?
Upon completion as a class, have students turn and talk to share with a partner one thing they
learned from the lesson on a sticky note and have them add it to the KWL chart.
Evaluate: The worksheet will be taken up for an informal assessment. Mastery of the lesson will
be based on 80% correctness of the whole worksheet. Answer key for the worksheet is attached.

To be completed after the lesson is taught (if applicable)

Assessment Results of All Objectives/Skills:
Mastery: 12-15 questions correct
Partial mastery: 8-11 questions correct
No mastery: 7 or less questions correct
Mastery students: 16/20
Partial mastery students: 3/20
No mastery students: 1/20
Reflection on Lesson: This was one of my favorite lessons that I taught for IMB. I liked it
because it was simple enough for me as a beginner and I was able to teach myself the material
quickly and present the activities to my students because I felt they were things I would have
been able to learn from had I been new to the information.
Something that could have gone better in teaching this lesson was the limited openended-ness of my lesson and activities. Since this was the first exposure that my students were
getting to fossils, I felt like it was hard for me to stray far from a direct lesson where I gave them
a lot of information up front. Something that I could have changed to improve this would have
been to have more of an exploration period in which students simply studied pictures or artifacts
of fossils and compared characteristics and then learned about the different types. I wish I had
made an activity with less black and white/right and wrong answers.
I think students benefited from being able to engage in discussions and see where we get
so many resources today based on fossils from the past. I think they enjoyed being able to work
in groups, especially because for the most part (I had to work pretty hard to get one group of
boys to get going), they worked very well together. As I walked around the room I got to hear
multiple children from each group take turns explaining their reasoning and thinking about the
different fossils. During class discussions I also got a lot of feedback and we were able to keep
the conversation going throughout the lesson. Even without the open-ended-ness that I would
like next time, my students were very inquisitive and engaging anyways.
From this lesson, along with the rest of my IMB experience, I learned how important it is
to be confident and knowledgeable when teaching a new concept. I learned that students will
almost always be interested and excited to learn new topics.

BrainPop Fossils Video Notes

1.

2 facts about what a fossil is:

2.

Fossilization has to start off with the right circumstances, like a

_______________ __________________.

3.

Types of fossils:
o

Body fossil

Trace fossil

Mold fossil

Cast fossil

Fossil fuels

Peat

Body Fossil

Trace Fossil

Mold Fossil

Cast Fossil

Fossil Fuel

Peat

Graded Elements

Developing (Level 1)

Acceptable (Level 2)

Exemplary (Level 3)

Initial Planning
Several required components are
missing. The components presented
do not align well with the lesson.

Most required components are present.

One or two may be missing, require more
detail, and/or not be completely aligned
with the lesson.

All required components are present and align with the

lesson.

(0-1 point)

(2 points)

(3 points)

One or more required components

are missing. The components
presented do not align well with the
lesson.

All required components are present. One

or two may not be completely aligned with
the lesson.

All required components are present and align with the

lesson.

(0-1 point)

(2 points)

(3 points)

Identification of academic
language demand (both
language function & vocab),
instructional objective, and
content knowledge

Several required components are

missing. The components presented
do not align well with the lesson.

Most required components are present.

One or two may be missing, require more
detail, and/or not be completely aligned
with the lesson.

All required components are present and align with the

lesson.

(0-1 point)

(2 points)

(3 points)

Identification of connections
to students lives, prior
knowledge, and
accommodations for special
needs

One or more required components

are missing. The components
presented do not align well with the
lesson.

All required components are present. One

or two may require more detail or not be
completely aligned with the lesson.

All required components are present and align with the

lesson.

(0-1 point)

(2 points)

(3 points)

Identification of central
focus, lesson subject, grade
level, materials, time, lesson
source, and safety

Identification of NC
Standards, NGSS, 4 Strands
and 21st Century Skills

Lesson Introduction

Engage

Engage stage states pre-skills rather

than using questions to gauge
readiness and generate curiosity.
Misses opportunity to motivate
students and help them make
connections to their lives and prior
knowledge.

Engage activity somewhat sets the stage

for attending to the lesson, but important
connections to students lives and/or prior
conceptions are missing.

(0-2 points)

(3-4 points)

Engage activity creates interest and generates curiosity in

the topic by connecting it to students lives. Identifies prior
conceptions to gauge readiness for the lesson. Clear
connections made to prior learning or knowledge. Provides
focus for the remainder of the lesson. Highly relevant and
compelling questions are present.
(5 points)

Lesson Development

Explore

Explain

Elaborate

Students are given a limited

opportunity to explore with materials
or phenomena. Not clear how the
exploration will provide a common
experience for students to build
conceptual knowledge and
communicate their ideas with others.

Students have the opportunity to get

directly involved with phenomena and
materials. They are provided with a
common experience so they can share
and communicate their ideas about the
core concepts addressed. Teacher
direction may drive instruction rather than
student inquiry.

Students have the opportunity to get directly involved with

phenomena and materials. Students are provided with a
common experience that assists them in sharing and
communicating their ideas about the core concepts
addressed. Student inquiry drives the instruction. Highly
relevant and compelling questions are present.

(0-2 points)

(3-4 points)

(5 points)

Explain stage does not introduce

students to common language, terms,
or vocabulary, and is entirely teacherdirected. No opportunities are given
for students to communicate their
ideas with others through writing,
drawing, or speaking, and/or the
product or activity does not relate to
stated objective(s).

Students have some opportunities to

explain concepts, but this process may be
primarily teacher-directed. There may not
be sufficient opportunities for students to
communicate with others to develop and
demonstrate their mastery of new
vocabulary or terms through writing,
drawing, and speaking.

Students are encouraged to explain concepts in their own

words based on what they did in the Explore phase.
Teacher introduces common language, terms, and
vocabulary and helps students build on their initial
explanations to construct more accurate and sophisticated
explanations. Some form of writing, drawing, or speaking is
used to assess students development, progress, and
growth with the new information presented. This stage is
predominantly student-led, with the teacher asking highly
relevant and compelling questions to guide the process.

(0-2 points)

(3-4 points)

(5 points)

Activities are unrelated to concepts

learned and/or do not facilitate deeper
understanding in students.

Activities provide some opportunity for

students to expand their understanding of
the concepts or to make connections with
related concepts.

Activities allow for students to elaborate on the concepts

learned, make connections to other related concepts, and
apply their understandings to the world around them.
Highly relevant and compelling questions are present.

(0-2 points)

(3-4 points)

(5 points)

Lesson Evaluation
Assessment is limited to one form in a
single stage and does not relate to
the objective(s).

Assessments gauge student learning of

the objective(s) but may not directly align
with the conditions or behaviors of the
objective(s). Only formative OR summative
assessments (not both) are used and are
not fully incorporated through all stages of
the lesson.

Candidate effectively proposes multiple strategies for

determining levels of mastery of lesson objective(s).
Assessments are clearly aligned with the objectives of the
lesson. Both formative and summative assessments are
seamlessly incorporated throughout all stages of the
lesson.

(0-2 points)

(3-4 points)

(5 points)

Evaluate

Additional Lesson Components

Alignment/structure of
lesson

Lesson focuses on how to complete

an activity, rather than on developing
student understanding of content and
skills.
Several key activities do not align to
the objective(s) and standards.
(0-1 point)

Accurate science content

Communication of ideas

Lesson sequence is clear and time is

allowed for student questions and practice,
but important details regarding some
segments may be missing from the lesson.

Sequence and organization of lesson is effective, logical

and structured to increase student understanding. Lesson
sequence allows for student questions, practice and
success during each important segment.
All activities align to the objective(s) and standards.

Most activities align to the objective(s) and

standards.
(2 points)

(3 points)

Science content is not accurate.

Science content is accurate in most of the

lesson plan.

Science content is accurate throughout the entire lesson.

(0 point)

(1 point)

(2 points)

The plan is difficult to read or hard to

follow because of excessive
mechanical (spelling, grammar)
errors.

Ideas are communicated somewhat

clearly, with some mechanical (spelling,
grammar) errors found.

Ideas are communicated clearly, with no mechanical

(spelling, grammar) errors found in the lesson plan.

(0-1 point)

(2 points)

(3 points)