Lesson plans are vital to an organized classroom environment. Over the course of weeks 5-8, you will build a comprehensive weekly lesson plan that will include the following:
1. Traditional assessment
2. Field trip plan
3. Learning environment plan
4. Weekly lesson plan (6-7 days of instruction)
The final product (due week 8) will be submitted in APA format, and must include the weekly lesson plan template, traditional assessment, field trip, and learning environment plan.
REQUIREMENTS FOR WEEK 5
This week, you will develop an assessment (a unit test) of elementary school students’ learning on an Earth or Life Science topic. Assume the time available for the assessment is a single period of approximately 40-50 minutes. The test must be a minimum of 15 questions.
You may choose ONE of the following topics for your assignment*:
Fossils (3rd grade)
Planets and Stars (4th grade)
Energy flow in Ecosystems (4th grade)
Weather and Weather Processes (4th grade)
Geologic Processes (5th grade)
Cells and Cell Characteristics (5th grade)
*You will use this topic for the remainder of your scaffolded assignment (weeks 5-8).
When you are considering your topic, you want to consider a field trip that would be appropriate and fit the needs of the topic. Next week’s assignment will include a one-day field trip you take your students to reinforce the content.
1. To begin, create an APA* formatted title page. The title page should contain the following:
Topic
Grade Level
Student’s Name
Georgia Military College
*Check online resources for correct APA formatting (OWL Purdue is a good source).
2. Copy/paste the lesson plan template into the second page.
3. Using the following resource, find, and paste the standards* associated with your topic into the Georgia Standards of Excellence section of the lesson plan template.
Link to standards: https://www.georgiastandards.org/Georgia-Standards/Pages/default.aspx
*When you include GSE, you always write out the standard and substandard(s) being addressed (not just the codes). Example:
S3E1. Obtain, evaluate, and communicate information about the physical attributes of rocks and soils.
a. Ask questions and analyze data to classify rocks by their physical attributes (color, texture, luster, and hardness) using simple tests.
b. Plan and carry out investigations to describe properties (color, texture, capacity to retain water, and ability to support growth of plants) of soils and soil types (sand, clay, loam).
c. Make observations of the local environment to construct an explanation of how water and/or wind have made changes to soil and/or rocks over time.
4. Create a list of behavioral objectives* (begins with “Students will be able to…”) in the behavioral objectives section of your lesson plan template. The number of objectives might range from about 5 (if all are fairly high-level) to about 10 (if many are fairly low-level).
*You are not allowed to use the exact verbiage of the behavioral objectives from this course. This entire assignment should be your own work and your own questions.
5. Go to the first blank page in your document and begin including a combination of test questions of multiple-choice and short answer/essay/diagram (“constructed response”) questions. YOU ARE NOT ALLOWED TO USE true/false, fill-in-the-blank, or matching-column questions.
6. Using the next blank page after your test questions, include a key to your test as well as how you will assign a points value to each question. For short answer /essay/diagram questions, discuss how you would award partial credit.
