ORC Lesson Plan

          The lesson plan I selected is appropriate for grades third through fifth. I plan on using it in my fourth grade classroom. I believe it will give the children a challenge without being super hard. This lesson plan is a science lesson, but also incorporates literacy skills into the activity. This lesson introduces students to a study of the tropical rain forest. Pre-reading activities allows students to access and build upon prior knowledge, including listening to sound effects of the rain forest, writing, and drawing. During reading, students use simple note-taking strategies, find patterns in text structure, and learn vocabulary. During post reading activities, students demonstrate synthesis of the text by writing efferent and effective responses to the text. 

For the Common Core Standards I first checked out the Ohio Department of Education website to take a look at the Common Core Standards. The fourth grade learning standards focus on helping students recognize the components of various systems and then investigate dynamic and sustainable relationships within systems using scientific inquiry.

Next, I went to the ORC website and checked on the strand that I would focus on in my science lesson. I plan using the first topic under Earth and Space Science, Earth's Surface. The strand: Earth's surface has specific characteristics and land-forms that can be identified. 

       

My plan for this lesson would be to implement this lesson in its entirely. I like how it gives the objectives of what the students will be able to do and have sections about what will happen in each section. I also like how it offers extensions to further their curiosity and student assessment and reflections. I would like to make this lesson a "lab" over a couple of days to allow the children to get the whole experience of the rainforest and not just skim it. 

The objectives of this lesson are:

Prereading: Students will

1. Brainstorm a list of words associated with the rainforest
2. Draw and describe a picture representing their concept of the rainforest
3. Work together in groups to brainstorm a list of facts about the rainforest

During reading: Students will

1. Discover locations of the tropical rainforests through a globe or a map
2. Listen to text read aloud
3. Determine and take notes on new vocabulary and facts about the rainforest
4. Particpate in classroom and group discussions of the text
5. Draw and describe a picture representing a new level of knowledge about the rainforest
6. Discover features of the text structure
7. Reread the text to pratice fluency

Postreading; Students will

1. Choose from a variety of genres (e.g., letter, description, poem) and write about the rainforest
2. Generate a list of questions about the rainforest and proceed in a small group to research using the Internet

Challenges of this lesson would be classroom management and time management. Often time students get excited about "lab" days that they sometimes forget some of the classroom expectations and rules. I would begin my lesson by setting expectations with the students and discussing what the objectives for the lesson are. We would discuss as a class the procedure for "lab" days in the classroom.