Adam Ramirez December 3, 2013 Scaffolded Lesson Plan Asteroids and Dinosaurs: Unexpected twists and an unfinished story

Content Area & Course: 7th Grade Life Science Grade Level & Student Population: Grade 7; 30 students of whom the majority are considered at grade level (2 may be classified as emerging English learners). Unit of Study: History of Life and Earth; specifically, a lesson on Alvarezs exploration of the dinosaur extinction (3 class periods). Objective/Purpose: Students will be able to describe the sequence of events describing Alvarezs research and connect his process to the resulting theory that attempts to explain how dinosaurs became extinct. This objective will be achieved through a series of preliminary activities that will prime students for a thorough reading of the article and assessed with the use of strategies that target English learners of diverse levels. Synopsis: Walter Alvarezs unusual finding of a clay layer dated 65 million years ago coincides with the estimated date of the dinosaur extinction. This discovery triggers a series of investigations, chief among which is an exploration of iridium levels (dust from meteorites contains iridium) in the layer of clay. After discovering unusually high levels of iridium in the layer of clay, Alvarez decided to test other locations throughout the world and arrived at the conclusion that whatever took place 65 million years ago occurred in multiple places throughout the world. A further investigation uncovered no plutonium levels, which discredited the hypothesis that a supernova wiped out the dinosaurs; instead, a more likely theory was that an asteroid, which does not contain plutonium, impacted the earth 65 million years ago. Walter Alvarezs research triggered a fury of investigations in the 1980s. The conclusion? Evidence supports the fact that dinosaurs were extinguished 65 million years ago and that there was a large asteroid impact at the same time. There is not, however, enough evidence to justify a connection between the two events. Language Considerations: There is an immense amount of scientific vocabulary in the article that can pose problems for students. Most of the vocabulary related to Earth and Life History will be covered prior to the beginning of this lesson plan (e.g. Cretaceous period, paleontology, Tertiary periods, meteors, hypothesis, theory, etc.). Nevertheless, the Vocabulary Self-Inventory activity will help both the students and myself determine the terms that are foreign and need more attention throughout the reading. There are a number of terms that can easily confuse students, such as iridium and plutonium. The Anticipation Guide will ideally serve as a way to assess not only students prior knowledge regarding content, but also their ideas of what terms such as these mean. By determining problematic vocabulary before the reading is commenced, greater access is provided to more students and comprehension of the material is facilitated. The final strategies consisting of paraphrasing and drawing tasks will assess

Adam Ramirez December 3, 2013 how well language considerations have been met by the design of the lesson plan and provide insight for future direction after this reading is concluded. Next Generation Science Standards Addressed in this Lesson Plan MS-ESS 2-2: Construct an explanation based on evidence for how geoscience processes have changed Earths surface at varying time and spatial scales. MS-ESS 2-3: Analyze and interpret data on the distribution of fossils and rocks, continental shapes, and seafloor structures to provide evidence of the past plate motions. ELD Standards Addressed in this Lesson Plan IA2: Interacting with others in written English in various communicative forms. IB5: Listening actively to spoken English. IB6: Reading closely literary and informational texts and viewing multimedia to determine how meaning is conveyed explicitly and implicitly through language. IC: Selecting and applying varied and precise vocabulary and other language resources to effectively convey ideas. IIA1: Understanding text structure. IIA2: Understanding text cohesion. IIB3: Using verbs and verb phrases IIB4: Using nouns and noun phrases PREPARATION (1) KWL: DINOSAUR EXTINCTION (EDS 375, EDS 376) The purpose of this strategy is to activate pre-existing knowledge regarding dinosaur extinction. By placing on paper everything that a student already knows, or thinks he or she knows, I can gain insight into his or her pre-conceptions and design the progression of the lesson in accordance with any potential misconceptions that may have surfaced. This strategy also serves to increase students interest in the topic by making them ask questions and allowing them to have a stake in the learning of the material. The lessons learned are then succinctly expressed in the final section of the KWL, which will be part of the Reflection portion of this lesson plan. The K and W sections are to be filled out individually and then the teacher may create a class KWL chart by asking for input from volunteer students or by randomly selecting students to offer their insight.

Adam Ramirez December 3, 2013 (2) ANTICIPATION GUIDE (EDS 376) The purpose of this strategy is to activate pre-existing knowledge regarding the concepts and vocabulary that are present in the text. By responding to statements about the reading before delving into it, students are informing themselves and their instructor of their preconceptions. After reading the text, students return to the anticipation guide and identify their prior misconceptions while correcting them using the new information that they have just gathered from their experiences with the readings, a component that will be part of the Reflection portion of PAR. Students will initially complete this on their own and then may talk to a partner so that they can practice justifying their responses in English before proceeding to setting in stone their final predictions. (3) VOCABULARY SELF-INVENTORY (EDS 376, EDS 351) Similar to the anticipation guide, the vocabulary self-inventory can provide information to both the teacher and the student regarding how well the vocabulary of the reading sits with prior knowledge. This self-inventory should include words that have been reviewed in class up to this point (e.g. theory, hypothesis, meteorite, Cretaceous period), but should also include vocabulary that has not yet been covered (e.g. iridium, plutonium). If students struggle with review vocabulary, then perhaps this lesson should be modified so as to provide greater access by either changing the reading or selecting different teaching strategies. Since this is a type of assessment, students should complete this activity individually. (4) WORDS IN CONTEXT ORGANIZER (EDS 376) The most challenging aspect of this reading is the vocabulary. In order to understand the concepts of this informational piece, students must successfully decode the complex vocabulary. By using one of these organizers for each complex vocabulary term, students can work cooperatively to decode every ambiguous word in the reading and together arrive at a sophisticated understanding of the concepts addressed by the text. Students can work in partners, for instance, to take a word like paleontology and break it down into its two roots. With the help of the teacher or the Internet, students can then arrive at an understanding of how breaking words down can provide insight into their meaning. ASSISTANCE (1) STORY PREDICTIONS (EDS 351) As the time to delve into the reading approaches, this strategy can be implemented by providing students with a small portion of the reading and then asking them to supplement the given portion with what they think will happen next. This activity can be conducted in groups and allows students the opportunity to converse about the text in English and then to practice writing by placing their thoughts on paper as they complete the projected outcome of the given informational piece. Not only does this help all levels

Adam Ramirez December 3, 2013 of English learners practice conversation and writing, but it also triggers an interest to develop in the minds of students as they await what is to come in the article. (2) READ ALOUD/INSERT (EDS 376, EDS 351) I will read aloud as students annotate information that they found interesting, new, intriguing, or any doubts that surfaced regarding either content or language. As I read, students can annotate individually. After the reading is concluded, students can share their annotations in small groups and come to an agreement on any interesting information or common misunderstandings that may have surfaced and can be addressed by the teacher. REFLECTION (*) KWL/ANTICIPATION GUIDE This is not an additional strategy, but completing the L portion of the KWL and reexamining the predictions made in the anticipation guide can serve as a form of assessment and as a means for students to determine how much they have learned themselves regarding both content and language. (1) PARAPHRASE THE PASSAGE (EDS 376) Students are asked to paraphrase either the entire article or a piece of the article. The goal is for students to practice their writing skills and at the same time demonstrate their understanding of the concepts and language of the article. Vocabulary terms that were ambiguous before the reading (iridium, plutonium, paleontologist) should be used appropriately by most students given the level of emphasis that was dedicated to these words. The length of the paraphrased passage can vary depending on the English proficiency of the student. (2) STORY MAP (EDS 376, EDS 351) After students paraphrase the article, they are now asked to create a story map of the main events that are described by the reading. Students can either describe these events in writing or through pictures, both being avenues through which their understanding of the information can be assessed. Students create their story maps individually and then may share them with a partner or a small group, thus capitalizing on their verbal skills. (3) QUICKWRITE (EDS 376, EDS 351) Students are asked to write a brief letter to Walter Alvarez either supporting or rejecting his theory. Part of the assignment asks students to support their decision with evidence from the reading or any other prior knowledge that they have. Students write their letters individually, but may share them with a partner or small group afterwards. This task allows English learners to practice their written, verbal, and oral skills.

Adam Ramirez December 3, 2013 Activities Chart

Beginning Activities Preparation: KWL Chart Anticipation Guide Vocabulary SelfInventory Words in Context Organizer Assistance: Story Predictions Read Aloud/Insert Reflection: Paraphrase the Passage Story Map Quickwrite
Early Intermediate

Intermediate

Early Advanced

Advanced

X X

X (X) X X

X X X X X

X X X X X

X X X X X

(X) X

X X

X X

X X

X X

(X) X X (X)

X X X

X X X

X X X

SOURCES: EDS 375 Secondary Science Teaching Methods (R. Millstone, instructor), UCSD EDS 376 Language and Learning Across the Curriculum (M. Sewall, instructor), UCSD EDS 351 Teaching the English Language Learner (M. Sewall, instructor), UCSD