Learning

Center


3rd Grade

Literacy Center Project Report

Names: Bianca Iacono & Holly Romans
Grade: 3rd
Lexile level: 1010L
Book: Fossils
Author: Ann O. Squire
Standards:

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.3.4
Determine the meaning of general academic and domain-specific words and phrases in a text
relevant to a grade 3 topic or subject area.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.3.7
Use information gained from illustrations (e.g., maps, photographs) and the words in a text to
demonstrate understanding of the text (e.g., where, when, why, and how key events occur).
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.3.3
Describe the relationship between a series of historical events, scientific ideas or concepts, or
steps in technical procedures in a text, using language that pertains to time, sequence, and
cause/effect.
Skills:
1. Students will be able to understand what a mold fossil is by creating their own mold
fossils with seashells and modeling clay through activity #1.
2. Students will become familiar with the different types of fossils and be able to distinguish
them visually through activity #2.
3. Students will be able to recognize and describe the relationship between how fossils are
made and from how long ago they were created through activity #3.
Materials:

1 copy of Fossils by Ann O. Squire

2 Match those fossils worksheet and 16 corresponding laminated place cards
2 Fossil Mad Libs worksheet and corresponding word bank
Modeling clay
Small plastic shells
Directions worksheet for activity #1
Directions worksheet for activity #2
Directions worksheet for activity #3

Explanation:
In this lesson, students will learn about four different types of fossils, including cast,
mold, resin, and trace fossils. They will be reading Fossils by Ann O. Squire to introduce them to
the topic of fossils and familiarize them with how fossils are made. This book is a great
informational text that grabs the readers attention and relates to many of the readings we have
covered thus far. According to Dymock, there is a lack of attention focused on teaching
expository texts in schools. The CORE method addressed in this article follows a connect,
organize, reflect, and extend sequence, which ultimately provides a framework for teachers to
follow when doing lesson plans on expository texts. This is a great way to unveil a new topic to
students and will be used to introduce this lesson.1 According to Marcell, DeCleene, and
Juettner, while using reciprocal teaching, the teacher essentially acts as a facilitator and gives
background knowledge to help students predict, clarify, question, and summarize the information
they are reading. During this lesson, the teacher would be helping the students with all the
strategies that reciprocal teaching enforces. This lesson also reinforces reading comprehension.2
According to Pinnell, comprehension can be extremely difficult to a child because sustaining the
reading process and being able to comprehend what you are reading requires recognizing words,
knowing what they mean, and picking up or gathering the basic and important information from
print while reading continuous text.3 This book/lesson introduces a wide range of vocabulary that
students may not be familiar with. By using vocabulary instruction, mentioned in Brahman et al.,
learning instructional vocabulary will make a big difference in students reading comprehension
and writing abilities. This learning center incorporates key vocabulary that will be used
consistently throughout each lesson.4 Lastly, according to Codling, and self-determination
theory, in order to create a classroom environment that helps students develop positive attitudes
towards reading, we need to focus on students three basic needs: autonomy, competence, and
relatedness. The first is autonomy; students need to have some of control over what happens in
the classroom. Next is competence, which is the perception that students are capable. Ultimately,
having social relationships and being able to support and connect with your students for
relatedness, is crucial for their self-determination and intrinsic motivation.5 This lesson
incorporates autonomy and competence because students will perform each activity on their
own, and will be able to complete the assignment while using a complex text for their grade
level. It also incorporates relatedness because the teacher will act as a facilitator more than an
authority figure during the lesson.

1

Dymock, S. (2005). Teaching Expository Text Structure Awareness. The Reading Teacher, 59(2), 177-181.
doi:10.1598
2

Marcell, B, Decleene, J & Juettner, M. (2010). Caution! Hard Hat Area! Comprehension Under Construction:
Cementing a Foundation of Comprehension Strategy That Carries Over to Independent Practice. The Reading
Teacher , 63(8), 687-691.

Pinnel, G. (1999). The Guided Reading Lesson: Explaining, Supporting, and Prompting for
Comprehension. Improving Comprehension Instruction ,106-122.

Brabham, E.T. .A.L. . (2012). Flooding Vocabulary Gaps to Accelerate Word Learning. The Reading
Teacher , 68(8), 523-533.

Codling, R. (2012). How Self-Determination Informs Teachers. Self-Determination Theory.

Sign in Sheet

NAME

DATE

Activity # 1: Create your own Fossil!

Welcome Paleontologists!
Today we are going to be creating our own fossils!
Step 1:
Read the book Fossils by Ann O. Squire with a partner.
Takes turns reading each page
Help each other with words you dont know and use the
pictures as clues
Step 2:
After reading, you are ready to make your own fossils!
Take a handful of modeling clay out of the bucket
Roll the modeling clay into a ball
Pat the modeling clay out flat until it resembles a
pancake shape
Take a shell out of the ziplock bag and press it into the
flattened modeling clay (be careful not to push too
hard!)
Carefully remove the shell from the modeling clay and
watch as your Mold fossil appears before your eyes!
Step 3:
After creating the fossil, share with your partner what you
have just created.
Step 4:
When you are done, make sure to clean up all materials
before moving on to the next activity.
Place the shells back into the zip-lock bag (make sure
you remove any left over modeling clay on the shell)
Take your modeling clay and place it back into the
bucket

Activity #2: Match Those Fossils

Step 1:
After reviewing the 4 types of fossils, turn to the
next page and look over the 8 example pictures.
Step 2:
Using the laminated place cards, match the type of
fossil to its corresponding picture.
Step 3:
Once you have finished matching all of the pictures
with the corresponding place cards, check your
answers with the answer key.
Step 4:
After you have checked your answers, place the
laminated cards and fossil page back into the ziplock bag.
Step 5:
Lastly, place your completed worksheet in the
Finished Folder (Activity #2).

Everything About Fossils (Activity #2)

When an animal or plant dies, it may fall into mud or soft
sand and make an impression or mark in the dirt. The
body is then covered by another layer of mud or sand.
Over time, the body falls apart and is dissolved. The mud
or sand can harden into rock preserving the impression of
the body, leaving an animal or plant shaped hole in the
rock. This hole is called a MOLD FOSSIL.
If the mold becomes filled over time with other minerals
the rock is called a CAST FOSSIL.
Another type of fossil is a RESIN FOSSIL. Resin is
sometimes called amber. Plants, mostly trees, secrete
sticky stuff called resin. Sometimes insects, other small
animals, or bits of plants get stuck in the sticky resin.
The resin hardens overtime and is preserved in rock
making a fossil.
Fossils made up of leaf prints, burrows, trails, or
footprints are called TRACE FOSSILS.

Activity 3: Mad-libs


Step 1:
Turn to the Mad-Libs page labeled 1
Work with a partner to fill out the nouns, adjectives
and verbs with any silly words you would like.
Pick one partner to come up with the silly words
Pick one partner to record the silly words (make
sure to not show your partner just yet!)
After you have filled out the Mad Libs sheet read it
over with your partner and have a good laugh!

Step 2:
Turn to the Mad-Libs page labeled 2
Work with a partner to fill out the appropriate nouns,
adjectives and verbs from the word bank provided.
(Hint: use the book as your reference)

Step 3:
Once you have finished filling in the blanks, read
over it with your partner to make sure it makes
sense.
Put your worksheet in Finished Folder (activity #3)
when you are done.

A Peculiar Find (#1)

, a hunter, was traveling
Noun

Person

along the southern coast of when she

Place

came across something strange. All of the ,

Same as First Noun

formed from , she was looking for

Noun

were missing! At first, she thought a ,

Profession

someone who digs or removes fossils from the

surrounding rock, must have beaten her there.
Suddenly, a , a reptile that used to dominate

Noun

the land 250-65 million years ago, emerged from the

forest. was in awe because she knew

Same Person

they were supposed to be

. She then realized that they had come back

Adjective

to life and were roaming the land again!

Word Bank

Paleontologist
Fossil


Bones


Extinct

Sedimentary Rock
Dinosaurs
Mary Anning
England

A Peculiar Find (#2)

, a hunter, was traveling
Person

Noun

along the southern coast of when she came

Place

, formed
across something strange. All of the
Same as First Noun

from , she was looking for were

Noun

missing! At first, she thought a , someone

Profession

who digs or removes fossils from the surrounding rock,

must have beaten her there. Suddenly, a , a
Noun

reptile that used to dominate the land 250-65 million

years ago, emerged from the forest. was in
Same Person

awe because she knew they were supposed to be__________

Adjective

. She then realized that they had come back to life and
were roaming the land again!

A Peculiar Find
(Answer Key)

Mary Anning, a fossil hunter, was traveling along the

southern coast of England when she came across
something strange. All of the fossils, formed from
sedimentary rock, she was looking for were missing!
At first, she thought a paleontologist, someone who
digs or removes fossils from the surrounding rock,
must have beaten her there. Suddenly, a dinosaur, a
reptile that used to dominate the land 250-65 million
years ago, emerged from the forest. Mary Anning was
in awe because she knew they were supposed to be
extinct. She then realized that they had come back to
life and were roaming the land again!