SampleLessonPlan

1.Overview
Title:OurSimilarities/Differences
TopicofUnit:Writing/SocialStudies
Teacher:Ms.Weisser
Grade:1st
2.Objectives/Justification/Standards
a)ESSENTIALQUESTIONS:
Whatdoessimilarmean?
Whatdoesdifferentmean?
Whatisdiversity?
Whatmakesyouunique?
Howshouldwetreateachothernomatterourdifferences?
b)OBJECTIVE:Studentswillbeableto(SWBAT):
SWBATdisplayproperconventionswhenwriting.
SWBATworkcollaborativelywithotherswhileholdingdiscussion.
SWBATdemonstrateunderstandingofnewgeneralacademicvocabulary.
SWBATrecognizesimilaritiesanddifferencesbetweenthemselvesandotherpeers.
SWBATuseexpressivelanguagetodescribecharacteristicsofoneselfduring
collaboration.
SWBATsharefindingswithanaudience.
SWBATinterpretandanalyzedatadisplayedonabargraph.
NJCCSS:
6.1.P.A.3Demonstrateappropriatebehaviorwhencollaboratingwithothers.
6.1.P.D.1Describecharacteristicsofoneself,onesfamily,andothers.
6.1.P.D.3Expressindividualityandculturaldiversity.
6.1.P.D.4Learnaboutandrespectothercultureswithintheclassroomandcommunity.
L.1.5Withguidanceandsupportfromadults,demonstrateunderstandingoffigurative
language,wordrelationshipsandnuancesinwordmeanings.
L1.2DemonstratecommandoftheconventionsofstandardEnglishcapitalization,
punctuation,andspellingwhenwriting.
SL.1.1Participateincollaborativeconversationswithdiversepartnersaboutgrade1
topicsandtextswithpeersandadultsinsmallandlargergroups.
SL.1.4Describepeople,places,things,andeventswithrelevantdetails,expressing
ideasandfeelingsclearly.
1.MD.C.4Organize,represent,andinterpretdatawithuptothreecategories;askand
answerquestionsaboutthetotalnumberofdatapoints,howmanyineachcategory,and
howmanymoreorlessareinonecategorythaninanother.

3.Assessment
a)PreAssessment:
Topreassessstudentsknowledge,studentswillengageinthecrossthelineactivity.
Followingtheactivity,wewillengageinadiscussion.Atthispoint,Iwillbeabletorecognizeif
studentshaveanunderstandingofthepurposeofthisactivityandiftheycouldrecognize
similaritiesanddifferenceswithinourclass.
b)Checkingforunderstanding:
Tocheckforunderstanding,wewillengageinadiscussionofthestoryImLikeYou,Youre
LikeMe.Wewillmakealistofsimilaritiesanddifferencesthatthecharactersshare.Iwilluse
athumbsup/thumbsdownassessmenttocheckifstudentshaveafullunderstandingofboth
terms.Fromthisinformalassessment,Iwillassistaccordingly.
c)PostAssessment:
Topostassessstudentslearning,Iwillbecollectingtheirworksamples.Theywillcompletea
chartwiththeirpartner,listing5similaritiesbetweenthemand5differencesbetweenthem.
Oncetheclasshascompletedtheircharts,eachpairwillbeaskedtopresenttheircharttothe
classandsharesomesimilaritiesanddifferencesthattheyfindbetweenoneanother.
Studentshaveahandsignalthattheyusetoshowthattheyshareacommonalityorconnectionto
something.Iwillobservetheiruseofthishandsignaltoshowthattheydisplayunderstandingof
thetermsbysharingsimilaritieswithotherclassmates.
4.LearningExperience
a) Briefdescriptionofsequenceoflearningexperiences
Thislearningexperiencewillbeginwithacrossthelineactivity.Alinewillbetaped
acrossthecenterofthecarpet.Studentswillallbeginstandingononeside.Iwillprovide
criteriaandaskgroupsofstudentstocrosstheline.Forexample,Iwouldsay,Ifyouarean
onlychild,pleasecrosstheline.Iwillprovideenoughopportunitiestohaveeverystudentcross
thelineatleastonce.
Followingthisactivity,studentswillsitonthecarpet.Iwillaskthoughtprovoking
questionssuchas,Whydidwedothatactivity?andWhatdidyoulearnfromthatactivity?
Next,studentswilllistentoareadaloudofImLikeYou,YoureLikeMebyCindy
Gainer.Iwillintroducetheworddiversitybyfirstusingitincontextbysayingthatthe
charactersinthisbookhadmanydifferencesandwereverydiverse.Iwillaskstudentswhat
theythinkthewordmeansandwillguidethemtothemeaning:beingdifferentfromeachother.
Wewilldiscusshowthecharactersinthisbookwererecognizingsimilaritiesanddifferencesin
eachother.
Next,Iwillintroducetheproject.Studentswillbepairedup.Eachpairwillreceivea
pumpkin,whichwillbelongtoourclasspumpkinpatch.Onthepumpkinisachartlabeled
SimilaritiesandDifferences.Studentsmustsitwiththeirpartnerandhaveconversationsto

find5similaritiesbetweenthemaswellas5differences.Theywillwritetheseontheirchartto
bedisplayedontheclassroombulletinboard.
Oncepumpkinsarecompleted,studentswillreturntothecarpetfordiscussion.Iwill
firstasksomestudentstosharesomesimilaritiesthattheyfoundbetweenthemandtheirpartner.
Aftersharing,wewillcreateabargraphontheboardbychartingourhaircolors.Throughthis
activity,wewillbeabletoseehowmanystudentshavesimilarities.Then,wewilldiscussthe
differencesthatthepairsfound.Wewilltalkabouthoweventhoughourchartshowsushowwe
allsharesimilarities,werealizethatourdifferencesetusapartandmakeusunique.
Supportsforstudentswithexceptionallearningneeds:
Studentswillbeengagedinbodilykinestheticlearning,whichwillbebeneficialtoallstudents
butwillbeextremelyhelpfulforthosestudentswithIEPs.Studentswillbecomefully
immersedintheirlearning.Throughareadaloudonthecarpet,studentswilllistentoastoryand
beprovidedwithvisualstoaccompanyitinordertoincreasecomprehension.Fortheactivity,I
haveplannedspecificpairingstogroupstudentsbasedonability.Studentswhohavedifficulty
writing,forexample,willbepairedwithastudentwhoismoreadvanced.Astudentwhohas
difficultyprocessingandverbalizingwouldbepairedwithahigherdevelopingstudentinthat
regard.Whilebothstudentsareencouragedtowrite,onestudentcouldmodeltheexpected
behaviorforhisorherpeer.Thisactivitywillprovidestrugglingstudentswithpositivesocial
interaction.Theinstructionalaideandmyselfwillcirculatetheroomduringpartnertime.If
studentsarehavingdifficulty,wewillpullthosechildrentoaspaceandprovidesupportand
guidance.Throughoutthelearningexperience,IwillbeutilizingtheClassDojo,whichisour
behaviormanagementsystem.Throughthis,Iwillbeabletoawardpointstothosestudentswho
areparticipating,focused,andontask.Brainbreaks/movementbreakswilloccurifnecessaryto
increasestudentfocusduringinstructionaltime.
Materials:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RtURfAAHh30
Similaritiesanddifferenceschart
Pencils
SMARTBoard