Introductory Content Area Lesson Plan

LESSON TOPIC: States of Matter Vocabulary

RATIONALE: This introductory lesson is very important for students because it is

introducing new vocabulary pertaining to a science unit on the states of matter. This unit
focuses on tough vocabulary terms and complex ideas that students may have never
seen before, and this lesson will introduce students to the new vocabulary in a fun,
interactive way. The students will be exposed to the new vocabulary terms, such as
matter, mass, volume, solid, liquid, and gas through discussion, reading, video and
images, and song. The ways that the vocabulary terms are introduced reaches all types
of learners- readers, auditory and visual learners; as well as differentiated to meet the
needs of struggling readers, students with special needs, and ELL students.

COMMON CORE STANDARD (S):

RI.2.4: Determine the meaning of words and phrases in a text relevant to a grade
2 topic or subject area.

OBJECTIVE: The students will be able to activate background knowledge of the states
of matter using an Anticipation Guide and Word Storming graphic organizer.

ACADEMIC LANGUAGE:
Anticipation Guide, Word Storming
solid, liquid, gas, matter, mass, volume, states of matter

MOTIVATION OR ANTICIPATORY SET: Students will be motivated to participate in

this lesson because they will be using two new interactive strategies that will introduce
them to new, exciting vocabulary.
BRIEF PROCEDURE:

The teacher will begin the introductory lesson by handing out the States of Matter
Anticipation Guide. She will explain to the students that the class is beginning a
new unit, called States of Matter. The students will read 6 statements based on
the new vocabulary from the unit (matter, mass, volume, solid, liquid, and gas).
Under the Before column, the students will color in a smiley face if they agree
with the vocabulary word and definition, or they will color the frown face if they
disagree with the vocabulary word and definition. This guide will be very telling in
which students have background knowledge on the subject, and which students
do not. The teacher will ensure the students that there are no right or wrong
answers, and that the guide is just to see how much students know before
beginning a new unit. The After column will be re-visited at the end of the
lesson.
After the Anticipation Guide Before column is finished, the teacher will lead the
class in a discussion based on their answers to the Anticipation Guide
Statements.
The teacher will play a video from YouTube to reinforce the vocabulary words
and definitions the students identified on the Anticipation Guide. Students will
solely be listening to the Matter Song and observing.
After watching the Matter Song, the teacher will introduce a new strategy, called
Word Storming. The Word Storming strategy allows students to skim and scan
a given text for important, content specific vocabulary words and record them in a
graphic organizer. Before passing out the reading, Forms of Matter, she will pull
the reading up on the Smartboard, along with the Word Storming Graphic
Organizer. She will model how to skim and scan the reading until an important
looking vocabulary word (matter, solid, liquid, gas, etc.: words that have come up
before during the lesson) comes up--then records the word in the appropriate box
on the organizer. The teacher will ensure students that they do not have to read
every single word of the reading, but use their pointer finger to scan the lines of
the reading for important vocabulary terms. After the teacher models the new
strategy, students will receive both materials and complete the graphic organizer.
 To go over the Word Storming, the teacher can create a classwide graphic
organizer on the Smartboard and students can fill in their responses. Review
definitions together based on reading.
Students will revisit Anticipation Guide and complete the After column.

MATERIALS USED:
Anticipation Guide
Word Storming Graphic Organizer
Matter Chatter Youtube video
Forms of Matter reading

TECHNOLOGY COMPONENT (IF APPLICABLE):

YouTube video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C33WdI64FiY
Word Storming strategy modelled on Smartboard
Class-composed Word Storming Graphic Organizer on Smartboard

ASSESSMENT OF COMMON CORE STANDARD (S):

Formal: The teacher will use the After column of the Anticipation Guide to assess
whether or not students have grasped the states of matter vocabulary.

Informal: The teacher will be informally assessing students by walking around and
observing students as they work, and answering questions and/or concerns through
class discussion after both activities.

ADAPTATIONS:

Student with special needs: Students with special needs may benefit from
completing both activities as a class instead of individually. The Anticipation
Guide can be broken down in a simpler way, with not as many directions, words
and symbols. Both activities can be completed on the Smartboard, and also
broken down into two days of exposing the students to the new vocabulary.

English Language Learner: English Language Learners could receive an

Anticipation Guide that contains picture clues instead of all phrases. This can
help ELL students make connections between the vocabulary words and their
meanings. The Word Storming Graphic Organizer can also be shortened to only
 include the letters of important vocabulary, instead of the entire alphabet. This
can simplify the graphic organizer, and allow students to only focus on words in
the passage.

Struggling Reader: An adaptation for struggling readers could be providing them

with a simplified Forms of Matter reading. Although the students are only
skimming and scanning for important vocabulary, there are a lot of words on the
page, crammed together. Having a simplified reading may be less intimidating
and easier for them to locate important vocabulary.
States of Matter Anticipation Guide

Before What do you think? After

Anything that has weight and takes up

space is called matter.

A liquid can be poured and fills a

container.

A solid has shape.

Gas is invisible and spreads out to fill a

container.

Mass is how much stuff is in an object.

Volume is how much space an object

takes up.

Word Storming
Forms of Matter
 Use the reading to find as many important words as you can! Try to fill in each
box.

A B C D E F G

H I J K L M N

O P Q R S T U

V W X Y Z

Content Area Lesson Plan with Literacy Strategy

LESSON TOPIC: Reciprocal teaching with states of matter informational text

RATIONALE: In the past, students have been introduced to the vocabulary that this unit
focuses on. Currently, the students are learning a reading strategy that will help them
question, summarize, predict, and clarify when reading an informational text. This
strategy helps students learn to be actively involved and monitor their comprehension
as they read. Reciprocal teaching will be used on a text that focuses on the different
forms of matter. In the future, students will be able to apply this strategy to other texts
and be encouraged to think about their own thought process while reading.

COMMON CORE STANDARD (S):

Reading: Informational Text (RI. 2.1) Key Ideas and Details
Reading: Informational Text (RI. 2.2) Key Ideas and Details
Reading: Informational Text (RI. 2.4) Craft and Structure
Reading: Informational Text (RI.2.5) Craft and Structure
Writing: (W.2.8) Research to Build and Present Knowledge
Speaking & Listening: (SL. 2.1) Comprehension and Collaboration
Speaking & Listening (SL. 2.2) Comprehension and Collaboration
Language: (L. 2.3) Knowledge of Language

OBJECTIVE: The students will be able to participate in a small group reading activity
and learn to be actively involved and monitor their comprehension as they read. The
students will be able to practice the different roles of reciprocal teaching while reading
an informational text on the forms of matter.

ACADEMIC LANGUAGE:
reciprocal teaching (strategy)
questioner, predictor, summarizer, clarifier (roles)
matter, solid, liquid, gas (content area language)

MOTIVATION OR ANTICIPATORY SET:

To engage the students and activate background knowledge, the teacher will show a
short video clip that introduces the reciprocal teaching strategy. The video summarizes
the four different roles that reciprocal teaching focuses on. After the video, the teacher
will introduce a reference guide that helps the students understand each role. This
reference guide familiarizes the students with the concepts and becomes a resource
that they can refer to during the lesson. This will be displayed on the smartboard for all
students to view.

BRIEF PROCEDURE:

After watching the video and reviewing the reciprocal teaching reference guide,
the teacher will put the students into groups of 4. To model the strategy, the
teacher will display a paragraph on the smartboard. The students will listen while
the teacher reads it aloud. The teacher will model each of the parts of reciprocal
teaching from this paragraph. Students will have the time to practice and
collaborate with their classmates.
 The teacher is going to give an index card to each student in the group. Each
student in the group will get an index card that states questioner, summarizer,
predictor, or clarifier. The students will keep this card in the corner of their desk
to remember their first role.
After the strategy is modeled, the students will be given the informational text,
Forms of Matter. The teacher will guide the students through the first paragraph
to ensure that the students know what is expected. Students will be asked to
write the answers for their role in the correct space of the graphic organizer.
Students will read the first paragraph and complete their role. They will have 5
minutes to identify an answer to their role. After the 5 minutes, the students will
each share their responses with the group.

Examples for paragraph one:

Paragraph 1:
Summarizer- Matter is all around us. There are three forms of matter, solid,
liquid, and gas.
Questioner- What is the difference between liquid and gas?
Predictor- I predict that the next paragraph will tell us about the different types of
matter.
Clarifier- Matter is grouped by what an object looks like or how it acts. That's how
the different types of matter are grouped.

Once the students have shared their responses, they will switch index cards with
their group members to try a different role for the next paragraph. Students will
continue this cycle until the end of the text. Each student will get a chance to
practice each role. The teacher will be watching and guiding the students as
needed as they use the strategy within the small group.
After the text, students will get to answer comprehension questions
independently. This will serve as an assessment to see how well the students
comprehended the content with the use of reciprocal teaching.

MATERIALS USED:
Walkte, R. (2014, March 14) Reciprocal Teaching- An Introduction for Students.
Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vsfzZKMickI (video)
Reciprocal Teaching Reference Guide
Index cards with the names of each role
Forms of Matter informational text
Graphic organizer
Comprehension assessment

TECHNOLOGY COMPONENT (IF APPLICABLE):

Smartboard
Youtube video (cited above)

ASSESSMENT OF COMMON CORE STANDARD (S)

 Formal: The students will be formally assessed on the reciprocal teaching
strategy through the graphic organizer. The teacher will assess how well the
students interpreted each role from their recorded responses on the sheet. A
comprehension question assessment will be given at the end of the lesson to
assess students understanding of the content material. The teacher will assess
comprehension to see if the reciprocal teaching strategy helped the students
understand the informational text more successfully. The comprehension
questions will be completed independently.

Informal: The students will be informally assessed through teacher observation

while the students are working in their small groups and from the responses to
the teacher's questions throughout the lesson.

ADAPTATIONS:
Student with special needs: An adaptation for students with special needs, could
be a vocabulary sheet reference. This sheet could give the students the
important terms and definitions that need to be understood to best comprehend
the text. This could be a helpful tool that students can refer to while reading.

English Language Learner: An adaptation for ELLs could be a separate group

that focuses on vocabulary, rather than the reciprocal teaching strategy. This
group could be guided by the teacher for maximum learning. Students level of
reading comprehension is determined by their knowledge of words, which allows
them to understand a text. The teacher can work with the ELL students by
explicitly teaching word meanings to improve comprehension. With this strategy,
students will work on defining the word, recognizing the word within the text, and
the ability to decode and spell the word. This adaptation focuses on what ELL
students need to understand to comprehend the text.

Struggling Reader: An adaptation for struggling readers could be breaking the

text apart and giving the students each paragraph individually on separate pieces
of paper. This refrains the students from looking at too many words on a page
and allows them to focus on one paragraph at a time.

Reference Chart
The reference chart will be reviewed after the students watch the introduction to
reciprocal teaching video. The chart will be displayed on the board while students are
working. The purpose is to remind the students the responsibility of each role.

Summarizer Questioner

Highlight key ideas in the paragraph Ask questions about the

What is the main idea? paragraph
Ask questions about unclear or
confusing parts

Predictor Clarifier

Make predictions about what the Address confusing parts and try to
author will tell us next based on the answer the questions asked by
paragraph read the questioner

Model Paragraph

This paragraph was chosen because students already have background knowledge and
understand the terms. It is easier to implement and model a new strategy with a known
topic. The teacher will read the paragraph and model each of the roles of reciprocal
teaching.

Topic: Seasons
 There are four seasons. The seasons are summer, spring, winter, and fall. In the
summer, the temperature can get very hot. People like to go to the beach and swim in
the pool. In the spring, the weather is warm. Rain falls and flowers bloom. In the fall, the
weather is cool. Leaves change colors and fall from the trees. In the winter, the weather
is very cold. People dress in layers of clothing and play in the snow. The seasons take
place at different times.

Name ___________________________ Date ________________

Forms of Matter

Everything around you is made of matter. Scientists group matter based on its
properties, or characteristics: what it looks like and how it acts in different situations.
Mater can take three different forms. There three forms are solid, liquid, and gas.
Solid matter has a definite shape. It also takes up a definite amount of space. This
means it has a specific volume. If you could look at solid matter under a very powerful
microscope, you would see its tiny particles moving back and forth. The particles are
packed together, so they vibrate in place. Their overall shape does not change.
 Liquid matter takes the shape of its container. When liquid is in a cup, it is shaped
like the cup. When the liquid is in a vase, it is shaped like the vase. The volume of the
liquid stays the same. If you were to look at the liquid matter under the microscope, you
would see its tiny particles sliding past each other. Because of this unique sliding
movement, the liquid is able to change its shape so we can pour it.
In the form of a gas, matter is usually invisible. The air around us has several
different gases, like the oxygen we breathe in and the carbon dioxide we breathe out. If
you could look at gas matter under the microscope, you would see its tiny particles floating
around with lots of space between them. They spread out to fill any container the gas is
placed in.

Graphic Organizer
 Summarizer Questioner

Paragraph #: _____ Paragraph #: _____

_____________________________ _____________________________

_____________________________ _____________________________

_____________________________ _____________________________

_____________________________ _____________________________

_____________________________ _____________________________

Predictor Clarifier

Paragraph #: _____ Paragraph #: _____

_____________________________ _____________________________

_____________________________ _____________________________

_____________________________ _____________________________

_____________________________ _____________________________

_____________________________ _____________________________
 Comprehension Assessment

1. How many types of matter are there? What are they?

_________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________

2. What is one difference between a solid and a liquid?

_________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________

Content Area Lesson with Literacy Strategy

LESSON TOPIC: States of matter book pass

RATIONALE: In the past, students have been introduced the vocabulary that this unit
focuses on. Students have also learned that there are three different forms of matter.
Currently, the students will participate in a book pass activity where they will gain
information about the different states of matter by looking at a variety of books. This
strategy is an effective way for students to view different texts that all address a
common idea. Students will be looking at several titles all related to the same theme on
matter. In the future, students can apply this strategy for independent reading purposes
and during other units. Students will apply background knowledge and facts learned to
future instruction.

COMMON CORE STANDARD (S):

Reading: Informational Text (RI. 2.1) Key Ideas and Details
Reading: Informational Text (RI. 2.2) Key Ideas and Details
Reading: Informational Text (RI.2.5) Craft and Structure
Reading: Informational Text (RI. 2.9) Integration of Knowledge and Ideas
Writing: (W.2.8) Research to Build and Present Knowledge
Speaking & Listening: (SL. 2.1) Comprehension and Collaboration
Speaking & Listening (SL. 2.2) Comprehension and Collaboration
Language: (L. 2.3) Knowledge of Language

OBJECTIVE: The students will be able to read several books on a central theme
(states of matter) and identify new or interesting facts. Students will record these facts
on a book pass log.

ACADEMIC LANGUAGE:
Book pass (literacy strategy)
Matter, solid, liquid, gas (content area vocabulary)

MOTIVATION OR ANTICIPATORY SET: To introduce the book pass strategy and

engage the students in a new form of learning, the teacher will introduce an anchor
chart. The anchor chart shows the students the parts of a book where they can find new
and important information. The anchor chart will be used as a resource throughout the
lesson. The anchor chart will point out the cover, title, author, back cover, illustrations,
and pages inside. The teacher will remind the students that these are some of the parts
that we want to look at when examining a new book.

BRIEF PROCEDURE:
After the teacher and students discuss the anchor chart, the teacher will hand out
the book pass log with an example already filled in. The teacher will model how a
book pass should be done with the example provided for them. Modeling the
strategy allows for the students to see how the strategy should be executed
properly. The teacher will also go over the log form and explain how it should be
filled out for each book.
Next, the students will be put into groups of 4. Each group will get 4 books to
examine the different books. Students will get 5 minutes to look at each book and
 find interesting or new facts. At the end of the 5 minutes, the timer will go off and
the teacher will say, Book pass! At these time students will know to switch
books with the students in their group.
Once each student in the group has looked at the 4 different books, the students
will discuss their findings with each other to compare facts.
To close the lesson, the class will come together and each student will say the
most interesting fact that they found from their book pass. Students can comment
if they had a similar fact. The purpose of having the students discuss their results
is that they are able to practice pronouncing and saying the vocabulary, as well
as reading and writing about it.

MATERIALS USED:
Anchor chart
Book pass log
Weidner Zoehfeld, K. (1998). What Is the World Made Of? All about Solids,
Liquids, and Gases. New York, New York: HarperCollins.
Book review: This book uses a conversational tone and introduces students to
the three states of matter. The book describes the different qualities of each and
provides details and examples.
Boothroyd, J. (2007). What Is a Solid? New York, New York: Lerner Publishing
Group.
Book review: This book describes the solid state of matter. It explains that solids
have their own shape and do not take the shape of their container. The book
gives several examples of items that are solids and describes different
properties.
Boothroyd, J. (2007). What Is a Liquid? New York, New York: Lerner Publishing
Group.
Book review: This book gives specific information about liquids with photos to
illustrate the different properties of a liquid (e.g., it takes the shape of its
container, it flows). The book gives the students different examples of liquids and
mentions what happens when you heat or cool a liquid.
Boothroyd, J. (2007). What Is a Gas? New York, New York: Lerner Publishing
Group.
Book review: This book explains how gas is the most difficult to see. The book
shows a diagram to help students gain a better understanding. It also gives the
students fun facts about gas, which they might not know.

TECHNOLOGY COMPONENT (IF APPLICABLE): Not applicable

ASSESSMENT OF COMMON CORE STANDARD (S)

Formal: The students will formally be assessed from their book pass log. The students
responses on the log will provide the teacher with information to see if the students
successfully understood the purpose of the strategy. It will also allow the teacher to see
if any students had difficulty.
Informal: The students will be informally assessed through teacher observation while
the students are working in their small groups and from the responses to the teacher's
questions throughout the lesson.

ADAPTATIONS:

Student with special needs: An adaptation for students with special needs could
be doing the book pass as a class. The teacher could read the book aloud to the
students and the students could recite facts learned. Instead of having the
students complete the log, the teacher could create a class log that contains all
of the information stated by the students. The teacher could do this at different
times with the different books.
English Language Learner: An adaptation for ELL students could be recording
vocabulary words found in the text, rather than facts learned. ELL students could
focus on the vocabulary and terms within the context.
Struggling Reader: An adaptation for struggling readers could be having the
students listen to the story, either read aloud by the teacher or from an audio
book. This will allow the students to focus on the content of the text, rather than
struggling with words on a page. This strategy could enhance comprehension,
which would allow them to focus on listening to new or interesting facts.

Book Pass Log

 Title of Book Page Facts I Learned
Number

Example: Page 5 Everything on Earth is

What Is the World Made Of? All about made up of matter
Solids, Liquids, and Gases Blocks is an example of a
solid
Milk is an example of a
liquid

Comparative Writing Lesson

LESSON TOPIC: Mind mapping characteristics of liquids and solids using multiple
informational texts.

RATIONALE:
The students previously explored the topic on phases of matter through a book pass.
The students were split into small groups of four and were given different informational
texts. Each student was able to explore each text for five minutes and then passed it on
to their partner. In the previous lesson the students were able to explore the book and
skim it for important facts. In this lesson, the students will use their previous knowledge
and book passes to analyze the characteristics of liquids and solids. They will use mind
mapping to organize their thoughts and characteristics. Mind mapping makes thinking
visual. Students are able to understand how their thoughts connect to each other.
Students will be reexamining several titles that are all related to the two states of matter:
liquids and solids. Rereading is an effective strategy for close reading and deepens the
students understanding of the topic. The students will apply what they learn to their
future lessons in the unit.

COMMON CORE STANDARD (S):

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.2.9
Integration of Knowledge and Ideas: Compare and contrast the most important points
presented by two texts on the same topic.

OBJECTIVE:
-The students will be able to compare and contrast information they learned from
different texts.
-The students will be able to identify at least two common characteristics for each phase
of matter: liquid and solid.

ACADEMIC LANGUAGE:
Phase of matter, solid, liquid
Characteristic, compare, contrast, identify, mind map

MOTIVATION OR ANTICIPATORY SET:

The students have already worked with the texts being used to generate information.
Revisiting student work will validate and reinforce what they learned from the book
pass. The students have created mind maps before on their chromebooks and will be
excited to work digitally.

BRIEF PROCEDURE:
Introduction: (10 minutes)
The teacher will introduce the lesson by asking the students the open ended
question: What do you know about liquids and solids? Think, then pair for 1
minute.
The students will share with answers like: A liquid is something like water, juice,
milk, the ocean. A solid is something that is hard like a rock, a cup, a table.
The teacher will validate students responses and build upon them if necessary.
Then the teacher will state that the objective today is to use the texts from the
book pass to compare characteristics of liquids and solids.
The teacher will verbally and visually define the term characteristic (a feature or
quality that helps us label). The definition and a key example will be on the
smartboard (resource A)
The teacher will then change the slide to show the key example in a bubbl mind
map. The teacher will explicitly tell the students that they will be putting the
characteristics they learned about liquids and solids into a mind map like the
teacher did. (resource B)
The teacher will ask if there are any questions before moving into the
development.
Development: (20 minutes)
The teacher will split the students into the same groups they were in for the book
pass. The resource managers will get the chromebooks and the librarians will get
the texts. The students should be getting out their book pass log to refer to and
add on to for the mind map.
Once the groups are settled. The teacher will give the students 5 minutes to
share what they learned from the book pass. The teacher will remind student to
highlight information that repeats and is shared between books or classmates.
The teacher will zone in on each group.
The teacher will give the students another 10 minutes to individually look back in
the text and find new information. (3 minutes with each book, another mini book
pass).The students will have to reread to find characteristics of liquids and solids.
The students will repeat previous step by sharing what they found.
After five minutes, the teacher will tell the students to start recording on their
bubbl mind maps. The students will have a designated recorder that will type the
information. The students will have to come up with at least three characteristics
each for liquids and solids that they found from the three texts.
Closure: (10 minutes)
To close the lesson, the students will do a 5 minute museum walk of each
groups bubbl mind map. The mind maps will be printed out and put on the
science board with phases of matter.
The students will come back together as a whole group and share what was
similar about the characteristics they found, what was interesting to them, and
what new information they learned about liquids and solids.

MATERIALS USED:
 Chromebooks
Smartboard
Collab, L.K. (2017). Bubbl.us. Web. https://bubbl.us
Weidner Zoehfeld, K. (1998). What Is the World Made Of? All about Solids,
Liquids, and Gases. New York, New York: HarperCollins.
Boothroyd, J. (2007). What Is a Solid? New York, New York: Lerner Publishing
Group.
Boothroyd, J. (2007). What Is a Liquid? New York, New York: Lerner Publishing
Group.
Book pass log

TECHNOLOGY COMPONENT (IF APPLICABLE):

The students will be using their Chromebooks to create a mind map on the website
bubbl.us

ASSESSMENT OF COMMON CORE STANDARD (S)

Formal: The students will be formally assessed by their bubbl mind maps. This will
provide the teacher with information to evaluate if they were able to compare the texts
to find at least three characteristics for each liquid and solid.

Informal: The teacher will walk around and conference with each group to scaffold
discussion. The teacher will check to see if students are highlighting information that
has already been talked about (similarities). The teacher will ask questions to monitor
comprehension.

ADAPTATIONS:
In the lesson for all learners: The teacher will have the objective written out on the board
to always refer to throughout the lesson. The teacher will explicitly define what a
characteristic is and give an example that students can refer to for their lesson. The
teacher can hold up real life examples of liquids and solids that are in the classroom.
The classroom will have roles so each student knows what they are expected to do. The
museum walk will allow the student to move around the classroom and visually see their
classmates thinking.

Student with special needs: If the student is not able to easily move around the
classroom, the mind maps can be displayed on the smartboard for the whole class to
see each work at once. The teacher can give each group a bag that each contains a
liquid and a solid that can be passed along with the book pass. This enables the
students to use tactile and sensory skills as well as literary skills.

English Language Learner: The student can refer to the word wall or the phases of
matter wall which will contain pictures along with key terms. The student will be able to
refer to the pictures that are in the text to aid their understanding of characteristics. The
student will be encouraged to highlight key terms and information that is discussed. This
is a study skill that will help the student.
 Struggling Reader: The struggling reader can whisper read when independently
rereading the text. The struggling reader can refer to the word wall and phases of matter
wall for help. The student will be encouraged to highlight key terms and information that
is discussed. This is a study skill that will help the student. The student will be able to
visually see their thinking connect to ideas through the mind map. The lesson will focus
on discussion rather than writing so students are able to express their ideas.

Resource A

Characteristic: Is a feature or quality that helps us label

Characteristics about Gas

Gas has particles that are loose and bounce around.

Gas expands to fill the space.

An example of gas is the air in a balloon.

An example of gas is the air in the sky.

You cant see gas.

Gas is invisible, but you can contain it.

Gas is invisible, but you can see what it does when it is in a container. (ex. balloons)

Informational Writing Lesson

LESSON TOPIC: Informational Writing: States of Matter

RATIONALE: In previous lessons, students have identified different aspects of matter

by describing its three states, solid, liquid, and gas separately, and together. Students
have used vocabulary words that demonstrate the physical appearance and change of
these three states from one another. Throughout prior lessons, students have identified
different objects that are either within the solid, liquid, or gas phase. The reason for this
lesson is so students will be able to write about the three different parts of matter that
they have learned about previously using examples and vocabulary words they have
learned. They will be asked to draw a picture to demonstrate their knowledge and
information identified in their informational writing piece to their readers as a visual aid.

COMMON CORE STANDARD (S):

W.2.2- Text Types and Purposes
Write informative/explanatory texts in which they introduce a topic, use facts and
definitions to develop points, and provide a concluding statement or section.
W.2.8.- Research to build and Present Knowledge
Recall information from experiences or gather information from provided sources
to answer a question.
SL. 2.1- Comprehension and Collaboration
Participate in collaborative conversations with diverse partners about grade 2
topics and texts with peers and adults in small and larger groups.
SL. 2.2- Comprehension and Collaboration
Recount or describe key ideas or details from a text read aloud or information
presented orally or through other media.
L. 2.3- Knowledge of Language
Use knowledge of language and its conventions when writing, speaking, reading,
or listening.
L.2.6.- Vocabulary Acquisition and Use
Use words and phrases acquired through conversations, reading and being read
to, and responding to texts, including using adjectives and adverbs to describe.

OBJECTIVE: The student will use vocabulary words to identify and describe what
matter is and its three phases. Students will draw and illustrate a solid, liquid, or gas
object that was identified in their informational writing piece.

ACADEMIC LANGUAGE: Matter, Properties, Change, Solid, Liquid, Gas, Color,

Texture, Mass, Size, Air, Empty, Space, Informational, Writing.

MOTIVATION OR ANTICIPATORY SET: Students will watch a Brainpop Jr. video to

aid as visual information for their informational writing piece. Students will fill in a
worksheet to then aid in their writing piece of the three states of matter. This video will
give them details and examples to write to use in their informational writing piece.

BRIEF PROCEDURE:
 Students will sit in their desks to begin the lesson.
Teacher will discuss the three stages of matter to spark students prior
knowledge.
Students will identify the three stages of matter in a class discussion.
Teacher will discuss a worksheet that students will complete during a video to
later help them in their writing assignment.
Students will be asked to fill in four important facts they learned in the
video that can be incorporated into their writing piece.
Teacher will hand out worksheets for students to complete while watching a
Brainpop Jr. video.
Teacher will begin video and students will watch the video played.
Students will fill in their worksheet identifying important facts they learned
in the video that they can incorporate into their writing piece.
Teacher will talk about video with students in a mini whole class discussion.
Students will join in the mini class discussion with their peers and
teacher.
Teacher will explain how to write an informational writing piece to students.
An informational writing piece must include at least three paragraphs. One
paragraph will introduce the topic you are writing about which is the three
states of matter. The body paragraph will talk about the three states of
matter. This paragraph will demonstrate your information about each state
of matter and how they are different. Finally, the final paragraph is your
conclusion where you wrap up the information you described to your
reader.
Teacher will explain directions for their information writing piece as in what they
need to include.
Informational piece must include an introduction, body, and conclusion
paragraph. This must also include details to support your information on
the three states of matter, solid, liquid and gas. Draw a picture of one of
the states of matter identified in your writing piece to show an example of
a state of matter.
Students will ask any questions they misunderstand.
Teacher will identify that they will be graded on their assignment through the use
of the rubric they recently discussed.
Teacher will display rubric on Smartboard to guide students of what she is
looking for in their assignment.
Teacher will take any questions students still have about the rubric.
Students will begin writing their informational piece independently using their
notes from previous lessons and today's Brainpop Jr. video.
After writing their informational piece, students will draw a picture that will
demonstrate their knowledge of the three stages of matter that correlates to their
informational writing piece. Their picture will represent an example they gave
within their writing.
Once students are finished, they will hand it into their teacher and take out a
book to read until others have completed their writing piece.
MATERIALS USED:
Brainpop Jr.
Smartboard
Pencils/pens
Crayons
Video worksheet
Writing worksheet

TECHNOLOGY COMPONENT (IF APPLICABLE): Students will watch a Brainpop

Jr. video that will be viewed on a SmartBoard. The website for the Brainpop Jr. video of
the three states of matter is,
https://jr.brainpop.com/science/matter/solidsliquidsandgases/wordplay/ .

ASSESSMENT OF COMMON CORE STANDARD (S)

Formal: Students will be assessed on the information they display in their writing
on the three states of matter, solid, liquid and gas. The teacher will grade
students informational writing piece on the rubric handed out previously. They
must display organization, focus on the given topic, content, convention, and a
drawing to earn the highest point value in each portion of the rubric.

Informal: Teacher will assess students informally on their ability to complete the
worksheet to go with their Brainpop Jr. video. This will demonstrate their ability to
identify information presented that will aid in their formal assessment later on.

ADAPTATIONS:
Student with special needs: An adaption for students with special needs is that
they will be given a different worksheet that they will write a sentence on each
state of matter to demonstrate their knowledge of how they differ from one
another. During the video, students will be asked to fill in at least two facts they
learned from the video that can be used for their writing piece.

English Language Learner: An adaption for ELL students is to provide extra

assistance to these students by giving the directions and worksheet in Spanish
while partnered up with another student that can help them during the media
video introduction. They will be assessed like the other students however, will
have to write less to display their understanding of the topic being taught.

Struggling Reader: An adaption for struggling readers is that they will be given
extra time to work on their informational writing assignment. This time will allow
students to take their time to demonstrate their knowledge of the the three states
of matter. They will have time to work with the teacher to help them decipher the
worksheet and directions given for the assignment.
Introduction to Rubric Lesson

LESSON TOPIC: Understanding the Rubric

RATIONALE: The reason for this lesson is so students will be able to identify what they
will be assessed on by using a rubric with specific standards. This will demonstrate to
the students what the teacher is looking for when grading their assignment.

COMMON CORE STANDARD (S):

W.2.8.- Research to build and Present Knowledge
Recall information from experiences or gather information from provided sources
to answer a question.
SL. 2.1- Comprehension and Collaboration
Participate in collaborative conversations with diverse partners about grade 2
topics and texts with peers and adults in small and larger groups.
SL. 2.2- Comprehension and Collaboration
Recount or describe key ideas or details from a text read aloud or information
presented orally or through other media.
L. 2.3- Knowledge of Language
Use knowledge of language and its conventions when writing, speaking, reading,
or listening.
L.2.6.- Vocabulary Acquisition and Use
Use words and phrases acquired through conversations, reading and being read
to, and responding to texts, including using adjectives and adverbs to describe.

OBJECTIVE: The student will identify the necessary pieces of information needed in
their assignment through a given rubric. Students will use this rubric as an aid in
creating their assignment that will be assessed.

ACADEMIC LANGUAGE: Matter, Properties, Change, Solid, Liquid, Gas, Color,

Texture, Mass, Size, Air, Empty, Space, Informational, Writing, Rubric, Grammar,
Picture, Punctuation, Sentences, Paragraph, Facts

MOTIVATION OR ANTICIPATORY SET: Think, Pair, Share: Students will use this
strategy twice in this lesson to help identify vocabulary terms that are new to them. This
will help them create a deeper understanding of the contents they will be graded on for
their assignment.

BRIEF PROCEDURE:
Students will sit in their desks to begin the lesson.
Teacher will pose a question to begin a class discussion: What is a rubric? What
can it be used for?
Students will think pair share their answers.
Teacher will discuss the what a rubric is.
A rubric tells us what is important, defines what work meets a standard,
and allows us to distinguish between different levels of performance.
Teacher will display rubric on smartboard for students to identify and
discuss.
 Teacher will briefly identify the five components she will look at in their
assignments. These five components are organization, content, focus, picture,
and convention.
Teacher will ask students to think pair share with their neighbor what each of the
words mean to them.
Students will think of the five components to think of each word's meaning.
The five words are organization, picture, focus, content and convention.
Students will pair up with their neighbor to discuss what they thought.
Students will share their responses/thoughts of each word the teacher
identified.
Students will be asked to fill in three important facts they learned in the
video that can be incorporated into their writing piece.
Teacher will identify the meanings of each component.
Teacher will discuss how students will be graded from 0-4 points on each
content. She will then discuss that they can get a total of 20 points as their
highest grade that would equal a grade of 100.
Teacher will discuss the different point values of each content and what students
need to include to get the maximum points.
Teacher will see if students have questions to guide their misunderstandings.
Students will ask questions if they are confused or need further
understanding of the rubrics guidelines.
Teacher will answer any questions or comments identified.
Teacher will hand out rubric to students so they each have a copy to refer to
when completing their assignment.
Teacher will ask students to identify what a rubric is on a piece of paper and why
it is used? This will be used as an exit slip for the teacher to identify their
understanding.

MATERIALS USED:
Smartboard
Pencils/pens
Rubric
Exit Slips

TECHNOLOGY COMPONENT (IF APPLICABLE): The teacher will use the

Smartboard to display the rubric guidelines to students for their upcoming assignment.

ASSESSMENT OF COMMON CORE STANDARD (S)

Formal: Teacher will assess students on understanding of the rubric through an
exit slip. This will demonstrate to the teacher students understanding of a rubrics
purpose and why they are used. The teacher will identify students understanding
through their responses they write down on their exit slip.
Informal: Students will be informally assessed on the definitions they identify
with each word that they will be assessed on their assignment. The teacher will
assess students answers through a think pair share discussion.
ADAPTATIONS:
Student with special needs: An adaption for students with special needs is to
have students pick an answer that is given to them on their exit slip. They will
pick from two different answers that they can choose to demonstrate their
understanding instead of writing from their prior knowledge.

English Language Learner: An adaption for ELL students is to provide extra

assistance to these students by giving similar terms that they can identify with the
key components of the rubric guidelines.

Struggling Reader: An adaption for struggling readers is to repeat the directions

to the student to give them a deeper understanding of the necessary steps they
need to address in their assignment.

States of Matter Rubric

 Focus Content Conventions Organization Drawing

4 Displays Clear ideas All sentences have Writing clearly Demonstrates

knowledge on are well minimal (0-4) shows an knowledge
matter and its supported mistakes in introduction and identified in detail
three phases, with three or spelling, body, and from written text.
solid, liquid more details punctuation, or conclusion with
and gas. informing the grammar. many details to
reader. support the body
paragraph.

3 Displays some Clear ideas Most sentences are Writing Demonstrates

knowledge on are well complete with demonstrates an some knowledge
matter and its supported some (5-8) introduction and identified in detail
three phases, with at least mistakes in body, and from written text.
solid, liquid three details spelling, conclusion with
and gas. informing the punctuation, or details to support
reader. grammar. the body paragraph.

2 Displays Clear ideas Most sentences are Writing Demonstrates

minimal are well complete with demonstrates an minimal
knowledge on supported some (5-8) introduction and knowledge
matter and its with at least mistakes in body, and identified in detail
three phases, two details spelling, conclusion with from written text.
solid, liquid informing the punctuation, or minimal detail the
and gas. reader. grammar. body paragraph.

1 Displays little Clear ideas Some sentences Writing appears Demonstrates

to no are well are complete with disorganized within little to no
knowledge on supported (9-12) repeated introduction, body knowledge
matter and its with at least mistakes in and conclusion. identified in detail
three phases, details spelling, Demonstrates few from written text.
solid, liquid, informing the punctuation, or supporting details.
and gas. reader. grammar.

0 Does not Clear ideas Many incomplete No organization is Demonstrates no

display are well sentences with presented in writing. knowledge
knowledge on supported many mistakes in identified in detail
matter and its with no spelling, from written text.
three phases, details punctuation, or
solid, liquid informing the grammar making it
and gas. reader. difficult to read.

Technology Component
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