Indiana Wesleyan University

Elementary Education Lesson Plan Template

CAEP 2018 K-6 Elementary Teacher Preparation Standards

LESSON RATIONALE
The Earth is our home and we must do everything we can to keep it safe. We can learn how to do that through others’
examples. Researching communities who have successfully implemented environmentally friendly movements will
teacher students about the need for change and will inspire them to create change (CAEP K-6 1.a)

READINESS
I.Goals/Objectives/Standard(s)
A. Goal(s)—Students will successfully research, identify, and discuss communities in the US who are making a
difference in protecting the Earth and how they are doing it.
B. Objective(s)
- During the lesson student will be able to name ways communities work to help the Environment
Standard(s): Professional Society/State/District (CAEP K-6 3.c)

5.ESS.3 Investigate ways individual communities within the United States protect the Earth’s resources and
environment.

II. Management Plan-

Anticipatory Set: 10 minutes

The anticipatory set will take place in different areas around the classroom where students can spread and easily do
the sorting activity
Instruction: 20 min
Students will sit on the ground surrounding the teacher, quietly listening and engaging in questions when asked
Independent/Partner: 30 min
Students will again work around the room in spaces that allow group collaboration
Closure: 10 min
Students will sit at their desks facing towards the front of the room while groups come up and present their posters

Materials:
 (Picture of the actual thing) reusable bag, reusable water bottle, cloth napkins, solar powered something,
reusable straws, hand towel, Tupperware, plastic water bottle, plastic grocery bag, paper napkin, paper towel,
batteries, plastic straw
 Green City: How One Community Survived a Tornado and Rebuilt for a Sustainable Future
 iPads
 Highlighters
 Pencils
 File Folders filled with each town’s information
 Town information printed out
https://docs.google.com/document/d/15aE9ZL0MP31sh_H_MNpu9ftHYEhsnuuXH_obRip5SAk/edit?
usp=sharing
 Big Paper for posters
 Markers
 Scissors
 Glue

III. Anticipatory Set

• Split class into groups of no more than 5
 Have pictures of or have the actual products out for each group. Allow students to work together to split the
products into two groups
 Products include: reusable bag, reusable water bottle, cloth napkins, solar powered something, reusable straws,
hand towel, Tupperware, plastic water bottle, plastic grocery bag, paper napkin, paper towel, batteries, plastic
straw

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  After three to five minutes have each group present their two categories and why they sorted them the way that
they did
 You all did a great job collaborating and problem solving to come up with your categories. Today we are going to
learn about the earth, and the way we as humans protect its resources and environments. Based off of what I
said, does somebody know how I would sort these items into two groups to go along with this lesson? Allow student
response. One group of items here are ecological or eco-friendly, meaning it is not harmful to the environment.
How might we describe this other group of items? Allow students to answer, leading to words like pollution,
environmentally unfriendly, and contaminating.
 Using eco-friendly products is just one way to protect the Earth’s resources and the environment. Today we are
going to investigate people are the United States who are doing their part to make the world a better place.

PLAN FOR INSTRUCTION

IV. Purpose Statement: When we learn about people and how they are positively impacting the world and the
environment, we are inspired to do the same.

V.Lesson Presentation (Input/Output)

Have students sit on the carpet or around somewhere where they can all see the book you are about to read with a
clipboard, pencil, and paper. Have the study fold their paper in half and draw a line on the crease to separate the
paper into two sections. After you have your paper separated into two sections, I want you to write key words on top of
one side and a question mark on the top of the other side.I am going to read you a book. As I read, I want you to write
down any words that sound important on the keywords side. On the question mark side, I want you to write down any
words that you have not heard before. Read Green City by Allan Drummind
After reading the book, ask the students what key words they took note of and either write them out on a big piece of
paper, the whiteboard, or on a projected Word document. Then ask students to share what words they didn’t know
that they wrote down, and write those words down too.
Assign each student a different word to find the definition for on their iPad using dictionary.com or merriam-
webster.com. Write a short definition under or beside each word after the student presents the definition of their
word.
Greensburg, Kansas, is what we call a “Green Community”. Today, in groups, you will be investigating five other green
communities. Using what we have learned from the book, what do you think a green community is? Allow students to
raise their hand and answer. Write down key phrases from their responses.
In your investigation files, there are going to be some news articles you are going to be reading. Before you begin
reading the articles as a group, we are going to read one together so I can show you what to look for as you investigate.
This article is about Green Communities and it will help you gain more knowledge on the towns you will be researching.
Pull up the article (https://home.howstuffworks.com/home-improvement/construction/green/green-
communities.htm ) and project it so everyone can see, have a paper version or have a program available that you can
use to highlight parts of the article. Sometimes an article can seem like all the information is important and should be
included but we are only going to highlight parts that are going to help us in our investigation.
Go through the article, reading out loud and modeling the thought process of deciding what information to highlight
for importance.
Now that we have a good grasp on what green communities are, it is time for you to start investigating! I have five
investigative files. I have assigned you each a group you will be working with. Each group is going to look at the
information in your files, making note of the most important parts on your reporting sheet. Then you are going to make
a poster about the town your file was about. You should include: explaining why this is a green community, what the
town or city is doing to make it green, how the idea started or how they implemented the green plan, what it is doing to
help the Earth, any other facts you think are important to include. I have included some photos in your file that you can
cut out and glue on your poster as well.

The Towns being researched:

Georgetown, Texas
Juneau, Alaska
Seattle, Washington
San Francisco, California
Boston, Massachusetts

Research material to be printed:

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 https://docs.google.com/document/d/15aE9ZL0MP31sh_H_MNpu9ftHYEhsnuuXH_obRip5SAk/edit?
usp=sharing

VI. Check for understanding. How do you know students have learned? What strategies will you implement if all
students have not met lesson outcomes? Employ one or more strategies to determine student learning.
 I will scaffold learning by showing students how to find key information both in books and articles, giving them
important vocabulary before and allowing them to learn how to find the meaning of difficult words for the next
part of the project
 I will assess student understanding throughout by asking them questions and monitoring their work on their
reporting sheet and poster

VII. Review learning outcomes / Closure

Students will present their posters to the class and they will be hung up to revisit when we talk more in depth about
different energy sources

PLAN FOR ASSESSMENT

(CAEP K-6 3.a)

Formative Assessment will be taken throughout as students answer questions and as they record findings from the
articles they read on their reporting sheets

Summative Assessment will be given when students present and talk about their poster with the class

REFLECTION AND POST-LESSON ANALYSIS (CAEP K-6 3.b)

1. How many students achieved the lesson objective(s)? For those who did not, why not?
2. Were students engaged in the lesson?
3. Did students respond to questions in a way that showed understanding?
4. Did students complete the task with the proper amount of guidance?
5. What were my strengths and weaknesses?
6. How should I alter this lesson?
7. How would I pace it differently?
8. Were all students actively participating? If not, why not?
9. What adjustments did I make to reach varied learning styles and ability levels?
Include additional self-answer questions that specifically address unique lesson content, methodology, and assessment.