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Grace Hoelzel
Professor Suk
EDUC 230-01V Education Field Experience
Spring Semester 2021
Rationale Statement Standard #5

Standard Five: Application Of Content:

The teacher understands how to connect concepts and use differing perspectives to

engage learners in critical thinking, creativity, and collaborative problem solving related

to authentic local and global issues. (NJ Professional Teaching Standards, 2014, p.6)

Artifact: Lesson Plan 1

Date of Completion: Spring 2021

Course Completed in: EDUC 230-01V Education Field Experience

This artifact is a first grade science lesson plan revolved around learning about

animal habitats. Students are to learn about what a habitat is and how animals adapt to

different habitats in order to survive. They are then required to use a shoe box or any

other material to create habitats for animals of their choice. It is required of them to

create land, water and a sky for the different animals as they place them in the right

habitat. This artifact specifically relates back to Standard 5.ii.7 as it says, “The teacher

understands creative thinking processes and how to engage learners in producing

original work.” (NJ Professional Teaching Standards, 2014, p.7). This relates to the

lesson plan because students are able to create their own work and demonstrate to the
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teacher what they have learned in the lesson. It is a way for the students to be able to

get creative and have fun making environments for the animals they choose to work

with.

When creating my lesson plan, I learned that not every student will be able to learn

the same way as another student might. I came to this conclusion by not only being

around children in a school setting, but acknowledging my own learning style and how it

could be different from others. It is important to acknowledge that everybody learns

differently and in their own specific way and that is why teachers have to accommodate

lesson plans to fit students' needs. I planned this lesson to make sure that students

who are auditory learners get the most out of this lesson by first talking about the

concepts with the class and discussing animal habitats and what that means. For

hands-on learners, creating habitats for the animals is a way to learn more by touching

and doing and hopefully to memorize the material better once making it themselves. If a

student is still not understanding the material, it is important to try and switch up the

lesson in any way to make sure they are learning.

In the future, this kind of lesson plan will be used for my students to be able to

learn about animals and how each one lives in a different environment and why they do.

But overall, I strive to make lesson plans where it is more than just lecturing through a

lesson with the class. Instead, have my students have a better understanding of the

material by “doing’ and letting them be creative with what they learned.

Reference

New Jersey Professional Standards for Teachers Alignment with InTASC. (2014, August
4). Retrieved from New Jersey State Department of Education:
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https://www.state.nj.us/education/profdev/profstand/ProfStandardsforTeachersAli
gnmentwithInTASC.pdf