TCNJ Lesson Plan

Lesson 1: What Is a Plant?

Student Name: Jill Messineo and Nikita Garbayo School Name: Pace Charter

Grade Level: Kindergarten Host Teacher’s Name: Rickey

Guiding and/or Essential Questions:

● What is a plant?
● Where do plants come from?
● What do plants look like?

Pre-lesson Assignments and/or Student Prior Knowledge (ex. background knowledge,

possible misconceptions, prior lesson content)
● Students will know a little about basic plants (trees, grass, flowers) but not know any in
depth information

Standards:
● CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.K.2: Use a combination of drawing, dictating, and writing to
compose informative/explanatory texts in which they name what they are writing about
and supply some information about the topic.
● 2-LS2-1.: Plan and conduct an investigation to determine if plants need sunlight and
water to grow.
●

Learning Objectives and Assessments:

Learning Objectives Assessment

Being able to identify what a seed is and that Observing what they notice about the seed
plants grow from them
2-LS2-1.: Plan and conduct an investigation to determine if plants
need sunlight and water to grow.
 Being able to notice detail about their seed Drawing and writing their observations from
and write about it the seed

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.K.2: Use a combination of drawing,

dictating, and writing to compose informative/explanatory texts in
which they name what they are writing about and supply some
information about the topic.

Materials/Resources: (List materials, include any online or book references and resources

● How a Seed Grows by Helene J. Jordan

● Plastic Cups
● Soil
● Seeds
● Water
● Observation Packet
● Crayons
● Pencils

Plan for set-up/distribution/cleanup of materials:

● We will be responsible for passing out materials. Students will remain at their desks for
the entirety of the lesson. We will bring them their planting cups, bring the soil over to
them, bring the seeds to them, and bring the water over to them.

Step by Step plan (numbered):

1. Lesson beginning
a. We will begin the lesson by asking students “How many of you saw a plant
today?”. We will call on students that raise their hands and ask them to describe
and talk about the plant. Then we will move on to read a book about seeds and
plants called How a Seed Grows by Helene J. Jordan.
2. After this, we will tell students how we will be growing our very own plants in the
classroom! We will start off with tiny seeds just like in the story and watch them
hopefully grow into plants.
3. Before we plant the seed, we will have students fill out page one of the observation
packet and draw and write about their seed before it was planted
4. We will pass out the seeds and have a class discussion of what the seed looks like
a. Students will take their time and do a detailed drawing and then we will write
“Today I noticed…” sentences about the seed together.
b. We will ask students what they notice about their seeds and write the describing
words on the board. Students will pick from those which they want to write.
 5. Next, we will plant our seeds
a. First we will pass out the plastic cups
b. Then we will come around and have students scoop soil into their plastic cup
c. Once all students have soil in their cups we will first explain then help students
plant their seed deep enough in the soil.
6. After the seeds are planted in the soil we will have students water their plants and label
their cups
7. We will then put the cups on the windowsill to get sunlight to grow
8. Closure
a. For a closure, we will ask 3 students to make predictions about the plant. How
fast will it grow? What will it look like? Will all plants grow at the same pace?

Key Questions (that you will ask):

● What is a plant?
● Where does a plant come from?
● What is a seed?
● Does anyone know how a seed becomes a plant?

Key Vocabulary
● Seed, plant, grow, soil

Logistics:
● Timing:
○ Opening discussion: 3 minutes
○ Book: 8 minutes
○ Seed observation drawing & writing: 10-15 minutes
○ Planting seed: 15 minutes
○ Closure: 5 minutes
● Transitions:
○ N/A Students will be at their desks the whole time
● Classroom Management: To get students attention we will use the call and response
method that Mrs. Rickey uses. We will shout out, “All set” and the students will respond
with, “You bet.” This will show us that they are ready and paying attention.

Differentiation Notes

● Content: All students will have the same content.

● Process: One student will have one of four teachers sitting with him at his desk during
the entire lesson to keep him focused, paying attention, and on task. He may need
assistance with writing. One other student will need occasional support. The rest of the
 students will be fine with support from teachers as we walk by and check their progress.
Students are sufficient in writing and drawing.
● Product: Students will have the same product for the most part. We will be drawing the
observations of the seeds together and all be writing “I noticed…” statements, but
students will write their own details of what they noticed. We will also be planting the
seeds as a class so the plants will also be the same