Mini-Lesson Plan Template

Topic: Georgia Regions

Teachers: Melissa Butler & Kelsie Murdock Grade Level: 2nd

Essential Question: Where is the Coastal Plains region of Georgia? What important places
and resources could be found in the Coastal Plains region of Georgia?

Objectives:
Students will identify resources and important places within the Coastal Plains region.
Students will write a narrative story to explain a trip they would take to the Coastal Plains
region.

Standard(s):
ELAGSE2W3: Write narratives in which they recount a well-elaborated event or short
sequence of events, include details to describe actions, thoughts, and feelings, use temporal
words to signal event order, and provide a sense of closure.
SS2G1 Locate and compare major topographical features of Georgia and describe how these
features define Georgia’s surface.
a. Locate and compare the geographic regions of Georgia
Activating Strategy: How will you activate prior knowledge and hook interest?
Prior knowledge will be activated by reviewing the five regions of Georgia through a warm-up
song/video. We will then look at a map of Georgia and determine where on the map the
Coastal Plains region is. A K-W-L chart will be filled out while discussing.
Discussion about if students have ever visited the Coastal Plains region will also activate prior
knowledge and hook interest.
Teaching: How will you teach/model/guide the student(s)? Be specific and step-by-step?

I do: The teacher will read aloud the story Sails, Pails, and Alligator Tales by Rhonda Frost
Petty. While reading the teacher will guide students through the book by going over
vocabulary words as well as asking questions about information in the book. Visuals will also
be provided for students to connect to realia.

We do: After reading the story, the teacher and the class will discuss what Yumion
experienced when he went to the Coastal Plains including important places and resources. The
teacher and the class will model writing a narrative story about visiting a prior Georgia region
that they have already learned about on the Promethean Board. This will allow students to
have an example for their writing.

You do: Students will write a narrative story about what they would do, where they would
visit, and the important resources they would find if they visited the Coastal Plains region in
Georgia.
Summarizing Strategy: How will you conclude the lesson and help the student(s) to
summarize what was learned? How will student(s) answer the Essential Question?
The lesson will be concluded by students sharing/presenting their stories to the classroom. The
teacher will ask questions about the writing to ensure students understand the information
 about the Coastal Plains region. Students will provide verbal glow and grow feedback. We will
finish filling in the K-W-L chart too.
Assessments: Students have the formative assessment of answering DOK questions as well as
their narrative story that they will have created about the Coastal Plains region.
References:

Ajayi, L., & Collins-Parks, T. (2016). Teaching Literacy Across Content Areas: Effective

Strategies That Reach All K--12 Students in the Era of the Common Core State

Standards. Cambridge Scholars Publishing.

Resources:
o Book: Sails, Pails, and Alligator Tales by Rhonda Frost Petty
o Map of Georgia
o Promethean Board
o Paper/pencil
o Pictures/Realia

Mini-Lesson Plan Template

Topic: Plant Life Cycle
Teachers: Melissa Butler & Kelsie Murdock Grade Level: 2nd

Essential Question: How can I investigate the life cycles of living organisms? How do plants
grow and change?

Objectives:
Students will determine the sequence of the life cycle of living organisms.
Students will investigate the life cycle of a plant by growing a plant from a seed and by
recording its changes over a period of time.

Standard(s):
S2L1. Obtain, evaluate, and communicate information about the life cycles of different living
organisms.
b. Plan and carry out an investigation of the life cycle of a plant by growing a plant from a
seed and by recording changes over a period of time.
Activating Strategy: How will you activate prior knowledge and hook interest?
I will activate prior knowledge by using our class anchor chart of the parts of a plant. I will
pass out slips of paper to table groups with statements on them that students will come to the
anchor chart and match the statement with the part of the plant it belongs to.
Teaching: How will you teach/model/guide the student(s)? Be specific and step-by-step?
I do: The teacher will begin the lesson by reading the book How Plants Grow by Dona
Herweck Rice. The teacher will introduce the plant anchor chart showing the sequence of the
life cycle of a plant.
We do: The class will discuss all the necessary things that plants need to survive. The teacher
will allow students to come to the board with their suggestions of plant necessities (air, water,
sunlight, soil, etc.) Afterwards, the teacher will discuss soil with the class and ask the class
“Do plants need soil? Can they grow without it?” Then, the class will take a vote to see who
thinks the plant can grow with soil and who thinks it could grow with only a paper towel.

The teacher will inform the students of the day’s activities that they will be investigating this
to see who guessed the answer to the class vote. The teacher will give each student a plastic
Ziploc bag and a lima bean. Some students will be given wet soil, and some will be given a
wet paper towel.

You do: Students will plant (place) their lima bean seed into the soil or paper towel and close
their bag. The students will give their bags to the teacher to tape them to the window. Then
students will begin working on their plant journals which they will be continuing to work on
them over a period of days. The students will be drawing a picture of what their seed looks
like, writing down what they gave their seed, and writing down any other observations they
think are necessary. Students will continue doing this over the next couple of days to record
any observations or changes happening to their plant. Students will draw a diagram of the life
cycle that their plant completed to show the sequence of the plant’s life cycle.
Summarizing Strategy: How will you conclude the lesson and help the student(s) to
summarize what was learned? How will student(s) answer the Essential Question?
The lesson will be concluded by students seeing the final product of their plants and sharing
their plant journals and plants with the class. The teacher will ask questions about the process
to ensure students understand the information about the plant's life cycle and how plants grow
and change.

Assessments: Students will be assessed using a formative assessment on their plant journal by
their diagram of the plant life cycle that they had to draw inside of it.
References

Ajayi, L., & Collins-Parks, T. (2016). Teaching Literacy Across Content Areas: Effective

Strategies That Reach All K--12 Students in the Era of the Common Core State

Standards. Cambridge Scholars Publishing.

Resources:
o Book: How Plants Grow by Dona Herweck
o Rice Anchor Chart Paper
o Lima Beans
o Soil
o Paper Towel
o Ziploc bags
o Plant Journal booklet