Framingham State University

Early Childhood and Elementary Lesson Plan

Name: Tessa Ryan Subject/Grade: 1st Grade Science Date: December 11, 2021
Title of Lesson: Animal Adaptations
Content/Skills Connection: ____X___ English Language Arts ______Math __X___Science ______Social
Studies _______ Arts ______ Health ______Social/Emotional Learning _______ Technology
MA Curriculum Framework Standard(s):
1-LS1-1. Use evidence to explain that (a) different animals use their body parts and senses in different ways to
see, hear, grasp objects, protect themselves, move from place to place, and seek, find, and take in food, water, and
air, and (b) plants have roots, stems, leaves, flowers, and fruits that are used to take in water, air, and other
nutrients, and produce food for the plant.

Student Grouping: __X___ Whole group ___X__ Small group ______ Partner ___X___ Individual
Materials:
(1) Projector/SMART Board
(2) Pre-made cards with animal names and pictures (list made from previous class)
(3) Blank cards
(4) Pre-made work groups for students
(5) Exit ticket slip (shown at the bottom of this lesson plan)
(6) Pencils, crayons, markers

BrainPop Jr. Videos if time allows:

(a) https://jr.brainpop.com/science/animals/hibernation/
(b) https://jr.brainpop.com/science/animals/migration/
(c) https://jr.brainpop.com/science/animals/camouflage/

Accommodations/Sheltered English Adjustments:

● Pre-assigned groups for students
● Picture clues on each of the animal cards for students
● Options to show knowledge gained through writing OR through pictures
● Timers available for students
● Sentence starters provided for students who need it (for exit ticket)

Enduring Understanding/Goal: Students will be able to sort animals into categories based on similar
characteristics. Students will work in small groups to sort animal cards into categories, and come up
with names for their categories. Students will then work with their group to regroup their animal cards
and sort into groups of similar adaptations. Students will be able to explain what an animal adaptation
is, and why certain animals might have certain adaptations.

Objectives and Assessments

Objective 1: Students will be able to define an animal adaptation.
Assessment 1a: Students will be able to use words or pictures to define animal adaptations on
their exit ticket.
 Framingham State University
Early Childhood and Elementary Lesson Plan

Objective 2: Students will be able to sort animals into categories of adaptations that they create.
Assessment 2a: Students will distinguish between animal cards in order to find animal
adaptations similarities. Students will then sort the cards into those categories and create a
label for the grouping.

Objective 3: Students will be able to explain why an animal has certain adaptations that help it
live in its environment.
Assessment 3a: Students will verbally explain why an animal might have certain adaptations
during class discussions.
Assessment 3b: Students will explain (in words or pictures) why a duck might have webbed feet
on their exit ticket.

Procedures
Anticipatory Set: 15 minutes
(1) Students will find their assigned seats on the rug.
(2) The teacher will show students their animal list from the previous day to activate prior
knowledge.
(a) “Class, yesterday we worked together to make a list of all different kinds of animals we
could think of. Today, I put those animals on cards with the name of the animal and a
matching picture.”
(3) The teacher will tell students that in small groups, students will work together to separate these
animals into different categories that they are going to come up with. Prompt different
questions for students. For instance:
(a) “What do you notice?”
(b) “What do some of these animals have in common?”
(c) “Do some animals seem to belong together?”
(d) “Could any of these animals belong in more than one group?”
(e) “Explain why you put these animals into this category?”
(4) Students can be given blank cards to title their groups.
(5) Regroup students once it seems like each group has made at least 2 categories for their animal
pictures.

Lesson Progression (step by step progression): 30 minutes

Part 1: Discussion (10 minutes)

(1) The teacher will have students share the different categories they made for their animals. For
instance, some category examples they might have made are:
(a) ocean animals
(b) land animals
 Framingham State University
Early Childhood and Elementary Lesson Plan
(c) animals with fur
(d) animals that live in a home
(e) animals with tails
(f) animals with large ears
(g) animals with 2/4 legs
(2) The teacher will point out categories that have to do with animal adaptations.
(3) After pointing out the category, the teacher will ask students if they can think of a definition of
an animal adaptation.
(4) The teacher will then tell students “An animal adaptation is something an animal might do, or
something an animal might have as part of their body, to help them survive in their
environment.”
(5) The teacher will present groups with a couple of questions first using a shark as an example:
(a) “Groups, if we look at this shark here, what are some things that a shark might have, that
other animals might not have, that help the shark survive in its’ environment” Give
students a minute to talk in groups and then share.
(6) The teacher will tell students that they are going to think more about these adaptations for the
rest of the lesson.

Part 2: Investigation (20 minutes)

(1) The teacher will tell the class about the last part of the lesson. “Class, I now want all of you to
take a look at the groups you made, and regroup them so animals are in a group with other
animals that have similar adaptations. I want each group to have at least 3 different categories.”
(2) Students will work together to regroup their animal cards and make new titles.
(3) When students have made their categories with their group, students will share different
categories and animals in the group out loud to the class. Allow the class at least 5 minutes for
sharing and make sure at least one person from each group gets to share!

Closure: 10 minutes
(2) The teacher will redirect everyone’s attention back to the front.
(3) The teacher will tell students that they will have an exit ticket that will be completed
independently from the rest of their group.
(4) Students will take 5-7 minutes to work on their exit ticket. Students can turn their ticket into
the finished work bin once they have it completed.
(5) If a student finishes early, they can pick one of the Brain Pop Jr. Animal Adaptations video on
their ipads.
(a) https://jr.brainpop.com/science/animals/hibernation/
(b) https://jr.brainpop.com/science/animals/migration/
(c) https://jr.brainpop.com/science/animals/camouflage/

Extensions/Practice:
 Framingham State University
Early Childhood and Elementary Lesson Plan
Other things we have done for animal adaptation activities:
(1) Animal adaptation sorting
(2) Animal adaptation picture walk (Pictures around the classroom of different animals. Students
have to write down which part of the body suites the animal best for an adaptation)
(3) Students can create a paper book or an ebook about an animal and their adaptations

Future practice:
(1) This usually leads us into the topic of animal habitats and why certain animals live in the
habitats that they do.

Resources used in planning:

● Massachusetts Frameworks for Science and Technology Engineering (2016)

● Massachusetts Frameworks for English Language Arts and Literacy (2017)
● Estes, T. H., and Mintz, S. L. (2016) Instruction: A models approach. Enhanced Pearson e-Text with
loose-leaf version. New Jersey, Pearson.
● Joyce, B., Weil, M., & Calhoun, E. (2017). Models of Teaching. PEARSON.
● BrainPop Jr. Videos:
○ https://jr.brainpop.com/science/animals/hibernation/
○ https://jr.brainpop.com/science/animals/migration/
○ https://jr.brainpop.com/science/animals/camouflage/

Reflection:

This is a variation of a lesson that I would currently do with the first grade classes that I help teach.
Usually, the lesson is a little more “straight-forward.” We would start on the rug and watch a video
about adaptations, we would talk about adaptations, give some examples, and then probably do a
worksheet at our table spots. I tried to challenge myself to create a lesson, teaching a similar topic, but
including more discovery, exploration, and investigation. Unfortunately, this is not a lesson I am able to
teach since I am only an assistant. However, creating this lesson is good practice for how I would
introduce a topic such as this one in the future.
 Framingham State University
Early Childhood and Elementary Lesson Plan

EXIT TICKET

Name ________________________________________________________________

1. What is an animal adaptation? Write a sentence or draw an example.

2. Write an adaptation for each animal.

____________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________

3. Why is a duck’s webbed feet an adaptation that helps it live in its environment?

______________________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________________
 Framingham State University
Early Childhood and Elementary Lesson Plan

Teaching Strategies Used in this Lesson Plan

The Concept Development Model

One teaching strategy I wanted to try to include in this lesson plan was The Concept Development Model.

The Concept Development Model is “a strategy that extends and refines our knowledge by providing an

opportunity to extend and refine our personal concepts—concrete or abstract” (Estes & Mintz, 2016). Concepts are

proven to help children and young students classify different things and thus, make new information simpler to

digest. Estes & Mintz (2016) tells us that “concepts are the building blocks from which generalizations spring.” In

this lesson, create a list of animals (done the day prior in preparation for this lesson) and sort these animals into

groups of similar characteristics.

At the start of the lesson, the students are able to sort these animals in any way that they would like, as long

as they are sorting animal similarities. Students create the name for their categories. The teacher goes around and

assists students in their learning. This is a way for students to think about each animal and make connections on

their own. Therefore, the teacher is simply the facilitator of the lesson while the students guide and steer their own

learning. As the lesson progresses, the teacher steers students in the right direction by asking guiding questions

such as “What do you notice?”, “Could any of these items belong in more than one group?”, and “Explain why you

would group these items?” (Estes & Mintz, 2016). After that, the teacher points out which groups had categories

that had to do with animal adaptations, which leads into our discussion. One important final step of The Concept

Development Model is to regroup. After students learn about animal adaptations, they were asked in this lesson

plan to rethink their original groups, make some edits, and create new groups with at least 3 different animal

adaptation groups.

Cooperative Learning/ Group Investigations

 Framingham State University
Early Childhood and Elementary Lesson Plan
I utilized Cooperative Learning in this lesson plan. In Cooperative Learning, there are many benefits. In this

type of learning, “the members of cooperative groups learn from one another,” it “increases self-esteem,” and

“cooperation increases positive feelings toward one another, reducing alienation and loneliness, building

relationships, and providing affirmative views of other people” (Joyce et al, 2015). Cooperative Learning not only

has social-emotional benefits, but also helps students learn from one another.

In this lesson plan, I had students go through this inquiry process in groups. Students are put into pre-made

small groups in which the teacher can decide if they are homogeneous or heterogeneous groups. Then, students

work together throughout the majority of the lesson. I thought this lesson was a great one to incorporate group

learning because whenever an investigation is taking place, I always find that students are more motivated and

on-task when they are in groups. When creating their categories and groupings, students are able to bounce ideas

off each other and are able to help each other in the process.

Inquiry-Based Learning

By having a lesson that closely follows The Concept Development Model, the lesson becomes inquiry based

for each of the learning groups. Inquiry-based instruction is one in which the students are in charge of their own

learning. The teacher acts as the facilitator and their main job is “to encourage student participation, provide

appropriate information to keep students on track, assume the role of fellow learner, and avoid the all-too-common

tendency to negative feedback.” (Estes & Mintz, 2016). This lesson all started because my students have “wonder

books” where they write down any wonders, or questions, that they might have throughout the day. I constantly see

students in the first grade asking questions about different animals they love and read about. Therefore, this lesson

started a conversation in which students can ask those questions they have been wondering about.

In inquiry learning, “all that is required is a puzzling situation for which the students can search for a logical

and reasonable solution” (Estes & Mintz, 2016). In this lesson, students are presented with numerous animals that

they are familiar with. All they are told is to categorize these animals based on similarities. Therefore, it is up to the
 Framingham State University
Early Childhood and Elementary Lesson Plan
students to figure out what are some characteristics or traits these animals have, how they are going to organize

them, and what other animals have similar characteristics. In inquiry-based learning, “the teacher also determines

how much information should be provided to the students at the beginning of the inquiry process and what

additional information could be supplied if the class has difficulty” (Estes & Mintz, 2016). The teacher starts off

this lesson very general, and later on in the lesson, the teacher directs students towards thinking about animal

adaptations.

Teaching Strategies & Learning Styles

We know that all students learn differently. Learning styles are different ways that students learn. Some

students respond better auditory, visually, and kinetically, and some respond better through reading and writing.

These learning styles affect how students learn, and in turn, how teachers teach their lessons and interact with

students. Therefore, it’s the job of the teacher to incorporate a wide range of teaching strategies into their lessons

to accommodate all the different learners in the classroom.

Throughout this course, we have learned many different teaching strategies and models that will ultimately

help us teach all learners. For a large portion of the class, we discussed different teaching models. For example,

“Direct instruction, concept attainment, concept development, cause and effect, and vocabulary acquisition meet a

variety of content and skill needs in all classrooms and provide basic instructional skills to teachers on which they

can build and integrate a number of instructional patterns” (Estes & Mintz, 2016). These models are the basis in

which teachers can begin to differentiate and accommodate for different learning styles. For instance, in this lesson

I used The Concept Development Model. In my incorporation of the Concept Development Model, students think

about categorizing animal adaptations in a different way. Many theorists, such as Lev Vygotsky, “assert that concept

development and deep understanding are the essential goals of instruction”(Estes & Mintz, 2016). In this lesson,
 Framingham State University
Early Childhood and Elementary Lesson Plan
students use a hands-on approach to create their categories. This accommodates visual learners (through the use of

the animal pictures), kinesthetic learners (hands-on), social learners(working with groups), and more.

In this lesson, I also used an inquiry-based teaching style. I believe that inquiry learning directly links to

different learning styles. Most students, I have found, do not respond to a simple “ask and answer”, lecture type of

learning. Students need time to learn from others, socialize, and explore. The most meaningful lessons to students

and the ones they are going to remember long-term, are the ones in which they are actively doing something. In

inquiry-based instruction, “problems can also be identified that link to students’ learning needs, interests, and

readiness levels, scaffolding student understanding and developing all of the cognitive processes described in

Bloom’s taxonomy” (Estes & Mintz, 2016). Thus, the content can be differentiated for all students.

In this lesson plan, I also used Cooperative Learning techniques. Johnson & Johnson (2017), in their article,

Joining together: Group theory and group skills, discuss the history of learning groups. For instance, the Roman

philosopher, Seneca, said that when students learn in groups, they teach, so they learn twice (Johnson & Johnson,

2017). Oftentimes, students learn more effectively on difficult topics if they learn from other students. By working

in small groups, students encourage each other, clarify uncertain ideas, motivate each other, and learn to develop

social skills. This helps to accommodate students who need to socialize in order to learn. By working in small

groups, “the shared responsibility and interaction also produces more positive feelings toward tasks and others,

generates better intergroup relations, and results in better self-images for students with histories of poor

achievement” (Joyce et al, 2015).

All in all, when I create my lesson plans, I try to accommodate all types of learners. I try to include times for

group or partner work, opportunities for movement, moments for speaking and listening, times for drawing, and

more. Good teachers need to know that every student learns best in a different way. These teaching strategies and

models that we learned about throughout the semester help set a solid foundation for how to teach materials in the

classroom. From there, differentiation for all learners can begin to take place.
 Framingham State University
Early Childhood and Elementary Lesson Plan

Resources

Estes, T. H., and Mintz, S. L. (2016) Instruction: A models approach. Enhanced Pearson e-Text with loose-leaf version.

New Jersey, Pearson.

Johnson, D.W. and Johnson, F.P. (2017) Joining together: Group theory and group skills. 12th ed. New York: Pearson.

Joyce, B., Weil, M., & Calhoun, E. (2017). Models of Teaching. PEARSON.