KUTZTOWN UNIVERSITY

ELEMENTARY EDUCATION DEPARTMENT

LESSON PLAN FORMAT

Teacher Candidate: _Jessica Sheidy, Lindsey Sinton

Cooperating Teacher:
Group Size:

Whole class Allotted Time

Date:_2/16/15__
Coop. Initials

45 minutes Grade Level _Third__

Subject or Topic: Animals of Wetlands Section

STANDARD:
4.1.3.D
Identify organisms that are dependent on one another in a given ecosystem.
Define habitat and explain how a change in habitat affects an organism.

I. Performance Objectives (Learning Outcomes):

A. Third grade students will identify the different animals found in a wetland
environment by correctly matching a fact to an animal in a flyswatter game.
II. Instructional Materials
A. Handout of 2 uncolored ducks (see attached)
B. Duck inquiry sheet
C. Scissors
D. Crayons
E. Cup of water per table
F. Dropper
G. Students Journals
H. Handout of animal concept map (see attached)
I. Animals of the Ponds and Streams By: Julie Becker
J. Checklist
K. 2 Flyswatters
L. Animal PowerPoint
III. Subject Matter/Content (prerequisite skills, key vocabulary, big idea, outline of
additional content)
A. Prerequisite skills

1. Basic cutting and coloring skills

2. General knowledge of local animals
B. Key Vocabulary:
1. Adaptations-a change an animal makes to survive.
2. Characteristics-a typical feature or quality that belongs to
someone or something.
3. Aquatic Animals-animals that are primarily found in a body of
water.
4. Land Animals-animals that are primarily found on land.
C. Big Idea
1. Animals found in wetlands
D. Additional content
1. Aquatic animals to be discussed include frogs, fish, beavers,
turtles, snakes, and ducks.
2. Land animals to be discussed include deer, raccoons, squirrels,
rabbits, bears and owls.
IV. Implementation
A. Introduction:
1. Ask students what animals are found around our area.
2. Listen to responses and point out other animals the students
may not think of.
3. Pass out handouts of ducks and paste-in sheets for their
journals to each student and ask them to retrieve their journals
and crayons. (see attached)
B. Development
1. Have the students start a new page on their journal by having
them title and date it and place it in their table of contents.
2. Give each student and/or table a pair of scissors, a cup of water
and a dropper.
3. Explain to children what the steps are to the duck-crayon
inquiry.
4. Students will color one of their ducks and leave the other one
uncolored.
5. Teacher will supervise children as they cut out their ducks on
the black line.
6. Teacher will instruct students to bring some water into the
water dropper and drop a few drops of water on each duck.
7. Discuss with students which duck was able to stay drier and
discuss/explain why that might be.
8. Have students answer the questions on the observations sheet
for their journal. When students have completed answering the
questions, have them cut out questions and answers to paste
into their journal.

9. Hand out word web worksheet for students to fill in as each

animal is discussed. (see attached)
10. Ask students what they know about deer, as teacher pulls up
PowerPoint of animals and brings up the picture of a deer.
11. Discuss with students characteristics of deer, such as the color,
the names of males and females, the spots on fawns etc.
12. Explain to children what adaptations deer possess that allow
them to live in a wetland environment.
13. Ask children what they think deer eats.
14. Discuss with children whether deer are prey or predators.
15. While deer are being discussed, have students fill in
appropriate responses into their word web, using one block for
the deer.
16. Repeat steps 7-12 for all animals that have been chosen by the
teacher to discuss.
17. Teacher will write the names of all the animals learned on the
board at different places.
18. Students will come up two at a time, each receiving a fly
swatter.
19. The teacher will read a fact about an animal that was talked
about in class and students will have to hit the correct answer
with the flyswatter.
20. The teacher will continue reciting facts until every student has
had two turns.
21. Students will add a page to their Wetlands book. The page and
drawing will show what their favorite animal was and what
they learned about that animal.
C. Closure
1. Students will share in small groups their new page in their
wetlands book in a small group.
2. Students will transition into the next lesson by putting away all
their science materials and cleaning up.
D. Accommodations/Differentiation
1. For Danny who is visually impaired, use tactile materials and
objects when discussing different animals. (Use a feather for
ducks, fur for bears etc.)
2. Provide more or less animals to discuss, depending on class
attention and finish time.
3. Provide larger crayons for those students that struggle with fine
motor skills.
4. Allow students to work in pairs when doing the inquiry.
E. Assessment/Evaluation Plan

1. Formative- Students will participate in a flyswatter game. Names of

animals will be written on the board, teacher will read a learned fact about an
animal and student will have to hit the correct animal that matches the fact.
Teacher will create a checklist of students to assess their learning of the
lesson. (A list of students in the class, if they correctly hit the correct animal,
their name will be checked off.)
2. Summative-Book created about wetlands and watersheds by the students,
each page is about something they learned from the different lessons in the
unit.

V. Reflective Response
A. Report of Student Performance in Terms of Stated Objectives (Reflection on
student performance written after lesson is taught, includes remediation for
students who fail to meet acceptable level of achievement)

Remediation Plan

B. Personal Reflection (Questions written before lesson is taught. Reflective

answers to question recorded after lesson is taught)
1. Were the handouts easy to understand?

2. Did the teacher allow enough time to accomplish the lesson?

3. Was the teacher able to accommodate enough for students that

needed it?

4. How could this lesson be improved?

VI. Resources (in APA format):

Daniel, L., Hackett, J., Moyer, R., Vasquez, J. (2006). Life Science 2. New York:
Macmillan/McGraw-Hill.