Saint Marys College of California

P.O. Box 4350, Moraga, CA 94575-4350

tel. 925.631.4700 fax 925.376.8379
www.stmarys-ca.edu/soe

LESSON PLAN #____

Learning Segment Focus or Big Idea: What is a drought?

http://www.cnbc.com/2015/07/16/the-california-drought-is-even-worse-than-you-think.html
Grade: 4

Content Area: Science

Time Allotted: 30 min

Classroom organization: whole class, pairs

Resources and materials: chart paper, markers, computer, SMART board, internet
Content Standard(s): NGSS - ESS3.A: Natural Resources: Energy and fuels that humans use are derived from natural
sources, and their use affects the environment in multiple ways. Some resources are renewable over time, and others are
not.
Specific Academic Learning Objectives:
What do you want students to learn in this lesson? Students will learn: I want students to start to understand that
there is a drought in California and the definition of a drought.
What should students be able to do after the lesson? Students will be able to: Express their understanding that
there is a current drought in California and explain what a drought is.
Prerequisites:
What skills, knowledge and prior experience do students need for this lesson? Students need to be familiar with
the term drought, understand the water cycle, understand what the number 1,000,000 looks like, be versed in how
to participate in turn and talk on the carpet and understand the geography of California. It is important to
understand how the different regions and resources in California are connected.
How will you determine whether students have these? Students have already completed a math unit in place value
where they developed an understanding of big numbers and what they are worth. In third grade, students have
worked with the water cycle and in 4th grade have finished their science unit on closed systems where they
became more familiar with the water cycle. We have had light discussions about the drought and what it means to
be in a drought. Students have completed a unit in geography. I want to make sure students are presented with
information that can be backed up with facts instead of opinion.
How will you connect to students' interests, backgrounds, strengths and needs, including their
cultural, ethnic, and socio-economic differences? The unit will start with a KWL chart to access students prior
knowledge about the current drought in California and what they understand about the definition of drought and
water in their every day lives. I want to focus on the student and what they know and they experience in the first
lesson.
Key ELD Standard(s):
Academic language demands:
What academic language is used in the lesson? (Vocabulary, language structure and conventions,
genres, symbols, etc.) The academic language in the lesson include, tier II words of drought and climate,
and tier III words of groundwater.
What are the language demands of the task? Please address receptive (listening, reading) and productive
(speaking, writing) skills. Students need to listen to directions and questions. Next, students will need to
express their thoughts in a KWL chart. Students will also need to listen to each others thoughts.

Accommodations (to ensure all students have access to the curriculum):

How will you make the academic language accessible to all students? I will make the academic language
accessible to all students by defining the vocabulary before watching the video so students have a background in
the vocabulary before watching a short video on the drought.
How will address the specific needs of your English learners? In order to address specific needs of English
learners I will use charts, videos, peer to peer language, and introduce the vocabulary before watching the video.
How will you address the specific needs of your students with special needs? I will address the specific needs of
my students with special needs by defining vocabulary before students are presented with it, letting students talk
to their neighbor before expressing their thoughts to the class. I will charts and videos to help make the
information more clear.
Assessment:
What evidence of student learning will you collect? I will take notes on students conversations and together we
will create a KWL chart.
How will you use this evidence? I will use this evidence to understand where to go next. I will be able to figure
out what students already know about the drought before moving on to further lessons.
What criteria will you use to interpret the evidence?
How will the evidence affect your next steps in teaching? The evidence will help me figure out where students can
go next in regards to lessons on the drought in California.
Instructional Sequence:
Time
7 min

Set or introduction:
How will you begin the lesson? How will you engage and motivate learners, connect to prior experience,
activate prior knowledge and/or share learning outcomes?
1. I will begin the lesson by gathering students on the carpet.
2. I will start by asking students to turn to a neighbor and explain what the word drought means, and ask,
what is a drought?.
3. Students will turn to the neighbor and brainstorm the definition of the term drought.
4. Next, I want students to come back together. I will then ask for students to share and say, what do we know
about a drought?. I will call on students to share what they came up and how they define the word drought.
5. After several students share their idea of what drought means I will move on to the next question. what
do we know about the current drought in California?.
6. In order to find out what students already know about the drought we will create a KWL chart together.
7. I am also interested in getting students to think about the drought and will be asking them what they wonder
about the drought or what they would like to know.
Developing Content/Body of Lesson: What instructional strategies and learning tasks will you use in the main
part of the lesson?
1. Together, we fill out a KWL chart.
2. Based on students answers we will record what we know and what we want to know on a piece of chart
paper. First I will pose the questions to students on the carpet, What do you know about the current drought
in California?. I will try and write down 15 ideas that students have about the current drought in California.
3. Next, I will ask students what they still wonder about the drought, or what they would like to know. I will
try and write down 15 questions students still have about the drought and what they wonder is going on in
California right now.
4. After we fill in part of the KWL chart, I will use students answers to define the word drought.
5. I will also define the terms climate and groundwater before playing a short video on the current drought in
California.
6. Before I play the video, I will remind students to think critically about the information that is presented to
them. Lets think of questions during the short video about the drought and things we can add to our KWL
chart.

7. After I introduce the video and the new vocabulary I will play the video. Next, students will watch a 2
minute video on the current drought in California.

Checks for Understanding / On-going informal assessment:

How will you know what students are understanding? (questioning and observing throughout the lesson)
Throughout the lesson I will observe student understanding based on their questions about the drought.
Closure:
How will learners summarize or reflect on what they learned (for example, share work, share a strategy, share a
process, discuss what they learned, raise a new question)?
1. After the video, I will ask students to raise new questions we can add to our KWL chart.
2. I will ask students, what do you wonder now? And we will add those questions to our KWL chart.
3. Students will have the opportunity to add to our KWL chart and think critically about the information that
has been presented to them.
Extending the Lesson/Homework (optional):

Reflection, Next Steps: