UNLV Student: Azel Julio PSMT: Juli Hsieh

Lesson Plan Title: Creature Features Lesson Plan Topic: Heredity (life science)

Date: April 29, 2019 Estimated Time: One hour

Grade Level: 3rd Grade School Site: Edwards ES

State Standard(s): ❏ 3-LS3-1 Analyze and interpret data to provide evidence that plants and
animals have traits inherited from parents and that variate of these traits
exists in a group of similar organisms.

Teaching Model(s): Whole group; cooperative learning

Objective(s): Students will apply concepts of inheritance by creating an offspring monster with
traits derived from two parent monsters. They should also be able to distinguish and
categorize physical traits as inherited or environmental (acquired).

Materials and ➢ (1) projector

Technology Resources: ➢ (1) ELMO
➢ (1) computer
➢ (2) pictures of teacher’s parents
➢ (1) picture for each brother
➢ (1) “Traits” anchor chart
➢ (25) copies of “Creatures Features Worksheet”
➢ (14) pennies (or any coin)

Vocabulary ➢ Genes: a unit of heredity that determines the traits of an offspring

➢ Offspring: a person's child or children; an animal’s young
➢ Traits: features or characteristics
➢ Inherited traits: traits that are passed down to you from your parents and
grandparents
➢ Environmental/acquired traits: traits that were influenced by your
surroundings

Instructional LEMOV STRATEGIES:

Procedures:
❖ Technique 34 – Call and Response: Ask your class to answer questions in
unison from time to time to build energetic, positive engagement.
❖ Technique 35 – Break it Down: When a student makes an error, provide just
enough help to allow them to “solve” as much of the original .
❖ Technique 53 – Least Invasive Intervention: Maximize teaching time and
minimize “drama” by using the subtlest and least invasive tactic possible to
correct off-task students.

DOK Level 2: Make Motivation/Engagement

Observations, Identify  Show a picture of my mom and dad
Patterns, Compare  Ask students if I share anything in common with my parents
 Give them think time
 Have students discuss in table groups (1 minute)
  Have students answer questions as a group (S response: Our group believes
that you….)
 Introduce science topic: inherited and environmental/acquired traits
o “Each person has unique set of genes. Genes are the reason why nobody
looks the same. They are in our bodies, but are so small, you can’t even
see them. However, they are so important because they provide
instructions on what we are (humans), what we look like, how we
survive and how we interact with our surroundings. It is like a recipe in
a cookbook. They hold information that determines your trait, which
are features or characteristics that are passed onto you. Traits are
qualities about you.”
o “There are two types of traits a person can have: inherited and
acquired. Inherited traits are genetically passed down from parent to
offspring. What do you think offspring means? Let’s look back at our
discussion about me and my parents. A lot of the traits that you guys
pointed out were inherited. Some of the traits that my parents even
inherited were from their parents. That explains why you may have a
shared feature with your grandparents. (Go over some of the examples
the students pointed out and say, “I inherited ______ from my
_______.”) Acquired traits are influenced by experience or environment.
Some examples of acquired traits are my tattoos, pierced ears, and my
scars that I got from my roller blade accident. These traits are also
called environmental traits because we got these features from our
environment, our surroundings. These are the traits that you were NOT
born with. Was I born with my tattoos? No, I paid for my tattoos. Did
DOK Level 1: Identify, you have to pay for your arms? No, you inherited that trait from your
Recognize parents.”
 Introduce first page of Creatures Features Activity (the vocabulary is listed on
DOK Level 2: Make the first page; go through each definition) show how to fill it out over the
Observations, Identify projector.
Patterns, Compare o The table has two columns: inherited and environmental traits. In
each column, students must write three traits and where they got
DOK Level 4: Apply those traits from.
Concepts a) Sample response (under environmental): “scar”// “bike
accident”
Developmental Activities or Learning Experiences
 Have students complete the table
 After completion, explain the second activity.
o “We are “creating” our own offspring monsters. If you flip to the next
page, you will see that you either have a mother monster or a father
monster. You will need to pair up with a friend who does not have the
same monster as you (i.e. if you have a mother monster, you need to pair
up with a friend with a father monster and vice versa). Some of the
traits the parents share are the same, others are different. In order to
create your offspring, you will need to flip a coin.
DOK Level 1: Identify o *Demonstrate activity with the first trait (I) and last trait (E)
a) Explain: The pair needs to flip a coin for each trait placed on
DOK Level 2: Collect the table on their worksheet. If the coin lands on heads, the
and Display, pair’s offspring inherits the mother’s traits. If the pair flips a
Distinguish, Identify tail, their offspring inherits the father’s traits. They must flip a
Patterns, Categorize
DOK Level 4: Apply
Concepts, Create
DOK Level 2: Classify, Extension
Collect and Display
DOK Level 1: Recall, Closure
Define
DOK Level 4: Synthesize
Accommodations,
Modifications and
Differentiations for
Diverse Learners:
Homework N/A
Assessment and Formative Assessment:
Evaluation of Learning:  Plicker questions
 Fist to Five: Check for Understanding
coin for each column on the table. After circling the trait they
received from each coin flip, they must determine whether that
trait is inherited or environmental; they must complete the
table by writing “I” for inherited or “E” for environmental in
the boxes under each trait.
o “Even though, in this activity, we all have the same parents to base our
offspring from, we are going to yield different results. Genes that are
passed down can come with many different combinations. That is the
reason why you and your siblings look different, even though you guys
have the same parents.” (Show pictures of my brothers as an example)
 After they are done, they must illustrate the inherited traits, NOT THE
ENVIORNMENTAL TRAITS. Advise them to cross out the environmental
traits and count how many inherited traits they got (AKA 10 traits). They also
need to label each trait (AKA 10 labels).
 Have pairs present their offspring to the class; they must use the vocabulary
present in this lesson when presenting their drawings.
o Sample response: “Our monster offspring has three eyes. It inherited
that trait from its mom.”
 Review vocabulary words; ask students to define each word in their own words
 Go over answers of the portion of the table that required students to identify
whether the traits were inherited or environmental
 Ask students why it is important to recognize patterns in our inheritance; ask
how the lesson correlates to patterns
o Explain how similarities and differences in patterns can be used to
sort/classify natural phenomena
❏ ELLs/CLDs
❏ Provide time extensions
❏ Provide sentence frames to guide academic language
❏ Increase hand gestures/signals
❏ Pretend your hands are like a pan balance
❏ Speak slowly and clearly
❏ Use multimodal techniques (such as role-playing)
❏ Activate background knowledge; find connections between their
personal lives and the story
❏ Ask the students where they can find metric scales
❏ ADHD
❏ Pair written instructions with oral instructions
❏ Use a timer to help with transitioning from one activity/step to another
o Since we are on the halfway point of teaching this standard, I wanted
to ask these specific questions to check their current understanding of
it. The results will then help me create small group lessons the
following week; their results will inform me what specific aspects of
the standard I need to cover again.
o Students will hold a number of fingers up based on their
 understanding of the lesson.
 Zero fingers: “I do not understand at all.”
 One finger: “I need a lot of help.”
 Two fingers: “I think I understand but may need help.”
 Three fingers: “I am on my way. I do not need help right now.”
 Four fingers: “I get it!”
 Five fingers: “I can each someone else.”
Summative Assessment:
❖ The summative test for standards RI.3.7 and RL.3.9 will be distributed and
completed on February 25.

Reflection: Strengths:
 Probing questions
 Creating a safe environment for learning and errors
 Engagement (in the beginning and throughout the lesson)
 Building personal connections (having them relate and apply the concepts in
their own lives)
 Enforcing higher level activities and thinking

Weaknesses:
 Giving clear expectations/directions
 Forgetting to emphasize the importance of the objectives as a closure for the
lesson
 Pacing

Reflection:
 I believe this lesson would have went better if I thoroughly went through each
activity and clearly defined the directions and expectations of the activities
and discussions. Pacing could have been improved as well. However, I believe
that the engagement level was up to par because I was able to reel them by
using my family as an example and allow them to build those same
connections but with their own family. I thought this lesson was great because
it helped my students become keener to their physical features and the
patterns they possess with their family.

Video 4 Prompts

1) Using Knowledge of Students to Inform Teaching and Learning:

a. How was the lesson designed based on your knowledge about your students’ everyday
experiences, cultural and language backgrounds, and interests?

This lesson was designed based on the sole fact that they all share one thing in common: inheritance. I
incorporated a lot of personal connections within this lesson because my students, among any student really,
find content easier to understand and more meaningful if they are able to build those connections with it. My
students love learning about my mentor’s personal life and my life, so I drew them into this topic by showing
them pictures of my parents. Ultimately, however, they were able to relate to this science lesson, despite their
cultural and linguistic backgrounds. I have met all of their intermediate families and relatives, so it was not a
disheartening or sensitive subject for anyone. My students have also been learning about character traits (ELA
skill) throughout the year, so it was useful to help students differentiate between those traits and the physical
traits I was teaching them in this lesson (which, in turn, helped them develop a stronger understanding of the
concepts of inherited and environmental traits).

2) Examining Curriculum Context:

a. How is this lesson situated in the larger scheme of the curriculum?
b. What previous knowledge and skills must the students have to be successful with this lesson?
c. What will students be able to do after they learn the objectives of this lesson?

This lesson covers a life science concept that is supposed to be introduced in the third grade, according to Next
Generation Science Standards. On a greater scheme, I believe this lesson allowed students to improve their
skills of identifying patterns; personally, I believe this skill is evident in several ELA and math lessons, so to
have it introduced in a third-grade science concept is appropriate. With that being said, being able to seek some
correlation or pattern between two things is a previous skill that the students must have to be successful with
this lesson. Since they are also working with partners at some points of the lessons, students need to have
speaking and listening skills prior of. After they learn the objectives of this lesson, students should be able to
distinguish whether a particular physical trait of a human or an animal is inherited or caused by environmental
factors.

3) Building a Conducive Learning Environment to Support Student Learning:

a. How did you provide a positive learning environment for all students?
b. How did you create time and space for students’ productive collaboration?
c. How did you discipline students? Who tended to be disciplined the most?

I provided a positive learning environment for all students by not responding to the wrong answers negatively,
but rather use it as a discussion starter; I used it to help students understand the concept more by probing my
questions based off their responses. I allowed students to have productive collaboration in both my
Engagement/Motivation segment and Developmental Activity segment. In the beginning of my lesson, I asked
students to discuss and agree on the physical traits I share with each of my parents. In my Developmental
Activity segment, I had pairs of students create an offspring creature together and agree on the classifications
they put on each trait (i.e. whether each trait was inherited or environmental). The ones who tended to be
disciplined the most were the ones who do not follow our speaking and listening expectations (i.e. calling out
without raising their hand, being distracted or disruptive while someone else was speaking). I disciplined these
students by not acknowledging their responses and calling on those who were following directions; I also publicly
praised them for following directions, as well.

4) Content:
a. What is the central focus/concept of this lesson and how did you support student learning?
b. How did you check for student understanding?

The central focus of this lesson was inheritance; in other words, this lesson introduced the concepts of physical
traits and how they are classified. I supported student learning by having them create their own offspring by
using the traits of two monster parents. I also supported their learning by allowing them to apply those concepts
with my family and theirs. I checked for student understanding by having them categorize different physical
traits throughout the lesson.

5) Differentiating Instruction for Individual Needs:

Cite evidence from the video to illustrate:
a. Ways the lesson was differentiated to meet the needs of your students.
b. Provide evidence to demonstrate how you adjusted your teaching based on your students’ response in
this lesson.
I differentiated this lesson to meet the needs of my students by providing several visual aids. Along with
pictures of my family, I provided an anchor chart that illustrated different examples of inherited and
environmental traits and pictures of the mother and father monster. I also differentiated the lesson by adding
the definitions of the vocabulary words on their activity worksheet. When understanding larger concepts and
constructing appropriate and rigorous responses, I try to put a lot of emphasis on the vocabulary words and find
any excuse to use it throughout all content areas; I found these methods to be most effective with my students. I
differentiated my lesson as so because my students are also expected to use vocabulary words through their
responses, whether it is in a discussion or on a worksheet/assessment. By providing these definitions and
visuals, I am allowing them to solidify their understanding of each word individually, giving them a resource
they can use to refer back on in future lessons and ultimately, giving them endless opportunities to use the
words in any setting.

6) Using Assessment to Inform Teaching:

a. Cite evidence from the video to illustrate how you helped all students achieve the learning objectives.

In the beginning of the lesson, I asked students to share out what I had in common with my parents. Realizing
that my students responses were not geared in the direction I wanted to head towards, I decided to word the
question differently. I believe that just this small action was an example of formative assessment because I had
their prior knowledge inform my discussion that was more adaptable to their needs. I also assessed them when
they were doing their first chart. I walked around and checked what inherited and environmental traits they
thought they possessed. Some students had their traits in the wrong column, so I asked them questions
individually, so they can work through and try to solve it themselves (Lemov Technique 35). I also looked at
their answers in the second chart to check their level of understanding; I checked whether they categorized each
monster trait correctly.

7) Using Reflection to Transform Teaching:

a. How did you modify your instruction in this lesson based on what you learned from previous video-
recorded lessons? Please provide evidence.
b. How do you plan to modify your instruction based on what you have learned from analyzing this
video-recorded lesson?

I modified my instruction in this lesson by putting more emphasis on vocabulary words. During an SBCT
meeting, I was taught that the ZOOM program always introduces and leaves time in their schedule to talk about
the vocabulary words present in their lesson. Given that information, I compared how I introduced vocabulary in
my lessons versus how ZOOM does it. In this lesson, I provided the vocabulary words both visually and
auditorily, so they could grasp onto them easily. Based on this specific video, I plan to modify my instruction by
giving more explicit directions and expectations for my developmental activities. I realized that I was not that
specific with my directions, which led to several students taking on the task in different ways; having no clear
directions resulted to my group of students not having a cohesive understanding of the concepts.