Cluster 3: Research to Build and Present KnowledgeArchived

In this lesson, students will explore different types of habitats and what animals need to live. This lesson begins with a read aloud of the text The Magic School Bus Hops Home: A Book about Animal Habitats and the class will collaboratively make an anchor chart about the diverse habitats we have on earth. Students will choose an animal to research and write an expository writing piece to share their learning. This research project will conclude with students showing their creativity by making a diorama of their habitat out of a shoebox.

Type: Lesson Plan

Students will observe the night sky and keep an observation log of what they see and what questions they develop. The teacher will guide the students to use an organizational chart. Students will write what they learned about stars with a drawing of the night sky. Nonfiction texts and websites are used as sources of information throughout the lesson.

Type: Lesson Plan

Students will be amazed by the book What Do You Do with a Tail Like This? by Steve Jenkins and Robin Page. This book will encourage students to ask questions about interesting animals and learn many new facts. For the summative assessment, students will gather additional information about their selected animal and write an expository paper.

Type: Lesson Plan

In this lesson, students will learn about the importance of the sequence of steps in a recipe. They will explore student-friendly recipes and follow a recipe created in class to make a popular food for kids. Students will then write their own recipe for one of their favorite foods.

Type: Lesson Plan

In this lesson, students will listen to an informational text about an animal and critique a sample expository paragraph by giving suggestions about how to improve the sample writing. Students will then read an informational text about an animal of their choosing and write an expository paragraph about the animal. They will present their writing to the class and take suggestions from classmates to improve their writing. Students will also revise their writing through use of suggestions given by their peers.

Type: Lesson Plan

Students will be able to build a model of a snowman by using different states of matter. They will be able to use their prior knowledge of understanding that almost everything is made of matter. Then, they will use information learned to design and create a "Matter Man" and its environment.

Model Eliciting Activities, MEAs, are open-ended, interdisciplinary problem-solving activities that are meant to reveal students’ thinking about the concepts embedded in realistic situations. Click here to learn more about MEAs and how they can transform your classroom.

Type: Lesson Plan

This lesson helps students explore different objects that may sink or float. The teacher will begin the lesson with two candy bars. The students will be able to touch and feel the weight of the candy bars and make predictions on whether the candy will sink or float. After the teacher performs the investigation students will be broken up into groups of three to four and will look at ten different objects and predict if they will sink or float. The students will record their predictions. Fill out a table with there findings and write about why there predictions were correct or incorrect. By the end of the lesson students should understand what a prediction is. They should also understand that objects with more air float.

Type: Lesson Plan

Through exploration and discussion, the students will identify whether an object sinks or floats as a property of matter. Students will also sort objects by whether the object sinks or floats. This lesson is part 4 of a 4 part unit on Properties of Matter. During each lesson, the students will explore specific properties of matter through hands-on activities.

Type: Lesson Plan

Through exploration and discussion students will identify texture as a property of matter. Students will develop vocabulary related to describing texture. Students will sort objects by texture. This lesson is part 2 of a 4 part unit on Properties of Matter. During each lesson students will explore specific properties of matter through hands-on activities.

Type: Lesson Plan

In this lesson, students will compare and contrast the experiences of the familiar characters, Frog and Toad, by completing t-charts and composing a response about the similarities and differences in the characters' experiences.

Type: Lesson Plan

In this lesson, students will decode words with the vowel team /ee/. The students will develop a class-made /ee/ tree in which the students will increase their vocabulary with a variety of /ee/ words and students will create a narrative using words with the vowel team /ee/.

Type: Lesson Plan

This lesson allows students to explore constellations, starting with Gemini. Students will learn about constellations and learn that there are more stars in the sky than anyone can easily count. Students will create a constellation of their own using the outline of their hand. At the end of the lesson, the students will understand that constellations can be viewed differently by others. A worksheet will be completed as a summative assessment.

Type: Lesson Plan

Students will identify matter that is in their environment. Students will sort objects by the observable properties size, shape, color. Students will explore and come to conclusions about the size, shape, and color of matter. This lesson plan is part 1 of a 4 part unit which addresses properties of matter. (The properties of temperature, texture, weight, and ability to sink or float will be addressed in subsequent lessons).

Type: Lesson Plan

This lesson plan is an introductory lesson for first graders on the objects seen in the night sky and stars.

Type: Lesson Plan

This is part one of a thematic unit that will take approximately one week to complete with one hour for each day. Students begin be looking at a picture of the stars to peek their interest in the unit and begin to form questions about the stars as the unit goes on. Students learn the word "observation" and then use sight to view "star jars" within groups. The class then answers questions, forms ideas, and draws pictures about what they observe. The teacher guides students into understanding that the stars are scattered unevenly through the sky, and there are too many stars for anyone to possibly count.

Type: Lesson Plan

In this lesson students will use biographies to research individuals important to American history. The students will then create "Clue Bags" based on key details about the different individuals to present to the class with the question "Who Am I?" Additionally, the students will use the key details selected for the "Clue Bags" to write an expository paragraph about their selected individual.

Type: Lesson Plan

Through the use of nonfiction text, students will gather information from the text, create a KEL (Know/Expect to Know/Learned) chart, and participate in small group discussions. Students will use the information learned to create an expository writing piece about shell animals.

Type: Lesson Plan

In this activity, students will use resources to answer questions about a topic. They will use a graphic organizer to record their research.

Type: Student Center Activity

In this teaching idea, first grade students brainstorm and research solutions to hunger issues, then create a 12 month calendar showcasing the 12 most important issues.

Type: Teaching Idea

This teaching idea describes a project called Fruit and Vegetable Mystery, which is a set of note cards created by first grade students. The cards include a written description of a fruit or vegetable on one side and the name and illustration of the corresponding fruit or vegetable on the other. The cards were created as a final product for an expedition on plants and soil.

Type: Teaching Idea

This teaching idea describes a project completed by students in Colorado after studying birds. Students wrote and illustrated informational texts that included information on the physical characteristics of a bird found in Colorado. The same teaching idea can be used with birds from any state.

Type: Teaching Idea