1. Topic-
Parts of a Plant and their jobs
 
2. Content-
Roots, Stem, Leaves, Flower, Seeds and the jobs of each part
 
3. Goals: Aims/Outcomes-
1.Students will work in a whole group lesson to contribute ideas to a Thinking Map, called A BRACE MAP
2.Students will use the information to label and write in their Parts of a Plant layered booklets.
 
4. Objectives-
1.Students will use "listening skills" and "turn and talk" strategies to contribute ideas to the Brace Map.
2.Students will work in small groups to add information to their Brace Map.
3.Students will label the parts of a plant in their booklets in which each part is on a layered page, so as when it is closed all the parts of a plant show and the "reader" of their book can turn to the section they want to find out more about.
4.Students will use their ideas to write phonetically along with correctly spelled sight words to write a sentence about the job of each part of the plant
 
5. Materials and Aids-
*Prepared Brace Map on chart paper
*Large, colorful parts of a plant prepared by teacher on construction paper (brace map is designed to fit alongside the construction paper parts of the plant
*Prepared "layered booklets"
*Student friendly Brace Maps + worksheet of pictures/terms/words to add to their Parts of a Plant Brace Map
 
6. Procedures/Methods-

A. Introduction-

1.Read From Seed to Plant by Gail Gibbons
2.Watch Learn About Plants-Different Parts (On You Tube)
3.Share a real flower with the students to work on parts identification
4. Sing- Oh, Do You Know the Parts of Plants (very specifically tells what each plant part does)
 

B. Development-

1.After singing the parts of a plant song, introduce the Brace Map prepared on chart paper.
2.Explain that a Brace Map helps us organize our ideas when something has a "whole" idea, "parts" and "subparts" - (ideas that are broken down into smaller ideas).
3. Have volunteers come choose the large construction paper parts of the plant to first put the plant in order.
4.Write "Parts of Plant" in the large section designated for the "whole"
5. Start at the roots and write "Roots" on the section for a "part"
6. Share ideas about the jobs of the roots and write these ideas on the Brace Map areas for "subparts"
7. Continue this strategy for Stem, Leaves, Flower, and Seeds, recording information onto the Brace Map, reemphasizing that all the smaller pieces of information stem from the initial "big idea" , "parts of a plant".
 

C. Practice-

1. Divide students into groups of 4.
2. Provide students a "student friendly" copy of a bridge map which includes a picture of a the parts of a plant
3. Give students a worksheet that includes words to cut out and label the 5 parts of a plant.
4. Students will glue these words onto the correct spots on their Brace Map.
5. Provide a VERY simply worded "subpart" of information for the job of each part.
6. Students work together to read the "subpart- jobs" and glue these onto the correct part of the Brace Map.
7. Teacher/Assistant will walk around room to monitor students' group work, offer suggestions and help with reading the terms.
 

D. Independent Practice-

1. Upon completion of the groups' Brace Maps, students will work on transferring ideas from information gained from their Brace Maps into their provided pre-illustrated "Parts of a Plant" layered booklets
2. If students have a good grasp of the concepts from the strategies utilized, they will be able to use phonetic spelling along with correctly spelled sight words to fill in the information on each page of their layered booklets.
 

E. Accommodations (Differentiated Instruction)-

1. Pre-determined groups including various abilities to help with the organization, reading and follow-through of the small group activity.
2. Teacher Assistant to help with the groups as needed.

 

F. Checking for understanding-

1.Informal assessments will be done as students are working on their Brace Maps in their groups.
2. Teacher will intervene as needed and will question students as she moves from group to group.
 

G. Closure-

Students from each group will be asked to read a page of their booklets to the class
 
7. Evaluation-
Students' completion of their layered booklets will also be used for assessment
 
8. Teacher Reflection-
Using the Brace Map to help organize the students' thoughts greatly helped with retention and understanding of the information needed to complete their small group brace maps, as well as their individual layered booklets. I have tried this lesson before by simply sharing the information, reading the books and talking about what we had learned. But, when it came time to write in their layered booklets, many children couldn't remember information needed for each part. Utilizing the Brace Map and providing the hands on experiences greatly aided all students in developing a solid grasp of the concepts. The students really enjoyed all parts of the lesson. They liked being "chosen" to use the large parts of a plant to help begin the Brace Map and they really responded well to the small group responsibility of putting information into their Brace Maps. The were also very proud of their finished product, the Parts Of a Plant layered booklets. I definitely plan to use this lesson again.
 

This Lesson Plan is available at (www.teacherjet.com)