Total Duration: |
Greater than 120 Minutes |
Materials and Resources: |
Student Materials
Student Materials (per group)
Websites: |
Technology Resources Needed: |
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Background/Preparation: |
Student Background Information: Prior to teaching this lesson, students need an understanding of the classification of animals. The teacher will divide students into 4 groups: Mammals, Birds, Reptiles, and Fish/Amphibians. Students will need to complete the Google Form that corresponds with their group. The teacher can send this form to students through Google Classroom. Once divided into groups, students will work on their Google Form and label their choices of animals by ranking them from 1-4 in order of their favorite to least favorite. Once students have completed their Google Form, the teacher will select a leader for the group, and students may begin their research. During the lesson, students will be required to navigate to a website using a technological device. Students will also be required to work in collaborative groups of 4-5 students. They will need to be familiar with the jigsaw strategy of breaking away from their group to create new groups for sharing information. Teacher Background Preparation: The teacher should randomly divide the students into the four animal groups (mammals, amphibians/fish, birds, and reptiles). These groups can be arranged at the teacher's discretion. The teacher should review the Google Form and use the responses from the students to arrange students in cooperative groups. The teacher will view the responses and arrange the students into animal groups by looking at their choices. The teacher will try to give each student their top choice if at all possible. The teacher will also make sure to have enough resources for the students to use to collect their research. The teacher should be familiar with the jigsaw strategy of grouping students, and should also have the class divided into groups of 4-5 students for the lesson. Below are the 4 classifications of animals that can be used for this project. A copy of this Google Form can be made to use in your classroom. This Google Form will allow the teacher to put the students in groups according to the animal that they wanted to research. When the teacher opens the link, he or she will need to make a copy in order to transfer ownership and then edit it to his or her specific needs. Amphibians/Fish https://docs.google.com/forms/d/16jaNyx30iJlCwZjg51MwxO1SeImF9f8WQdOVzvUmPEU/edit?usp=sharing Birds https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1oi_He5acXtdk5x9AtNqZ1_XvGtDjBZ4psz1EJbPHcWs/edit?usp=sharing Mammals https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1pajH0CA5BwnK9NnUetLf18mramVrfd-XRDeVuE8-bbc/edit?usp=sharing Reptiles https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1jqlnGUtiWHHOmTtIh8An_yTV106P0NqBw2iBCVenaoE/edit?usp=sharing |
Before Strategy/Engage: 20 minutes 1. Students will move into their animal research groups of 4-5 students and begin discussing the role that each student will take within the group. The group leader will help facilitate as the rest of the group members decide who will take on the other available roles. Once all the members have an assigned role, the group will inform the teacher of each member's role. The following roles will be assigned: Leader (already assigned by teacher)- Makes sure everyone is working hard, getting along in the group, and following classroom and project rules. Problem Solver- Helps solve problems that the group may encounter. This person will be the liaison between the group and the teacher. Time Keeper- Reminds the group of how much time is left to complete the project and keeps other group members on task. Voice Controller- Keeps the group voice level to a whisper and encourages other group members to work quietly. When the group members get excited, this person will remind them to keep a low voice level. Materials Manager- Gathers all materials. This is the only person allowed to leave the group's work area to get materials, return extra materials, or throw away trash. 2. Each student will be given their zoo booklet/journal and will label their animal on the front cover. Students will add their job and a description of their job to the inside cover of their zoo booklet/journal. During Strategy/ Explore & Explain: 90 (3- 30 minutes class periods) 1. Students will begin a Table of Contents in their Zoo Booklet. The following list provides an example of the pages needed for the Table of Contents:
2. Students will use books from the library, research from the internet, and other resources to find out as much information as they can about their animal. Once the group has started collecting information, they will add their information to their Zoo Booklet. Each child will be responsible for keeping up with all the information their group finds. Students will research information about the habitat, diet, parenting style, and predator/prey of their assigned animal, as well as any other information that might be beneficial for their research. Students may add additional entries to their Table of Contents if there is a subject that they feel is beneficial to their project. 3. The teacher should walk around the room as a facilitator to be sure that all students are actively participating in the group. The teacher will also make sure everyone is adding information to their Zoo Booklet. If students are not actively participating, they will fall behind and will not be prepared when the time comes to present their presentation (Zoo Night with Parents- Lesson 3). After Strategy/Explain & Elaborate: 30 minutes 1. Students will meet one last time as a group and review their notes. As students review their research and project, they will prepare to give their presentation using the research collected on the Animal Research Pages. Groups will be responsible for coming up with their own presentation style. Examples of possible presentation formats include:
2. Students will create a presentation to present to an authentic audience (classmates, students from other classes, and/or parents). The presentation should include the following information from the students' research:
3. Once the students have acquired all their information, they will decide on the way they want to present their animal. In addition, a parent night could be planned so that students can showcase their animal research to their families. Each group will present their animal research to the parents. The products will be displayed around the school for the rest of the grade levels to view when traveling in the hallways. |
Assessment Strategies |
Informal Assessments
Formal Assessment The teacher will formally assess students during the group presentation and demonstration. (Groups will be responsible for creating their own presentation formation. A few examples are movies, video games, 3-D printed animals with examples, or slide shows). The presentation will be graded on each member's participation in the presentation, how well the group members worked together, creativity, organization, and if all parts of the project are completed. A link to a grading rubric is provided in the attachments. |
Acceleration: |
Students will use the information they acquired from research and expand their project by presenting additional information about their selected animal. Groups requiring acceleration may choose one of the following presentations:
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Intervention: |
Students that require additional assistance, will be given help in looking up information on their animal. They will also be able to print off their information and glue it into their zoo booklets instead of having to write it down. |
View the Special Education resources for
instructional guidance in providing modifications and adaptations
for students with significant cognitive disabilities who qualify for the Alabama Alternate Assessment.
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