LU Title: Critter Characteristics

Author(s): Sharon Gotham ,Jill Thomas, Melinda Miller-Widrick

Grade Level: One

School Address: 4921 SH56 Colton, NY 13625

Subject Area: Science/Language Arts

School Phone/Fax: (315) 262-2100 / 2644

Declarative

Procedural

• Animals are living organisms. They have certain needs and characteristics that distinguish them from nonliving things.

• Students will locate and read information about specific topics in books, magazines, and reference materials.
• Students will use the computer to obtain information from CD ROMs and investigate material on the Internet.
• Students will differentiate between fact and fiction books.
• Students will write and illustrate sentences that convey meaning about a given topic.
• Students will practice the editing process through collaboration with older students.
• Students will use the process of prewriting , drafting, revising, and proof-reading to produce well-constructed informational texts.

Animals differ from one another with regard to size, appearance, body covering, eating habits, offspring, life cycles, and movements.

Students will use the Super3 Information Problem Solving Process.

Students will speak in front of a group for the purpose of sharing information on a topic.

• Animals can be classified into groups based on their characteristics.

• Animals interact with people, other animals, and plants in their environment.

Benchmarks:

*Students gather and interpret information from children’s reference books, magazines, textbooks, electronic bulletin boards, audio and media presentations, oral interviews, and from such forms as charts, graphs, maps and diagrams.

*Students select and use strategies they have been taught for note taking, organizing, and categorizing information.

Benchmarks:

*Students present information clearly in a variety of oral and written forms such as summaries, paraphrases, brief reports, stories, posters, and charts.

*Students observe basic writing conventions, such as correct spelling, punctuation, and capitalization, as well as sentence and paragraph structures appropriate to written forms.

Standard: ELA1 - Language for Information and Understanding (Listening and Reading)

Standard: ELA1 - Language for Information and Understanding (Speaking and Writing)

What declarative knowledge should students be in the process of acquiring & integrating? As a result of the unit, the student will know or understand…

What experiences or activities will be used to help students acquire & integrate this knowledge?

What strategies will be used to help students construct meaning, organize and/or store the knowledge?

Describe what will be done.

-Animals are living organisms. They eat, rest, breathe, move on their own, reproduce and grow, and live in particular habitats.

Animals obtain their food by gathering it or hunting for it. Animals can be plant eaters, animal eaters, or both. Animals breathe oxygen from air or get oxygen from water. Animals live in different kinds of environments that are called their habitats. Some of these habitats are forests, jungles, grasslands, salt water, fresh water, deserts, and polar regions.

-Animals differ from one another with regard to: (1) Size – From the largest to the smallest kinds of animals on earth there is a great range of size. (2) Body coverings – Some of these may include hair or fur, feathers, scales, skin, or shells. (3) Body parts and appearance - Legs, wings, fins, teeth, horns, and tails are common body parts; however, some animals have very unusual and interesting body parts such as tentacles, quills, pouches, trunks, tusks, etc. (4) Movements – Some of the ways in which animals move are by running, walking, hopping, crawling, swimming, flying. slithering, trotting, sliding, soaring, creeping, jumping, gliding, and pouncing. (5) Life cycles and babies – Animals introduced in this unit are either born alive or are hatched from eggs. As animals grow, they go through distinct changes in their development from birth to adulthood. Animals have babies that may or may not resemble their parents at birth. The names for animal babies are sometimes different from the adult animal names.

-Animals can be classified into groups based on their characteristics. The unit emphasis is on mammals, reptiles, birds, and fish.

- Animals depend upon other animals and plants for their food supply. People depend upon animals for many products. People have sometimes abused their relationships with animals; as a result, some animals have disappeared from the earth or are endangered.

-View video laser disk Windows on Science. Primary Science, Volume I by Optical Data Corp.

Sections 1-6: What is an animal? Animals move. Animals eat. Animals communicate. Animal babies. Classifying animals. - Gather information from several non-fiction animal book collections in the classroom, specific Internet sites, and CDs. Animals and Their Habitats Memory Game - Animal Classification Center Activity

- Modified K-W-L

- Video with 3 Minute Pause

Partner reading

• Book Ends

- Use of Internet sites (see attached.)

- Storing knowledge

- Concept attainment and pictographic representation

- GO. Organize knowledge.

 - Students will complete a modified K-W-L about an animal they choose by writing and illustrating something they think that they know about the animal and something that they wonder about the animal. They will share their information with the group.

- Teacher will pause video to discuss key points and check for understanding.

- First grade students are paired with fifth grade reading buddies who will help them read books about animals of interest. Before reading or searching different sites, they will talk with their partners about the information they are trying to locate.

- Use teacher-created web page to visit age- appropriate animal Internet sites in the computer lab and in the classroom lab. Students will be aided in these searches by their fifth grade study buddies, the library media specialist, and the computer specialist.

Students will "play" games at those Internet sites that enable them to select the appropriate responses about animal characteristics and receive feedback about their choices.

Use teacher-created Memory game in which the students match animals to their particular habitats.

Use a teacher-created matrix in which a number of animals are presented. The animals must be classified in various ways according to different characteristics they possess. The students complete the matrix by using the library collection of animal books, magazines, and prints from the theme center as resource material. The students tally the number of animals who exhibit each of the characteristics.

What procedural knowledge will students be in the process of acquiring & integrating? As a result of this unit, students will be able to:

What will be done to help students construct models, shape & internalize the knowledge?

Describe what will be done.

Differentiate between fact and fiction books.

.

Explain and implement the steps of the Super3 Information Problem Solving Process

Identify and use informational sources.

Write complete sentences on a topic, accompany them with related illustrations, and be able to read them to others.

Speak in front of a group and present information on a topic. 

(c) (s)Students will practice classifying books in the classroom and in the library after the procedure has been modeled. Students will be asked to classify books that the teacher selects as well as books that they select.

(c) (s) Plan, Do, Review – A written set of steps to follow combined with a Think Aloud procedure for students. 

(C) (S) Teacher modeling and student practice.

(C) Teacher modeling and written set of steps.

(S) Students practice and participate in constructive criticism (editing) of each other’s work.

(S) Point out pitfalls and common errors

(I) Students practice individually, in small groups, or with partners throughout the year.

(C) Teacher modeling of the following things: focusing on the topic; being aware of voice, eyes, and body; sharing information with a group; selecting key points. (C)Written set of steps for students to be able to consult at the back of the audience.

(S) Practice delivering information to small and large groups that are known before addressing an unknown group.

Librarian and teachers will provide specific examples and practice sessions in determining whether books are fact or fiction. Test for classification is based on the concept that a fact is a statement that we know is true and fiction is something that the author has made up. ( i.e., Amazing Spiders and Miss Spider’s Tea Party)

Librarian will teach this information problem solving strategy that is a primary version of the Eisenberg Berkowitz Big6 Information Problem Solving Process. Explain the process and walk students through each step, using a specific animal as an example.

Librarian and teachers will provide examples of how we use books, magazines, videos, and laser disks to obtain information. The LCD projector will be used to model how information will be accessed from the Internet and CD ROMS. Students will practice accessing the Internet sites in the computer lab. See attachment: "The First Grade Animals Internet Web Page", created for this project.

Teachers will review attributes of good sentences and illustrations. Sentences convey meaning and have appropriate writing conventions for this level (spacing, letter formation, capitalization, and spelling). Illustrations have color and detail and relate to the text. The entire piece is done neatly and accurately. Students practice these skills in daily journals and with partners. There is daily opportunity for selected students to share their work with the class, receive positive feedback and editing help. Also, teachers write demonstration sentences with errors, and students suggest corrections.

Teachers make cueing charts with pictures and short phrases that address the key points to remember when making an oral presentation. (1)Eyes look forward and body faces forward. (2) Use a clear and loud voice.(3) Tell important information

What knowledge will students be extending and refining? Specifically, they will be extending and refining their understanding of…

What reasoning process will they be using?

Describe what will be done.

-Animals are living organisms. They eat, rest, breathe, move on their own, reproduce and grow, and live in particular habitats.

Animals obtain their food by gathering it or hunting for it. Animals can be plant eaters, animal eaters, or both. Animals breathe oxygen from air or get oxygen from water. Animals live in different kinds of environments that are called their habitats. Some of these habitats are forests, jungles, grasslands, salt water, fresh water, deserts, and polar regions.

-Animals differ from one another with regard to: (1) Size – From the largest to the smallest kinds of animals on earth there is a great range of size. (2) Body coverings – Some of these may include hair or fur, feathers, scales, skin, or shells. (3) Body parts and appearance - Legs, wings, fins, teeth, horns, and tails are common body parts; however, some animals have very unusual and interesting body parts such as tentacles, quills, pouches, trunks, tusks, etc. (4) Movements – Some of the ways in which animals move are by running, walking, hopping, crawling, swimming, flying. slithering, trotting, sliding, soaring, creeping, jumping, gliding, and pouncing. (5) Life cycles and babies – Animals introduced in this unit are either born alive or are hatched from eggs. As animals grow, they go through distinct changes in their development from birth to adulthood. Animals have babies that may or may not resemble their parents at birth. The names for animal babies are sometimes different from the adult animal names.

-Animals can be classified into groups based on their characteristics. The unit emphasis is on mammals, reptiles, birds, and fish.

- Animals depend upon other animals and plants for their food supply. People depend upon animals for many products. People have sometimes abused their relationships with animals; as a result, some animals have disappeared from the earth or are endangered.

• Comparing
• Classifying
• Inductive Reasoning
• Deductive Reasoning
• Constructing Support

 Brine Shrimp Observation, Prediction, and Record Keeping.

Students will (1) observe brine shrimp eggs with magnifiers, describe their appearance and textures, and draw their observations in journals; (2) set up brine shrimp cultures for the eggs; (3) feed the shrimp algae once they have hatched; (4) observe the mature shrimp and note their movements, eating habits, growth, body appearance, and ideal habitat conditions; (4) make charts to show and predict how brine shrimp fit into a food chain that links plants, animals, and man.

Endangered Animals Center

Students will listen to a tape in the animal theme listening center. This tape will be a teacher-created paraphrased version of a Zoobooks article on endangered animals. After listening to the tape, students will read and put together a mini book about endangered animals. Finally, students will be asked to write three reasons why animals are endangered. (Examples: habitats being polluted, lost or destroyed; animals being killed for specific body parts; food supplies being diminished or changed). They will be able to draw their conclusions based on what they have heard, what they have read in their mini books and in other center books and posters.

Animal Habitats Cooperative Planning Mural

Teams of students (selected by teachers to include a variety of ability levels) get together to plan a particular animal habitat mural. They decide upon a recorder and researchers. The researchers gather books, magazines, encyclopedias, and CDs and search for appropriate animals for their habitats. The recorder lists each proposed animal on the planning sheet and the team must agree about whether the animal belongs in the habitat, based on the evidence suggested by the team member. In addition, the students discuss and gain team support for other life forms and geographical features that should be included in the habitat. They make a list of these additional features. When the plan is completed, it is submitted to the teacher for approval and the group constructs the mural using butcher paper, construction paper, markers, crayons, and scissors. When all of the habitats have been designed, they are displayed in the hall with a challenge to passersby to locate the listed animals in each habitat.

Animal Investigations Center Students at this center are asked to find examples of animals that exhibit various characteristics, are classified in certain ways, or could live in various habitats. They use books, reference materials, magazines, CD ROMS, and the laser disk. Students discuss their choices with center partners and the teacher to verify that the animals they have chosen have been categorized properly.

Planning Guide

Unit:

Step 1

Step 2

Step 3

What knowledge will students be using meaningfully? Specifically, they will be demonstrating their understanding of and ability to . . .

What reasoning process will they be using?

Describe student's products and performances and the criteria for evaluation.

Students will demonstrate their understanding of the characteristics of a specific animal and use the knowledge to create a book and model that they will present to an audience.

[ ] Invention
(creating something to meet a need or improve on a situation)
 

Products/Performances

Students will:

Choose an interesting animal that they would like to research.

Plan, with the assistance of a fifth grade study buddy, how to do elementary research about the chosen animal by using the Super3 information problem solving process: Plan, Do, and Review.

Gather factual information about the interesting animal. Use a variety of sources (including technology) and the following strategies: reading, listening, viewing, taking notes (See graphic organizer following the rubrics.), and working with partners.

Organize and categorize the information, and write and illustrate an informative text, following appropriate writing conventions.

Edit the text for content, writing conventions, and illustrations with the help of their study buddies.

Write an author autobiography for the book.

Create an animal model by using a salt dough clay. Add details by using various craft materials and recycled materials (i.e., hairbrush bristles, beads, comb teeth). (Teachers will bake the dough models, mount them on plaques, and seal them with acrylic sealant.)

Make an oral presentation about the book and model to an audience of classmates and parents. Read the books to audiences of parents, and younger and older students.

View a videotape of the presentation. Use the videotape of the presentation to self-evaluate performance. (See rubric.)

Criteria for evaluation: The animal book and animal project presentation rubrics are included below. The animal project presentation rubric is also used by the students to rate themselves after they view a videotape of the performance.

(Science information is also assessed through a unit test based on material from Optical Data's Windows on Science animal segment of the video laser disk program.)

Rubrics:

Animal Book Rubric

All of the Time

(4)

Most of the Time

(3)

Some of the Time

(2)

With Assistance

(1)

Content

Clearly and accurately conveyed all of the important factual information about the animal’s characteristics. Provided many supporting details. Demonstrated a broad understanding of the animal.

Writing Conventions

Neatly and accurately competed sentences with descriptive adjectives, using all of the conventional writing techniques that are expected at grade level. Used correct capitalization, punctuation, spelling, and spacing.

Illustrations

Illustrations reflected, enhanced and expanded the meaning of the text with rich use of color, line, and space. A variety of illustrations throughout the book provided many details.

Animal Project Presentation

Student Rating

Teacher Rating

I looked at the audience.

I spoke in a loud, clear voice.

I said my name.

I said my animal’s name.

I showed my book to the audience.

I showed my model to the audience.

I told an interesting fact about my animal.

Key: J yes L no