Planning Guide

Creating Learner-Focused
Schools

* Madison-Oneida BOCES- This document may not be reproduced in any form without the expressed written consent of the District Superintendent or his designee.

 

LU Title: "Wearing Tuxedos In the Land of Brrrrrrrrr!"

Author(s): Scott Storey, Frank Whitehead

Grade Level: 3/4

School Address: U.S. Rt. #11, Mannsville, NY 13661

Subject Area: Science

School Phone/Fax: 315-465-4281 315-583-5381

 

CONTENT KNOWLEDGE

Declarative

Procedural

  • Animal Characteristics
  • Classify/Sort
  • Mammals are animals
  • Compare/Contrast
  • Birds are animals
  • Sequencing
  • Fish are animals
  • Story Writing
 
  • Note Taking

 

ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS

 

INITIATING ACTIVITY

  1. After building snow shelters, (see Unit #1 on Antarctica) discuss with children how animals of the polar regions stay warm.
  2. Discuss how the animals survive and name some animals that live there.
  3. Students will experience how warm they are while in a heated area and having on their winter coats, hats, gloves/mittens, boots, etc.

 

Connection to State Learning Standards

Content Area: Science/Social Studies

Level: 3/4

Benchmarks: Understand the relationships of animals of Antarctica and their environment.

 

Benchmarks: Present the final project to the class using reading, writing, speaking, and listening

Standard: Students will access, generate, process, and transfer information using appropriate techniques. Students will understand and apply scientific concepts, principals, and theories pertaining to the physical setting and living environment and recognize the historical development of ideas in science. Students will apply technological knowledge and skills to design, construct, use, and evaluate products and systems to satisfy human and environmental needs. Students will understand the relationships and common themes that connect mathematics, science, and technology and apply the themes to these and other areas of learning.

 

Standard: Students will listen, speak, read, and write for information and understanding. As listeners and readers, students will collect data, facts, and ideas; discover relationships, concepts, and generalizations; and use knowledge generated from oral, written, and electronically produced texts. As speakers and writers, they will use oral and written language that follows the accepted conventions of the English language to acquire, interpret, apply, and transmit information. Students will listen, speak, read, and write for critical analysis and evaluation. As listeners and readers, students will analyze experiences, ideas, information, and issues presented by others using a variety of established criteria. As speakers and writers, they will use oral and written language that follows the accepted conventions of the English language to present from a variety of perspectives their opinions and judgments on exp eriences, ideas, information, and issues. Students will listen, speak, read, and write for social interaction. Students will use oral and written language that follows the accepted conventions of the English language for effective social communication with a wide variety of people. As readers and listeners, they will use the social communications of others to enrich their understanding of people and their views. Students will listen, speak, read, and write for social interaction. Students will use oral and written language that follows the accepted conventions of the English language for effective social communication with a wide variety of people. As readers and listeners, they will use the social communications of others to enrich their understanding of people and their views.

 

Unit Theme: Penguins: Animal Life on the Coldest Place on Earth

Standard: Students will actively engage in the processes that constitute creation and performance in the arts (dance, music, theatre, and visual arts) and participate in various roles in the arts. Students will be knowledgeable about and make use of the materials and resources available for participation in the arts in various roles.

 

Standard: Students will use a variety of intellectual skills to demonstrate their understanding of the geography of the interdependent world in which we live-local, national, and global-including the distribution of people, places, and environments over the earth's surface.

Benchmarks: The final project will include art work of various forms..

 

Benchmarks:Compare/contrast the environment of Antarctica with the environment in which you live .

Learning Experiences

Declarative Knowledge

What declarative knowledge should studentsbe 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.

Vocabulary to include:

  1. Birds (penguins, terns, etc.)
  2. Krill
  3. Whale
  4. Seals
  5. Base Camp
  6. Anarctica
  7. Molting
  8. Brood Patch
  9. Rookery
  10. Polar Climate

National Geographic filmstrips and videotapes

Discussions

Trade books from the school library or from students' homes or teacher's materials

Handouts

K-W-L

Think Aloud

Three Minute Pause

Graphic Organizers

Vocabulary

Cooperative Learning

Collaborative Pairs

Problem Solving

Brainstorming

Teacher Modeling

Pair and Share

Vocabulary will be introduced in the first 3 lessons.

Students will watch videotape titled Antarctica: the last great wilderness on earth (Finley-Holiday), 1991, and begin to list Vocabulary words as they watch and listen to the video.

Read ANTARCTICA by Helen Cowcher to students and continue to discuss vocabulary terms.

Make a Flip-Book or Step-Book with the students using the vocabulary words discussed over the past two days.

Students will complete the handout on vocabulary words and their meanings by matching the word with its correct meaning.

 

Learning Experiences

Procedural Knowledge

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.

Create a mini-book on penguins.

Create mobile of five different penguins

Create a booklet of twelve kinds of penguins showing their height, weight, where it lives, special features, and fast facts about each one..

Create a graph on the heights of different penguins.

Students will be an Emperor: Penguin for a day

Cooperative grouping

Handouts

Cooperative groups/Collaborative pairs

Models

Handouts

Handouts

Cooperative groups/Collaborative pairs

Models

Think Aloud

Handout

Collaborative pairs/Cooperative groups

Model

Guided Practice

Model

Think Aloud

Materials

Teacher will distribute What's So Special About Penguins handout and direct students on how to create their mini-book. Read and discuss information in the mini-book with the students. Take home to share with parents

Teacher will distribute handouts of penguin friends mobile. Students will follow directions to complete the mobile.

Teachers will distribute handouts of twelve different kinds of penguins. Students will follow the directions to create penguin profile cards. Detailed facts from this activity may be used for the final project.

Using Profile Cards, students will graph the heights of the twelve different types of penguins.

Students will follow directions given on the handout to experience a part of the life of an Emperor penguin.

All handouts and activities can be found in:

PENGUINS: Theme Unit Developed in Cooperation with P.R.B.O. International Biological Research by Robin Bernard, Scholastic 1994

 

Learning Experiences

Extending and Refining

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.

The life and habits of the penguin.

 Comparing

 Classifying

  • Inductive Reasoning
  • Deductive Reasoning
  • Error Analysis
  • Analyzing Perspectives
  • Constructing Support
  • Abstracting
  • Other:

Students will create journal entries using the information taken from the activities they have experienced

Students will produce a project in conjunction with the journal entries.

Journal entries may include:

Weather/Temperature Observations of other people and animals seen Activities done that day Predictions of what is to come Descriptions of environment they are living in Comparisons to their regular environment Likes/Dislikes

 

Planning Guide

 

Unit:

Rubric:

Key Questions:

What are the key elements, traits, or dimensions that will be evaluated?

Are the identified elements of equal importance or will they be weighed differently?

Element #1

Element #2

Element #3

Element #4

Elements

Scale

 Oral Presentation

Knowledge of Subject Material through design/product

Written Journal Entries

Effort and Neatness

Weights

 X 1

X 3

X 1

X 2

4

Makes sense and is well-organized

Design/product consistently demonstrates knowledge of material

Consistently demonstrates knowledge of material

Demonstrates maximum effort and neatness

3

Makes sense, but lacks some organization

Demonstrates much knowledge

Demonstrates much knowledge

Demonstrates sufficient effort/neatness

2

Makes some sense, lacks much organization

Demonstrates some knowledge

Demonstrates some knowledge

Demonstrates some effort/neatness

1

Makes little sense, lacks organization

Demonstrates little knowledge

Demonstrates little knowledge

Demonstrates minimal effort/neatness

 NOTE: Rubric or other performance asessment instruments may be used.

 

 

Have You Considered These Yet?

Learn to Learn Skills:

Assessment Modifications:

Students will be graded on both their written work and their oral presentations. The students will also be graded on their projects using the given Rubric.

Unit Schedule/Time Plan:

Two to Three Weeks

Written Overview:

This is a Unit written for third/fourth grade students. This Unit is designed to allow the students to apply knowledge acquired to create make-believe journal entries and to design and create a project to support their journal entries.