Graphic organizer used when introducing the topic to the class on the carpet

Example of what the three plates with cards looked like. Students could take these and explore.

Example of student work.

Design for LearningInstructor: Harper Parkey Grade Level/Cooperating Teacher: 1st Lesson Title: Types of Soil Date: November 2013Curriculum Area: Science Estimated Time: 35 minutes

Standards Connection: Science, 1st grade, 7.) Identify components of Earth's surface, including soil, rocks, and water.

Learning Objective(s): Students will be able to recite the types of soil (dirt, sand, and clay) and connect soil to Native Americans’ lives receiving at least a satisfactory in order to achieve competency.

Learning Objective(s) stated in “kid-friendly” language: Today class, since we have been learning so much about Native Americans, we will get to learn about soil and how the Native Americans used everything that the Earth gave them.

Evaluation of Learning Objective(s): Students will write in their science journals at the end of class. They will write a sentence identifying the three types of soil and a sentence connecting it to Native Americans using a teacher provided prompt. They will be evaluated according to a teacher made rubric seen below.

The three types of soil I saw today were _____, ________, and _________. Native Americans use soil to ____________.

Score RequirementsExcellent Student completed both prompts accurately and

went above and beyond to write extra sentences at the end.

Satisfactory Student completed both prompts accurately with no additional work shown.

Unsatisfactory Student completed prompts but did not complete one or both accurately.

No attempt Student did not attempt to fill out the prompt

Engagement:

Students will begin on the carpet where the teacher will introduce the lesson for the day and will read Joseph Had a Little Overcoat by Simms Taback. She will talk about how Joseph continually used what was given to him until it was no longer available to him. She will then make the connection to Native Americans and reiterate the fact that they used everything Earth gave them, including dirt, which they used to make houses. Ok boys and girls, 1,2,3, eyes on me! We have been learning a lot about Native Americans this month haven’t we? Well today we are going to talk about how Native Americans use everything Earth gives them, even dirt! Let’s start by first reading this book though. Has anyone ever read it before? Teacher waits for appropriate responses. Wonderful! It is called Joseph Had a Little Overcoat by Simms Taback and Joseph uses everything he is given as well just like the Native Americans. Pay close attention and see if you can find how Joseph uses what he is given. Teacher will then read the book aloud to the class. Ok students can anyone tell me how Joseph used what he was given to make something else? Teacher calls on students and gathers appropriate responses. Those are great answers boys and girls! Joseph kept using his coat to make new things until it got smaller and smaller all the way to the button. Do Native Americans use what the Earth gives them just like Joseph used what his

coat had to offer him? Teacher waits for responses. Yes they do! We have learned how Native Americans use what the Earth gives and today we will explore that even more with our science lesson on soil.

Learning Design:

I. Teaching: Teacher will show the class three types of soil: clay, sand, and dirt. She will talk about characteristics of each of the types of soil and make connections to where students would see these elements in everyday life. She will write information in a chart on the board for students to see. (see below for chart) She will then show the class a picture of a Native American home made out of clay. Ok class can you think in your head what your house is made out of? Well, some Native Americans live in houses like these. Teacher will show class a picture of Indian house made out of clay. This house is actually made out of clay. Like we talked about before, Native Americans use everything Earth gives them to survive, even dirt. These Native Americans used clay, which is a type of soil. The three types we are going to look at today are clay, dirt, and sand. In this bag I have clay. Does it look familiar to anyone? Where have you seen it before? Teacher waits for appropriate responses or guesses. Well, does anyone play baseball or softball? Clay is actually the soil that is on a baseball or softball field! We talked about how it can be used to make houses, but clay can also be used to make plates and bowls. You may have worked with clay in art before, have you? Teacher waits for enthusiastic responses. I’m sure that was a really fun art class. That clay is a little different than the kind we find in the ground, but it still can do some of the same things. So what was that type of soil we just talked about? Yes clay! So let’s fill in our chart on the board. What color is clay? Yes it’s red. Where did we say we have seen this before? Yes on baseball fields very good. Ok class, now let’s look at our second type of soil. This one is dirt. Give me a thumbs up if you’ve seen this before. Of course you’ve all seen it before! It’s outside on our playground and that is the soil we planed our garden in! What color is dirt? Class responds. Yes it’s brown! Dirt has lots of nutrients in it to help our plants grow. Do we eat dirt though? Children respond. No, of course not silly, dirt is food for plants not people. So can anyone raise their hand to tell me the two types of soil we have talked about so far? Teacher calls on specific students. Yes, very good, we have talked about clay and dirt so far. Let’s fill in our chart for dirt. Can anyone tell me what color dirt is? Can anyone tell me where we have seen dirt before? Wonderful what are the two types of soil again? That’s right dirt and clay! Now we have one more type of soil to learn about! Look at what is in this bag boys and girls. Think in your head for a second and give me a thumbs up when you think you know what type of soil this is. Think about where you have maybe seen it before. Teacher pauses for think time. Ok who can tell me what type of soil this is? Class responds. Very good it is sand! Where have you seen sand before? Teacher calls on students for responses. Yes, the beach and maybe on the playground too. You have a sandbox in your backyard? That’s so cool! Well this is sand and it feels a little different than the other types of soils and you guys will get to see that here in a second. But first I want to show you the picture of the tallest sandcastle ever made. It was almost 50 feet tall, which is as tall as about 12 first graders. Some food can grow in sand better than it can in dirt, and sand is at the bottom of the ocean too! So what was this soil called again? Sand yes! Let’s fill in the chart for sand. What color is it? I would call this color tan. Where do we find sand? The beach very good! Ok so can anyone remind me what our three types of soil were one more time. Teacher waits for responses. Very good the three types were sand, dirt, and clay! Now you guys will all get the chance to look at each soil close up!

II. Opportunity for Practice: Teacher will go over directions for the practice. Students will go back to their tables and they will find three paper plates each with dirt, clay, or

sand. (Teacher will have prepared the soils while students are doing morning activities and have them placed on the back table). They will also have a graphic organizer to complete and they will fill in adjectives of each type of soil in the graphic organizer. Teacher will walk around during this time to monitor behavior and offer assistance. When students seem finished, the teacher will take away the paper plates and have students share their responses. She will show students work on the graphic organizer and review the material before assessment occurs. Ok class, now when I dismiss your table, you may come get a worksheet off my chair and go back to your desk. I will come around and place three bowls of soil at your table. What I want you guys to do is take these three cards and place them in the right bowl. One says sand, one says dirt, and the other says clay. Teacher will show the label cards as a model. After you place the cards in the correct bowl, you can fill in the worksheet. Remember though we will have good behavior when we are playing with the soil. If anyone throws the soil or makes a mess on purpose, you will have to sit out. Give me a thumbs up if you understand. Ok this will be really fun! For the worksheet, I would like you to write the word on the line and then draw a picture of what you see. If you have trouble spelling the word then look at the card in your bowls. Scientists also like to record observations. Can you say that with me? Observations. Yes very good! In the second box I would like you to write a sentence if you can or a word that describes the soil. You can say what color it is, you can say how it feels, you can say where you have seen it before, but just be a scientist! Can someone repeat what we do with the worksheet? Can someone repeat what happens if we do not have good behavior? Teacher waits for student to explain. Yes thank you! And can anyone remind me where I can see how to spell the word I need to write? Teacher calls on student. Yes, thank you, you can find the word in the correct bowl. Ok table one you may go back to your seats. At this time the teacher will dismiss the students. She will now grab the bowls and place them on the tables with the help of the “ class super-helper.” As the students are exploring, she will walk around the room checking to see if students have labeled the bowls correctly, make sure they are staying on task, and managing behavior. When she sees students are done she will take away the bowls and collect the worksheets. When I take away your bowls from your table and you have turned in your worksheet to me, then you may quietly wash your hands at the sink in the back. Please come back to your desk when you are done. Teacher will take the time to show students work using the document reader, while students remain in their seats. (Examples of student work will be shared only if time allows).

III. Assessment: Once the desks are cleared, the teacher will pass out science journals with the assistance of the class “super helper.” She will review the material one more time and then write the prompt on the board for students to complete. She will ask that when they are finished they draw a picture of a Native American house in the corresponding blank space at the top of their journal entry page. (The picture should hopefully help students make a connection to Native Americans and soil, which will help them fill in one of their blanks in their journal entry assessment.) Ok class did you enjoy getting to play with all the soil? It’s fun getting to explore in class isn’t it? Can anyone remind me what the three types of soil are? Teacher waits for responses. Yes wonderful! Can anyone remember how the Native Americans used soil? Teacher waits for responses. Yes they used it to make houses, just like in this picture. Now, when scientists are done with their experiments, what did we say they always do? They write down what they saw! That’s what we are about to do! I will write the prompt on the board and I would like you to fill in each sentence. It says the three types of soil are (blank), (blank), and (blank). And it also says “Native Americans used soil to (blank).” You guys are smart so I know you can do this. Remember spelling doesn’t count, just try your best. When you are finished you can write extra sentences or you may draw a picture at the top. Only draw a picture though, when you are finished! Ok you may begin!

IV. Closure: Once students finish writing in their journals they will put them away and the teacher will review the material one more time. Ok so that was fun getting to experiment today! Can someone tell me what we learned about? Teacher waits for responses about soil. Can anyone tell me what we learned about Native Americans as well? Teacher waits for responses. Does anyone remember our story from the beginning? Teacher waits for responses. Yes Joseph used everything the coat gave him, and the Native Americans do the same thing, except they use everything the Earth gives them! Great job today boys and girls. Now let’s turn on our brains for writing now instead of science!

Materials and Resources:

Joseph Had a Little Overcoat book Bag of clay Bag of dirt Bag of sand 18 small paper plates or bowls Laminated cards that say “clay” “dirt” and “sand” Document reader turned on and working Graphic organizer (see attached) Science Journals Picture of adobe houses Picture of giant sandcastle

Differentiation Strategies (including plans for individual learners):

H: Ask students to help others during the practice time but also ask them to apply what they have learned to their real life. They can write a sentence about where they have seen this before and talk about themselves and their previous experience as best they can. Hopefully connecting to their personal life and previous experience will keep them engaged and focused.

L: Have the expectation that at least their drawings are accurate and they can copy the correct prompt, but from there know what to expect in terms of writing sentences or making connections. Can review with a small group later if necessary.

Data Analysis:

Of the 16 students present that day, 14 were able to write the three elements in their journal and say one characteristic about them. Many students could not connect it to Navtive American’s lives, but that was not the most important part in my lesson. The two students who could not, may have had a hard time understanding the task because they are lower-level students, and I should have worked more with them throughout the lesson.

Reflection:

This was a really fun lesson! The students loved working with the materials, and with a little more structure I think this is definitely something I would teach again!

Cards for the bowls – You will need to print off 5 of these (1 per table group) and also have them laminated beforehand

Dirt

Sand

Clay

Chart for the Board

Soil How it Feels Where You’ve seen it before

NAME: ___________________________________

#1: Type of Soil:_________________________________

#2 Type of Soil: _________________________________

#3 Type of Soil:__________________________________

Picture Observations:

Observations Picture

ObservationsPicture