BenjaminBergmansLessonPlan1:PopulationDensityMap

Goal
Studentswillreadmaps(includingsimplekeys)tomakeevidencebased
inferencesabouthumanpopulationtendencies.
Studentswillconcludethatpeoplelivenearwaterbodiesbecausewaterisused
fortransportation(andtrade),aswellasdrinkingandgrowingfood.
Studentswilldeepentheirunderstandingoftheimportanceofwater.

PACoreStandards(Geography)
7.2.K.B.Identifylandandwaterforms.
7.4.K.A.Identifylocalbodiesofwaterandlandformstogainanunderstandingof
theirimpactonthelocalcommunity.
7.1.1.A.Identifygeographictools.
7.2.1.B.Identifythebasicphysicalprocessesthataffectthephysical
characteristicsofplaces.
7.1.1.B.Describeplacesingeographicreferenceinphysicalfeatures.

MaterialsandPreparation
Smartboard(technology)
GoogleMapofPhilly
PopulationdensitymapoftheUS
Pencilsforeverystudent
TerrainmapofNiger
PopulationdensitymapofNiger(worksheet)foreverystudent

Plan
1. Iwillhookthestudentsbyexplainingthatwewillbeusingmapstolearnabout
whypeopleliveinPhiladelphiaandotherareas.
2. Beforegettingintothelesson,Iwillreviewnormsofbehaviorandconsequences.
3. StudentswillsayaloudwhattheynoticeabouttheGoogleMapofPhiladelphia.I
willguidestudentstonoticethattworiversrunalongthecity.Iwillexplainthata
lotofpeopleliveinPhiladelphiabecauseoftherivers.Iwillaskstudentstocome
upwithatheoryastowhypeoplelivenearwaterbodies.Theywillturnandtalk.I
willtellstudentshowoceansandriversareusedfortradeandtransportation.(8
minutes)
4. NextIwillshowapopulationdensitymapoftheUSontheSmartboard.(Iwill
createthemapmyselfsothatitisbasic.Themapwillclearlyshowthatpeople

tendtoliveonthecoasts.Thekeywillbeverysimple:RedManypeopleBlue
SomepeopleYellowFewpeople).Studentswilldrawontheirpriorknowledge
ofkeys,sincetheywillhavedonemultiplelessonsonmapsandkeysbythis
time.Iwillaskstudentswhattheynotice,andguidestudentstotheconclusion
thatmanypeopleliveneartheoceans.Iwillaskstudentswhytheythinkpeople
liveneartheoceans.(8minutes)
5. ThenIwillshowstudentsaterrainmapofNigerontheSmartboard.(Themap
willclearlydemarcatehowthenorthofNigerisdesertandthesouthis
grasslands).IwillaskstudentswheretheythinkpeopleliveinNiger,andwhy.I
willaskstudentsabouttheimportanceofrainfallforgrowingfoodanddrinking.I
willaskstudentstoimagineortheorizewhatitmightbeliketoliveinthedesert.
(5minutes)
6. Studentswillgobacktotheirseats.Theywilleachbegivenaworksheetwitha
populationdensitymapofNiger(withonlytwodifferentdensities)andquestions
aboutthemap.Iwillreviewtheworksheetaloudbecausesomestudentshave
troublereading.Iwillpairstudentswhohavetroublereadingwiththosewhocan
readwell.Onequestionwillaskthemtowriteonesentencedescribingwhatthe
mapistellingthem.Anotherquestionwillaskthemtowritewhytheythink(infer)
mostpeopleliveinthesouth.Theworksheetwillprovidehints(e.g.thenorthof
Nigerisdesert,andgetsverylittlerain).Anotherquestionwillaskthemtowrite
whytheythinkrainissoimportanttohumans.Finally,studentswillbeaskedto
writedownaquestionoftheirownsomethingtheyarestillwondering(15
minutes).
7. Iwilldiscusstheanswerswiththeclass,callingonstudentstosharetheir
responses.Wewilldiscusssomequestionsthatthestudentsposed.Iwillpost
thesepapersonthewall,andencouragestudentstoreadtheirclassmates
responses.Discussionsonthistopicwillcontinueintothefollowingdays.(5
minutes).

Assessment
Whilestudentsareonthecarpetreviewingmapsasaclass(steps35),Iwill
observewhichstudentsareabletoexplainwhypeoplelivenearwater.Iwill
observewhatstudentsnoticeaboutthemaps,payingattentiontohowwell
studentsusegeographickeysandlandmarks.Theseobservationswillbe
recordedinwriting.
Whilestudentsaredoingseatwork(step6),Iwillwalkaroundtheroom
assessingstudentworkbylookingatwhatstudentsarewritingandbyanswering
studentquestions.Iwillmakeawrittenrecordofwhattypesofquestions
studentsareaskingandwherestudentsarestruggling/succeeding.

 Duringstep7,theconcludingdiscussion,Iwillcallonstudentswhohavetrouble
writingandreadingtosharewhytheythinkpeopleliveinthepartofNigerwhere
itrainsalot.Thereasonforcallingonthesestudentsisbecausetheymayhave
difficultyexpressingtheirthoughtsinwriting.
Iwillcollecttheworksheetsforfurtheranalysis.Iwillconsiderthingslike...Ifa
studentcouldnotansweraquestionisitbecausetheycouldnotreadthe
question,theycouldnotreadthemaptoanswerthequestion,ortheycouldnot
writetheirthoughts.Afollowuplessonmaybenecessarydependingonthe
resultsoftheassessmentdata.

BenjaminBergmansLessonPlan2:GrowingPlantsExperiment

Goal
Studentswillformulateahypothesisandtestitwithanexperiment.
Studentswillbetterunderstandtheimportanceofwaterforplant(andanimal)
life.

PACoreStandards(BiologicalSciences)
3.1.1.A2.Investigatethedependenceoflivingthingsonthesunsenergy,water,
food/nutrients,air,livingspace,andshelter.
3.1.1.A5.Identifyanddescribeplantpartsandtheirfunction.
3.1.1.B1.Growplantsfromseedanddescribehowtheygrowandchange.

MaterialsandPreparation
Smallplantingcontainersfilledwithsoil(enoughforeverystudent)
Vegetableseeds
Cupslabeledwiththestudentsnameandmeasurementmarkings
Gallonofwater
Sciencenotebooksandpencils
Windowsilllabeledwitheachstudentsnametofurtherminimizeconfusionabout
whoseplantiswhose.

Plan
1. Iwillhookthestudentsbytellingthemtheywillbegrowingtheirownplant.
2. Iwillreviewnormsofbehaviorandconsequences.

3. Iwilldescribetostudentsthescientificprocess.(5minutes)
4. Intheirnotebook,studentswillwritedownthequestion:Howmuchwaterdo
plantsneedtogrow?Iwillexplainthatstudentscanchoosetowatertheirplant
eithernothing,cup,cup,cup,or1cup,andthattheywillwatertheirplant
thesameamounteachdayoftheweekfortwoweeks.Iwillmodelhowtowritea
hypothesis,andstudentswillwritetheirownhypothesis.(e.g.Ipredictthatthe
plantsreceivingcupwaterwillgrowmore).(15minutes)
5. Studentswillbegivenacontainerofsoilandavegetableseed.Studentswillbe
instructed,withmodeling,howtoplanttheseed.(10minutes)
6. Afterplanting,Iwillfilleachstudentscup(eitherahalforquarterfull)andthey
willthenwatertheirplant.Whilefillingcupswewilldiscusstheimportanceof
waterforplants.(10minutes)
7. Studentswillbringtheirplanttothewindowsillforsunlight.Therewillbeabrief
discussionontheimportanceofsunlightforgrowingplants.Thiswillbuildon
priorknowledge,becausethestudentshadreadtextsontheimportanceofthe
sunorplants.Wewilldiscusstheproblemthatsomestudentsplantsmayget
moresunlightthanothers.(5minutes)
8. Iwillaskeachstudenttowriteintheirnotebooktwothingsplantsneedtogrow
(inordertoassesstheirunderstandingthatplantsneedwaterandsun).(5
minutes)
9. Studentswillmakedaily,writtenobservations.Studentswillrecordhowmuch
watertheygivetheirplanteachdayandhowmuchitgrowseachday.Students
willrecordwhattheirplantlookslike.

Assessment
Iwillcollectthesciencenotebookstodeterminewhetherstudentswereableto
formulateahypothesis.Forthosestudentswhohavetroublewriting,Iwillask
themtoverballytellmetheirprediction.Iwillalsoassessstudentunderstanding
thatplantsneedwaterandsuntogrow.Inlaterlessonswewilldiscussthe
importanceofnutrients.
Followuplessonsinwhichstudentswriteanddescribethechangesintheirplant
andrecordmeasurementsandresultsshouldprovidemeevidenceofwhetheror
notstudentsarelearningthePACoreStandardsinBiologywrittenatthe
beginningofthislessonplan.
Iwillobservewhetherstudentsaretakingthetimetomakecarefulobservations
oftheplants.Arestudentscomparingtheirresultswiththeirclassmates?Are
studentsdiscussingtools(e.g.magnifyingglass)andothermeansofmaking
moredetailedobservations?Iwillhavethesediscussionswithstudentsatlunch
andrecess.

BenjaminBergmansLessonPlan3:PlantsNeedWater

Goal
Studentswillcriticallyevaluateanauthorsargumentfromanonfictiontext.
Givenamainideaofatext,studentswillanalyzewhatmakesitthemainidea.
Studentswillanswerthequestion:Howdidtheauthorgetustothinkthisisthe
mainidea?

PACoreStandard(Reading)
CC.1.2.1.HIdentifythereasonsanauthorgivestosupportpointsinatext.

MaterialsandPreparation
Scotchtape
Dryeraseboardandmarkers
WaterandYoutext
Papercutoutsofthetextsdetailswillbetapedonthedryeraseboard
priortothestartofthelesson.
WaterandPlantstextandgraphicorganizerworksheetforeverystudent
Therearethreedifferentversionsofthetexttoaccommodatedifferent
readinglevels.Eachofthedifferentiatedversionshasthesamemainidea
andthesamesupportingreasons.
Pencilsforeverystudent

Plan
1. Upontransitioningthestudentsfromtheirseatstothecarpet,Iwillhook
studentsintothelessonbytellingthemthatwewillbelearningaboutwhythey
needwatertolive.
2. Iwillintroducethelessonbytellingstudentsthattheywillbelearningaboutmain
ideasandsupportingdetailsinnonfictiontexts.Thestudentswillturnandtalk
aboutwhatamainideaactuallyisandwhatsupportingdetailsare,andthen

studentswillsharetheirresponseswiththewholeclass.Studentswilldrawupon
theirpriorknowledgeofmainideasanddetails.(4minutes)
3. NextIwillaskstudentswhyitisimportanttobeabletoidentifythemainideaofa
textwhatpurposedoesitserve?(1minute)
4. IwillreadaloudWaterandYou.AsIread,IwillexplainhowIgoabout
identifyingthemainideaofatext(e.g.lookingatthetextstitle),butIwont
actuallytellstudentsthemainidea.(6minutes)
5. Afterreadingthetext,Iwillaskstudentswhatthemainideais,andwhythey
thinkitsthemainidea.Whatdidtheauthordotoconveythisideaasbeingthe
mainone?(4minutes)
6. Iwillthenwritethemainidea(usingoneofthesuggestionsgivenbyastudent)
onthedryeraseboard.(minute)
7. NextIwillexplainthatthetapedpiecesofpaperonthedryeraseboardeach
containadetailofthetext,butonlysomeofthesedetailsarereasonstosupport
theauthorspoint.OnebyoneIwillreadaloudthedetailsandaskstudents
whethertheythinkitissupportiveofthemainpoint.Studentswillusea
thumbsuporthumbsdownmethodtoexpresstheiropinion.Iftheclassopinion
ofadetailisdivided,Iwillcallonstudentstoexplaintheirreasoning.Iwill
separatesupportivedetailsfromtheotherdetails.(6minutes)
8. Beforestudentsgobacktotheirseats,Iwillexplaintothemtheirnexttask:They
willneedtoreadanewtextaboutwatercalledWaterandPlants.Theywillbe
givenagraphicorganizerwhichstatesthetextsmainidea.Theywillneedto
writeanessayexplaininghowtheauthorwasabletoconveythisideaasbeing
themainidea.Studentswillanalyzethetexttodeterminewhattheauthordidin
ordertomakethemainideastandoutabovetherest.(1minute)
9. Studentstransitiontotheirseats.Asstudentsaresitting,Iwillgiveeachstudent
theversionofthetext/graphicorganizerwhichcorrespondstotheirreadinglevel.
(12minutes)

10. AsstudentsworkIwillwalkaroundtheroomansweringquestions.Ianticipate
havingmanyquestionsabouthowtospellorreadaword.Iwillhelpguide
studentsintheiranalysis,suchasbyaskingstudentstothinkabouthowthe
authorusessupportingdetailstoconveyamainidea.Studentswillalsobe
helpingoneanother,andtheclassroomnormofthemdoingsoiswell
established.(20minutes)
11. Somestudentswillreadaloudwhattheywrote,generatingaclassdiscussion(6
minutes)
12. Iwillcollectthegraphicorganizers/essays.(1minute)
Assessment
AfterthereadaloudIwillaskstudentswhatthemainideaisstudentresponses
willbegintogivemeanunderstandingoftheirabilitytoidentifythemainideaofa
nonfictiontext.Iwillaskstudentswhatmakesthisthemainidea,andstudent
responseswillprovideevidenceofhowwellstudentsunderstandandcan
analyzetheconceptofmainidea.
Afterthereadaloudstudentswillexpresstheiropinion(usingthethumbsup
method)onwhetheradetailsupportsthemainideaornot.DuringthistimeIwill
quicklyscantheroomtoseewhichstudentsareidentifyingthesupportingdetails
correctly.ThisinitialassessmentwillbegintohelpmedeterminewhichstudentsI
shouldspendrelativelymoretimehelpingduringthefollowupreadingactivity.
Whilewalkingaroundtheclasshelpingstudentsduringthefollowupactivity,I
willbecontinuallyassessing(usingawrittenrecord)howwelleachstudentis
abletoanalyzethetextinordertodeterminewhattheauthordidinorderto
conveyamainidea.
AttheendofthelessonIwillcollectthegraphicorganizers/essaysforfurther
analysis.Iwillwritedownnotesoneachstudents(mis)understandings.IfInotice
apatternofmisunderstandingamongstasizeableportionofthestudents,Iwill
considerplanningaminilessontoaddressthismisunderstanding.