LESSON PLAN OUTLINE

JMU Elementary Education Program

The following information should be included in the header of the lesson plan:
Brooke Showalter
Nicole Hostetter, 4th Grade, Bessie Weller Elementary
Date and time lesson is to be presented: Wednesday, April 15 th, 2015
Date written plan is submitted to the practicum teacher: We talked about this lesson on Wednesday,
April 8th, 2015
(Include the title of each of the following sections in your written plan.)
A. Exploring the Phases of the Moon
B. CONTEXT OF LESSON AND UNWRAPPING OF THE STANDARD
I have not observed any Science lessons up to this point. From observing other lesson plans, I
have however seen that students are more engaged and learn at a faster rate when hands-on activities
are involved. I have also noticed that students enjoy working on their classroom set of laptops and
seem to be more into the content they are learning. For a pre-assessment, I will use the handout that
Mrs. Groh gave to our Science class from Uncovering Student Ideas in Science. On page 161, there is
an assessment titled Moonlight which I will be using. Students will read the passage, pick an answer,
and provide an explanation about their answer. I will be sure to check the moon phase on the day of
my lesson.
This activity will be appropriate for students at this time because students will have already
learned about the phases of the moon previously a week or two before my lesson. My cooperating
teacher has said that this is a hard concept for students to take a hold of and they will need much
practice and many experiences with this topic. This lesson is intended to be a review.
The curriculum sequence for 4th grade at Bessie Weller Elementary says that Science will only
be taught one week out of the grading period. Since Mrs. Hostetter will have already taught my topic,
my lesson will be intended for review but will still be taught before the new Science lesson. As far as
the pacing guide goes, the dates I have been thinking about teaching my lesson are the ones closest to
the topic of Moon Phases and Sequencing of the Planets.
From reading about child development, I know that most if not all of my students are located
in the preoperational stage of Piagets Stages of Development. This means that these students can
create some small amount of reasoning behind their ideas, their thinking is easily reversed, and they
learn from using their senses the best.
C. UNWRAPPING THE VIRGINIA STANDARDS OF LEARNING and the NEXT GENERATION
SCIENCE STANDARDS (NATIONAL STANDARDS)
VA Standards of Learning:
4.8 The student will investigate and understand the relationships among Earth, the moon, and Sun.
Key concepts include:
a) the motions of the Earth, the Moon and the Sun
c) the causes for the phases of the moon

Content
Eight moon
phases, order
of phases, and
how phases
occur

Blooms
Cognitive Level
Knowledge
Describe

Comprehension
Describe
Understand

Application
Sequence

Analysis
Model
Investigate

Synthesis
Investigate

Evaluation
Describe

National Science Standards of Learning:

None exist for my topic.
D. LEARNING OBJECTIVES
Understand what are the broad
Know what are the facts, rules,
generalizations the students should
specific data the students will gain
begin to develop? (These are
through this lesson? (These knows
typically difficult to assess in one
must be assessed in your lesson.)
lesson.)
The student will understand that the
The student will describe how the
Earth is one planet in our solar
moon phases occur.
system. This Earth is accompanied
by a moon. The sun affects the moon The student will describe why the
and the Earth both.
moon appears to be lit.

Do what are the specific thinking

behaviors students will be able to do
through this lesson? (These will also
be assessed in your lesson.)
The student will model with Oreo
cookies what the eight phases of the
moon look like.
The student will sequence the order
of the moon phases with the same
Oreo cookies.

E. ASSESSING LEARNING
What will your students do and say, specifically, that indicate every student has achieved your
objectives? Remember every objective must be assessed for every student!

Objective
The student will describe that the
Earth is one planet in our solar
system. This Earth is accompanied
by a moon. The sun affects the moon
and the Earth both. One or more
objects in our solar system can
impact other objects.

The student will describe what makes

the moon appear lit.
The student will describe how the
moon phases occur.

The student will model with Oreo

cookies what the eight phases of the
moon look like.
The student will sequence the order
of the moon phases with the same
Oreo cookies.

Assessment
Students will describe over a
period of several lessons how our
solar system is interrelated. They
will explain how one object can
affect another. This will be done
through class discussion about the
causes of Earths Seasons, causes
of the phases of the moon, and the
makeup of the Earth, moon, and
sun.
The student should say that the
moon reflects the light from the
sun.
The students will correctly
describe how the moon phases
occur. I will be listening for the
idea that the moon phases are
caused by the positioning of the
moon, Earth and sun and NOT the
shadows of the Earth.
The student should correctly
model each moon phase with the
cream of an Oreo cookie and label
each phase correctly.
The student should correctly
sequence the Oreo cookie phases
on a plate beginning with the new
moon phase directly at noon and
working counter-clockwise.

Data Collected
I will keep an on-going record of
the students responses to each
lesson topic listening for key
components.

Pre-assessment Sheet
I will be taking notes as students
talk in their groups about how
moon phases occur both before the
classroom discussion and after.

I will take notes on the finished

project of each student labeling
what they have done correctly and
what they have done incorrectly.
I will take notes on the finished
project of each student labeling
what they have done correctly and
what they have done incorrectly.

F. MATERIALS NEEDED
Oreos (4 for each student-16 students-about 64 Oreos)- Myself
Paper Plates (16)- Myself
Popsicle Sticks (16)- Myself
Pre-Assessment Paper (16 copies)- Myself
Pencils- Each Student
Laptops- Each Student
Computer/Projector- Cooperating Teacher
Directions Sheet- Myself
Spreadsheet for my personal notes on discussion and/or sequencing assessment
G. MISCONCEPTIONS or ALTERNATIVE CONCEPTIONS
Anticipate how your students will respond to the tasks and activities of the lesson. Identify the
possible misconceptions or alternative conceptions about the lesson content. Where do you think
students will have difficulty? What questions will you pose or changes will you make to help nurture
student thinking and understanding of the content?
I am not sure what activities that I will be doing with my students but the few ideas that I
have, I feel like students will respond well and want to participate. Especially if that means they get to
eat in the end. Students could have several misconceptions about the phases of the moon. First
students could think that these phases are caused by Earths shadow. Students could also think that
different countries see different phases each day or that the moon makes its own light. Students will
have difficulty remembering the phase names and the order in which they appear. They may also have
difficulty understanding what causes the moon phases. I could pose some open ended questions to get
them thinking. I will be sure to reteach any misconceptions that students have.
H. PROCEDURE
(Include a DETAILED description of each step. Write what you will SAY and DO.)
Preparation of the Learning Environment:
First I will set up certain supplies on the kidney table. This will consist of Popsicle
sticks, Oreos, directions sheet and paper plates. I will make sure that I have enough
copies of the pre-assessment and direction sheet for each student.
Engage -Introduction of the Lesson:
Each student will be given a worksheet. Without talking to your neighbors, I would
like you to read the passage and answer the question the best you can. When you are
finished please flip your paper over and wait for other students to finish. When
everyone has picked an answer we will tally our results and discuss the question. The
pre-assessment worksheet will be attached to the back of the lesson plan. A chart will
be made on a piece of paper under the document camera. As a class we will discuss
the students statement most and least chosen. We will have a discussion leading into
the fact that Chet is the correct answer. I will explain that this means the moon
reflects sunlight and the light travels to the earth. So a full moon means there is a lot
of light reflecting but a new moon means there is no light reflecting.
Implementation of the Lesson (specific procedures and directions for teacher and students):
After talking about the pre-assessment assignment, I will show a short cartoon clip at
http://teachers.henrico.k12.va.us/staffdev/clough_d/Moon/Phases.html that will help
them review vocabulary and facts about the phases. After watching the clip I will ask
three questions
o Waxing means what?
o Waning means what?
o 1 moon day= _______earth days?
I will pull up an animation under the same web address to help students see visually
what is happening. I will have them discuss in their groups what causes the phases of

I.

the moon and then we will discuss as a class. I hope to have the students realize it is
due to the position of the three objects instead of the shadows.
There are two games on this same web address which students will have about 10
minutes to play. This will be review for their Oreo assessment.
Then students will put away everything except a pencil. I will hand out a directions
sheet to each students and explain what they are to do next. On the directions sheet
there is the name of each moon phase that we have studied. Students will be given a
set number of Oreos, a paper plate, and a popsicle stick. It is your job to separate the
Oreos and use the popsicle stick to spread the filling around (or take off what isnt
needed) to make what each phase looks like. First draw the Sun and the Earth. You
will sequence each phase in order on the paper plate beginning with the New Moon at
3 oclock and moving counter-clockwise. You are also required to label each phase
correctly. First draw the phase on your plate, then overlap the phase with your Oreo.
This is to be done independently with no talking I will try and put on some music.
You may only use your brain. When you are finished raise your hand and I will come
look at your plate, I may take a picture. You may silent read when you are finished.
If you break your Oreo, raise your hand and I will bring a replacement. When I run
out however you must draw only. Do not eat any of your Oreos!

Closure
You may eat two Oreos, I will be bringing around baggies to put the rest in for you to
take home. There is no official closure to this lesson other than I will show students
work that is exceptional.
Clean-Up (if required)
Once most students are finished, I will ring the bell and each student will be
responsible for cleaning his/her area in order to line-up for lunch.

DIFFERENTIATION
Describe how you have planned to meet the needs of all students in your classroom with varied
interest and learning readiness, English language proficiency, health, physical ability, etc. How will
you extend and enrich the learning of students who finish early? How will you support the learning of
children struggling with your objectives?
What are you teaching? What have I asked you to do? How will you do this?

Content

Lower Level Students:

Cartoon visual
Interest

Readiness

Higher Level Students:

Cartoon Visual
with Questions.

This lesson is intended

for review.

Process
Lower Level Students:
Work more one
on one with
individuals who
are struggling.
Higher Level Students:
Early finishers
can go back and
play moon
games already
uploaded.
Students will be
engaged through
watching a cartoon,
playing online games,
and creating their Oreo
Phases.

Product
Lower Level Students:
Help students who
are struggling by
getting them
started with the
first one or two
Oreo Phases.
Higher Level Students:
Show off their
work at the end of
the lesson.

Students will all complete

their Oreo phases and be
able to take them home.

J. WHAT COULD GO WRONG WITH THIS LESSON AND WHAT WILL YOU DO ABOUT IT?
Think about this! It may help you avoid an embarrassing situation. This CANNOT include fire drills,
interruptions due to announcements, weather, or other emergencies.
The Oreos could break, I will have a few replacement Oreos, however if I run out of
replacements students will have to draw their phase only.
Students may want to eat the Oreos, I will let them eat two Oreos but the rest must go into a
plastic bag and be taken home.
Students may want to play other online games. I will be walking around the classroom
monitoring what they are on. I will give one warning but after that I will have them shutdown
their laptops and complete a worksheet.

Lesson Implementation Reflection

As soon as possible after teaching your lesson, think about the experience. Use the questions/prompts below to
guide your thinking. Be thorough in your reflection and use specific examples to support your insights.
I. How did your actual teaching of the lesson differ from your plans? Describe the changes and explain why
you made them.
My actual lesson differed from plans in several ways. First and foremost, I was worried about
time. I chose to complete the online game together as a class on the Smartboard instead of having students
power up their laptops, login, and play. I called students up to the board and each of them drug a moon
phase where they thought that it should go in the sequence. I was told that the students should already
know that phases of the moon and the correct order that they were in. When we were playing the game
together as a class, I saw differently. Students were having fun but still struggled with the names and
sequencing of the phases. I chose to do a whole class discussion and complete the Oreo moon phases
together. Since I could not show off students work who were correct because they all looked the same, for
closure I added a quick write where I asked students to explain at least one thing that they learned during
my lesson.
II. Student Work Sample Analysis: Based on the assessment you created, what can you conclude about your
impact on student learning? Did they learn? Who learned? What did they learn? What evidence can you
offer that your conclusions are valid?
After changing my lesson in mid-air, I noticed that I actually chose to do two different
assessments. First was the class discussion that done during making the Oreo phases. I could tell students
were learning by not only the answers they were giving but the questions they were also asking. I know
that one student in particular asked, For the full moon we keep all the cream on the Oreo right? I replied
yes but also asked why. She replied, Well, for the full moon the moon is reflecting a lot of light from the
sun and therefore we can see the entire moon light up. Several other students answered questions along
the discussion also. For instance, I asked the class what phase was next. Someone answer the waxing
gibbous and someone else answer the waning gibbous. I then asked is it waxing or waning and how do we
know? A student replied, It is waxing because the cartoon said waxing means growing and the moon is
growing to become the full moon.
Discussion makes it difficult to assess each student sometimes so I chose another assessment to
use also. I chose to have students complete a quick write and tell me at least one thing in which they have
learned. They were to write their answers on a half sheet of paper and then turn the paper into me. I had
multiple awesome answers such as I didnt know that the first quarter is the third moon cycle, I learned
that the moon has more phases than just the full and new moons which were the only ones I heard of and I
never knew what a waxing gibbous was, 1 moon day is equal to 28 Earth days, and I learned how to put
the moon phases in order. The statement, I learned to put the moon phases in order may be hard to assess
the truth but that is why I am glad that I chose two forms of assessment within my lesson. It seems that
between the two assessments every student learned something.
Look at the assessment data and identify 2 students who appear to fall into these 3 categories: (1) Gets it;
(2) Has some good ideas, but theres still room for learning and (3) Does not get it. Organize your
responses to the following questions in a chart/table form similar to the one below.
Gets it

a.
Understands

Has some good ideas, but

Does not get it

Student A-

Student B-

Student C-

Student D-

Student E-

Student F-

What order the

phases of the
moon go in
and why. She

What causes
the moon to
appear lit. She
also knows the

What causes
the moon to
appear lit and
knows the new

What causes
the moon to
appear lit.

How to
recognize the
new moon and
full moon

How to
recognize
the new
moon and

b. Confused
about

also knows
what causes
the moon to
seem lit.

logic behind
the phases and
why they are
in the order
they are.

moon and full

moon
especially
well.

Doesnt seem
like anything.

Waxing versus
waning
(gibbous and
crescent)

Waxing versus
waning
(gibbous and
crescent)
What causes
the moon
phases.

c. Questions to
ask to clarify
what I know

d. Ideas to work
on next

phases.

full moon
phases.

The entire
order of the
phases. She
also confuses
crescent and
gibbous along
with waxing
and waning.

What causes
the moon to
appear lit and
the sequencing
of the phases.

What cause
the moon to
appear lit
and the
sequencing
of the
phases.

What causes
the moon
phases.

How did you

know that we
could use an
Oreo top for
the new moon
phase? Why?

In the cartoon
the sun says
that waxing
means the
moon is
growing, can
you show me
what a waxing
gibbous would
look like?
(Waning and
crescent can
be
supplemented
in the
question.)

In the cartoon
the sun says
that waxing
means the
moon is
growing, can
you show me
what a waxing
gibbous would
look like?
(Waning and
crescent can
be
supplemented
in the
question.)

In the cartoon
the sun said
that we arent
talking about
the animal
gibbon but the
moon and like
camels, the
moon
sometimes
appears with a
hump. Then it
also
mentioned that
waxing means
growing. Can
you show me
what a waxing
gibbous looks
like?

How do you
know that the
new moon is
the next
phase?

How might
the sun help
the moon
appear to be
lit?

How might the

sun help the
moon appear
to be lit?

How do you
know that
the new
moon is the
next phase?

Research
about the
moon to see if
she can learn
more than
what she
already has.

Waxing versus
waning

Waxing versus
waning

(The website I
used in my
lesson has
another
awesome
game to help).

(The website I
used in my
lesson has
another
awesome
game to help).

Waxing versus
waning and
gibbous versus
crescent (the
website I used
in my lesson
has another
awesome
game to help).

Sequencing of
the moon.
Have cut outs
where she can
move them
and place
them in order
with each
phase named.

Sequencing
of the moon.
Have cut
outs where
she can
move them
and place
them in
order with
each phase
named.

a. What does each student appear to understand?

b. What does each student appear to be confused about?
c. What questions might you want to ask each student to clarify what you know about the students
understanding?
d. What ideas does each student need to work on next?

III. Describe at least one way you could incorporate developmentally appropriate practice in a better or more
thorough way if you were to teach this lesson again.
I could incorporate developmentally appropriate practice by encouraging students who understand
the topic or how to create the Oreo phases to help other students who may be struggling. For this lesson
especially within my own classroom it would have been nice to have a student or a few student volunteers.
It may have even been a good idea to send notes home asking for parent volunteers to come in and help.
This would have been one way to try and incorporate the families. I did end up having my student of
special needs in the classroom with my lesson. Even though she was accompanied by an adult, I feel as if
I should have altered her lesson slightly to make sure that she gets the most out of her lesson. Not exactly
sure how I would plan to do that. It may have been nice to do this lesson within learning centers though
the time slot was tight, this may be easier for the teacher to help at the Oreo station while class helpers or
parents helped at other stations.
IV. Based on the assessment data you collected, what would you do/teach next if you were the classroom
teacher?
Next I would teach about the relative, size, position, and makeup of each the Earth, the sun and the
moon. I would do this by using many visuals. A three circle Venn-Diagram would be a great way to
compare and contrast the conditions of each the Earth, the sun and the moon. Students could somehow
create their own models of the Earth-moon-sun system.
V. As a result of planning and teaching this lesson, what have you learned or had reinforced about young
children as learners?
I have learned that students are eager to learn about Science because they dont get to have Science
content near as much as other subjects. Students screamed Yay Science when I mentioned that we were
going to learn Science instead of Social Studies today so that I could teach a lesson for my class at JMU. At
that point they didnt even know what they were going to be doing, they were just ecstatic that it was
Science.
I also learned that students are more eager to learn when they are actually interested. A variety of
activities can help students gain interest. My students loved my cartoon as they were laughing and giggling
through the video. Even though it was fun, it was a great visual tool for them. The students were easily able
to pick up on the questions that I asked them in the end because each of them saw and heard the video and
was actually into it. The students also loved working on the Smartboard. This was a great way to involve
some movement within my lesson so that students could get the jitter bugs out. Also, you can always
reinforce student learning with food. When my students saw that we would be using Oreos to make the
moon phases they became even more excited but never were they out of control. I did have to explain that in
order to be able to eat your Oreos I need everyone to follow along and try their best. In the end they all did
an excellent job and were so happy that they not only could eat their Oreos at school but still had some to
take home.
VI. As a result of planning and teaching this lesson, what have you learned or had reinforced about teaching?
Teaching one lesson takes much planning. Time management is a huge key to becoming a
successful teacher who is prepared for his or her lesson. It is imperative that teachers over plan rather than
under plan. I have also learned that planning a lesson for a specific amount of time is challenging, especially
planning a lesson with students whom you arent sure about their work ethic and style. I have observed
several days in my practicum classroom but the students within are all different in their work ethic and style.
I will not always plan perfectly and I know this. This was the second time that I have encountered planning
a lesson and buying supplies with my own money. I really havent thought much of it until I begin thinking
what if I bought supplies more often. That can add up quickly. Some rally great lessons use outside
resources so I know that in the future I will have to plan wisely.
Also I have learned that students need clear concise directions. During my lesson, I only verbally
said the directions for the Oreo activity first. I did then draw a plate on the board for students to look at
when they needed reminders. I know now that students need reminded of directions more than once even if
they have written directions in front of them. It is also a good idea to show student examples. If someone
was struggling I guided them to look at someones plate near them. With the written response I didnt just
give examples of what I am looking for but also how to get started.

VII. As a result of planning and teaching this lesson, what have you learned or had reinforced about yourself?
This lesson was not hard to plan according to the resources that I found and used. I learned that
not every lesson has to be worksheets and quizzes and that I control what makes a lesson fun and what
doesnt. I showed myself that lessons do not always have to take hours of planning and that if you come
up with a good lesson that works, use it again! There is nothing wrong with saving lessons and
implementing them in your own classroom or even for the following year in your classroom.