KUTZTOWN UNIVERSITY

ELEMENTARY EDUCATION DEPARTMENT

PROFESSIONAL SEMESTER PROGRAM

LESSON PLAN FORMAT

Teacher Candidate: Kaitlynn Becker
Date: 9/18/14
Cooperating Teacher: Mrs. Walter
Coop. Initials: _CW
Group Size: 19
Allotted Time: 40 minutes
Subject or Topic: Science: Apples: Seasons of the Apple Tree

Grade Level:1
Section: _55

STANDARD(s):

I.

3.1.1.A9: Distinguish between scientific fact and opinion.

o Ask questions about objects, organisms, and events.
o Understand that all scientific investigations involve asking and answering questions and
comparing the answer with what is already known.
o Plan and conduct a simple investigation and understand that different questions require different
kinds of investigations.
o Use simple equipment (tools and other technologies) to gather data and understand that this allows
scientists to collect more information than relying only on their senses to gather information.
o Use data/evidence to construct explanations and understand that scientists develop explanations
based on their evidence and compare them with their current scientific knowledge.
o Communicate procedures and explanations giving priority to evidence and understanding that
scientists make their results public, describe their investigations so they can be reproduced, and
review and ask questions about the work of other scientists.
3.1.1.A5: Identify and describe plant parts and their function.
4.1.1.E: Describe the seasons and describe how the change of the season affects living things.
RI.1.4: Ask and answer questions to help determine or clarify the meaning of words and phrases in a text.
W.1.8: With guidance and support from adults, recall information from experiences or gather information
from provided sources to answer a questions.
SL.1.1: Participate in collaborative conversations with diverse partners about grade 1 topics and texts with
peers and adults in small and larger groups.

Performance Objectives

The student will

Create a flap book of the seasons.
Write one thing that happens to the apple tree during every season.
II. Instructional Materials
"Arnold's Apple Tree"
Paper for the flap books (19 of these papers already folded and cut into fourths.)
Laptop
Projector
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E0eDT9rICTs (video of the apple seasons)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hSshYqDrKTo(Seasons song)
III. Subject Matter/ Content
1. Prerequisite skills:
a. The children will need to know the 4 seasons
2. Key vocabulary:
a. Spring: The tree is filled with apple blossoms.
b. Summer: The tree is filled with big green leaves.
c. Winter: The tree is bare.
d. Fall: The tree is filled with big red tasty apples.
3. Big ideas:
a. The seasons of an apple tree
IV. Implementation

A. Introduction
1. The teacher will ask the children what the four seasons are.
2. The class will turn and talk.
3. The class will share out.
4. The class will then sing the four seasons song (http://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=hSshYqDrKTo)
B. Development
1. The teacher will then have the class sit down on the carpet and read The Seasons of Arnolds
Apple Tree to them.
2. While reading the teacher will ask comprehension questions to check for understanding and to
make sure the kids are paying attention. The teacher will also ask questions like Tell your friend
what you do in the fall.(This will all be done through turn and talk)
3. When the teacher is finished reading she will ask the class what Arnold did during every season to
check for comprehension.
4. The teacher will then show the video of the apple trees during the seasons so the children can get a
more realistic idea of what they look like.
5. The teacher will tell the class that today they are going to make a flap book about the seasons of
the apple trees, the flap book will include the names of all the seasons, hand drawn pictures of the
tress during each season and one fact they learned about the trees in the book.
6. The teacher will show the example to the students so they understand what she expects.
7. The teacher will share the rubric with the class and inform the class that this project is graded so
she wants to see their best work.
8. The teacher will leave the example up on the board for the class to refer to.
9. The teacher will dismiss the class back to their seats and have the table captains pass out the flap
books that will be precut into four sections.
10. The teacher will have the students write their names on the back.
11. The teacher will then instruct the students to write one season on each of the flaps.
12. The teacher will instruct the students to write a fact about the trees during each season on the top
flap when they open their books.
13. Once the students have a fact written for each season they will then draw pictures of the trees
during each season.
14. The teacher will walk around and monitor the students.
15. If the students finish early they can catch up on prior apple unit work from earlier in the week or
do the matching game on the types of apples.
16. With 5 minutes left the teacher will have the students pack up.
17. If students do not have the flap book done they will finish it during morning work tomorrow.
C. Closure
1. The teacher will ask the class during what season are there apple blossoms on the tree?
2. The class will respond.
3. The teacher will then ask if we learned anything we wondered about on our KWL chart
D. Accommodations / Differentiation
1. The child who is selected mute can use his white board to communicate his answers to
his friends while we are doing carpet time.
2. If students finish early they will work on prior assignments for the unit or do the apple
facts cards.
3. If a student does not finish the flap book, they will need to do it tomorrow morning.
4. The teacher will walk around and monitor the students and help those as needed.

E. Assessment/Evaluation plan
1. Formative:
1.
2.
3.
4.

Questions asked during the story

Teacher observations
KWL chart (What did we wonder about and learn)
Flap book of the apple tree seasons with pictures and one fact about
each season. (Graded with a rubric.)
2. Summative: N/A

V. Reflective Response
A. Report of Students Performance in Terms of States Objectives
The students all met the objective of making a flap book and writing facts about the apple tree seasons. They
all knew facts about the season and wrote them correctly. One child did receive a 0 because he never turned the project
in even after I kept telling him to work on it every morning and turn it in to me. Please see the chart below to see how
the students scored on the attached rubric.
Name
Score out of 12
EB
12
CC
10
KD
11
JG
11
KH
12
LJ
12
AK
10
ML
12
SL
12
EM
11
RM
12
JN
12
MQ
0
AR
12
LR
8
MS
12
MT
12
CW
11

B. Personal Reflection:
1.

2.

1.

What do I need to change to be a better teacher?

a. Nothing this lesson went so well! The kids loved the lesson and thought it was fun and interactive.
They loved the song about the seasons and were singing it with me and dancing. The kids also
enjoyed the book and the Youtube video of the trees during each season. The kids did so well on the
flap book and all wrote different facts, it was a fun little way for them to be creative.
How did the students like the flap book?
a. The students loved the flap book and so did I! It was a fun little way for them to show their artistic
ability and for them to show me what they learned about the apple tree seasons. I did have a
problem with some of the kids trying to copy my book exactly, so at one point I took the book
down and hid it from them so they could not look at it. Another problem I had was that some of my
kids do not want to work, one of the children never completed and handed in this project.

VI. Resources
4 Seasons in a Year kids song. (2013, January 13). Retrieved September 15, 2014.
Ansberry, K., & Morgan, E. (2010). Reading aloud. In Picture-perfect science lessons:
Using children's
books to guide inquiry (Expanded 2nd ed., pp. 9-16). Arlington,
Va.: Nsta.
Ansberry, K., & Morgan, E. (2010). Why read picture books in class? In Picture-perfect
science lessons:
Using children's books to guide inquiry (Expanded 2nd ed., pp.
1-8). Arlington, Va.: Nsta.
Douglas, R. (2006). Young children's own illustrated information books. In Linking
science & literacy
in the K-8 classroom (pp. 95-116). Arlington, VA: NSTA Press.
Gibbons, G. (1984). The seasons of Arnold's apple tree. San Diego: Harcourt Brace
Jovanovich.
Seasons of an Apple Tree. (2012, April 17). Retrieved September 15, 2014.
Tompkins, G. (2013). K-W-L Chart. In 50 literacy strategies: Step by step (4th ed., pp. 60-63). Boston:
Pearson.
Zike, D. (2004). Four-Tab Book. In Dinah Zike's big book of science: Grade levels K-6
(p. 21). San
Antonio, Tex.: Dinah-Might Adventures.