Unit Plan

(adapted)
YOUR NAME:
___ Trina Exe____

Develop a standards-based unit plan by aligning your resources with Wisconsins education initiatives to support the
diverse learning needs of the range of learners within your local context. This resource can be used to create a
process for developing lesson plans that outline essential elements of unit designstandards, high quality
instruction, and a balanced assessment system. A unit consists of a coherent series of lessons where concepts
and/or skills advance and deepen over time for all students.
GENERAL INFORMATION
Grade

Class

1st through 4th grade

Length of Unit

Social Studies

Four Days

Unit Title

How Seasons Effect the Environment

UNIT OVERVIEW

This unit goes in depth describing how the change of seasons changes the world around us. It discovers
how animals, plants, and people are affected by the change in weather. Students will find out what
clothes are appropriate to wear as well as define holidays, sports and other activities that are in each
season.

UNIT STANDARDS
Which standards (content standards and Literacy Standards for All Subject) can be integrated to deepen learning?
Think about the content, cognitive, receptive and productive language, and behavioral demands of the standards.
CCSS (Literary for ALL Content Areas) and content standards.
K-ESS2-1.
Use and share observations of local weather conditions to describe patterns over time. [Clarification
Statement: Examples of qualitative observations could include descriptions of the weather (such as sunny, cloudy,
rainy, and warm); examples of quantitative observations could include numbers of sunny, windy, and rainy days in a
month. Examples of patterns could include that it is usually cooler in the morning than in the afternoon and the
number of sunny days versus cloudy days in different months.] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment of quantitative
observations limited to whole numbers and relative measures such as warmer/cooler.]
K-ESS3-2.
Ask questions to obtain information about the purpose of weather forecasting to prepare for, and
respond to, severe weather.* [Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on local forms of severe weather.]

UNIT LEARNING TARGET(S)

(objectives)
What are your learning targets, behavioral objectives? How will you communicate that to students?
Students will
1.

Investigate the differences between each season by using a chart to distinguish between the four.

2.

Identify what clothes to wear in each season based off of the facts they know and learn about each season.

3.

Summarize their understanding of the effects weather and seasons have on people, animals, and plants.

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Social Studies Unit Plan

ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS
To consider: What open-ended, grade-level appropriate questions will prompt exploration, innovation, and critical
thinking about the big ideas?

To do:
Central focus (open-ended questions)
1. How does Wisconsin weather changes compare to Floridas weather changes? Do they get snow?
2. Which clothes go in which bag? (4 bags labeled by season and little clothes that go in eachprint outs or real clothes)
UNIT CONCEPTS AND ACADEMIC
VOCABULARY
Which general academic and domain-specific words deepen student understanding? Decide which words will be
included in teacher language, included in assessment language, known and used by all students, explicitly taught
and assessed in context, and used consistently throughout the school.

Academic Vocabulary

Foggy
Cold
Sunny
Warm
Rainy
Winter
Summer
Snow
Lightning

Cloudy
Freezing
Windy
Hot
Fall
Spring
Ice
Thunder

ASSESSMENTS
To consider:
How will you use formative and summative assessments to elicit direct, observable evidence in order to monitor
and/or measure student learning and inform instruction?
How will you use the results of your benchmark and summative assessments to differentiate instruction?
In what ways do students have multiple options to demonstrate their learning?
How will your assessments be culturally responsive?

To do:
Pre-assessments
Day one questions/activities:
1. How does Wisconsin weather changes compare to Floridas weather changes? Do they get snow?
2. Have each student draw themselves in their favorite seasons clothes and then ask:
a. Which person drawn goes in each season bag (based off of the person each student drew
in Day One lesson)?
Formative Assessments
Day One Take home assignment: Clothes and Seasons Worksheet
Day Two in class activity: Divided sheet with weather, clothing, holidays, trees/plants, activities to
do in each season sheet.
Day Three activity and take home: Drawing of each season and details in each

Day Four in class activity: Writing about questions provided.

**Each of these assessments are solely based off of accurate information on the seasons.
DRAFT September 2013 Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction

Social Studies Unit Plan

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ASSESSMENTS

Summative Assessments: Final Performance Tasks

Day Four Test about seasons.

DIFFERENTIATION
To consider:
What opportunities do students have to be flexible, make choices, take initiative, interact with others, be
accountable, and be a leader?

Students will have the option to be creative in each activity below:

Decorating themselves in their favorite season attire
Painting their own tree of each season
Acrostic Poems of each season
Four drawings of seasons
Writing project at the end
How does technology support teaching and learning?
o Online interactive games to play at home.
o Online test to have students get used to online navigation
Are there other staff members involved (e.g., team taught, media specialists, guest speakers)?
o Bill Nye will be a guest speaker through the video we watch on Day One
To do:
What is it that students need to know and be able to do prior to this unit?
o There are multiple seasons and weather changes throughout the year.
How will you determine what students know and can do in preparation for this unit?
o Anchor chart of facts they know about each season.
How will you differentiate content, process, and product?
o Students have the choice to choose their favorite seasons they want to use for their person drawing
and acrostic poems.
o Students use their own imagination and creativity to create a lot of the activities and projects.

SEQUENCE OF LESSON PLANS

Teaching days:
Day 1 What are the seasons? (what do they look like)
o DECORATE A PERSON OF YOUR FAVORITE SEASON? Sort into bags/diagrams
labeled by season
o Activity: Tree painting of each season
o Take Home:
Clothes and Seasons Worksheet
Day 2
o Activity: Chart of seasons, holidays, trees plants, sports, fun things to do
Give out sheets with pre divided squares on them
Work in small groups to write at least two in each box
o Take home:
Acrostic Poem of two seasons.
Day 3: How it affects people, animals, plants
DRAFT April 2013 Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction

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Social Studies Unit Plan

Activity:
Divide piece of paper into 4 equal squares
Draw your house, YOU, and the same plant in each seasonextra challenge
is to draw the same animal during that season
(can use tree as plant)
Animal examples: Bear, fish, birds, toads, frogs, lady bugs, dog
(thicker fur)
o Take home:
Finish up what you didnt finish in class.
Day 4:
o Activity: (display on board when students are all done)
Choose one season you drew a picture of
Write about:
What is in this season
Your favorite part about this season (things you like to do)
Older students: Do you think people in Texas get snow like we do?
Why or why not?
o Take home:
Word Search of weather terms
Finish writing if not finished in class
o

DRAFT September 2013 Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction