Georgia Southwestern State University Lesson Plan Guidelines

Created by GSW School of Education

EDEC 4200 Spring 2016
(Revised by L. Larsen)

Name: Lexi Hogan

Lesson Date: March 4, 2016

Lesson Start Time: 1:35 Lesson End Time: 2:20

Classroom/Lesson Context

__X__ Whole Group _____ Small Group _____ One-on-One

Please specify the number of students:

__8__ Girls __12__Boys

Learning Central Focus

A. Lesson Plan Title: ________Living and Nonliving______________

B. Grade Level: ____K____
C. Central Focus:
The central focus is living and non-living things. Students will be able to
recognize the difference between living organisms and non-living materials.
D. Content Standard:
SKL1a
Students will sort living organisms and non-living materials into groups by
observable physical attributes.
a. Recognize the difference between living organisms and non-living
materials.

Student Learning Goal(s)/ Objective(s):

A. Skills/procedures:
The students will analyze the difference between living organisms and non-living
materials, such as plants, animals, and other non-living materials.
B. Prior Academic Knowledge and Conceptions:
No extended prior knowledge is needed for this lesson. Though some students may be
more familiar with living and non-living things, all students will get an equal chance to
learn about living organisms and non-living materials.
Some students may have already been exposed to living and non-living things and the
differences that separate each category. Students that have not been exposed to living
and non-living things will still learn and understand the differences between living
organisms and non-living materials.
 Students will have been exposed to lecture/hands-on activities which will enable them to
accurately participate in the lesson.

Common Errors, Developmental Approximations, Misconceptions, Partial

Understandings, or Misunderstandings:

Students may experience difficulty characterizing things as living or non-living. Students

may commonly misunderstand that all things that move are alive. Students are also not
yet aware of the life cycle and may commonly classify anything that has died as non-
living.
To address these errors and misconceptions for this group of students, I will be sure to
explain that living things need water, air, food, and can move on their own. I will explain
the characteristics of non-living things as well. For example, non-living things do the
complete opposite of living things. Non-living materials do not need water, air, food, and
cannot move on their own. I will also briefly go over the life cycle of living things (birth,
growth, death) so students can appropriately recognize living and non-living things.

Instructional Strategies and Learning Tasks

A. Launch: _____5_____ Minutes

I will gain the students attention by letting them know I am ready to begin. I will remind
the students to keep their eyes on me at all times and pay close attention to what I am
going to say. I will tell the students to keep quiet and attentive at all times unless told
otherwise. Once we have gone over lesson rules, I will introduce living and non-living
things. To appropriately gain the students attention, I will ask them a few questions
regarding living and non-living things. I will ask questions like, How many of you have
pets at home, and How many of you have any stuffed animals at home? This will help
students understand the difference between living and non-living things. Once students
have participated in discussion, I will proceed to tell them that living things are alive.
Living things need water, food, move on their own, grow, and react to things around
them. I will give them a few examples of living things such as plants, animals, and
human beings. Next, I will explain to the students that non-living things are the complete
opposite of living things. Non-living things do not need food, water, grow, move on their
own, or react to the things around them. I will also provide examples of non-living things
such as book bags, tables, chairs, etc. Once students have an understanding of living
and nonliving things, we will move on to the more advanced part of instruction.
B. Instruction: ____15______ Minutes
To engage students in developing an understanding of living and non-living things, I will
read a short informative book on living and non-living things. I will have the students join
me in the story-time corner of the room so they can hear and see the pictures in the
book on living and non-living things. This book will describe the characteristics of living
and non-living things and give examples of each. I will pause throughout the story to
engage discussion on the living and non-living things described in the book. After I finish
reading the students the book, I will tell the students to remain seated and continue to
keep quiet. I will discuss the characteristics of living organisms and non-living materials.
I will explain to the students that we are living things. Plants and animals are also living
things because we all need food/nutrients, water, and sunlight. I will be sure to tell the
students that we are living things because we can move on our own. We also grow and
change over time. I will remind the students that non-living things are the complete
opposite of living things. I will provide the students with a visual and make a living/non-
 living T-Chart on the graphing paper posted in front of them. I will have one side listed as
Living and the other listed as Non-living. I will list the characteristics of each underneath
the desired area so students can visually see the difference between living and non-
living things.
C. Structured Practice and Application: ____20______ Minutes
We will continue to fill in the Living and Non-living T-Chart together. Students will tell me
the attributes of living and non-living things that are not already listed on the chart. We
will refer to the book I read at the beginning of the class to describe the differences
between living and non-living things. Students will participate in discussion and come up
with their own examples of living and non-living things. We will use different objects
around the room, such as tables, chairs, pencils, etc. to show that these items are non-
living. They are able to move if we actually move them ourselves, but they cannot move
on their own. They do not eat, drink, or change overtime which makes them non-living
materials. We will review how we (humans) are living things. We will discuss how our
pets are living things as well. We need to eat and drink to survive just like our pets. We
grow and change and these things make us living. We will use this information to
accurately label our T-Chart. I will also have flash cards with different pictures on them,
and we will classify these items as living or non-living. As a class, we will paste the
pictures I have provided under the correct category on the T-Chart. The cut and paste
activity I will give the students will have ten pictures on it. There will be five pictures of
living things (tree, fish, frog, kid, and plant) and five pictures of non-living things (pie,
book, snowman, backpack, and ball). We will go over these organisms and materials
beforehand so they will have a better understanding of the items on the cut and paste
activity.
The students will quietly return to their seats once we have finished filling in the T-Chart
on living and non-living things. The students will be given a cut and paste activity with
ten pictures on it. There will be a blank table, one side titled Living and the other Non-
living. As listed above, the pictures on the worksheet will be of a tree, fish, pie, book,
snowman, backpack, frog, kid, ball, and plant. The students will be responsible for
cutting these pictures out and pasting them onto the correct side of the table. Students
can also refer to the T-Chart if needed.
To determine if students have met the intended learning objectives, I will walk around as
students are working and check each students paper to see if they have accurately
finished the activity.
D. Closure: _____5_____ Minutes
To close the lesson, I will review the characteristics of living organisms and non-living
materials and examples of each. To determine if students understood the lesson, I will
call on different students to give me one example of a living or non-living thing. I will
continue this step until all students have participated. Lastly, we will discuss how the
world is made up of many different living and non-living things.

Differentiation/ Planned Support

A. Differentiation plan:
To provide students access to learning based on individual and group needs, I will
assess students and monitor them throughout the lesson to determine if they are
understanding the objectives. For Tier 3 students, I will provide a living/non-living picture
sort. For Tier 2 students, I can provide a living/non-living word sort, and for Tier 1
students, I can provide a blank living/non-living T-Chart where the students will generate
their own list of living organisms and non-living materials.
 For students that do not understand the lesson, I will pull the struggling students out and
generate a small group discussion. I will provide these students with another activity
with fewer items/pictures and discuss which items are living and which are non-living as
a group.
B. Student Interactions
While the students and I are filling out the T-Chart, I will have them discuss with their
neighbor what organisms and materials they think are living or non-living. They will
also discuss why the things they chose are living or why they are non-living.
C. What Ifs
It may be difficult for students to recognize the differences between living organisms
and non-living materials. Students may not accurately classify different things as
living or non-living. If this happens, I will be ready to make adjustments and pull a
small group of the struggling individuals to work with them and deeper their
understanding of living organisms and non-living materials.

Theoretical Principles and/or Research Based Best Practices

Jean Piagets theory of constructivism proves that the learning tasks for this lesson are
most appropriate to help my students understand this lesson. Constructivism is
predominantly applicable to the teaching and learning of science. Students build and
construct new ideas and concepts based upon prior knowledge and new information. In
this lesson, students are familiarizing themselves with the differences between living
organisms and non-living materials and examples of each. This will allow them to correct
any misconceptions and build understanding of the objectives. Constructivism describes
learning as the active construction of knowledge which makes the learning tasks of this
lesson appropriate.

Materials

What materials does the teacher need for this lesson?

Large piece of paper for the T-Chart, Flash Cards, Marker, Book on living and non-living
things
- Teacher will need enough copies of the cut and paste activity for each student
What materials do the students need for this lesson?
Scissors, glue, pencil
- Cut and paste activity will be provided by the teacher.

Vocabulary

Living, Non-living, alive, characteristics

Analyzing Teaching

A. Worked/Didn't Worked
Students accurately labeled their cut and paste activity which proved they understood
the lesson. The book I read on living and non-living things engaged the students and
helped them grasp the difference between living organisms and non-living materials.
 As I was teaching, students had a hard time staying focused. The lesson took much
longer than planned due to behavioral problems. Because of this, some students did not
have time to finish the cut and paste activity I provided them.
Overall, the lesson worked very well for the students and for myself, the teacher. The
students understood the lesson, however, I had a hard time keeping them on task.
B. Adjustments
I would use the instructional strategy of forming groups for the next lesson. I will place
my students in their Tier groups and teach the lesson in a small group format. By
implementing small groups, I will be able to accurately hit each students needs and
teach them on the level the learn best. Working in a small group setting will also
eliminate many behavioral problems associated with whole group discussion which will
keep students on task.
C. Proposed Changes
If you could teach this lesson again to this group of students what changes would you
make to your instruction?

Whole group: I would have done an activity that would be more hands on for the
students. Instead of pasting the pictures on the T-Chart as a class, I would have
provided three-dimensional objects that the students could see and feel to better
understand the difference between living and non-living things.

Group of Students: While Tier 1 students worked on a more challenging activity, such as
coming up with their own examples of living and non-living things and listing them under
the correct category, I would have worked with the Tier 2 and 3 students in groups to
complete the cut and paste activity.

Individual Students: While I work with the rest of the class, I would have the
paraprofessional pull individual students that didnt understand the lesson to the back of
the classroom to work one-on-one and complete the cut and paste activity. This will also
better their understanding of living and non-living things.

D. Justification
These changes will be the best way to help students stay on task and better understand
the lesson on living and non-living things. Forming groups and teaching students based
on individual needs will not only keep them engaged and interested in what I am
teaching, but it will also help keep them on task and prevent behavioral problems.
All students learn differently. Learning styles fall into three categories: Visual,
Kinesthetic, and Auditory. Research on the different learning styles supports these
changes because my students need to be broken into groups based on their learning
styles to effectively learn and apply the knowledge they have learned.