Lesson Plan:
Information Presentation: Animals
Learning Objectives
Students will be able to read and understand informational text. Students will be able to write an informational essay about their chosen animals. Students will be able to present to the class a short speech about their animals.
Introduction
(10 minutes)
- Explain to your students that they will be researching, or deeply investigating, and creating presentations about animals.
- Activate their interests and prior knowledge by asking students questions. Some possible questions include: What is your favorite animal? What are some things you know about wild animals? Do you know anything about jellyfish?
Explicit Instruction/Teacher Modeling
(15 minutes)- Hand out supplies to your students.
- Give your students the Writing a Paragraph worksheet, and come up with an example topic to model, such as a vacation that you have been on before.
- Have them complete the paragraph about their animals with the knowledge they already have.
Guided Practice/Interactive Modeling
(10 minutes)- Give each study a copy of Your Favorite Animal.
- Choose a book to demonstrate with, and show students how to use the graphic organizer.
- Instruct them to fill out their organizers.
Independent Working Time
(40 minutes)- Instruct your students to research the questions on the graphic organizer and transfer that information to their poster boards to create a presentation.
- Give them access to books and resources to use.
- Have your students briefly present to the rest of the class.
Differentiation
- Enrichment: For advanced students, instruct them to include more information. Advanced students may be allowed to use classroom technology (tablets, computers, etc.) to create presentations.
- Support: Pair your students to work on the presentation together. Give them the Ladder Organizer to help organize their information.
Technology Integration
- Give your students access to computers to research their chosen animals on various appropriate websites.
Assessment
(5 minutes)- Collect the Writing a Paragraph worksheet for a grade.
- Assess your students' presentations, making sure that they are presenting facts rather than opinions.
Review and Closing
(5 minutes)- Ask questions to keep their minds turning. Potential questions include: What type of family does your animal belong to? When you think of your chosen animal, what picture comes to mind?
