Lesson Plan for Implementing
NETS•S—Template I
(More Directed Learning Activities)
Template with guiding questions
Teacher(s)
Name Jenna Wilt
Position General Education Teacher—Science
School/District River Ridge High School/ Cherokee County School District
E-mail [email protected]
Phone 6785914749
Grade Level(s) 9-12
Content Area Biology
Time line 5 days
Standards (What do you want students to know and be able to do? What knowledge, skills, and strategies do you
expect students to gain? Are there connections to other curriculum areas and subject area benchmarks? ) Please
put a summary of the standards you will be addressing rather than abbreviations and numbers that indicate which
standards were addressed.
GSE Biology SB1. Obtain, evaluate, and communicate information to analyze the nature of
Content Standards the relationships between structures and functions of living cells.
1c
Students use technology to seek feedback that informs and improves
their practice and to demonstrate their learning in a variety of ways.
2b
Students engage in positive, safe, legal and ethical behavior when
using technology, including social interactions online or when using
networked devices.
2d
Students manage their personal data to maintain digital privacy and
security and are aware of data-collection technology used to track
NETS*S Standards: their navigation online.
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Overview (a short summary of the lesson or unit including assignment or expected or possible products)
To begin the lesson, students will take a pre-assessment to gather their previous knowledge on the content
using Microsoft Forms; this is to help assess what students do and do not already know because cell structure
and function in previous science classes in middle school. Students will be provided note organizers with large
group instruction covering the different types of cells, their structure and functions, and where they are found.
Notes on organelles, cells, and other basic information takes multiple days, so there are vocabulary activities
that help students build their knowledge of the content on paper or in classroom with hands on activities.
Following notes, students will individually, or with their table partner, review the activities and information on the
Nearpod that is posted for them to work through. At the completion of the activity, students will create a Flipgrid
video discussing what they learned and reflect upon the following prompt, “Students must reflect upon the
information they have learned/gained throughout the week of instruction and using the Nearpod lesson created.
Discuss the importance of different cell types (including cell specialization), type of reproduction of cells go
through, and briefly describe the cell cycle.” Students will view each others’ Flipgrid submission and then will be
placed in groups the following days to discuss what they learned further and complete a group flashcard activity
where vocabulary terms, pictures, and descriptions will be matched to one another.
Essential Questions (What essential question or learning are you addressing? What would students care or
want to know about the topic? What are some questions to get students thinking about the topic or generate
interest about the topic? Additionally, what questions can you ask students to help them focus on important
aspects of the topic? (Guiding questions) What background or prior knowledge will you expect students to bring
to this topic and build on?) Remember, essential questions are meant to guide the lesson by provoking inquiry.
They should not be answered with a simple “yes” or “no” and should have many acceptable answers.
Essential Question:
How can you properly identify cell types based on their structure and function?
Guiding Questions:
What are the differences and similarities between cell types?
What are the functions of the organelles in eukaryotic cells?
How do cells reproduce?
Assessment (What will students do or produce to illustrate their learning? What can students do to generate new
knowledge? How will you assess how students are progressing (formative assessment)? How will you assess
what they produce or do? How will you differentiate products?) You must attach copies of your assessment and/or
rubrics. Include these in your presentation as well.
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Students are assessed through the pre-assessment to find out their background knowledge before progressing
into the unit. They are also formatively assessed through the Nearpod activities and the Flipgrid post they will
create. The flip grid has a five minute maximum.
Flipgrid Checklist:
Student provided a reflection on the information learned from the assignments and guided notes.
The student discussed the importance of different cell types/cell specialization.
The student discussed the types of reproduction each cell type (binary fission, conjugation, mitosis, etc).
The student briefly discussed and explained the cell cycle, including the phases.
Resources (How does technology support student learning? What digital tools, and resources—online student
tools, research sites, student handouts, tools, tutorials, templates, assessment rubrics, etc—help elucidate or
explain the content or allow students to interact with the content? What previous technology skills should students
have to complete this project?)
Students will receive guided note support during large group instruction. They will have access to the digital tools
used for the activities and lesson through laptops in the classroom. Other supports are videos from the Amoeba
Sisters Youtube channel, which are frequently viewed in the classroom during lecture and are accessible to
students all the time via Canvas. Students have access to textbooks in the classroom
To complete this lesson, students need a basic understanding of how to use Nearpod and how to record videos
using Flipgrid.
Other Resources:
Getting Started: Students—Flipgrid Help Center
How to Use Nearpod
Instructional Plan
Preparation (What student needs, interests, and prior learning provide a foundation for this lesson? How can
you find out if students have this foundation? What difficulties might students have?)
Students will need to have a basic understanding that cells are the basic unit of all living organisms. Cells are
microscopic and can be seen by the visible eye as tissues or organs. There are different types of cells such as
animal, plant, and bacterial cells. Students should have a basic understanding of the ‘big’ organelles that are
focused on in middle school life science classes.
Management Describe the classroom management strategies will you use to manage your students and the use
of digital tools and resources. How and where will your students work? (Small groups, whole group, individuals,
classroom, lab, etc.) What strategies will you use to achieve equitable access to the Internet while completing this
lesson? Describe what technical issues might arise during the Internet lesson and explain how you will resolve or
trouble-shoot them? Please note: Trouble-shooting should occur prior to implementing the lesson as well as
throughout the process. Be sure to indicate how you prepared for problems and work through the issues that
occurred as you implemented and even after the lesson was completed.
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Students will be using computers that are provided by the school and are using school internet, so we will review
digital citizenship when using the technology. I will also review the expectations that I have for appropriate
computer/device behavior before students progress through the unit. Any student that is using the technology
inappropriately will be provided with an alternative assignment on paper. Each computer using the school internet
will block inappropriate websites or block access to certain areas of the web, but will allow students to access
Nearpod and Flipgrid, along with Microsoft technologies. If videos embedded are restricted, I will have students
view them as a class instead of individually. If a student is using their device, then students will be monitored
Once the lesson is going, I think the only issue that we will have is connectivity issues/speed students face daily
when using devices. The school internet is not as quick as they might be used to at home or in public locations, so
students will have to potentially wait for each page to load. Students can share headphones or bring their own to
listen to videos embedded, if they are not played to the whole class.
Instructional Strategies and Learning Activities – Describe the research-based instructional strategies you will
use with this lesson. How will your learning environment support these activities? What is your role? What are the
students' roles in the lesson? How can you ensure higher order thinking at the analysis, evaluation, or
creativity levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy? How can the technology support your teaching? What authentic,
relevant, and meaningful learning activities and tasks will your students complete? How will they build knowledge
and skills? How will students use digital tools and resources to communicate and collaborate with each other
and others? How will you facilitate the collaboration?
When large group instruction is not occurring, I will make sure that I am a facilitator of student learning and
technology. I will serve as a support for my students as they use the tools that are provided for the lesson. Each
students needs vary when it comes to large group instruction, so guided lecture will take place to supplement the
activities provided for students.
As students move through activities, they are in charge of their own learning by moving through the Nearpod
activity at their own pace, revisiting informational pages and notes to assist them, and creating a video that reflects
their content knowledge/grasp after working through the individual activities. These will be shared and viewed by
classmates. Students will then work together to complete the flash card activity within groups created in a jig-saw
like manner (each level of learner is represented in the group). If there are EL students, they will be placed in a
group either among other EL students or non-EL students depending upon their language proficiency level. I will
monitor each group closely to make sure questions are answered and assistance is needed.
Differentiation (How will you differentiate content and process to accommodate various learning styles and
abilities? How will you help students learn independently and with others? How will you provide extensions and
opportunities for enrichment? What assistive technologies will you need to provide?)
The lesson is differentiated by providing guided notes for lecture and scaffolding activities into more complex use
of vocabulary terms and concepts. Students are in charge of the pace of their learning and can create a Flipgrid
that is completely original to themselves. Students that need more scaffolding will be pulled into a small group
model before proceeding to the Nearpod, where they can revisit pages as needed and complete the activity as
many times as they would like. When placed into groups, students will be at different learning levels so
collaboration and peer-driven learning can take place. Extension activities will be provided through further
vocabulary practice on other technology services, such as Quizlet or Kahoot.
Assistive Technologies: Google Translate (or Microsoft Translator)
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Reflection (Will there be a closing event? Will students be asked to reflect upon their work? Will students be
asked to provide feedback on the assignment itself? Also answer the following questions?
• How will you know if the students found the lesson meaningful and worth completing?
• In what ways do you think this lesson will be effective? Why do you think this?
• What problems do you anticipate and why?
• How would you design and/or teach this lesson differently if you had more time?)
I think students will find this lesson worth completing because they will learn that everything living is made up of
cells, including themselves, and learning more about what they are can help them take better care of themselves
in the future. This part of the unit is one of the first that is covered with students since they should have somewhat
of a basic understanding of the content, but we get to dive deeper into the various aspects of it that was
potentially not done before. I don’t really anticipate problems being associated with the technology, other than
possible connection issues, but I could see the lesson needing more scaffolding into before students work
independently. If I had more time, I would definitely include mini-lessons that lead into this subject, or include
review from previous subjects. I would also include either a longer Nearpod or create multiple to expand across
the content. This topic could also cross into other biological concepts but I chose to only focus on a small piece of
it for this lesson because there is so much content behind it.
Closure: Anything else you would like to reflect upon regarding lessons learned and/or your experience with
implementing this lesson. What advice would you give others if they were to implement the lesson? Please
provide a quality reflection on your experience with this lesson and its implementation
I think implementing this lesson would be fun for students because it takes them out of their comfort zone that is
pencil to paper and encourages them to be exploratory in the world of technology. It also takes away the anxiety
that might occur when sharing their view or opinion face to face but can rehearse what they want to say through
using a tool like Flipgrid. After creating this lesson, I realize that I need to work more with Nearpod because there
is so much that it has to offer and spans across multiple multimedia sources. I would love to use this more
frequently or create longer activities on Nearpod to engage my students and have varying levels embedded within
it so I can reach all learners a little easier.
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