MSP Lesson Plan Format: Indirect (Inquiry-based) Instruction

(For use in EDTE 520)

Candidate Name: Tamara Bradford Date/Time: 4/25/2021

Grade Level: 2nd Content Area: Science Estimated Lesson Length: roughly 90 minutes
Setting (choose one): ( x ) whole class ( ) small group ( ) Individual
Co-Taught Lesson: ( ) yes ( x ) no Co-Taught Strategy Used (if applicable): ________________________
MAIN CONCEPT/BIG IDEA (Essential understanding you expect students to retain as a result of
this lesson.)
Biological Evolution: Unity and Diversity: students will better understand the diversity of plant
and animal life in different habitats and climates. Students will explore different photos of plants
and animals in different biomes from around the world and mark down how the plants and
animals are similar or different from another.

RATIONALE (Why is this concept important for students to learn/understand?)

Making observations of the world around them is essential to student’s lifelong learning.
Students should build an understanding of how life exists in any given habitat and climate so they
can better exist with the plant and animal life around them. Observing how certain plants and
animals shield themselves from predators or adapt to climate changes can help students learn to
do so themselves, and how to better protect the environment around them.

STANDARDS (Use this link to access the Standards across all content areas. Include a content
standard and an ELD standard.)
NGSS.2-LS4-1. Make observations of plants and animals to compare the diversity of life in
different habitats. (By the end of grade 2: Living things can survive only where their needs are
met. If some places are too hot or too cold or have too little water or food, plants and animals
may not be able to live there.)

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.1 – Ask and answer such questions as who, what, where, when, why, and
how to demonstrate understanding of key details in a text.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.1 – With guidance and support from adults, produce writing in which the
development and organization are appropriate to task and purpose.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.7 – Participate in shared research and writing projects.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.8 – Recall information from experiences or gather information from

provided sources to answer a question.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.1 – Participate in collaborative conversations with diverse partners

about grade 2 topics and texts with peers and adults in small and larger groups.

ELD – Collaborative – Exchanging information and ideas with other through oral collaborative
conversations on a range of social and academic topics.

ELD – Collaborative – Offering and supporting opinions and negotiating with others in
communicative exchanges.
ELD – Productive – Writing literary and information texts to present, describe, and explain ideas
and information, using appropriate technology.

OBJECTIVE/S (Students will be able to …… What will students do to demonstrate achievement of

content?) Webb’s Depth of Knowledge Resource Page
At the end of the lesson, students, in groups of 2, should be able to: pick one of the five biomes,
draw four different plants and animals that live in that biome, and write two sentences regarding
life in that biome.

Students will share their findings with the class in an oral presentation.

ASSESSMENTS (How will you know students met the learning objective? How will you assess
student learning during the instructional sequence? How will students self-assess?))
Summative: At the end of the lesson, students will pick a biome, include a four different animals
and plants that reside in the biome, and write two sentences about the biome to support their
drawing. Students will share their drawings with partners in front of the class. Drawings and
sentences will be shown on the projector during presentation.

Formative: at the beginning of the lesson, students will be asked to share their knowledge of
different climates/habitats and animals/plants found in those climates/habitats. Teacher will
discuss vocabulary using the front whiteboard. Students will visit 5 different chat stations that
are set up around the room consisting of the 5 major biomes found around the world. Chat
stations will include various pictures of plants and animals that inhabit that biome. Students will
record observations on a chart provided to them that includes various descriptive words in
column format. Students will check appropriate boxes to describe characteristics of the different
biomes.

Students will collaborate in pairs and teacher will monitor discussions by walking around and
visiting each station with students. Teacher will ask guiding questions to keep students on topic.

Student Self-Assessment (if applicable to this lesson): N/A

ACADEMIC LANGUAGE DEMAND (A brief narrative that visualizes how students will participate
in this lesson. What are students being asked to do in this lesson, and how are they using language
to accomplish that? How will students collaborate for meaningful interaction, interpret and/or
spoken text, and produce evidence of their learning? Consider all domains of language: reading,
writing, listening, and speaking.)
Reading – students will read information presented on handout provided to them for biome
characteristic classifications. Students will read vocabulary on the whiteboard.

Writing – students will be expected to write two sentences using proper language and complete
sentences.

Listening – students will listen to their partners’ observations while working at chat stations,
then again when classmates are sharing presentations.

Speaking – students will share ideas with their partners while working at chat stations, and then
again with their classmates while sharing presentations.
CONTENT VOCABULARY (List the key vocabulary and/or phrases students need to understand in
order to have access to the content.)
These will be taught in greater detail in later grades and this will be used as a general preview to
build knowledge.

Biome – a large community of vegetation and wildlife adapted to a specific climate. The five
major types of biomes are aquatic, grassland, forest, desert, and tundra.

Aquatic – water - oceans, ponds, rivers, lakes; cold or warm climate

Grassland – dominated by grass with a warm, dry climate

Forest – dominated by trees and can be tropical (warm and humid) or temperate (mountains
and have all four seasons); cold or warm climate

Desert – dry, either hot or cold climate, almost no vegetation

Tundra – extremely cold climate with frozen soil

Climate – (simple answer) – temperature range of the area

STRATEGIES/TECHNIQUES TO SUPPORT ACADEMIC LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT (Given the

identifies academic language demand, how is this lesson being adapted? How is it being scaffolded
for the targeted language proficiency level of your students? List strategies for supporting students’
use of academic language such as word walls, sentence frames, realia, pictures, go kinetic, choral
response, etc.)
Foster collaboration and community (UDL 8.3) – students will work in pairs and be provided
clear goals and responsibilities, which will encourage and support opportunities for peer
interactions for students who need extra support.

Offer ways of customizing the display of information (UDL 1.1) – students will be shown pictures
at chat stations that have clear font identifying the titles of each biome in large text. Pictures will
be shown in color of various plants and animals with the name of each next to the picture to help
describe what each thing is.

Activate or supply background knowledge (UDL 3.1) – students will be asked to share their
knowledge of different climates at the beginning of the lesson. Such questions will link prior
knowledge to what will be learned in the lesson.

LEARNER ASSETS and FUNDS OF KNOWLEDGE (What assets do students bring to the classroom,
e.g., diversity of thought, culture, and traits? What cognitive and cultural resources do students
bring to the classroom? How can these be used to develop skill and/or concept development in this
lesson?) Funds of Knowledge Resource Page

Hopefully students are curious about the environment around them and want to learn more
about habitats they have not visited or want to visit. Hopefully students have collaborated in
prior classes and understand how to share ideas with one another. Hopefully students know how
to write simple sentences to convey ideas.
STRATEGIES FOR ENGLISH LANGUAGE LEARNERS (Which SDAIE strategies will you use?
Include mention of resources, materials, and/or use of educational technology.) Teaching Strategies
for English Language Learners
Students will use a graphic organizer with vocabulary already written and organized into
categories.

Students will work in pairs to discuss characteristics they find in pictures of the different biomes.

Students will walk between chat stations to identify characteristics found in different biomes.

Students will draw a picture to coincide with two sentences they write at the end of the lesson.

STRATEGIES FOR STUDENTS WITH SPECIAL NEEDS (List accommodations and/or

modifications specified in IEPs, 504 Plans, etc. Include mention of resources, materials, and/or use
of educational technology.))
Instead of using a pencil to check a box on the graphic organizer, students can use a stamp if
necessary.

Instead of both students drawing and writing, one of the students can state what they want in the
drawing or what they want to say in one of the sentences. The other student will draw and write
to accommodate their partner’s needs.

Instead of drawing, I will have blank background sheets and stickers representing different
plants and animals and students can choose what to include on a background of their choosing to
represent a specific biome and characteristics of it.

TASK ANALYSIS (What should students already know and/or be able to do BEFORE engaging in
this lesson?)
What students should already know and/or be able to do. What misunderstandings or alternate conceptions do you
expect students might have?
Students should know how to collaborate in
pairs, stay on task, read a chart and choose Students may not have traveled to or read
specific data to record on their charts, describe about some of the climates being discussed in
various habitats and characteristics of plants the lesson.
and animals, and read and write at a 1st grade
level to reflect what they’ve learned.

INSTRUCTIONAL SEQUENCE: (The components in the instructional sequence should be written as

explicitly described steps that clearly communicate the actions taken. Anyone reading through the
steps in the instructional sequence, such as a substitute teacher, should be able to execute the lesson
smoothly, including facilitating the transitions between components and applying formative
assessments. Consider UDL in the planning of the instructional sequence.
*Steps in the instructional sequence in an indirect instruction lesson may be tailored to specific
content areas as specified from the Methods Instructors. Below, as one example, is the “5E Model”.
You will discover additional indirect instruction models in your credential courses.)
1. Engagement/Introduction (How will you get the students interested in what you are going to
do and engage them in preliminary thinking?)
What is the teacher doing? What questions are being What are the students doing? Considerations: learning
asked? What strategies are being applied? activities, use of educational technology, instructional
strategies, academic language development,
Teacher will ask the students if anyone has accommodations, modifications, UDL, grouping, etc.)
ever been to the snow. Teacher will ask
Students are engaging is group discussion,
students to describe the temperature, and any taking turns so as to not talk over one another.
animals or plants they saw there. Teacher will
also ask what kind of clothes the student wore
while there, such as jacket or shoes or gloves.
Teacher will allow for a few minutes of class
discussion then ask another question, but this
time about visiting a desert. Teacher will write
answers on the board so students can visually
see spoken words.

After a few more minutes of discussion, teacher

will go over the 5 major biomes and their
definitions, pointing to where they are
generally located on a world map.

2. Exploration/Investigation (How will students explore the problem or activity?)

What is the teacher doing? What questions are being What are the students doing? Considerations: learning
asked? What strategies are being applied? activities, use of educational technology, instructional
strategies, academic language development,
Chat stations will have been set up around the accommodations, modifications, UDL, grouping, etc.)
room depicting the 5 biomes and include
various pictures showing weather, plants, and Students will walk around the room to each
animals that can be found in the specific biome. chat station and record their observations on
their graphic organizers while sharing ideas
Students will be provided a chart with with their partner.
clipboard that has the 5 biomes listed in
columns at the top of the page and different At the end of the 25 minutes, students will be
characteristics in rows on the left side of the provided a box of crayons and a blank sheet of
page. paper with lines on the bottom and will be
directed to draw a picture of any biome of their
Teacher will pair students and direct each pair choosing and include four different plants and
to a specific chat station to start. Only 2-3 animals found in that biome in their drawing.
groups will be at any chat station at a time. Students will also be directed to write two
sentences about the biome, animals, and plants
Teacher will keep a timer, so each group has 5 they chose using descriptive words (from their
minutes at each chat station. Teacher will give charts).
a 1-minute warning and then groups will move
stations and the timer will start over. Students will then share their drawings and
sentences with the class using the projector so
Teacher will allow 20 minutes for groups to everyone can see their learning.
draw and write sentences.

Teacher will allow 20-30 minutes for

presentations, including time for teacher to ask
questions during the presentations.
3. Explanation (How will you help students make sense of their observations, e.g. mapping their
thinking?)
What is the teacher doing? What questions are being What are the students doing? Considerations: learning
asked? What strategies are being applied? activities, use of educational technology, instructional
strategies, academic language development,
Teacher will walk around the room while accommodations, modifications, UDL, grouping, etc.)
students are at chat stations asking guiding
questions: Students will be collaborating with their
partner to record specific characteristics about
What do you notice about the animals? Do they the different biomes on their graphic
have thick fur? Do they have scales? Do they organizers.
have hard shells? Do they have legs?

What do you notice about the temperature?

Does it look cold (pictures with snow)? Does it
look hot (pictures with sand)? Can you tell
(pictures of the ocean)?

What do you notice about the plants? Are they

green? Brown? Do they look like they might
hold water? Do they look thirsty? Are there a
lot of plants?

4. Expansion (How will you help students apply their new knowledge to other situations?)
What is the teacher doing? What questions are being What are the students doing? Considerations: learning
asked? What strategies are being applied? activities, use of educational technology, instructional
strategies, academic language development,
Teacher will model an example of their own accommodations, modifications, UDL, grouping, etc.)
drawing and two accompanying sentences
Students will use their knowledge of picture
before students start their own so they see
books to help write sentences to accompany
what is expected of them.
their drawings.

5. Evaluation (Unlike direct instruction, this is the assessment piece for this particular model.
This should be a duplicate of what you inserted above for Summative Assessment. It allows you
to see the entire sequence in order.)

What is the teacher doing? What questions are being What are the students doing? Considerations: learning
asked? What strategies are being applied? activities, use of educational technology, instructional
strategies, academic language development,
Teacher will gather students back on the carpet in accommodations, modifications, UDL, grouping, etc.)
the front of the room and choose groups to share
At the end of the lesson, students will pick a
their drawings with the class. Teacher will ask
biome, include a four different animals and plants
higher order questions to each group based on the
that reside in the biome, and write two sentences
biome they chose, such as What can you tell me
about the biome to support their drawing.
about the animals who live here and how they
protect their skin? Students will share their drawings with partners in
front of the class. Drawings and sentences will be
shown on the projector during presentation.
CONTENT INTEGRATION (How could you connect your lesson to other content areas?)

Making observations and organizing them into a chart format could be integrated into a math
lesson.

Learning about different plants and animals could also be used in creative writing.

Biomes and their placements around the globe can be used in a geography lesson.

How to sustain different habitats can be used in an environmental lesson protecting plant and
animal life.

CONTENT EXTENSIONS (How will you challenge students who finish early? How will you meet the
needs of students who are identified as GATE or need an extra challenge?)

Students will be working pairs and teacher will keep an eye on the time to see if the
majority of students are finished early or need more time to complete the tasks. If
students seem done early at a station, the teacher will go over and ask them questions
about their observations. If more time is needed at a station, students will be asked to
revisit a station if they get done early at a different station.

SOURCES (Cite all sources used in planning and implementing this lesson. List sources in APA
format.)
https://www.nationalgeographic.org/encyclopedia/biome/

MATERIALS AND SUPPLIES NEEDED

Biome chart
Chat stations with tri-folded cardboard displays
Pictures of plants and animals found in various biomes, with descriptions of them next to the
pictures
Clipboards
Pencils
Blank writing pages
Crayons

PERSONAL TEACHING FOCUS (List the area(s) you want your university supervisor to focus on
during the observation.)

N/A
Rubric
Science: Exceeds Standards Meets Standards Requires
Understands (understands (understands Improvement
differences in characteristics of 5 characteristics of 3- (understands
biomes and biomes) 4 biomes) characteristics of 1-
correctly classifies 2 biomes)
characteristics of
plants and animals
that live in specific
biomes.

Writing: writes Exceeds Standards Meets Standards Requires

sentences using (writes 2 sentences (writes 2 sentences Improvement
proper sentence using proper but needs help with (writes 1 sentence
structure and sentence structure sentence structure and needs help with
punctuation. and punctuation) and punctuation) sentence structure
and punctuation)

Art: chooses four Exceeds Standards Meets Standards Requires

plants and animals (chooses 5 or more (chooses 5 plants Improvement
to correctly depict correct plants and and animals to (chooses 3-4 plants
life that exists in a animals to include include in the biome and animals to
specific biome. in the biome of their of their choice but include in the biome
choice) only 3-4 of them are of their choice but
correct) only 2-3 of them are
correct)