Lesson Plan Overview
Unit Title: Water, Water Everywhere!
Lesson Title: I Just Drank George Washington’s Water!
Subject: Science and English Language Arts
Grade Level: Grade 4
Behavioral Objectives:
1. With a graphic organizer, the students will be able to identify the four parts of the water
cycle with 100% accuracy.
2. Given a diagram of the water cycle, the students will be able to accurately explain how
precipitation, evaporation, and condensation function and how they are interconnected in
the water cycle.
3. Given a copy of the Cycle Graphic Organizer, the students will then compose a
grammatically-correct paper on how the water cycle works over the next two to three
days.
TEKS Standards Addressed: 112.15. Science
(8) Earth and space.
The student knows that there are recognizable patterns in the natural world and among the Sun,
Earth, and Moon system. The student is expected to:
(B) describe and illustrate the continuous movement of water above and on the surface of
Earth through the water cycle and explain the role of the Sun as a major source of
energy in this process.
Lesson
Day 1 – ANTICIPATORY FOCUS OR SET
Part One: Getting the Facts Straight
1. Using chart paper or white board, review with students the facts they already know about
water. Record answers. Ask students if they ever think about what happens to water
after it falls from the sky or goes down the drain. Discuss the ideas.
2. Tell students you are about to read a book that will give them many facts about water,
some that they may already know along with some new ones. Before reading provide
students with notepaper or sticky notes to record facts while they read. Tell them
specifically to listen for eight to ten important facts. Read Magic School Bus at the
Waterworks. Afterwards discuss the facts that students have recorded. Write a complete
list on chart paper. - INPUT
3. Provide students with a tag board raindrop tracer. Have students trace ten drops on blue
construction paper then cut out. One water fact should then be written on each raindrop.
Students will need to save these to use in Lesson 2.
Day 2
Part Two: Building Vocabulary
1. Ask students to tell you words that come to mind when they think of water. Write their
responses on chart paper or a white board. Have students define each one. Prompt
students for words if the list is not thorough enough. This list will become the set of
vocabulary words you would like students to define and use properly. Examples of
water words: Accumulation, condensation, evaporation, ground water, precipitation,
purify, surface run-off, water pressure, water vapor. - INPUT
2. Provide students with an arrow shaped tracer. Have students trace five arrows on one
color of construction paper, then five more arrows on a different color of paper. Next,
students cut out the arrows and write one word and definition on one side of each arrow.
One water word along with its definitions should fit on the front side of each arrow. The
back of the arrow should be blank. Have students save these for Lesson 2.
Day 3-5
Part three: Summing Up the Water Cycle
1. Bring students together in a large group on the carpet or at their seats. When you have
everyone’s attention, take an exaggerated drink from water bottle. Exclaim, “Wow! That
was really fantastic water. It’s hard to believe that George Washington might have
washed his dirty shirt in that water I just drank!” (This comment is sure to capture their
attention.) Tell students that it is true and ask how water from George Washington’s time
could have possibly made it into your water. Conclude the discussion by emphasizing to
students that there is the exact same amount of water on earth today as there was a
million years ago. The water keeps being recycled over and over again through the
water cycle.
2. Ready the Magic School Bus Wet All Over to the class. As you read, stop at pertinent
points and discuss the different parts of the water cycle. Discuss how precipitation,
evaporation, and condensation are related.
3. CHECK FOR UNDERSTANDING - On chart paper, draw a rolling hill. Invite students to
come up one at a time and add to the picture as you direct. For example, ask “Who
would like to show precipitation coming down onto my hill? Who would like to add runoff? Who would like to draw condensation?” etc. Ask students to label the following
components: precipitation, evaporation, condensation, water vapor, accumulation, runoff, and groundwater. When finished MODELING the illustration of the water cycle, let
students know they will be writing about what they see. Keep diagram for Lesson 2.
4. GUIDED PRACTICE - Distribute copies of the Cycle Graphic Organizer to each student.
Discuss how the water cycle can be divided into parts. Have students complete the four
parts by first describing what the water cycle is, then telling about precipitation,
evaporation, and condensation.
5. Next, student will use the graphic organizer to write a draft of how the water cycle works.
Remind students they must use each term that was labeled in the illustration. After
writing, students will have time to revise their summary before meeting with a peer group
for more revision and editing. INDEPENDENT PRACTICE
6. Bring the students back together as a group with their graphic organizers to help them
write the beginning sentence. Remind them how the day before you “drank George
Washington’s water.” Tell them to think about whose water they might be using the next
time they take a drink. Provide some time to discuss among themselves whose water
they might have had. Tell them that if you were writing a paper on the water cycle, you
would want a catchy beginning to capture their reader’s attention. Help students write
their beginning sentence by following a pattern.
7. Instruct students to put the three parts together to come up with one complete, attention
grabbing sentence, such as “Can you believe my mom cooked our spaghetti last night in
a pot of water that might have come from the iceberg that sank Titanic?” or “Isn’t it
amazing to think that you may have gone swimming in the same water that dinosaurs
once drank?”
8. Once students have written their beginning they can put it together with the completed
summary and prepare to publish. Have students publish on the computer. Have students
display these published pieces by adding them to the cloud project in Lesson 2.
Assessment:
 Throughout the lesson the teacher will ask questions to the students to see if they do
understand the material.
 Students will need to independently label the four parts of the water cycle.
 Students will independently write an essay about the function of each part of the water
cycle and how they interrelate.
Technology Requirements:
 Scholastic (Study Jams! – The Water Cycle video, vocab and quiz)
 www.neok12.com/Water-Cycle.htm (Water Cycle game)
 Brain Pop! Video (Water Cycle)
Accommodation Strategies for Students with Special Needs:
For students with mild to moderate learning disabilities, the teacher will provide technology
integration strategies such as ReadPlease and provide activities/worksheets at their level of
ability.
For students who are blind, the teacher will provide technology integration strategies such as
assistive technology devices (i.e. text-to-Braille converters) to help them understand the
material.
For students who are hearing impaired, the teacher will provide assistive listening devices.
Accommodation Strategies for ESL Students:
For ESL students, the teacher will provide a worksheet that has illustrations of condensation,
evaporation, precipitation and other water cycle words. Beside the illustrations the teacher will
have the Spanish and English word for each picture (or whatever language is their primary
language). Let’s just pretend the student speaks Spanish.
I would also have a diagram of the water cycle in Spanish and English so the student will be
able to identify and label parts of the water cycle.