Seton Hall University
College of Education and Human Services
Department of Educational Studies-Lesson Plan
LESSON PLAN DESCRIPTION:
 Samantha Mulreed
 October 25, 2011
 Mrs. Valerie Intili
 Second grade
 Science
 Oh, how the seasons change!
1.
Content Area:
The predominant content areas that will be addressed throughout the lesson are the seasons,
weather, and how both affect what you choose to wear. The students will use the vocabulary and
information they will learn in order to identify appropriate clothing choice for different weather
conditions and times of the year.
Season: a division of the year, marked by changes in weather, ecology, and hours of daylight.
Seasons result from the yearly revolution of the Earth around the Sun.
Once students have grasped what exactly a season is and why they change, they will be
introduced to characteristics of each season and what aspects of weather go with each season.
Spring: warm, flowers and trees blooming, etc.
Summer: hot, the beach, sunny
Autumn: cool, leaves change colors, bare trees, etc.
Winter: cold, dark, snow
Weather:the state of the atmosphere with respect to wind,temperature, cloudiness, moisture, pre
ssure, etc.
Students will learn about the different characteristics of seasons and weather and which
characteristics apply to each season and how to dress appropriately for each season.
2.
National and New Jersey State Standards:
Standard 5.4.2.F.1
- STANDARD 3.4 (Earth Systems Science)
- 2: GRADE 2
-
3.
A. Climate and Weather: Earth’s weather and climate systems are the result of complex
interactions between land, ocean, ice, and atmosphere.
1: Observe and document daily weather conditions and discuss how the weather
influences your activities for the day.
**Community Knowledge and Experience:
Students have been introduced to seasons in previous lessons and are somewhat familiar with
the topic. They have been read the book “Seasons Everywhere!” written by Lisa Trumbaurer.
Since students have read about different seasons and characteristics of weather that apply to each
season, they will use this knowledge to determine how weather affects their daily lives in regards
to what clothes they put on in the morning. The standards state that by the end of grade 2,
students should have an understanding of how weather conditions affect our daily lives and one
way to do that is discussing clothing choices. Most of the students in the class come to school
without jackets or appropriate wear as it has begun to get chilly outside and the students still go
outside for recess. This lesson will help give students the knowledge they need to appropriately
dress themselves if their parents are not giving them the guidance at home to grab a coat before
they leave for school.
4.
Purpose/Goal:
Students will understand that our world consists of 4 seasons that change throughout the year and
as each season changes, so do the weather conditions. They will grasp the idea of which
characteristics of weather go with each season and how that affects their daily lives, i.e. what
clothing they wear.
5.
Objective(s):
Students will be able to identify and sort pictures of various clothing pieces according to which
season the clothing goes by matching clothing with weather characteristics and seasons on a
matching worksheet that will be provided.
The objectives are appropriate for the grade level because it fulfills the requirement of weather
conditions characteristics and how it affects our daily routines. Students will already have
background knowledge on the seasons and an obvious knowledge of items of clothing so they
will be able to finish all activities leading up to the objectives listed above in the allotted amount
of time.
6.
Procedures/ Format: The Learning Cycle
Engage: (5-10 minutes)
I will begin the class by asking the students what their favorite season is and why. I will get
answers from various students in the class and engage their interests by allowing them to talk
about why they love the season they chose. (they get to go to the beach, play in the snow,
celebrate their birthday or favorite holiday, etc.)
Once they have talked about their favorite seasons we will talk about each season individually
(fall, winter, spring, summer) and what are characteristics of each season. Why is the weather
like? What is the temperature like? What does it look like outside? We will define and write on
the board all of the vocabulary that would be involved with each season, such as: cold, sunny,
warm, leaves changing, etc.
Explore: (10 minutes)
Students investigate the answers to their questions by working in pairs in order to complete a
sorting activity. Each pair will receive a grid paper broken up into the 4 different seasons. They
will also receive a zip lock bag containing flashcards of pictures of different clothing items that
will apply to one of the 4 seasons. In their pairs, students will work together in order to sort and
categorize the flash cards into the appropriate section of the grid depending on which season the
pictures are describing. Students will be asked to keep their hands folded during the entire giving
of directions and will only be given the bags and grids until after the directions have been given.
Students will also in the beginning of the activity designate someone to be in charge of the zip
locked bags and someone to be in charge of the grid so clean up is easy at the end of the activity
and each student is responsible for one set of materials.
Explain: (10 minutes)
After the students have sorted in pairs we will come back as a group and do an interactive power
point. The power point will be put on in the front of the classroom and will consist of slides with
visuals and “fill in the blank” type slides where students can answer questions. For example, if
the power point slide consists of pictures of the beach and a sun. The next slide would say “It
must be ___________!” Students will raise their hands and guess which season the slide would
be for. Another example could be showing a slide that says its winter and show pictures of
snowmen and igloos. “I might need ____,____,____” and students would name three accessories
of clothing that would be appropriate for winter. This would go on for a couple examples so I
would be able to get a feel if the students are understanding the information. The students at this
point will be discussing how the seasons go in a specific order and it is the same order ever time.
The seasons change in a cycle and after summer will always come fall and after fall it will
always be winter, etc.
Expand: (15 minutes)
In order to get the students out of their seats and moving, the last part of the lesson will be an
activity where students answer questions by coming up in front of the class and playing dress up.
I will give the student who is called upon a season and the student will come up to a pile of
clothing accessories that will be in the front of the classroom and put on one accessory that they
would wear during that season. To further show their understanding, students will be asked to
give an explanation of why they chose that clothing item based on the vocabulary and
information they have learned throughout the lesson. For example, if the season they got was
summer and they put on sunglasses their explanation would be along the lines of: “The sun is
always out so I need my sunglasses to protect my eyes!”
7.
Resources:


10 pieces of grid paper divided into 4 sections, one for each season
10 bags full of pictures of different clothing that will go with each of the 4 seasons



8.
A computer or projector that can hook up to power point
Actual pieces of clothing that apply to different seasons that students can dress up in
20 matching worksheets for each student to do as an assessment
Inclusive Instruction:
The second grade class full of students is an inclusion classroom and is filled with students with
various disabilities and abilities. Various children are pulled out for language help because they
do not speak English as well as various students have ADHD and OT disabilities. This lesson is a
very hands on activity and therefore keeps children engaged and interested giving them less time
to act out or disrupt the class. Also, it is a very visual lesson and therefore will help the ESL
students. Most of the lesson involves pictures either on power points or on flashcards and
therefore when students are being introduced to difficult vocabulary, there will be visuals where
words may be misunderstood and communication breaks down. In addition, there is very little
writing involved for the students with OT issues. The activity is very interactive and the only
writing involved is a quick matching worksheet at the end of the period so there will be no added
stress of a lot of writing.
9.
Assessment: EVALUATE
 Summative
At the end of the class period, students will be given a matching worksheet to complete.
The worksheet will involve the students having to match characteristics and items of
clothing to the correct season it implies to. If the students are able to do this, it will be
clear that the students have completed the objectives and the requirements according to
the standard of understanding how weather effects their daily lives and how specific
characteristics apply to each seasons in regards to water, temperature, light, etc.

10.
Formative
The students will be observed continuously throughout the duration of the lesson. They
will be assessed by their participation in class verbally and by sorting of picture flash
cards that they will do during the activity. Also, as students come up and fill in the
blanks of the power points with the accessories they choose to wear to answer the
questions. If I feel students are not learning the information and do not show full
participation in class, with the numerous aides and teachers in the room, an adult will be
designated to work with that student one on one to make sure they are grasping the
information.
Applications, Connections, Extensions:
I would use this lesson to prompt a health lesson on the importance of making sure we are
dressed appropriately for the weather conditions outside. Most of the students do not get much
guidance at home and are often dressed inappropriately, i.e; coming to school without a jacket
when it is chilly outside and recess is outside. We would be able to discuss the consequences of
weather if we are not prepared and dressed for it (you will be uncomfortable, can get sick, etc.).
FALL
WINTER
SPRING
SUMMER
11.
Personal Reflection:
I feel that overall the science lesson I taught at Abington Avenue School went very well.
Abington Avenue does not really do much science in the classroom and I had never seen a
science lesson be taught at all while interning. My cooperating teacher suggested I do a lesson
about the seasons because it is a topic that has been brought up in the class when discussing
weather and that they would have some background knowledge of the four seasons. At the
beginning of the lesson, I started by asking the students their favorite season of the year and why.
We wrote each season on the board and listed all our favorite characteristics about each season to
learn about the seasons and be able describe it. We discussed descriptive words about the season
and also examples of clothing and stuff we would wear during that time of year. All the students
were active participants and excited to raise their hands and tell me their favorite things about
each season and in turn learned about all the other seasons by listening to their classmates.
When using the pictures to talk about the cycle of season changing, it would have worked
better to use a power point or some sort of technology to make the information nicer to look at
and therefore more engaging. The board is what the students are used to but I would have liked
to use something new and exciting like power point so for future lessons I will remember to
arrange to bring a projector with me to school so the students can be exposed to better
technology. After that activity, students then got to work in pairs on a sorting activity which I felt
was very beneficial to them because they never get to work with a partner and I feel they really
enjoyed being allowed to talk to their neighbor in a constructive manner. Students loved being
able to talk in pairs and while doing the sorting activity on their own assigned each other roles
such as one person being the recorder and writing in the boxes while the other partner sorted the
pictures which was not even a part of the original directions. I loved seeing their creativity and
leadership skills of assigning each other jobs in the group and thinking of their own way to best
do the activity. The students were so excited to play “dress up” in the class and trying on all the
clothing. They were very excited to be able to get up and out of their seats and stand up in front
of the class trying on the different clothes and again being able to engage and interact with their
classmates.
I feel the lesson went well because they were very well behaved and that was helpful
especially because I was being observed. I have rarely ever seen the majority of the class quiet
and engaged so I am in glad that I was able to allow them to do a science activity that was
interesting enough to make the students want to participate. I feel that the lesson was maybe too
long and that slowly as we got closer to the end of the lesson the students were getting tired and
antsy and that is why the hands on activity was saved for last. However, I did notice more
towards the end of the lesson the students were talking more and off task where I had to quiet
them down. Each activity was sort of long and I felt they did learn the information however time
was definitely a factor in this lesson. In addition, some students had difficulty with the
instructions for the assessment matching sheet and I did not think that was going to be the case. I
planned for the assessment to be very easy but once we did an example together in class they
were able to better pick up on instructions and overall the students did pretty well on the
assessment sheet.
I pretty much stuck to the lesson plan and did not have to deviate from the plan and
everything I had written down planned to teach worked well. I was able to easily transition from
activity to activity and material distribution because I had the students folding their hands
listening to the instructions before materials were distributed so they did not get distracted while
I was giving directions and therefore not know what the directions were. Each group had a zip
lock bag of picture cards and the pairs were told to assign one person to cleaning up the grid and
one person dealing with the cards and I have found that when this class has specific tasks to
accomplish they are better behaved being that they are a typically rowdy group. My supervisor
was extremely encouraging and helpful during the lesson and it was wonderful to have him in the
room while I was teaching my first lesson at a school that was completely different than anything
else I have been exposed to. He was very proud of the lesson and therefore I was proud of myself
and felt great talking to him afterwards. He did mention about the time factor and how a shorter
lesson would have helped the students. The students were happy after the lesson and did rather
well for the most part on their assessments so I felt the lesson had a positive effect on them and it
was something they enjoyed participating in. My cooperating teacher told me that I would make
a great teacher and she was very impressed with how well behaved and engaged her rowdy
bunch of students were!
I have found that teaching science has been the best field experience I have had compared
to teaching math and literacy. Science leaves so much room for participation and I know the
students in my class just want so much to learn and be a part of a discussion and I feel they do
not get the chance as often as they should during their math and literacy lessons. I loved seeing
how excited they were to participate in the lesson and watching them basically jump out of their
seats when raising their hands to answer a question, it was amazing. Science gives students the
opportunity to experience and learn in so many ways that are not offered in other subjects and I
found it to be a very fun and rewarding lesson to teach especially when they do not do science. I
believe that a good learning environment is a place where students are engaged and happy to be
where they are learning what they are learning and that is how I felt teaching my science lesson.
The students were happy and so intrigued and interested in what I was saying, they were soaking
it up and that is the kind of classroom I would love to create and teach in.
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Grades
0-25%
26-50%
51=75%
76-100%
Most students scored above the 50% which was great. 4/5 of the class scored between a
76% and 100% most of those students having gotten 100% on the assessment. This shows
me that as a whole the students were engaged enough to be learning and comprehending
the material we learned in class and that the objective was met. One student in the class,
who has Cerebral Palsy, only answer half of the questions on the sheet but she got them all
correct so I am confident in her that she is just as knowledgeable of the information taught
as the rest of the class.