Eastern Connecticut State University Lesson Plan Format
Student Teacher: Chelsea Burns Grade Level: 1
Date of Lesson: 11/5/12
Institution: Chaplin Elementary School
Length of lesson: 45 min.
Content Standards: Identify one or two primary or local, state, or national curricular
standards this lesson is designed to help students attain. How will the learning tasks lead
students to attain the identified standards?
Grade 1 Science:
o 1.2.b. Plants need air, water and sunlight to survive.
o 1.3.a. Some organisms undergo metamorphosis during their life cycles; other
organisms grow and change, but their basic form stays essentially the same.
Reading aloud the book Pumpkin Pumpkin by Jeanne Titherington will teach students the
sequence of a pumpkin’s life cycle; they will see how a seed develops into a pumpkin over time.
This teaching will be reinforced throughout the lesson. First, they will create their own booklets
sequencing the life cycle of the pumpkin. Later, students will fill in the blanks of a paragraph
describing what a fruit/plant needs to grow and survive.
Prior Knowledge/Connections: Describe the students’ prior knowledge or skill related
to the learning objective(s) and the content of this lesson, using data from pre-assessment
as appropriate. How did the students’ previous performance in this content area or skill
impact your planning for this lesson?
Throughout the first month of school, children studied the life cycle of another organism (the
monarch butterfly) and were able to see how an egg eventually develops into a butterfly. This
lesson will connect to the latter part of 1.3.a because students will see a different kind of life cycle;
the pumpkin grows and changes but the basic form stays essentially the same.
The week before this lesson, students listened to two books discussing pumpkins (Apples and
Pumpkins by Anne Rockwell and From Seed to Pumpkin by Wendy Pfeffer). As a group, they filled
in a Venn diagram comparing apples and pumpkins. The book From Seed to Pumpkin does a great
job describing and illustrating the pumpkin life cycle. Also, students have been taught that a
pumpkin is a fruit, which is the flowering part of a plant that contains seeds.
A couple weeks ago, a local farmer visited our school and brought a huge pumpkin to be put on
display. The farmer discussed how he grew this pumpkin with the kids.
Student Learning Objective(s): Identify specific and measurable learning objectives
for this lesson.
 Students will understand that a plant needs air, sunlight, water, and soil to grow
 Students will understand that a pumpkin is a fruit, which is the flowering part of a plant that
contains seeds
 Students will be able to properly sequence the stages of a pumpkin’s life cycle, seeing how a seed
grows and changes.
Vocabulary: Identify essential terminology to be used during instruction.
Life Cycle
Vine
Seed
Plant
Sequence
Metamorphosis (reference to prior knowledge)
Phase
Harvest
Assessment-Essential Key Question: State essential key question(s) and
identify Informal, Formal, Formative and Summative Assessment that will be
used during the lesson.
How will you ask students to demonstrate mastery of the student learning objective(s)?
Attach a copy of any assessment materials you will use, along with assessment criteria.
Essential question (s):
How does a seed turn into a fruit (pumpkin)?
What are the different phases of the life cycle of a pumpkin?
What does a seed/plant need to grow and survive?
Assessment:
The work samples (booklets) that children create will demonstrate their
understanding of the sequence of a pumpkin’s life cycle.
Criteria:
After two read alouds and instruction/demonstration explaining the pumpkin’s life
cycle, are students able to remember each stage of the life cycle and
independently sequence these stages in the correct order?
*Students who do so completely independently, remembering the titles for each phase and all earn
a check plus/highly proficient
*Students who can independently sequence each phase in the correct order based on the visual
materials, but do not necessarily remember the title of each phase earn a check/proficient
*Students who are not able to independently sequence these events in the correct order earn a
check minus/not proficient
Materials/Resources: List the materials you will use in each learning activity.
Book: Pumpkin Pumpkin by Jeanne Titherington
Chart paper/markers
Photo images of each stage of a pumpkin’s life cycle
Dried pumpkin seeds
Black trays
Orange construction paper
Plain white paper
Glue
Pencils
Smart board
Learning Activities:
Identify the instructional strategies and instructional grouping (whole class, small groups,
pairs, individuals) you will use in each lesson segment and approximate time frames for
each.
1. Initiation/Read aloud- whole group (5 minutes)
2. Demonstration of sequencing with photos- whole group (5 minutes)
3. Creating the pumpkin life cycle booklets- individual work (25 minutes)
4. Closure/Chart summary – whole group (10 minutes)
Initiation: Briefly describe how you will initiate the lesson. (Set expectations for learning;
articulate to learners what they will be doing and learning in this lesson, how they will
demonstrate learning, and why this is important)
Teacher will discuss connection to prior learning in relation to the day’s plan:
“Last week, we saw how an apple contains seeds on the inside; just like an apple, a pumpkin is a
fruit that contains seeds. We read a book (From Seed to Pumpkin) and saw how a pumpkin seed
is the beginning of a pumpkin’s life cycle. A pumpkin has a life cycle just like the monarch
butterflies we studied, except the pumpkin does not go through metamorphosis like the butterfly. It
grows and changes, but does not turn into something completely different….”
Expectations:
“Today we are going to learn about each phase of the life cycle of a pumpkin by creating our own
booklets. I am going to first read a book to you that will remind us of how the pumpkin grows, and
then show you how we can sequence the phases of a pumpkin’s life cycle with pictures. You will be
expected to remember the order in which these things happen and put them in order by creating
your own mini-booklet. It is important that you listen carefully so that you remember what happens
in each phase.”
--When explaining, define sequence and phase
Explain why it’s important:
“Remember that a pumpkin is a fruit that comes from a plant. Understanding the life cycle of a
pumpkin is important for us because it teaches us how a plant grows and what it needs to grow
and survive. Once we know how seeds grow, we can grow our own gardens, which will supply us
with our own plants, flowers, fruits, and vegetables. You can grow your own pumpkin, maybe one
that is as big as the one the farmer brought to our school!”
Lesson Procedures: Describe how you will develop the lesson, what you will do to
model or guide practice, and the learning activities students will be engaged in
order to gain the key knowledge and skills identified in the student learning
objective(s).
 Following the initiation/read-aloud, the teacher will show (on the smart board)
pictures of each phase of the pumpkin life cycle that are out of order.
 The teacher will then guide students to drag the pictures and put them in the
correct order (seedsproutplant flowertiny greenpumpkin full grown
pumpkin)



Teacher will explain that students will be working independently to construct their
own pumpkin life cycle booklets that will be done in this order.
Teacher will show model booklet and explain the materials students will be given
(each child gets a black tray containing an actual pumpkin seed as well as pictures
of each remaining phase of the life cycle as well as an empty 8-page booklet
(orange and shaped like a pumpkin)
Teacher will explain directions for creating the book:
a. “First, you will put the pieces in your black tray in order in
front of you, then raise your hand to have me check that they
are in the right order.
b. “Once I have checked your sequence, you will glue them in
order in your booklet. You will have a page for each phase.”
c. There is room on each page for a description. You will write
one sentence for each page using your re-telling words (First,
next, then, after that, after that, after that, finally)
*Show the first page of model booklet (“First, there is a seed.”)
d. “Once you have your book put together, you can give your
it a title and design the cover. Remember to write whom it is
by, just like you do when you publish your writing pieces.


Teacher will call students one by one, give them a black tray with materials
and blank booklet, and send them off to work.
While students are working independently, teacher will circulate around room,
assisting as needed.
Closure: Briefly describe how you will close the lesson and help students
understand the purpose of the lesson. (Interact with learners to elicit evidence of
student understanding of purpose(s) for learning and mastery of objectives.).
After students finish their pumpkin life cycle booklets, group will be gathered to rug for
closure. On chart paper, there will be a paragraph with several fill-in-the-blanks describing
what a pumpkin is and what it needs to grow and survive. Students will be called randomly
to write the missing words. (For example, students would have to write the word “fruit” to
complete: “Because a pumpkin is a ______...”)
*This will reinforce the idea that plants need water, air, soil, and sunlight to grow and survive
Hint to the rest of the week’s learning:
Teacher will explain that pumpkins are fruits that are harvested by people in the fall and
that we are going to continue learning about other things people and animals do in fall to
get ready for colder weather when plants cannot grow. (Food is harvested and
gathered to prepare for cold winter months)
Intervention: Describe the intervention strategies used for students who require
accommodations to their instruction.
Although students are expected to remember the order in which the events in a pumpkin’s life cycle
take place, some students may not be able to put all the pictures in the correct sequence. Teacher
can assist these students through scaffolding, not necessarily giving them the answer.
Some students may need help remembering and spelling the names of each phase; teacher can
provide this support and also make sure students are putting their books together neatly and
orderly.
Enrichment: Describe strategies used for students who benefit from unique challenges
in the classroom curriculum.
Students who finish their booklet early may add a “blurb” on the back of their booklets giving a hint
to what their book is about. These students may also help others who may have trouble with
spelling and/or sequencing.
All students will be challenged to not only remember the correct sequence of the pumpkin’s life
cycle phases, but also the titles for each phase.