Samantha Fummerton
GS 325
Lesson Plan Write-up
3/9/2012
Philosophy of Teaching: Educating, stimulating, and expanding young minds through question
asking, discovering new things, using multiple approaches, incorporating multiple subjects into a
single lesson plan, guiding children through problem solving, and responding to them with
patience.
Lesson Objective (3.2E.1): Identify earth as a planet and describe its seasonal weather patterns
of precipitation and temperature.
Learning Outcome:
 To know: Earth is a planet; What it means to be a planet; The seasons; seasonal weather
patterns
 To be able to do: Predict weather patterns using clouds, temperature, precipitation, and
wind direction
 To care about: Knowing the weather in their area, and how to predict the days weather
Assessments:
 Formative: Using journals to track their everyday findings of precipitation, temperature,
cloud coverage, and wind direction. They will be using art to draw the different types of
clouds they see in the sky. I’ll be able to tell if my students understand how to measure
each of the objectives by reflecting on their journals. After two weeks of collecting data I
will incorporate math and have the class graph their data separately, then as a group. I
will then incorporate writing by having them journal after each day about what they
predict the weather will be like for the next few days. They will also reflect on their
writing by journaling about if their previous predictions were correct.
 Summative: Each student will be assigned to a group of 3 to 5 students depending on
class size. The group will get to pick a certain type of cloud that they want to research.
They will research the cloud and collect information and put together a presentation that
they will give in front of the class. They will use pictures and words to describe the
clouds, and tell where the cloud is located in the atmosphere. They will also cover what
this type of cloud means for the weather. As each group presents, the rest of the class will
be using their journals to write about their classmates presentations. A student who
reaches mastery will be able to correctly identify all of these aspects about their clouds.
After all students have gone I will create a test using their presented information to give
to the students at the end of the week. This test will only cover information that was
either talked about in class or gone over in their presentations.
Reflections:
 Students will be able to look through their journals to study for the test. They will be able
to look at their daily findings of the weather and be able to predict what weather is going
to come in the future. They will know what type of weather to expect in each season.
They will be able to use all of this information to predict the weather for future days.
They will be able to measure their own learning by using their journals.
Teacher Reflections:
 After the lesson is complete I will look at what went well, what went wrong, and what
could be improved on for next time. I will take notes as the lesson goes on what the
students enjoyed doing and what seemed to communicate my objective the best.
Inquiry Plan:
 How will I engage my students in inquiry?
o I will start by taking a walk outside to observe the current day’s weather. I will
pick a safe place to lay down where we can observe what kind of clouds we see in
the sky. If it has been raining I will start by having a classroom game of who can
guess how much rain has fallen in the week/weekend.
 What are the steps I will take?
o Engage students about the weather in their area.
o Talk about the weather we experience during different seasons.
o Build a wind direction measuring device.
o Build a rain catcher to measure precipitation.
o Place a thermometer somewhere in the shade and the sun to record temperature.
o Research different clouds and their characteristics.
o Have students journal and record data for two weeks.
o Predict the weather for the upcoming weeks.
o Give cloud presentations.
o Give final test about presentations and classroom activities.
 What questions will I ask?
o How do weathermen predict the weather?
o How much does it rain in a day? Week? Month?
o Can you tell what the weather will be like by just looking out the window?
o Can you tell what the weather will be like by looking at the clouds?
o When it looks dark outside what do you predict the weather will be like?
 What questions will they ask?
o What do dark clouds mean?
o Do different clouds mean different things?
o What month does it rain the most in?
o What part of the world does it rain the most in?
o What part of the world gets the most sun?
o Which direction does the wind blow?
o How can in predict the weather?

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What modes of finding out new knowledge will I use?
o Observations
o Classroom measuring devices
o Talking to local weather man
o Books
o Charts
o Internet resources
How will students be able to help drive or control the process?
o Build their own measuring devices
o Have predictions about the weather
o Choose what clouds to research
See attached documents for an activity