Chris Antal
Western Connecticut State University
Scotts Ridge Middle School
Lesson Plan
Student Teacher Christopher Antal
Grade Level_7
Date of lesson January 29, 2010
Institution Scotts Ridge Middle School Length of lesson 45 minute lessons
Content Standards: Identify one or two primary 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?
CSCF 7.3 - C 20.
C INQ.5,7,10
NBTS Standards
NSTA standard A
NSTA standard B
Learner Background: 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?
Students have previously learned about the Rock Cycle, Magma, Lithosphere and Asthenosphere. They
are also aware that the earth’s surface is actually in a constant state of motion and has dramatically
changed over 100’s of millions of years. Students have recently become aware that the Lithosphere is
composed of Tectonic Plates which are constantly in motion. Students are also familiar with the 3 types of
plate boundaries and what physical results occur at each boundary. Students also have much background
knowledge on earthquakes.
Student Learning Objective(s): Identify specific and measurable learning objectives for this lesson.
1. Students will be able to plot volcanoes and earthquake locations according to their latitude and
longitude.
2. Students will visualize the relationship between volcanic activity, earthquakes and plate
boundaries.
3. Students will reinterpret the data introduced to them in the unit.
Assessment: 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.
1. Students will participate in a mapping session.
2. Students will play a game of ‘”3 Strikes, You’re Out!” as a review for their exam on Monday.
Materials/Resources:
List the materials you will use in each learning activity including any technological resources.
SMART Board, Classroom Computer, Igneous Rock, Metamorphic Rock, Sedimentary Rock, Sponge
Rock, Lined Paper, Textbooks
Chris Antal
Western Connecticut State University
Learning Activities:
Identify the instructional grouping (whole class, small groups, pairs, individuals) you will use in each lesson segment and approximate time
frames for each.
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)
The Students will hand in their assignments as they enter into the classroom. I will tell them
however to hold on to their lists of volcano and earthquake locations. At which point I will tell
them to put them out on their desks so I can take a walk around the classroom to make sure they
completed the assignment. While I do this, I will tell them to prepare to use the SMART board to
map out their locations.
Lesson Development: 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).
A. I will ask the students to come up to the board one at a time to mark their volcano and
earthquake locations on the SMART Board. Students will be called on at random.
B. As each student enters the location, I will ask them to read the latitudes and longitudes which
they are entering on the map. I will give the students instruction along the way, instructing
them as to which hemispheres the coordinates lie in, as well is which it the latitude and which
is the longitude. A good way to do this is to emphasize the “long” in longitude.
C. Some of the students will have troubles, but I will be there to help them. Also, I am sure a
majority of the locations will over lap, but I will still make sure that each student is able to
locate the coordinates on the map. Should not enough variance of coordinates exist, I will have
a list on hand of coordinates to plot.
D. Once all of the points have been entered, I will play a brief game of connect the dots with the
SMART Board markers. The result should represent the plate boundaries. I will then show
another similar map which contains the tectonic plate margins and have them observe it. The
results should be practically identical and it will be easy to make the connection that the
earthquakes and volcanoes tend to take place right around the plate boundaries. It is because of
these occurrences that scientist are able to infer where the plate boundaries lie.
E. At this point, it is time for a review for the student’s upcoming exam. The review will consist
of a game I developed called “3 Strikes, You’re Out!” The game will take place on the
SMART Board and is composed of questions either directly from or very similar to questions
that will be on their exam.
F. The students will be told to put all of their books and notes away. I will have the class break up
into groups of 4, 5 or 6 depending on the class size. There should be no more than 5 groups,
but no less than 4. The order in which the groups go will be assigned at random.
G. The teams will come up to the SMART Board one at a time and select a question of their
choosing. The teams can select any questions on the board, so as a team they should be able to
knock off a few questions. As the game moves on, the more difficult questions remain on the
board. If a team gets one wrong, they get a strike. Once the team gets 3 strikes, they are out.
Each team also has the option to use their phone line to ask Dwight. Dwight will be able to
assist each team only once, should they opt to use their phone line. The game will end once all
the questions are off of the board or once all of the teams have struck out with the exception of
Chris Antal
Western Connecticut State University
one. This game will also give me an idea of what areas I need to tell them to really focus on
while studying.
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)
In closing, I will tell the students to pull out their notebooks again. At this point I will briefly tell
them that the exam is going to look exactly like our review game, so they will need to study up on
all of the areas we covered and focus primarily on the areas the class could not answer or what
they answered incorrectly. I will also inform them that there will be one essay, so they need to
understand the subject matter, not just be able to define terms.
Individuals Needing Differentiated Instruction: Describe 1 to 3 students with learning differences. These students may be
special or general education students and need not be the same students for each lesson. Students may represent a range of ability and/or
achievement levels, including students with IEPs, gifted and talented students, struggling learners, and English language learners.
Note: Differentiated instruction may not be necessary in every lesson. However, over the course of the student teaching
placement, it is expected that each student teacher will demonstrate the ability to differentiate instruction in order to meet the
needs of students with learning differences.
Which students do you anticipate may struggle with the content/learning objectives of this lesson?
Student name
Evidence that the student needs
How will you differentiate instruction in this lesson to support student
differentiated instruction
learning?
Oscar Robertson Currently reading at 4th grade
The lesson is designed to be demonstrational as well as highly interactive.
level. Acts out frequently.
The student will be able to keep up during the lessons. Oscar also is aware of
my extra time after school for help with homework.
Which students will need opportunities for enrichment/higher level of challenge?
Student name
Evidence that the student needs
How will you differentiate instruction in this lesson to support student
differentiated instruction
learning?
Dwight Howard
Dwight has not received a grade
Dwight will be asked to act as an aid to every team in the game of “3 Strikes,
lower than a 97% all year. He
You’re Out!”
always has the answers in class
discussions.
Notes from the pre-conference