Name: Ms. Wei-Ee (Katie) Cheng
Date: 7/11/15
Grades: 4-5
Subject: English as a Second Language (E.S.L.)
Group Size: 4-6 students
Time: about 60 minutes
Unit of Study: 3 R’s (Reduce, Reuse, Recycle) and 1 C (Compost)!
Lesson Objective: Students will reduce garbage in the environment by sorting items
into reuse, recycle, and compost bins.
Language Objective: Students will explain the way they sort items by using the
sentence frame: I can ________ the ________ because ___________.
Standards:
NYS Science Standard 4: 7.1c. Humans, as individuals or communities, change
environments in ways that can be either helpful or harmful for themselves and other
organisms.
CCSS.L.4.1c. Use modal auxiliaries (e.g., can, may, must) to convey various conditions.
CCSS.SL.5.1d. Review the key ideas expressed and draw conclusions in light of
information and knowledge gained from discussions.
Danielson Competency 3c: Engaging students in learning.
Materials: Science notebooks, “Garbage” web in the shape of a garbage bin, clear
bags for collecting litter, gloves, clear plastic container, soil, toy truck, cardboard boxes
divided into 3 sections and labeled reuse, recycle, and compost with visuals, worm
composting bin
Vocabulary: https://esl.brainpop.com/level2/unit6/lesson4/words/ (bottle, care, cough,
Earth, environment, garbage, glass, litter, picnic, plastic, recycle, reduce, reuse, turn off,
turn on); compost – soil made of plant parts, food waste, and animal waste
Activate Background Knowledge: Ask students to point to where the garbage goes
in the classroom. After students point to the wastebasket, have them write, draw, define,
and/or list examples of “garbage” in Science notebooks. Students will share their work
with a partner before sharing out with the class and adding to each other’s ideas.
Teacher will write and/or draw students’ responses on the “Garbage” web. Challenge
students by asking them where they think the garbage goes. Show and explain visual of
Where is ‘Away’? on SMART Board http://www.dec.ny.gov/docs/administration_pdf/lpaway.pdf.
Read lesson and language objectives.
Teach:
1. Students (teams of 2) will collect litter in and around the school. *Make sure they
avoid picking up any sharp objects.
2. Demonstrate a landfill by having students come up and make a landfill (based on
teacher’s instructions) with the clear plastic container, soil, toy truck, and some of the
items they collected. Explain why a lot of garbage is bad for the environment.
3. Ask students if they can think of any solutions to reduce garbage. Teacher writes
students’ ideas on the board.
4. Introduce/review vocabulary with Brainpop ESL flash cards
https://esl.brainpop.com/level2/unit6/lesson4/words/.
5. Have students make a T-Chart in their Science notebooks and label them reuse and
recycle.
6. Show BrainPOP ESL video - https://esl.brainpop.com/level2/unit6/lesson4/
and have students write and/or draw what was reused and what was recycled in the
video on their T-Charts during and/or after viewing the video. Share out.
7. Teach additional vocabulary word, compost, with worm composting bin.
8. Go back to students’ ideas on board and have them label each as reuse, recycle, or
compost.
9. Model student activity with a few items they collected.
Activity: Students will work in teams of 2 to sort the litter they collected into recycle,
reuse, or compost bins. They will use the sentence frame, I can ________ the
________ because ___________. to explain to their partners why they sorted certain
items the way they did. When they finish, they will draw the three bins in their Science
notebooks. If they have time, they can label their drawings and/or write about them.
Differentiation and Support: Heterogeneous pairs and teacher circulating the room to
provide additional support and to clarify any misunderstandings (e.g., items that are
confusing to sort, ensuring students understand difference between reuse and recycle).
Share: Student teams will share and explain their sorting bins with the class. Peers will
respond to each other by using accountable talk. For items that are sorted correctly, the
team will place them in the school recycling bins (i.e., paper, plastic, glass), the class
reuse bin, and shown how to place them in the worm composting bin.
*Thinking Questions with more than one answer –
1. What did you notice about the items your team sorted?
2. Why should/must we reuse? Recycle? Compost?
**We should/must reuse/recycle/compost because ________________.
Closure/Exit Slip: Students give at least one example of each (i.e., reuse, recycle,
compost) in their Science notebooks.
Assessment of Objective:
Rubric to assess students’ pair activity and individual work in Science notebooks,
students’ explanations
Homework: Tell your parents that you are learning about reducing garbage. Think of
ways you can reduce the amount of garbage you create at home and at school without
reusing, recycling, or composting.
Extension: 1. Students will identify ways to reduce garbage without reusing, recycling,
or composting.
2. Students will continue to learn about reducing garbage by playing a game that
involves reusing and recycling to change a city from Dumptown to Recycle City –
http://www3.epa.gov/recyclecity/gameintro.htm
3. Students will learn about upcyclying and terracycling.
Reducing Garbage Sorting Rubric
Student: ____________________________
Score: ___ / 6
Category
Pair Sorting
3
Team sorted all or
most of their items
in the bins correctly.
2
Team sorted
some of their
items in the bins
correctly.
1
Team sorted none
of their items in
the bins correctly.
Individual Exit
Slip
Student gave at
least one correct
example of each
category (i.e., reuse,
recycle, compost).
Student gave a
correct example
for two out of the
three categories.
Student gave zero
examples or one
correct example
for one of the
categories.