LESSON PLAN TEMPLATE
Your Name: Michelle Koltweit
Title of Lesson: Why Should We Use Solar Energy?
Grade: 4th
STANDARDS
NOTE: Please list at least two complete standards your lesson plan covers. [Common Core State Standards (math and
language arts), Next Generation Science Standards (science), Arizona State Social Studies Standards (social studies)].
4-ESS3-1.
Obtain and combine information to describe that energy and fuels are derived from natural resources and their uses
affect the environment.
Produce clear and coherent functional writing (e.g., friendly and formal letters, recipes, experiments,
notes/messages, labels, graphs/tables, procedures, invitations, envelopes) in which the development and
organization are appropriate to task and purpose. (AZ.4.W.4)
LESSON SUMMARY/OVERVIEW
Provide an overview/synopsis of the lesson and the topics that it will cover. Mention the sustainability connection/lens
associated with this lesson plan you are creating.
The students are going to be discussing in groups everything that they have learned about solar energy. They are going to be applying
their knowledge and write a letter to a business or homeowner trying to persuade them to switch to solar energy. Every student will
have someone in mind that they can write to and will then individually write a letter to that person. This lesson will be a language arts
lesson as well as a sustainability lesson. The lesson will help the students to recall everything that they have been learning about
(solar energy) and make it relevant to their life and turn it into a real world situation.
OBJECTIVES
Describe what you want students to know/be able to do as a result of the lesson.
The students will be able to write a persuasive letter informing someone about the benefits of switching to solar energy.
The students will be able to inform others about the harmful effects that fossil fuels have on the environment.
ASSESSMENT/EVALUATION
What measures will you use to know if you students met the objectives?
The letter that they write will be evaluated at the end of the lesson. The students will be informed prior to writing their letter
about how to properly write a persuasive letter. They will also be informed on what information needs to be included in their
persuasive letter. I will assess the students letters based on the rubric that was given to the students.
The letter has a clear message and explains what you want the reader to do-2 points
The letter includes a list of benefits why solar energy is beneficial for them-2 points
The letter includes facts about how fossil fuels affect the environment-2 points
The letter is written for an audience appropriately-2 point
The letter is written with correct spelling, punctuation, and flows smoothly-2 points
PREREQUISITE KNOWLEDGE
What will students need to know prior to completing this lesson and how will you access their prior knowledge?
Before completing this lesson, students will need to know how to write a letter and have the knowledge of how to write a letter
to an audience appropriately. They will also need to know why solar energy is beneficial and how fossil fuels affect the
environment. They will learn about the topic by the previous days leading up to writing a letter. Their prior knowledge will
be assessed based on the class discussion. The students will discuss in their groups everything that we have talked about and
will share what they said to the class. I will make sure that students are giving accurate and useful information.
MATERIALS
List of required materials.
1.
Lined paper (to write their letters on)
2.
Example of how to write a persuasive letter
VOCABULARY/KEY WORDS
List of key vocabulary terms.
Persuade- cause (someone) to do something through reasoning or argument.
Solar energy- radiant energy emitted by the sun
Solar panels- a panel designed to absorb the sun's rays as a source of energy for generating electricity or heating
Fossil fuels- a natural fuel such as coal or gas, formed in the geological past from the remains of living organisms
TEACHING PROCEDURES
Procedural Steps (Step by step instructions for teaching the lesson):
1. I will tell the class to think about the past couple of days and everything that we have been talking about. I will then
tell the class to discuss within their groups.
2. As the groups are talking, I will be walking around and listening to what the students are saying. As I walk around I
will also remind students to talk about what solar energy is, how it helps us, and why should we use it compared to
fossil fuels. Once I have given them enough time to talk, I will bring the class back together for a class discussion. I
will ask the class what they talked about.
3. After our class discussion is done, I will tell the class that we are going to be writing a letter to a home or business
owner trying to convince them to switch to solar panels. I will ask the class what kind of letter should we write. Once
the class has told said that we are going to write a persuasive letter, I will have them think of a person who they are
going to write to.
4. Once they have a person in mind, they are going to decide whether it is going to be formal or informal. I will have the
student’s share whom they are going to write to with their shoulder partner. I will then put the persuasive letter
format up on the board for everyone to see. We will go over the format and I will ask students about what they are
going to write. I will be asking for answers such as, states why solar energy is beneficial, why fossil fuels affect the
environment, and tell the reader what you want them to do.
5. I will then give out the rubric for how I am going to be grading their letter. As a class we will read it so that students
know what I expected them to do. The students will ask any last minute questions and will then start writing their
letters.
6. The students will be given about 20-30 minutes to write their letters.
7. Any students who do not finish writing their letter will finish it later in the day or take it home for homework.
8. Once the students have turned in their letters and they have been graded, we will then actually send the letters out.
RESOURCES
List any references you used to create this lesson. If you borrowed ideas from any lesson plans please note them here. Use APA
format.
Retrieved from http://teacher.scholastic.com/scholasticnews/magazines/scope/pdfs/SCOPE-REPRO-051412-03.pdf
WAYS OF THINKING CONNECTION
Provide a complete explanation of how your lesson plan connects to futures, system, strategic, or values thinking. Define the
way of thinking you selected and used in this lesson plan. Remember, this should be included meaningfully in the lesson plan.
This lesson plan connects to systems thinking. Systems thinking means understanding how systems are interconnected. A system is a
structure that has parts connected and form relationships. This lesson shows systems thinking because students have to think about
how solar energy, fossil fuels, and the environment connect. Students are not only learning about solar energy, but are also applying
to the real world and seeing the relationship that it has with the environment.