KUTZTOWN UNIVERSITY

ELEMENTARY EDUCATION DEPARTMENT

LESSON PLAN FORMAT

Teacher Candidate: Nicole Malack

Date:

Group Size: 20

Grade Level: 3rd Grade

Allotted Time: 45 mins

Subject or Topic: Aquatic Ecosystems: Rivers

STANDARD:
4.2.3.C. Identify plants and animals that live in lakes, ponds, streams, and wetlands.

I. Performance Objectives (Learning Outcomes):

A. The 3rd grade students will be able to identify what a river is.
B. The 3rd grade students will be able to identify a river that is in our surrounding
neighborhood.
C. The 3rd grade students will be able to identify the different types of plants and
animals that live in a river.
II. Instructional Materials
A. I Pads
B. Schuylkill River Facts sheet
III. Subject Matter/Content (prerequisite skills, key vocabulary, big idea, outline of
additional content)
A. Prerequisite skills
1. Identifying certain types of plants and animals.
B. Key Vocabulary
1. River- A body of moving water.
C. Big Idea
1. What types of plants and animals live in a river.
D. Additional content
IV. Implementation
A. Introduction

a. The teacher should review of the lesson yesterday about

lakes.
b. The teacher should remind the students that a lake is a
large body of water surrounded by land.
c. The teacher should explain that today they will be
learning about rivers.
d. The teacher should play the Brain Pop Jr. video on
freshwater habitats. (Only play the part explaining
rivers.)
e. The teacher should write the word river on the board.
f. The teacher should ask the students what a river is
based off of the video.
g. The teacher should write the definition of a river on the
board.
h. The teacher should explain that unlike a lake, a river is
a large body of moving water.
i. The teacher should remind the students that the Nile
River, in Africa is the longest river in the world.
j. The teacher should point out the Nile on a map.
k. The teacher should tell the students that the Nile is
4,258 miles long.

B. Development
a. The teacher should explain to the students that we live
very close to a river.
b. The teacher should write Schuylkill River on the board.
c. The teacher should show the students where the river is
and ask if they have ever driven past it.
d. The teacher should then pass out the I Pads to each
student in the classroom. (Have the website already
opened for the students so they wont get distracted.)
e. Pass out the Schuylkill River Fun Facts sheet to each
student.
f. The teacher should have the students explore the
website on the I Pad to find the answers to each
question about the Schuylkill River.
g. The teacher should then have a class discussion on the
facts found about the Schuylkill River.

C. Closure

a. The teacher should go over with the class what a river

is.
b. The teacher should tell the class that a river flows into
oceans.
c. The teacher should then tell the students that tomorrow
we will be discussing oceans and the types of animals
in them.
D. Accommodations/Differentiation
1. To accommodate, Shelly, a student with Autism, I would have
her work with a partner to help her stay focused and on task.
E. Assessment/Evaluation Plan
1. Formative-The Schuylkill River Fun Facts work sheet.
2. Summative- There is no summative for this lesson.

V. Reflective Response
A. Report of Student Performance in Terms of Stated Objectives (Reflection on
student performance written after lesson is taught, includes remediation for
students who fail to meet acceptable level of achievement)
Remediation Plan
B. Personal Reflection (Questions written before lesson is taught. Reflective
answers to question recorded after lesson is taught)
1. Did the students connect with the message of the lesson?
2. Was I able to complete the lesson in the allotted time?
3. Were the students able to follow directions and complete the
inquiry?
VI. Resources (in APA format)
Schuylkill River. (n.d.). Retrieved April 16, 2015, from
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schuylkill_River