Reading and Writing: Unit 1 Assessment, Part 1 and Preparing for the Science Talk | EL Education Curriculum

You are here

Home › Our Curriculum › ELA Grade K › ELA GK:M3 › ELA GK:M3:U1 ›

ELA GK:M3:U1:L7

Reading and Writing: Unit 1 Assessment, Part 1 and Preparing for the Science Talk

In this Lesson

You are here:

These are the CCS Standards addressed in this lesson:

  • RI.K.3: With prompting and support, describe the connection between two individuals, events, ideas, or pieces of information in a text.
  • RI.K.7: With prompting and support, describe the relationship between illustrations and the text in which they appear (e.g., what person, place, thing, or idea in the text an illustration depicts).
  • W.K.7: Participate in shared research and writing projects (e.g., explore a number of books by a favorite author and express opinions about them).
  • W.K.8: With guidance and support from adults, recall information from experiences or gather information from provided sources to answer a question.
Download Materials

Daily Learning Targets

  • I can describe how living things are similar using ideas from the text What's Alive? (RI.K.3, RI.K.7)
  • I can explain whether something is living or nonliving using evidence from research and observations. (W.K.7, W.K.8)

Ongoing Assessment

  • In Work Time A, collect students' response sheets from the Unit 1 Assessment, Part I to serve as a work sample to demonstrate progress toward RI.K.3 (see Assessment Overview and Resources).

Agenda

AgendaTeaching Notes

1. Opening

A. Interactive Word Wall Protocol (10 minutes)

2. Work Time

A. Unit 1 Assessment, Part I: What's Alive? Selected Response (15 minutes)

B. Preparing for the Science Talk: Is a Tree Living? (25 minutes)

3. Closing and Assessment

A. Shared Writing: Patterns with Living Things (10 minutes)

Purpose of lesson and alignment to standards:

  • This lesson connects to Next Generation Science Standard K-LS1-1. During Work Times B and C, students focus on the following cross-cutting concept: Patterns in the natural and human-designed world can be observed and used as evidence. Help students notice patterns that emerge when discussing the needs of living things.
  • This lesson invites students to synthesize their learning about living things and the criteria that make something living by comparing themselves to other living things as they complete the Unit 1 Assessment, Part I, by applying their knowledge to answer the question "Is a tree living?" and by writing about observable patterns amongst living things.
  • During Work Time B, students prepare for a Science Talk by gathering evidence to answer the question: "Is a tree living?" Allowing students the opportunity to revisit prior learning, to gather evidence in a scaffolded way, and to write and draw about an important science question supports their meaningful participation in the Science Talk in Lesson 8.

How this lesson builds on previous work:

  • In Lessons 2-6, students closely studied the criteria that make a living thing living. In this lesson, students apply those criteria to revisit a question they were introduced to in Lesson 1: "Is a tree living?"

Areas in which students may need additional support:

  • During Work Time B, students independently write and draw as they gather evidence to explain whether a tree is living. Consider Providing Additional Supports to those students who may need it by rereading prompts, revisiting observation examples from previous lessons, and asking questions to elicit deeper thinking from students.

Down the road:

  • In Lesson 8, students will use their Is a Tree Living? note-catcher to engage in a Science Talk and discuss the question in a small group.

In Advance

  • Prepare:
    • Clipboards with the Unit 1 Assessment, Part I: What's Alive? Selected Response sheets attached for each student (see Assessment Overview and Resources).
    • Plant diagram and tree diagram in color if possible.
    • Living Things Word Wall card for evidence.
  • Distribute Materials for Work Time B at student workspaces.
  • Post: Learning targets, Shared Writing: Patterns with Living Things, and applicable anchor charts (see Materials list).

Tech and Multimedia

Consider using an interactive white board or document camera to display lesson Materials.

  • Continue to use the technology tools recommended throughout Modules 1-2 to create anchor charts to share with families; to record students as they participate in discussions and protocols to review with students later and to share with families; and for students to listen to and annotate text, record ideas on note-catchers, and word-process writing.

Supporting English Language Learners

Supports guided in part by CA ELD Standards K.1.A.1, K.1.A.4, and K.1.C.12

Important points in the lesson itself

  • The basic design of this lesson supports ELLs with opportunities to consider and collect evidence to participate in a structured Science Talk as well as demonstrate their text and content knowledge by performing the first part of the Unit 1 Assessment.
  • ELLs may find it challenging to synthesize and share their ideas at the same time during Work Time B: Preparing for the Science Talk. Remind them they will have a chance to think about their responses (wait time) and a chance to practice sharing with a partner (Turn and Talk or Think-Pair-Share).

Levels of support

For lighter support:

  • Make sure that ELLs understand the assessment directions, especially the question that asks them to justify their selection. Answer their questions, refraining from supplying answers to assessment questions themselves. Remind them that they can use the Living Things Word Wall.

For heavier support:

  • In preparation for the Science Talk in Work Time B, consider pairing students with higher language proficiency to offer language modeling and practice before the whole group share-out.

Universal Design for Learning

  • Multiple Means of Representation (MMR): Make anchor charts created throughout the module accessible (e.g. large font, unobscured view) as students complete the unit assessment. When introducing the assessment, highlight these charts and remind students how they can be used to support their thinking.
  • Multiple Means of Action & Expression (MMAE): During the shared writing in the Closing, students are invited to read sentences aloud with you. Students may not feel confident in their reading skills and may benefit from modeling and supported practice. Provide differentiated mentors by seating students who may be more confident reading aloud near students who may not feel as confident.
  • Multiple Means of Engagement (MME): Although holding high expectations is important, be aware that sometimes these expectations can increase student anxiety. During the assessment, emphasize the importance of process and effort by discussing how even when you try your best, you can sometimes get stuck as you think of what you want to write, and that is okay. Support development of problem-solving skills and sustained engagement by offering explicit scaffolding for what to do when you get stuck.

Vocabulary

Key: Lesson-Specific Vocabulary (L); Text-Specific Vocabulary (T); Vocabulary Used in Writing (W)

New:

  • evidence (L)

Materials

  • Interactive Word Wall Protocol anchor chart (begun in Module 2)
  • Interactive Word Wall cards (one set per small group)
  • Arrow cards (one set per small group)
  • What's Alive? (from Lesson 2; one to display; for teacher read-aloud)
  • Unit 1 Assessment: What's Alive? Selected Response (one per student and one to display; see Assessment Overview and Resources)
  • Pencils (one per student)
  • Clipboards (one per student)
  • Living Things Criteria anchor chart (begun in Lesson 3)
  • Living Things Word Wall (begun in Lesson 1)
  • Unit 1 Assessment: What's Alive? Selected Response (answers, for teacher reference; see Assessment Overview and Resources)
  • Living Things Word Wall card (new; teacher-created; one)
  • Plant diagram (one to display)
  • Tree diagram (one to display)
  • What Researchers Do anchor chart (begun in Lesson 1)
  • Is a Tree Living? note-catcher (one per student and one to display)
  • Is a Tree Living? note-catcher (example, for teacher reference)
  • Shared Writing: Patterns with Living Things (new; co-created with students during the Closing; see supporting Materials)
  • Shared Writing: Patterns with Living Things (example, for teacher reference)

Materials from Previous Lessons

New Materials

Assessment

Each unit in the K-2 Language Arts Curriculum has one standards-based assessment built in. The module concludes with a performance task at the end of Unit 3 to synthesize their understanding of what they accomplished through supported, standards-based writing.

Download this Lesson’s Assessment

 

Opening

OpeningMeeting Students' Needs

A. Interactive Word Wall Protocol (10 minutes)

  • Gather students whole group.
  • Tell students they are going to use the Interactive Word Wall protocol. Remind them that they used this protocol in Module 2 and review as necessary using the Interactive Word Wall Protocol anchor chart. (Refer to the Classroom Protocols document for the full version of the protocol.)
  • Guide students through the protocol in small groups using the Interactive Word Wall cards and arrow cards.
  • Refocus students whole group.
  • Turn and Talk:

"What two words did you connect, and why?" (Responses will vary, but should include naming the two words and explaining their connection.)

  • Invite several students to share out.
  • For ELLs and students who may need additional support with oral language processing: (Sentence Frame: Heavier Support) Remind students to start their share-out with, "I connected" and to extend their thinking by explaining why. (MMAE)
  • For ELLs: (Partner Share-Out) Invite students to share what their partners said to promote attentive listening, retelling, paraphrasing, and peer language modeling.

Work Time

Work TimeMeeting Students' Needs

A. Unit 1 Assessment, Part I: What's Alive? Selected Response (15 minutes)

  • Refocus whole group.
  • Direct students' attention to the posted learning targets and read the first one aloud:

"I can describe how living things are similar using ideas from the text What's Alive?"

  • Tell students that today they are going to revisit a section of the text What's Alive? to read about and then describe how living things are similar.
  • Display page 7 of What's Alive? and read it aloud.
  • Invite students to whisper a response into their hands:

"According to the text, how are you like a flower or a tree?"

  • Emphasize that the question says, "According to the text ..."
  • Invite students to listen to the text carefully once more to answer the question:

"According to the text, how are you like a flower or a tree?"

  • Display Unit 1 Assessment: What's Alive? Selected Response.
  • Read Step 1 of the directions and invite students to follow along and point as you read each possible response. Model pointing to each icon, as necessary.
  • Distribute pencils and pre-prepared clipboards.
  • Invite students to circle one icon that shows how, according to the text, they are like a flower or a tree.
  • Give students 2 minutes to make their selections.
  • Direct students' attention to Step 2 on the Unit 1 Assessment: What's Alive? Selected Response. Read aloud the directions and sentence starter:
    • "I am like a flower or a tree because _________."
  • Give students about 5 minutes to write their response. Circulate to support students and refer them to the Living Things Criteria anchor chart and Living Things Word Wall as needed.
  • Collect students' Unit 1 Assessments and use the Unit 1 Assessment: What's Alive? Selected Response (answers, for teacher reference) to evaluate student responses and mastery toward RI.K.3.
  • For ELLs: (Restating) Invite students to orally restate the learning target.
  • For ELLs: (Assessment) Read the assessment directions, questions, and answer options aloud multiple times. Allow additional time when possible.
  • For ELLs: (Reflection) After the assessment, ask students to discuss what was easiest and what was hardest, and why. Take note for future opportunities to reinforce those skills.
  • Continue to minimize distractions during the assessment by providing tools as necessary. (MME)

B. Preparing for the Science Talk: Is a Tree Living? (25 minutes)

  • Refocus whole group and offer students specific, positive feedback on how they used the text to support answering a question on the assessment.
  • Direct students' attention to the posted learning targets and read the second one aloud:

"I can explain whether something is living or nonliving using evidence from research and observations."

  • Show students the Living Things Word Wall card for evidence and follow the same process established in Modules 1-2: provide its definition, clap out its syllables, use it in a sentence, and place the Word Wall card and picture for it on the Living Things Word Wall.
  • Share with students that now they are going to use their knowledge of what makes something living or nonliving to revisit the question they discussed during the first lesson: "Is a tree living?".
  • Tell students that in the next lesson they will get to discuss the evidence they gathered about whether a tree is living with a small group during the Science Talk!
  • Remind students that during the last several lessons they have observed, discussed, and written and drawn about how plants are living things.
  • Using a total participation technique, invite responses from the group:

"What have you observed about how plants are living things?" (Plants take in food, water, and air. A plant that does not get water and air will start to wilt and looks different from a healthy plant.)

  • Display the plant diagram and tree diagram. Read aloud the titles and labels on each diagram.
  • Turn and Talk:

"What do you notice is the same about these two diagrams?" (Both have leaves and roots.)

  • Refocus students whole group and select a few students to share out.
  • Turn and Talk:

"What do you notice is different about these two diagrams?" (The plant diagram has a stem, and the tree diagram has a trunk.)

  • Using a total participation technique, invite responses from the group:

"What do you think is the same about plants and trees? What do you think is different about plants and trees?" (Plants and trees both have leaves and roots; plants have stems, and trees have trunks.)

  • If productive, cue students to add on to what a classmate said:

"Who can add on to what your classmate said? I'll give you time to think." (Responses will vary.)

  • Share with students that a tree is a type of plant and that there are many similarities between trees and plants: They both have roots, leaves, and many of the same needs.
  • Tell students that now they will use their knowledge of plants as living things and of how plants and trees are similar to think about the important science question that they started the unit with:
    • "Is a tree living?"
  • Direct students' attention to the posted What Researchers Do anchor chart and focus on the last idea:
    • "Share and discuss ideas"
  • Using a total participation technique, invite responses from the group:

"As researchers who will share and discuss ideas, what do you think you need to do to prepare to share ideas in your small group?" (We need to gather evidence to answer the question.)

  • Display the Is a Tree Living? note-catcher and share with students that they will use this note-catcher to record their evidence about whether a tree is living to be prepared to discuss the question with a small group in the next lesson.
  • Read aloud each criteria on the displayed Is a Tree Living? note-catcher.
  • Model completing the first section of the Is a Tree Living? note-catcher:
    • Read aloud the first criteria: "Does it need food?"
    • Think aloud as you answer the question. (Example: "I know that plants need food and that trees are a type of plant, so yes, trees need food.")
    • Model placing a checkmark in the Yes column.
    • Read aloud the title of the last column: "Sketch how you know."
    • Think aloud how you would sketch how you know that a tree needs food. (Example: "I know a tree gets water from its roots. Water is a form of food for a plant or a tree, so that's how I know that a tree needs food. I will draw a tree and its roots and show water drops going up the roots.")
    • Create a brief sketch to showcase your thinking.
  • Tell students they will now complete their own Is a Tree Living? note-catcher to help them prepare for the Science Talk.
  • Invite students to sway like trees in the wind back to their workspaces.
  • Direct students' attention to the Is a Tree Living? note-catchers and pencils located at their workspaces.
  • Invite students to begin writing and drawing.
  • Circulate as students work, prompting them by reading the criteria as necessary and posing questions to elicit thinking. Refer to the Is a Tree Living? note-catcher (example, for teacher reference) as necessary.

"How do you know that a tree needs air? What did you observe to help you know that trees need air? How can you draw that in a picture?"

"How do you know that a tree moves and grows? What did you observe to help you know that trees move and grow?"

  • When 2 minutes remain, invite students to place their note-catchers and pencils in the center of their workspaces.
  • For ELLs: (Visuals) In the question, consider drawing two icons: eyes above observed and a seedling above plants.
  • For ELLs and students who may need additional support in oral language processing: (Wait Time) Consider waiting for up to 30 seconds to select students to share. Alternatively, allow students to turn and talk with one another to practice and compose their ideas orally before sharing out.
  • For ELLs: (Partner Share-Out) Invite students to share what their partner said to promote attentive listening, retelling, paraphrasing, and peer language modeling.
  • For students who may need additional support with fine motor skills: Vary methods for responses by offering options for drawing utensils and writing tools. (MMAE, MME)

Closing & Assessments

ClosingMeeting Students' Needs

A. Shared Writing: Patterns with Living Things (10 minutes)

  • Invite students back to the whole group area.
  • Remind students that they have been working as researchers, studying living and nonliving things, and they have a lot of information to share. Specifically, they have learned a lot about how to tell if something is living.
  • Tell students that one way they can share the information they have learned about living things is by writing about it.
  • Display the Shared Writing: Patterns with Living Things and follow these steps to complete it with students:
    • Present the first part of the paragraph to students and read it aloud:

"We have observed, read about, and written and drawn about living things and learned what makes something a living thing."

    • Ask students to think about all the ways they know that something is living. Ask them to put a thumb up when they have an idea. Ask:

"How do we know if something is living?" (Living things take in food and water. Living things take in and need air. Living things need room to move and grow. Living things can move and grow on their own.)

    • Select a few students to share out.
    • As students share out, capture their ideas on the Shared Writing: Patterns of Living Things. Refer to the Shared Writing: Patterns with Living Things (example, for teacher reference) as necessary.
    • Read the last sentence frame aloud and, using a total participation technique, invite responses from the group:

"What patterns do we see in living things? What is the same about all of the living things we observed, read about, wrote about, and drew about?" (All of the living things have the same needs. The pattern is that all living things need the same things to live and grow.)

    • Read the paragraph aloud once it is completed. Invite students to follow along as you track the print.
    • Point out that the paragraph includes a lot of great information about what they have learned about living things, the needs of living things, and the pattern that we can observe with all living things. Patterns are everywhere in nature, and they have learned about one really important pattern during this unit!
  • Tell students that in the next lesson they will use all of the information they have gathered about living things, and specifically about a tree as a living thing, to engage in a Science Talk to answer the question "Is a tree living?" and to explain how they know.
  • For ELLs: (Movement) Encourage students to act out the gestures they've learned that align with the criteria of living things.
  • For ELLs (Reinforcement) As in Lesson 1, use call and response here to remind them what the question they are discussing will be. Encourage them to talk with their friends and families about it.
  • For students who may need additional support with comprehension: Activate students' schema on patterns among living things by recalling the criteria used throughout the unit to classify living versus nonliving things. (MMR)

Copyright © 2013-2024 by EL Education, New York, NY.

Get updates about our new K-5 curriculum as new materials and tools debut.

Sign Up

Help us improve our curriculum.

Tell us what’s going well, share your concerns and feedback.

Terms of use. To learn more about EL Education, visit eleducation.org

Leave feedback