Lesson Plan Four Column Format

Title: Producers and Consumers/Hoot Literature Study

Content Area: Science/ELA

Teacher Name: Betty Moak

Grade Level: 5th Grade

OVERARCHING GOALS FOR THE LESSON

>Reflect on the chapter book, considering its genre
and characters.
>Learn about producers and consumers.
>Learn about photosynthesis, the process used by
producers.
>Research plants within assigned ecosystem.

LESSON OBJECTIVES AND STANDARDS

ELA
RL/RI.5.1: Quote accurately from a text when explaining what the text says explicitly
and when drawing inferences from the text.
RI.5.9: Integrate information from several texts on the same topic in order to write or
speak about the subject knowledgeably.
SCI
5.L.4A.2 Obtain and communicate information to describe and compare the biotic
factors (including individual organisms, populations, and communities) of different
terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems.
5.L.4B.1 Analyze and interpret data to explain how organisms obtain their energy and
classify an organisms as producers, consumers (including herbivore, carnivore, and
omnivore), or decomposers (such as fungi and bacteria).

IMPORTANT CONTENT CONNECTION: Describe the important concepts related to this lesson that students have as prior or future concepts to learn.
Students will be adding to a Hoot character chart we created in a previous ELA lesson. This chart will continue to develop as we read through
the story and learn more about the books characters and their personalities.
Students will be continuing research about assigned ecosystems divided into seven groups of three, each studying a different ecosystem
like tundras and marshes. They have begun studying organisms in their ecosystem by learning about animals and will continue this task in this
lesson by learning about plants.
IMPORTANT THEORETICAL CONNECTIONS & FOUNDATIONS: Describe the important theoretical underpinnings of the lesson, both general and
content-specific theories of learning and development.

Human actions affect the environments around us. This is a main theme of the chapter book Hoot and it is an idea students will be guided
towards within their individual ecosystem studies. Hoot is used as a motivator to spark students interest in learning about ecosystems. This
unit seeks to incite students curiosities and desires to learn, supporting Settlage and Southerlands statement that intrinsic motivation is key
to individual engagement with and understanding of written material (p.292, 2012).
MATERIALS. List the texts, equipment, and other materials to be used by the students. List the materials, including equipment or technology used by the
teacher in presenting the experiences.

Teacher: smart board presentation (for Venn diagram and science mini-lesson), Hoot character chart, photosynthesis diagram handouts
Students: have read Hoot chapter 4 (in library just prior to lesson), Hoot notebooks (feature two sections for ELA and science), chromebooks
(for ecosystem research)
Components of the lesson. learning activities and
Anticipated Student
Teaching notes
Evidence of learning.
key questions (and time allocation)
DIFFERENTIATION:
list
Evaluation points or
Responses and solution
strategies. (Potential Barriers &

adaptations for ELL, EC, LD

assessment questions.

Misconceptions)

LINK PRIOR KNOWLEDGE. Outline procedures for

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Perhaps a student may

remember from the
previous oceanography unit
that there are a few
exceptions to the normal
rule of thumb that there can
be no life without the sun.
We learned about microbes
which live around deep sea
vents. These organisms are
not plants yet are
producers, creating energy
through the process of
chemosynthesis. Utilizing
chemicals excreted from the
hydrothermal vents, these
microbes produce energy
and support a unique
sunless ecosystem on the
ocean floor.

I will display the Venn

diagram and write down
the names and phrases on
the smartboard. Students
who struggle with spelling
or writing may see and
copy words from this visual
given.
As students write down
science notes about
producers and consumers, I
will float around the room
to check that students are
taking notes and
connecting with lesson. If
several students seem to
be lagging behind, I can
explain the topic more to
further clarify it.
Although grade-level
appropriate, Hoot is a
challenging read for some
readers. Allowing students
to read either individually
or with partners lets
students choose the
support level they are
more comfortable with.
Observing students during
this reading time will show
me any students who need
additional help.

Classroom participation is
the main formative
assessment taken during
this lesson. Are students
interacting, making eye
contact and taking notes
during the science minilesson?
During individual/partner
work time, are students
progressing through
chapter 5? Are students
using only the Discovery
Education resource as they
were instructed?

activating prior knowledge and student interest.

In this lesson the class will continue to uncover

the mysteries within Hoot and learn more about
our ecosystems.
INSTRUCTIONAL STRATEGIES. Outline what the
teacher(s) and students will do to Engage & Educate.
Active learning tasks. If required, include the script of
your lesson here.

Students will turn to the ELA section of their Hoot

notebooks. We will create a Venn diagram to
organize the information about the two main
mysteries contained within this novel: who is the
running boy and what is happening at the Mother
Paulas Pancakes construction site. As the novel
progresses, we will return to this chart and
document changes, the convergence of these two
mysteries. We will label characters and events
which correspond to each mystery.
Students will add an emerging character,
Beatrice, to our Hoot character chart (and their
own chart in notebooks). We will create
descriptors of Beatrice and cite textual evidence
for these descriptions.
I will read aloud the first page of chapter 5,
stopping after a sentence which features the
phrase the stand of Australian pines. Our class
has already discussed that this novel takes place
in the Everglades of Florida, therefore it seems
strange that some trees there are called
Australian pines. I will use this thought to
transition the class into a science mini-lesson.
This sentence made me want to learn more
about the plants within the Everglades
ecosystem. What are Australian pines doing in
Florida?
Students will now flip to the science portion of
their Hoot notebooks to take a few notes. Using
the smart board presentation, I will introduce the
terms producers and consumers to students. In

our previous science lesson, students researched

animals within their ecosystems. All animals are
consumers, they must attain their energy by
eating other living things plants and/or animals.
Producers are organisms which can create their
own energy. Plants are producers, producing
energy through the process of photosynthesis. To
introduce this process, I will play a short clip
which tells about photosynthesis through a
catchy song. Students will then receive the
photosynthesis diagrams. I will explain the three
components needed for this process sun,
carbon dioxide and water and its byproduct
oxygen. We will discuss the symbiotic relationship
between oxygen breathers and carbon dioxide
breathers (specifically people and plants).
Students will now break up to do
individual/partner work. Their first task is to finish
reading the fifth chapter of Hoot. Then, using
Discovery Educations online database, students
will research producers within their assigned
ecosystem. They are tasked with sketching one
plant and taking notes about three different
plants.
REFLECT and SUMMARIZE. Outline how you will

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close.

To conclude this lesson, students will come

together, sitting in a circle on their floor with
Hoot notebooks. I will ask each student to share
one fact they learned today about their
ecosystem anything about the biome itself or an
organism within it.

EXTENSIONS/CONNECTIONS. What other lessons

does this lesson connect to?

Students will continue to grow their knowledge

about their assigned ecosystems. The eventual
goal will be to recognize the interrelations

Students Hoot notebooks

will serve as a formative
assessment to gauge
participation and
understanding after this
lessons completion.
Students should have
science notes, information
about three plants and one
plant sketch from their
ecosystem.
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between organisms and abiotic factors affecting

these ecosystems, particular humans effects.
REFLECTION: After the lesson, reflect on what went well and what didnt go well. Write changes you might implement the next time the lesson is taught.
Students had a bit of trouble trying to split the events of the story into the two separate mysteries, which is understandable since the two do
converge as the story progresses. A few students made predictions that the two mysteries were related. Their descriptions of Beatrice were
well-thought out, and they followed the pattern we established of finding evidence from the text to support their inferences.
Several students made connections to the learning during the science mini-lesson such as understanding that we are consumers and
recalling the process of photosynthesis. The Circle of Life in the movie The Lion King was referenced also.
Individual/partner work time went well and many students found information about producers. Some students had trouble finding
information about specific plants particularly those with deciduous forest, rainforest and desert ecosystems. When I tried to help and
examined their searches, I saw that indeed there were few relevant resources available. In the future, I will try to ensure that the web source
has ample information for each ecosystem students are studying.
Another change I would like to make is demonstrating browsing resources for plant information. Using the Everglades as an example (the
ecosystem of Hoot), I could peruse written and video articles to find out information about producers. I could show students that it is not
necessary to watch the entire video, only parts relevant to their topic.
The sharing time at the end of the lesson proved to be thought-provoking. This was a time when student interest and curiosity about the
lesson topic were most evident, making this group discussion a most valuable component. Students shared interesting knowledge they had
learned which would prompt questions from other students. What does a cucumber tree look like? How do plants come out of the ground
each year? I think this concluding time of sharing and casual talk should be included in many future lessons to promote a mutual feeling of
learning and wonder among all of us (teachers and students). Sitting on the same level with students and giving them the freedom to share
what most fascinated them allowed me to close this lesson on a high note, reflecting upon new knowledge and reaching out with new
questions.