KUTZTOWN UNIVERSITY

ELEMENTARY EDUCATION DEPARTMENT

LESSON PLAN FORMAT

Teacher Candidate:
Cooperating Teacher:
Group Size:

24

Subject or Topic:

Amanda Tini and Brie Wise

Date:

Dr. Varano

Coop. Initials

Allotted Time 45 minutes

Grade Level

Rocks and Minerals

Section

10-22-16

4th
1

STANDARD:
3.3.4.A2- Identify basic properties and uses off Earths materials including
rocks, soils, water, and gases of the atmosphere
I. Performance Objectives (Learning Outcomes):
A. Students will match rock characteristics (Luster, hardness, cleavage, and
streak) to pictures of rocks.
II. Instructional Materials
A. Book- Lets Go Rock Hunting By Roma Gans
B. Brain pop Jr. video- Rocks and Minerals with Annie and Moby
C. The Rocks and Fossils foldable
a. 24 scissors
b. A lot of crayons and markers
c. Glue
D. The Rocks and Fossils Observation Checklist
E. Smartboard
F. Exit Slip
III. Subject Matter/Content (prerequisite skills, key vocabulary, big idea, outline of
additional content)
A. Prerequisite skills
1. Basic knowledge of rock.
2. Basic knowledge of physical and chemical properties.
B. Key Vocabulary
1. Rock- a solid made of many different minerals and formed on Earth.
2. Mineral- Minerals are solid substances that occur naturally on Earth
and come together to form rocks.

3. Luster- Describe how the mineral reflects light

4. Hardness- Describes how easily scratched the mineral is
5. Streak- Describes the color of the powder that the mineral leaves
behind when it is scratched on a special plate
6. Cleavage- When a mineral breaks along a smooth flat surface
7. Fracture- Break with rough edges
8. Geologist- Scientist who studies rocks and land to learn about Earth.
9. Property- Trait that tells you something about an object
10. Texture- Describes the way an object feels
11. Hardness- Describes how easily scratched
C. Big Idea
1. Understand the difference between rocks and minerals.
2. Students will know that rocks are formed by minerals.
1.

D. Content
Rocks
a.
b.
c.
d.

2.

3.

Geologist
Earths Crust and part of mantel is made of rocks
Rocks can be big or small
Made of minerals

Property
a. Color
b. Texture
c. Luster
d. Hardness
How do we use Rocks and Minerals
a. Steel
i. made from type of rock
b. Concrete
i. made from different rocks and a mineral glue
c. Clay pottery, Dishes, silverware, glasses
i. made from minerals
d. Minerals we eat
i. Salt, Milk, Iron and Potassium (fruit vegetables and
meat)

IV. Implementation
A. Introduction
1. Read Lets Go Rock Collecting
a. Have students come to the carpet to read the book.
i. Ask Where can you find rocks?
ii. Ask What are some uses of rocks that you saw in the
book?

iii. Ask Can you think of other ways that rocks were used,
that were not mentioned in the book?
b. After each question, students should turn to a partner to discuss
the questions for 2-3 minutes. When they are done discussing
ask for volunteers to share answers with class.
B. Development
1. Play the brain pop Jr. video Rocks and Minerals with Annie and
Moby
a. Before playing video tell students to pay attention to the
definitions
2. After the video discuss what the students learned in the video.
a. Write what is said on the smartboard
1. After students share, give each student The Rocks and Fossils
foldable notes activity (See Attached)
a. Ask students what the definition is of each word listed on
the paper.
b. While discussing the meaning of the words, ask the
students to write their definitions on the smartboard.
c. Guide the students to create one whole definition. When the
definition is decided on, tell students to write that in their
notes.
2. The teacher will model how to color, cut and paste the definitions
on the folder and then allow students time to color and cut the
definitions out. Students should then glue the definitions into the
file folder.
3. After discussion, tell students to draw or describe a rock that is in
the room.
a. Write on the board the following questions.
i. What are the characteristics of my rock?
ii. Does my rock have luster?
iii. Does my rock have cleavage or fracture?
iv. Any other useful information to determine what
the object is
b. When the students are finished drawing or describing their
object, have the students pair up.
c. Tell students that each student will answer the question
written on the board, and then their partner will try to guess
what their object is
i. Tell students they are allowed use foldable
d. While the pair is discussing about their objects, teacher
should go around and observe for student understanding.
Teacher should use the Rock and Fossil Unit checklist
e. After 10 minutes, ask for volunteers to share what they
discussed.

C. Closure
1. Write the important vocabulary on the board
a. Rock
b. Mineral
c. Luster
d. Hardness
e. Streak
f. Cleavage
g. Fracture
h. Geologist
i. Property
j. Texture
k. Hardness
2. Show Closure Rock Powerpoint
a. Tell students to pair up
b. Have students discusses which vocabulary term is being
presented and when the pair has come up with a
decision, have them write the vocabulary term
3. Hand out the exit slip to each student.
a. Tell students that there are three different pictures of rocks,
next to each rock there is a list of vocabulary words that
were discussed today. Tell students that they will circle the
vocabulary word that is being shown by the rock.
4. Ask students if they ever wondered if there are different types of
rocks?
a. Take comments.
b. Tell students that tomorrow we will be learning about
the three different types of rocks.
1.

D. Accommodations/Differentiation
Differentiation
a. Students are able to choose if they would like to draw or
describe an object.
2.

Accommodations
a.
Frank, student with learning disability, will be given a
script of the video, because he has a difficulty processing
auditory learning.

E. Assessment/Evaluation Plan
a.

1. Formative
Rock and Fossil Unit Observation Checklist.
i. Place a checkmark for student understanding.
ii. Place an X for struggling students.
iii. Evidence: Completion of checklist

b.

Exit Ticket
i. If completed correctly or X if the student is
still having trouble.
ii. Evidence: Collection of exit ticket.
2. Summative
a. There is no summative assessment during 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. Is there enough hands-on activities during this lesson?
2. Will the students enjoy the interactive foldable guided notes rather
than regular guided notes?
VI. Resources (in APA format)
A. Brain Pop Jr.
B. Dictionary.com
C. Gans, Roma, and Holly Keller. Let's Go Rock Collecting. New York:
HarperCollins, 1997. Print.