Name: Gina Calbeto Date: March 25th, 2019 Time: 10-10:30 Lesson # 1

Big Idea/Topic Animal Classification Grade/ Subject 4th Grade/Science

CPALMS/ Resource link https://www.cpalms.org/Public/PreviewStandard/Preview/1698

Lesson Structure: Direct Instruction/Hands-on Activity (Motivational Activity Day)

Standards: (CCSS/NGSSS/NGSS)
SC.4.L.16.4

Compare and contrast the major stages in the life cycles of Florida plants and animals, such as those that undergo incomplete
and complete metamorphosis, and flowering and nonflowering seed-bearing plants.

Instructional outcomes/objectives(s): (Clear objectives written in the form of student learning)

The students will show that they can classify animals into groups by sorting their animal classification card into the right
animal category.

Language Objective(s): (Must include language skill/domain and function, may contain grammar, where appropriate)

The students will be able to…

Listen: to the zoo keeper story that prefaces the activity, listen to the video, listen to their peers’ answers, and the instructions
given by the teacher.
Read: the “Who Am I” facts given on the back of their animal.
Write: their painted lady observations for the day.
Speak: Verbally answer any follow up questions they are asked by the teacher.
Key Vocabulary (academic/content-defined in kid friendly terms) Instructional
Materials/Resources/Technology
1. Mammal: noun. A warm-blooded animal that has hair or fur and (include hyperlinks to videos & websites)
usually gives birth to live babies. Female mammals produce milk to
feed their young. 1. Posters that represent the different
2. Amphibian: noun. A cold-blooded animal with a backbone that classifications of animals (the
lives in water and breathes with gills when young. As an adult, it different sections of the zoo)
develops lungs and lives on land. Frogs, toads, and salamanders are 2. Florida animal cards
amphibians. 3. Brain Pop Jr. video on animal
3. Reptile: noun. A cold-blooded animal that crawls or creeps on short classification:
legs. Reptiles have backbones and most of them reproduce by https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d
laying eggs. Cm5CcQhU-c
4. Bird: noun. A warm-blooded animal with two legs, wings, feathers, 4. List of animals:
and a beak. http://www.jacksonvillezoo.org/conte
5. Insect: noun. A small animal with three pairs of legs; three main nt.aspx?pageID=15505&CNM=Anim
parts to its body: the head, thorax, and abdomen; and usually wings, al%20List
with either one or two pairs of wings. Insects have a hard outer 5. List of animals:
skeleton and do not have a backbone. https://www.centralfloridazoo.org/ani
6. Arthropod: noun. An animal without a backbone that has a hard mals-attractions/animals/
outer skeleton and three or more pairs of legs that can bend. Insects, 6. List of insects:
spiders, lobsters, and shrimp are all arthropods. http://wildlife.floridanatureguide.com/
7. Classify: verb. To put things into groups according to the butterflies/florida-butterflies/
characteristics they have in common.

H.O.T.S. Graphic Organizer/Thinking Map:

Bloom’s Taxonomy http://www.enchantedlearning.com/graphicorga
http://www.edpsycinteractive.org/topics/cognition/bloom.html nizers/
Predict: Before flipping your card over, what animal do you think your card
is? Why? (All cards will have pictures on the front.)

There are a lot of differences between all these animals, but, in the end, they
are all living things. Is there anything that they all have in common as living
things?

(Take a card from the Amphibian section and move it to the Reptile section)
If I did this, why would I be incorrect?

(If a reptile or amphibian card is already in the wrong section and the
students have not corrected its placement after watching Brain Pop, address
the misconception.)

Did you notice any classifications of animals that share characteristics?

Why might this be important to keep in mind when we talk about the animal
life cycle?

Lesson Portions: Pacing ESOL Support

 How will you introduce the lesson, assess or activate For each level EL at each instructional step.
prior knowledge, motivate students to learn? (Add additional rows with Tab)
 How will the lesson develop or proceed? What steps will
you follow? What are the students expected to do?
 Highlight differentiated strategies.
 Underline higher order/high quality questions in lesson.
Introduction/Building Background: (Link to Prior Knowledge) B: Use gestures and be mindful of pace when
5 min. reading the zoo keeper story.
Tell students that they have a very important job to do today and I: N/A
that they should not touch the paper flipped over on their desks A: N/A
until told.

Read the short paragraph about how animals have broken loose at
the zoo.

Explain to the students that all the animals are animals that can be
found in different parts of the state of Florida and that the animals
they will get to learn about can be seen at different zoos around the
state.

Explain that it is the students’ job to return their animal to the

right part of the zoo. The posters around the room each represent a
different exhibit or section of the zoo. The students need to decide,
based on the facts provided with their animal, whether their animal
is a mammal, a reptile, an amphibian, a bird, or an insect.

Ask students:
Predict: Before flipping your card over, what animal do you think
your card is? Why?
Tell the students that, for now, you would like them to place their
animal based on what they remember from learning about animal
classification in third grade.

Instructional Steps: B: Make sure this EL has an animal that

includes simplified text.
(Allow time at either the beginning or the end of each lesson for LQ: What type of animal is your animal?
students to write in their life cycle observation journal. Since this I: N/A
will be the students’ first day completing them, take a few A: N/A
moments to state expectations.)

Tell the students that they can flip their cards over now and take a 10 min
few moments to read about their animal.

Ask the students to give a thumbs up when they think they are
ready to place their animal on one of the posters. (Once the teacher
sees that most students are ready to move, she can dismiss them.)

(Teacher will need to use a signal to get students back to their seats
when she thinks that they are wrapping up this portion of the
activity.)

_____________________________________________________
Ask the students once they have all returned to their desks how
they think they did with the activity. What do they remember from
the previous year? 10 min

Tell the students that they are now going to see a short video on
the classification of animals.
 Have the students pay close attention and have them think
about the decisions they made during the zoo activity as
they watch.
_____________________________________________________

Post Video Questions:

5 min
Ask the students:
 Now that they have seen the video, do they still think that
their animal found its way back to the right exhibit? Why
or why not?
 If the animal is in the wrong exhibit, what exhibit does
the animal belong in? Why?
 If your animal does not need to be relocated, what facts
from the video reassured you that you placed your animal
in the right exhibit?
Now that the students have gotten a refresher on the classifications
of animals:
Ask:
There are a lot of differences between all these animals, but, in the
end, they are all living things. Is there anything that they all have
in common as living things?

Did you notice any classifications of animals that share

characteristics?
Why might this be important to keep in mind when we talk about
the animal life cycle?

(They all have a life cycle. We will be learning more about the life
cycle of animals this week and we will even see one of these
animals in person this week! The painted lady butterflies.)

Closures Pacing ESOL Support

Content: B: What do all these animals have in common?
I: N/A
It is important that we understand animal classification because A: N/A
3 min
 We cannot begin to understand animal life cycle without
first understanding what type of animal we are discussing.
 Animal classification is also important because humans
are considered animals! We are mammals and we have a
life cycle just like the animals we will get to know more
about this week.
 You can even use animal classification to classify your
pets. For example, pet cats and dogs are mammals and pet
snakes, or geckos would be considered reptiles!

Procedural:

Tell the students that they can take out their materials for their
next subject and wait for Mrs. Long’s instructions.

ESE Modifications CPLAMS Access Points ESE Accommodations

http://www.cpalms.org/Standards/AccesspointSearch.aspx (content, product, process, environment)
(identify access point, if needed)
Process: Text is simplified and to the point on
Independent all cards and, for EL students specifically, the
teacher would read the animal card aloud with
SC.4.L.16.In.3: Identify similarities in the major stages in the life cycles of those students if she sees them starting to
common Florida plants and animals. struggle.

Supported

SC.4.L.16.Su.3: Recognize the major stages in life cycles of common plants

and animals.
Participatory

SC.4.L.16.Pa.3: Match offspring of animals with parents.

Assessment of Student Learning: (congruent with instructional objectives)

Objective 1: The teacher will be able to see students’ learning based on

where they place their animal card.

Objective 2:
Post Lesson Analysis
Lesson Adjustment: (How are you re-teaching objectives for mastery based on formative assessment? Include evidence.)

Based on what I was able to see of the students’ prior knowledge, there are some students that still struggle with animal
classification, despite one student saying that the activity was “dumb.” I have a wide range of abilities in my class and I need to
make sure that my instruction is suited for all those abilities. I had one student place a fish in the amphibian section, but I think
that this was because the student did not take the time to read the labels I pointed out. They just looked for the poster with a
body of water on it. So, I will be sure to point out text clues as much as possible from this point forward. In addition, I will
need to make sure that students have a clear understanding of amphibians vs. reptiles. I anticipated that this would be difficult
for some students. I was right. So, in lessons that include the frog life cycle, I will remind them that a frog is an amphibian
because amphibians start out with gills and then grow lungs. Reptiles start with lungs. This was a misconception that the
students had. I will continue to clarify this throughout my following lessons.

Reflection on Teaching: (Analyze and evaluate your lesson and class management.)

I think that I made a few decisions on the spot that made the classroom management for this lesson easier than it would have
been. I still need a lot of practice with classroom management. This was a weak point in my lesson that I will be looking to
improve as the week progresses. In my lesson, I had it planned that they would all get up at the same time and place their cards
on the correct poster when I gave them the signal to. I quickly realized that the kids would not be able to do this at the noise
level that I wanted and in an orderly fashion (especially coming back from spring break). So, I dismissed them by classification
category. I said, “If you think you have a reptile, you may go place your card.” I said something like this for every
classification group that I had a poster for until they were all full. The students were still jittery, but I imagine they would have
been louder and harder to call back to their seats if I had let them go all at once.

However, letting them go by classification group posed a new issue that I hadn’t thought about. Some students placed their
cards wrong and then other students would yell out when they recognized that the card was in the wrong place. I told them not
to worry and that we would be talking about the possibility of mismatched cards as a class. I tried to move closer to the desks
of students who were talking during the video to get them to stop. It worked somewhat. I used the “give me five” signal and it
was effective. I only used it once. Had I used it too many times, I don’t think it would have had the same results.

I heard one student mumble that the motivational activity was “dumb.” This student already knew a fair amount about animal
classification. However, it was clear that the students needed this refresher on the concept as a class because I had some
students flip-flop amphibians and reptiles. I also had a student put a fish in the amphibian section. This tells me that the student
may not have been looking at the classifications written on the posters. It is possible that this student was only looking at the
pictures to locate a body of water on one. At first, my EL struggled to place his animal on the right poster and gave up. He gave
the card back to me. After playing the Brain Pop video, I asked the class where his animal (the tree frog) was supposed to go.
He raised his hand and was able to place it correctly at that point.

My HOTs questions eventually produced the answers I was looking for from the students and I was better about giving
appropriate amounts of wait time. Students were able to tell me that all living things have life cycles and were able to point out
that amphibians have gills when they are young, and reptiles do not.

Addressing Pre-PGP: INTEGRATED BLOCK ONLY

(Using the three Pre-PGP goals completed in EDUC 393, describe how you progressed, or not, toward improving your practice
within those Domains. Include a statement on how your efforts impacted, or not, students’ learning experiences.) Complete this
box after the 2nd social studies lesson, the 2nd math lesson, the 2 nd reading lesson, and one lesson within the science unit.
1.
2.
3.

Response to Feedback: INTEGRATED BLOCK ONLY

To be completed after post-observation meeting: Review and consider provided feedback. Describe how you will implement
next steps going forward. Explain how these next steps will impact students’ learning experiences.

Animals on the Loose!

An animal classification activity
Materials Needed:
 24 Florida animal cards with facts
 6 animal classification posters that represent habitats (see posters on page 2)
 Brain Pop Jr. animal classification video
 Zookeeper narrative
Safety Concerns:
 Make sure that students are aware of procedures for moving around the classroom prior to the activity
taking place.
 Establish a signal with the students for when they are expected to be back in their seats.
Teacher Knowledge:
 Teacher explanation of activity: “You each have a card on your desk that has a picture on the front of an
animal that can be found in Florida. There is key information on the back of this card that you should be
able to use to figure out what animal classification the animal you have belongs to. In addition, there are a
few fun facts about the specific animal included on your card. Most of these animals can be seen at either
the Central Florida Zoo or the Jacksonville Zoo.”
 The teacher should be able to summarize all that is listed below in fewer words and with their audience in
mind. The teacher should be able to remind the students of the information below prior to the start of the
activity without overwhelming them. A reminder that is similar to this would do the job:
 “Before we begin this activity be sure to keep in mind some key characteristics of each animal category.
Mammals are warm-blooded, usually have hair or fur, and have live births. Amphibians are cold-blooded,
live in the water and have gills when they are young, and live on land and develop lungs when they grow
into adults. Reptiles are cold-blooded and most of them reproduce by laying eggs. Birds are warm-blooded
animals who have a beak, wings, and feathers. Fish are cold-blooded, have gills, and swim under water.
Insects are small and have three parts that make up their bodies, the head, the thorax, and the abdomen.
Keep this information along with any other information about animal classification learned in third grade in
mind when reading your informational cards and placing them in a habitat.”
 The teacher should also take the time to make connections to support why the information being learned is
important to students:
-Humans are animals too. Specifically, humans are mammals!

-In order to understand and help care for animals fully, we first need to understand how to classify them and
what characteristics they have or share with other classifications of animals.

-Added little connection that the teacher could make: After this activity, students may be able to classify
animals that are in their everyday lives, like their pets!
The student friendly definitions of each animal classification:
Mammal: noun. A warm-blooded animal that has hair or fur and usually gives birth to live babies. Female
mammals produce milk to feed their young.
Amphibian: noun. A cold-blooded animal with a backbone that lives in water and breathes with gills when
young. As an adult, it develops lungs and lives on land. Frogs, toads, and salamanders are amphibians.
Reptile: noun. A cold-blooded animal that crawls or creeps on short legs. Reptiles have backbones and
most of them reproduce by laying eggs.
Bird: noun. A warm-blooded animal with two legs, wings, feathers, and a beak.
Fish: noun. A cold-blooded animal that lives in water and has scales, fins, and gills.
Insect: noun. A small animal with three pairs of legs; three main parts to its body: the head, thorax, and
abdomen; and usually wings, with either one or two pairs of wings. Insects have a hard outer skeleton and
do not have a backbone.
Arthropod: noun. An animal without a backbone that has a hard outer skeleton and three or more pairs of
legs that can bend. Insects, spiders, lobsters, and shrimp are all arthropods.
Standards:
  SC.4.L.16.4: Compare and contrast the major stages in the life cycles of Florida plants and animals, such as
those that undergo incomplete and complete metamorphosis, and flowering and nonflowering seed-bearing
plants.
 SC.3.L.15.1: Classify animals into major groups (mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, fish, arthropods,
vertebrates and invertebrates, those having live births and those which lay eggs) according to their physical
characteristics and behaviors.

Assessment:
 This assessment would show the teacher that the students understand animal classification, a prerequisite skill, before
getting into the topic of animal life cycles. This would be evident based on the choices students made when returning their
assigned animal back to its habitat.
 If this lesson and assessment were really given, they would let the teacher know whether she needs to spend more time
reviewing the animal classification skills covered in third grade or whether the students have enough background
knowledge to move on to life cycles and be successful with that standard.

Visual:

The teacher will read the following aloud to students before beginning the activity:

Zookeeper Story:
The City of DeBary Zoo has just had its grand opening. You were hired as a zookeeper. You are packing
up your things and getting ready to head home when another zookeeper comes running into the zoo staff area to tell
you that all the animals have gotten out of their cages! Oh no! It is up to you to wrangle the animals back into their
correct exhibits before the zoo opens again for visitors tomorrow morning. Good luck! Keep what you learned about
animal classification last year in mind as you gather these animals and return them to their exhibits.

Animal Facts from Cards:

Florida Black Bear

I am warm-blooded. I am covered in fur. I have live births and I have a backbone.

Fun Fact: I normally eat about 5,000 calories worth of food per day. In the fall, I can eat up to 20,000 calories a day.

Florida Bobcat

I am warm-blooded. I am covered in fur. I have live births and I have a backbone.

Fun Fact: I was given the name “bobcat” because of the short, stumpy “bobtail” that I have.

North American River Otter

I am warm-blooded. I am covered in fur. I breath with lungs and I have a backbone.

Fun Fact: I have two layers of fur: the undercoat and the guard hairs. The guard hairs are water proof and keep the
undercoat from getting wet.

Florida Panther

I am warm-blooded. I am covered in fur. I have live births and I have a backbone.

Fun Fact: I can live up to 15 years in the wild.

Florida King Snake

I am cold-blooded. I am covered in scales and I lay eggs.

Fun Fact: The pattern and color of my scales help me to blend into my surroundings.

American Alligator

I am cold-blooded. I am covered in scales. I lay eggs and I have four limbs.

Fun Fact: When I was born, I was only about 8 inches.

Spotted Turtle

I am cold-blooded. I have four limbs and a hard shell. I lay eggs.

Fun Fact: In the winter, I burrow in the mud to hibernate.

Florida Box Turtle

I am cold-blooded. I have four limbs and a hard shell. I lay eggs.

Fun Fact: I have a hinge on the bottom of my shell that helps me to close my shell
 super tightly. This way, predators will not get in.

Peninsula Newt

I am cold-blooded and I have a backbone. I was born from an egg and I had gills when I was young.

Fun Fact: I can live up to 15 years in the wild.

Marbled Salamander

I am cold-blooded and I have a backbone. I lay eggs and I had gills when I was young.

Fun Fact: I have poisonous glands on my tail that protect me from predators.

Green Tree Frog

I am cold-blooded and I have a backbone. When I was younger, I had gills.

Now, I have lungs. I lay eggs.

Fun Fact: I have really good hearing and I can hear vibrations through the ground.

Striped Newt

I am cold-blooded and I have a backbone. I lay eggs and I had gills when I was young.

Fun Fact: I release toxins through my skin that protect me from predators.

Red Fish

I can breathe underwater because I have gills. I am cold-blooded and I lay eggs

Fun Fact: The heaviest red fish caught in Florida was 51 pounds.

Sea Trout

I have gills that help me breathe under water. I am cold-blooded and I was born from an egg.

Fun Fact: I grow to a maximum length of 39 inches.

Flounder

I have gills that help me breathe under water. I am cold-blooded and I was born from an egg.

Fun Fact: I am a flat fish and both of my eyes are on one side of my head.
 Mackerel

I can breathe underwater because I have gills. I am cold-blooded and I lay eggs

Fun Fact: I swim in large schools or groups of fish that can be up to 20 miles long.

Monarch Butterfly

I am small and I have three main parts to my body: the head, the thorax, and the abdomen.

Fun Fact: My wings flap 300 to 720 times a minute.

Painted Lady Butterfly

I am small and I have three main parts to my body: the head, the thorax, and the abdomen.

Fun Fact: I have eye patterns under my wings to scare away predators.

Question Mark Butterfly

I am small and I have three main parts to my body: the head, the thorax, and the abdomen.

Fun Fact: My name was given to me because of the question mark pattern on my hindwings.

Blue Dasher Dragonfly

I am small and I have three main parts to my body: the head, the thorax, and the abdomen.

Fun Fact: Female Blue Dasher Dragonflies have yellow stripes on their abdomens.

Red-Tailed Hawk

I am warm-blooded. I have a beak and feathers.

Fun Fact: I can spot mice and other rodents from 100 feet away in the air.

Bald Eagle

I am warm-blooded. I have a beak and feathers.

Fun Fact: I am the national emblem of the United States of America.

Florida Cormorant

I am warm-blooded. I have a beak and feathers.

Fun Fact: I dive underwater to catch fish.

 Florida Sandhill Crane

I am warm-blooded. I have a beak and feathers.

Fun Fact: I have a bald patch at the top of my head that is red.