EDU2003 Lesson Plan Using the edTPA Framework
Your Name: Samantha Hess
Grade level this plan is for:
First grade
Central Focus
(Content)
ELA Anchor Standard
Standards for
Mathematical Practice
Learning Standard(s)
for the Central Focus
Objectives based on the
Learning Standards
listed above
Prior Academic
Knowledge
Anticipated Issues
Materials you’ll use: “From Seed to Plant” book by Gail Gibbons, felt board, felt life cycle pictures,
laminated plant life cycle picture, small plastic clear pot, seeds, water, small watering can, soil, small
shovel, green construction paper, plant life cycle worksheet, scissors, glue sticks, crayons, colored pencils,
flip chart paper, “Label the Plant” worksheet.
Central Learning Focus and Planned Learning Outcomes
What are the stages of a plant’s life? In what order do plants grow?
Students will learn about the parts and life cycle of a plant. The parts indicate different life stages of a plant.
Students will incorporate this knowledge to draw and record their observations of a plant growing in the classroom.
NJSLSA.W2. Write informative/explanatory texts to examine and convey complex ideas and information clearly
and accurately through the effective selection, organization, and analysis of content.
8. Look for and express regularity in repeated reasoning
A. Structure and Function:
All organisms have external parts. Different animals use their body parts in different ways to see, hear, grasp
objects, protect themselves, move from place to place, and seek, find, and take in food, water and air. Plants also
have different parts (roots, stems, leaves, flowers, fruits) that help them survive and grow. (1-LS1-1)
Students will be able to organize images chronologically based on the life cycle of a plant.
Students will be able to record their findings by writing the proper vocabulary words and drawing pictures of what
they observe from our class plant.
Students have prior knowledge that plants need food, sunlight and water to grow. Students also have prior skills of
putting pictures into chronological order.
 Students may have issues identifying the parts of a plant at its different stages. If students are having
difficulty, the teacher will display a poster of a plant with labels for students to use as a guide.
 The class plant may grow too slowly or not grow at all, which will impact the lesson.
 Academic Language Demands
 Seed- An organism that can make a plant.
 Roots- Grow into the soil to take in food, such as water and minerals, from the soil.
 Plant- A group of living things that use sunlight to make their own food. A plant usually consists of roots, a
stem, leaves and flowers.
Language Used  Stem- A part of the plant that holds it up.
(Vocabulary, Syntax,  Leaves- The part of the plant that soaks up sunlight to make food.
Discourse)  Flower- A part of a plant that grows at the end of the stem. They are usually colored, and only live for a
short period of time. This is the part of the plant that makes seeds.
 Grow- To get bigger.
 Soil- Dirt that plants grow in.
 Light- Energy from the sun that helps plants grow.
 Oxygen- The air that we breathe. Plants make oxygen.
These vocabulary words will be introduced and explained from the book “From Seed to Plant” by Gail Gibbons.
Meeting the Language The words will also be put up on a word wall for the lesson. They will stay up, as this lesson will be expanding over
Demands time. All of these words will be emphasized throughout the entirety of the lesson through worksheets and
recordings of our class plant.
Assessment
Assessment Type Evaluation Criteria and Feedback for Students

Assessment Task Planned Modifications to
(Informal or (Teacher Tasks - What evidence of student learning related to the
Description Assessment Tasks
Formal) (Student Tasks) learning objectives and central focus does the assessment task
provide? What feedback will you provide the students?)
After reading “From Seed to If a student is struggling During this informal assessment, students may or may not
Plant”, the students will with the order of the be able to display the life cycle of a plant through pictures in
come up to the felt board pictures, they will be the correct order. Any students who are struggling can use
Informal one at a time to rearrange numbered for them to figure the numbers on the pictures for help, or go back to our book
the numbered felt pictures in it out that way as well. The as a reference. Any students who are still struggling can
(During Instruction)
order, displaying the life teacher can also refer back work one-on-one with the teacher. The teacher can clarify
cycle of a plant. to the book and flip through any issues the child is having by reading through the book
with the child for help. with the student again. The student can also receive a
laminated picture of the life cycle of a plant to look over.
When the students go up to If a student picks the wrong During this informal assessment, the students may or may
Informal rearrange the pictures on the answer for the thumbs up- not understand if the pictures of the life cycle of the plant
(During Instruction) felt board one at a time, they thumbs down assessment, are in the correct order. If a student is struggling, the teacher
other students can do a the teacher can go over the can ask other students why the pictures are in the right
 thumbs up-thumbs down pictures and why they are order. This way, struggling students can get feedback from
assessment of their right or wrong. The class not only the teacher, but also their peers. Any student that
sequencing. The teacher can can go over the life cycle really struggled can have a laminated picture of the life
ask the rest of the class if again, emphasizing the cycle of a plant to look at and compare to the felt board.
they think so and so is right, correct order.
and they can put their
thumbs up or down.
Students will go to their Some students may still The completed paper will be used as an evaluation for the
desks and be given need help with the order of students. Notes will be made regarding any students that
instructions on making a the life cycle. If a student is struggled during this activity. These students may need extra
plant life cycle picture. They still struggling at this point, help or support.
will receive a piece of paper they can work one-on-one
with the life cycle pictures with the teacher and go over
on it. The students will need the order again. The students
to cut the pictures out, then can also ask their classmates
glue them onto a piece of for help if they choose.
green construction paper in
the correct order. Once the
pictures are glued down, the
students can color in the
pictures. For the journal, the teacher The student’s observations, responses and drawings will be
Formal can write sentence starters used as an assessment for the students. This journal provides
Additionally, another formal on a chart for struggling proof of what they have been learning throughout this
(After Instruction)
assessment would be their students. Sentence starters lesson. The journal is a way for them to implement their
plant journals that they will can include: knowledge and use it to make observations. This assessment
be using to record the  “The plant has…” also shows if they can correctly identify the parts of a plant
growth of the class plant.  “I see…” as well.
The students will be  “The plant is…”
recording what they observe
with the class plant. They
will write sentences
describing what they see, as
well as drawing what they
see. The students will also
need to label any parts of
the plant that they recognize
as it grows, such as roots,
leaves, etc.

Launch / Motivation /
Anticipatory Set
(Engage)
Instructional Core
Sequence
(Explore, Explain, Elaborate)
Structured Practice &
Application
(Formal Assessment or
Evaluate)
Closure
Instructional Strategies and Learning Tasks
Engage:
 Students will come into the classroom and be asked to sit on the carpet. To peak the student’s interest, the
teacher will tell them that they will get to be botanists! Explain that botanists are scientists who study
plants. Then ask the students if they have ever planted anything before. The teacher can give ideas such as
“Have you ever planted flowers at home?” or even “Have you planted any vegetables in a garden?”. If any
of the students have, the teacher can begin explaining that whether it is flowers or food, they grow after
they get planted. The teacher can also ask questions such as “what plants do we see?” and “where do we
see plants?”. A follow up question to those can then be “what are some things that a plant needs in order to
grow?” Students will already have prior knowledge of plants needing food, water and sunlight to grow, so
the teacher will expect these answers.
 This is when the teacher will explain how plants start off as seeds, and when they get water and food and
sunlight, they change and grow into plants. Then the teacher will introduce the book “From Seed to Plants”
by Gail Gibbons, then read it aloud.
 After the book, introduce the felt board and the numbered pictures of the plant’s life cycle. Explain that the
students will get called on to come up and rearrange the pictures in order of a plant’s life cycle. The
pictures will be numbered to help the students indicate the order. It is okay if they get it wrong, as we just
went through the book and learned the order of the plant’s life.
Explore:
 During the felt board activity, the students that are on the carpet will be asked to put a thumbs up or a
thumbs down if their classmate’s life cycle order is correct or not. If it is wrong, ask why. Other classmates
can help the student figure out where they might have gone wrong. Each student will get a turn rearranging
pictures on the felt board.
 Once all of the students have had a turn, they will remain on the carpet. The teacher will explain that
altogether they will be planting a class plant. The students will take turns helping the teacher plant the
plant. A few of the students can scoop soil into the clear plastic pot. Another student can scoop out a little
hole for the seeds. Other students can put the seeds into the hole, and another student can cover the hole up
with soil.
Explain:
 Ask the students why the seeds need to be planted in soil. They should be able to recall what they have
learned from the book, which is that soil is food for a plant and has minerals and nutrients in it, like the
food we eat. If no one can remember answers, refer back to the book. Ask them what else the plant needs to
grow. When a student says water, someone who did not get a turn earlier can pour some water from a small
 watering can onto the plant. When another student says sunlight, ask them where they think the best place
for the plant to go is. Everyone should agree that it should go by a window.
Elaborate:
 Explain that each student will get a journal to observe the plants cycle and growth. They will write the date
they looked at the plant at the top of the paper, then write what they see and what progress the plant has
made. They will also draw and label what they see each time they observe the plant. The teacher will
provide sentence starters for the students that may have a hard time with writing. These sentences starters
can include “I see…”, “The plant is…”, “The plant has…”.
Evaluate:
 The students will get sent to their desks and told that they will make their own plant life cycle picture. Pass
out glue sticks, scissors, the picture sheet, and green construction paper to each student. They will get a
paper with the pictures of different stages of a plant’s life on it. They will need to cut out the pictures, and
glue them onto a piece of green construction paper. The teacher will walk around the room to help students
that are struggling. When they have finished gluing their life cycle pictures, they can get crayons or colored
pencils and color in their life cycle pictures.

Closure: Using a flip chart, the teacher will make a chart of what the students have learned. The class will share
their ideas. The teacher can ask guided questions such as “what are some parts of a plant?” and “what do plants
need to grow?”. The teacher will observe and record students understanding. The chart will get hung up in the
classroom and referred to throughout the entirety of the lesson.
How does your lesson This lesson includes language arts. Language arts comes into play when the students label the plants. They are
plan include language writing those vocabulary words next to the correct part of the plant. Language arts also takes place when the
arts, math, or social students are writing what they see in their plant journals. They will also be practicing writing complete sentences
studies content? describing what they observe.

If students complete the life cycle picture before their classmates, they will receive a worksheet called “Label the
Extension Activity Plant”. The worksheet has a word bank at the bottom, and the students will have to use those words to label the
parts of the plant in the picture.
Differentiation/Planned Materials and instruction: There will be a laminated, labeled picture of the life cycle of a plant for any struggling
Additional Support students. They can keep it and refer back to it whenever needed. As for the journals, there will be sentence starters
posted on a chart on the wall for any students who need it. More extra help may be required, where the teacher can
(Special Needs, ELL, work one-on-one with the students and provide different explanations or just reinforce the lesson if needed.
Gifted, Apathetic)
 Teaching Analysis
Which lesson aspects
worked?

Which did not work as

well as you planned?

What would you need to

say/do tomorrow, based
on how well this lesson
worked today?

Specific Changes

Resources
Fanucci, J. (2018, June 4). Life Cycle of a Plant | Lesson Plan | Education.com | Lesson plan | Education.com. Retrieved from
https://www.education.com/lesson-plan/life-cycle-of-a-plant/

New Jersey Department of Education. (2014). New Jersey Student Learning Standards for English Language Arts. Retrieved February 25, 2019, from
https://www.state.nj.us/education/cccs/2016/ela/g01.pdf

New Jersey Student Learning Standards for Science 1-LS1 From Molecules to Organisms: Structures and Processes. (2014). Retrieved February 25,
2019, from https://www.state.nj.us/education/cccs/2016/science/1-LS1.pdf