FACTS Lesson Plan (Revised)
Title: Planting Seeds of Generosity
Grade: 5th
Duration: One Semester
Foundations
| Literacy: |
Symbolic Competence: Students will analyze and understand graphics in charts and graphs such as the plant life cycle. They will understand and utilize visual representations such as mapping symbols, numeric symbols in directories, and how to videos. They will use math symbols as they research, plan, and create their vegetable garden.
Discourse Forms: . They will identify the most important information from what they read and use what they need as they create their vegetable garden as a product. They will demonstrate the knowledge gained by the final sharing activities they create such as the photo story.
Cognitive Forms: Students will have the opportunity to use cognitive abilities throughout the unit. They will use fiction, non-fiction text, and references such as maps, graphs, handbooks, textbooks, directories, videos and internet resources to understand information associated with plant growth and gardening. They will have to understand, apply ,and analyze the information acquired in order to create their final product, the photo story.
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| Problem-Solving: |
Authentic Problem: According to the USDA, an estimated 12.4 million children lived in food insecure (low food security and very low food security) households in 2007. Texas has one of the highest rates of food insecure children. The local food banks of Texas, who depends on donations of canned foods and fresh produce, helps families in need all over Texas.
Elementary students can make a difference by acting as agrarians. In order to yield the most product they will use valley native plants vs. non-native. Students in the 5th grade will plan, construct, plant, maintain and harvest a vegetable garden. They will also act as humanitarians by donating their produce to a local food bank. Their donation will make a difference in our community by helping families in need of food.
Strategies:
(1) Students will begin by researching information about the local environment and type of vegetables that grow in that environment.
1a Students will gather handbooks and reference books on soils and gardening.
1b Students have to reaserch wich vegetables are native and which are not. They will only plant native vegetables.
1c Students will identify the ideal environment for a vegetable garden and locate a spot around the school that is suitable to start a garden
1d Students will create a plan and design for their vegetable garden.
(2) Students will become knowledgeable in the process of plant growth
2a Students will research and analyze the plant cycle thru non-fiction text, internet resources, and educational videos
(3) Students will start physical part of creating a vegetable garden
3a Students will keep a journal of daily activities in the garden
3b Students will analyze the soil and till the ground
3c Students will plant the chosen vegetables
3d Students will maintain the garden by watering, weeding, and fertilizing
3e Students will harvest the vegetable garden
(4) Students will donate the harvested produce to a local food bank
4a Students will identify all the local food banks in our area
4b Students will select one that provides for the local community
4c They will contact the food bank and arrange a meeting for donation
4d They will present their sharing activity, a photo story based on their daily activity journal in the garden
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| Knowledge: |
Disciplinary Structures:
Students as Agrarians: plant life cycle, what a plant needs to grow, ideal environment for a garden, types of vegetables that grow locally, type of local soil, scientific vocabulary, living things that affect plant growth, agriculture,
Students as Humanitarians: various causes of food shortage, how many food banks are found locally, impact of donation on our community, cause and effect relationship
Students as Data Analyst: change over time, data collection
Disciplinary Process:
Students as Agrarians: measuring, plotting, graphing, analyzing, map reading and writing, observing, creating, planting, harvesting, problem solving Students as Humanitarians: researching, data collecting, verifying, selecting, donating
Students as Data Analyst: data collecting, reporting, analyzing, observing, drawing conclusions, multimedia skills
Disciplinary Discourse:
Students as Agrarians: Students will research and study a variety of data to help them plan, till, harvest and maintain a successful vegetable garden. They will measure the crop yield for the vegetables they plant.
Students as Humanitarians: Students will research and select a food bank and arrange a visit to the school to provide donations. They will analyze the cause of food shortages in our area and identify the effect of their donations to the community.
Students as Data Analyst: Students will collect data throughout the project and present the information of the entire process using photo story.
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| Using Information: |
Students will research information from a variety of sources including internet, reference material, text, educational videos, to learn about creating a vegetable garden and the plant life cycle. Students will create a photystory based on their daily journal with all the activities they engaged in to produce the vegetables donated. They will present this information to the food bank members and othe community members on donation day. |
| Community: |
Local: Students will invite parents and other volunteers to help with the physical aspect of the vegetable garden creation. They will also research the local foodbanks for information on their impact to our community. They will chose the one that they feel makes the gratest impact in their area.
Personal: Student will work together in heterogeneous groups throughout the various steps of the project. Through collaboration students will be able to improve their academic and social skills.
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Activities
| Authentic Activities: |
1.Students will design, create, maintain, and harvest a vegetable garden.
2.Contact a local food bank and arrange a visit to the campus.
3. Donate the produce harvested to the food bank.
4. Present a Photo Story about their project to the foodbank members and invited guests from the community
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| Background Building Activities: |
1. Students will listen to a Food Bank speaker who will talk about the importance of donating and various methods of doing this
2.The students will create a web of ideas on what they know about gardening.
3. In groups students will research gardening, plant life cycle, native vegetables vs. non-native, local environment
4. Each group will present their findings through a power-point presentation
5.Students will choose 6 native vegetables and will create a design for the vegetable garden
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| Constructing Activities: |
1.Using their critical thinking skills the students will find the optimal location for the vegetable garden. This will be an area that receives sun but also shade, that is close to a water source and if possible that is close to their classroom.
2.Using their math skills, students will measure and fence the area that will be used for the garden.
3.They will create a brochure that will summarize their project and use it to invite parents and community members and volunteers to help till the area that will be used for planting.
4.Once the ground is ready for planting, the students will plant the various types of vegetables they have chosen. The students will be divided in teams of 4 and each team will be in charge of a specific vegetable and area. This will include watering, weeding, fertilizing,and cultivating.
5. When they harvest the vegetables, students will graph crop yield using Excel Applications
6.As they work on the project students will take pictures of the different stages of the garden.They will keep a daily journal of activities in the garden on using Microsoft Word.
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| Sharing Activities: |
In their teams, students will use the pictures collected plus their daily log to create a Photostory of their vegetable garden project. The Photostory will be shared with the food bank members plus invited parents when the donations of the vegetables are made. |
Contents
| Contents: |
TEKS and Grade Level (5.5)Listening/speaking/audiences. The student speaks clearly and appropriately to different audiences for different purposes and occasions. (5.10) Reading/comprehension. The student comprehends selections using a variety of strategies. (5.13)Reading/inquiry/research. The student inquires and conducts research using a variety of sources. (5.15)Writing/purposes. The student writes for a variety of audiences and purposes, and in a variety of forms. (5.21)Writing/inquiry/research. The student uses writing as a tool for learning and research. (5.11)Measurement. The student applies measurement concepts. (5.14) Underlying processes and mathematical tools. The student applies Grade 5 mathematics to solve problems connected to everyday experiences and activities in and outside of school. (5.3) Scientific processes. The student uses critical thinking and scientific problem solving to make informed decisions. (5.6) Science concepts. The student knows that some change occurs in cycles. (5.7) Solving problems. The student uses appropriate computer-based productivity tools to create and modify solutions to problems. |
Tools
| Tools: |
*Science Books to learn about the plant life cycle.
*Maps to find where the local food banks are located and choose the one closes to our area.
*Directories to contact the food bank *Handbooks to research what type of soils are found in our area and what type of vegetables we can grow *Desktop publisher to create the brochure that will be sent out to parents as an invitation to contribute to the garden.
*Word Processor to keep their daily log of activities
*Excel Spreadsheet to graph the crop yield
*Digital Cameras to take pictures for their Photo Story
*Internet to research more information on planting vegetables.
*Photo Story 3 to create their sharing activity
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Systems of Assessment
| Assessments: |
Students will be assessed in various ways and at several point into the project.
Rubric Assessment: Each student will recieve a rubric when creating their informational brochure. They will be assessed in organization, ideas, conventions, writing, and graphics. Then students will select the best brochure and this one will be used to send it to parents. They will also recive a rubric when creating their photo story as a group. They will be assessed on content, layout, writing and graphics.
Journals: Students are to keep a daily log of the activities they engage in while working on the project. Teacher will read entries and provide feedback.
Teacher Observation: Teacher will discuss the importance of team work and collaboration since there are some activities that will be done in group. Throughout the project, teacher will give a grade based on how well each student works with others.
Presentation- Students will be assessed on how well they present their Photostory to the Food Bank Members and parents during their sharing activity.
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Learning Environment
| Environment: |
The students will work on their project daily for 1.5 hours. This will be done during the science period plus the computer lab time. The lessons and activities will take place in the classroom, outdoors in the vegetable garden, out in the community, and in the computer lab. The duration of the whole project will be one semester |
Design Challenge 2
Top 10 Principles of the Efficiency Model. 1.This model was developed to meet the needs of an industrialized, print oriented society. 2.This model includes four main parts which are define a learning goal, state the objectives, sequence instruction, and determine learning success. 3.The objectives are stated clearly as a guide of what is to be thought and the behaviors that are to be displayed by the learner. 4.Instruction is design to present information in a sequential series of steps. 5.Students are given positive reinforcement if correct and are moved on to the next learning goal. Students who are wrong are rethought the skill. 6.Allows for drill and practice. 7.Was designed in order to make learning efficient. 8.Most of the information is gained thru the use of books or text. 9.It is an assessment driven system. 10.Is based on the idea that students will be successful if they are given the exact amount of time they need to master the skill.
Top 10 Challenges to the Efficiency Model 1.Students are passive learners and instruction is teacher centered. 2.One size fits all instruction. Does not differentiate. 3.Does not allow for much cooperative learning since working together is ‘cheating’. 4.Focuses on fact memorization. 5.Does not focus on multiple intelligence but mainly linguistic and logical mathematics. 6.Subjects are not interconnected. 7.There are not many connections between what is learned in school and the real world. 8.Students are not given the opportunity to construct their own meaning of the world around them. 9.Students are given little or no access to technology. 10.Outside of school students learn from peers, television, computers and not from the pages of a text book.
Step 1: Define learning goals Know the structure of a story plot.
Step 2: Learning Objectives The learner will demonstrate knowledge of the plot structure. (Ex: introduction, rising action, climax, falling action, resolution)
Step 3: Sequence Instruction 1. The teacher will introduce the basic definition of plot and analyze the plot structure graphic organizer. 2. Students will listen to the online story of the three little pigs found at http://216.36.206.143/Three_Little_Pigs/storybook/storybook.htm. As they listen, students are to look for events that fit the plot graphic organizer. 3. Teacher stops between reading to write the events and information given by students in a butcher paper or overhead. 4. After reading the book, teacher circles the most important events that can be placed in the plot structure graphic organizer. Teacher and students discuss where the events are to be placed in the plot graphic organizer. 5. On the smartboard, students help the teacher place the events in the right area using the interactive plot diagram found in http://www.readwritethink.org/materials/plot-diagram/. 6. Teacher reads the book again and students fill out the story plot diagram independently or in pairs using a paper copy.
Step 4: Determine Learning Success Students will be able to fill out the plot diagraph and identify story plot individually when given a paper copy of the plot diagram.
A reflection and critique of the design The strengths of this lesson is that the teacher uses visuals, such as the plot diagram, and technology, such as providing an online story. The students will be able to read along and read independently since the story is projected in the smartboard and not in a small print book. An improvement that can be done is to provide more opportunity for practice for those students who did not understand the plot diagram. Maybe by using another version of the Three Little Pigs students can work on filling out the story plot diagram in a center.
Design Challenge 3
Teachers as Designers: A Cinquain Poem
Teacher Patient, Positive Flexible, Innovative, Creative Open-minded to new ideas Pioneer
Teachers as Designers: A Diamente Poem
Teacher Path leader Guides, Supports, Instructs Coach, Mentor, Assimilator, Learner Adjustes,Changes,Creates Intuitive, Curious Apprentice
The FACTS Model: A Summary
The FACTS model is like a puzzle composed of five pieces where all of these pieces are essential to create a masterpiece,an effective lesson.
The F is for Foundations
F is for Foundations These are the skills we want our students to internalize. They are more than reading and math but rather thinking skills, habits of mind that will help them be successful in life.
The A is for Activity
A is for Activities The activities that students are presented with should give them the opportunity to think critically and problem solve. They should be authentic, and tied to real world.
The C is for Content
C is for Content The content is what the students are being thought in the lesson. Most educators in Texas use the TEKS as the standards for teaching content.
The T is for Tools
T is for Tools These are the tools that students use as they interact with content. These tools should present an intellectual challenge to students and should be consistent with what is being tought.
The S is for Systems of Assessment
S is for System of Assessment The student should be tested in a variety of ways including rubrics, portfolios, exhibitions and presentations. This takes in account the theory of multiple intelligence and that not all students learn the same way.
Comments (2)
Janice Wilson Butler said
at 9:38 am on Jul 14, 2009
Nicely laid out dis cussion of the FACTS model. Also, the lesson plan definitely fits the "old way" of doing lesson plans. I notice that you are usingthe Smart Board and that is one way of engaging the lesson. Although the lesson follows the efficiency model, reflect on this. Now that you have begun to develop lessons using FACTS design, can you think of ways to tweak the lesson and make it more student-centered and problem-based? Would the tweaking help students understand the lesson better? Meet the needs of more diverse students?
Janice Wilson Butler said
at 9:39 am on Jul 14, 2009
PS - I see you are using the materials from the ReadWrite web. Have you had Thinkfinity training? Or have you heard about the tool elsewhere?
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