Lauryn's 1st Lesson

Our first english lesson for the unit is an introduction to the rainforest and a way for me as the teacher to see what the students already know about the topic. The first activity is filling out a KWL chart. As a class, we will do the 'K' column together; students writing on their worksheet and I am writing on the blackboard/Smartboard. Then, I will have students share out loud what they would like to learn about the rainforest, but I will have them add to the list with their own ideas. This worksheet will be a way that I formally assess them and make sure everyone was participating and following directions. The second activity is using the Student Response System to get everyone in the class involved in answering basic questions about the rainforest. I will have a powerpoint presentation created that contains the questions to be asked. This will also inform me about what the class already knows or does not know about the rainforest. The final activity for the day is reading a poem written by students in the Amazon. Each child will read a section of the poem and we will look at the pictures that accompany it. For a conclusion, students will be asked to discuss with a partner the differences they see between the Amazon environment and our own.