LessonFarm.Com
Home | Search/Browse Lessons | Questions?
Welcome Guest
Login | Register
     
 
A Lesson on I Like Plants Export Lesson as PDF | Save As Favorite

A Lesson on I Like Plants Grade: Grade 5
Subject: English Language Arts
Created by: Sammantha King
Lesson Length: 1 hour 45 minutes
Keywords/Tags: plant vocabulary
Lesson Description: This lesson's goal is to have students read and write critically. Students will be asked to read a short passage and respond in discussion questions that will require students to reread the passage. Students will also learn new vocabulary words through reading and rereading the passage. After reading the passage, students will also be asked to make their own ending to the story. This will engage the students in the story and have them think critically. Students will read the story "I like plants". This lesson may be split into two days.
Common Core Standards Covered with This Lesson
  • CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.5.2: Determine a theme of a story, drama, or poem from details in the text, including how characters in a story or drama respond to challenges or how the speaker in a poem reflects upon a topic; summarize the text.
  • CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.5.5: Compare and contrast the overall structure (e.g., chronology, comparison, cause/effect, problem/solution) of events, ideas, concepts, or information in two or more texts.
  • CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.5.2: Write informative/explanatory texts to examine a topic and convey ideas and information clearly.
  • CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.5.2d: Use precise language and domain-specific vocabulary to inform about or explain the topic.
  • CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.5.3b: Use narrative techniques, such as dialogue, description, and pacing, to develop experiences and events or show the responses of characters to situations.
  • CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.5.1d: Review the key ideas expressed and draw conclusions in light of information and knowledge gained from the discussions
  • CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.5.4: Determine or clarify the meaning of unknown and multiple-meaning words and phrases based on grade 5 reading and content, choosing flexibly from a range of strategies.
  • CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.5.4a: Use context (e.g., cause/effect relationships and comparisons in text) as a clue to the meaning of a word or phrase.
 
     
     
 
Lesson Content: Reading
Instructions: Please read the following reading passage as many times as needed (aloud and silent) before starting to go through other lesson pages. Understanding the content of this passage is very important since the lesson activities will be all about this content. Feel free to print the passage if needed.

I Like Plants

Even when I was very young, I always loved plants. When we walked to school, I would look at the different plants. I would make up names for them. I would draw pictures of them. When my teacher asked us to draw a picture of anything we liked, I always drew pictures of plants. 

When I got to high school, I took a course that was all about plants. Most students took the course in biology. But I took the course on plants. We went into the park and identify different species. It was amazing to find that there were at least 27 different kinds of plants in our neighborhood park. In fact, there were about 12 different kinds of trees. Some were deciduous. We were there in spring, so they had their leaves.  

I learned that weeds are not really bad plants. They are interlopers. They come from another environment. Somehow they get to the new environment. It could be that animals bring them. The animals might pick up the seeds on their fur and carry them to the new habitat. Then they fall off and start to grow. 

When I went to college, I knew that I wanted to study plants. I wanted to work in a career in which I would be a plant scientist. I wanted to be a botanist. I took courses in math, English, and history. They were good courses. But it was the science courses I loved. 

Now I am teaching at a college. I am teaching about plant life. I explain how fertilizers can help plants grow but also can destroy the balance of nature. I teach about helpful insects. One of the most helpful insects for plants is the ladybug. Ladybugs are small insects that eat aphids. They can protect plants by eating the aphids that would eat the plants' leaves. There are about 5,000 kinds of ladybugs. In winter the ladybug hibernates. Then in spring it comes back out and starts to protect the plants again. Several states have named the ladybug their state insect. 

I teach about ecology, too. I explain that if you introduce a non-native herbivore into an environment it can cause problems. For example, in Australia long ago people brought rabbits. The rabbits ate so many plants that they caused a problem. This invasive species ate plants that other animals depended on. The rabbits even killed trees. They ate the bark off the trees, and the trees died. Some people think that Australia's desert has expanded significantly because of the introduction of the rabbits. They say it is a very big problem. 

I keep learning more about plants and the animals that depend on them. I like being a teacher because I am always learning more. I learn from my research on the Internet now as well as going to 
the park and studying the plants in my community.

 
     
     
 
Task 1: Vocabulary Activity (35 points)
Instructions: Please complete the following vocabulary activity by choosing the correct meaning of each word selected from the passage and use of each word correctly in a sentence.

Vocabulary Questions

Word/Phrase: I wanted to work in a career in which I would be a plant scientist. I wanted to be a botanist. | Tier: 3 | Points: 10
Q1 "I wanted to work in a career in which I would be a plant scientist. I wanted to be a botanist." Botanist most likely means?
A. A plant
B. someone who wants to study plants for a living *
C. Someone who doesn't want to eat meat
D. both B and C

which one of these sentences uses the word "botanist"correctly?
A. Michelle is a botanist because she plants flowers in her garden
B. Greg is a certified botanist and studies exotic plants in the rain forest. *
C. A botanist sells flowers in a shop.
D. If Andy buys his girlfriend roses he is technically a botanist.

Word/Phrase: I explain that if you introduce a non-native herbivore into an environment it can cause problems | Tier: 3 | Points: 10
Q2 "I explain that if you introduce a non-native herbivore into an environment it can cause problems" what does the word Herbivore most likely mean in this sentence?
A. An animal that feeds on plants. *
B. A animal that feeds on meat only.
C. An extinct animal.
D. A different colored animal.

which sentence uses the word herbivore correctly?
A. The herbivore ate a meatball sub.
B. Lily saw a herbivore munch on her prized daisy's the day before the competition. *
C. The most famous herbivore is the T-Rex.
D. Anthony is a herbivore because his salad has bacon in it.

Word/Phrase: This invasive species ate plants that other animals depended on. The rabbits even killed trees | Tier: 2 | Points: 5
Q3 This invasive species ate plants that other animals depended on. The rabbits even killed trees" According to these sentences "invasive" most likely means?
A. Lucky
B. Intolerable
C. Undesirable *
D. Intellegent

which of the following uses the word "invasive" correctly?
A. Scott's presence at work was Invasive to Anthony. *
B. Margret's presence at her birthday party was invasive.
C. The sun is was invasive to the plants growth.
D. Jillian felt homework was invasive to her time so she asked for more.

Word/Phrase: e went into the park and identify different species. It was amazing to find that there were at least 27 different kinds of plants in our neighborhood park. | Tier: 2 | Points: 10
Q4 Reread Paragraph two. what does the word species mean?
A. A group of organisms that can exchange genes and are similar *
B. Animals that feed on meat only
C. A group of organisms that live in the same habitat
D. Animals that have wings

which of the sentences below best show what species really are?
A. A were-wolf is the same species as a wolf
B. A frog and turtle come from the same species
C. A German Shepard and a Labrador are part of the same species *
D. A mountain is a species of Rock

Standards Covered with This Lesson Activity: CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.5.4, CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.5.4a, CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.5.4a,
 
     
     
 
Task 2: Discussion Activity (30 points)
Instructions: This discussion forum will have questions for students to respond. Read the posted questions, and respond to each. Students are responsible for posting one initial and and two peer responses for each topic.

  Topic Title Replies

Message Ecology
Reread paragraph six about Ecology. In the paragraph it explains why rabbits were not good for Australia. what kind of animals would not be good to be introduced into your homeland? why? what kind of affects would they have on the environment for other plants and animals? write a two to three paragraphs on the subject.
Sent on: Oct 12, 2013 by: Sammantha King
0

Message Helpful Insects
Reread paragraph five.In paragraph five it talks about lady bugs and how they help plants. what other insects help plants? How? Pretend like you are the author of this story and tell us what insect you would teach your class and why? Make sure to explain how your bug helps plants.

Make sure to write at least two paragraphs.


Sent on: Oct 12, 2013 by: Sammantha King
0

Message Teaching
The author of our story tells us that he loves teaching because their is so much to learn. In what ways do you think teachers learn? From books , other teachers , studies , their students?  select at least two of these options or your own ideas and explain how the author may learn from them. Give examples of what he would learn and if it be a good idea to use in his future lessons. write a paragraph for each one of your selections.
Sent on: Oct 12, 2013 by: Sammantha King
0

Standards Covered with This Lesson Activity: CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.5.5, CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.5.2, CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.5.1d,
 
     
     
 
Task 3: Writing Activity (35 points)
Instructions: The Author talks about his expirences in life and how his love of botony took him down a path of experiences that ultimately lead him to the choice to become a teacher to teach his passion. where else do you think his studies of botany might take him? write a continuation of the story. You can explain an experience of him teaching botany to his students or if he takes a year off to study pants in the rain forest what he might find. write a minimum of four paragraphs or five hundred words. You can use examples from the story or classroom books , materials or even the internet to look up ideas for the type of plants he may study.
Standards Covered with This Lesson Activity: CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.5.2, CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.5.2d, CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.5.3b,
 
     

University of South Florida Patent & Copyright Office © 2017 (Tech ID # Pending)