Content Areas: English Language Arts and Science​ Level: 1st grade
Common Core Standards Based Instruction:
​
​English Language Arts:
​Key Ideas and Details:
1. CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.1.1 Ask and answer questions about key details in a text.
2. CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.1.2 Retell stories, including key details, and demonstrate understanding of their central message or lesson.
3. CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.1.3 Describe characters, settings, and major events in a story, using key details.
​Craft and Structure
​5. Explain major differences between books that tell stories ​and books that give information, drawing on a wide
​reading of a range of text types.
​Integration of Knowledge and Ideas
​7. Use illustrations and details in a story to describe its ​characters, setting, or events.
​9. Compare and contrast the adventures and experiences of ​characters in stories.
​Science:
​Science as Inquiry
​The Abilities to Do Scientific Inquiry
​1. Ask questions about objects and events in the environment ​(e.g., plants, rocks, storms) (SI-E-A1)
​2. Pose questions that can be answered by using students’ own ​observations and scientific knowledge (SI-E-A1)
​3. Predict and anticipate possible outcomes (SI-E-A2)
​4. Use a variety of methods and materials and multiple trials to ​investigate ideas (observe, measure, accurately record data) ​(SI-E-A2)
​5. Use the five senses to describe observations (SI-E-A3)
​8. Express data in a variety of ways by constructing ​illustrations, graphs, charts, tables, concept maps, and oral and ​written explanations as appropriate (SI-E-A5) (SI-E-B4)
​9. Use a variety of appropriate formats to describe procedures ​and to express ideas about demonstrations or experiments ​(e.g., drawings, journals, reports, presentations, exhibitions, ​portfolios) (SI-E-A6)
​10. Identify and use appropriate safety procedures and ​equipment when conducting investigations (e.g., gloves, ​goggles, hair ties) (SI-E-A7)
​Life Cycles of Organisms
​31. Describe how animals and their offspring are similar and
​how they are different (LS- E-B3)
​Organisms and Their Environments
​32. Describe features of some animals that benefit them in their ​environments (LS-E-C1)
​33. Explain how pets' needs are met in their habitats (LS-E-​C1)
Learning Objectives:
Students will understand:
a. The life cycle of a frog.
b. Informational maps/charts.
c. Strategies to summarize and sequence informational texts.
d. Key details in a text.
Students will be able to:
a. Describe characters, settings, and major events in a story, using key details.
b. Use graphic organizers.
c. Explain major differences between books that tell stories and books that give information, drawing from a wide range of text types.
d. Illustrate details in a story to describe its characters, setting, or events.
e. Create a book report using the App: Kids Book Report
f. Print book report
g. Present the book report to the class
h. Organize presentation with beginning, middle and end.
i. Record observations.
j. Interpret simple graphs/tables.
k. Use the five senses to describe observations
Resources/Materials Needed:
1. Paper
2. Pencil
3. I pads
4. Wireless Printer
5. Crayons
6. App: Kids Book Report
7. Markers
8. Frog Life Cycle Strips
9. Internet Access
10. Frogs, Gail Gibbons (Informational)
11. Frog and Toad Are Friends, Arnold Lobel
12. Frog and Toad All Year, Arnold Lobel
13. The Mysterious Tadpole, Steven Kellogg
14. Aquarium w/ all equipment for live tadpoles
15. Live tadpoles
16. http://www.sfscience.com/rubrics/rubric_3.html
17. http://latham.dropbear.id.au/frogs/
Vocabulary Needed:
1. Amphibian-am·phib·i·an n. a cold-blooded vertebrate that spends some time on land but must breed and develop into an adult in water. Frogs, salamanders, and toads are amphibians.
2. Predators-pred·a·tor n. a carnivorous animal that hunts, kills, and eats other animals in order to survive, or any other organism that behaves in a similar manner.
3. Prey-prey n. an animal or animals that are caught, killed, and eaten by another animal as food
4. Similar-sim·i·lar adj. sharing some qualities, but not exactly identical.
5. Different-dif·fer·ent adj. not the same as something or somebody else.
6. Ability-a·bil·i·ty n. the capacity to do something or perform successfully.
7. Absorb-ab·sorb v. to soak up a liquid or take in nutrients or chemicals gradually.
8. Retain-re·tain v. to keep possession of something.
9. Transparent-trans·par·ent adj. allowing light to pass through with little or no interruption or distortion so that objects on the other side can be clearly seen.
10. Gills-gill n. the organ that fish and some other aquatic animals use to breathe, consisting of a membrane containing many blood vessels through which oxygen passes.
Unit Focus:
​Students gather information from a variety of texts to more deeply understand ​the connections between literary and informational texts. They build on ​knowledge of the seasons to focus on the life cycles of animals, specifically frogs ​and toads. Students explore how animals grow and change over time and describe ​that process in writing. Students gain knowledge of ​how ​and why characters ​interact throughout a story, the importance of punctuation for developing ​understanding, and the difference between literary and informational texts, ​culminating in their writing of both a narrative book report and an informational ​report.
​
​Students gather information from the observations of tadpoles and frogs. Students will explain observations in journals and charts. Students will create a drawing of the frog life cycle and label each section. Students will use digital resources to research frog habitats and needs.
Text Use:
​Understanding vocabulary and punctuation to determine meaning in text, ​distinguishing between literary and informational texts, writing in response to texts.
Teacher Resources:
http://www.louisianabelieves.com/docs/default-source/teacher-toolbox-resources/2014-ela-k-2-guidebook.pdf?sfvrsn=6
