FOURTH GRADE PLANT

ADAPTATIONS: AN
INSTRUCTIONAL RESOURCE
GUIDE
By Victoria Brown

DECEMBER 16, 2015

ROANOKE COLLEGE
TESL 220

Table of Contents
Introduction.2
ELL Learning Outcomes.3
Instructional Strategies.5
Work Samples.7
SIOP Lesson Plan.10
Summary Reflection.16
Bibliography.17
Appendix.18







1

Introduction

My Instructional Resource Guide focuses on teaching plant adaptations in a fourth grade

classroom. The guide provides ELL learning outcomes, the lesson plan, instructional strategies for ELL
students, work samples that are suited to silent stage ELL students, and a summary of the assignment. I
chose to gear my Instructional Resource Guide toward science because I have a lot of experience in
writing math lesson plans, but I wanted to expand my knowledge and create a science based lesson for
elementary students. I chose fourth grade because I want to teach upper elementary school students,
and I thought it would be interesting to teach students about plant adaptations. Since the concept of
plant adaptations is heavily based on learning key vocabulary such as structural and behavioral
adaptations and identifying examples of each, the resource guide is heavily focused on the teaching and
understanding of content vocabulary.

English Language Learners (ELL) have proficiency levels ranging from the silent stage, where they

say few words and are focused on taking in the language and making sense of words and pronunciation,
to the advanced fluency stage, where they use complex sentences in writing and speaking, and can read
fluently with few grammatical errors. The lesson plan I designed and modified is suited for students of
all ranges and allows students to work together using cooperative learning. The work sample section of
the resource guide outlines more modifications that can be made to the lesson in order to tailor to the
needs of silent stage ELL students. Within the resource guide, a list of objectives and outcomes is
provided. These objectives ensure that the lesson focuses equally on content and language acquisition
so that ELL students have the opportunity to learn important content knowledge while learning English
language skills that will enhance their proficiency level. Finally, the resource guide features my
reflections on how this assignment helped me to understand how I can best serve my English Language
Learners in their language development and content knowledge.

Learning Outcomes

My lesson plan focuses on SOL 4.4d, which states, The student will investigate and understand

basic plant anatomy and life processes. Key concepts included) adaptations allow plants to satisfy life
needs and respond to the environment (VDOE Grade 4 Standards, 2010). From this SOL, I developed my
own content and language objectives for my lesson plan.
Content Objectives:
1. The student will define behavioral and structural adaptations in plants and write down
examples of each type of adaptation.
2. The student will identify adaptations in a plant of their choosing and create a trading card
based on their plants characteristics using the ReadWriteThink Trading Card App.
Language Objectives: (All language objectives were adapted from WIDA 4-Language of Science
Standards)
1. The student will use conversational English paired with content vocabulary to identify plant
adaptations. The student will also listen to teacher instructions and follow directions.
2. The student will read the field investigation sheet and follow directions.
3. The student will define structural and behavioral plant adaptations and come up with
examples for each definition, during their field investigation.
4. The student will complete a note foldable by copying definitions and examples. The student
will also write down their observations about plants adaptations on the field investigation,
using vocabulary and examples.

My objectives were created to link content and language so that ELL students can succeed in

English learning and content learning at the same time. I want my student to know what plant
adaptations are and be able to identify adaptations in plants. I also want them to be able to follow
directions, talk to their peers about content specific concepts, read simple directions, use their content
vocabulary, and write down observations, and definitions. If my students can connect content
knowledge to their home language, they can then process the information and continue to build on
what theyve learned in class. My students also need to understand written and oral directions, so that
they can stay on track with the rest of the class. I believe that students learn from each other when they
talk to each other, so I want my ELL students to talk to non-ELL students, so that they can learn language
cues and concepts from their peers.











4

Instructional Strategies

Within my lesson plan, I used six main instructional strategies. These include graphic organizers,

real life objects and visuals, cooperative learning groups, technology, modeling, and hands on activities.
Along with these main instructional strategies I also made note of other strategies that I should use as a
teacher to improve my teaching such as speaking slowly and clearly and repeating key vocabulary words
in English and in my students home language.

The first activity in my lesson plan asks students to use small white boards to review content

knowledge from a previous class. Using this form of review, the affective filter of students is lowered
(Bilash, O. 2015). Their responses are only for the teacher to evaluate how much content knowledge
they know. This activity is repeated at the end of class to review the content that was taught in the days
lesson.

Using the idea of graphic organizers, students create a foldable for plant adaptations. According

to Norman Herr, graphic organizers show the relationship between concepts and they require minimal
language, so they are great for teaching science to ELL students (2007). A foldable also provides visual
representations for students and in my lesson plan students are given the opportunity to write down
key definitions in English and in their home language, so that they can form a connection between their
home language and English.

Herr also suggests modeling and hands on activities as good instructional strategies for ELLs. I

used both of these strategies in my lesson plans and paired them with a few instructional strategies
from the IRIS center modules completed in class. In my lesson plan, students are tasked with completing
a field investigation on a plant of their choosing. This field guide asks students to describe a plant and
write down the structural and behavioral adaptations for the plant. In my lesson plan I model the

completion of the field guide so that my students (both ELL and non ELL) will know what I expect of
them (Herr, N. 2007).
Next, I implement the instructional strategy of cooperative learning by placing my student in
small groups to complete their field investigation. Groups are created by the teacher and are designed
so that each group has equal representation of ELL and non-ELL students. By using cooperative learning
in the form of small groups, students are able to ask each other questions and ELL students get language
support from each other and other, non-ELL, students (IRIS module 1)
Another instructional strategy I used in my lesson plan was the use of real objects and hands on
activities (IRIS module 1). In order to complete their field investigation, students must actually go
outside and look at real plants that they can touch and smell. In my lesson plan, I noted that the class
would be going outside to the area around the school to look at plants. The book I chose to read to
students to introduce key terms also provides real pictures of plants and habitats around the world,
which provides students with concrete connections to concepts (Herr, N. 2007).
Finally, technology is a great instructional strategy for ELL students if used correctly (IRIS module
1). Instead of reading off of a PowerPoint, I allowed students to use technology to create a
trading/information card for their plant using ReadWriteThinks trading card app. I modified what I
wanted students to include on their trading card so that the information presented is about the concept
we are covering (adaptations). Students are creating these trading cards in groups so they can use each
other for help on the assignment. I also asked students to create another trading card on their own for
homework, so they receive guided practice with the assignment before tackling it on their own.

Work Samples

Several activities that I created for my students could be modified to meet the needs of ELL

students in the silent period of language acquisition. English language learners in the silent stage of
second language acquisition are characterized by having the ability to gesture or give yes-no answers to
questions. Most students are trying to understand word meanings along with pronunciation and the
flow of English (Second Language Acquisition Theory Handout, 2015). This can make it quite difficult
for students of this stage to learn content knowledge, but there are several strategies that can these
students can benefit from.

One strategy that will help ELL students in the silent stage is the buddy system. I mentioned this

in the previous section, and it is worth noting that this is most successful if ELL students in a particular
group speak the same language. By pairing or grouping students together to form small groups with
different language proficiency levels, students in the silent stage can speak to other ELL students in their
native language and students with higher proficiency levels can help their silent stage peer to make
connections between English their home language (Hanes, J. 2005). Building a connection between L1
and L2 is important for all ELL students because they need to be able to translate between the two
languages; in other words, they need to be able to think in L1 and speak, read, or write in L2 (TESL Class
notes, 2015).

Another strategy that would be useful for silent stage ELL students, would be modeling

directions to build listening comprehension (Haynes, J. 2005). I could implement this strategy when
giving my student directions before the review games (using the white boards) and before placing them
in groups. I built in modeling before the field investigation activity by going through a sample field
investigation. This way students know what I expect from them. Using a similar strategy, silent stage ELL

students could benefit from seeing me, as the teacher, model holding up the white board or getting into
a group based on when my name was called.

Since silent period students are more likely to answer questions when those questions are in a

yes/no format, I could modify the review games at the beginning and end of my lesson plan to be in a
true/false, yes/no style game. Another strategy, suggested by Judie Haynes, that helps these students
would be to have them give some type of physical response to questions (2005). For instance, when
students agree they give a thumbs up, and when they disagree they give a thumbs down. This could also
be modeled so that students understand what I am asking them to do.

When it comes to note taking, students in the silent stage can copy some words off the board

and can understand most pictures and graphics (Haynes, 2005). To help my silent stage students, I can
model writing important words/concepts in my foldable, provide them with pictures that they can cut
and paste into their foldable, and use important vocabulary words multiple times while using gestures
or pictures to clarify meaning. Since my students will be using a foldable to take notes, I can model what
I want them to write by creating a foldable for myself and copying very important information in the
correct place. I can also draw pictures on my foldable that go along with the concept or I can provide the
class with a picture for them to cut and paste into their foldable. This way, students in the silent phase
always have a picture reference to go along with written vocabulary words.

Since the lesson I am teaching is very vocabulary based, I need to make an effort to repeat key

vocabulary multiple times while providing students with a context for that vocabulary (Haynes, 2005).
Pictures and gestures can help me to convey meaning to my ELL students. When pictures or graphics
cant be used, or are not clear, I can look up the vocabulary word in the students home language or ask
a student with a higher proficiency level if they can provide me with the word in their native language
(TESL Class notes, 2015).

Students in the silent stage of acquisition also might struggle with the task of creating a trading

card on their own for homework. Cooperative learning groups and the buddy system will be sufficient
for the group task of creating a trading card, but silent period students would find it very difficult to
write out the characteristics and adaptations for plants. In this case a visual approach might be more
beneficial for students. Instead of having these students create their own trading card, I would provide
them with a picture sort and ask them to cut, sort and paste (on a blank piece of paper) the pictures
based on whether they depict a structural plant adaptation or a behavioral plant adaptation. Since
students will not be asked to present their trading card in the next class, the non-verbal ELL student will
not be left out of a presentation or asked to present before they are ready.















9

SIOP Lesson Plan

Key: SW = Students will; TW = Teacher will; SWBAT = Students will be able to:
Topic: Plant Adaptations Grade/Class: 4th Grade Science Date: 12/9/15

Content Objective(s):

Language Objectives:

Conversation: TSW use conversational English paired

with content vocabulary to identify plant adaptations.
TSW also listen to teacher instructions and follow.

SOL 4.4 d) TSW investigate and understand

basic plant anatomy and life processes. Key
concepts include:
d) adaptations allow plants to satisfy life
needs and respond to the environment


TSW define behavioral and structural
adaptations in plants and write down
examples of each.
TSW identify adaptations in a plant of their
choosing.

Grammar:

Reading: TSW read the field investigation sheet and
follow directions.

Vocabulary: TSW define structural and behavioral plant
adaptations and come up with examples for each.

Writing: TSW complete a note foldable by copying
definitions and examples. TSW also write down their
observations about plants adaptations on the field
investigation, using vocabulary and examples.

Materials (including supplementary and adapted):

Colored paper to make foldables, markers/crayons/colored pencils, pencil, Plants Field Investigation
Work sheets, clip boards, Would you Survive? Animal and Plant Adaptation by John Townsend,
Ipads/computers with RWT Trading Card App (or trading card template for paper), mini dry erase
boards, dry erase markers, document camera

Higher Order Questions:

Can students use vocabulary orally and in writing to define and identify plant adaptations in pictures
and in the outside world?

10


Teacher Activities:
Building Background

Links to Students Past Experience: Students have seen a variety of plants no matter where they are
from. As a class, we have seen pictures of a lot of different types of plants and how they are different.
They know that some plants have flowers/fruits and others do not, and they know that some plants are
evergreen. Students may know that some plants are poisonous, or have spines/thorns, and they may
also know that plants will move to reach sunlight.


Teacher links to Prior Learning: As the last stop in our life processes unit, students know about plant
parts, reproduction, and photosynthesis. They can describe plants in L1 and L2 and know how plants
survive through reproduction and photosynthesis. This lesson will focus on how plants survive in their
climate including how they keep predators away and how they get animals to help in their reproduction.


Key vocabulary:
New: Adaptations, structural adaptations, behavioral adaptations, spiny, poisonous, predators
Review: reproduce , produce, seeds
Comprehensible Input
This component comprises some of the features that make SIOP instruction different from just good
instruction.
Check those that apply and describe below. Include those selected to the lesson sequence section
below.
_x_Speech appropriate for students proficiency level _x_Clear explanation of academic task
_x_Techniques used to make content concepts clear for:

1. Beginning: Beginning level students will benefit from hearing vocabulary in L1 and L2 and can easily
see written definitions in L1 in their foldable. Beginning level students will be more comfortable working
in small groups where they can get assistance from other ELL or non-ELL students.

11

 2. Early Intermediate: Students are given definitions in L1 to fill any comprehension gaps, and can use
visual literacy to assist in comprehension. Small group work will allow students to get help from their
peers.

3. Intermediate: Intermediate students will benefit from hearing the L1 and L2 connection in
vocabulary words. They are also provided the L1 definition support and will be able to ask for assistance
from small group members.

4. Early Advanced: Advanced students will benefit from working with lower level students in small
groups so that they can speak in L1 while helping other students (to form the connection from L2 to L1).

Scaffolding _x_Modeling _x_Guided Practice _x_Independent Practice
Verbal Scaffolding: vocabulary words and definitions are provided in L1 and L2, and students are allowed
to talk to each other in L1 or L2.
Procedural Scaffolding: By providing students with a model Investigation guide, the teacher is providing
scaffolding to students.
Instructional Scaffolding: Studetns will begin with whole class instruction and then work in groups before
completing an assignment on the concept alone.
Interaction _x_Whole class _x_ Small group __Partners _x_Independent
Description of Cooperative Learning Structure/s: Whole class instruction will be provided during the
review section of class, during the reading, and during the introduction to new vocabulary words.
Students will be in small groups to complete their field investigation and should work together and talk
about the content. Students will work individually during the review and on their homework.
Use of Students Primary Language/s: Teacher will say vocabulary words in L1 and L2 and write them on
the board in L1 and L2. Students are welcome to use L1 in small group talk and foldable will provide
vocabulary words in L1 and L2.
Practice/Application _x_Hands-on _x_Meaningful _x_Linked to objectives
_x_Promotes engagement
Integration of Processes _x_Listening _x_Speaking _x_Reading
_x_Writing
Description of Hands-on activity: Students will go on a field trip to the area outside the school where
plants grow. Students will be able to see, smell, and touch plants around them and investigate possible
plant adaptations of their plant through the field investigation.

12

Lesson Delivery _x_Pacing _x_Student engagement _x_Content objectives

_x_Language objectives
Description of Lesson Delivery components: The teacher will speak clearly and slowly so that ELL
students have time to hear and comprehend words. The teacher will provide students will personal
whiteboards to encourage participation and allow students to do a hands-on investigation outside of the
classroom. Students will be investigating plant adaptations, as stated in the content objectives, and
students will be conversing, writing, and learning/using vocabulary.
Time:

Lesson Sequence

Notes regarding differentiation

5 mins

ELL students may draw a

picture if they prefer. Since all
students are answering on
their own and facing the front
of the room, the teacher will
be the only one to see answers
(lowering effective filter).

1. Class will begin by reviewing our Life Processes bulletin

board. This board has vocabulary from the Life Processes
Unit including plant parts, plant reproduction, and
photosynthesis. Teacher will ask students about the
topics we have covered and students will write down
their answer on a dry erase board. Sample questions
include: What part of the plant anchors the plant and
gets water/nutrients from the soil? _____ is the process
by which pollen is transferred from stamens to stigma.

2. Teacher introduces the terms adaptation, structural

adaptation, and behavioral adaptation by writing them
up on the board (L1 and L2) and saying the words in L1
and L2. Teacher will provide the definition of adaptation
to the class and give an example. Students should
brainstorm what they think the difference is between
structural and behavioral adaptations in small groups.

3. Teacher will pass out a foldable (or students can make

their own-example below). Using a document camera,
the teacher will write adaptation on the first flap of the
foldable. Students should write down the definition of
adaptation under the first flap. Together, teacher and
students will come up with a good definition for
structural adaptations and behavioral adaptations.

5 mins

4. Teacher will read Would you Survive? To students,

pausing to ask students if they have ever been to a
climate like the ones in the book and what they have
seen there. At the end of the book the teacher will help

5 mins

All ELL students will benefit
from seeing and hearing
vocabulary in L1 an L2.
Students will be given a
moment to write down their
brainstorm, allowing ELLs to
write down their ideas before
speaking.
Students are practicing writing
skills and are provided with
examples. For added assistance
teacher should provide
definitions and examples in L1
and L2.


Using pre-taught vocab and the
vocab defined in the story,
13






15 mins

class will finish the foldable by providing examples of

structural and behavioral adaptations. Major structural
adaptations students should know: thorns, poison,
colorful flowers/sweet fruits, and the parts of a plant.
Major behavioral adaptations students should know:
plants drop seeds in order to make more; some plants
experience periods of dormancy; stems, leaves, and
flowers will grow toward sunlight, roots will grow toward
areas of moisture. ELL students will be provided with
definition cut outs in L1 to paste into their foldable, and
write the English underneath.

students can use

comprehension skills and visual
literacy to understand the
book. Students will also have
picture examples in their
foldable for future reference.

5. Students will be divided into small groups and given a

field investigation worksheet and a clip board. As a class,
we will go over a field guide example (using grass) so that
students have a good example of what they will be doing.
Each group should designate a writer for the group.
Teacher will take students outside to the nearest
garden/field/wooded area. Each group will pick a plant to
perform their field investigation on. Students should
complete the investigation to the best of their ability as a
group, they may ask questions if needed.

6. The class will return to the classroom and create a

trading card for their plant using the RWT Trading card
app on the Ipads/computers in their groups. Students
should give their plant a description, and purpose. In the
use section, student should write how much water,
sunlight and nutrients the plant needs to survive (a lot, or
a little, more than ____, less than ___). In the effects
section, students should write whether they think their
plant takes away a lot of nutrients that other plants use
(is their plant hindering the growth of another plant?). In
the to whom section, students should write what
animals they think their plant has an effect on (is a major
food source for a deer, squirrel, etc.? Would it hurt an
animal if it was eaten?) . Students should put any
adaptations not mentioned previously, in the additional
information section.

20 mins

Small groups will be formed
based on student readiness
level. ELL students who need
more support will be grouped
with students who have
greater ELP. All students are
invited to ask questions, and
ELL students can see what
others are writing if they
become confused.

Students will still be working in
small groups and can get
support from teacher and
students. They will also have
the assistance of their foldable
throughout the class.

7. Each group will stand up and give a very brief overview

14

of their plants adaptations.

8. Review and Assessment (see below)

10 mins

9. For homework, students will choose any plant they

want and create a trading card for their plant, using the
above specifications. For students without internet
access, trading cards may be completed using a paper
format provided by the teacher. Next class we will use all
of the trading cards in a war like game.

Students will have written
down what they want to say in
their field investigation, so
they have written support for
what they want to say.

Students will be able to use
their field investigation from
class as a guide, along with any
other resources they need.
Students without internet
access can still complete the
assignment on paper.

Review and Assessment (Check all that apply and describe)

_x_Individual _x_Group __Oral _x_Written
Review Key Vocabulary: Using the whiteboards students will write down the definition of structural
adaptation, behavioral adaptation, spiny (thorns), and poisonous.
Review Key Concepts: Students will provide an example (written or a drawing) of each type of
adaptation using the whiteboards.
Trading cards and field investigations created during class will be assessed formatively, to make sure
students understand the concept. Trading cards created at home will be collected at the beginning of the
next class and graded for correct examples of adaptations.

Adapted from Making Content Comprehensible for English Language Learners, 2nd/ 3rd
Adapted from:
Virginia VDOE SOL Standards. Science Documents: ESS lesson plan. Grade 4: Life Processes.
http://www.doe.virginia.gov/testing/sol/standards_docs/science/2010/lesson_plans/grade4/life_proces
ses/sess_4.4d.pdf
15

Summary Reflection

As I began this assignment, I felt that I was truly prepared to write a lesson plan that was

modified to meet the needs of English Language Learners. After a full semester of studying second
language acquisition and our work on the IDL presentation, I felt that I had all that I needed to come up
with a good lesson plan. Writing the lesson plan was time consuming and I often consulted my notes for
ways to make the lesson better for ELL students. After I finished the lesson plan, I found that I had
almost everything I needed to finish the rest of the assignment, and was surprised to find that the whole
assignment was not as long as I thought it would be.

Through this assignment, I realized that modifying a lesson plan to meet the needs of ELL

students can be a long process, but it is not difficult because there are so many research based
strategies to draw ideas from. I found that my class notes along with a few books and websites were
enough to help me find instructional strategies that fit well with the lesson I wanted to teach. Finding a
good balance between language learning and content knowledge learning seemed difficult at times, but
I learned that the two are not isolated from one another. By teaching content and providing
opportunities for students to speak, read, and write with guidance and instruction from the teacher,
students can learn content knowledge while improving their language proficiency.

In this class and through this project, I learned that we are all English Language Learners, but

some students have lower proficiency than others. By using strategies that have been researched and
found useful, teachers can help these students to succeed in content areas and in English learning. I also
realized that creating these lesson plans for students does not mean starting from scratch. There are a
lot of great lesson plans out there that, with a little tweaking, can make great lesson plans to cater to
the needs of linguistically diverse learners.

16

Bibliography
Bilash, O. (2015). Krashens 6 Hypotheses. Best of Bilash: Improving Second Language Education.
http://www.educ.ualberta.ca/staff/olenka.bilash/best%20of%20bilash/krashen.html
Haynes, J. (2005). Preproduction and the Silent Period. EverythingESL.Net. Retrieved from
http://www.everythingesl.net/inservices/pre_producti_silent_period_93415.php
Herr, N. Ph.D. 2007. Strategies for Teaching Science to English Language Learners. Internet Resources to
Accompany The Sourcebook For Teaching Science.
Moughamian, Ani C.; Rivera, Mabel O.; Francis, David J. 2009. Instructional Models and Strategies for
Teaching English Language Learners. Texas Institute for Measurement, evaluation, and Statistics.
University of Houston.
The IRIS Center for Training Enhancements. (2009). Cultural and linguistic differences: What teachers
should know. Retrieved on [month, day, year] from
http://iris.peabody.vanderbilt.edu/module/clde/
Second Language Acquisition Theory Handout. TESL 220 class. (2015).
VDOE Grade 4 Science Standards. (2010). Retrieved from
http://www.doe.virginia.gov/testing/sol/standards_docs/science/2010/k-6/stds_science4.pdf
Virginia VDOE SOL Standards. Science Documents: ESS lesson plan. Grade 5: Life Processes.
http://www.doe.virginia.gov/testing/sol/standards_docs/science/2010/lesson_plans/grade4/life
_processes/sess_4.4d.pdf
TESL 220 Class notes. (Fall 2015).
WIDA Standards. (2012). Retrieved from https://www.wida.us/standards/eld.aspx
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Appendix
Foldable Example:

18

19

20

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Plants Field Investigation

Names of Researchers: ______________________________
Date: _____________________________
Location: ______________________________
Plant types to be observed (choose one):
Trees
Grasses
Bushes
Vines

Flowers
Investigative question: What adaptations can be observed in _________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________?

Draw a typical plant that is found in your research study and label all parts. Dont forget to draw
the roots as part of the plant but do not pull up a plant to examine the roots.










22

How many of this plant type are found on the school yard?
1-5
6-10
10-20
20-100
more than 100
Where are the plants located?

What structural adaptations would this plant have?

Would this plant have any behavioral adaptations?

Are there any seeds on the plant or on the ground beneath the plant?

How are the seeds disbursed; by animals, wind, falling beneath the parent plant?

What characteristics or adaptations make it different from the plants other teams are studying?

Look at the plants carefully for any damage caused by animals or signs that an animal is using
the plant for food.

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