STEM 434/534 Lesson Planning Template Spring 2021

(Complete answers in Purple font)

Name: Kendall Cornejo Grade: Kindergarten Topic: 5 Senses

Brief Lesson Description:
In this lesson, students will investigate and experiment with their 5 senses in order to identify the functions of each
of the senses. Students will be using objects around the classroom and food from the cafeteria to interact with their
senses and understand the corresponding organs to each of the senses.

Specific Learning Outcomes:

• Identify and describe the five senses: taste, touch, smell, hearing, and sight.
• Match each sensing organ (eye, ear, nose, tongue, and skin) with its associated sense.
• Match sensory descriptors with the senses (taste: sweet, sour, bitter, salty; touch: rough, smooth, hard, soft,
cold, warm, hot; hearing: loud, soft, high, low; sight: bright, dull, color, black, white; smell: strong, faint,
bad, and good.)

How did this lesson develop as a result of your examination of research and data about employing culturally sustaining pedagogical
strategies? (Think equal opportunity, student interests, race, gender, disabilities etc.)
This lesson supports culturally sustaining pedagogical strategies as it allows students to use their prior knowledge
and everyday activities to better comprehend the material. By allowing students to make connections with their
everyday activities, they are able to have their own input and experiences be a factor in their learning process. This
address the diverse needs of students as it encourages students to be hands-on, more involved (student-centered),
and to learn collaboratively from their classmates. As each student sees, hears, smells, tastes, and touches objects
differently, it provides equal opportunity for them to learn as there is no set expectations as how they should be
doing so.

Narrative / Background Information

Prior Student Knowledge:
• Students will know that different parts of the body perform differently
• Students will be able to describe how they smell, taste, touch, see, and hear things
Science VA SOL Health VA SOL NGSS (You may have to look to a different
K.5 The students will investigate and K.1 The student will identify and grade level for the connection)
understand that senses allow humans describe key health and safety 2-PS1-1. Plan and conduct an
to seek, find, take in, and react or concepts. investigation to describe and classify
respond to different information. b) Describe the five senses (i.e., different kinds of materials by their
Key ideas include sight, hearing, smell, taste, touch). observable properties.
a) the five basic senses correspond to
specific human body structures.
Science & Engineering Practices: (You must tie engineering practices into your plan)
• Asking questions
• Developing and using models
• Planning and carrying out investigations

Possible Preconceptions/Misconceptions:
• Everyone sees objects as the same color or can see them at the same distance
• Everyone has the same tastebuds
• Everyone likes and doesn’t like the same smells
• Everyone can hear the same sounds and frequencies
• Everyone likes the feeling of the same materials

LESSON PLAN – 5-E Model

 Day 1 Day 2 Day 3 Day 4 Day 5
Engage: Explore: Explore: Explain and Elaborate:
Introduction activity Taste/smell and Sound and sight Elaborate: Poster activity
– classroom touch exploration exploration Poster activity
scavenger hunt and Evaluate:
class discussion Sorting Assessment
(formative (summative
assessment) assessment)

ENGAGE: Opening Activity – Access Prior Learning / Stimulate Interest / Generate Questions: (Discrepant
events are awesome to use here)

Classroom Scavenger Hunt: Day 1

Duration: 50 minutes

Materials:
• Scavenger hunt paper
• Book: Look, Listen, Taste, Touch, and Smell: Learning About Your Five Senses, By: Pamela Nettleton
• Large paper

1. Before conducting the scavenger hunt, the teacher will ask students if they know what senses are and if they
can identify all five of them.
2. The teacher will use a large piece of paper and create a KWL chart for the class and write their response
from step 1 under the K (Know) column.
3. The teacher will read the book “Look, Listen, Taste, Touch, and Smell: Learning About Your Five Senses”
by Pamela Nettleton to the class.
4. After completing the book, the teacher will ask the students “What is something new you learned from the
book?”. The teacher will write these responses under the L (Learned) column and will continue to add more
to this column throughout the week.
5. The teacher will ask students what else they want to know about their senses and what they might still be
confused on and will write these responses under the W (Wonder) column.
6. The teacher will pass out the scavenger hunt paper to the students and go over the paper as a class and read
the instructions of the activity.
7. Start the activity. Give the students 10-15 minutes to go around the classroom looking for items that relate
to the questions on the paper. Make sure the students are not arguing and/or fighting over the same object,
there are plenty of objects around the room that relate to the questions.
8. Once the time is over, have students return to their seats. The teacher will go through the paper and have a
classroom discussion over what each student found during their scavenger hunt.
9. After the discussion, the teacher will go back over the book and identify the vocabulary words (sight, smell,
taste, touch, hearing, sound, texture, eyes, ears, nose, tongue, and skin) and ask students of any descriptive
words for each of the senses.
I created this worksheet.

EXPLORE: Lesson Description – Materials Needed / Probing or Clarifying Questions:

Exploring Our Senses – Part 1: Taste, Smell, and Touch: Day 2

Duration: 60 minutes

Materials:
• Food from the cafeteria or brought in
• Plates
• Napkins
• Gloves
• Sensory toys

1. The teacher will briefly recap over the senses and the descriptors of the senses being tested in the activity.
2. The teacher will explain that students will be testing their senses of taste, smell, and touch in today’s
activity. The teacher will then go over the classroom rules during hands-on activities.
3. First start with the senses of taste and smell. The teacher will gather food from the cafeteria, or any food the
teacher brought in, and make sure it includes a variety of flavor profiles like sweet, savory, sour, spicy,
salty, etc.
4. The teacher will go around and hand out one of each of the items of food on the students’ plates (make sure
to wear gloves when handling the food).
5. Students will record the smells and tastes of the foods they try and will complete the taste and smell
worksheet.
6. The students will discuss their answers with their neighbor. The teacher will then ask each pair of students
about one similarity and one difference they found in their discussion.
7. The students will wash their hands in order to move onto the second part of the activity.
8. Students will now do the touch activity. The teacher will provide each table of students with a selection of
sensory toys. Students will then take turns at their table feeling and playing with each toy. Students will fill
out their worksheet about how each toy felt.
9. Students will once again discuss with their neighbor their answers and the teacher will ask for one
similarity and one difference from each group.
10. The teacher will then discuss the purpose of the activities and how the students used their senses to come to
their conclusions.
I created these two worksheets.

I created this newsletter to send home to parents prior to the week’s lesson to address any food allergies for the
safety of the students.

Exploring Our Senses – Part 2: Sight and Sound: Day 3

Duration: 50 minutes

Materials:
• Headphones
• Computers
• Magnifying glasses
• Sensory toys

1. The teacher will briefly recap the senses and their respected organs.
2. The teacher will explain that students will be testing their senses of hearing and sight in today’s activity and
go over the classroom rules during hands-on activities.
3. Split the classroom into two groups, have one group start with the sound activity and have the other group
 start with the sight activity. Allow 15-20 minutes for each activity before switching.
4. For the sound activity, students will use their computers and plug in their headphones. Students will open a
document that has different sound bites attached to it.
5. The students will go through and listen to a series of sounds. As they are listening, students will have an
activity that corresponds to the sounds they’re hearing. Students will match the sounds they’re hearing to
the pictures seen on the activity. They will then note which sound was their favorite and which sound was
their least favorite.
6. For the sight activity, students will use magnifying glasses to look at the different sensory toys from the
touch activity. The students will write down the different colors, textures, and shapes they see on their
worksheet.
7. After the entire class has completed both activities, the teacher will go over the answers from the sound
activity. The teacher will then ask students what they found to be their favorite and least favorite sounds.
8. The teacher will then have a class discussion about the sight activity. Students will share what they saw and
compare with each other.
9. The teacher will explain the purpose of the activities and how each student’s senses worked differently
when coming to their conclusions.

I created these worksheets.

EXPLAIN: Concepts Explained and Vocabulary Defined:

Day 4
Duration: 30 minutes

1. Show video about the five senses, https://jr.brainpop.com/health/bodies/senses/

2. Review the KWL chart created at the beginning of the week, see if any of the questions from the W
(Wonder) column have been answered. Ask students what else they have learned after completing the
activities and video.
3. Teacher will go over the vocabulary words and have students give examples from the activities they
completed.
4. Teacher will clarify any misconceptions the students have.

Vocabulary:
• Senses
• Organ
• Sight
• Taste
• Smell
 • Touch
• Hearing/Sound

ELABORATE: Applications and Extensions:

My 5 Senses: Day 5
Duration: 45 minutes

Materials:
• Construction paper
• Scissors
• Glue sticks

Students will create their own poster of themselves that includes their five senses respected organs, a short
description of their functions, and an example of how they use each of their senses.
1. Students will draw a self-portrait of their faces, including the respected organs of their five senses (eyes,
nose, mouth, and ears) and trace an outline of their hands next to their portrait (to represent the sense of
touch)
2. Students will write a short description next to each organ about their function as one of the five senses.
3. Students will draw an example next to each organ that represents how they use that sense in their everyday
life.
4. Students can be as creative as they want in their drawings, as long as it includes the three criteria above.

Worksheet from Kindergarten Worksheets, however this worksheet will only be used as a reference to what the students need
to include and how it should be included when making their own.

EVALUATE:

Day 5
Formative Monitoring (Questioning / Discussion):
Class discussion: Students will be evaluated throughout the week during class discussions and by completing the
senses activities for each day.
Summative Assessment (Quiz / Project / Report) (Include a rubric):
Sorting Assessment: Students will be assessed by sorting different pictures to their correct sense board. Students
will turn in each board to the teacher when they are done.
“My 5 Senses” poster: Students will be assessed on their final creation of their five senses poster. Students will be
given a rubric before starting the project with student-friendly guidelines to allow them to self-assess and reflect on
their work.
I created this rubric. This activity is from Teachers Pay Teachers.

Plan for differentiation: (Be sure to specifically address the following learners)
• Students with high-incidence disabilities (e.g., autism, ADHD, mild learning disorders)
For students will ADHD, I will ensure they are away from any distractions in the classroom. By including
sensory activities and rotating them throughout in groups, it will allow those students to be more engaged
with the activities. The rotation of activities will provide ADHD students an alternating structure to where
they aren’t getting bored quickly with each activity, allowing them to stay on task better. I will also allow
for breaks that the students can take in order for them to have a brain break and to relieve any stress or
frustration they may have.
• ELL
For ELL learners, I will ensure that the worksheets and activities include their native language of the five
senses and their respected organs as well as the English language. This will allow the students to become
more familiar with the vocabulary they are learning when seeing it translated for them during their
activities. Having the activities be hands-on and include visuals will also help ELL make better connections
between the material covered.
• Gifted learners
For gifted learners, I will ensure to provide extension activities if they complete the regular activities
earlier. This will include extra worksheets, more difficult sounds to hear, an extra task for the 5 senses
poster, etc. This will allow the students to challenge themselves on the material without going ahead of the
class content-wise.
Elaborate Further / Reflect: Enrichment:
• How will you evaluate your practice?
I will evaluate my practice by observing the students’ engagement during the week’s lesson and during
each activity. I will also collect feedback from students in order to evaluate my lesson and make any
changes to better meet the students’ needs.
• Where might/did learners struggle in the lesson?
Learners might struggle in this lesson with the different outcomes of their peer’s senses. It might be
difficult for them to first grasp the idea that not everyone’s senses are going to react in the exact same way,
and that just because one person might taste something differently than to them it doesn’t mean that their
sense of taste is wrong.
• How can the lesson be strengthened for improved student learning?
 The lesson can be strengthened to improve student learning by breaking down each activity into mini
lessons. With such a short amount of time allotted to science during the day, it can be difficult to go into
detail about everything they are learning while also having enough time to complete the activities
themselves.
• Did the lesson reflect culturally sustaining pedagogies? If not, how can this be enhanced?
I believe this lesson reflects culturally sustaining pedagogies as it allows students to use their prior
knowledge of their five senses and how they use them in their everyday lives. Students are able to
collaborate and reflect with their peers about the difference in their senses. The lesson can be enhanced to
be more culturally sustaining by including different foods, toys, and clothing from different cultures. This
will allow students to learn about different cultures and compare them to what they have at their own
homes.
 Materials Required for This Lesson/Activity
Quantity Description Potential Supplier (item #) Estimated Price
12 Scavenger hunt paper Made by teacher Free
12 Worksheets Made by teacher Free
1 5 senses book Amazon $8.95
1 Large paper Staples $20.49
1 Food from cafeteria or brought it School cafeteria or from home Free
1 Plates Amazon $2.67
1 Napkins Walmart $2.64
1 Gloves Staples $7.99
1 Sensory toys Amazon $29.95
12 Headphones Provided by school Unknown
12 Computers Provided by school Unknown
12 Magnifying glasses Provided by school Unknown
1 5 senses video BrainPOP Jr Free