Title.
Forest
Forest Lesson Plan
Date of Lesson: Oct., any year Teacher: Tara Bunner
Grade Level: Kindergarten Subject Area: Social Studies
Time Needed: 4 weeks Topic: Forests
Essential Questions:
1. What are forests like?
2. Where do we find forests in our county?
3. Why are forests important and how can people preserve them?
What School of Education standard/s did you try to address in this lesson?
· Standard 1: Incorporates understanding of human learning and development
· Standard 3: Demonstrates sophisticated curricular knowledge
· Standard 4: Demonstrates pedagogical knowledge in specific domains
· Standard 6: Connects school and community
· Standard 7: Understands and adapts to multiple forms of communication
· Standard 8: Employs varied assessment processes
· Standard 9: Manages learning environment
· Standard 10: Employs varied instructional strategies
· Standard 12: Accommodates for all students
MMSD standards:
· Examine pictures of different environments to describe how they are similar and different from their own
· Explain how people’s actions can have an effect on the environment.
NCSS Social Studies Theme:
#3 People, Places, and Environments
Materials Needed:
· Books: How the Forest Grew by William Jaspersohn
Where Would I Be in an Evergreen Tree by Jennifer Blomgren
Nature Hide & Seek: Woods & Forests
Tell Me Trees: All About Trees for Kids by Gail Gibbons.
Forest Food Chains by Bobbie Kalman
· A Forest Journal for each student
· Pencils & markers or crayons for writing in journals
· Chalk board/chalk (or white board/markers)
· Newsprint or butcher paper for making a mural
· Markers/crayons for drawing on the mural
· Signs for classroom walls: North, South, East, West
· Large map of Dane County showing forests in the area
· Construction paper cut into strips
· Glue
· Recycle Bin
· Special basket for gently used paper
Advanced arrangements:
· Make reservations for a visit to a local school forest (at least 6 months in advance)
· Purchase tree(s) for suitable for planting in the community
· Invite an expert to help with tree planting.
· Send home permission slips for children to travel to the school forest and for them to plant trees in the community.
Objectives:
- TSWBAT name at least two characteristics of forests (i.e. they have many trees)
- TSWBAT find areas on the map of Dane County where forests are located
- TSWBAT Identify several animals that live in the forest
- TSWBAT identify a few plants that grow in the forest
- TSWBAT explain why forests are important and name a few things we get from a forest
- TSWBAT Tell how people can help preserve forests
- TSWBAT demonstrate the steps in planting a tree.
Lesson Context:
This lesson takes place during the late fall. The students will be studying trees in science class. They live in the Midwest, so they live near small forests. They will be able to understand their own environment.
Lesson Opening:
The teacher will read How the Forest Grew by William Jaspersohn. This book tells how forests begin and are very engaging to children.
Procedures:
1. Field Trip
a. The students will take a field trip to the School Forest.
b. They will take their Forest journals and record with words and/or pictures what they observe.
c. When the students come back to the classroom, volunteers from among them will report or show what they put in their journals.
d. The teacher will record these things on the board.
e. The students will make a mural and draw pictures from their journal entries on it.
2. Where do we find forests in Dane County?
a. The teacher introduce the terms North, South, East and West by posting signs on the appropriate walls of the classroom and playing a game with the students.
i. The teacher will call out a direction
ii. The students will point to the correct direction
iii. To challenge the students, the teacher will purposely point in the wrong direction
iv. The teacher will speed up calling out directions as the students get better at pointing in the correct direction
b. The teacher will introduce a map of Dane County.
i. The teacher will show the students where their school is on the map
ii. The teacher will show how this map depicts forests.
iii. The class will decide which forests are North, South, East, or West of their school.
3. Why are forests important?
a. Forests are homes to many different plants and animals
i. The teacher will read Where Would I Be in an Evergreen Tree by Jennifer Blomgren.
ii. The students will identify the animals in the book and discuss where they live in the forest.
iii. The students will draw pictures of these animals on their mural.
iv. The teacher will also read Nature Hide & Seek: Woods & Forests
v. The students will discuss how camouflage protects animals.
vi. The students will add more animals, perhaps in camouflage, on their mural.
b. Forests include trees that are important in our lives
i. The teacher will read Tell Me Trees: All About Trees for Kids by Gail Gibbons.
ii. The students will discuss the book and help make a list of all the things trees are good for
1. Nuts
2. Fruit
3. wood
4. soften sounds
5. provide oxygen and hold soil in place
6. Tree houses
7. Climbing
8. Swinging
9. Anything else the children think of
iii. The students will add pictures from the above list, as much as possible, to their mural
4. What can we do to preserve our forests?
a. The teacher will read Forest Food Chains by Bobbie Kalman
b. The students will make food “chains” – paper chains with a different forest animal or plant on each link. They will put them together with glue in the right order to show the forest food chain.
c. The students will discuss ways to preserve the forests, referring back to the list of things we obtain from trees as well as the animals mentioned in the books they read. The teacher will discuss with them how waste causes us to use more resources. This will lead to a discussion of things the students can do in the classroom to help preserve forests such as not wasting paper, pencils, etc.
d. The students will brainstorm a list of ways they can reuse or recycle products they use that come from the forest
i. Provide a recycle bin for paper
ii. Provide a basket for gently used paper for use in the classroom
Closure:
The students will participate in planting trees in the community. An expert will lead this activity.
Special Considerations:
· Be aware of any transportation needs among the students such as wheel chair use, etc.
· Many children in this class will not yet be able to write, so they should draw pictures to illustrate their reporting.
· Some children may not be comfortable getting dirty as they plant trees. Perhaps these children can have different duties, such as watering the tree or holding the top straight as the other child fills in the soil.
· At this time of year, the weather will be colder. Have extra hats and gloves on hand for children who do not have these items with them.
Assessment:
The teacher will assess formally and informally. She will read what the children have written in their forest journals and what they have placed on the mural to assess formally. The food chain activity will be a formal assessment opportunity. She will listen to their comments, questions, and answers as they discuss forests during class time.
Annotated Bibliography
Blomgren, J. (2004). Where would I be in an evergreen tree? Seattle:Sasquatch
Books.
A charming book of rhyming couplets that describes many plants and animals living in the forest.
Gibbons, G. (2002). Tell me, tree: All about trees for kids. Boston:Little, Brown &
Co.
This is a book for children to explore. The oversized pages are full of information for young children about trees. It teaches them ways to identify trees and the important uses of trees.
Jaspersohn, W. (1992). How the forest grew. New York: Greenwillow Books.
This book provides a great way to introduce young children (and older ones) to the forest. It describes the way that all forests come into being.
Kalman, B. (2004). Forest food chains. New York: Crabtree Publishing Co.
Besides describing the forest food chains, this book also informs the reader of dangers to these chains and webs.
Wood, J. (2008). Nature hide & seek: Woods & forests. Dallas: Mathew Price Ltd.
The illustrations by John Norris Wood show how well animals survive by camouflage.
