Detailed Unit Plan 609 Class Day 1-2 Second Grade

I have been working on a Unit Plan that centers around the photographer, Wilson Bentley who photographed Snowflakes

Wilson Bentley Unit Lesson Plans Language Arts/Technology

Teacher: Miss Tellez

Date: February 19, 2019 Day 1-2

Subject / grade level: Language Arts/History/Technology

Materials:

Book: Snowflake Bentley

IPad

Watercolor paper

Watercolor paint

White crayon

Paint brushes

Table salt

Black Permanent marker

NC SCOS Essential Standards and Clarifying Objectives

SL- Comprehension and Collaboration

1. Participate I collaborate conversations with diverse partners about grade 2 topics and texts with peers and adults in small groups.

2. Recount or describe key ideas or details from a text read aloud or information presented orally or through other media.

Lesson objective(s):

a.Follow agreed-upon rules for discussions (e.g., gaining the floor in respectful ways listening to others with care, speaking one at a time about the topics and texts under discussion).

b.Build on others’ talk in conversations by linking their comments to the remarks of others

c.As for clarification and further explanation as needed about the topics and texts under discussion.

Differentiation strategies to meet diverse learner needs:

Students who are higher learners can be the ones who can help students who fall a bit behind. They are free to make more than one snowflake. In the back with a permanent marker they can recall what they learned about Wilson Bentley.

ENGAGEMENT

• Students will be engaged by showing them a video about snowflakes and the history of shapes of snowflakes and who photographed them.

Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iOfkukhb1Os

• students get to know how to capture photos about snowflakes, how scientists do it today. Students will be able to see what high speed cameras that are used to photograph snowflakes today.

• After the video (engagement) ask the students what did they learn from the video, name one thing they learned and tell their neighbor.

EXPLORATION

ACTIVITY 1

The minds on activity for the students will be that the book Snowflake Bentley Written by Jaqueline Brigs Martin and Illustrated by Mary Azarian

After the reading of the book the hands on activity that will incorporate technology will be to pair up the students in groups of 2 or 3 and give the groups iPad. Just like Wilson Bentley used to go outside and wait for the snowstorms to photograph snowflakes they will all take turns taking pictures outside of nature. Each student needs to take a picture on the iPad on something they observed in nature.

The hands on/minds-on activities the students will be doing is a STEAM activity associated with the reading of the book of Wilson Bentley

“Big Idea”

-Conceptual questions teacher will use:

• What did you pick to photograph? Why did you pick this item from nature?

• Students who chose to photograph animals, how is this a bit harder than photographing an object that is still?

• What problems did you encounter when trying to get a good clear image?

• What types of problems do you think Bentley might have encountered when picturing snowflakes?

• Does the weather outside make it easier or harder to make pictures?

• What types of cameras were used during the time Wilson was taking pictures?

Activity 2

Snowflake Arts/Crafts

The second hands on activity student’s will do be doing will be to make their own snowflake on paper. Students will take a watercolor paper and a plain white crayon, they will make their own designs of snowflakes on the paper. They will watercolor after they are finished with the snowflakes. While the watercolor is still wet they will be handed some salt and they will sprinkle it around and it will create e a very beautiful effect.

Students free hand

Paint:

Salt should be put on the paper while the paint is wet

Effects it should make on paper:

The “Big Idea” Conceptual questions that will help students focus: How can THEY relate to Wilson Bentley? Have them respond to these questions with their partners after the art activity.

• What do snowflakes look like?

• Are snowflakes the same?

• Are snowflakes beautiful to you? Do you think that all the snowflakes that Wilson captured were the same?

• Are all of Your snowflakes the same?

• Did you have fun in this activity? Do you think Wilson Bentley would be having fun too?

• It took a lot of work for Wilson Bentley to capture his snowflakes did it take you a lot of work?

EXPLANATION

• The technique that the teacher will be implementing is to have the student relate to Wilson Bentley, to visually put themselves in Bentleys place just like he took pictures of his snowflakes that way they can remember what he did.

Higher Order Thinking Questions:

• Why do you think Wilson Bentley took the time to take pictures of snowflakes?

• How do his pictures benefit us today?

• In the video we saw how a special camera is used to take pictures of snowflakes, do you think it would have been hard for Wilson to take pictures?

• What did Wilson have to do to take a snowflake picture?

• How do you think Wilson felt after he took pictures of snowflakes?

• What did you learn about snowflakes that you didn’t know before?

ELABORATION

Students will develop a more sophisticated understanding of the concept of how hard it was for Wilson Bentley to capture a snowflake by taking pictures on their IPads of nature. Discussing how difficult it is to take a picture on a “newer” technology they will be able to relate how hard it must have been for Wilson who had a very old and slow camera. Students will understand the hard work it takes for someone to finally finish their master piece (their art Snowflake).

Vocabulary Introduced:

Victorian era: 1837 to 1901, before technology such as t.v. Ipads. Etc.

Symmetrical: the same on both sides.

Coined Phrase “No two snowflakes are alike” –Wilson Bentley.

This vocabulary will relate to the students observations because they need to be able to picture that in the “Victorian era” technology was very hard to handle, expensive and not very reliable. Symmetrical is important because it is important for students to know that all snowflakes have a pattern. The students will be able to associate what symmetrical is and how it is represented in nature. This type of knowledge is important in our days because we all worry about weather. Every day we try to predict weather in order to see what we will wear, Bentley sparked the imagination of weather and what it is that nature really looks like.

EVALUATION

• Students will demonstrate that they have achieved the lesson objective by writing behind the pictures things that they learned about the lesson, who was Wilson Bentley and what do they recall about the snowflake. By being able to list at least 3 things they remember about snowflakes we can measure if they met the objective of being able to process information.