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Questions to ask and things to consider:

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Questions to ask and things to consider:

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What resources in my curriculum are useful here? What is missing from my curriculum resources? Where can I find resources to support the curriculum I already have? Do I need to develop this lesson using resources outside of my curriculum? Where can I make connections to other subject areas and find the resources to do so?

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Video Resource on Launch, Release, Return

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Video Resource on Launch, Release, Return

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Flipping the I Do, You Do, We Do Approach

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Mike Flynn offers a quick explanation on how we can switch from the I do, you do, we do approach to teaching mathematics to a more student-centered approach.

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Questions to ask and things to consider:

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Questions to ask and things to consider:

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What will be my focus standard or standards? What cross-curricular connections could I make here? What is the objective or what are the objectives of my lesson? What do students need before coming into this lesson?

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Questions to ask and things to consider:

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Questions to ask and things to consider:

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What resources do I have to work with from the collection phase? What is my plan for instructional delivery? How am I choosing my instructional method? How do these resources fit into this plan? How am I supporting diverse student needs? Are there multiple access points for engagement? Are students offered choice anywhere in this lesson? How can I make sure they experience productive struggle? Where will I need to intentionally make teacher moves?

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Focus on Week 1 reading comprehension standard (ELA.1.R.3.3- Compare and contrast two texts on the same topic. )

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Reading & Science focus:

Objectives: Students will be able to compare and contrast two texts on the same topic and observe and discuss that there are more stars in the sky than anyone can easily count that they are not evenly scattered.

Introduce the topic of todays lesson; constellations, to the whole class.
Show constellation video to engage students
Explain to the class that we will be reading three texts together then they will compare and contrast text 1 and text 2 with a partner.
Give an example of comparing and contrasting something to model expectations for activity. If needed, play compare and contrast video to explain in depth what they mean.
Pass out papers and read aloud.

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SC.1.E.5.1 |  Observe and discuss that there are more stars in the sky than anyone can easily count, and that they are not scattered evenly in the sky.

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On Constellations- shapes connection

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A group of stars is called a constellation. The shape seems to form a picture. Here are four constellations. Have you seen them in the night sky? Scorpius is one of the brightest constellations in the sky. It looks like…

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Use strategic grouping to put students into pairs: 1's with 3's and 2's with 4's.
Give each group a helpful sentence stem worksheet to help assist students that may struggle. For students that need enrichment, have them create comparisons and contrasts without the use of sentence stems.
Students will work together to compare and contrast the two texts as I float around the room to offer scaffolding as needed.

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Estimate the length of an object to the nearest inch. Measure the length of an object to the nearest inch or centimeter. (1.M.1.1)

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This has some good ideas, although not all applies to the stars focus science standard.

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Have you been muddling through the Next Gen Science Standards this year? I'm not going to lie: they can be a little difficult to understand...but I love a lot of the new content for first grade! My favorite addition is sun, moon and stars! This content meshes perfectly with my i ntegrated science unit on weather and has made this already popular unit an even better 6 week unit! Here's a look at some of the activities from this Sun + Moon + Stars Mini Unit.

Anchor Charts

Anchor charts are a HUGE part of learning new content for young learners. My firsties use our anchor charts all. the. time. I especially love finding ways to make each anchor chart unique by using coordinating colors or shapes so that it's easy to remember and easy to find in our room.

Each anchor chart can be printed and posted around the room...

Or you can fill it out on your Smart Board if you're short on space!

Sun Science

One of my favorite science experiments in first grade is our shadow experiment. You can read about it in detail here, but the look on my firsties' faces when they see their shadow change is priceless every single year!

Moon Science

Brand new to the weather unit this year is phases of the moon! After charting our learning about the moon, we sequence the phases of the moon using the interactive powerpoint from the mini-unit...

Then, we work at stations to sequence moon phases using the sequencing cards.

And later we work independently to sequence the cycle of the moon!

Stars Science

The last part of this mini-unit is all about stars! I love tying in some literacy by reading Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star with this study. It's a simple nursery rhyme, but perfect for deepening our discussion on stars with questions like, Why does the author say stars are like diamonds in the sky?
Then, during our science time we research facts about stars and chart our learning on stars in a can-have-are chart.

The next day, we use the slideshow from the unit (seen in the youtube video earlier) to talk about 5 famous constellations, what they look like and how they got their constellation. Then, for a STEM connection, we work in productive groups to build our own constellations with marshmallows and toothpicks. The groups name their constellations and tell the story of how it landed in the sky!

This STEM challenge can be found separately here. or with the rest of the activities and plans in this Sun + Moon + Stars Mini Unit!

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Have you been muddling through the Next Gen Science Standards this year? I'm not going to lie: they can be a little difficult to understand...but I love a lot of the new content for first grade! My favorite addition is sun, moon and stars!

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Bring class back together as a whole group
Allow each group to share a comparison or a contrast that they had come up with, write their answers on chart paper or white board for others to see. Discuss what worked and what didn't work as well as, anything else notable from the texts.
Put students into 4-5 groups and play crumple and shoot to ensure they have takeaways from today's lesson
At the end of the game, give each group a 3-2-1 exit ticket or complete as a class discussion
Have students turn in their papers with the listed comparisons and contrasts with their names on them to assess understanding.

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Students could measure from one letter to another for math focus standard

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Another option for a text relating to the stars in space

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Go out on a dark night and you'd swear there are thousands of stars in the sky. Too many to count. 10,000 at least. But why guess when someone has already done the counting for you? Astronomer Dorrit Hoffleit of Yale University, well known for her work with variable stars, compiled the Yale Bright Star Catalog decades ago. It tabulates every star visible from Earth to magnitude 6.5, the naked eye limit for most of humanity.

You might be in for a surprise when you read it, though. To answer the question, "How many stars in the sky?" The total comes to 9,096 stars visible across the entire sky. Both hemispheres. Since we can only see half the celestial sphere at any moment, we necessarily divide that number by two to arrive at 4,548 stars (give or take depending on the season). And that's from the darkest sky you can imagine. I don't know about you, but that number seems paltry to one's impression of an inky night in the backcountry.

At the poles, where the north and south polestars are pinned to the zenith and no stars rise or set, the same ~4,500 stars are visible every single clear night of the year. At northern mid-latitudes, the pole star is halfway up in the northern sky, allowing us to peer deeper into the southern realms of the celestial sphere. During the course of a year from latitude 45° north, we see roughly half again as many stars as we do at a particular time on a given evening. That tallies up to approximately 6,800 stars. Still pretty lean, but apparently enough to convey the impression of an intensely starry sky.

Astronomers use the magnitude scale to measure star and planet brightness. Each magnitude is 2.5 times brighter than the one below it. Altair, in Aquila the Eagle, shines at about magnitude +1 which is 2.5 times brighter than a 2nd magnitude star, which is 2.5 times brighter than a 3rd magnitude star, and so on.

A first magnitude star is 2.5 x 2.5 x 2.5 x 2.5 x 2.5 (about 100) times brighter than a 6th magnitude star.

The bigger the magnitude number, the fainter the star. If an object is really bright, it's assigned a negative magnitude. Sirius, the brightest star sparkles at magnitude -1.4, Jupiter at -2.5, and Venus tops the planets at -4.4. The Full Moon reaches a magnificent -12.7, bested only by the Sun at -26.7.

While the total number of naked eye stars may seem unimpressive, consider what happens to the sky in and around cities, where most of us live. From the suburbs, the magnitude limit is around +4 for a worldwide total of about 900 stars or half that for your location. If we set the city limit at magnitude +2 (stars similar to the Big Dipper in brightness) we're left with just 70 stars worldwide, or 35 stars visible from say, downtown Chicago or Boston.

No wonder city dwellers are stunned by the night sky when they take their first trip to the country. Stars barely exist for those trapped beneath an ever-present dome of light pollution.

Numbers increase exponentially if we go in the opposite direction as there are far more faint stars than bright. The standard limit for a pair of 50-mm binoculars is 9th magnitude, opening up a vista of some 217,000 stars across the heavens. Impressed? A 3-inch telescope pulls in a treasure-worthy 5.3 million, enough for several lifetimes of viewing pleasure. Dare I go further?

On the very best nights, I can reach 16th magnitude with my 15-inch telescope, or 380 million stars. Well, only half that really, but who's counting?

How many stars in the sky can you see with binoculars? Use Gary Seronik's Binocular Highlights to help you find out!

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Go out on a dark night and you'd swear there are thousands of stars in the sky. Too many to count. 10,000 at least. But why guess when someone has already done the counting for you? Astronomer Dorrit Hoffleit of Yale University, well known for her work with variable stars, compiled the Yale Bright Star Catalog decades ago.

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Math & Science focus

Objective: Students will be able to estimate the length of each point on the constellation to the nearest inch or centimeter.

After topic of constellations is introduced, students are complete the constellation Measurement worksheet(s) with a partner. Student record their measurement findings on the data sheet to compare and contrast. Each group will need a ruler and to take turns measuring and recording.

Strategic grouping should be used: 1s with 3s, 2s with 4s.

After groups have completed the worksheets, we regroup and review answers together.

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When measuring Constellations, student can record their findings on this data sheet to compare and contrast results

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This is another option for constellations that students can measure

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All About Stars for Kids: Astronomy and Space for Children - FreeSchool

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Questions to ask and things to consider:

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Questions to ask and things to consider:

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What do I have? What is missing? How am I supporting diverse student needs? Are their multiple access points for engagement?

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- The texts that are being compared and contrasted are read aloud as a group. This allows all students the opportunity to listen to the text regardless of reading level
- Students will have a copy of the texts to refer back to during partner work

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- Comparing and Contrasting is done with a partner using strategic grouping. This allows students the opportunity to collaborate with their peers and offer embedded support. Students often enjoy working with a partner, which fosters student engagement. I will place my 1's with my 3's and my 2's with my 4's. This ensures there is not too large of a gap between achievement levels.

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- Modeling is provided at the beginning of the lesson to help students understand what is expected of them during their work time, without providing exact answers. This fosters productive struggle amongst the students.

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- Sentence stems are provided for each pair.  The sentence stems offer support for pairs as they write their comparison and contrast sentences. For high achieving groups, challenge the students to come up with statements without the support of sentence stems. This offers enrichment.

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- Each group will have the opportunity to share a comparison or contrast statement that they came up with. Choice in which statement to share and the opportunity to share, fosters student engagement.

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What am I going to use/not use? What do I need to adjust? What is my plan for implementation with the materials? Are these materials and my instructional design meeting all students' needs?

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When implementing the reading & science focused lesson the materials that I will use form my collection will be:
- Constellation Video to introduce topic and hook students
- Compare & Contrast video if needed
- Text 1 and text 2 to inform students
- Sentence stems for comparing and contrast statements
- Crumble and shoot video for instructions and trash can for students to shoot into

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(These are meant to model compare and contrast statements, not related to this lesson's texts)
Comparing:
A text about a national forrest and a text about the ocean are a like because they are both informational texts

Contrast:
A story about an imaginary friend and a text about the US presidents are different because one is fiction and the other is nonfiction.

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Constellations are different from stars because of their size, constellations are much larger than individual stars.

Text 1 and Text 2 are similar because they are both informational texts.

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compare and contrast video for 1st grade - Google Search

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I can compare and contrast using a venn diagram a venn diagram is a graphic organizer. That has twoMoreI can compare and contrast using a venn diagram a venn diagram is a graphic organizer. That has two circles that overlap the middle is to tell what is alike.

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- Crumple and shoot is an educational game that students enjoy and allows me to ask questions directly related to the lesson to assess student understanding. Students work in groups or teams so good behavior and sportsmanship will be noted.

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The 3-2-1 exit ticket can be completed by group, whole class, or individually for this lesson. Students who struggle with writing may have difficulty completing individually; small group may be needed.

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I will most likely not use any of the math resources for the lesson. I will save the resources and lightly outlined lesson I have created for a different day.