Teachers Lesson Plan for Earthquakes

Teacher - Mrs. S. Cain
Subject - ESL
Level - Intermediate
Date - 2/1/05 2nd Period
Unit of Study -
1. Science (Earthquakes)

2. Grammar (Commands)

Behavioral Objective - The students will be able to:

1. Identify 4 different natural disasters.

2. Give and carry out commands.

3. Brainstorm ideas on

a. How to prepare for an Earthquake

b. What to do during an Earthquake

c. How to help after an Earthquake

Aim - 1. Can you match the correct natural disaster with the correct picture?

2. Can you give and carry out a command?

3. Would you know what to do if an earthquake was about to hit?

Motivation - On the board I will put 4 pictures of different natural disasters. 1. Earthquake 2. Tornado
3. Hurricane
4. Tsunami

I will ask the question: Can you place the correct label with the matching natural disaster?

Procedure -
1. Students will come into the room and start the Do Now (Motivational) Activity already written on the board. I will be handing out a sheet as the students walk into the room to fill out. This activity will be the starting point for the Science component (Earthquakes) of this lesson.

a. Picture A _____________________

b. Picture B _____________________

c. Picture C _____________________

d. Picture D _____________________
I will call on volunteers to the board to fill in their responses.

2. Next we will do the Grammar Component of this lesson(Commands). I will ask the students if anyone knows what a command is and if anyone could give me an example of one. Next I will put the transparency (Learn About Commands) on the overhead projector. We will have a short discussion and the assignment will be to write 4 commands.

3. The students will open their textbooks (High - Point - Level A) to page 224. The poem is titled "When the Ground Shakes" by Sheron Long. I will read the poem to the class one time. The students will read the poem to themselves one time. Next I will call on volunteers to read the poem out loud.

4. Students will turn to page 226. I will read the vocabulary words and the definitions to them first.

5. The students will copy the vocabulary words into their notebooks. I will call on volunteers to read the vocabulary words.

6. Next the students will turn to page 227 (The Making of an Earthquake). We will discuss the 5 steps about an Earthquake.

7. For the class activity I will separate the students into groups of 2. Each group will have to complete the chart titled:

column 1: How to prepare for an Earthquake

column 2:
What to do during an Earthquake

column 3:
How to help after an Earthquake

8. The groups will share their answers to the class.

9. For homework the students will write 5 commands about what to do before, during, or after an earthquake.

Vocabulary - epidemic, restore power, rise, ruins, separate, sewer, supplies, take good care of, tent city, threatened

Materials - blackboard, chalk, sentence strips, magnets, pen, paper, textbook, transparencies, overhead projector, pictures

Homework - Please refer to Procedure Step #9

Higher Order Questions -

1. How can you prepare for an Earthquake?

2. What can you do during an Earthquake?

3. How can you help after an Earthquake?

Follow-Up- We will read and act out the play "Earthquake at Dawn" by Kristiana Gregory.

Evaluation - The students will have their completed charts about earthquakes that they worked on as a group.

Standards We Are Approaching -

ELA Standard #1 - Students will listen, speak, read, and write in English for information and understanding.

READ - The students will read the poem, the vocabulary words, the making of an earthquake, and their responses to the earthquake chart.

WRITE - The students will write the list of vocabulary words and fill in the earthquake chart.

LISTEN - The students will listen to the teacher read the poem and to the responses from the earthquake chart

SPEAK - The students will recite the vocabulary word list, the poem and the answers from the earthquake chart.
Overall -

*Students will be called to the board and called on to participate in class discussion.

*Directions will be given both verbally and written.

*Higher Order Questions will be asked to promote student interaction in the lesson.

*The needs of the children will be addressed throughout the lesson.

Performance Indicators - 1,2,6

Key Ideas - Reference will be made to written and verbal text in the form of vocabulary, grammar, literature, and supporting details.