Lesson Plan- Earthworm/Mealworms

For my lesson plan I divided my fifth grade class into groups of five. Each group was given an earthworm and a mealworm. They were to draw, measure, touch, and write the physical characteristics of each animal. Then each group was given an information sheet for each animal. Together they read the information and wrote down 10-12 notes or short facts they thought were important about each one. From there the students returned to their own desks and changed their notes into two paragraphs summarizing what they had learned about each animal.
I was very happy with the results. The students were very excited to be working with live animals and learning about them. They worked very well in groups. The group discussions were interesting as students decided what was important enough to be included in their notes. Then when I read their paragraphs I was very excited to see that most of the paragraphs started with main idea sentences and included most of the important facts. It was a fun lesson and incorporated many of the strategies Marizano wrote about. The students seemed to really enjoy it.