Exploring the habitat and habit of worms

1. TPALesson Plan #2
1. Teacher Candidate Ashley Ambers Date Taught
Cooperating Teacher Rhiannon Straka School/District Medical Lake ECEAP
2. Subject Life Science Field Supervisor Chris Booth
3. Lesson Title/Focus Where do worms live? 5. Length of Lesson 10-15 minutes
4. Grade Level Preschool (Ages 4-5)
6. Academic & Content
Standards (Common
Core/National)
Washington State Early Learning and Development Guidelines.
Ages 4 to 5 years. Learning about my world - Knowledge (cognition):
Apply new information or words to an activity or interaction. (78).
Washington State Early Learning and Development Guidelines.
Ages 4 to 5 years. Learning about my world – Science: Investigate the
properties of things in nature. Begin to understand what various life
forms need in order to grow and live (79).
7. Learning Objective(s) Children will construct at least one statement using vocabulary specific
to worms (from the previous lesson and prior knowledge) during small
group.
Children will compose at least one prediction about the worm’s habitat
and/or what it needs to survive during small group.
8. Academic Language
demands (vocabulary,
function, syntax, discourse)
Vocabulary: worm, tunneling, soil, sand, habitat, environment, garden,
earthworm, grandma, soil, slimy, wiggly, slithery, squirmy, tunnel,
breathing, bristles, grinding, cast, muscles, wriggling, underground,
rotting, stomach, flowerbed, recycle, dangerous, spades, vibrations.
Function: construct, compose.
Syntax: KWL chart, predictions chart
Discourse: in this lesson the language will be used orally by both the
teachers and the students. The assessment will be based upon oral
demands, and the vocabulary will then later be used when building to
our worm topic in later lessons.
9. Assessment
Assessment for this activity will be authentic and formative based. Children will be assessed on
whether or not they can make utilize and integrate new vocabulary from prior learning, and construct
predictions to build upon prior learning. To assess student learning a teacher or adult support will sit at
circle with a sheet for anecdotal notes (attached sheet) to record each child’s experience with the
worm habitat. These anecdotal records will then be used to assess whether or not the child met the
objectives as a type of formative assessment. To remind students of the vocabulary throughout their
observations, we will go over previous lessons and learning before being dismissed to the worm
habitat. An adult support will also be present during the lesson to engage with the students in
meaningful conversations using the vocabulary that we are building upon. There will be a space on the
assessment sheet titled “Vocabulary Used”, which will show participation by the printed words the
child uses while conversing with the teacher about what they see. There is also a column titled
“Predictions” which will similarly be filled with the written words that the child states regarding what
they think will happen, what they think worms need in order to survive, etc. Following the gathering of
each student’s prediction, a teacher or adult support will make a predictions chart, which we will go
over during circle and post in the same area that we keep the worm habitat to refer back to. We will
also utilize the KWL chart we previously made to monitor our own learning as a class, which will also
help act as a means of formative assessment. We will continue adding to the L portion of the chart,
which will act as another means of student voice or evidence of learning. We will also be able to look

2. back onto the Worms KWL chart at the end of our worms unit as evidence of overall learning, and to
see how the children themselves have grown as students.
**Assessment sheet attached**
10. Lesson Connections
Research: “As children explore the sensory variety of the outdoors, they learn important concepts in
science (e.g., the living habits of plants and animals; the physical properties of different materials such
as water, soil, and stone) and ecology (e.g., the importance of preserving natural resources; how their
actions affect the environment). Exposure to nature also enhances young children’s language
development (Miller, 2007). Children inquire about the names of the things they investigate and seek
words to describe the processes they observe. Time in nature is also positively associated with
sustained attention (Taylor, Kuo, & Sullivan, 2001). Being outdoors helps children release energy,
which allows them to focus on quieter tasks; further, the interest that nature inherently holds for
children invites concentration. Finally, experiences in nature enhance the intellectual richness and
complexity of children’s collaborative play (Moore, 1996). They incorporate what they learn about the
natural world into their pretend play scenarios.”
Dowling, J. (2012, January 7). Nature Education in Preschool. HighScope Extensions, 25, 1-17.
Lesson Connections: In this lesson we are building upon our introductory lesson on worms, while also
continuing to build upon our theme of things that grow. To successfully participate in the lesson
students will have to have expressive oral language and some sort of background knowledge of
worms and the outdoors.
Personal/Community Building: Students are given a lot of freedom to be as creative as they want with
their predictions as well as telling adults and adult supports what they already know about worms. The
cognitive demand of the activity will be for each child to recall the previous lesson, apply it to the
current lesson, and make predictions about what is to come. It will also involve a level of patience for
each child as they wait their turn to investigate the worms and participate in the small group lesson.
We will also work on our safety skills by keeping both ourselves, our worms, and our peers safe by
following directions and adhering to expectations. These are all essentials skills they will need to be
functioning members of society when they are older.
Possible extensions:
Science-Making a compost bin, talking about what worms eat in relation to what we eat.
Nutrition-Making dirt cups for snack.
Art-Pipe cleaner and bead inch worms, painting with worms, painting with dirt.
Sensory-Place worms and soil in sensory table, make worms with brown playdoh and provide Easter
grass for them to place in.
Music-Wiggle worms songs
11. Instructional Strategies/Learning Tasks to Support Learning
Learning Tasks and Strategies
Sequenced Instruction
Teacher’s Role
Introduce the lesson
(5 minutes): “What do
we remember about
worms?”
“Do you remember
what we wanted to
learn about worms that
we haven’t yet?”
Students’ Role
Students are expected to respond to teacher prompts while following
classroom and circle time behavior expectations (including hand raising to
speak, voices quiet, bodies calm, ears listening, eyes watching).
“Worms live in the ground”
“Worms wiggle”
“You can dig up worms”
“Worms come out when it rains”

3. Review the “W” portion
of the KWL chart.
“Today we will be
learning about where
worms live. “Where
something lives is
called the environment
or its habitat” “Today
we will investigate a
worm’s habitat. “Can
you tell me about your
environment or your
habitat?”
“Great. I wonder what
we will find out about
worm habitats today.”
Explain the centers
that will be out for the
day, and what will
happen at each one.
Excuse the children to
centers and prepare
the activity by setting
out the pre prepped
container of soil and
sand mixture, and
making sure the
assessment sheets are
out and ready.
Activity (10 minutes):
Invite children to come
over to the table if
none are waiting.
Place worms in the soil
sand mixture jar and
start taking predictions,
focusing on one child
at a time.
Prompt students to
think about the worms,
what they’re doing, or
what we may see.
“What do you see?”
“What do you think
they are doing?”
“What do you think
they will do?”
“What worms eat”
“How they move around in the ground”
Students are expected to respond about the habitat or place they live in.
“I live in a house”
“I live in an apartment”
“It’s clean/It’s messy”
“Other people live with me”
Children will begin to think about what they will find out about worms today.
Children will choose a center once called on and dismissed from circle,
children will go to that center and continue to follow classroom and behavior
rules and expectations. Children are free to move freely around centers, but
should be picking up the toys they got out/played with before they leave.
Children will be sitting at the table waiting for the teacher to place the worms
into the soil/sand mixture jar. Once the worms are placed in the jar children
will begin observing the worms, making predictions by talking about the
worms and what they believe may happen.
“We won’t be able to see the worms because they’ll be in the ground”
“The worms will get hungry”
“The worms will get scared because it’s dark in there”

4. Repeat the activity
steps each time a new
child joins the activity,
and assess each child.
Closure (5 minutes):
During circle time
present the predictions
sheet to the children.
Ask if they have any
others to add. Cover
the container with
black paper. Remind
students we will check
the habitat again in
three days to see if
there are any changes.
Have the children
decide where the
habitat should be
placed.
Make ties to things
learned and things we
wanted to learn that
we wrote down on the
chart. Ask students if
there is anything else
they’d like to learn to
add to the “W” portion
of the chart. Ask
students if there is
anything else they
learned they need to
add to the “L” portion
of the chart.
If there were things
that we wanted to
learn that were not
answered in this
lesson, conclude by
saying,
“Maybe in our next
lesson about worms
we will learn about…”
Each child should be making predictions using the vocabulary they have
learned so far throughout the worm unit. Students may look through the
magnifying glass to get a better view of the worm, and better idea of what it
is doing.
Children are expected to give ideas as to where the habitat should go while
we wait.
Children are to follow circle time and behavior expectations, if they would like
a turn to speak they may raise their hands. If no children are speaking they
will be called on.
“I want to learn about how worms eat”
“I want to learn about how worms dig their tunnels”
“I learned what a worm tunnel looks like”
Students will also be making connections between things we wanted to know
and things that we learned. Children may share more of their personal
stories with worms, and then will be dismissed to their next activity.
Student Voice to Gather
I will assess student voice by asking “Who wants to find out more?” “Who like looking at the worms?”
and “Who knows something about this that they can share?". The student responses by hand raising
will show me how interested and engaged the children are with the topic still. By asking the children if
they know something they can share, it also acts as a form of assessment, and helps me progress
monitor myself to ensure that learning is in fact taking place within the classroom.
12. Differentiated Instruction

5. Plan
Environmental Support: Carpet squares, selectively placing students at circle, selectively placing adult
supports, not allowing children who do not work well together to observe the habitat at the same time.
Special Equipment: Chair at circle, bigger or thicker magnifying glasses for those who can’t see as
well.
Adult Support: Monitoring the children for appropriate circle time behaviors, as well as coming around
to assist children with any other potential needs, ensuring children are respecting the worms and their
environment.
Peer Support: Seating children based on children they work well with and separating them from those
they do not.
Invisible Support: Carpet squares during circle time, pre-teaching and enforcing expectations of
treating worms, treating peers, and hand raising for turns with speaking.
13. Resources and Materials
Plan
Resource: Lakeshore
Materials: clear container, sand, soil, eyedropper, black paper, 2 worms, water, magnifying glasses,
piece of poster paper, marker.
**Prior to lesson-Alternate one inch of soil and one inch of sand in the container until nearly full.
Dampen soil and sand mixture with water.
14. Management and Safety Issues
Plan
The major management and safety issues during this task will be keeping students on task, ensuring
that students are following classroom behavior expectations, and ensuring that the children are being
gentle with the worms. To plan for this we will go over the expectations of the lesson prior to starting.
The expectations for the students are that they stay on task and are keeping their hands and bodies to
themselves and are actively listening to their teachers with their eyes on the teacher and their mouths
quiet. We also pre-teach about how we handle the worms, and their habitat, highlighting the fact that
they are alive, and making connections of how we would like our bodies and houses to be treated. In
our attempts to keep children on task, we are engaging students by building upon a lesson that they
already have shown interest in, and teaching them about things that we wrote down in the ‘W’ portion
of our KWL chart. The one-on-one assessment means with the teacher will allow little time for off task
behaviors from the child being assessed, to limit other off task behaviors we will limit the children
allowed at the station to four while teachers are attempting assessment. We will also try to selectively
place children at circle so that they are not around children that they might potentially be disruptive
with, and enforcing expectations throughout the circle portion of the activity. The children will be
monitored closely by either the teacher or another adult support while they are seated at circle, and
they will also be expected to raise their hands and wait to be called on in order to make contributions
to the discussion.
15. Parent & Community Connections
Plan
Parent send-home task:
Include in the newsletter that our current topic is still worms and encourage them to continue to look
for worm casts in their garden, yards, or park with their children, or on the sidewalk after it rains.
Suggest that in different environments they ask their children, “Would a worm live here? Why or why
not?”. Encourage parents to experiment with worms with their children by watering patches of dirt or
grass to see if worms come up, and tapping on the ground to see if worms come up. Encourage
parents to ask their children to make predictions of what might happen, and why or why not.
Community extension:
Ask children to think of the best places in town to find worms, or where in town the most worms might
be. Have them recall a time or place where they have seen a worm before.

6. Ask the community to donate spades for children to investigate worms on their own time. Create a
community compost bin using the worms from the habitat.

7. Name: Date:
Title of Lesson: Assessor:
Vocabulary Used:
Prediction:
Name: Date:
Title of Lesson: Assessor:
Vocabulary Used:
Prediction:
Name: Date:
Title of Lesson: Assessor:
Vocabulary Used:
Prediction: