Lesson Plan Format*

School of Education
The College of New Jersey

Planning lessons has two purposes: first, the process of planning encourages deep thinking about the
elements of a lesson; second, the plan guides you while delivering instruction. Experienced teachers may
plan more informally, but novices need to create thorough plans that support them in delivering
effective lessons. There is no one correct way to plan a lesson, but during your field experience your
plans should contain the following elements:

● Grade Level & Title of the Lesson

o Grade 1 Skewer and Marshmallow Tower
● Standard (select the one that is most relevant)
o K-2-ETS1-1 Ask questions, make observations, and gather information about a situation
people want to change (e.g., climate change) to define a simple problem that can be solved
through the development of a new or improved object or tool.
o K-2-ETS1-2 Develop a simple sketch, drawing, or physical model to illustrate how the shape
of an object helps it function as needed to solve a given problem.
o K-2-ETS1-3 Analyze data from tests of two objects designed to solve the same problem to
compare the strengths and weaknesses of how each performs
● Primary Lesson Objective (should match the standard)
o SWBAT use technical skills to build a tower using two materials. SWBAT build off of the prior
Spaghetti and Marshmallow tower lesson/activity and execute problem solving techniques.
● Secondary Lesson Objective (if relevant)
● What will you listen for, look for, and/or collect to assess if students met the objective?
o Look for student cooperation and problem solving.
● How do you know students are ready for this lesson? How is this lesson connected to what the
students are already learning, to their prior knowledge and/or their interests?
o This is the last lesson in the unit. Students have already built towers using spaghetti and
marshmallows.
● What new 1-3 vocabulary words will you teach or review?

o Engineering, design, plan

Lesson Structure Script out what you will say and do.
If you create a slideshow, attach/hyperlink it.
Beginning During the post-activity discussion for the previous lesson,
● Hook the students students decided that having stronger spaghetti (or wooden
● Contextualize the lesson sticks) would be better for stability, and bigger marshmallows
● Explain what you are going to teach would be better for stability and balance. In this lesson, we
them and why took this into consideration for the materials so the students
can test out their theories.
 Open the lesson:
“Do we remember when we built spaghetti towers last week?
We listened to your concerns, and now we are going to be
building towers again with the materials you engineers
suggested to improve our towers!”
Middle “We're going to play a game where you have to build a tall
● Teach the skill or strategy tower that won’t fall and the table group with the highest
● Give children hands-on work tower wins! BUT I’m only giving you 10 minutes to make the
● Review relevant responsibilities tower!”
● Think about early finishers We will hand out the skewers and marshmallows to each
table group.
Activity 1: ten minutes on the clock, start now!

Let’s see if these materials hold better than the spaghetti and
mini marshmallows.

Closure Post activity discussion about if the new materials were

● Summarize the teaching point better.
● Encourage students to reflect on
their own learning Closing discussion on being engineers and technology.
● Gather information on what they
have learned and/or are confused

Review your lesson plan. Think about these things and add to your lesson plan as necessary:

● What multi-sensory and/or multi-media strategies will you use to help students understand
the material and engage with it?
o We will be showing students pictures of the spaghetti and marshmallow towers they
previously built. Students will use hands-on materials (skewers, marshmallows) to build
towers together. Students will also be able to use the spaghetti and mini marshmallows
that they used originally.
● Describe accommodations and adaptations for specific students with special needs.
o Some students have extra space on the carpet in case they need to get their energy out.
There is also an exercise ball to the side that students are allowed to use. Those who
struggle academically have seats at the front of the carpet.
o Back at their desks, the students who struggle to remain attentive have accommodations
at their desks (such as a bar that they can kick attached to their seat).
● How will you group students?
o Students are grouped in assigned seats that are clustered in tables. Students will work
with their table to complete their towers.
● What materials do you need?
o Skewers, raw spaghetti, marshmallows (large and mini), smartboard, timer.
● What are the potential tricky spots? How will you pro-actively address them?
 o A potential tricky spot is clean up, organization, and time management. Students get
really excited to do hands-on activities, so they disregard any mess that they leave
(especially with the threat of a ten minute timer). It is important to set aside time for
cleanup.
● How will you manage transitions?
o Students will be called to the carpet after math and find their assigned seats. When
transitioning to the activity, the students will be sent back to their seats by table to work
on the group activity. Materials will be handed out and students will be told not to touch
the materials until instructed to do so.
● How are you addressing cultural and linguistic diversity?
o Students will be able to discuss with each other. ESL students will be able to speak
Spanish with their classmates if need be.
● In what other ways will you need to differentiate for the range of students in your class?

o There are 5 ESL students in the class, 2 of which barely speak English. As for dealing with
these struggles, the ESL students who struggle are sat with ESL students who are fairly
good at speaking English. When the students are confused by a word or have trouble
understanding something, they are able to communicate with each other, or ask
questions.

Reflection: This lesson went just as well as the last marshmallow tower. The students were better able to
design and plan their towers, and immediately started with a foundation. During the first lesson,
students were more likely to try to build the towers on their own and try to combine them at the end.
They were also more likely to try to build a foundation after already building their towers (which kept
falling). During this lesson, students built their foundations together and were in less of a rush to get to
building and more concerned with planning.

Student Work: