Writing Lesson: Flooding and Land Type
Lesson Plan
55 minutesGrades2English Language Arts
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Written by Kristen Conroy, Sustainable Jersey for Schools
About this lesson
Students discuss causes of flooding, investigate types of soil and land, and write about why some places are more likely to flood.
Inquire: Students share what they know about flooding and explore the causes of flooding.
Investigate: Students investigate and discuss landforms and the different types of soil.
Inspire: Students apply what they learned about the causes of flooding to create a picture and write an explanation of why this land area would flood easily.
Inspire: Students apply what they learned about the causes of flooding to create a picture and write an explanation of why this land area would flood easily.
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Everything you need to teach it
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Suggestions
- This lesson can be taught during a unit on the Earth or in conjunction with science class.
- This lesson can be used to reinforce writing and speaking skills using real-world connections.
- Teacher can encourage students to take their drawings home and share them with their families, discussing ways they can work together to stay safe in a flood.
Prerequisites
- This is lesson 1 of 3 in our 2nd grade ELA Unit: Impact on Biomes.
- Discussions on flooding may bring up anxiety for some students. Consider using resources from the Climate Anxiety: SEL Resource for Teachers including a template to inform caregivers of the topics in the unit and sentence frames for discussions.
- Teachers should be aware of and sensitive to students who have been affected by flooding. Images of flooding included in this lesson do not show people and focus on land that has too much water
- Teachers need to prepare soil samples (loamy soil, sandy soil, gravel, clay, etc.) and water for the demonstration in the Investigate section. Each sample should be in a large plastic see-through cup with small holes poked into the bottom. Teachers can prepare extra samples for students to feel. See the Teacher Document for more details.
- Teachers can discuss the concept of climate change in simple terms for students, or use one of the kid-friendly resources listed below:
- Introduction to Climate Change (video 2:55)
- Climate Change According to a Kid (video 2:01)
- Fabienne’s Wild Weather Adventure (ebook)
- Teachers can make a local connection by gathering state and town maps to display.
Differentiation
- The Teacher Document includes visual sentence boards that correspond to prompts on the Teacher Slideshow.
- Teachers can print out the visual sentence boards and students who need support in order to respond to the prompts can point to the words and images.
- Resources for using sentence boards can be found in the speaker notes on the Teacher Document.
- Students can brainstorm how they could prepare for a flood, respond to a flood, and how to stay safe during a flood.
- Suggested lesson extensions:
- Have students share their drawings and sentences with the class.
- Invite a local expert (e.g., an environmental scientist) to talk about flooding and climate change.
- Follow up with additional activities such as a field trip to a local area affected by flooding to observe and discuss the impacts firsthand.
- Have students test soil samples from school grounds or near their homes using this resource from NOAA.
From the scientist review
In this lesson, students learn about flooding and its causes, as well as how, why, and where it might happen in New Jersey. This lesson passed our science review.
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About the teacher writers
Kristen Conroy
Kristen Conroy holds a Bachelor of Arts from Montclair State University. She has been teaching since 2004 and has 22 years of experience in elementary education, specializing in science and gifted education for grades K–5. Kristen currently serves as a District Science Specialist for grades K–4 and as a Gifted and Talented teacher, and holds P–3 and K–8 teaching certifications.
Sustainable Jersey for Schools
Sustainable Jersey is a network and movement of municipalities, schools and school districts working collectively to bring about a sustainable New Jersey. Acting with state agencies, non-profit organizations, foundations, academia and industry, Sustainable Jersey researches best practices for what communities could and should do to contribute to a sustainable future.
