Lesson MINI

LESSON MINI

Exploring with Jane Goodall

Grade:

K-2

Topic:

People

Unit:

Historical Figures

Overview

In this lesson mini, students learn about the life of Jane Goodall through an informational text. Students practice early reading skills while learning about this pioneering primatologist and anthropologist. They engage with the text to identify key details about Goodall’s life, her groundbreaking chimpanzee research in Gombe, and her contributions to animal behavior studies. Through guided reading, discussions, and simple comprehension activities, students will develop their understanding of both Goodall and chimpanzees.

Ideas for Implementation

Science

Literacy

Library media

Learning centers

Intervention or enrichment

Interdisciplinary collaboration

Key Vocabulary & Definitions

Africa (noun): a large continent where Jane Goodall studied chimpanzees

chimpanzee (noun): a kind of ape that is related to people

continent (noun): a large area of land

dream (noun): a wish for the future

knuckle walk (noun): a kind of walk on all four limbs in which a chimpanzee leans forward on its arms

limb (noun): an arm or a leg of a person or a four-legged animal

rainforest (noun): a forest that receives lots of rain per year and in which many chimpanzees live

scientist (noun): a person who discovers new things by collecting information

tool (noun): something that helps people or animals to complete a job

Authentic Learning Extensions

Authentic learning opportunities for studying Jane Goodall’s life involve real-world experiences and practical applications that help students understand how scientists contribute to our understanding of animals in their natural habitats. Here are some examples:

Animal Observations: Ask students to observe an animal of their choice in its habitat and record their observations on a sketch pad. This gives students the opportunity to develop their observation skills and gather data meaningfully.

Community Connection: Partner with local wildlife organizations or animal sanctuaries to give students hands-on experience with animal care and conservation efforts.

Field Trip: Organize a field trip to a local zoo or farm so that students can learn about and observe different animals using scientific methods such as observing, researching, and collecting data.

Library Research: Guide students to explore books about Jane Goodall in the school media center or local library. Encourage them to choose both fiction and nonfiction books at their reading level. After reading, have students create simple picture-and-word presentations, or presentations of their choosing, showing what they learned about Jane Goodall and her work with animals.

Observe and Sketch: Ask students to observe human beings in their natural habitats and sketch and/or write their observations in a sketch pad. Consider asking students to observe and sketch their families, classmates, or teachers at school and/or home.

Scientific Documentation: Have students document animal behaviors using ethograms and other scientific recording methods, similar to those used by Jane Goodall. This introduces students to scientific methodology in the real world.

Choose Activity

LESSON MINI

Exploring with Jane Goodall

Activity

1:

Jane Goodall’s Dream

By the end of the activity, students will be able to describe Jane Goodall’s dream of living in Africa and also reflect on their own dreams.

30-40

Minutes

Materials and Resources

Materials

Colored pencils, crayons, or markers

Whiteboard and display

Writing utensils

Resources

Implementation

Prepare for the Activity: Prepare the blank little books for students to use in step 8, including a model book to set expectations.

Tell students that during today’s activity they will learn about a famous scientist named Jane Goodall by looking at different images and watching a video.

Explain to students that scientists are people who discover new things by exploring, researching, and observing.

Invite students to think about important discoveries scientists have made in the past that have made the world a better place. Scribe their ideas on the whiteboard.

Display the Jane Goodall article and its images. Have students read the captions and describe what they see.

Show students the Inspiring Future Scientists video, and discuss the following guiding questions as a class:

What was Jane Goodall’s dream?

What did Jane Goodall’s mother say to her when she was a child?

What did Jane Goodall discover about how chimpanzees use tools?

Who is Mr. H., and why is he special?

Why is Jane Goodall a famous scientist?

Lead a class discussion about the importance of having dreams by asking students what it means to not give up on the things they want. Use Britannica School, ImageQuest Jr., or another royalty-free source to display images of people achieving their dreams. Consider showing students images of different scientists and professions to activate their thinking.

Invite students to think about and share with the class what they want to do when they grow up. Scribe students’ ideas on the whiteboard.

Provide each student with a blank My Little Book of Big Dreams, and ask them to think about what they want to do in the future. Tell students to draw, label, and/or write their thoughts.

Encourage students to share their little books with a partner, and ask for volunteers to share their dreams with the rest of the class.

Wrap up the activity by asking students to share how their dreams are similar to or different from Jane Goodall’s dreams.

Differentiation and Variations

Video: Play the Inspiring Future Scientists video twice to ensure student comprehension through repetition. First, play the video so that students can get the main ideas. Then play it a second time, stopping and pausing to ask guiding questions and check comprehension. This approach helps ensure that students understand the concepts presented.

Little Book Writing: Depending on students’ writing levels, tailor the My Little Book of Big Dreams activity to be more centered around drawing and labeling or more focused on writing. Provide tailored prompts as needed through guidance and modeling or written open-ended questions. This approach ensures that all students work on developing their independent writing skills at their own pace.

Little Animal Book: Instead of having students create a little book about their dreams, consider asking them to pick their favorite animal and draw, label, and/or write about it. This benefits students’ learning because it fosters text-to-self connections.

Collaborative Teaching

One Teaching, One Assisting: For collaborative teaching and learning environments, this learning activity is well suited to a One Teaching, One Assisting strategy. In this model, one teacher leads the activity while the other circulates, assisting individual students as needed. This ensures that when students encounter difficulties, they receive immediate help in the form of personalized support and answers to their questions. By addressing students’ unique needs and keeping them on track, this approach enhances individual learning experiences and fosters a supportive classroom environment. Studies indicate that immediate feedback and individualized attention can significantly enhance student understanding and retention of material.

Activity Introduction: Both teachers introduce the activity and invite students to reflect on the images presented about Jane Goodall.

Video: One teacher leads the video discussion by asking students the guiding questions while the other teacher scribes students’ answers on the whiteboard and assists students in understanding the key ideas presented.

Independent Activity: The lead teacher explains the My Little Book of Big Dreams activity while the assisting teacher prepares materials and hands them out to students. Both teachers assist students in completing their independent tasks.

Activity Wrap-Up: Both teachers discuss what it means to never give up on a dream and invite students to share their hopes for the future. Both teachers conclude the activity by highlighting the key achievements of Jane Goodall.

Exploring with Jane Goodall

Activity

2:

Jane Goodall’s Life

By the end of the activity, students will be able to summarize defining moments in Jane Goodall’s life and explain how her work contributes to our understanding of animals.

>40

Minutes

Materials and Resources

Materials

Colored pencils, crayons, or markers

Images of Jane Goodall

Lined paper (one sheet per student pair)

Whiteboard and display

Writing utensils

Resources

Implementation

Tell students that in today’s activity they will learn about Jane Goodall by reading an article as a class, writing a summary in pairs, and then completing an independent sequencing activity.

Show students images of Jane Goodall from Britannica School, ImageQuest Jr., or another royalty-free source.

Provide each student with a copy of the Jane Goodall article. Display and read the article aloud, and ask students the following guiding questions to check comprehension:

Who was Jane Goodall, and what did she study?

What was her childhood dream?

How did she study chimpanzees?

What did she learn about chimpanzees?

How does she protect animals and nature?

Use the Build a Summary instructional strategy, and assign students to work in pairs to summarize Jane Goodall’s life.

Instruct students to write a one-sentence summary for each section of the Jane Goodall article. Write the article section names on the whiteboard for support: “Early Life,” “Studying Chimpanzees,” and “Continuing Her Work.”

As a class, discuss the different sentences that each pair wrote, and compare and contrast ideas.

Draw a timeline of Jane Goodall’s life on the whiteboard and invite students to highlight key events. Start with her birth in 1934, then her journey to Kenya in 1957, her work with chimpanzees in Tanzania during the 1960s, and her travels to protect wild places and animals. Consider showing students a map of Africa and pointing to where Kenya and Tanzania are located to help orient them to Goodall’s work.

Provide each student with a copy of the Sequence graphic organizer, and ask them to pick three defining moments in Jane Goodall’s life and create a visual representation of them in the order in which they happened.

Invite students to share their work with a classmate and discuss what they drew.

Wrap up the activity by asking students to share something they learned about Jane Goodall’s life from the informational text.

Differentiation and Variations

Group Summary: Instead of having students build a summary in pairs, invite them to summarize the Jane Goodall article as a whole class. Then use the class summary to create a timeline on the whiteboard. This variation gives students the opportunity to practice synthesizing and applying key ideas and provides support for early readers and writers.

Sequence Graphic Organizer: Ask students to write a few sentences or a short paragraph in each box of the graphic organizer to represent three defining moments in Jane Goodall’s life. This gives students the opportunity to develop their critical thinking and independent writing skills.

K-W-L Graphic Organizer: To reflect on the Jane Goodall article, use a K-W-L instructional strategy instead of the Build a Summary instructional strategy. This approach gives students the opportunity to reflect on their learning before, during, and after the reading.

Collaborative Teaching

Parallel Teaching: For collaborative teaching and learning environments, this learning activity is well suited to a Parallel Teaching strategy. In this model, the class is divided into two groups, and each teacher delivers the same activity simultaneously to their group. This reduces the student-teacher ratio, allowing for more interaction and individualized attention. With smaller groups, students are more likely to participate actively and receive immediate feedback, which fosters a deeper understanding of the content and promotes a more engaging learning experience. Evidence suggests that small-group instruction leads to increased student engagement and improved academic outcomes.

Activity Introduction: Both teachers begin the activity by showing students images of Jane Goodall. They then divide the class into two groups.

Article Reading and Build a Summary Activity: Both teachers lead the article reading and afterward invite students to work in pairs to summarize Jane Goodall’s life.

Independent Sequencing Activity: Both teachers support their groups of students in creating visual representations of Jane Goodall’s life using the Sequence graphic organizer.

Activity Wrap-Up: The whole class gets together for the conclusions, and both teachers lead a class discussion on Jane Goodall’s life while encouraging students to share their learnings.

Exploring with Jane Goodall

Activity

3:

Jane Goodall and Chimpanzees

By the end of the activity, students will be able to describe how chimpanzees behave in their natural habitat by using key vocabulary words from an informational text.

30-40

Minutes

Materials and Resources

Materials

Colored pencils, crayons, or markers

Images of Jane Goodall working with chimpanzees

Whiteboard and display

Writing utensils

Resources

Implementation

Tell students that during today’s activity they will become scientists who study chimpanzees, just like Jane Goodall.

Ask students what they know about chimpanzees and then show them the Chimpanzees video. Repeat the video as needed to ensure student comprehension and discuss the following guiding questions as a class:

Where do chimpanzees live?

What do chimpanzees look like?

How do chimpanzees spend their days?

How do chimpanzees walk?

What do chimpanzees eat?

How do chimpanzees communicate?

How do chimpanzees care for their babies?

Provide each student with a copy of the Chimpanzee article and a Picture Glossary graphic organizer.

Engage the class in a guided reading of the text, placing special emphasis on new vocabulary words or phrases presented in the text. Do this by pausing at key words to define them and discuss their meanings. Sample vocabulary: chimpanzee, rainforest, limb, knuckle walk, and tool.

Invite students to complete their picture glossaries in pairs; then ask for student volunteers to share their glossaries with the rest of the class.

Tell students to reflect on the importance of scientific research and the process of making observations to discover new things.

Show a picture of Jane Goodall working with chimpanzees. Discuss how Jane Goodall studied chimpanzees in their natural habitats for many years, and as a class, discuss how to use different observation tools to gather information.

Ask students to share something new they learned about chimpanzees. Consider tossing a beanbag or ball to make this activity more engaging and interactive.

Differentiation and Variations

Picture Glossary: To support students who are developing their fine motor skills, provide picture banks of a few key words from the Chimpanzee article for them to cut and paste. Then have the students write the vocabulary words. This activity helps early learners develop their spelling skills as well as their one-to-one correspondence.

Vocabulary Cloze: Instead of asking students to complete a Picture Glossary graphic organizer, provide them with a Vocabulary Cloze instructional activity to build vocabulary and make important observations about chimpanzees. Consider using vocabulary words such as people, hair, arms, Africa, tools, or other terms you think are appropriate.

Collaborative Teaching

Activity Introduction: Both teachers introduce the activity and invite students to become scientists who study chimpanzees.

Chimpanzees Video: One teacher leads the video discussion by asking students the guiding questions while the other teacher scribes students’ answers on the whiteboard and assists students in understanding the key ideas presented.

Article Reading and Picture Glossary: The lead teacher explains the activities while the assisting teacher provides each student with a copy of the Chimpanzee article and a Picture Glossary graphic organizer.

Activity Wrap-Up: Both teachers lead a class discussion of how scientists use observation tools to gather information. Both teachers conclude the activity by having students share something new they learned about chimpanzees.

Exploring with Jane Goodall

Activity

4:

Minutes

Materials and Resources

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Resources

Implementation

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Differentiation and Variations

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Collaborative Teaching

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Exploring with Jane Goodall

Activity

5:

Minutes

Materials and Resources

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Resources

Implementation

Prepare for the Activity:

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Differentiation and Variations

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Collaborative Teaching

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Lesson MINI

LESSON MINI

Exploring with Jane Goodall

Overview

Choose Activity

LESSON MINI

Activity

1:

Jane Goodall’s Dream

By the end of the activity, students will be able to describe Jane Goodall’s dream of living in Africa and also reflect on their own dreams.

30-40

Materials

Resources

Activity

2:

Jane Goodall’s Life

By the end of the activity, students will be able to summarize defining moments in Jane Goodall’s life and explain how her work contributes to our understanding of animals.

>40

Materials

Resources

Activity

3:

Jane Goodall and Chimpanzees

By the end of the activity, students will be able to describe how chimpanzees behave in their natural habitat by using key vocabulary words from an informational text.

30-40

Materials

Resources

Activity

4:

Materials

Resources

Activity

5:

Materials

Resources

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