Project Proposal Focus

Overview

In this 60-minute session (Lesson 4 of 10) from “Mastery & Expression,” students outline their projects by defining learning goals. Year 1 creates a visuals-based plan, while Year 5 writes a short proposal with research objectives and methods.

Learning intentions

• Students will identify what they want to learn in their project.
• Students will choose how they will learn and show what they learned.
• Year 1 students will create and label a simple visual plan for their project.
• Year 5 students will write a brief proposal including a focus question, research objectives, and methods.

Success criteria

• I can name one or two things my project will help me learn or figure out.
• I can show my learning plan using pictures (Year 1) or sentences (Year 5).
• I can explain, in simple terms, how I will find information or test an idea.
• I can share my plan with a partner and revise one part based on feedback.

Curriculum links

• Ask and answer questions to clarify scientific understanding and learning goals.
• Plan and carry out simple investigations (age-appropriate) and describe steps.
• Use evidence and observations to support explanations.
• Produce writing and presentations appropriate to a task, audience, and purpose.

Lesson structure (60 minutes)

1. 5 minutes — Quick launch + unit theme

• Remind students this unit is about “Mastery & Expression” and today’s goal is planning so research and learning are easier.
• Ask: “What is my project about, and what do I want to learn?”

2. 10 minutes — Whole-group brainstorm (same science core, different output)

• Facilitate a shared science theme for the unit (choose one already used in your sequence, such as weather patterns, ecosystems, simple machines, or forces).
• Record ideas as two columns on a shared chart: “What I want to learn” and “How I will learn.”
• Year 1: encourage pointing, sorting, and naming; Year 5: encourage short verbal sentences.

3. 15 minutes — Year 1 visuals-based plan (draw + label)

• Give Year 1 a simple template with boxes: Topic, Learning Goal, Picture of how I will find out, and Picture of how I will share.
• Students draw their project plan and add 1–3 labels or phonics-based words (for example: “sun,” “rain,” “test,” “draw,” “ask”).
• Teacher moves between students, prompting: “Show me your learning goal picture. What does it mean?”

4. 15 minutes — Year 5 short proposal (write and organize)

• Provide a short proposal template with prompts: Focus question, 2–3 research objectives, and methods (how you will gather information or test).
• Students write 4–8 complete sentences using age-appropriate accuracy.
• Teacher prompts: “What will you measure/observe? Where will you get information? How will you record it?”

5. 10 minutes — Partner share + one improvement

• Students take turns presenting their plan for 3 minutes each.
• Listener gives one “glow” (one thing they understand) and one “grow” (one suggestion like “Add how you will collect evidence.”).
• Students revise one small part on the template (add a label, clarify a method sentence, or tighten the learning goal).

6. 5 minutes — Exit reflection

• Each student completes a quick “plan check” sentence frame:
• Year 1: “I want to learn about ___.”
• Year 5: “My project question is ___. My first objective is ___.”
• Collect templates or take a quick photo for your records.

Resources

• Project plan templates for Year 1 (visual boxes) and Year 5 (short proposal form)
• Pencils, crayons/markers, and erasers
• Sticky notes or small index cards for brainstorming ideas
• Picture word bank cards (Year 1) related to the current science theme (observe, test, record, ask, research)
• Sentence starters (Year 5) such as “I will investigate…,” “My objective is…,” “To gather evidence, I will…”
• Partner feedback cards: “I understand…” and “I suggest…”
• Simple recording tool (observation sheet or notebook page) to reference during planning
• Timer for structured sharing time

Assessment

• Formative check of learning goals: confirm each student states at least one clear goal.
• Evidence of planning quality: Year 1 shows a coherent visuals-based sequence; Year 5 includes objectives and a method.
• Review revisions after partner feedback to see if students improved clarity or added evidence-collecting steps.

Differentiation

• Support for Year 1:
• Use fewer boxes, provide picture choices, and allow labeling with single words.
• Offer hand-over-hand guidance for sentence frames if needed, keeping the student doing most of the drawing.
• Extension for Year 5:
• Add a “materials needed” line and a brief plan for how results will be recorded (table, chart, labeled diagram).
• Require one sentence that explains why their method will answer the focus question.
• EAL learners:
• Use consistent visuals and bilingual word banks if available; accept oral explanations first, then draw/write.
• Provide sentence starters with word banks to reduce writing load.
• SEN/learning needs:
• Break writing into chunks (objective 1, objective 2, method) and allow dictation for Year 5 while the student selects key words.
• Provide a simplified proposal template with only three sections if necessary.