Lesson plan Grade 2 Art & Music
Drip Detective Sink Signs: A Grade 2 Water-Saving Design Lesson
A 55-minute grade 2 art lesson where students survey school sinks for drips and leaks, define the problem in one sentence, and design an opinion sign for each one.
Objectives
- Students will record what they observe at each sink on a survey sheet.
- Students will write one sentence that names the water problem they found.
- Students will design a sign with a picture and an opinion sentence using the word because.
Vocabulary
Key words: drip, leak, faucet, survey, opinion
Teacher overview
Designers begin by finding out what is actually wrong, and this lesson gives second graders that sequence with a problem they can walk to. Pairs survey the sinks in the building, record what they see and hear, write one plain sentence naming the problem, and only then design a small sign for the sink they visited. Because the sign has a job to do, the design decisions students make have reasons behind them.
Arrange the route with the office before the lesson, and let the custodian know the class is coming, since a two-minute conversation at a utility closet is often the most memorable part of the walk. Keep pairs to four sinks at most. In the sample school of Pebblewick, used here for the worked example, the class found two sinks that dripped and one hallway fountain that ran for a long moment after the handle was released, which is plenty of material for twenty-four signs.
Procedure
What a survey is (6 min). Read aloud: "Today you are drip detectives. A detective looks carefully and writes down what is really there, not what they guess." Model the survey sheet on the board using the classroom sink, filling in one row aloud while students watch.
The sink walk (14 min). Send pairs on the route with a clipboard. At each sink they write the room name, mark whether they saw a drip, and write one word for what they heard. Adults circulate between stops. Bring everyone back on a hand signal, not a bell, since bells travel oddly in hallways.
Defining the problem (10 min). Pairs share one finding aloud while you chart them. Then each student writes the problem sentence on the handout using the frame provided. This is the formative check: read over shoulders and confirm that the sentence names a sink or fountain and says what is wrong with it. If a sentence says only that water is being wasted, redirect with a question: which sink, and what did you see there?
Designing the sign (18 min). Each student designs one half-page sign for a real sink on the route. The sign needs a picture large enough to read from arm's length, an opinion sentence with the word because, and a short closing line. Talk about size and contrast while they work: a pencil-thin line on white card will not be seen by a first grader in a hurry.
Posting and share (7 min). Walk the route again with tape and post the signs at the sinks they were designed for. Each pair reads its sign aloud at the sink before taping it up.
Student Handout
Survey. At each sink, write the room name. Circle yes or no for a drip. Write one word for what you heard.
Problem sentence. Finish this sentence: "The sink in ___ has a problem because ___."
Sign plan. Sketch your sign small first in the box. Then make the real sign on the card.
Your sign needs three things. A big picture. An opinion sentence that uses the word because. A short last line that tells the reader what to do.
Sentence starters you may use. "I think everyone should ___ because ___." "Our class believes ___ because ___."
From Water for Schools (waterforschools.org). This material is in the public domain (CC0) and may be copied, edited, and shared freely.
Differentiation
Support
Pair these students with a strong writer and assign them the drawing on the shared survey sheet while the partner writes. Provide the sign with the picture box and the sentence lines already ruled, and give a two-choice opinion bank so the student picks a sentence rather than composing one from nothing. Scribe the closing line during the design period.
Extension
Ask these students to design a second sign for a different reader, such as a sign for the youngest students in the building that uses pictures and three words only. They can also write a short note to the custodian naming the sink they think should be fixed first and giving two reasons in order of importance.
ELL supports
Preview drip, leak, faucet, and handle at the classroom sink before the walk, turning the water on and off for each word. Give a survey sheet with picture icons beside each column so recording does not depend on reading. Accept a sign whose opinion sentence is written in the home language, and add the English word because together during the posting walk.
Extensions
Two weeks later, send the same pairs back on the same route with a fresh survey sheet to see whether anything changed, and compare the two sheets side by side. Classes that want to take it further can invite a maintenance worker from the district to visit for ten minutes, bring one worn-out faucet washer to pass around, and answer the question students tend to ask, which is how a person learns to fix that. Whatever path the visitor describes, from training on the job and a state license to a certificate or a college program, present it as a legitimate route into the work.