Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Celeste Tarbox
EDU 531
Professor Remillard
November 11, 2014
Term III Lesson Design Draft
Core Decisions of Lesson Design
What
This lesson mainly addresses students understanding of cardinality and part-whole
number relationships. Students being to connect counting and cardinality when
they understand that the last number counted indicates how many are in a set
(Chapin, 2006, p. 16). Chapin and Johnson also write, A major milestone occurs in
the early grades when students interpret number in terms of part and whole
relationships. A part-whole understanding of number means that quantities are
interpreted as being composed of other numbers (Chapin, 2006, p. 17). To
continue, this lesson increases students ability to compute. We are building on this
foundation by working with the commutative and associative properties. Students
will gain experience counting and adding. By using coin manipulatives, students will
have practice subitizing and quickly recognizing amounts of different coins.
How
Tasks. Students are asked to think about the value of different coins and to use that
knowledge to find different combinations to make twenty-five cents. They will focus
on the part-whole relationship of numbers while using coin manipulatives. Money
is a real-world application of the foundational work that they have completed
counting and developing number sense. They are able to use their well-developed
skills and apply them to a real-world problem. Specifically, I want students to be
able to identify the different coins and their values, but I also want students to
develop a level of comfort sharing their ideas and strategies with their peers. I want
to build their confidence in the classroom and give them more opportunities to
draw on their personal experiences.
Tools. This lesson is primarily based on the use of coin manipulatives. Students are
familiar with them and they are a close representation of their real counterparts.
They will help support the students in their exploration of coins and their ability to
recognize the design and color of each coin. I will also bring in actual coins to use on
the chart paper as we review the values of the different coins. The story about
saving money in my piggy bank to buy an ice cream cone is accessible to students. I
hope that the idea of a piggy bank is familiar to students.
Discourse. The lesson begins with discourse between the teacher and student, but
mainly lead by the teacher. The read-aloud is teacher to student, while the
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exploration of the lesson is student to student. We wrap up with the students talking
primarily to each other and the teacher sharing strategies. The students shape and
contribute to the discourse throughout the lesson. At the beginning, their knowledge
and comments decide where the mini-lesson goes. If they only remember what a
penny is, but not a nickel, dime or quarter, the teacher will have to review that
background information before continuing, but if the students knowledge of coins
and their values is solid, the discourse will take a different turn. The students are
required and expected to offer their own ideas and insights. In the general
classroom, these students are used to sharing their ideas and how they got to an
answer. The role of the teacher is imperative for this lesson to be successful. Its the
response to the students comments that makes or breaks the lesson. If a student
offers up a different strategy, the key is not to accept the answer and move on, but to
dig deeper and find out how the student came to the answer demanding that they
verbalize their thinking.
Norms.
Prior to starting any lesson, I will go over the expectations of students. In our
classroom we repeat, Hands up, thumbs up so students know that if they wish to
make a comment of ask a question, they must not call out. It acts as a gentle
reminder. I will remind students that participation is not only raising your hand,
but that we can demonstrate participation other ways. I always ask students how
else they can participate if they dont have an answer. Active listening is visible and
students understand that body language can be a form of participation. By having
eyes and ears on the speaker, students show respect for the classmates and the
teacher.
If students have a similar answer to their classmate, using sign language to indicate,
Me too! has worked well. Although it is not a signal in the general classroom, I
have used it during a Number Talk and plan to use it during my small group lesson.
From informal observations of the classroom, students light up when they realize
that another student has a similar interest or has completed a problem a similar
way. This simple gesture helps create a positive and respectful environment.
By having the students verbalize their thinking, I am helping to build a community
where sharing thoughts and ideas is an acceptable and expected activity. Students
feel comfortable sharing their thinking because the teacher has created a space
where they feel safe to do so.
Why
My Classroom Mentor suggested I plan a lesson on money or time since these two
topics are not covered as much as she would like in the schools Investigations
curriculum. I chose money because I had previously observed a mini-lesson on the
penny and I wanted to work from a topic with which students had a previous
experience working. They seemed to be engaged and interested in the topic.
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pennies, nickels, and dimes everywhere on the floor! What coins could
I use to pay the 25 cents? Show your answer using pictures, numbers
and words.
b. Find different combinations of coins that could be in my piggy bank.
3. Debrief and wrap up. We will come back together as a group and share out
combinations and strategies. I will record the combinations on a whiteboard
to keep track of students thinking.
a. Questions:
i. How many combinations did you come up with?
ii. Can someone share a combination with the least number of
coins?
iii. Can someone share a combination with the most number of
coins?
iv. How did you come up with that answer?
Anticipating Students Responses and Your Possible Responses
Students are likely to find the topic engaging. I observed a lesson on the penny a
few weeks ago and the students were eager to share their knowledge of the penny
and other coins. Students have experience making different combinations to make a
number. I observed a math lesson that involved finding different combinations of
ten, so I am concerned that making combinations of twenty-five might be too
challenging. The students that I have picked have demonstrated a strong
understanding of mathematical concepts and are fast workers. By using coin
manipulatives, I expect that it will be manageable. Having students play with
manipulatives during the read-aloud may present a managerial challenge, but I want
to explore this decision and see how it plays out. If I present it as a task and not play,
I have full confidence that my students will succeed and meet my high expectations.
Assessment of Goals/Objectives
See attached Assessment chart.
Accommodations
1. For Students Who May Find the Material Too Challenging
a. I will decrease the price of an ice cream cone.
2. For Students Who May Need Greater Challenge and/or Finish Early
a. I will increase the price of an ice cream cone and add a quarter into
their repertoire.