Teaching and Learning Activity 4

Reading for Learning: One way to modify this lesson to implement

reading for learning is to implement word problems into my smart
board slides. By implementing word problems, it will give my students
the opportunity to decipher the key words that are needed to solve
word problems, and they can then continue working through the
exponents examples with this newly found content. I could have the
students read the problems and create an organizer of specific key
words that were used to set up the problems, which would help them
solve future problems as well.

Compare and Contrast: One way to implement compare and contrast

into this lesson would be having the students answer the questions,
then writing the most common answers down on the smart board. I
could have the students discuss the answers with one another in a
group setting, having their discussions focused on how the different
answers came about, and which one is correct. This would allow the
students to see the different misconceptions, and allow the students to
realize their mistakes when solving the problems.

Inductive Learning: This lesson is already designed for inductive

learning, however I could improve it by implementing find the errors
problems. I could have students examine problems where a step was
done incorrectly, and have the students identify where the error
occurred, and discuss why this error might have taken place. Doing this
would allow the students again to see the many misconceptions others
may make, and hopefully fix these misconceptions in the process.

Teaching and Learning Activity 3

I chose to keep the same lesson as I used for activity 1 because it
already has a lot of key components for students to gain knowledge. By
exploring exponents the way we do in this lesson, I feel that it is a great
example of inductive learning. I give the students a problem they have
never seen, and they have to come to the conclusion of how to solve
the problem. They have the ability, they just need to realize it and
utilize the tools they have. However it could be improved upon from the
books readings.

I could improve the lesson by holding a bigger class discussion on the

justification of how to solve the problems. I could then use the students
responses to quickly analyze and create questions for deeper
understanding. I could have the students compare and contrast correct
answers to incorrect answers and see where student misconceptions
were, and correctly correct students work. By having the students
record evidence for and against the correct and incorrect answers, it
would create consensus over which work is correct and how to solve the
problems correctly.

In order to differentiate in my classroom for this lesson, I could give a

pre-assessment over exponents and group the students based on their
scores. I could work either with the high students expanding their
knowledge on problems involving exponents, while my co-teachers
could take out the low students to both reteach and expand the lower
students knowledge of exponents. Using our DIGITS program as well, I
could assign the lower students the homework K which is easier, and I

could assign the higher students the homework G which is more

challenging. If I could do these, I think this lesson would be highly
efficient to use in the classroom.

Lesson Plan Template

Name: Ethan Johnson
Curriculum Area (s): Math
Grade Level: 8

Lesson Title: Exploring

Exponents
Time Required: One class
period
Instructional Groupings:
Student pairs

Time Required: One class

period
Standards: 8.EE.A.1. Know and apply the properties of integer exponents to
generate equivalent numerical expressions.

Materials:
Computer/Projector
Chairs arranged in pairs
Whiteboard
Student partners
Overview: The purpose for this lesson is to have students learn and
apply the rules of exponents to solve problems.
As a result of this lesson/unit students will
Understand: Students will be able to use all the following rules
successfully:
Product rule
Quotient rule
Power rule
Zero-exponent rule
Students will also be able to generate equivalent numerical
expressions when given an exponent value, and be able to apply
exponents to use scientific notation.
Know
Memorize the following rules:
Product rule
Quotient rule
Power rule

Do (Skills)
Students will be able to
correctly solve problems
involving the product rule,
quotient rule, power rule,
and zero-exponent rule.

 Zero-exponent rule
Vocab: 1. Exponent
2. Scientific Notation
3. Base
4. Power
PreAssessment (How will you fnd out about where your students
are at for this lesson? What will your preassessment look like?)
I will be using a pre-assessment from our online DIGITS program. The
pre-assessment will cover scientific notation and skills necessary for
being successful at exponents. The online program will also tell me what
percentages the students achieve, and it will also assign the students
who were low-achieving interventions on skills they should focus on.
Steps in the Lesson: Include ideas for wholeclass instructions, if
any; differentiated activities; sharing, etc.
1. Set purpose for todays lesson. Have students discuss todays
purpose and what they will be striving to achieve.
2. Discuss any questions over previous nights homework (teacher
checks digits to see who turned in homework)
3. Estimation 180 warm-up.
4. Whiteboard activity. All key concepts will be introduced. Teacher
will present problem for students to work on, then discuss how to
do problem once time is called. Student-led discussion. Students
have not seen 75% of these problems before.
5. Envelope activity to reinforce rules if time allows.
6. Exit slip if time allows.
Students will come into class with their homework completed from the
night before and ready to ask questions about their misconceptions. I will
then go over the agenda slide and discuss what the students will be
learning that day. I will give the students time to discuss as well about
the learning objective. Proceeding this, we will use the website
estimation 180 to practice skills of estimating. Once completed, we will
be given the activity. All students will have a whiteboard where they will
write their answers to the given problems. I will put a problem on the
board and students will work through the problem with their partner
together. Students have not seen these problems before, however have
seen the processes they need to solve them. Each problem will build
upon the next, making it crucial for students to understand progressively.
I will allow students 2-4 minutes for each problem, then discuss the
problems with the students as a whole class. I will put the correct answer
and incorrect answers on the board and discuss how students achieved
those answers and the different misconceptions. If time allows, there is
an activity where students mix and match the rules they learned today.
At the end of the period, I will do our usual heads down hands up
assessment trick.
Closure Activity/Wrap up: This may be in the form of
independent practice, a chance to share, or explicit restatement of
the goals of the lesson.

Heads down hands up. Students will put their heads down and hands up.

Teacher will ask a series of questions based on lesson such as how well
students feel about the lesson. Students will give honest answer with
their hand and a scale of 1-5 fingers.
Students will also have homework regarding the days lesson that will be
through the DIGITS program.

PostAssessment: How will you use this data to inform your next
learning
experience?
I will
use this
date to determine if I need to spend more time on the
lesson or if I can continue on to the next days lesson. I will also use the
DIGITS program to assess which students were successful at meeting the
lessons objectives, and reassign the homework to the students who were
not successful.
Additional Resources: Any websites or materials that you used?
Materials used:
Computer/Projector
Chairs arranged in pairs
Student Whiteboards.
Websites used:
DIGITS online program
Estimation 180