Dakota State University 

College of Education   
LESSON PLAN  
 
Name: Kayla Kappler 
Grade Level: 9th Grade Algebra I 
School: Madison High School 
Date: 9/1/2020  
Time: 8:15-9:15 
 
Reflection from prior lesson: 
During the last class period, we talked about linear equations and applied graphical and 
algebraic methods to analyze these. We discussed slope and forms of linear equations 
along with graphs. This should be a review from their 8th grade math class. Most of the 
students did well with linear equations and their graphs. However, a couple students 
understand how to identify the y-interpret in a slope-intercept form, but they struggle 
when graphing the slope. I have to keep reminding them that slope is rise over run. This 
is something I’ll have to keep reminding them as we move to graphing piecewise 
functions. Overall, most of these students appear to understand linear equations and 
graphs.   
 
 
Lesson Goal(s) / Standards:   
● N.Q.A.1​ Use unit analysis to understand and guide the process of solving 
multi-step problems; choose and interpret units consistently in formulas; and 
choose and interpret the scale and origin in graphs and data displays 
 
● N.Q.A.2​ Define appropriate quantities for the purpose of descriptive modeling. 
 
● N.Q.A.3​ Choose a level of accuracy appropriate to limitations on measurement 
when reporting quantities 
 
● A.CED.A.2​ Create equations in two or more variables to represent relationships 
between quantities; graph equations on coordinate axes with labels and scales 
 
● MP.1​ - Make sense of problems and persevere in solving them 
● MP.3​ - Construct viable arguments and critique the reasoning of others 
● MP.4​ - Model with mathematics 
● MP.6​ - Attend to precision 
 
  
Lesson Objectives: 
● Given a graph of a piecewise function, students will interpret the graph and use 
correct terminology or precise language to describe the graph and motion. 
● Given a situation involving motion, students will graph the information and 
determine axis labels and intervals correctly.   
● Given a graph of a piecewise function, students will correctly determine the 
intervals where the graph is increasing, decreasing, and constant, and correctly 
describe the slope in these intervals.   
 
 
Materials Needed:  
● Graphing paper and pencils 
● Rulers (if students want a straight-edge) 
● Video of a man going down a slide 
● Notecards for an exit ticket 
 
  
Contextual Factors/ Learner Characteristics: 
This class takes place in the morning; therefore, students may come to class tired. I’m 
hoping that having them watch a video and discussing the situation will energize them. 
The students work well in groups and partners, so I really want to encourage them to talk 
to others. In addition, most of the students appear to be really comfortable talking in 
front of the whole class. For those few students that don’t like to share, I want to make 
them feel comfortable. This is a judgement-free zone. I’m hoping to have some good 
discussions and conversations. While most of the students are comfortable talking, this 
class usually needs guidance in their thinking and problem solving. I have questions that 
I can ask to lead the discussion. This class is really well-behaved and I expect that they 
will do what is asked of them.  
 
 
 
A. The Lesson  
  
1. Introduction (10 minutes)   
● To get the students attention, I will show them a video of a man going up stairs 
and then down a slide.   
○ Link: ​http://www.graphingstories.com/​ (Height of Waste Off Ground) 
○ Ask the students to remember when they were younger that they used to 
go down slides.   
○ Start the video at 15 seconds and play the video until 33 seconds. 
○ Ask students to describe in words the motion of the man 
 
 ● Have the students share their ideas out loud  
○ Draw attention to students speaking in terms of speed, distance traveled 
over time, or change of elevation. Begin to shape their ideas with precise 
language.   
 
● Direct the class to focus on the change of elevation over time and ask these 
questions to link elevation with time: 
○ How high do you think he was at the top of the stairs? How did you 
estimate that elevation? 
■ Possible student answers: Used the average height of a man; 
average height of a slide; looked at the number of stairs  
○ Were there intervals of time when his elevation wasn’t changing? Was he 
still moving? 
■ Possible student answers: Walking at the top of the slide; sitting at 
the top 
○ When did his elevation increase/decrease? 
■ Possible student answers: Going up the stairs, going down the slide, 
standing up  
 
● As we move along this chapter, we’re going to look at the story of functions. 
We’re going to build on your knowledge of graphing to introduce other polynomial 
equations and types of graphs.   
○ Up until now, you have looked at linear equations and their graphs. Today, 
we are going to build on this to look at graphing piecewise linear functions.   
  
 
2. Content Delivery (25 minutes & Workshop lesson)   
● Direct the students back to the video of the man on the slide 
○ Suggest representing their description or the information on a graph 
○ Have the students discuss how to do this while I display a set of axis on the 
board 
 
● Bring the students attention back and ask these types of questions:  
○ How should we label the vertical axis? What unit of measurement would we 
choose? 
■ Elevation - feet, yards 
○ How should we label the horizontal axis? What unit of measurement should 
we choose? 
■ Time - seconds 
○ Be ready to explain independent vs dependent variables and how they 
appear on a graph 
■ Elevation is dependent on time. This is why elevation is the y-axis  
○ The man starts on the ground. Where should that be located on the graph? 
 ■ Depends on what part of the body we look at. If we start at his feet, 
the starting point should be at the origin 
 
● Give time for the students to draw the story. Encourage them to compare their 
graph with a partner. Replay the video if needed. 
 
● Lead a discussion through the issues of formalizing the 
graph (labels and units of axes, title for the graph, the 
meaning of points plotted on the graph, the method of 
finding points to plot on the graph) 
○ As I discuss this, graph the situation on the board 
and have the students compare. 
○ Show the rest of the video for the answer. Tell the 
students to note that we estimated the height of 
the ground. The shape of the graph should still be the same. 
 
● Ask the students how changing the focus to the man’s head or feet would change 
the graph 
○ The graph would be shifted up or down depending on the part of the body 
being looked at 
 
 
● Example 2 
○ Instead of the student graphing a 
situation, this time I’m giving students 
the graph and telling them to 
describe a situation. 
○ Present this graph and question: 
 
● Have the students discuss this question in 
groups. This takes some imagination to 
create a context that matches this shape.  
○ Have the students share their 
situation to whole class 
○ Allow the opportunity for other students to debate their situation 
○ Possible student answers: (they will be very creative) 
■ Ex: A man walks up a small hill, stops midway up, reaches the top 
which is flat, and walks down the other side 
■ Ex: A worm is climbing up a ramp, stops, resumes, steps, and goes 
back down 
■ The debates will come from whether situations are reasonable or 
not. For example, the elevation rises to 10 feet over a period of 3 
minutes. Therefore, a person climbing a ladder or going up stairs is 
not reasonable unless they are going very slow. 
 
● Additional questions to ask: 
○ What is happening when the graph is increasing, decreasing, and constant 
over time? 
■ Possible student answers:  
■ Increasing: Going up in elevation 
■ Decreasing: Going down in elevation 
■ Constant: Moving with no elevation change or no motion at all 
○ What does it mean for one part of the graph to be steeper than another? 
■ Possible student answers:  
■ Moving faster 
■ Steeper elevation being climbed 
○ How does the slope of each line segment relate to the context of the 
person's elevation? (Relate to prior knowledge of slope) 
■ Possible student answers:  
■ Slope gives the steepness of the elevation  
■ Relates to the speed of the object moving 
■ Average change of elevation per minute 
○ Is it reasonable that a person moving up and down a vertical ladder could 
have produced this elevation vs time graph?  
■ At first students might say yes 
■ Refer back to the students’ debates 
■ Relate this question to speed/slope 
■ Probably not because the speed is too slow (10/3 ft/sec) 
■ Would it take 3 minutes for a person to climb 10 feet on a ladder? 
■ Talk about if it would be reasonable if we changed the units 
(changed minutes to seconds) 
○ Is it possible for someone walking on a hill to produce this graph and return 
to her starting point at the 10 min mark. What would the hill look like? 
■ Possible student answers:  
■ The hill could have a long path with a gentle slope that would zigzag 
back up to the top and then a shooter slightly steeper path back 
down to the beginning position 
■ The person may walk slowly up the hill, take a break, get to the top, 
and then, move faster down the hill 
○ What was the average rate of change of the person’s elevation between 0 
min and 4 min? 
■ Students may guess by looking at the graph  
■ Remind the students of the slope formula and how this relates to 
rate of change 
■ 2.5 ft/min 
● Emphasize the graph represents only elevation, not speed or horizontal distance, 
from the starting point.   
   
 
3. Closure (10 minutes)   
● Ask these questions: 
○ How would you describe the previous graph to a friend? 
■ Possible student answers: 
■ Person moves up, stays at the same elevation, moves up, stays the 
same, and moves down 
○ What types of equation(s) would be required to create this graph? 
■ Possible student answers: 
■ Some will talk about linear equations that we have learned previous 
● Give the following definition. Tell the students that we will return to this definition 
later in the year. 

 
● Point out that all the graphs we studied today were the graphs of piecewise linear 
functions.   
○ Remind students that linear function graphs are straight lines 
○ Show each segment in one of the graphs is studied is part of a straight line 
○ Discuss briefly the intervals on which each linear function is defined. Point 
out that there might be ambiguity as to whether or not the endpoints of a 
given interval belong to that interval 

● Exit Ticket 
○ The graphs we made today are made by combining pieces of linear 
functions (piecewise functions). Each linear function is defined over an 
interval of time, represented on the horizontal axis. List the time intervals 
on both graphs. 
● Give students a short worksheet. 
 
 
B. Assessments Used 
● Observations​ - I will observe the students discussions and descriptions to check 
for understanding. At the beginning of my content delivery when the students 
discuss how to graph the situation, I will be listening for understanding. I want to 
hear what students already know about axis labeling, units, plotting points, 
graphing, increasing/decreasing elevation, and time. After going over some of the 
key components of graphing and asking the class questions, I will walk around as 
 they make their graphs. I will watch for areas of graphing that they are still 
struggling with. For example, if they are struggling with concepts of elevation and 
time.   
 
● Exit Ticket ​- This exit ticket will check if students understood the underlying ideas 
of this lesson. It asks students to refer to the graphs we looked at today and list 
the time intervals on the graphs. This is checking if students understand the idea 
that these situations can be expressed by a linear equation in a specific interval of 
time on a graph. It’s checking if students can interpret which intervals the 
elevation is increasing, decreasing, or constant.   
 
● Worksheet​ - This will check for understanding. 
  
C. Differentiated Instruction   
● Remediation ​- I’m planning on uploading notes and activities to Google 
classroom. Therefore, students who are struggling can look at those. In addition, 
I will try to help struggling students one on one if we have time at the end of class. 
Otherwise, I will encourage them to come see me at the end of the day, or in 
study hall. We can go over concepts and run through more examples. They can 
also ask any questions they might have.   
 
● Enrichment ​- For students who need to be challenged, I have 3 options for them. 
First, I have additional problems that are a little more challenging that they can 
work on. Second, I encourage them to help their classmates who are struggling. 
Third, I have specific activities on Khan Academy that relate to the lesson that they 
can work on.  
 
● Language Support​ - For students who need language support, I upload notes and 
activities to Google classroom. Therefore, these students can look through these 
at their own pace. In addition, I can meet these students individually, possibly 
during work time or in study hall. I could go over the lesson and notes slower and 
they can ask questions. 
 
 
D. Resources 
● Eureka Math Algebra I Module I 
● Graphing Stories