Jessica Miesowicz

TE 801 Project 3

Part 1: Select Your Mathematics Topics & Teaching Dates

First 2 day lesson set
Topic: Shapes
Dates: Asynchronous November 9th and November 10th
Second 2 day lesson set
Topic: Counting
Dates: Asynchronous November 16th and November 17th

Part 2 Shapes
The learning goal for my first two day block of lessons is: Students will be able to describe
two-dimensional triangles, squares, rectangles, hexagons, and circles and their positions using
the language above, below, beside, in front of, next to, and behind. One of the big ideas
according to Van de Walle is developing geometric thinking and geometric concepts. It is
important for children to learn about shapes and their characteristics so that they can understand
and describe ways shapes are alike or ways they are different. Understanding a shapes location is
an important concept because as students’ progress through grades they will need to describe
shape location more accurately by using coordinates. Based on conversations with my mentor the
mathematical concept of shapes in extremely important. It is especially important to build on this
concept during the kindergarten year. Learning about shapes allows students to develop an
understanding of same or different, categorization and the beginning stages of problem solving.
As students’ progress through math all of these skills are extremely important and the beginning
concepts of shapes that we teach in kindergarten will be the foundation that students have as they
progress through each grade. The idea of shapes might be challenging for some students because
students must work on understanding what makes certain shapes alike or different. This concept
can be difficult for young students. As I think about my students I know that they come across
many shapes through their daily lives. I also know that during their preschool years they became
familiar with shape names. I know that during class we sometimes play I-spy and I often give the
students shape clues to help them figure out what I am spying. As a class we also do scavenger
hunts and often ask students to find things shaped like a specific shape in their home.
For my first math lesson I am going to have my students do a shape sort using a chart. The left
side says shapes with a curve and the right side says shapes without a curve. I chose this task
because I think students will have fun exploring different shapes that are not the typical ones we
talk about. Along with the chart are some challenging activities like trying to draw a three
dimensional shape and I know my students will enjoy this challenge. I know this activity is high
quality because it allows students to have conceptual understanding, use problem-solving, and
use procedural fluency, this task also allows students to participate in a meaningful way. This
task will help my students meet the learning goal by allowing them to practice describing a
shapes characteristics. For my second math lesson I am going to have students places shapes on a
paper after being given a specific direction. I chose this task because I think my students will
enjoy the activity because it is similar to a puzzle. I know this activity is high quality because it
allows students to have conceptual understanding, use problem-solving, and use procedural
fluency, this task also allows students to participate in a meaningful way. This task will help my
students meet the learning goal by having students practice describing and understanding shape
position. For the first lesson my students will need scissors, glue sticks, paper with shapes on it,
shape sorting chart, white board, white board marker, white board eraser and pencil. These will
support my students learning by allowing them to have manipulatives and participate in a
successful way. For my second lesson students will need scissors, glue, crayons, duck page and
shape page. These will support my students learning by allowing them to have manipulatives and
participate in a successful way. Question 1: Can you explain to me which lines you are talking
about? Response 1: I’m talking about the ones on the side that isn’t curved. What I’ll do: I will
help this students by having a conversation about shapes and their characteristics. Question 2:
Have you seen a shape like this before? Response 2: Yes, I’ve seen this on a walk. What I’ll do: I
will then open a discussion about shapes students see in their daily lives. Question 3: Mhhh is
this shape similar to any of the other shapes? Response 3: No, I don’t think so. What I’ll do: I
will open a discussion about shape characteristics and what things actually are similar to other
shapes. I will know if my students have met the learning goals by looking at their completed
worksheets. I will know a student has mastered the concept if they are able to successfully
complete the worksheet on their own with little to no help. I will know a student is developing if
they complete at least half of the worksheet successfully and with some help.
Part 2 Counting
The learning goal for my second two day block is: Students will be able to successfully add one
to a group of objects and understand how to compare groups to determine which group has more
or less. One of the big ideas according to Van de Walle is developing early number concepts and
number sense. It is important for children to learn about numbers and counting so they can relate
and compare equal and non-equal numbers. As students learn about numbers they will also
develop basic addition and subtraction ideas. Based on conversations with my mentor the
mathematical concept of counting and numbers in extremely important. It is especially
important to build on this concept during the kindergarten year. Learning about counting allows
students to develop an understanding of same or different, categorization and the beginning
stages of problem solving. As students’ progress through math all of these skills are extremely
important and the beginning concepts of counting that we teach in kindergarten will be the
foundation that students have as they progress through each grade. The idea of counting might be
challenging for some students because students must work on understanding that numbers hold
value and this is a difficult concept to grasp. As I think about my students I know that they come
across many numbers through their daily lives. I also know that during their preschool years they
became familiar with numbers and their names. I know that during class talk about times and
places we see numbers outside of our houses. For my first math lesson I am going to have my
students do a bear stair climbing activity. I chose this task because I think students will have fun
exploring different numbers in this fun way. Along with the bear activity there are some
challenging activities like adding one extra stair know my students will like this challenge. I
know this activity is high quality because it allows students to have conceptual understanding,
use problem-solving, and use procedural fluency, this task also allows students to participate in a
meaningful way. This task will help my students meet the learning goal by allowing them to
practice exploring numbers and the concept of adding one. For my second math lesson I am
going to have students compare numbers. I chose this task because I think my students will enjoy
the activity because it is similar to a puzzle. I know this activity is high quality because it allows
students to have conceptual understanding, use problem-solving, and use procedural fluency, this
task also allows students to participate in a meaningful way. This task will help my students meet
the learning goal by having students practice describing and understanding which number is
greater or lesser. For the first lesson my students will need a pencil, the worksheets and a small
counter item such as beans, pennies, beads, ect. These will support my students learning by
allowing them to have manipulatives and participate in a successful way. For my second lesson
students will need a pencil, the worksheets, a ziplock/plastic bag and counters. These will
support my students learning by allowing them to have manipulatives and participate in a
successful way. Question 1: How do you know there are 8 stairs without counting? Response 1:
Because the last row had 7 and this has one more. What I’ll do: I will help this students by
having a conversation about the value of each block. Question 2: How do you know that 7 is less
than 8? Response 2: Because there are less flowers. What I’ll do: I will then open a discussion
about the value of items with students. Question 3: If we put these two number together ho many
will we have? And how do you know? Response 3: We will have 8 because we put 3 and 5 in
one. What I’ll do: I will open a discussion about adding numbers. I will know if my students
have met the learning goals by looking at their completed worksheets. I will know a student has
mastered the concept if they are able to successfully complete the worksheet on their own with
little to no help. I will know a student is developing if they complete at least half of the
worksheet successfully and with some help.

Part 3 Lesson 1 First 2 Day Block:

Lesson Plan Template

Your name: Jessica Miesowicz
Math Topic: Two-dimensional flat shapes 
Grade: Kindergarten
Learning Goal(s)
Find and describe flat triangles, squares, rectangles, hexagons, and circles using informal
language without naming.
Materials & Resources Needed; Plan for Distribution or Virtual Access
Students will need: scissors, glue sticks, paper with shapes on it, shape sorting chart, white
board, white board marker, white board eraser and pencil. 
Academic, Social, & Linguistic Support
Academic support: I will do my best to push those students that are working above grade level
by asking higher order thinking questions such as “What would that shape look like if it was not
flat?” “Can you make a picture of that shape but make it so that it is sticking up?” 
Social support: I will have students have a short discussion with their parents about how they
categorized their shapes. I will encourage students to use vocabulary that we discussed
throughout the lesson. 
Linguistic support: I will introduce the words curved, straight, pointy, round and sides before the
lesson so students have an understanding of these words and are able to use these words when
discussing the shapes from our lesson.  
Launch
“Hello students today we are going to be working with different shapes. For this lesson you will
need your shape chart, scissors, a glue stick, the shape sorting chart, your whiteboard, a white
board marker, a white board eraser and pencil. The first thing I would like you to do is to cut out
all of your shapes. I will give you some time to do that. Great job cutting! Before we start our
lesson I want to go over a few words that will be important to know and remember during this
lesson. The first word is curved: “curved means a line that bends smoothly in one direction.” The
next word is straight: “straight means without a curve or bend.” The next word is pointy: “pointy
means coming to a rather sharp point.” The next word is round: “shaped like a circle.” The last
word is sides: “sides means a line that helps make a shape.” 
Explore
“Okay now I want you to grab this shape out of the pile (cone shape). Together let's use our
vocabulary words to describe this shape. This shape is round. This shape is pointy. This shape
has sides. This shape also has some straight lines. I want you to pick out another shape and find
an adult or a sibling and use our vocabulary words to describe the shape to them. Great job
describing your shape. Now I want you to lay all our shapes face up on your desk or table. Once
all your shapes are face up put your hands on top of your shapes. Are the shapes poking you?
No. That means that all of our shapes are flat or 2-dimensional. Now I want you to pick out one
of your shapes and think in your head what might this shape look like if it was not flat. Go ahead
and grab your white board and marker and try to draw the shape you picked out as if it was not
flat. It's okay to guess and just try your best.”
“Now I want you to explore around your house and look for different shapes that might be
similar to our flat shapes. Find 3 interesting shapes around your house and then describe those
shapes using our vocabulary to an adult or a sibling. I know you did an awesome job. Now I
want you to get out your shape chart. The left side says shapes with a curve and the right side
says shapes without a curve. Remember when something is curved it means “a line that bends
smoothly in one direction.” Go ahead and sort your shapes and decide where each shape should
go. Have an adult look over your work and then you can glue down your shapes.”
Discuss
“I know you did an awesome job sorting your shapes now. I want you to talk with an adult about
these questions. Use your chart to help you. Which objects did you sort that were curved? Which
objects did you sort that were not curved?  Which flat shapes were the hardest to sort? Why? 
What new math words did we use today? How can you tell about each shape without using the
shape’s name?
Part 3 Lesson 2 First 2 Day Block:

Lesson Plan Template

(You will complete one template for each day of instruction – so four days. Some pieces will be
repeated across the two days and you can simply copy and paste previous text.)
Your name: Jessica Miesowicz
Math Topic: Two-dimensional flat shapes 
Grade: Kindergarten
Learning Goal(s)
Describe and communicate positions of all flat shapes using the words above, below, beside, in
front of, next to, and behind.
 
Materials & Resources Needed; Plan for Distribution or Virtual Access
Students will need: Scissors, glue, crayons, duck page and shape page.
 
Academic, Social, & Linguistic Support
Academic support: I will do my best to support those students that are working below grade level
by modeling each step of the lesson and breaking the lesson down into simple terms.
 
Social support: I will have students have a short discussion with their parents about where they
placed each shape and why they placed the shape there. I will also have students have a wrap up
discussion with their parents about our lesson.
 
Linguistic support: I will introduce the words above, below, beside, in front of, next to, and
behind before the lesson so students have an understanding of these words and are able to use
these words when discussing the shapes from our lesson.  
 
Launch
“Hello students today we are going to be working with different shapes. For this lesson you will
need scissors, a glue stick, crayons, the duck page and the shape page. The first thing I would
like you to do is to cut out all of your shapes. I will give you some time to do that. Great job
cutting! Before we start our lesson I want to go over a few words that will be important to know
and remember during this lesson. The first word is above: “location of an object, placing on
"top" of another object.” The next word is below: “The position of the object that indicates the
location under another object.” The next word is beside: “by the side of another object.” The next
words are in front of: “location of an object before another object.” The next words are next to:
“phrase that indicates location of an object beside (to the side of) another object.” The last word
is behind: “The position of the object that indicates the location in the back side of another
object.”
Explore
“Okay now I have some directions for you and I need you to listen closely. Make sure you have
your cut out shapes, your glue stick and your duck page ready to go. Our first direction is find
the shape with four straight sides that are exactly the same. Color it blue. Glue the shape above
the duck. I want you to pause the video and try to do this on your own, but I will color and glue
my shapes down as we go. I hope you glued your blue square above the duck. Our next direction
is find the shape with no corners. Color it yellow. Glue the shape behind the duck. I want you to
pause the video and try to do this on your own again. I hope that you glued your yellow circle
behind the duck. Our next direction is find the shape with three straight sides. Color it green.
Glue the shape below the duck. I want you to pause the video and try to do this on your own. I
hope you glued your green triangle below the duck. Our next direction is find the shape with four
sides. Two sides are long and the same length, and two sides are short and the same length. Color
it red. Glue the shape beside the circle. I want you to pause the video and try to do this on your
own. I hope that you glued your red rectangle beside the circle. Our next direction is find the
shape with six corners. Color it orange. Glue the shape in front of the duck. I want you to pause
the video and try to do this on your own. I hope that you glued your orange hexagon in front of
the duck. Our last direction is find the shape with curves and corners. Color it purple. Glue the
shape next to the square. I hope that you glued this purple shape next to the square.
 
Discuss
“I know you did an awesome job sorting your shapes now. I want you to talk with an adult about
these questions. Use your duck page to help you. What new math vocabulary did we use today?
How did you place each object on your paper? What shapes do you see on your paper? How did
you know they were those shapes?

Part 3 Lesson 1 Second 2 Day Block:

Lesson Plan Template

Your name: Jessica Miesowicz
Math Topic: Counting specifically adding 1
Grade: Kindergarten
Learning Goal(s)
Students will be able make math stairs from 1 to 10 in cooperative groups and add 1 to those
groups.
Materials & Resources Needed; Plan for Distribution or Virtual Access
Students will need: a pencil, the worksheets I provided, small counter items such as beans,
pennies, beads, ect. 
Academic, Social, & Linguistic Support
Academic support: I will do my best to support those students that are working below grade level
by modeling each step of the lesson and breaking the lesson down into simple terms.
 
Social support: I will have students have a short discussion with their parents about what they are
doing with their stairs and what that does to the number of stairs.  

Linguistic Support: There are some ELL students in my classroom that need more support. I will
use images and go over vocabulary to support these students.
Launch
As I start the lesson, I will introduce it as a fun activity, rather than a lesson so that I have
students engaged and excited to participate. I will tell students the materials they need to be
prepared for this lesson. I will also make it clear that I expect students to follow along and pay
attention. I will also start out with a review activity from a previous lesson to draw on students
prior knowledge. I will have students get out their counting board and counters. Then I will have
students put out 3 counters and add one. After adding one I will ask them how many they have
and students should say four. We will repeat this until we have ten counters total.
Explore
After our counter activity I will have students put their counters and counting board away.
Students will then get out their bear stair climbing worksheet. I will move the bear from no stairs
to the first stair and then ask students how many stairs the bear went up. Students should respond
by saying one. Then I will move the bear up to the second stair and ask students how many stairs
the bear went up this time students should respond by saying two. I will repeat this until the bear
reaches the top of the stairs where the bear will reach 10 stairs. After that students will work on
the second and third worksheet with me. For the second and third worksheet students will have
to add one more stair. This worksheet nicely goes along with our warmup activity and will help
students master this skill of adding one more.
Discuss
“I know you did an awesome job with our activity today. Now I want you to talk with an adult
about these questions. Use your worksheets from today to help you. Look at the first staircase.
What do you notice about the red steps? How many numbers have a group of 5 red steps? Which
numbers are they? Look at the steps you drew. With your words, say to your parent what
happened each time you drew another step.”

Part 3 Lesson 2 Second 2 Day Block:

Lesson Plan Template

Your name: Jessica Miesowicz
Math Topic: Classifying groups through counting
Grade: Kindergarten 
Learning Goal(s)
Students will be able to make groups with objects and be able to distinguish which one has more
or less. 
Materials & Resources Needed; Plan for Distribution or Virtual Access
Students will need: a pencil, the worksheets provided, a zip lock/plastic bag, counters (beads,
pennies ect.)
Academic, Social, & Linguistic Support

Academic support: I will do my best to support those students that are working below grade level
by modeling each step of the lesson and breaking the lesson down into simple terms.
 
Social support: I will have students have a short discussion with their parents about what they are
doing with their groups of items.

Linguistic: I noticed when assessing students struggle with the terms lesser and greater. So I will
be using that vocabulary and demonstrating it throughout my lesson.
Launch
As I start the lesson, I will introduce it as a fun activity, rather than a lesson so that I have
students engaged and excited to participate. I will tell students the materials they need to be
prepared for this lesson. I will also make it clear that I expect students to follow along and pay
attention. I will also start out with a review activity from a previous lesson to draw on students
prior knowledge. I will have students use their fingers to compare different numbers. Then I will
have my students get out their counting board and counters. We will compare a few more
numbers and discuss the terms greater and lesser.
Explore
After our counter activity I will have students put their counters and counting board away.
Students will then get out their two worksheets for the day. The students and I will compare he
number of object sin different groups. We will discuss with group is greater and which geoup is
lesser and why.
Discuss
“I know you did an awesome job with our activity today. Now I want you to talk with an adult
about two questions. Use your worksheets from today to help you. Did you see any new ways to
make numbers today? Explain to an adult what greater than and less than means.”

Part 4: Teach
Done 

Part 5: Teaching Reflection First 2 Day Block

The learning goal for my first two day lesson set was students will be able to describe two-
dimensional triangles, squares, rectangles, hexagons, and circles and their positions using the
language above, below, beside, in front of, next to, and behind. Students completed this lesson
during their asynchronous time so I did not get to see all of my students work. Some parents
have sent me pictures of their students completed worksheets and the few I have gotten back
have master the skills. I know my students have mastered the skills because their worksheets
match my completed worksheet exactly. I’m sure some students did not fully complete their
work correctly so I plan to revisit these ideas at the end of our unit. Since my lesson was
prerecorded everything went pretty smoothly. My teaching seemed to come naturally and overall
seemed to be successful based on the returned work. Something that didn’t go as expected was
the lesson length. I originally planned for my recorded lessons to be no more than ten minutes.
After recording I realized my lessons were each fifteen minutes long. If I were to do the lesson
again I would like to cut down the lesson length for both videos so that students are able to stay
more engaged. I did not make any adjustments to my second lesson plan because the lessons
were prerecorded and I was not able to see what areas of need students had on the first day.
Overall, I think that my probing questions worked well. I wasn’t able to hear my students
responses because this was done during asynchronous time, but I did receive a few emails with
lots of positive feedback talking about how a few students seemed to really enjoy the challenges
of the problems from both lessons. The questions I asked really seemed to draw on students
thinking and help them further engage with the material. I thought that my representations and
tools worked extremely well and perfectly fit the lessons. If I were to do this lesson again I
would keep everything the same in the second lesson, but for the first lesson I think I would like
to have students try and build their three-dimensional shape using play-doh. I would do this
because it would be a fine motor activity and would be something different than the typical
drawing. Based on reading Van de Walle I know that “the concept of geometry requires lots of
experiences as students developmentally progress (Van de Walle, 2019. I know that these two
shape lessons will really be beneficial for my students because they will help create a solid
foundation and understanding of shapes. This is extremely important as students’ progress
through grades and get exposure to more complex geometric concepts. Based on another reading
It is beneficial to “vary the size, material and color of shapes” especially during the early years of
shape education (Clements & Sarama, 2000). Students need to understand that shapes come in
different sizes colors and materials. It is also important for students to realize that shapes can be
found all around them in their daily lives. I think that both my lessons did a great job introducing
these ideas to students. Based on another reading “Geometry instruction for young children
should highlight shape properties, attributes, and characteristics, as well as the interconnective
and hierarchical commonalities and differences between and among shapes, figures, and
solids”(Oberdorf & Taylor-Cox, 1999). I believe that my two day lesson set began to really
enforce these ideas. As students’ progress through grades these ideas will become extremely
important. Finally, during my lesson I think that I did a great job clearly explaining directions
and expectations. Something that I would like to work on is challenging my students through
deeper questioning.

Part 5: Teaching Reflection Second 2 Day Block

The learning goal for my second two day lesson set was students will be able to successfully add
one to a group of objects and understand how to compare groups to determine which group has
more or less. Students completed this lesson during their asynchronous time so I did not get to
see all of my students work. Some parents have sent me pictures of their students completed
worksheets and the few I have gotten back have master the skills. I know my students have
mastered the skills because their worksheets match my completed worksheet exactly. I’m sure
some students did not fully complete their work correctly so I plan to revisit these ideas at the
end of our unit. Since my lesson was prerecorded everything went pretty smoothly. My teaching
seemed to come naturally and overall seemed to be successful based on the returned work.
Something that didn’t go as expected was the lesson length. I originally planned for my recorded
lessons to be no more than ten minutes. After recording I realized my lessons were each fifteen
minutes long. If I were to do the lesson again I would like to cut down the lesson length for both
videos so that students are able to stay more engaged. I did not make any adjustments to my
second lesson plan because the lessons were prerecorded and I was not able to see what areas of
need students had on the first day. Overall, I think that my probing questions worked well. I
wasn’t able to hear my students responses because this was done during asynchronous time, but I
did receive a few emails with lots of positive feedback talking about how a few students seemed
to really enjoy the challenges of the problems from both lessons. The questions I asked really
seemed to draw on students thinking and help them further engage with the material. I thought
that my representations and tools worked extremely well and perfectly fit the lessons. If I were to
do this lesson again I would keep everything the same in the first lesson, but for the second
lesson I think I would like to have students try find groups of items in their house and then
compare them by explaining which group I greater and which group is lesser. I would do this
because it would help students connect the material to their daily lives and therefore, make the
material more meaningful. Based on reading Van de Walle I know that “children explore quanity
before they can count. By attaching a quantity to objects students understand the idea of quantity
in depth”(Van de Walle, 2010.) I know that these two shape lessons will really be beneficial for
my students because they will help create a solid foundation and understanding of quantity
through adding one and practicing the idea of greater and lesser. This is extremely important as
students’ progress through grades and get exposure to more complex number concepts. Based on
another reading “development of counting is a critical pathway to learning about numbers and
counting weaknesses have been linked to mathematics difficulties” (Kaplan & Locuniak &
Ramineni, 2007). Students need to understand the basics of counting along with the basics of
addition, subtraction, greater and lesser. These skills are the foundation to all mathematics and
will become extremely important as students’ progress through upper grades. Based on another
reading “Number sense skills provide the foundation for the acquisition of higher order
mathematical skills and concepts” (Lago & DiPerna 2010). I believe that my two day lesson set
began to really enforce these ideas. As students’ progress through grades these ideas will become
extremely important and will be the foundation for all future math skills. Finally, during my
lesson I think that I did a great job clearly explaining directions and expectations. Something that
I would like to work on is challenging my students through deeper questioning.

References

Clements, D. H., & Sarama, J. (2000). Young children's ideas about geometric shapes. Teaching
children mathematics, 6(8), 482-482.

Oberdorf, C. D., & Taylor-Cox, J. (1999). Shape up!. Teaching Children Mathematics, 5(6),

340-346.

Van de Walle, J. A., Karp, K. S., & Bay-William, J. M. (2010). Elementary and middle school
mathematics.

Jordan, N. C., Kaplan, D., Locuniak, M. N., & Ramineni, C. (2007). Predicting first‐grade math
achievement from developmental number sense trajectories. Learning Disabilities Research &
Practice, 22(1), 36-46.

Lago, R. M., & DiPerna, J. C. (2010). Number sense in kindergarten: A factor-analytic study of
the construct. School Psychology Review, 39(2), 164-180.