The
lesson plan that I broke down is from my teaching of mathematics class that I am
taking this semester. This is a lesson on
surface area of cubes and rectangular prisms.
It is the second lesson of unit plan that consists of twelve lessons. The sixth grade geometry standard that I used
was from the common core website and the standard was embedded in many aspects
throughout the lesson. This standard says,
“Represent three-dimensional figures using nets
made up of rectangles and triangles, and use the nets to find the surface area
of these figures. Apply these techniques in the context of solving real-world
and mathematical problems.”
The first row of my matrix represents the do now activity in
this lesson. It will be easier to
understand the standard by exploring it.
I will lecture a little bit and present a visual form of what the
standard means. Following my instruction
I will present the think-pair-share strategy to the students. This is a great way of having students think
critically and collaborate. The students
will consider how using nets made up of rectangles and triangles could be an
effective way of thinking about surface area.
On the iPad they will use an appropriate application to share their
explorations and thoughts. After they
collaborate, the students will share their thoughts with the class and show
their visual explorations on the document camera. After the students share, I will present my
thoughts and then lead a group discussion about this standard.
The second row of this matrix is symbolizes the heart of this
lesson. This activity and the do now are
the foundation for the rest of the lesson.
This activity will start with a demonstration by the teacher. The class will continue to explore how using
nets made up of rectangles and triangles can help learn about surface
area. Then they will look at the interactive
activity using the computers in the classroom on the website, learner.org. This is a great interactive geometric
activity that helps teach surface area in multiple ways. After the students complete this activity they
will work with their partner and discuss how each of these strategies led to
the surface area. The students will see
that the multiple approaches all connect.
Each group of partners will use the document camera to present their
findings and connections. The students
will present their findings because sometimes students can understand students
better. They “speak” the same language. At the end of each student presentation the
class will have a Q&A session.
In the third row the students will be required to evaluate and
assess the most effective way to find surface area. The class will start my
making a KWL chart which I will put on the document camera for the whole class
to view. This will help students with
this activity because it will refresh them about the methods that they have
learned. In addition, if they have
anything that they want to learn then we can address that. After the students decide which method to
use, they will need to show this through a visual representation. They can use manipulative tools, the
computer, or any other material that they can think of. To finish this activity the students will
assess each other and the teacher’s method.
In the fourth row the students will be required to visually
breakdown surface area and show how it connects to the formula. This activity will start out with the teacher
explaining what he/she expects and how they expect it to be done. Following the explanation, the students will
be placed into groups and will think about how they can show visual surface
area of a rectangular prism relates to the formula. This is the time when they have a chance to
use the computers to prove their connection.
The students who do not use the computers will use manipulative tools
and/or document camera to show the connection between the surface area and its
formula. Each student will be
participating during the group work. The
teacher will be participating by giving each group insight and hints if they
are struggling.
The fifth row shows a culminating activity for this
lesson. This activity addresses the
final part of the standard by applying this knowledge in a real world
problem. In groups of three, the
students will use any of the programs or technologies that we have explored to
create their own real world problem using surface area of a rectangular prism. They will have access to the computer,
internet access, document camera, iPad, iPad applications, a calculator, and
manipulative tools to create the best possible problem. The students will have a choice of which
technology to use. The teacher will
explain what they expect then the groups will begin creating their problem. When they finish, the students will present
their problems to the class. We will
decide as a class if the problem was creative and a real world problem through
group discussion.
Sean,
ReplyDeleteIt's clear you put a lot of thought into this unit plan.
Your matrix is logical and in alignment across technologies, strategies and standards. However, you do not mention assessments at all (!) How then will you be able to confirm that students have achieved the standards? (Keep in mind teachers are now required as part of their evaluation to present student performance data to indicate their teaching effectiveness). I'm also curious as to how you are using the iPad, as you merely stated "us an appropriate application." In moving forward, strive to be specific about what you as the teacher are doing. For example, "Share their explorations and thoughts" is very vague. Flip it and explain it from your perspective so that the pedagogy is intentional: "I will elicit students' thoughts by posing specific questions about. . ." Hopefully that makes sense. Overall, your work in this course module this semester is solid. I am excited for you to put these integration principles into classroom practice.