Design for Learning

Instructor: Aaron Conner Grade Level/Cooperating Teacher: 3rd Grade

Lesson Title: Where is Waldo Date: April 15, 2014
Curriculum Area: Coordinate Grid Estimated Time: 60 minutes


Standards Connection: AL 3
rd
Mathematics

Learning Objective(s): Students will become familiar with the coordinate grid and be able to
locate objects or places by using a coordinate grid.

Learning Objective(s) stated in kid-friendly language: Class we are going to learn about a
coordinate grid and use it to find many different things on a map.

Evaluation of Learning Objective(s): The student will correctly answer 5 out of 6 questions
from their math books to be considered proficient.

Engagement: The teacher will use his background knowledge of Army Land Navigation to
show the real world application of coordinate grids and movement using that coordinate grid.
Good morning class. I bet you are wondering why I am wearing all of this Army equipment
today. Well in the Army we practice a skill called Land Navigation which is exactly what it
sounds like. We navigate or travel through the land using compasses and maps. Who can tell me
what a map is? Yes a map is a large representation of an area and is set up on a grid. Whats
that? Some of you do not know what a grid is? Well that is perfectly fine because today we are
going to learn about coordinate grids and what they are used for. Before we get into all of that, I
want to show you an example of how maps or grids can be used to locate objects, places, or
people.
The teacher will show the students a military topographical map and will have a coordinate on
the map set. Then the teacher will demonstrate how the Army teaches soldiers to find paths to
different locations by using the map and a protractor.

Learning Design:

I. Teaching: The teacher will use the Promethean Board to talk through the first problem on
page 117 of their math books.
Now who enjoyed that little demo about reading maps in the Army? Yea Land Navigation is a
very useful and fun skill to have especially if you are in the Army. The only problem is that none
of you are old enough to join the Army, but that doesnt mean that you cannot learn how to use a
coordinate grid to find a number of different objects. Please turn in your books to page 117 and
look with me as I solve this problem. Can you all see the dot that is labeled Huntsville? Great
now put your finger on that dot and follow the directions on the page. Slide your finger over to
the left one unit and now down three units. Where are we now? Yes we have arrived at the
Birmingham coordinate. Is there another way that we could have traveled from Huntsville to
Birmingham on this grid? Yes we could have gone down three first and then to the left one unit.
The teacher will do the same for the example on page 118 and will work through the problem on
page 119 as well.
Lets look at the next page. The instructions tell us to start at the roller coaster and go four units
to the right and one unit up. What ride have we traveled to? Exactly! We are now at the Ferris
Wheel. You are all catching on very quickly. Now the problem on page 119 is a bit more
complex, but only because it asks more than one question. Who can answer number one for me?
Yes, Justin can travel from the bus stop to the park by going down one unit and to the right two
units. Okay who can answer number two? Yes Kassie can travel from the post office to the school
by going up two units and right three units. Number three? Great, Manny travelled four units left
and four units up from the park and ended up at his house. Four? Yes D is the correct answer.
And last but not least, who can answer number five? D is correct.

II. Opportunity for Practice: The teacher will pair the students off and have them work together
to challenge each other with new questions on the coordinate grid. They will use white boards,
the Promethean Board, or paper to quiz each other and practice their skills.
Alright class now I want everyone to pair up and move to a place where they can be productive.
Now you can use the small white boards, the large white board, the Promethean Board or your
scratch paper. I want you all to take turns drawing two points on a coordinate grid and having
your partner find the different possibilities to get to that point. For example, lets say John draws
a kite at grid 0,0 and draws a stick person at grid 4,5. Steve would have to describe how to get
from the kite to the stick person and would say that like this: 4 units right and 5 units up. You
may also draw one point and give them directions to draw the second. For instance, Steve could
draw a car at grid 1,1 and tell John to go up 5 units and left 1 unit. John would draw a second
picture at grid 6,0. Alright, any questions about what we are about to do? Great, get started and
in twenty minutes I will stop you all and we will move on. As usual I will be walking around
helping you as you need it.

III. Assessment: The teacher will have the students take out their Buckle Down Alabama ARMT
3 Mathematics book and complete numbers 1-6 on the practice assessment on page 122-124.
They will work on their own and will have 15 minutes to complete the task. As per Mrs.
McDaniels instructions, the students will copy the answers in their math notebooks instead of
writing them in the books.
Class, please take out your math books and turn to page 122. You should see a series of
questions starting with number 1 that all have a grid and a questions dealing with the coordinate
grid. You will read the questions and answer them in your math notebook, not your textbook.
Answer questions 1-6 and remember what we talked about today as a group and what you
practiced with your partner. You will have fifteen minutes to complete these problems, which is
plenty of time, trust me. Good luck and I will collect your papers when you have finished.


IV. Closure: The teacher will wrap up the lesson and review what they did in the lesson as well
as ask for last minute questions.
Today we learned about the importance of the coordinate grid and how it can be useful to find
places, objects, or people. We worked together to find the location of different places based on
our current location and we broke down into groups to challenge each other by using the white
boards. I think that is when you had the most fun because you were all very competitive but were
also great at helping each other when you struggled. Finally you finished the questions in the
book for an assessment. I am very proud of you for your effort today and will be glad to see your
progress in this topic in the coming lessons.

Materials and Resources:
Map
Protractor
Compass
Buckle Down Alabama ARMT 3 Mathematics book
Paper
Pencil
Promethean Board
Math Journal

Differentiation Strategies (including plans for individual learners):
Higher Those who perform above and beyond the standard will be given an alternative set of
grids that are more difficult.
Lower For those who need assistance the teacher will give the students individual sentences
and help pulling out the desired information.

Data Analysis: The students all learned a new topic and began to use them in their books and
with different activities. Mrs. McDaniel continued to teach on the topic of Coordinate Grid and
often used my lesson as a reference for the students to think back on.

Reflection: I really enjoyed this lesson and believe that all of the students enjoyed it as well. I
wish that I would have thought to use the tiles on the ground as a hands on activity that the
students could have used to help them visualize the grid.






Samford University
Design for Learning