Planning and Preparation for an Inquiry Lesson

Name:

Grade Level: Kindergarten

Planning for Knowing the Terrain

Lesson Sketch
Before the Lesson
Enduring Understandings:
That two numbers can be combined to make a new quantity.
That we can combine numbers using words.
Math is part of every day life.
Essential Question:
What number do I get when I combine two quantities?

Techniques/Consideration
s

What is the topic you are

addressing?
Why is this topic important?
What do you want the students
to understand?
How might technology be useful
in building understanding?
How does this relate to students
prior understanding?
What resources/manipulatives
will you use?

Resources Needed:
Story The Watermelon Seed
Prepared craft pieces of watermelon, worksheet glued onto black paper.
Cards labeled 1-7
Task/Problem
How many watermelon seeds does your watermelon have based on the specific quantities
given?

State the problem and the task

clearly. Remember to cite sources

What is the task that will help

student gain the understanding you have
stated above?

Students will create a visual addition sentence using black and white watermelon seeds as
a manipulative.
Curriculum

Adapted from Dr. Sharon Friesens Planning and Preparation for an Inquiry Lesson

What General and Specific Outcomes does

this task address?
How and why does this task address these
outcomes?

Planning and Preparation for an Inquiry Lesson

Planning Instructional Strategies for Entering the Terrain

Lesson Sketch

Techniques/Consideration
s

Beginning of the Lesson

Introduce the story The Watermelon Seed.
Invite kiddos to look at the front cover first. Predict what the story might be about.
Then read the title. Encourage students to elaborate on previous predictions.
Reread the title and the author/illustrator.
Read the story with expression. Pause frequently to think aloud about what might
happen next.
After the story invite students to share what they think will happen next. Will he eat
more watermelon and why?
What would happen if he really swallowed a seed?
What kind of seeds do we find in watermelon?
Led students to discover that we have both white and black seeds in watermelon.

Middle of the Lesson

Think aloud: I wonder how many seeds are in a piece of watermelon.

Invite students to sit in a circle on the carpet (on the blue outline). Spread the
cards in the middle of the circle.

Share with the students: Today we are going to solve a math problem. We are
going to each choose a number and it will tell us how many watermelon seeds we
have in our watermelon. Put first we need a watermelon.

Demonstrate how to make the watermelon on their paper. Invite students to go

make their watermelon and then return to the carpet.

Explain that each student will choose a number and then take the card back to
their seat. They will draw the number on their card in black seeds. Misconception:
What does a seed look like? Model on paper.

Encourage students to double count and point to each seed as they count.

When they are done have students come back to the carpet and choose a new
card. Repeat the above steps but this time have students draw white seeds on their
watermelon to correspond with the number given. Misconception: Students may
want to copy their friends. Remind kiddos that everyone got their own card so it is
End of the Lesson
As a group, instruct students in filling out their worksheet. Read sentence by
sentence and encourage students to count using their finger, each black seed and
then white seed to fill in the spaces.
Model the addition sentence using your own version on the chart paper. Have
students fill in their own addition sentence.
Pair and Share
Choose 3-5 students to share their finished watermelons at the carpet.

Adapted from Dr. Sharon Friesens Planning and Preparation for an Inquiry Lesson

How will you spark student

interest in the work/task?

How will you help students make

connections to their prior knowledge?

How will you pose the problem or

inquiry?

How will you provide students

with multiple means of representations?

What are your purposes and

strategies for observing students to
learn what and how they are doing?
How will you use
representations, variations of the task, or
manipulatives help students who are
struggling with the task?
What extensions would be useful
to chall What specific question, example,
or idea will you use? i.e. Which common
misconceptions? Which eloquent
solution?
What might you ask to support
students reasoning about specific
mathematical ideas?
How will you respond to
anticipated student errors or
misconceptions? How will you encourage
students to consider the thinking of
others and respond to each other in the
discussion?

How will you know that the

students have understood - what you
want them to understand? What will you
collect to help you assess student
learning in relation to your lesson goals?

How might you gather

information about how students are
thinking?

How will you use the information

gathered to learn about your teaching,
plan upcoming lessons, and/or determine
the understanding of individual

Planning and Preparation for an Inquiry Lesson

Lesson Sketch
Learning from and Improving Practice

Adapted from Dr. Sharon Friesens Planning and Preparation for an Inquiry Lesson

Techniques/Consideration
s

How could you better support

the learning of all students?

Based on what you observed

during this lesson, what changes could
be made to improve the effectiveness of
the classroomlearning environment?