Courtney Lesman

TAG Lesson Plan

2015-2016

CURRICULUM AND STRATEGIES FOR

THE GIFTED LEARNER:
Graphs Galore
LESSON: Tiered Difficulty Lesson
-Graphs Galore

TIME: 15 minutes day 1; 1 hour day 2

TAG Standard: Higher Order and Critical Thinking Standards:

3. The students conducts comparisons using criteria.
4. The student makes and evaluates criteria using criteria.
5. The student predicts probable consequences of decision.
Grade Level Specific Math Standards:

MCC1.MD.4: Organize, represent, and interpret data with up to three categories; ask and answer questions about the total number of data poin

Essential Question: How do you organize, interpret, and represent data on a graph? How do
you compare and contrast data represented on a graph?
OBJECTIVES: The students will:
1. Knowa. Read and represent tally marks for given data
b. The parts of a graph and the purpose of each
2. Understanda. Graphs are used to organize and represent data in a meaningful way
3. Doa. Ask and answer questions about a graph and the categories represented
b. Identify similarities and differences within a graph and its categories
c. Create a graph for given data
MATERIALS:
LESSON DESCRIPTION:
- colored bear counters 1. THE HOOK: Show students a picture of you at Halloween and tell
-bags
the story about how you loved to sort your candy to figure out what
-laminated graph (lvl.
you had the most of. Allow them to share stories of their favorite
1)
candy and Halloween memories. Explain that the point of graphing
-incorrect graphs (lvl.3)
is to organize things in a meaningful and easily understandable
-blank graphs (lvl. 2)
way.
-crayons
-chart paper
2. SET THE PURPOSE: Share objectives for the lesson.
-flipchart
3. DISCUSSION: Have students share their background knowledge
-answer keys
about graphs and guide their thinking towards the key parts of a
-student journals
graph and chart their responses. Call students back together to
share their thinking. Explain and demonstrate the key parts of a
graph and their purpose (title, categories, bars/data, and scale
(numbers)). Differentiation: Some students can do this
independently, as table groups, or with teacher in a small group.
4. DETERMINE LEVELS: Using students journal responses (those
working with the teacher will begin on the lowest level task), the
teacher will formulate 3 tiered groups for the following days
lesson/tasks.
5. ASSIGN TASK: Tell student which activity they need to go to today.
Level 1: Given (1-10) colored bears in a bag, students will
physically sort and place them on a laminated graph. (Teacher will

Courtney Lesman
TAG Lesson Plan
2015-2016
take and print picture). Then students will answer the following
questions on a sheet: Which category has the most bears? How
many bears are there in all? Which category has the least?
Level 2: Students will get 10-20 colored bears to physically sort and
count. They will then create a colored graph and answer the
following questions about their graph: Which category has the most
bears? How many bears are there in all? Which category has the
least? Then, students will compare their findings to a friends graph
and create 3 statements comparing and contrasting the 2 graphs
data. Finally students will use place value blocks to represent the
answers to the given questions and show their answer in multiple
ways.
Level 3: Students are given completed graphs and manipulatives
with more than 3 categories. The students must verify if the graph
matches the manipulatives given and suggest corrections. Students
will need to explain each identified error and how they knew that it
was an error. Provide students a blank graph template to recreate
the corrected graph. Create 3-5 questions about the graph using
these key words: in all, more than, less than.
*Ensure that within level 1 and 3 students have the same number of
manipulatives of each color.
6. SELF-EVALUATION: Students will use provided answer keys within
their levels to check their work when the assigned task is
completed.
SELF-REFLECTION and ANALYSIS: Students will come back to the rug with their graph and
answer rubric questions posted on flipchart. Students will hold up a 1, 2, or 3 fingers to evaluate
their success on given categories of the rubric. Allow time for discussion: How well did you do?
Did you forget to include a key part of your graph? Discuss what and why it is important. What
gave you trouble? Did you feel challenged by your tiered activity? Could you improve your
performance next time? Discuss how.
TEACHER EVALUATION: Teacher will note the responses as an informal assessment and
determining future lessons.

Reflection of Lesson: This lesson went really well with my first graders, and I must
admit I was very nervous doing a TAG lesson with the youngins for the first time!
Graphing is a concept for them they can be pretty independent with, so it was a great
are to focus a lesson on. They are confident, but still easily challenged by digging deeper
and having to reflect on their graphs by generating and answering questions. Because
my class was celebrating some good behavior, we completed the graph with skittles
rather than the counting bears as you can see in the photos. The Level 3 students
enjoyed the challenge of figuring out where the mistakes were on the premade graph
and the questions that the level 2 students generated were very interesting because
they could not repeat any of the questions that were already asked of them. Overall I
really enjoyed this lesson and the flexibility it allowed for different ability learners. I
would certainly use it again in the future to review previously learned concepts.

Courtney Lesman
TAG Lesson Plan
2015-2016