Hayse 1

Katherine Hayse

Term III Math Lesson: Making arguments using addition strategies and critiquing reasoning

What
As a part of being able to truly understand the math that they are learning, students not
only need to be able to solve problems, but also critique and make sense of flawed reasoning. Commented [k1]: The biggest change I made to my
This lesson will help students develop their ability to compare the effectiveness of two plausible lesson plan was moving MP3 to be the heart of my
what section, instead of addition. Framing around a
arguments, distinguish correct logic or reasoning from that which is flawed [and] justify their Mathematical Practice was more important to my
conclusions, communicate them to others, and respond to the arguments of others (CCSS, lesson than framing around a content objective.
MP3). This lesson will introduce students to the skills that they need to be able to reason about
why their answer makes sense, and explain that reasoning to others.
In first grade, students will just be at the early stages of learning to defend their answers. Commented [k2]: I moved this paragraph from the
This often involves using concrete referents such as objects, drawings, diagrams, and actions, bottom of the section, to the top.
which I will encourage my students to do throughout the lesson as a means to show their
thinking (CCSS, MP3). Through this lesson, with the help of these concrete models, students will
begin to develop the skills of sharing mathematical ideas with peers, constructing an argument,
and defending an answer, with the support of a teacher.
In addition to developing their ability to critique mathematical reasoning through this Commented [k3]: I completely changed the part of the
investigation, students will also be expanding the addition that they have been working on over what where I explained the content students would be
learning, because I had originally framed it in terms of
the first few months of the school year into a development of early multiplication strategies. additive strategies, when really it was an equal groups
Students will work towards building an early understanding of multiplication through mapping problem, where my students would be able to apply
the process of repeated addition onto an equal group multiplicative situation (OGAP). Students their additive knowledge.
need to first build their conceptual knowledge of multiplication through developing an
understanding of the relationships between numbers in a multiplicative situation (Chapin and
Johnson 76). This multiplicative situation is a logical extension of their addition work, since it
can be solved with addition, but the students will be forced to put the problem in context,
determine the best strategy to solve, and perform the addition operation multiple times. Since this
problem is going to be truly problematic for students, they will need to apply their knowledge of
numbers within 20 to larger numbers and develop new methods for solving problemsor adapt
ones they already know to solve new problems (Hiebert et al. 24). I anticipate that this problem
may cause some students who have been using strategies such as counting on, compensation, or
benchmark numbers during our in class practice with numbers within 20, to take a step
backwards to counting all. However, through using tools I think that other students may be able
to make equal groups and count on from the first group, or use a hundreds chart to count on,
while marking progress on the chart. Each of these strategies builds on one another, so I hope
that through our debrief conversation, even those students who resorted back to an early counting
strategy will be able to see their classmates who were able to use counting or transitional
strategies. This will leave them with a stronger understanding of why additive strategies work,
since they will have to come to the understanding themselves.

How
This is going to be an inquiry-based learning lesson. I will present the students with a
problem at the beginning of the lesson, and they will use tools, each other, and their prior
knowledge of addition and making meaning of word problems to solve it using a strategy that
works well for them. Throughout the lesson I will act as a facilitator to guide the students
 Hayse 2

towards an understanding of using strategies to defend their arguments, but I will do my best to
step back and let the students build their own understanding. I will also serve as a facilitator
during the debrief to help students critique and add on to their own and others understanding.

Task: I will use a modified version of the carrot seed packet problem with an incorrect answer,
that students will then need to reason with to decide whether or not the answer given is correct, if
not, what is the correct answer, and how can they prove that their answer is correct instead of the
given answer, or how can they prove that the given answer is correct. This task will require the
students to think deeply about the problem, and hopefully elicit multiple strategies that will then
make for a meaningful discussion during the lesson debrief.
Discourse: I will provide scaffolds for the students to help develop discourse around
mathematical thinking. Before a student presents his/her strategy, I will remind the rest of the Commented [k4]: Here, I added more details about
group that we are all working together to figure out the answer by listening to our classmates what my exact talk moved would be.
strategies, so we need to have our listening ears on. Then, I will ask someone to restate the
presenters strategy, (I might not do this every time, but if there are more complex ones). Finally,
I will prompt discussion by asking students if they have a compliment or a question about their
peers strategy. If students have difficulty with this concept, I will model what a compliment or
question might look like. While I will acknowledge their answer when discussing the problem, I
will drive conversation around the strategy that they used and why it was or was not helpful in
guiding them towards the correct answer.
Tools: I will encourage students to use appropriate tools to help support or explain their thinking
as they work to solve the problem. I will encourage students to use tools by reminding tools of Commented [k5]: Added more details about exactly
the different mathematical tools we have before we start the problem. Tools that I plan to bring what tools I would have for the students to use.
that are familiar to the students are: Unifix cubes, counting bears (count or make equal groups),
hundreds chart (students can count on), mini-whiteboards and dry erase markers (students can
draw out their thinking). I will tell students that if there is a different tool they think could help
them solve the problem that Ive forgotten they can go get it from the room. I hope that this will
give them the freedom to not feel restricted by the tools I have brought, but also works within the
constraint that I will most likely be teaching outside of the regular classroom.
Norms: I will reinforce norms around discussion like using the I agree/disagree hand signals,
listening to our peers, and talking to the class, not the teacher. Students will listen to each others
reasoning and work together to come to an understanding of the most efficient strategies to
determine the correct answer. For the working portion of the task, I will reinforce our class norm Commented [k6]: Added details about the norms for the
of tools not toys for students who want to work with math manipulatives, and I will reinforce work portion of the task.
that students can work anywhere in the room that they are comfortable and talk to the other
students, but they need to make decisions that will help them do their best math. I will make the
comparison to choosing a reading spot during independent reading, which our students have been
doing an awesome job of so far this year.
Diversity, Equity and Access: The problem I have choses promotes equity because there are Commented [k7]: I added how the problem itself has
multiple access points to the problem. Students will be able to work anywhere in the room, using multiple access points.
any manipulatives they want to, so students can pick the location and tools that will help them
learn best. Also, my decision to change the question from carrot seeds to m&ms was prompted
by my knowledge that since my students have grown up in a city, not all of them might know
what a seed packet is, which could have made the problem more confusing and therefore less
accessible for some students. I know that all of my students know what a pack of m&ms looks
like, so that will give all of them a chance to better understand what the problem is asking. I will
 Hayse 3

make the problem accessible to all of the students in the group by providing scaffolds to
struggling students if necessary (these are described below in the accommodations section).

Why
I was motivated to try an investigation problem with these students. I have seen in my
experience working with them so far this year, that they enjoy number talks, and other ways of
deep thinking about their math practice, but they often dont get to experience this when they are
just working out of the Envisions workbook. Additionally, I plan to conduct my math teaching
through investigation lessons next year and throughout my teaching career, so this small group is
a good opportunity for me to see what it actually requires to begin to teach math in this way.
Additionally, based off of my own experiences learning math, as well as hearing about my
classmates experiences, learning math without developing a concrete understanding of the
concepts and practices can be damaging in terms of future math learning, as well as confidence
in the math classroom. Therefore, as a teacher, I strongly believe in teaching for understanding
and one of the best ways for students to develop understanding is to come to it through reasoning
and discussion with peers under the guidance of the teacher.
Finally, of course, the standards and curriculum did influence my decision to teach this
lesson as well. On the day that I will be teaching my lesson, my mentor is supposed to be
teaching about critiquing reasoning, so it was important that that mathematical practice was a
central part of my lesson. Additionally, since students have been working on adding and addition
strategies, I decided to choose an investigation where students may choose to add as a way to
solve the problem, so that they continue to practice the addition strategies that they have been
learning as well and that operation fits into the curricular sequence.
 Hayse 4

Lesson Plan
Goals/Objectives
- Students will be able to use mathematical reasoning to defend their solution
- Students will be able to critique both peers and their own answers to story problems
- Students will be able to use their knowledge of additive strategies to solve an equal
groups multiplication problem.
- Students will be able to identify an appropriate addition strategy to solve an equal groups
multiplication problem. Commented [k8]: Added in an objective that was more
focused on additive strategies and what students would
need to be able to do with their addition knowledge.
Standards
CCSS.MATH.PRACTICE.MP1 Make sense of problems and persevere in solving them,
CCSS.MATH.PRACTICE.MP3 Construct viable arguments and critique the reasoning of others.
CCSS.MATH.PRACTICE.MP5 Use appropriate tools strategically.
CC.2.2.2.A.3 Work with equal groups of objects to gain foundations for multiplication. (2nd
grade standard) Commented [k9]: Added in this second grade standard
to account for the content, since it technically is more
towards second grade content.
Materials and Preparation
- Math Tools: Hundreds chart, unifix cubes, counting bears, counters, number line,
whiteboard/markers
- I will need to provide a space to teach the lesson. I am going to either use the library, (if
available), the auditorium, or the room right outside the auditorium. Back up is to teach in
the classroom during math centers. I will bring all of the tools needed to the space for the
lesson.
- I will type up the exit slip and put it on a half sheet
- I will need a clipboard and the assessment checklist
- I will need a printed copy of the problem to read out to the students

Classroom arrangement and management issues

As I mentioned in the above section, I am still working out the details on exactly where I
will be able to teach my lesson. Wherever I teach it, I know that I want the students to begin in a
close circular arrangement. This is how I will best be able to see everyone and answer questions
during the introduction. However, after the introduction, I will encourage the students to work
wherever in the room they are best able to access the tools they need to help them solve the
problem. And during the debrief, students will travel to the location where the presenting student
is working, so again, their seating arrangement will be unstructured.
My students are accustomed to being able to choose their own spot where they are able to
work well both during independent reading and math games, so I plan to remind them of this, but
I really dont anticipate any management issues surrounding where students are working. If
space becomes a serious issue, I will work with that student to move his/her investigation back to
his/her desk and work on it there.
Before students begin working, I will reinforce that our math manipulatives are tools, not Commented [k10]: I added in this paragraph to address
toys, and when we use them, they should be helping us solve the problem or explain our anticipated management issues with manipulatives.
thinking. If a student is using the manipulatives as toys, I will give a reminder, and if they are
still detracting from the students problem solving, I will take them away and give the student a
pencil and paper to solve the problem with. It is still important to me that they are thinking about
and working towards a solution to the problem, and when students misuse manipulatives it is
 Hayse 5

detracting from their problem solving. While giving students choice is important to me, it is
more important that they are engaging with the math problem, so that is why I feel justified in
taking away the manipulatives if they are detracting from the students focus on solving the
problem.

Plan (44 mins)

Before (Launch): I will say: Today were going to do something a little different for math;
were going to do a math investigation. Im going to give you a math problem, and you can solve
it in any way that you would like. Ive brought some math tools from our classroom that might Commented [k11]: I told them the tools that were
help you solve the problem. We have Unifix cubes, a hundreds chart, whiteboards, and counting available instead of asking them to brainstorm tools.
bears. If there is anything else that you want to use after you hear the problem let me know and
we can talk about it. In just a moment, Im going to read a problem, I am going to read it two
times. [After I read it, I will write 6 packs, 9 in each pack. Rob thinks there are 15 On the
board, so students dont have to remember all of the little details and they can focus on the
math]. After I finish reading it, Im going to give you some time to think about and solve the
problem. You can choose if you would like to work on the problem alone or with one partner.
Dont just pick to work with your friend, think about what will help you do your best math. You
can use any tools that you would like that we have in the room to help you solve it and
understand your thinking. After you solve it, dont erase your work or put away your tools,
instead, I want you to be able to show each other your thinking, so leave everything just how it is
when I call you back together. So, Im going to read the problem two times. How many times?
[Two times]. And when you think youve solved the problems, what do you do with your tools?
[Leave them.] Exactly, because I want us to be able to share our thinking at the end. This
investigation isnt about who can find an answer the fastest, but instead, I really want you to take
your time and be able to understand what youre doing. Any questions before I read the
problem? [Read Problem]. On Halloween, Allie got 6 packs of m&ms while trick or treating.
There are 9 m&ms in each pack. Her friend, Rob, tells her that she has 15 m&ms in all. Is Rob
correct? Jenny says theres 50. Is either one right? If yes, why? If no, how many m&ms does
Allie have? (4 mins)
** I chose the two given answers to be intentionally incorrect based off of mistakes that a first grade
student might make themselves. I chose 15 because 9 + 6 = 15, so it might be a common mistake if the student does
not fully understand the context and relationships within the problem. I chose 50, because I anticipate that another
strategy students might use, is to draw out the problem and count all, and 50 could be a logical answer if the student
miscounts just a few numbers. I have these two problematic answers in place to motivate students to figure out the
answer to the problem and to serve as discussion points if my students quickly and easily solve and understand the
problem. If students struggle with the problem, most of the discussion will focus on working through and critiquing
their answers instead of the characters in the problem.

During (Work/Explore): Students will work individually or in groups using tools of their
choice to solve their problem. In the Before section, I let students know that they could choose
to work alone or with one partner, and to consider what would help them do their best math
work. I will walk around to different groups and listen in to discussion to try and gain an
understanding of reasoning. I will use my checklist as well to assess student understanding at this
time. I will also use this time to check in with students who are struggling with the problem to
help scaffold the problem for them. I want to focus on doing a lot of listening during this time,
but some questions I could ask might be: Can you tell me what youre thinking about? Can you
 Hayse 6

tell me the story of the problem in your own words? Can you show me how your strategy works?
How can you prove that your answer is true? (20 mins)

After (Discuss/Debrief and Wrap Up): After giving the students about 15-20 minutes to work,
or, when I see that everyone has been able to use a strategy to find an answer, I will bring the
group back together. I will say: I heard so much great thinking going on around the room as I
was walking around and that has made me really excited to hear about everyones strategies.
Something that I saw that I really loved was that everyone chose the strategy that worked best
for them. While we are sharing, I want you to pay extra attention to how your friends chose to
solve the problem, so even if it isnt the strategy that you would choose, you can understand how
and why they came to an answer. I will decide in the moment, which student to ask to share out
first, starting with a strategy that I think will make sense to the other students and finishing with
more complex strategies after students have spent a lot of time thinking about the problem and
building their understanding. After each student shares, I will ask the other students to: explain
the strategy in their own words, to give a compliment, or to ask a question. As students are
sharing their strategies, I will pause and ask them to rephrase at points where I think that the
mathematical idea may be becoming convoluted or confusing. My talk moves during this portion
of the lesson will be directly related to helping students develop and understanding for and the
skills to construct arguments and critique the reasoning of their peers, which is the overarching
goal of this lesson. I will accomplish this, by using strategies similar to those I use during
number talks. Each time we hear from a new student, I will ask the student to share the answer,
and then tell the students that they will need to pay close attention to their peers strategy to see
if they are convinced that their answer is true. (15 mins)

Exit Slip: The exit slip will be a problem from the Envisions math workbook about critiquing
reasoning (It is the demonstration question for the lesson that this is supposed to replace). This
will let me know whether students understand the concept of critiquing based on the
investigation lesson that I did with them. It will assess the same ideas from the lesson in a
smaller scale format that the students can do without a 20 minute investigation. Problem: A Pet
Store has 9 frogs. 5 of the frogs are green and the rest are brown. Lidia adds 5 +9 and says that
the pet store has 14 brown frogs. Is she correct? Circle whether you agree or disagree. Use
pictures, words, or equations to explain your reasoning. (5 mins)

Anticipate student responses and possible responses

Anticipated strategies:
- Counting up groups of unifix cubes or other manipulatives
- Drawing groups on a whiteboard or on paper
- Using a hundreds chart (To count on, for example, put their finger on the 9 and count
nine more 6 times.)
- Making the 9 a 10 and skip counting to 60 and subtracting 6
- Students will reason that the answer is incorrect because it is too small (In which case, I
will push them to prove to me what the correct answer is and why it is correct).
Anticipated areas of confusion:
- This is the first time this year that students have worked with critiquing problems. I think
that the fact that there is already an answer but it may be wrong might be confusing to
them. If this arises, I will guide them towards just trying to solve the problem without
 Hayse 7

thinking about the answer and if their answer doesnt match, how can they prove that
theirs is correct?
- Another area of confusion could be that the students are intimidated by the large
numbers, since we have mostly been working within 20 up until now. If this arises, I will
ask them how they can model the task to see it more visually, or ask what their approach
would be with smaller numbers.
- Since the students arent usually left to solve complex problems like this on their own for
an extended period of time, I worry that when I first set them off to work, they might be
overwhelmed with where to start. If this happens, I might ask questions like: What tools
might help us solve this problem? What strategy might we use to solve this problem?
What do we know about the problem? Can you tell me a story about what is going on in
the problem?
- Students will add 9 and 6 to get 15 and reason that Rob is correct. If this happens I will
ask the student to tell me the story of the problem, and see if that helps them to realize
how many packs there are. Or, I will ask them to draw, or show me, (depending on what
manipulative they have chosen) what one bag of m&ms would look like. Then, I will ask
them what two would look like and have them count them. If there are 18 m&ms in 2
bags does it make sense that there would be 15 m&ms in 6 bags? And ask now, how they
might be able to find out how many are in 6 bags.
- A student might make the 9 a 10, skip count to 60 and subtract 9. If they make this error I
will have them draw out the 6 bags with 9 m&ms and then draw another m&m in a
different color, my thinking is that this will show them visually how many extra m&ms
they added. Then I will have them skip count again, and ask them how many they would
have to subtract based on how many in their picture are a different color.
Managerial Challenges:
- Using math tools always presents a potential managerial challenge. I will reinforce that
the tools are tools not toys, and if a student is misusing a tool, after one reminder, if the
tool still isnt being used to help them in their reasoning, I will take it away.
- Outside of number talks, students arent normally asked to share and extensively
comment on each others math reasoning. I will reinforce the norms for sharing out, one
student is speaking and that there will be a time for questions and comments. And remind
students to use their hand signals.
- If a student is on a long-winded explanation and other students seem to be losing focus, I
will stop the student and ask if any of the other students have any questions, or I will pose
a question myself to refocus the group. I will also ask a student to restate what has been
shared so far.

Assessment of the goals/objectives listed above

Students will have reached the goals for the lesson if:
- They successfully understand why the answer to the presented problem was incorrect
- They are able to come up with and defend the accuracy of their own answer to the
problem
- They apply their knowledge of additive strategies to solve the problem
- They are able to discuss, restate, and understand their peers strategies
 Hayse 8

The checklist I created to assess both additive understanding and proficiency in critiquing and
defending reasoning will help me to formatively assess where to further work with students on
further lessons.

The exit ticket will allow me to formatively assess if students can critique a problem and
successfully apply their own reasoning to find the correct answer. This can also help me to see
areas of weakness in understanding and to plan future lessons.

Accommodations
If students find the material too challenging: I will help scaffold the problem by breaking it
down. I will ask questions like. Do we know how many m&ms are in one pack? How can you
find out how many are in two packs? What tools might be helpful for modeling our thinking
about this problem? I think that asking these questions will help to break the problem down in a
more manageable way.

If students find the material too easy/finish quickly: An extension question could be How many
m&ms are in 5 packs? What about 7 packs? What about 10 packs? Can you find a pattern
between the number of packs and the total number of m&ms? How could that pattern help you
solve the problem for any number of packs? I think that the pattern they should see is that every
time they add a pack, then Allie has 9 more m&ms. This is an extension, first, because
something students should start to do in first grade is begin to recognize patterns, and it also
begins to set the foundations for skip counting, which is an skill that ties the additive strategies in
this problem to an early multiplicative strategy.
 Hayse 9

A pet store has 9 frogs. 5 of the frogs are green and the rest are brown. Lidia adds 5 + 9 and says that
the store has 14 brown frogs. Is she correct? Circle whether you agree or disagree. Use pictures, words,
or equations to explain your reasoning.

Agree Disagree

A pet store has 9 frogs. 5 of the frogs are green and the rest are brown. Lidia adds 5 + 9 and says that
the store has 14 brown frogs. Is she correct? Circle whether you agree or disagree. Use pictures, words,
or equations to explain your reasoning.

Agree Disagree
 Hayse 10

Assessment Checklist: Additive Reasoning and Mathematical Practice 3 Critiquing the reasoning of others

Student Name: Interprets Uses a counting Uses a Uses an additive Uses an early Clearly explains Engages with Other comments:
Problem strategy (OGAP, transitional strategy (OGAP, transitional thinking behind peers strategies
Correctly: Additive) strategy (OGAP, Multiplicative) strategy their answer and in meaningful
Additive) (OGAP, defends its way: (restates,
Multiplicative) correctness asks a question,
(MP3) makes a
connection)
(MP3)
 Hayse 11

Works Cited

Chapin & Johnson,Math Matters, Understanding the Math You Teach Grades K-8. Math
Solutions Publications, 2006.

Common Core State Standards. Standards for Mathematical Practice.

http://www.corestandards.org/Math/Practice/

Hiebert, et al. (1997). Making Sense: Teaching and learning mathematics with understanding.
Portsmouth, ME: Heinemann.

OGAP Additive Reasoning Progression. 2016.