Ed 411: Teaching Children Mathematics Fall 2011

INSTRUCTIONAL PLANNING TEMPLATE: ED 411

Your name: Grade level and school: Title of lesson/activity: Teaching date(s) and time(s): Estimated time for lesson/activity:

Cameron Neveu 4th Grade, Erickson Elementary Using a Compass Tuesday, 3/6/12 45 minutes Overview Students will first discuss what they learned about compasses from the Engage portion of the lesson on Monday. Students will use the compass to guide themselves through a set of given directions. The directions will lead the student to a specific piece of equipment on the playground if the student correctly uses the compass. Students will debrief as a whole class discussing what was easy and what was difficult. A major part of the science curriculum is understand how to use scientific materials to accomplish tasks. The science curriculum that Ericksons 4th Grade is using place an emphasis on the proper use of a compass, and how it relates to magnets, more specifically, how the poles of a magnet are utilized in a compass needle.

Overview:

Provide a short description (2-3 sentences) of the lesson/activity. Be sure to include a description of the mathematical task.

Context of lesson:

Describe the unit of study, including the lesson that comes before and after your lesson, and explain how these lessons help develop a big idea or disciplinary practice.
Sources:

List the source(s) you used in the creation of your lesson plane.g., Everyday Math

Battle Creek Science

Anticipating student ideas:

Explain what you think will be students prior knowledge about the content, including the alternative ideas or challenges you anticipate students might face and how you plan to work with each of these challenges during the discussion. Also explain your ideas about how students are likely to respond to the tasks in the discussion and how you might use these likely responses to focus students on the intended content.
Making the content accessible to all students:

Attending to the Learners -Students have learned that magnets point North and South. I want to emphasize the fact that the compass needle is a magnet. This connection is important and will be mentioned in the discussion on Monday. -I will use the information learned about students actual experience with compasses on Monday to see if they have made any assumptions or misconceptions.

Describe how you will help ALL students engage productively in the lesson. This includes

-I am allowing students to pair up for this activity. This will allow each learner to have support from one another in their exploration. -I will distribute direction sheets based on the students familiarity with a compass, and how much effort they have put forth in the

Ed 411: Teaching Children Mathematics Fall 2011

identifying assumptions made during the lesson about students prior experiences, knowledge, and capabilities; making the representations, explanations, and/or vocabulary accessible and meaningful to all students; and making connections to students personal, cultural, and social experiences during the lesson, if appropriate.

unit. Students that have exercised a greater knowledge in the subject area, will receive more challenging directions. For example, it is likely a few of my students have experience with compasses from programs like Boy Scouts.

Learning Goals

List the learning goal(s) you have for your students. Use measurable behaviors that can be linked to the assessments.
Connection to Standards

Learning Goals -Students will observe all parts of a magnetic compass (needle, face, true North, etc.) -Students will share their thoughts on how a compass works -Students will learn and understand how to use a compass -Students will observe all parts of a magnetic compass (Make purposeful observation of the natural world using the appropriate senses S.IP.04.11) -Students will learn and understand how to use a compass (Manipulate simple tools that aid observation and data collection

State the content expectations from the Michigan GLCE(s), Common Core State Standards, other national standards, or the standard(s) from your local curriculum that you address in your lesson.

(for example: hand lens, balance, ruler, meter stick, measuring cup, thermometer, spring scale, stop watch/timer, graduate cylinder/beaker S.IP.04.14)
-Students will discuss their use of the compass (Communicate and present ndings of observations and investigations S.IA.04.13)

Connection to Activities

Briefly describe how the activities in the instructional sequence help students make progress toward the stated learning goal(s).

Students will explore the components (needle, face, true north, etc.) of a compass on Monday. They will use the compass to navigate through the playground. Students will then share what things were easy and things were difficult with regard to using a compass.

Type of Assessment

Name the type of assessment you will use to assess student learning (e.g., worksheet, exit slip, teacher observation, whole class discussion). Briefly describe (or state) the task(s).
Learning-goals connection

Assessment Pairs will submit a directions checklist, and then describe where their set of directions lead them to. I will also be informally assessing the students on their contributions to the whole group discussion at the end of the lesson as well. -Students will be able to use a compass (S.IA.04.14)

State the learning goal(s) that the

Ed 411: Teaching Children Mathematics Fall 2011

assessment targets.

-Students will share their thoughts on how a compass works (S.IA.04.12)

Instructional Sequence

Materials: Compass, Direction Sheet, Supplemented Questions from Battle Creek: Lesson 5, Whiteboard

Time

Main components

Set-up: What will you say and do to engage the students in the problem? Being explicit about norms, directions, and language is one way to attend to students cultural/linguistic resources and attend to the learning of all students.

Steps Describing What the Teacher and Students Will Do: Communicate HOW, not just WHAT, you plan on teaching, and provide enough specificity that someone else could teach from your plan. This includes scripting the key questions you plan to ask. This is what the Earths magnetic field looks like. (draw and label true North) -Distribute compasses. List on the board the observations the students make about the compass. Ask the students to stand with the compass in their hands and have them turn to face different walls in the classroom. What do you notice about the needle? How do you think a compass works? (Use what we learned about compasses) Explain to the students that the needle is a magnet. What did we learn about magnets on Friday and Monday? -Explain to the students that they can use the needle to see what direction they are facing. Explain that they can then walk in a direction a certain number of paces. -Take the students outside and walk a square as a group, having the students observe their compass as they walk. -Distribute the direction sheets to each group. Have them try to locate their destination.

Notes and Reminders (including management considerations)

Independent work on problem: Describe what you will be attending to and recording in your notes while monitoring.

I will be observing what students are having difficulties with during their exploration.

Ed 411: Teaching Children Mathematics Fall 2011

Time

Main components

Steps Describing What the Teacher and Students Will Do: Communicate HOW, not just WHAT, you plan on teaching, and provide enough specificity that someone else could teach from your plan. This includes scripting the key questions you plan to ask. How did the exploration go? What was really easy for you? What did you find that was difficult? How did the compass help you?

Notes and Reminders (including management considerations)

Launching of Discussion: What question or prompt will you use to get the discussion off the ground? Conclusion: (Describe an aspect of the mathematics or the nature of the discussion you would like to be able to use to conclude the discussion. You may need to conclude with a different statement if the discussion does not go as planned.)

When might we ever need to use a compass? Have the students try to think of practical purposes for a compass. Magnets are used in everyday life. The compass uses a magnets tendency to point North. It is important to know that this doesnt mean the North Pole. This means true North, or the northern most point in Earths Magnetic Field.

Learning goal for self: State at least one learning goal that you have for yourself, with regard to your teaching. In other words, what are you working on to improve your teaching practice? Preparing to teach this lesson: Describe the things you did in preparation to teach this lesson. For example: practiced the activity with the actual materials, answered the worksheet questions myself, thought through timing, researched materials, etc.

Reflection on Planning There is going to be a lot of material management going on in this lesson. I want to make sure all of my materials are in one location and that students know that classroom expectations still stand outside. I mapped out the compass course for each group of students. I also practiced using a compass, both in and out of the classroom. I ran through this lesson a couple times with my housemates.