SED 525MA/L One-Day Lesson Plan Assignment Due March 9, 2009

Purpose:

For you to apply what you’ve learned in this course so far to design a lesson for one class period that includes a 30-50-minute learning activity. The activity should seek to accomplish these goals:

1) engage students in high-level thinking about an important mathematical concept or skill

2) be interesting and appropriate for the target students

3) facilitate a deep understanding of the concept or skill

4) develop relevant mathematical language proficiency

I expect you to draw on what you’ve learned about relational and instrumental learning, cognitive demand, teaching (and questioning) for understanding, developing mathematical language, and practical ideas from the “into” presentations. Consider incorporating strategies such as small-group work; pair, group, or whole-class discussions; calculators; commercial or homemade manipulatives; real-world applications; visual aids; and games.

Components of your written plan:

ü (On separate pages from the main plan) A preface with:

o a statement of the concept(s) or skill(s) you intend the main activity to develop, along with specific reference to the California standard(s) your plan addresses

o a description of a mathematical-language-development goal for the lesson

o a demographic description of the class for whom you designed the lesson, including the course name, students’ ages or grade levels, and the individual needs of any ELLs and students with special needs

o a brief description of the necessary background skills the lesson presumes, as well as any relevant conceptual problems or skill deficits you know your students have

o a 3-4 paragraph rationale for the activity’s design. Explain how specific elements aim at high-level thinking and deep understanding and mathematical language development and how they draw on what you learned from course readings and other aspects of this course. Make sure to cite specific authors!

The rest of the components, listed below, should all be written in the main plan. You may use any format as long as it is organized, is readable, and includes all the information below.

ü A list of materials and equipment needed and a brief description of how the room will be configured (which might change during the period).

ü A description of the action during the lesson, with allotted times. Include:

o what you’ll do to introduce, provide instruction or directions for, and facilitate the activity

o desired student actions and student-student and teacher-student interactions

o how any student groupings will be composed (i.e., who works with whom?)

o formal or informal products of student work (e.g., papers, presentations, posters, quizzes)

o ways you will monitor student learning and understanding during the lesson

o strategic example problems you’ll use for demonstration or coaching, if any

o questions you’ll use to probe students’ thinking or help students over anticipated hurdles (without over-coaching!)

o challenge or extension tasks for early activity finishers

o lesson features or adaptations designed to engage or support ELLs and students with special needs*

o how you will close the activity (e.g., debrief, facilitate whole-class sharing, highlight main concepts, solicit remaining questions or ideas for extension, formally or informally assess students’ understanding, or solicit feedback about the activity’s effectiveness).

ü A copy of any handouts or visual aids you will use, as well as any notes or diagrams you will put on the board or on transparencies.

ü A homework assignment (short or long-term) that either reinforces this lesson’s concepts or leads into tomorrow’s. Don’t just list problem numbers on a textbook page; include or at least describe the problems.

Scoring Criteria:

Potential for lesson to accomplish Goals 1-4 with the target students 5 points

Clarity, completeness, and correctness of the information in your written plan 1 points

Validity of rationale for lesson (based on course articles and other coursework) 4 points

Total: 10 points

Additional requirement for classroom teachers (replaces Micro-Teaching, also for 10 points):

1) Teach this lesson well before March 30.

2) Submit on March 30, a written reflection on how effective this lesson actually was with your students. This should be at least 4 pages (typed, double-spaced, 1” margins, 12-point font) and should have the following components:

· Brief description of the class or classes to whom you taught the lesson, and any relevant notes about how the plan was implemented (e.g., the lesson was cut short for a fire drill).

· What you saw as strengths of the plan in terms of promoting deep understanding and student engagement (with evidence from your classroom observations and informal assessment).

· Areas of the plan that need improvement in terms of promoting deep understanding and student engagement (with evidence from your classroom observations and informal assessment).

· Ideas for improving the plan to better promote deep understanding and student engagement.

SED 525 Methods for Teaching Secondary Mathematics Homework due Feb. 23, 2009

Read:

· Barton, M. L., Heidema, C, & Jordan, D. (2002). Teaching reading in mathematics and science. Educational leadership, 60, 24-31. (I will email)

· Winsor, M. S. (2007). Bridging the language barrier in mathematics. Mathematics Teacher, 101(5), 372-378. (I will email)

Do to Submit:

Barton et al. and Winsor give strategies for helping students read, comprehend, and even produce mathematical text. But what is mathematical text? According to Principles and Resources: Enhancing CSU Single Subject Methods Courses in Mathematics (The California State University

Center for the Advancement of Reading, 2007):

The practice of mathematics relies on external forms of expression, or text. For mathematicians and other adults who use math, problems are almost always conveyed through some form of text, as are the data and other information needed to solve them. Text is usually generated in the process of solving problems, and, of course, solutions must almost always be communicated to other parties, again in some textual form. Likewise, for students, mathematical instruction and classroom exercises are delivered through text; some form of text is generated in the solving process of all but the most trivial problems, and solutions must be communicated to the teacher or classmates. Text is taken here to mean any representational form of communicating mathematical ideas or information. Therefore, mathematical texts would include, but not be limited to: …

1) Complete this statement by listing as many kinds of mathematical text you can think of that a student might encounter in and outside of school. (e.g., multiple choice test, newspaper article…)

2) Choose two kinds of text from your list. For each, name 2 features of this kind of text that are relatively unique to this type of text.

Also:

· Add notes about Barton et al. and Winsor to your Author Notebook.

· Teachers and tutors: Bring a textbook you teach from to class next week.

· Begin work on your One-Day Lesson Plan assignment, due March 9.

In-class Reflection Writing for Activity “Into” Presentations

· If you presented an “Into” tonight:

o What went well, in terms of efficiently organizing the students and materials?

o What went well in terms of motivating and guiding students to start the activity?

o If you could do it over, what would you do differently to improve the organization, efficiency, motivation, and/or guidance?

· If you did not present tonight, consider the “Into’s” that you saw tonight:

o What ideas did you pick up that might help you initiate activities in your own class?

o How might any (choose one or two) of these teachers modify his/her plan or implementation in order to attain greater efficiency, motivation, or guidance about the activity?

Please submit these reflections to me, with your name. They will not be shared with classmates.