Reflections on Lessons Implementation Lesson #1

Instructional Decisions/Teaching

     There are a couple of things that went well in my lesson. These things consisted of student engagement, the use of the technology and the relationship between the students and I. The lesson was very hands-on towards the end even though the activities that we did were not originally planned out within my lesson. When the technology was working effectively the students were engaged and used the technology to further their learning. The last thing that went really well was the relationship between the students and I. Granted we have known each other for the last three semesters which helped make our relationship strong prior to the lesson. However, I am glad that the relationship I have with Caleigh and Lauren was strong enough to help me throughout my lesson when my lesson ended shorter than expected. The following things went wrong with my lesson: the technology did not work appropriately during certain parts of my lesson and that my lesson was rushed through because I could not time how long we took to get the technology to work. At the beginning of the lesson, the smart board needed to be restarted multiple times in order to get it to work correctly which took time out of my teaching. Once we got it to work the lesson went really well until we got to creating the artifact. It started to become obvious that the students could not write their calculations on their artifact. I decided to overcome this obstacle by having the students write down their calculations on a piece of lined paper which I would then scan into the computer at a later time. This lesson aligned almost perfectly to the objectives and standards that I had put in place. As previously mentioned, there were some modifications that were made to this lesson. Since I had problems with getting the smartboard to work at the beginning of the lesson, I cut myself short with the teaching portion of the lesson because I thought I had less time. This created a problem when my students were done with their artifacts which concluded the original lesson 15 minutes early. I had to come up with something else for the students to do. The students were given the task of measuring the area of real life objects (such as, the desks, the floor, the bulletin board outside) in which I assessed their ability to transfer the content from one context to another. The last modification made to this lesson was that instead of writing the calculations on to Pixie alongside their artifacts the students had to write it on a separate sheet of paper because Pixie won't let you write onto a math graph paper slide. Once I got to see the student's work, I realized that they could not complete the section of the assessment that asked them to write a multiplication fact so they were given the option to choose their own equation for how to calculate the total area. The last modification to the original lesson was that we decided to use Pixie instead of Kidspiration for the artifact because it was a software that we had used during the whole group lesson and the kids were more comfortable with it. 

Mechanics
     The technologies that I used during this lesson are the smartboard, Pixie, and personal computers. All of these technologies were used by both the teacher and the students in an engaging manner. The students and I took turns interacting with the smartboard and Pixie. The students were then asked to use their personal computers to create their artifact on Pixie to complete their independent projects. My lesson was too short because I rushed through the teaching in order to allow for enough time to complete the student's independent projects. Another reason that my lesson was short was because I underestimated the amount of time that we had left to get through the lesson after having problems with the smartboard.        

Assessment of Learning
     The following are examples of my students work for the final artifact. 

     Both of the students did very well on their artifacts. Caleigh was able to earn all of the points and master the objective and standards within her first try. The only thing that she failed to do is put the addition sign on her problem before adding the numbers down. Lauren had problems with adding her numbers together which threw off her answer by 10. She also forgot to put the addition sign on the problem and omitted to rechecking her work after she had completed the assignment. Both of my students were successful in achieving the expectations set by the objective and standards. I think that overall I was successful in teaching this lesson. The feedback that I received was excellent. The only thing that they suggested that I work on is time management. My peers would have liked to have seen me teach more on area before letting them work on their individual projects. Outside of these comments, I feel like I did really well on supporting their individual needs within this lesson. I hope to do better on my next lesson. 

Materials For Area Lesson

• Smartboard
• Kidspiration
• My example

• Individual Computers with Kidspiration on them 
• BBLearn Assessment Folder 

Assessing Knowledge Of Area

Procedure:

Informal Assessment:
During the whole group mini-lesson I will be assessing the students understanding of area through observations. I will call each student up to the smartboard to work on a problem which will help to determine how much help that particular individual will need in completing the final activity. When the students go back to their seats to start their independent work I will be walking around to observe their progress and assist where needed.

Formal Assessment:
The artifact from the "Name Activity" at the end of the lesson will be collected and assessed to determine the students who are ready to move on to another topic and those that need more support on the current one. The artifact that will be graded will be completed using the software Kidspiration. Students will create a word (preferably their name) using unit squares on the digital graph paper. Once the word has been created, the students will count each unit square to determine how much area the word in total takes up. Students can do this by adding all of the areas together or they can complete this through counting continuously until the end of the word. The students will then write out the area in terms of a simple multiplication equation and then write the answer following the equal sign. The following checklist is how each student's artifact will be graded and assessed for understanding.

Instruments: 

Checklist (25 points; 5 points for each)

• Name 
• Student designed a word on Kidspiration
• Student wrote down the two numbers that they used in an equation
• Student solved the equation
• The answer of the equation adds up to the number of square units within the design

Reflect on:
The formal assessment is designed to determine how well the students understand area and how to calculate it by adding up unit squares which directly aligns with both the objective and standard for this grade level. The assessment demonstrates that the students have been successful in learning the content because it asks students to transfer the knowledge from the lesson on how to calculate the area of a familiar shape to using it on a creative shape. As mentioned before the students are engaged in higher order thinking skills because of the ability to transfer these new skills as well as their ability to think about how to solve the area of a shape that they have creatively produced. This assessment demonstrates that individual needs were met because each student is allowed to either their name or a word (for an ELL student or a student with a cognitive ability). The final assessment is individualized which will help make sure that every student is getting the support, without compromising high expectations, that they need to succeed. 

Implementation Of My Lesson

Procedure: 

1. Students will come in and sit down around the smart board where the teacher will be standing to direct the students to the correct place for the lesson.
2. The teacher will begin the lesson by reviewing the students' understanding of the previous lesson on perimeter to make sure that the class is ready for the next step. 
3. Reviewing starts by asking the students to discuss in pairs what perimeter means. Then the class will come back together to review how to solve for perimeter up on the board. This is how the teacher will assess the students understanding. 
4. If the class is ready to move ahead to the lesson on area then the teacher will begin to instruct lesson. If the class is not ready to move ahead to the lesson then another math period will be dedicated to helping students master the concept of perimeter enough to understand why area is important for them to learn. 
5. The teacher will have Kidspiration open on the smartboard prior to the lesson. While the students are finishing up their discussions about what they had previously learned about perimeter, the teacher will walk around doing informal assessments through observation.
6. The teacher will bring all of the children back to focusing on the smartboard and then begin to explain what an area of a shape means, why it is important to know and how the students can calculate it using simple counting of unit squares. 
7. The teacher will go through slide one of the Kidspiration lesson plan with the class. On this slide are three examples of rectangles and squares that have had the area counted out for us. The area was written in a multiplication equation but the teacher will guide the students into counting out each block to show how to numbers in the equation were found. 
8. The teacher will move to the next slide and give the students a chance to come up to the smartboard to practice solving for area based off of the word problems provided at the top of the slide. Since there are approximately three slides six students could have a turn unless the teacher creates more slides to practice on. 
9. The teacher will assess student knowledge through the observations made during the guided practice to judge which students are ready to move onto the final artifact. 
10. If the students are ready to move on to calculating the area by counting unit squares in unusual shapes then the teacher will move on to providing an example of the next step.
11. The teacher will show the students how to locate a blank page of graph paper that they will use for the activity. 
12. Once the students have located the graph paper the teacher will show an example of their name already drawn onto the graph paper located on Kidspiration on the smartboard.
13. The class as a whole will figure out how to calculate the area and come to a total area of the entire name. 
14. Then the class will break apart individually to design their own name on Kidspiration. (The length of some student's names might cause a problem due to lack of space, so if this becomes a problem for students have them design a nickname instead). Students will create their names in unit squares before calculating the total area of the name which they will write on the side.
15. Once the time of the lesson is completed the students will be instructed to save their work as a pdf file and email it to the teacher as their final artifact that will be used in assessing the students' understanding of area. (In our class, the students will submit their pdf files to the class discussion board on BBLearn for review by the teacher at a later time). 

Technology Integration:

The students and the teacher will be interacting with technology in multiple ways throughout the length of the lesson. The teacher will start off the lesson by using the smartboard to give a brief introduction and explanation of the topic (in this case, area). Then the teacher will allow for the students to come up to the smartboard to practice what was taught. All of this will take place before the students are instructed back to their seats to use the computer that is in front of them to design their own artifact based off of their understanding of area.

Differentiated Instruction: Describe how you will differentiate the instruction for each of the following:

• Cognitive delay- If a student with a cognitive delay was present at this lesson I would accommodate accordingly. I would present the lesson in a way that uses that student's strengths. The lesson would be at a pace that allows for the interest of all students but leaves enough space open for longer processing to happen. I would warn the student prior to asking them to answer a question about the lesson and I would allow for more wait time when working with them through examples as well as their final artifact. 
• Gifted- If a student in my class is gifted then they will be given more challenging problems to do during the whole group instruction. I would also ask them if they would be willing to attempt writing their first and last name before calculating the area. I would make sure that they stay interested in the lesson by providing them with a challenge that has something to do with the topic that the class is learning.
• ELL- If I have an ELL student in my class then I will make accommodations to the lesson. I will make sure to provide the lesson content in terms that the student is familiar with and supply them with multiple ways of representing the material being presented. When it comes to the name artifact that I will be assessing I may ask the student to do a word or a song that they love in their native language rather than in English. This will allow the student to complete the same work but in a language that they understand. 

Reflect on:

I am using the instructional methods that I have described above because they will meet the needs of all of my students. The technology will allow the students to produce the final artifact in a way that is most appropriate for the child individually. Technology also helps to create a universally designed lesson that accommodates for a multitude of disabilities and levels. Best practice is about teaching children where they are at and supporting them until they achieve success. With this lesson I can differentiate it based off of the various academic levels that my students are at by making the final artifact easier or more challenging. I am engaging students in creative and higher order thinking by using unusual shapes (like their individual names) to gain practice with the concept of calculating area. The students in my lesson do not stop calculating area with the shapes that are most common. I push my students to thinking creatively about what other shapes could be used to calculate area. Kidspiration is a software that allows for exploration of learning in an age appropriate environment. By using Kidspiration, I am allowing my students to take learning into their own hands through exploration. I will also be using a smartboard. By allowing the students to interact with this technology the children are getting practice through a more hands-on learning approach because they are being forced in to being engaged in the lesson rather than sitting there absorbing the content. 

Lesson Plan Overview: What Is The Total Area Of My Name?

Grade Level: Third

Subject(s): Math and language

Topic of Study: Area

Time Allotment: 30 minutes

Standards: 3.MD.6. Measure areas by counting unit squares (square cm, square m, square in, square ft., and improvised units).

Objectives: Students will be able to use basic counting of unit squares to calculate the area of various objects. 

Reflection: 
Assessing Prior Knowledge 

• What do the students need to know prior to the lesson?
  Students will need to know what perimeter is and how to calculate perimeter prior to this lesson about area. Students will have to have a basic understanding of why perimeter is important as well as the knowledge about shapes. They will need to have an understanding of what shapes are, what they look like and how they are represented in the real world. The students will need to know how to do spell their names for the final artifact. 
• How will prior knowledge and experience be assessed?
  The student's prior knowledge will be assessed through review and observations. The lesson will start off with a brief review and discussion about what perimeter is and what we can use to calculate the perimeter of familiar shapes. 
• How will you use this information in the planning process?

  This information will let me know how well the students understand the concept of perimeter. Based on the information that is gathered at this part in the lesson, I will decide whether the students have mastered perimeter enough to move on to a lesson about area. If the students show enough understanding then the lesson can move on as planned. However, if the students do not show enough mastery and understanding then the lesson on area will have to be pushed back until I feel like the students can answer questions about perimeter with accuracy. 

Planning Instruction: 

• Why should the content of this lesson be taught at this grade level?
  The content of area and perimeter should be taught at this grade level, because students at this age are beginning to build on knowledge that they have mastered. Prior to this lesson, students will have mastered math in forms of addition, subtraction, multiplication and simple division facts. Area and perimeter are focused on the mathematical operations like addition and multiplication (repeated addition). 
• How do the objectives that you have for the lesson align with the standards?
  The objective that I have for the students is a broad generalization of what the standard asks the students to be able to do by the end of third grade. By end of this lesson students should have an understanding of how to use unit squares (which can be found on graph paper) to calculate the area of usual and unusual shapes.
• When will the lesson be taught in the course of the school year? Why?

          This lesson will be taught towards the beginning of the second half of the school year following the end           of winter break. The reason that I have chosen to teach this lesson at this time in the school year is                 because the first two quarters of the new school year the third graders will be revisiting old concepts             to make sure that such concepts like addition, subtraction and multiplication have been covered to a               level of student mastery.