Context

The "Lesson Plans" and "Case Study" assignment were both created for Math 4030: Teaching Mathematics in the Elementary School during the Fall 2007 semester as a Block II requirement. It was created under the advisement of Dr. Arthur Quickenton.

All three Lesson Plans were taught at Mountain View Elementary in Mrs. Jessica Baker's Second Grade Classroom during my Block II Internship.

The Case Study assignment was created with the help of a student, McKenzie* at Mountain View Elementary in Mrs. Jessica Baker's Second Grade Classroom during my Block II Internship.

Impact on Student Learning

I have created the “Lesson Plans” assignment to allow students to learn about fractions. I have created this assignment to allow students to learn about fractions in a way they'd understand. The three lessons included a central theme focusing on fractions and also, included a variety of instructional strategies so that students would learn what a fraction was. Students were given multiple examples of what fractions were, based on movable manipulatives such as apples, cereal and m&m's candies. 

The Lesson Plans assignment was created to allow students to engage them in learning fractions. Students were engaged through the use of fractions and were asked to focus their attention on Mathematics Competency Goal 1 (The learner will read, write, model and compute with whole numbers through 999). Students explored models of fractions by learning part-whole relationships, and created problems including grouping and addition of halves, thirds, and forths (Objectives 1.02, 1.03). During the third lesson, students reviewed what they'd learned throughout mathematics lessons; and were asked to play Math Jeopardy.

I created the Math Jeopardy game; so that I may further use the game within my future classroom.

The "Case Study Assignment" was created over the entirety of the semester. I observed a student during mathematics lessons, and wrote a case study on this child. I have changed the name of the student to protect her identity. I have named the child, "McKenzie". After I observed the student during the Mathematics Lesson, I interviewed McKenzie, and wrote a report to analyze her mathematical performance within the classroom.

Alignment

This activity met the following North Carolina Standards for Elementary School Teachers:

NCDPI Standard 2, Indicator 1 was met through the teacher's knowledge of numberation. The teacher explained and illustrated to her students the use of fractions using models and diagrams. The teacher explained fractions using the basic integers, and the proporations of one part to a whole.

NCDPI Standard 2, Indicator 2 was met through the teacher's knowledge of measurement. The teacher explained to students' that fractions could also be seen in cooking by measuring one-fourth or one-half of a cup. The teacher also modeled the appropriate measurement systems by preparing a Math Jeopardy game using Microsoft Power Point.

NCDPI Standard 2, Indicator 3 was met through the teacher's previous knowledge of patterns, relationships, symbols and models. The teacher used each to show the relationship of a part to a whole, and the fraction bar symbol. The teacher taught two of the lessons with models focusing on fractions.

NCDPI Standard 7, Indicator 1 was met through aligning the lessons through the North Carolina Standard Course of Study goals and objectives.

NCDPI Standard 7, Indicator 2 was met through integrating mathematics, art, and language arts into the lesson plans. Students created their own fractions, colored a worksheet on fractions, and wrote their own word problems with fractions.

NCDPI Standard 7, Indicator 3 was met through the teacher promoting new learning by using the student's prior knowledge of fractions to reintroduce the topic. The teacher used the schools grant for Fresh Fruits and Vegetables and focused the stduents' attention on foods they liked to show fractions, such as a slice of pizza or a half of an apple.

NCDPI Standard 7, Indicator 4 was met by implementing a variety of teaching and communication strategies for instruction such as worksheets, guided practice, models and demonstrations, and games on the computer.

NCDPI Standard 9, Indicator 1 was met by allowing students to solve their own fraction word problems, and allowing students to build new mathematical knowledge about fractions by checking for understanding with problems on the board.

NCDPI Standard 9, Indicator 3 was met by developing instruction in communication by allowing students to communicate with one another about what they did not understand. The teacher implemented the rule, "Ask Three Before Me" and also had students working in teams for Math Jeopardy.

NCDPI Standard 9, Indicator 4 was met by interconnecting mathematical concepts through Math Jeopardy and the lessons on fractions. Students learned that every math concept builds on another mathematical concept. Students were able to solve word problems using addition, subtraction, time, money, and fractions.