Math Lesson Rationale

Lesson Plan #1

Context:  This is a lesson that was developed for a 1st grade classroom at Glen Alpine Elementary.  Students have been learning to count by 2's so in my lesson plan they are learning to group by 2's.  They will first be looking at a picture of a child where parts of him have been deleted.  The worksheet is simply a blank face with only a torso.  After handing this worksheet out and asking students to review counting by two's then they will be asked what sorts of body parts they can come up with that come in two's. They will then be asked to draw in the missing body parts that come in pairs such as eyes, ears, eyebrows, lips, arms, hands, legs, feet, ect.  Students will then be given a pre-made ziplock bag full of geometric figures that have been sorted out into groups of two such as 2 triangles, 4 hexagons, 6 squares, 8 cubes, and 10 trapezoids.  The children will be asked to sort the figures into groups of two by shape so that they can count by two's to tell you how many they have been given of each figure.  Students will then answer various word problems about grouping two's which will be written on the overhead such as, "Katie has 5 camels.  If each camel has 2 humps, then how many humps do they have all together?"  and "Joey has 2 dogs.  If each dog has 2 eyes, then how many eyes do they have in all?"  They will need to show their work. 

Impact:  Teaching this lesson has definitely given me some insight into how this would go in my actual classroom.  Students definitely seemed to enjoy it, and it went very smoothly.  I want this lesson to give my students a fun way of learning to group two's, and in various different ways.  I have learned from this lesson that things dont always have to be as bland and as boring as they seem. This lesson gives students the chance to review counting by two's, works with grouping two's and also gives students the chance to work with geometric figures.

Alignments:

NCDPI Standard 2:  Elementary teachers have a broad knowledge and understanding of the major concepts in mathematics. 

NCDPI Standard 7: Elementary teachers use developmentally appropriate strategies to design and deliver instruction in all areas of the elementary curriculum.

NCDPI Standard 9:  Elementary teachers understand and use the processes of problem solving, reasoning and proof, communcation, connection and representation as a foundation for the teaching and learning of mathematics.

NCDPI Standard 15:  Elementary teachers encourage underrepresented groups to engage in the schooling process, especially math and science.

NCTM Standards:

This assignment will help you being to meet two fo the NCTM Process Standards:  Communication and Representation.