For my first math lesson, I taught students about equivalent fractions. In order to do so, I began the lesson by giving the small group of three students I was working with a “do now” that they were to complete on the carpet. After completing the “do now”, I reviewed what the group had worked on the day before. Their teacher had worked with students on fractions and using fraction bars. I then moved into creating equivalent fractions with pizza. I showed half a pizza and asked the three others to show another way to eat the pizza but still eat the same amount. Once the students began to recall equivalent fractions, I showed them an online interactive activity of a fraction number line that as you move the mouse over the fractions it shows the equivalent fractions. I explained that this was another resource to find equivalent fractions. After the introduction, I then had students work with brownies and cut them into equivalent fractions. One student would choose a fraction and cut the brownie, the next students would use another brownie and cut it to show an equivalent fraction to the original, and the last student would write on the white board the frame work used to show your thinking, this is what their teacher refers to as “know it, show it, prove it”. The “prove it” part was when the use of multiplication was emphasized. After working with the brownies for a while, we then added to their interactive notebooks. The students created a flip book showing the “know it, show it, prove it” method. They then were given fractions on flaps and they had to find the equivalent fraction and glue it under the flap. If they did not finish, it became their homework.
Math takes place after lunch from about 1:30-2:30. I am in a resource room so there are two different small groups. One group is third graders who work with another teacher, and the other group is fourth graders who work with their teacher and I. The purpose of this lesson was to review equivalent fractions and help students understand equivalent fractions through multiplication. The objective of the lesson was, given brownies, students will be able to partition two brownies two separate ways and show that they are equivalent through multiplication. The students did very well and were able to meet the goals of the lesson. Each of the three students was able to choose a fraction, create an equivalent fraction using the brownies, and “prove it” through multiplication on the white board. I gave each student an opportunity to demonstrate finding the equivalent fraction through multiplication in order to assess if they understood the concept. All three of the students were successful with each part of the lesson because they were able to “know it, show it, and prove it” and were able to communicate their findings to their peers and me. Working in a small group allowed me to check in on each student and track their progress throughout the lesson. The lesson succeeded in allowing students to investigate and create their own understanding of equivalent fractions by working with the brownies. It also was successful because students saw how using multiplication is useful when finding equivalent fractions and they were able to see that they can multiply any number, as long as it is the same number on both the top and the bottom, and get an equivalent fraction. The lesson did not fully succeed in students understanding that they can multiply any number and get an equivalent fraction. Students were stuck on multiplying simple numbers, such as single digit numbers, but did not fully understand that you can multiply any number. They also struggled with connecting this concept to division. They had trouble understanding that they could also divide to find an equivalent fraction. Although this was not a main goal of the lesson, it is still an important goal that I hoped the students would discover as they worked with the fractions. The students were engaged in the lesson because they were working with brownies. This was a delicious treat that they all enjoyed so they were very engaged in the lesson. The students participated in the lesson and were eager to perform. When I asked who wanted to go next they all eagerly volunteered. When one student was working with the brownies, the others were tuned in and listening as the student thought out loud. They all helped each other if one was having a hard time either cutting the brownie or showing the equivalent fraction. Although they were engaged for majority of the lesson, they did get off task at times because they were excited about the brownies and wanted to eat them. If I were teaching the next lesson, I would begin moving into comparing two fractions with different numerators and different denominators. I would guide students to discover that by finding equivalent fractions or multiplying to find a common denominator, comparing the fractions would be easier. This would rely on multiplying the numerator and denominator, as we did in this lesson, to show students the significance of the operation. After completing my lesson, I was able to sit down with their teacher and discuss how I did. We went over the lesson and the one thing I have to work on is wait time. After I ask a student a question, I need to allow students to think and give them more time to answer before asking another student for help or asking another question to guide them to the answer. This is something that I will work on in the future. Math requires students to create a lot of connections, which may take them more time. I want to work on allowing student to think and giving them more wait time to answer questions. As far as my lesson goes, I would probably do less of an introduction and allow students to work with the brownies longer. They really enjoyed this and learned a lot during this time. By reflecting on this lesson, I was able to see what worked and what did not work. I was able to see where I want to improve as an educator and see what my strengths are as a teacher. Reflecting allowed me to become a better teacher and learn how to improve in the future.
Math takes place after lunch from about 1:30-2:30. I am in a resource room so there are two different small groups. One group is third graders who work with another teacher, and the other group is fourth graders who work with their teacher and I. The purpose of this lesson was to review equivalent fractions and help students understand equivalent fractions through multiplication. The objective of the lesson was, given brownies, students will be able to partition two brownies two separate ways and show that they are equivalent through multiplication. The students did very well and were able to meet the goals of the lesson. Each of the three students was able to choose a fraction, create an equivalent fraction using the brownies, and “prove it” through multiplication on the white board. I gave each student an opportunity to demonstrate finding the equivalent fraction through multiplication in order to assess if they understood the concept. All three of the students were successful with each part of the lesson because they were able to “know it, show it, and prove it” and were able to communicate their findings to their peers and me. Working in a small group allowed me to check in on each student and track their progress throughout the lesson. The lesson succeeded in allowing students to investigate and create their own understanding of equivalent fractions by working with the brownies. It also was successful because students saw how using multiplication is useful when finding equivalent fractions and they were able to see that they can multiply any number, as long as it is the same number on both the top and the bottom, and get an equivalent fraction. The lesson did not fully succeed in students understanding that they can multiply any number and get an equivalent fraction. Students were stuck on multiplying simple numbers, such as single digit numbers, but did not fully understand that you can multiply any number. They also struggled with connecting this concept to division. They had trouble understanding that they could also divide to find an equivalent fraction. Although this was not a main goal of the lesson, it is still an important goal that I hoped the students would discover as they worked with the fractions. The students were engaged in the lesson because they were working with brownies. This was a delicious treat that they all enjoyed so they were very engaged in the lesson. The students participated in the lesson and were eager to perform. When I asked who wanted to go next they all eagerly volunteered. When one student was working with the brownies, the others were tuned in and listening as the student thought out loud. They all helped each other if one was having a hard time either cutting the brownie or showing the equivalent fraction. Although they were engaged for majority of the lesson, they did get off task at times because they were excited about the brownies and wanted to eat them. If I were teaching the next lesson, I would begin moving into comparing two fractions with different numerators and different denominators. I would guide students to discover that by finding equivalent fractions or multiplying to find a common denominator, comparing the fractions would be easier. This would rely on multiplying the numerator and denominator, as we did in this lesson, to show students the significance of the operation. After completing my lesson, I was able to sit down with their teacher and discuss how I did. We went over the lesson and the one thing I have to work on is wait time. After I ask a student a question, I need to allow students to think and give them more time to answer before asking another student for help or asking another question to guide them to the answer. This is something that I will work on in the future. Math requires students to create a lot of connections, which may take them more time. I want to work on allowing student to think and giving them more wait time to answer questions. As far as my lesson goes, I would probably do less of an introduction and allow students to work with the brownies longer. They really enjoyed this and learned a lot during this time. By reflecting on this lesson, I was able to see what worked and what did not work. I was able to see where I want to improve as an educator and see what my strengths are as a teacher. Reflecting allowed me to become a better teacher and learn how to improve in the future.