Monday, March 29, 2010
Lesson Plan - Shopping for Rods
Anticipatory Set: Review homework and complete Do Now
Expectations: ~compute mentally~ work with money concepts~ use ratio and proportion~ discover relationships among Cuisenaire Rods
Procedure: Revisit the procedure for determining the value of the pattern blocks based on their fractional parts of the whole hexagon to set the stage for this activity.Tell students to imagine that the Cuisenaire Rods are for sale and that the white rod costs $1.00. Invite volunteers to explain why the red rod should cost $2.00. Once it is established that the red should cost twice as much as the white because it is twice as long, have children figure out the cost of a rod of each of the other colors. Show children that the cost of some rods can be determined in more than one way. Point out that the cost of the brown rod, $8.00, can be found by counting by ones, by twos, or by fours.
How many Cuisenaire Rods could you “buy” with $10.00?
• Work with a group. Pretend that your group has $10.00. You must spend it all to “buy” Cuisenaire Rods.
• To find the price of a particular rod, one of you spins a spinner.
• Use the results of the spin to find the prices of other rods. For example, if you spin “1 white rod costs $2.00,” a light green rod will cost $6.00 because it is 3 times longer than the white rod.
• Use the prices of the rods for your spin to answer these questions: What is the least number of rods you could buy for $10.00? What is the greatest number of rods you could buy for $10.00? What number of rods between the least and greatest numbers could you buy for $10.00?
• Take turns spinning until each member of the group has had a turn with a different starting price. For each turn, find the price of the rods and answer the questions above.
• Record your answers and any patterns you notice.
Writing and DrawingAsk children to pretend that they work for the company that makes Cuisenaire Rods. Have them design an advertisement that includes a price list for the rods based on the fact that one yellow rod costs $0.75.
Extending the Activity Have children create a picture or a design with Cuisenaire Rods and then spin the spinner to figure out the “cost” of their picture/design.
Lesson Plan - Color Tiles
Jennifer Pisano - Lesson Plans for Mon, 3/29/2010
Anticipatory Set:Complete/Review Do Now and homework
Learning Expectations: -use logical reasoning-develop a design that satisfies specific conditions-discover a new solution based on an old one
Activities:* Can you follow a set of rules to form a square arrangement of Color Tiles?
Work with a partner. Use 16 Color Tiles to form a square according to these rules:
* The square must have 4 of each color of tile.* No 2 tiles of the same color may touch along a side.* No 2 tiles of the same color may touch at a corner.* The order of the colors in each row must differ from the order in every other row.
• Record your square. Think about how you could rearrange the tiles to form a different solution. Look for other solutions. If you find any, record them, too. Be ready to explain the decisions you made.
** What strategies did you use to arrange your tiles?
Did you ever get “stuck”? If so, how did you get “unstuck”?
How could you be sure that your design followed all three rules?
Do you see any patterns in your design? Describe them.
Which other squares are exactly like yours? Which are different? How are they different?
Assessments:teacher observations, squares, student-centered discussion
Materials:communicators, color tilesTech Infusion:Promethean board - flipchart
Accomodations/Modifications:* teacher designed groups* differentiated assignments/activities (centers to reach all levels) * extended time-classwork/assessments(when needed)* restructured homework assignments for both above level and below level students* use of manipulatives/graphic organizers* extension activities/alternative assignments* modified assessments - M/C, SCR, ECR, O-E* encouraging independence/student initiative* includes a rich variety of resources, media ideas, methods and tasks
· Homework: Math – open ended response question
· Standards: MA.4.4.2.4 A.2.c, MA.4.4.2.4 A.5, MA.4.4.5 C.1
Sunday, March 28, 2010
Virtual Manipulatives #8 - Mastermind
This is a challenging game that students at all different levels can play since you can switch the number of colors used from 2 colors to 6 colors.
Monday, March 22, 2010
Lesson Plan - Square Numbers - Grades 3-4
Math
Anticipatory Set:
Complete/Review Do Now and homework
Learning Expectations:
* learn the characteristics of square and triangular numbers
* recognize patterns *make predictions based on patterns
Activities:
*show a square with one Pattern Block - use orange blocks or color tiles to make the next bigger square. Set up a table and have record what they have done. Now show the green triangle and model how to build the next bigger triangle with green blocks. Point out that in building bigger triangles, one new row is added to a side of the previous triangle, leaving spaces between blocks.
~What patterns can you find in the numbers of Pattern Blocks that can be used to make squares and triangles?• Using the orange blocks, work with your partner to build increasingly larger squares.• Record, each time, both the number of blocks you added to build the next bigger square, and the total number of blocks in the new square.• Record the numbers through the eighth square, but build squares only until you discover the pattern that will give you all the numbers you need.• Now use the green blocks to build increasingly bigger triangles. Build new triangles by adding blocks to one side of the previous triangle. All blocks should be positioned the same way, and there should be spaces between all the blocks• Record, each time, through the eighth triangle, but build only until you discover the pattern.• Be ready to discuss the patterns your tables reveal.
Assessments:
* teacher observations, student-centered discussion, patterns
Materials:
* pattern blocks, grid paper, color tiles
Tech Infusion:
Promethean board - flipchart, laptops, activotes for follow-up
Accomodations/Modifications:
* teacher designed groups
* differentiated assignments/activities (centers to reach all levels)
* use of manipulatives/graphic organizers
* extension activities/alternative assignments
* seating near positive role model
* encouraging independence/student initiative
• Homework: Math - write about the patterns that were discovered in the blocks
• Standards: MA.4.4.2.4 A.5, MA.4.4.3.4 A.1.a, MA.4.4.3.4 A.1.c
Sample Table for square - make a similar table for triangle numbers
Figure # 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
# blocks 1 4 9 16
# you added 0 3 5 7
Virtual Manipulative # 7 - Fractions - Parts of a Whole
Virtual Manipulatives #6 - Fractions - Naming
Pentominoes
Problem Solving with Pentominoes
Function Machine
Grades 3-4
Grades 5-6
Enjoy!
Monday, March 8, 2010
Virtual Manipulatives 5 - Spinner
Color Tiles Lesson Plan 2 - Be a Logician!
Be a Logician! Color Tiles Grades 3-4
Anticipatory Set: How could you guess the order of objects if you couldn't see them?
Learning Expectations:
*formulate hypotheses in order to satisfy conditions
*develop deductive reasoning skills
Activities:
* Be a logician! Use color tiles to play a game in which students apply logical thinking in order to guess the sequence of colors of hidden tiles. Make a row of three Color Tiles in this order, from left to right, and keep it hidden. Tell children that you have hidden a row of three tiles, each of a different color. Challenge children to guess the colors of the tiles and their order—first, second, and third. Explain that after each guess you will write a clue on the chalkboard. For each color guessed correctly, you will draw a circle. For each position guessed correctly, you will draw a dot inside the circle. Call for one volunteer’s guess, record it on the flipchart. Draw the appropriate clues, “What do we know from this?" Keep on calling for guesses and recording clues until the correct color and order of the tiles have been guessed.
* Play Be a Logician! Here are the rules.
1. This is a game for 4 or more players. The object is to guess the colors of 3 Color Tiles and their order, from left to right.
2. Players decide who will be the 2 Leaders and who will be the 2 Logicians.
3. The Leaders build a row of 3 Color Tiles, each tile a different color. They keep the tiles hidden from the Logicians. (rotate groups to use the laptops to play the game) NLVM – Color Tiles
4. The Logicians make guesses by naming 3 colors of tiles in order.
5. After each guess, the Leaders give a clue about how close the guess was. The clue must have 2 parts:
~ It must tell how many colors in the guess are correct.
~ It must tell how many color tiles in the guess are in the correct position.
For example, suppose the secret row of tiles was blue-green-yellow and the Logicians guessed red-green-blue. The Leaders would give this clue: “Two of the colors are correct, and 1 tile is in the correct position.”
6. The Logicians record each guess and clue.
7. The game ends when Logicians guess the correct colors and order.
• Play several games of Be a Logician! Make sure that everyone in the group has a chance to be a Leader and a Logician.
• Be ready to talk about good guesses and bad guesses.
Discussion questions - What was the hardest part of playing this game? What was the easiest? Which clue(s) helped you to decide which three colors were used? Which clue(s) helped you to decide the positions for the three colors?
Extending the Activity
1. Ask children to list all possible solutions (permutations of four colors) in a game of Be a Logician! in which the four colors of tiles are used in four positions.
2. Have children play Be a Logician! again, this time with three Color Tiles, two of one color and one of another color.
Assessments: teacher observations, game play and follow up discussion
Materials: communicators, color tiles, laptops\
Tech Infusion: Promethean board – flipchart, laptops – Virtual Manipulatives website – Color Tiles gr. 3-5
Accomodations/Modifications:
* teacher designed groups
* differentiated assignments/activities (centers to reach all levels)
* extended time-classwork/assessments(when needed)
* restructured homework assignments for both above level and below level students
* use of manipulatives/graphic organizers
* extension activities/alternative assignments
* encouraging independence/student initiative
* includes a rich variety of resources, media ideas, methods and tasks
* proximity to teacher
* personalized monitoring tools (checklists, goal sheets, thumbs up/down level understanding monitors)
Homework: short-constructed response review
Standards: MA.4.4.5 A.1, MA.4.4.5 A.2.b, MA.4.4.5 A.5, MA.4.4.5 B.1.b, MA.4.4.5 B.2, MA.4.4.5 B.3, MA.4.4.5 D.2, MA.4.4.5 D.3, MA.4.4.5 D.4, MA.4.4.5 F.1