Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Grade:
First grade
What:
In this lesson, students will learn to apply their additive reasoning to an unfamiliar problem
structure--an equal grouping multiplication problem. The first grade at Penn Alexander uses the
Investigations curriculum, which has recently introduced number stories in the form of
contextualized addition problems. The primary focus of these number stories has been addition
within 20. In our placements, we have noticed that some of the students in our class are doing
this fluently and utilizing advanced additive strategies such as expanded algorithms. The goal of
this lesson is to challenge these students to expand the use of these additive strategies to
multiplicative situations. The task presented during this lesson will be a contextualization of 4 x
11 = 44. Although our students have not yet worked with problems involving more than two
addends, we believe that they will recognize the problem situation as repeated addition and apply
strategies that fall within the early additive and additive strategy portions of the OGAP
Multiplicative Reasoning Framework. Furthermore, we are interested to see if students will use
the fact that 11 is one more than 10 to skip count 10, 20, 30 40 and then add the four leftover 1s
to get 44.
In addition to the development of early multiplicative reasoning strategies, our secondary goal
for this lesson involves the associated mathematical practices, which are twofold. First, students
will choose, among a variety of tools, the one that most appropriately represents their thinking.
Second, because there will be multiple ways students may go about solving this problem, we
want students to participate in a reflective discussion of the various ways that they and their
peers approached the problem. This second goal involves both the ability to articulate their own
thought process and the practice of listening to and reflecting on alternative strategies.
How:
The goals of this lesson will be accomplished through the three-phase lesson format: launch,
work and explore, debrief and wrap up. Upon being presented with the mathematical task,
students will be given ample time to work through the problem independently with their choice
of tools. During this time, we will closely observe the strategies students in our respective small
groups are using, asking probing questions and providing support as needed. Our hope is that by
providing a variety of different tools, students will develop multiple strategies for solving the
problem. In the discussion to follow, we will act as facilitators, helping students to articulate how
they thought about the problem and how they approached solving the problem. To further
evaluate how the whole group debrief and discussion informed students approaches to solving
equal grouping problems, we would conclude the lesson with one of two exit slips, depending
on which we feel is most appropriate given the strategies and discourse we observe taking place
throughout the lesson. The first option will ask students to show how one of their peers solved
the problem in a different way. This would emphasize the importance of listening to and
attempting to understand the approaches taken by their peers. Alternatively, the second exit slip
option will ask students to show how they would solve the problem if a 5th group was added to
the initial 4 groups of 11. This exit slip would further demonstrate to us the ways that students
are thinking about equal groups, and possibly demonstrate a students ability to apply a more
efficient strategy used by one of their peers, which would provide insight into the effectiveness
of the debrief portion of the lesson.
Why:
The task for this lesson was chosen specifically as a means of challenging students to apply their
additive reasoning skills to a multiplicative situation. The students we will be including in these
groups are students whom we have consistently observed to use advanced addition strategies (i.e.
partial-sums algorithms, number decomposition, skip counting) to solve number stories in class.
Our hope is that by presenting them with an unfamiliar problem format, they will extend their
additive reasoning strategies to invent solutions to an equal groups multiplication problem.
Although addition involving more than two two-digit numbers is not included in the PA
Common Core State Standards until grade 2 (2.NBT.6), we believe that the students selected for
this small group lesson are capable of developing solutions to this problem. Our goal is to
present them with a task where the solution approach is not immediately evident, thereby forcing
them to think creatively and invent strategies to solve the problem. Furthermore, their ability to
solve this problem will demonstrate mastery of several grade 1 Common Core Standards,
outlined in the standards section below.
While our chosen task falls beyond the scope of the Common Core Standards for grade 1, it is
supported by a number of grade 1 NCTM Content and Process Standards, identified in our lesson
plan below. The applicable NCTM standards include multiple aspects of the task, such as the
ability to understand the problem as repeated addition, visually and numerically represent their
thinking and choose appropriate tools to model the situation.
Finally, the task encompasses components of the grade 1 Investigations curriculum used by Penn
Alexander, including composing numbers with three addends and the ability to name and
compare different strategies. The latter of which will be emphasized directly during the
debriefing at the end of the lesson.
Task: Solve a contextualized multiplication problem using existing additive strategies. Based on
our knowledge of our students, this task will challenge them to invent solutions to an unfamiliar
type of problem, but will remain accessible because they can use strategies that they already
know.
Discourse: The debriefing will encourage student-to-student talk, with the student teacher acting
merely as a facilitator. The purpose of this discussion is for students to articulate and reflect on
their own problem solving approach, as well as listen to and understand the alternative strategies
used by their peers.
Tools: Students will be provided with a variety of appropriate and familiar tools to complete the
task. A component of our formative assessment for this task will be making note of the tools
students select and how they use them.
Norms: Explicit expectations at the beginning of the lesson will remind students that there are
multiple right and appropriate ways to approach the problem and that each student will be
responsible for engaging in discussion around these various strategies.
Standards
1.OA.1 Represent and solve problems involving addition and subtraction.
Use addition and subtraction within 20 to solve word problems involving situations of adding to,
taking from, putting together, taking apart, and comparing, with unknowns in all positions, e.g.,
by using objects, drawings, and equations with a symbol for the unknown number to represent
the problem.
1.OA.2 Represent and solve problems involving addition and subtraction.
Solve word problems that call for addition of three whole numbers whose sum is less than or
equal to 20, e.g., by using objects, drawings, and equations with a symbol for the unknown
number to represent the problem.
1.NBT.4 Use place value understanding and properties of operations to add and subtract
Add within 100, including adding a two-digit number and a one-digit number, and adding a twodigit number and a multiple of 10, using concrete models or drawings and strategies based on
place value, properties of operations, and/or the relationship between addition and subtraction;
relate the strategy to a written method and explain the reasoning used. Understand that in adding
two-digit numbers, one adds tens and tens, ones and ones; and sometimes it is necessary to
compose a ten.
Overall, I dont anticipate management concerns. Students were chosen because they
demonstrated advanced math knowledge. The material should be at the appropriate level for all
students. Furthermore, behavior expectations and norms will be explicitly established at the
beginning of the lesson. All directions will be given before materials are handed out.
Plan
Task
Ms. Jurewicz and Ms. Varney want to plant flowers in their garden. They bought 4 packets of
seeds. Each packet has 11 seeds in it. How many seeds are Ms. Jurewicz and Ms. Varney
planting?
Launch (10 min)
Ill begin the lesson by telling the group that I need help with my garden. Ill tell them I am
planting some seeds in my garden, and I need to know how much space to leave. Id tell them to
listen closely to the problem to see if they could help me. I will hand out the worksheets and read
it through one time. Ill then tell them I am going to let them choose some tools to figure it out. I
will show them all of their options to make sure they understood what each of them is. Then Ill
ask them to return to the question, putting a finger by the first word. I will read it again, and then
ask them to repeat some information like how many packets of seeds I bought, and how many
seeds are in each packet. Ill then call on someone to repeat the question that theyre trying to
solve. Ill tell them half of them are going to choose tools while the other half reads over the
question again and writes their name on the paper. After the first group gets their tools, theyll
switch. I will stress that theres no right way to solve the problem, and theres also not a tool
thats better than any other. Ill challenge them, if they see everyone else using one item, to try
another. I will then tell them that once everyone has their tools, theyre going to work
independently in a spot of their choice. I will tell them that they have 20 minutes to work and
then were going to come back together to explain what we did. Ill stress to them that its like a
number talk where the goal is to explain our thinking and listen to other peoples thinking. I will
ask a student to repeat back what theyre doing first, next, etc. Then, Ill hand out pencils and ask
if anyone has questions. Ill call the first group of students to choose materials.
Work and Explore (20 min)
Students will gather the materials that they need to explore the word problem. Then, theyll have
the opportunity to spread out throughout the room. Students will work independently, but I will
move throughout the room to ascertain how students are progressing. If I notice multiple students
using the same strategies, I might suggest they work together. Similarly, if I see a student
struggling I may identify another student in the group who could help them. As I walk around to
individuals, Ill ask questions to clarify their thinking. If a student is direct modeling using
manipulatives, I would ask them how best to represent that on paper. If a student were
representing the word problem by drawing out each item, I would ask how someone looking at
the paper would immediately know there were 11 items in each group. I would also ask students
if they had a strategy for counting the items: whether they counted by 1s, skip counted, or made
tens and then added the additional ones. If a student were using a 100s chart, I would ask them to
demonstrate how they were counting to see if they were moving left to right, counting by 1s or
moving up to down to count by 10s and then moving right one more. I would ask open ended
questions that would encourage students to think deeply, without telling them how to approach
the problem.
The problem is easily adjusted for students who need additional support or need more of
a challenge (see accommodations).
Debrief (15 min)
For each portion of the lesson, specify focus questions that you plan to ask or problems that you
will pose that will help you structure the activity. This is particularly important for
sharing/discussion times. It is not enough to indicate that you will bring the class together for a
discussion. You need to specify how you will shape the discussion and what kinds of things you
will be listening for and attending to during it.
problem, and to do that, they need to be working on their own. Possibly, allow students to
work with partners if someone is struggling, multiple students are using the same strategy
and tools, etc.
Scenario 4: The problem is too difficult for multiple students and theyre doing
nothing/talking to each other/coloring
R: Sit with the group of struggling kids and ask them to solve an easier problem (e.g., two
seeds per packet, see accommodations)
b) Response to content of the lesson
Scenario 1: Student is not solving the correct problem (e.g., thinks its a different number
of seed packets or a different number of seeds in each packet
R: Try to point out something hes doing right (e.g., that seems like a useful strategy),
re-read the question to him and help him see the error
S2: Student has no idea how to approach the problem
R: Try to break it down into smaller steps (e.g., Could you show me how many seeds are
in one packet of seeds?) or ask another student to explain how he began
My primary response to the students work will be to ask them questions
Question: How did you find the total number of seeds?
Answer: Used (cubes, bears, etc) to represent the seeds, drew out the seeds, repeated
addition
Q: How did you choose your tool?
A: Easily keep track of the number of seeds, used it before in class, etc.
Q: How did you count the items?
A1: Counted by 1s
Q: How did you keep track while counting?
A: Touched/moved the (cubes, bears, drawing etc), counted on fingers, used 100s chart
A2: Counted by (2s, 5s, 10s)
Q1: How did you know how many additional spaces to move?
A: Knew that (11 was 1 more than 10, so counted 10 and added one more)
Q2: How did you keep track?
A: Touched/moved the groups of (cubes, bears, drawing etc), counted on fingers, used
100s chart
Q: Can you think of another way to count them?
A: (2s, 5s, 10s)
Q: How did you represent the items on your paper?
A: Drew (circles, squares, etc.) to show each seed, wrote out the number sentence
Q: How would someone be able to look at your paper and know how many seeds were
in each packet and how many seeds there were altogether?
A: Labelled each seed, grouped them by (2s, 5s, 10s)
Q: Whats another way you could represent your solution?
A1: Group them by (2s, 10s, 5s)
A2: Group them by (any other amount)
Q: Is that the easiest way to group them? Are you able to count by (other quantity)
easily?
A3: (student doesnt know)
Q: How could you group the items in your picture so you can quickly count them?
A: Group them by (2s, 10s, 5s, etc)
Accommodations
a) Accommodations for students who may find the material too challenging
I would talk to individual students to see if anyone was finding the material too
challenging. If a student was stuck, I would first break the problem into sub-steps by asking
something like Could you show me with the cubes how many seeds are in one packet? If the
student needed further assistance, I would try to find another student in the group who would be
able to explain their thinking. If the problem is still too difficult for a student, I would ask him
how hed approach it if there were only 2 seeds in each packet. Using his strategy, I would try
larger numbers, and finally return to the original problem of 11 seeds.
b) Accommodations for students who may need greater challenge and/or finish early
If students finish the problem quickly, the first question I would ask is if they can find a
different tool or way to represent their strategy. For example, if a student used direct modeling, I
would ask if she could represent her thinking using a 100s chart or if a student drew out the
objects, I would ask if he could group them in another way. If the problem is not challenging
enough for a student, I would ask him what would happen if each of the seed packets had another
number of seeds (between 12-20 depending on how much challenge the student needed).
Name: _________________________________________________________________________
Ms. Jurewicz and Ms. Varney want to plant flowers in their garden.
They bought 4 packets of seeds.
Each packet has 11 seeds in it.
How many seeds are Ms. Jurewicz and Ms. Varney planting?
Show your work.
Name: _________________________________________________________________________
Exit slip 1:
Write an open number sentence to say how many seeds Ms. Jurewicz and
Ms. Varney would have if they bought another packet of seeds.
Name: _________________________________________________________________________
Exit slip 2:
Use pictures or words to explain a way that someone else solved the
problem that is different from the way you solved it.
Interprets
problem
correctly
Represents
problem
correctly
Strategy
Direct
model /
counting
Repeated
Addition
Skip
countin
g
Multiplication
fact or derived
fact
Notation
Other
Writes
number
sentence
correctly
Comment
s