Dakota State University

College of Education
OBSERVED LESSON #3

Name: Josie Parry

Grade Level: 4th Grade
School: Sioux Valley Elementary
Date: March 21, 2019
Time: 9:00-10:00

Reflection from prior lesson:

Students have just wrapped up chapter 8 of their math unit, which introduced the students to a
number of different concepts in regards to fractions. Students took a post-assessment yesterday
that assessed their understanding in regards to chapter 8 as a whole, and students are now
moving into chapter 9 of their math unit, which focuses more on operations with fractions.

Students did fairly well throughout chapter 8. There are a few concepts that were trickier than
others for students, such as turning a mixed number into an improper fraction and vice versa.
Some students still struggle with understanding the concept of a unit fraction and how they can
use their unit fractions to add up to a larger fraction or a mixed number.

Students were exposed to the process of adding like fractions at the end of chapter 8, as they
broke apart models into individual fractions and added those fractions to find their improper
fractions and mixed numbers. Because of the student understanding Mrs. Bezdichek and I have
observed over the course of chapter 8, I have decided to combine concepts from both lesson 1
and lesson 2 of chapter 9.

Lesson Goal(s) / Standards:

Math practice standards:
MATH.PRACTICE.MP1 Make sense of problems and persevere in solving them.

MATH.PRACTICE.MP2 Reason abstractly and quantitatively.

MATH.PRACTICE.MP4 Model with Mathematics.

MATH.PRACTICE.MP5 Use appropriate tools strategically.

MATH.PRACTICE.MP7 Look for and make use of structure.

MATH.PRACTICE.MP8 Look for and express regularity in repeated reasoning.

Math content Standards:

4.NF.3a Understand addition and subtraction of fractions as joining and separating parts referring
to the same whole.

4.NF.3b Decombose a fraction into a sum of fractions with the same denominator in more than
one way, recording each decomposition by an equation. Justify decompositions, e.g., by using a
visual fraction model.

Lesson Objectives:
Students will independently add like fractions that are listed on task cards around the room.

Students will independently explain the steps they take to add like fractions by completing an
EdPuzzle video.

Materials Needed:
Scrathpaper & pen
Whiteboard and whiteboard marker
SmartBoard projector
Student fraction tiles
Student workbooks
Adding Like Fractions Task Cards
Task Cards Answer Key
Student notebooks & pencils
EdPuzzle video: https://edpuzzle.com/assignments/5c9170913703bf4091615941/watch
Google Classroom
Student laptops

Contextual Factors/ Learner Characteristics:

Mrs. Bezdichek’s homeroom consists of 27 students, and they are seated in six rows of desks.
Six students are on an IEP, but they receive full instruction in the classroom with additional
support outside of the classroom. Two students are diagnosed with dyslexia, and three students
are diagnosed with ADHD and one student with ADD. Furthermore, one student has been
identified as having emotional disturbance (ED), as noted on his IEP. I will need to be aware of
all of these behaviors and identifications as I instruct and guide students through the lesson.

Mrs. Bezdichek’s homeroom has math instruction every day of the week for about 75 minutes in
the morning, right after AR read time. I will start the lesson by having students complete review
problems that will ultimately help refresh their memories for the standardized test coming up at
the end of the school year. This also serves as a great warm-up for student brains before going
right into the lesson.

This lesson will involve both direct instruction and student collaboration. There are some strong
personalities in the classroom that I will need to keep in mind when grouping the students to
ensure both academic and social success with the activity.

This will be the start of a new chapter for students in their math unit. I will need to make sure
that this lesson and the other beginning lessons of this chapter are solid so I know that students
have the foundational skills they need to build upon their knowledge throughout this chapter.

A. The Lesson (60 minutes)

1. Introduction: 10 minutes
Review of previous chapter (8 minutes):
Good morning, friends! We officially wrapped up chapter 8 by taking our math test yesterday,
and you all did a great job and were focused the entire time. I am SO proud of all the work you
put in to chapter 8. Fractions are not an easy concept to learn, and I will tell you that everything
you learned in chapter 8 will help you in chapter 9, as chapter 9 will be focusing on using
operations with our fractions.

Before we go diving in to chapter 9, let’s quick review a few of the important concepts from
chapter 8. Go ahead and take out your math notebooks, and I want you to jot down the problems
we are working on as a review this morning, so that way you have even more examples to draw
from if you need it later on! First and foremost, can anyone remind me and the rest of the class
what a unit fraction is? A fraction that has a numerator equal to 1. Exactly-- a unit fraction
ALWAYS has a numerator of 1. Now that we know that important characteristic of a unit
fraction, who can give me an example of a unit fraction? 1/4 , , etc. (I will write these on the
board as students state them.) Great job, friends! These are all unit fractions because they all
have 1 as the numerator.

Last week, we talked about how we can use those unit fractions to help us add up to a bigger
fraction, or even a mixed number! Let’s practice this before we get started with our new topic.
Take a look at the SmartBoard projector: I have written the fraction 5/10. What unit fraction can
I use to help me add up to 5/10? 1/10! Yes! I can use the unit fraction 1/10 to get to 5/10. How
can I do this? By adding 1/10 to itself five times! Right! So I want you all to have your eyes up
here while I add my unit fractions. I will then model this addition strategy with unit fractions.

Now, we know how to add unit fractions to get us to a bigger fraction, but how can we write an
equation for a mixed number using whole numbers and unit fractions? Remember, this was the
focus of our lessons at the end of last week and the beginning of this week. So, let’s say I have
the fraction 2 . How can I write an equation for this mixed number? First you need to add your
wholes! Yes-- first I can add my wholes, and since I know I have two wholes, I can write 1+1.
Can anyone tell me the FRACTION for our wholes? 5/5. Perfect. If our pizza is sliced into five
pieces, and we eat the whole pizza, then we are eating five pieces of pizza total. Now that I have
my wholes, what do I need to add to my equation next? Our unit fractions! Good-- I am glad you
are remembering that terminology of unit fractions. What is my unit fraction for 2 , and how
many unit fractions do I need to add together? Our unit fraction is and we need 2 of them to
get to . Great job friends! Now Mrs. Bez talked to us about this on Monday… what do we
ALWAYS need for our equations? An equal sign and the answer! Exactly, so we need to add our
equal sign and our 2 to make our equation complete.

I want to review one more thing from chapter 8 that will help in today’s lesson and throughout
chapter nine. Can anyone remind me and the rest of the class what it means to write a fraction in
“simplest form?” It is when the numerator and denominator have no common factor other than
1. YES! When our fraction is in simplest form, it means it cannot be reduced any farther, because
there is no other common factor between the numerator and deonominator. What is a strategy we
can use to help us find our the simplest form of our fraction if we are getting stuck on a problem?
We can find our Greatest Common Factor (GCF) for our numerator and denominator. Yes-- one
way we can find the GCF is by drawing our factor rainbow! Let’s go ahead and practice writing
a fraction in simplest form.

If I had the fraction 6/8, how would I write it in simplest form? What do I need to find first? Find
the GCF between 6 and 8! Exactly-- my first step is to find my GCF. Some of you may be able
to find this right away, but let’s go ahead and draw out our factor rainbow to help us see our
factor pairs for both 6 and 8. I will model this on the board. What is my GCF between 6 and 8?
2! Good. Now what do I need to do with that 2? Divide our numerator and denominator by 2.
Wonderful-- what simplified fraction do I get when I divide my numerator and denominator both
by 2? ¾. Wonderful job, friends! Can our fraction be simplified any more? No! Nope-- so I have
found the fraction’s simplest form.

Introduction to today’s lesson (2 minutes):

Today, we are going to start learning how we can add fractions. As we were reviewing some of
the things we learned in chapter 8, I am sure some of you noticed that we have already been
using some addition with our fractions! We do have a new vocabulary word today: like fractions.
Does anyone know what a “like fractions” are? I do not expect any students to know the answer
at this point in time. “Like fractions” are fractions that have the same denominators. For
example, ¼ and 2/4 would be “like fractions” since they have the same denominator. Can anyone
else give an example of a two fractions that would be considered “like fractions?” I will call on
students with their hands raised quietly. Answers will vary. I will record student answers on the
whiteboard and we will discuss why each student response is an example of like fractions.

Now that we know what like fractions are, we are ready to get started with the operation of
addition!

2. Content Delivery: 45 minutes

Page 567 & 568-- Guided Instruction (10 minutes)
Everyone go ahead and take out pages 567-570 from your math workbook, and you may all also
grab your fraction tiles, which I have layed out in number order on the high table. I will allow
students one or two minutes to get their pages and fraction tiles out and to refocus. Before
starting the lesson, I will quick reteach my expectations for students working with the fraction
tiles. Ok, so let’s first take a look at page 567. Can anyone read nice and loud what the first
paragraph on the page says? I will call on a student that is raising their hand quietly. Thank you
for reading that for us! As the paragraph tells us, when we are adding like fractions, or fractions
with the same denominator, we add the numerators while we keep the same denominator. This is
a lot like what we have been doing with our unit fractions over the past week! They give us two
examples in the boxes at the top. As you can see, when they are adding those fractions, the
denominator in our answer is the SAME as the denominator in the fractions we are adding-- we
are ONLY adding the numerator!

Let’s take a look at the first example they give us. Can anyone read nice and loud the first story
problem they give us in example 1? I will call on a student quietly raising their hand. Thank you
for reading that! What is our story problem asking us to find? The total amound of time Pablo
and Conrad spent working on a puzzle. Exactly-- what operation do we need to use to solve this
problem? Addition. Perfect! So, let’s get started. What portion of an hour did Pablo spend
working on the puzzle? 2/6 of an hour. Good-- now represent 2/6 with your fraction tiles. I will
monitor students as they do this. And what portion of an hour did Conrad spend working on the
puzzle? of an hour. Great-- go ahead and represent of an hour with your fraction tiles. I will
monitor students as they do this. So we know what portion of an hour each person spent working
on the puzzle, and we know that we need to add these two fractions together. What did our
paragraph at the top of page 567 tell us about our numerator and denominator when we are
adding like fractions, or fractions with the same denominator? We have to add the numerators
and keep the denominator the same. Perfect! So, let’s go ahead join our two sets of fraction tiles
that we have layed out. What do we end up with when we combine all of our fraction tiles and
ONLY add our numerators? 3/6! Great job, friends! We get 3/6. Is our denominator still the same
in our answer? YES! Good, then we know our answer is correct.

Now, we are still not done with our problem, because at the bottom of page 567, they ask us to
write our answer in simplest form. We talked about this at the beginning of the lesson. How can
we make sure our fraction is in simplest form? We have to make sure that the numerator and
denominator have no common factor other than 1. Right-- so, does 3 and 6 have a common
factor other than 1? Yes, 3 is another common factor. Good catch! So we know that 3 is a
common factor between 3 and 6… What do we need to do with that 3? Divide the numerator and
denominator by 3. Right! So I am going to take my numerator of 3 divided by 3 and my
denominator, which is 6, divided by 3. What do I get for my simplified fraction? 1/2 . Great job,
friends! As you can see with your fraction tiles, 3/6 is equivalent to ½. In this problem, we not
only added up two fractions, but we also put them in simplest form.

Ok-- so now that we have done one together, I want you all to try number one on page 568 on
your own. Our problem is + . Remember that our directions not only ask us to find the sum,
but it also wants us to SIMPLIFY our fractions. You may use your fraction tiles to help you
while you are working through this problem. Ready, go! I will give students about two or three
minutes to work through this addition problem. It looks like most of us are finishing up number
one on page 568. Let’s go ahead and walk through the steps we took to solve this problem. What
did you all do first? Added the numerators! Good-- you add the numerators first! What did you
get when you added the numerators? 4! Perfect. Now what do I need to do with my
denominator? Leave it the same as it was in the equation. I am glad you are remembering this
step. It is SO important to remember that we ALWAYS leave our denominator same for our
answer. Finally, our question asks us to simplify our fraction. Can we simply the fraction ?
Why or why not? No because there are no other factors between the numerator and denominator
other than 1. Right. So what is our final answer? !

Let’s practice one more on our own. I want you all to put your fraction tiles back in your bag and
try to do this one without the assistance from the manipulatives. Look at number five on page
569. Try to do this one on your own WITHOUT using your fraction tiles. Ready, go! I will give
students about two to three minutes to work through this problem. Ok, it looks like most of us are
ready to go. Who can tell me what they did first to solve this problem? Added the numerators.
Good, and what did you get when you added the numerators together? 4! Ok, so I have taken
care of the numerator. What will my denominator be? 8! How do you know that our denominator
is 8? Because the denominator in the problem is 8, and our denominator never changes. Exactly!
So what do we get for our fraction? 4/8. Are we done with our problem? Why or why not? No!
We need to simplify! Good catch! Do 4 and 8 have a factor other than one? If so, what is it? Yes,
4 is a factor between them! Now that we know four is a factor, what do we need to do to simplify
our fraction? Divide our numerator and denominator by 4. Once we do that, what do we get for
our final answer? ½! Great work-- I think we are ready to move on to today’s activity.

Task Card Activity (25 minutes):

Before we get started with our activity today, go ahead and put everything in your desk except
for your notebook and a pencil. As you can see, there are task cards around the classroom, much
like what we had during Tuesday’s review. Each taskcard has an addition problem that will ask
you to add two like fractions and then simplify the fraction you came up with as your sum. Can
anyone quick remind the class what a like fraction is? Fractions with the same denominator.
Exactly! So just like you did on Tuesday, I want you to write the number of the task card you are
working on in your notebook, and then show your work and put your answer next to that
number.

Our task cards are numbered in order throughout the classroom. I have a card for each of you
that says what task card numbers I want you to work through this morning. If you finish all of the
task card numbers that I give you to work on, you may go to other task cards if you feel that they
will challenge you and help you improve with the skill we are learning today. If you feel that the
task card numbers I gave you are not challenging you or are too difficult, come let me know and
we can make some adjustments.

Let’s talk a little bit about expectations before we get started with our activity today. What are
my expectations when we are working on a task card activity? Work quietly, stay focused, be
respectful of others, etc. Right! Everyone in the room will be working on a different problem, so
it will be important that we are respectful of other’s and that we use our inside voices. A few
things will be different with this task card activity than the others we have done. You are ONLY
allowed to go to a task card that has no one else at it. Since we have 30 task cards around the
room, there are plenty to choose from, and we want to make sure that we are not having a bunch
of us bundled in one corner of the classroom, as that makes it harder for us to focus. Also, I
would like you to check in with me after you finish your first five problems. This way, I can
check if you are on the right track. If I notice that you are flying through them, I will allow you
to start finishing more than 5 at a time before checking in with me again. My expectation is that
everyone will have at least 10 task cards completed by the end of the activity. If you are not
finished with 10 task cards by the end of the activity, it will be homework that you will have to
take home and finish tongith. If you finish all of the numbered task cards I want you to complete
early, come see me.

What questions do we all have before we get started with the task card activity for the day? I will
answer any questions the students have. Ok, once I give you the card that tells you what number
to work on, you may start with the task card activity!

EdPuzzle Video Activity (10 minutes):

Alright, friends. It looks like a lot of us got quite a few of the task cards completed and
answered. I want everyone to write their name and number at the top of their notebook paper and
turn it into the math tray. Make sure that you showed your work!! Let’s make this a quiet and
fast tranisition-- then we can earn a brownie point!!
Now that we have all gotten the chance to practice adding like fractions with the task card
activity, we are now going to complete an EdPuzzle activity. You are all going to go to Google
Classroom. I have posted an EdPuzzle assignment that you all will complete. You will be
watching a Kahn Academy video and answering the questions that are asked throughout the
video. Now, if you finish your EdPuzzle activity before the rest of the class is finished, I would
like you to take a Sticky Note and create your own addition problem with like fractions. Go
ahead and jot that problem down, and then answer your own problem. This will give us even
more practice with adding with like fractions, and it will also help us see the steps we take to
solve those addition problems.

Before we grab our computers, can anyone tell me how we are going to do first when we get our
computers? Go to Google Classroom and find the EdPuzzle assignment. Great. Once you are at
the EdPuzzle site and have the video pulled up, what do you need to do next? Watch the video
and answer the questions included in the video. Great listening today, friends! If you finish early
with your EdPuzzle, what is your job? Create our own addition problem with like fractions, and
then solve it. Perfect! What questions do we have before I have everyone grab their computers? I
will answer any questions students have. Ok, front row, go ahead and grab your computers and
get started! I will dismiss each row after the previous row has gotten their computers and has
started working.

I will walk around the room while students are completing their EdPuzzle video. I will answer
any questions that arise.

3. Closure (5 minutes):
Whole Group Discussion (5 minutes):
Today, we learned how to add like fractions. Let’s quick review: what are “like fractions?”
Fractions that have the same denominator. Yes-- good memory! “Like fractions” are fractions
that have the same denominator. We can almost think of it like the fractions are a”like” because
they have the same denominators. What process do I go through to add like fractions? You add
your numerators and keep your denominators the same! Great-- ALWAYS remember to keep
those denominators the same! Finally, we have to know how to simplify our fractions. How can
we make sure our fractions are simplified? We have to make sure that the numerator and
denominator have no other common factor other than 1. Fabulous!

You all did a wonderful job today. I am looking forward to how the EdPuzzle activity went for
all of you. Tomorrow, we will be working on how we can SUBTRACT our like fractions. With
how well you all did today, I anticipate that this will be a lesson that you will catch on quickly as
well!
Go ahead and put all of your math materials away and our teacher’s assistant will start calling
those who look ready and are waiting quietly for specials.

B. Assessments Used
Pre-assessment:
● I will take a look at how the students did on their post-assessment for chapter 8 yesterday.
The concepts and skills that students learned throughout that chpater will ultimately help
them with the concepts and skills they are learning in today’s lesson. If I notice that a
student did not master some of the skills from the previous chapter, this will be a good
indicator to me that some of those basic skills need to be retaught.
● I will lead a whole group class discussion at the beginning of today’s lesson. Not only
that, but I will guide students through a few example problems. This will help me pre-
assess student understanding in regards to adding like fractions prior to the task card
activity.

Informal assessment:
● The task card activity will serve as a great informal assessment for today’s lesson.
Students will be checking in with me after they complete their first five addition
problems. This will help me determine if the students need more help or if they need to
further challenge themselves during the task card activity, which can be easily done with
the differentiation the task cards will provide.
● I will observe students during the task card activity. I will be watching to see if they
struggle or take a long time on a particular task card.

Post-Assessment:
● The EdPuzzle video will serve as a post-assessment for me. Throughout the Kahn
academy video on EdPuzzle, I will prompt students to answer what comes next when
adding the like fractions. Not only that, but I will ask students about specific concepts
and skills they need to know to solve the problem. Furthermore, at the end of the
EdPuzzle video, students are able to self-assess their understanding by providing me a
number from 1-3, with 1 being not very confident, and 3 being very confident.

C. Differentiated Instruction
● Remediation-- For those students who are struggling with the concepts and skills that are
being taught today, I will be able to quickly notice and assess this with the task card
activity. If I feel that these students need more practice with the more basic addition
problems, I will encourage them to work on those lower number task cards. I will also go
back to the chapter 8 test that students completed yesterday, and I will be able to assess
what students still need to work on in terms of fractions. At the beginning of the lesson, I
will provide these students with the numbered task cards I want them to work on so they
know exactly what I want them to do and what level to work at.
● Enrichment-- For students who are excelling with today’s lesson, I will be able to provide
them more difficult and complex addition and simplification problems with the task card
 activity. First and foremost, I will give students the numbered task cards I want them to
work on right at the get-go, which will eliminate any time these students will be working
on the easier task cards. If I notice that the students are rolling through the problems, I
will encourage them to go to those higher number task cards. The higher task cards
provide students with more complex concepts, such as story problems, filling in the
missing fraction, and coming up with an addition problem on their own that deals with
like fractions. Furthemore, I could ask these students to help those students who are
having more of a difficult time with adding the like fractions. This would also encourage
student collaboration. Finally, if these students get done with their EdPuzzle video, I have
given them another thing they can do by having them create and solve their own addition
problem with like fractions.
● Learning Preferences:
○ Kinesthetic: for those students who learn best when they are moving their bodies,
the task cards will serve them well. Not only that, but my students with
ADD/ADHD will benefit from the movement in this lesson.
○ Linguistic & audiotory: I will lead a number of whole group discussions where
students can both share their thoughts and listen to the thoughts of others. The
EdPuzzle will also help my linguistic and auditory learners.
○ Visual: I will be modeling and guiding students through a number of problems at
the beginning of the lesson. This will help those visual learners. The EdPuzzle
video will also be good for my visual learners. The fraction tiles will be a great
visual, as manipulatives always are!
○ Logical: math is always good for these learners!
○ Interpersonal AND intrapersonal: students are able to work on their own, yet they
are also able to converse with others to share their thoughts and the process they
are going through to solve the addition problems.

D. Resources
● Standards: Common Core Website http://www.corestandards.org/Math/
● Mrs. Bezdichek
● Teachers Pay Teachers
● EdPuzzle
● McGraw Hill My Math
● Kahn Academy

Reflection on Today’s Lesson:

What went well with this lesson?

 Since this lesson served as a chapter review, most of the students had a general idea of
what was expected of them at each type of problem that was listed on the task cards around the
classroom. Also, this is the second task card activity the students have been engaged in recently,
which led to students better understanding the expectations that were set for them during the
activity.
My favorite part of this lesson was the differentiation component of it. A task card
activity is a GREAT way to meet the needs of each student. I provided each student a card at the
beginning of the task card activity that listed the problems they needed to work on. Before the
lesson began, I determined what problems I wanted each student to work on. I wanted each
student to work on a problem that was at their understanding level, yet I also wanted to challenge
each student to make sure they were as prepared as they could be for tomorrow’s test.

What was a challenge you came across during the lesson?

I had each student come check in with me after they completed five task cards. It was
very difficult to check 27 student answers without holding some students up due to waiting for
me to check their answers. This is something I may have modified if I were to do this lesson
again. Perhaps I would have some students check in with me every five problems, while some
students could check in with me after every ten problems.

What would you change if you were to do this lesson again?

After reflecting on the lesson with Mrs. Bezdichek and Mrs. Filler, I would have had the
students engage in more complex thinking throughout the lesson. Perhaps before I had the
students work on the task card activity, I could have had them work on problems together or
discuss specific problems with the strategy of turn and talk. Another think I would modified for
this lesson is to perhaps have the students who have the concepts of this chapter down check the
answers of the students who are struggling more with this chapter. This would have alleviated
some of the wait time students had to deal with since I was checking every student’s answer.