Teacher Candidate: Hayley Swanson

Date: September 16, 2014

Cooperating Teacher: Derona Burkholder
Grade: 4
School District: Issaquah
School: Sunny Hills Elementary
University Supervisor: Karin Janik
Unit/Subject: Math
Instructional Plan Title/Focus: Everyday Math 1.5 - Polygons

Learning Targets/Purpose/Previous Learning

a. Instructional Plan Purpose: The purpose of this plan is for students to be able to identify the different
characteristics of a polygon, which is a shape used in geometry.
b. State Learning Standards:
CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.4.G.A.1
Draw points, lines, line segments, rays, angles (right, acute, obtuse), and perpendicular and parallel lines.
Identify these in two-dimensional figures.
CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.4.G.A.2
Classify two-dimensional figures based on the presence or absence of parallel or perpendicular lines, or
the presence or absence of angles of a specified size. Recognize right triangles as a category, and identify
right triangles.
c. Content Objectives:
SWBAT identify the properties of a polygon.
d. Language Objectives:
SWBAT define polygon.
e. Previous Learning Experience: Students will have learned about polygons, parallelograms, and lines
and rays in third grade math. This unit in the curriculum is primarily a review of material students should
have learned in third grade.
Assessment Strategies
Content/Language Objectives

Assessment Strategies

SWBAT identify the properties of a polygon.

Formative: Ask students to identify the properties

of a polygon in page 12 of their math journals.
Summative: Students will take the end of unit test.

Student Voice:

Communicate the learning targets and their

progress toward them.

Students will be able to communicate their

understanding by giving a thumbs-up, thumbssideways, or thumbs-down during parts of the
lesson before going into individual work. During
individual work, students may express confusion
and ask for clarification from the teacher or from a
partner.

Communicate the development and maintenance

of a learning community.

During the lesson when students are writing things

down or working together as a class, emphasize
that you wait for 100% of the class to be finished
before moving on. Have students convey their
progress with a thumbs up when theyve finished.
Seeing that we wait for 100% will help to maintain
the understanding of a learning community.

Grouping of Students for Instruction: After the introductory lesson, students will work on this
assignment individually for about 10-15 minutes, then confer in pairs for 5 minutes. We will then come
back together as a class for the remaining time.
Learning/Teaching Experiences
1. Introduction: The introduction to this math lesson will be the standard beginning-of-math
introduction given every day: as a class, we will go over the answers to the math boxes done
that morning for Morning Work, then correct the previous nights homework, and then get into
the lesson.
2. Questions:
o What is a polygon?
o What is the difference between convex and concave?
o What are some rules of polygons?
o Where do you see examples of polygons in real life?
o Why is it important to know about polygons?
3. Learning Activities
a. Teacher passes out trays of straws and twist ties to each pair (two per row). Teacher
says, Today youre going to need your math journal and your math notebook. Ask
them to get both of these items out. Wait for 100% before moving on.
b. Give the Math Message: With your partner, make a shape with 5 sides using the straws
and twist ties. Give students 3-5 minutes to complete this activity. Their shape, a
pentagon, should be closed and convex.
c. Call class back together with management cue (Mustangs!) and go through the Math

d.

e.
f.

g.

h.

i.

j.

Message Follow-Up slide together. Take a look at your five-sided shape. Does anyone
remember what a polygon with five sides and five angles is called? Call on a student
and move the blue box covering up the word pentagon. Ask students what they think
the word polygon actually means. Call on a student, then read Language Arts Link at
the bottom of slide, or simply explain, The word polygon means many sides.
Next slidehave students push in at least one vertex of their pentagon. Have a
volunteer raise theirs up to show. Explain, This is called concave, or nonconvex. When
you have a shape with at least one vertex pushed in, or caved in, you have a concave
polygon. If all the vertices push outward, like they did originally, the shape is convex.
Have students open their math notebooks to a new page; switch to document camera.
Have students write 1.5 Notes at the top. Wait for 100%.
Together as a class, write in the notes the definitions of convex and concave. Have
students put their pencils in rest position and give a thumbs up when they are finished
so you know when all students have finished. Wait for 100% before moving on so all
students have the notes.
Return to slides. Explain, Now were going to get into groups of four(explain how
groups of four work if this has not yet been presented)and in your groups, with the
straws and twist ties, youre going to have one person build a polygon with six sides,
another build one with seven sides, another with eight, and another with nine. Make
sure you share your materials so everybody has enough to build their shapes. Let
students get into their groups. Give 10-12 minutes as needed to complete activity. Walk
around classroom to help, monitor, or manage as needed.
Bring class back together with management cue. Go over the next slide, calling on
students to give the names of the respective 6-, 7-, 8-, and 9-sided shapes. Have another
student hold up the correct shape to show the class as an example. Explain n-gon; If
your polygon has more sides than we have a name for, that is an n-gon, with n taking
the place of the actual number. So a 25-sided polygon would just be a 25-gon.
On the next slide, for the next Language Arts link, go over all the prefixes with the
students (tri- to dodeca-) and then switch back to document camera. Have students
make a table in their math notebooks with Prefix on the left and # of Sides on the
right. Tell students, These prefixes do work with many other kinds of words that
involve numbers, but for today were just focusing on number of sides. Go through all
the prefixes together, calling on students to tell how many sides went for each prefix. At
the end, keep up the notebook so students can continue to finish 100%. Students
finished early can begin taking apart their shapes and placing their straws and twist ties
back into the trays they came in.
Have students turn to page 12 in their math journals. Say, With a partner, examine the
two sets of shapes at the top of the page, and in your 6-inch voice, talk about whats
different between these two groups. Then when you are done discussing, complete #1
and #2 on your own. If you finish early, you may do Math Choice. Let students begin. #1
will be their assessment piece for this lesson.

4. Instructional Considerations
a. Multiple means of access: Students will be able to learn through auditory teaching
(lecture/explanations), discussion with another person, asking questions, reading,
writing, and using their hands to create shapes with straws and twist ties. This will cover
a broad variety of learning styles and strengths.
b. Multiple means of engagement/expression: Students will be able to show their learning
by asking questions during the activity, discussing what they have learned or still dont
understand with a partner, sharing with the class, and also in writing on their page 12
journal entry.
c. Language learning objectives: These will be integrated at the end of the lesson when the
students are asked to describe the properties of a polygon, and in doing so, defining
what a polygon is. Teacher will also mention at the start of the lesson that polygon
means many sides.
d. Cultural responsive pedagogy: In this lesson I am being culturally responsive by
integrating activities that adhere to multiple learning styles and means of expression.
We will talk about where we can see polygons in real life and I might show real-world
examples of polygons, such as in video games made around the world back in the 90s,
the shapes of street signs, etc.
e. Remedial activities: Students who need additional help or reinforcement of the lesson
may receive it from peers and the teacher during review games and the review session.
f. Extension activities: Students who finish early may work on a Math Choice.
5. Closure: End the lesson by coming back together as a class with a management cue
(Mustangs!) and then going over a couple of slides about regular polygons. Explain what a
regular polygon is A regular polygon is a convex shape with all sides of equal length and all
angles to the same degree and go over the slide with the equilateral triangle and the square.
Ask, Can anybody tell me what about this shape makes it a regular polygon? for both of the
shapes. Make sure the key points of same length and same angles are mentioned.
6. Independent Practice: The students will work independently to answer Question 1 on page 12
of their math journals. There will also be a homework assignment, Study Link 1.5.

Instructional Materials, Resources, and Technology

The materials used in the lesson are: the lesson from the adopted curriculum (Everyday Math),
an electronic whiteboard and projector, document camera, straws and twist ties, math notebooks, and
pencils.
Additional Requirements
Integration with Other Content Areas: Polygons could be integrated into an art lesson, or
possibly a science lesson with reference to design or engineering.