Prior Knowledge Lesson Plan

Teacher: Sasha Rudow

Date: Monday, Day 1 of Unit

Lesson: Accessing Prior Knowledge

Length of Lesson: 50 minutes

Mathematical Goals:

After completing this lesson, students should be able to recall prior knowledge
relating to linear equations.
o Students should be able to manipulate equations with variables, graph
equations in y=mx+b form, and understand the concepts of y-intercept and
slope.

Materials:
o
o
o
o
o

Individual white boards

Paper towel
White board markers
Paper and pencils (for note-taking)
Worksheet to be assigned at the end of class.

Launch (about 15 minutes):

Students will come into class and begin working on the bell assignment. Students
are allowed to work in their groups if they wish. Students will have about 5
minutes to work and then we will go over the bell assignment together as a class.
o 1. Solve for x:
o 2. Solve for y:
o 3. What does the 4 stand for in
?

Explore (about 30 minutes):

One student from each table will be asked to get 4 white boards, 4 paper towels
(to be used as an eraser), and 4 white board markers. We will go over about 10
questions where I will put the question on the front white board and students will
solve it on their individual white boards. I will count down after about 1 minute
and then students will hold up their work and answer. I will use this as a
formative assessment of the prior knowledge that students know well. After each
question I will as a student to come to the front white board to show and explain
their work.

Summarize (about 5 minutes):

Sasha Rudow

At the end of the white board activity, I will briefly explain what we will be doing in
the next unit and why is it important to understand the concepts of prior
knowledge that we talked about today.

Homework (about 20 minutes):

Students will get assigned a worksheet of problems similar to those that were
covered in class. If there is time at the end of class students will be allowed to
begin the worksheet and work in their groups.

Teacher/Teacher Talk
-Teacher will greet
students as they enter
the room and tell them to
begin on the bell
assignment.

Student
-Students will come into
class and being working
on the bell assignment
either individually or in
groups.

Rationale
-Students are to
associate this classroom
with mathematical
learning from beginning
to end.

-After about 5 minutes

the teacher will gather
students attention and
begin taking volunteers to
explain how they
completed the bell
assignment.
-Students will be chosen
at random using the TINspire randint()
command.
o Why did you choose
to solve the problem
like this?
o Did anyone else solve
this problem
differently?
o Did you arrive at the
same answer?

-All students are held

accountable for the bell
assignment because they
will be chosen at random.
If they do not know how
to do a problem they will
come up and the class
will help them work
through the problem.

-Because this is prior

knowledge, the students
should be able to work
together to obtain an
answer. The teacher
should only step in when
absolutely necessary.
-The teacher talk
questions are ones that
will force students into
explaining why and how
they are completing
things.

-The teacher will ask a

student to go get a white
board, a paper towel, and
a white board marker for
each person at the table.

-One student at each

table will get the supplies.
-Other students are
allowed to take
advantage of this short
time as a brain break.

-Students need breaks

and movement during
classes to ensure the
best learning.

-The teacher will then

explain what activity will

-Students will ask for

clarification if needed.

-Students must
understand the activity

Sasha Rudow

be done. A question will

be posted and the
students will answer it
individually on their white
boards.
o Any questions on the
activity before we
begin?
-The teacher will put the
first question on the
board and give students
about one minute to
answer the question.
The teacher will then
count down from 3 and
students will hold up their
white boards. The
teacher will use this as a
formative assessment
and then chose a student
at random to come up
and complete the
problem on the board.
-Questions can be seen
in the attachment.
o When a number is
negative why do you
add it to the other side
and vice vera?
o When a number is
multiplied why do you
divide it to move it to
the other side and
vice vera?
o What does slope
mean?
o What do you think
when you hear rise
over run?
o What is the yintercept?
o Why is the y-intercept
important?
o How do we begin
graphing an

before beginning.

-Students will work on

questions individually
using their white boards.
All students will be held
accountable because a
student will be picked at
random to complete each
question on the white
board.
-Students are
encouraged to ask
questions.
-Students should feel as
though they are in a safe
environment. If they do
not know how to
complete a question, that
is okay. We will work as
a class to gain an
understanding of the
concept.

-Prior knowledge is
important for all students
to know and understand
before jumping into new
content. Therefore, each
student needs to be held
accountable for all
questions.

Sasha Rudow

o
o
o
o
o

equation?
What other equation
forms do we know
how to graph?
Does anyone have
any other questions?
What is a linear
equation?
How is a linear
equation different
from other equations?
What does a linear
equation look like
algebraically,
graphically, and
numerically?
Students will also be
questioned if they
complete a step
incorrectly. This is so
that the teacher can
understand what
concept the student
does not understand
and correct the
misconception.

-The teacher will give a

summary of why this prior
knowledge is important
o Tomorrow we will
begin a lesson on
solving systems of
linear equations.
o To solve systems of
linear equations we
must already know
what linear equations
are and how they
work. We must also
know how to
manipulate and graph
them.
o Are there any
questions about
anything we did today

-Students should ask

questions on anything
they do not understand. If
there is time they may
start their assignment in
class and work in their
groups.

-Students deserve to
understand why we are
doing the activities we
are.
-Students can always use
a little extra practice to
ensure learning is
concrete.

Sasha Rudow

or what we are
beginning tomorrow?
o Here is an
assignment just to
make sure we have
this prior knowledge
down. It should not
take more than 20
minutes to complete.

Sasha Rudow

Questions to use for white board activity:

1. Write in slope-intercept form:

2. What are the slope and y-intercept in

and what does it stand for?
and move up 1 and to the right 2 starting from -7 to create the graph.
3. Graph

4. Write in slope-intercept form:

5. Graph the equation:

6. Write the equation in slope-intercept form:

7. Explain in words how you would graph

. Start at (0, -10/3) and go down 4
and to the right 3. Draw a line connecting the two points.
8. Are these two equations the same? Why or why not? Show evidence.
and
. Yes the two equations are the same; the second one is simply
multiplied by two. This can be seen when graphing because the two lines overlap.
9. Write in slope-intercept form:
10. Graph

Sasha Rudow

Name:_______________________________________ Date:________ Hour: _______

Prior Knowledge Worksheet
Show all work!
1. Graph:

2. Identify and explain slope and y-intercept:

3. Are these two equations the same? Why or why not?

4. Solve for q:

5. Graph: y=-2x.

6. Write in slope-intercept form:

7. Write in slope-intercept form:

8. Explain in words how you would graph

9. Graph:

10. Write in slope-intercept form:

Sasha Rudow

Name:_______________________________________ Date:________ Hour: _______

Prior Knowledge Worksheet
Show all work!

1. Graph:
2. Identify and explain slope and y-intercept:
. The slope is 5/4 and the yintercept is -5. The slope tells us the steepness of the graph and the y-intercept tells us
where the graph crosses the y-axis.
3. Are these two equations the same? Why or why not?
.
Yes these two equations are the same. The second equation is simply multiplied by 2.
When these two equations are graphed they are the same line.
4. Solve for q:

5. Graph: y=-2x.
6. Write in slope-intercept form:

7. Write in slope-intercept form:

8. Explain in words how you would graph

. Start at (0, -5) and move down
one and to the right one. Draw a straight line connecting the two points.

9. Graph:

10. Write in slope-intercept form:

Sasha Rudow