Kayla Bamesberger

Lesson on Circles
5 December 2014
Middle School Geometry

7th Grade Geometry- Circles

Context and Classroom Description:
This classroom is a typical 7th grade math class in their fifth unit of the year, which is the
geometry unit. There are 20 students in the classroom and there is a mixture of many different
types of learners. It is very diverse, with grades ranging from high As to a few Fs. There is a lot
of diversity amongst the students as well as a majority of the students in the class belong to a
cultural minority, and occupying all levels of the economic ladder.
There are four students that have shown extreme mathematical ability and reasoning
skills and many that have average skills and effort as well. I have two students on level 5 of the
English Language Learners program, which means they are pretty good speaking English in
conversation especially with their friends, but they struggle with vocabulary in the classroom. In
addition, there are three students who possess mild disabilities in the classroom. These students
are described below.
I have the classroom set up so that students are sitting in groups of 4, two on each side
with desks facing each other. With 20 students, groups of 4 students is perfect and excludes no
one. This is so that they are in groups to work on given problems in class and also have peers to
talk to about questions they do not want to pose to the whole class. I have found that this
encourages them to talk to their peers much more than the previous seating arrangement where
they were all facing the front of the room. I sorted students into their groups of four very
specifically to encourage student progress. I made sure the four gifted students mentioned above
were not at the same table, but kept them with other students who would push them as well.
One of these gifted students speaks fluent Spanish and is one of Andrews best friends
(Andrew possesses a mild disability and is described below). Although I hesitated to put them
together, he helps Andrew understand the material (especially when he turns his hearing aid off
because it hurts sometimes) and they seem to stay on task better than expected. Andrews grade
has raised significantly since I put them together and because of their relationship I believe they
work on material outside of class together as well, which has helped the both of them.
I also have the students complete a weekly math journal that they are required to turn in
on every Friday so I can spot check and return them to students the next Monday. This has
encouraged students to think deeper about the material and allows me to check on how they are
feeling about the content and let me know if I need to re-emphasize things in class. In addition, it
allows me to check on the progress of my students who do possess a disability and see how they
are doing. More specifically it allows me to see if Joshua is feeling comfortable with material as
he does not always turn in all his assignments due to family conflicts, if Andrew is feeling like
he is understanding the vocabulary as that is hard for him, and also if Chris is having a good
writing week or not.
Multiple Means of Representation
Multiple Means of Action and Expression
Multiple Means of Engagement

Student 1- Joshua
This student possesses mild autism and has a hard time forming relationships with
teachers and other students in the classroom. He is very nonverbal and will not answer questions
in front of anyone he does not feel comfortable around. He cannot move seats in the classroom
and refuses to pay attention if the class does not follow the outline of how class is supposed to go
that I write on the board every day before the lesson. He shows great reasoning skills and
mathematical ability on tests and does extremely well on the homework that he does turn in.
Student 2- Andrew
Andrew is a Hispanic student who has a severe hearing impairment and is almost
completely deaf in his right ear. He wears an earpiece that is linked to a little microphone that I
wear on my shirt and speak into so he can hear what I am saying whether I am next to him or
not. In addition to this, when he does talk he keeps it short and is not always confident in his
speech. His writing skills are great and he shows a lot of interest in art and writing stories as they
fill his math journal that the students are required to turn in at the end of the week. English is his
second language, but he speaks almost perfect English and can be helpful when around the ELL
students in the classroom.
Student 3- Christopher
Chris is a student who possesses dysgraphia, a disability that inhibits his writing
capabilities. He avoids writing at all costs and refuses to write on the board in small groups with
his peers. His spelling is not terrible and he has learned many tricks to help himself remember
how to spell commonly used words in my class, however he struggles with individual letters still.
Even when he writes a word correctly he is very self-conscious about everything he writes and
erases almost everything. This is especially evident when writing out mathematical expressions
and equations. His confusion when writing these down often hinders his ability to complete the
problem correctly just because he is unable to stay organized even if he understands the
concepts.
Instructional Objectives:
1.0 Students will be able to solve problems involving the area of circles using terms we will
review as a class.
1.1- Students will demonstrate their knowledge of vocabulary words from class.
1.2- Students will be able to recognize what parts of a circle are needed to solve the
problem being asked.
1.3- Students will be able to calculate the Area of a given circle.
Anticipatory Set:
Have students look at the figure below and try to figure
out the area inside the circle. Tell them to do their best to get
as close to the area as possible, but that they are not expected
to find the exact area. They will need to count the squares and
estimate the area.
On standardized tests, they might give you a figure
similar to this and ask the area. When you are given this
question in a multiple choice format, we might not need to find
the exact area. We can instead estimate the area and eliminate

answers that we know are not even close. That way you have more time for questions that
require more problem solving skills.
Then we can discuss that even though we have formulas for things, we need to
understand what they find. Estimating can be useful in certain situations, and they need to
understand that there does not always need to be an exact right answer all the time.

Input and Modeling:

-Today we will be learning about the Circumference and Area of a circle. Yesterday we learned
about the perimeter and area of a rectangle, and Circumference is the special word for the
perimeter of a circle. Your assignment from last class was to go through this chapter and write in
your math journal the definitions of specific vocabulary in your own words.
-These words were: Radius, Sector, Diameter, Chord, Circumference, and Area.
-Students were asked to think about what the definitions meant and write them out in
their own words. I allowed Chris to do this using an iPad so he could use speech to text
technology and get his thoughts down on paper without worrying about having to write it
down or worry about spelling.
-Students will go around the four people in their group and each share their definition of a
word. This will allow Joshua to share one of his definitions with the peers that he has
grown comfortable with and not have to talk in front of the entire class. Also, Andrew
can feel more comfortable talking and trying to listen to the kids closest to him without
trying to strain himself to hear what someone across the room answers with.
-They will then have to come up with two different ways to express each term together as
a group. This could mean that they draw what the vocab word is or they could come up
with a poem describing its meaning. They are encouraged to get as creative as they can
and each group will share what they agree to be the two most creative ideas of expressing
two different vocab words to the class. This will allow for more learning opportunities for
students who may be able to draw connections for other students and help learn the
material in new and fun ways.
-Today we will be learning about how to find the circumference of a circle
-Ok so in thinking about how the Circumference of a circle is like the perimeter of a
figure with straight sides, is there a way we could do this without using math?
-Have students talk about a way to find the circumference of a circle without
using math in their table groups.
-If they cannot think of anything, show or explain how if we had a ruler and a
string, we could just lay the string around the circle and then lay it out flat and
measure how much string it takes to get all the way around. This is to remind
students that these vocab words have actual meaning and are not just formulas for
them to memorize and forget.
-Tell students that Circumference is very easy. It is simply the diameter of the circle
times this thing called pi ().
-Pi is the ratio of the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter. Someone who
had a lot of time on their hands discovered that this ratio always held and so we can say
for sure that this ratio applies to every circle.
-Individually, find the Circumference of this circle and compare what you get to the other
people at your table groups. The circle has a radius of 20 ft.

-Today, we will also be learning how to find the area of a circle.

-Give students pre-cut circles (like shown on the right) and
have them cut out the pie slices and sort them into piles of
like colors. We will talk about how even though the pieces
are not together anymore, they still represent the same area
of the original circle.
-Have them arrange their pie slices in the shape of a
parallelogram as I do it on the overhead so they can see how
it is supposed to look. Then we can discuss that the area of
the parallelogram that we formed is the same as the original circle since we are using the
same pieces.
-Also, we know how to find the area of a parallelogram! This means we can find the area
of our original circle by finding the area of the new parallelogram since we are using the
same pieces.
-On the board, we can examine the parts of our parallelogram to find its area like we did in the
previous lesson.
-To find the area, we need to know the height of a pie slice (the radius of the original
circle). Also, we need to figure out what the base of the parallelogram is. Going back
over these terms will really help Andrew as he still struggles once in a while with the
vocab in class and is not always as fluent with math terms. Re-emphasizing mathematical
terms and expressing them in multiple forms really helps him out.
-Ask students if they can see what the base will be. If not, then ask them leading
questions to figure it out, like: what is the base made out of and where do the wide
sides of the pie slices fit on the circle. From this, students should see that the base of
the parallelogram is half of the circumference of the original circle because only half of
the outside of the circle is represented on one side of the parallelogram. This will be the
most difficult part of the lesson and will need explanation to each group while they are
working in their groups.
-Once they find this, then we can construct the area of the parallelogram and form a formula for
the area of a circle.
-We will pull back together as a group and go through the process of working through the
formula. They will be told not to take notes on this so that they are not just copying. They
will instead focus on paying attention and contributing to the process so they can takes
notes on the formula when we finish and talk about the process in their math journal.
-The process of the formula is finding the area of the parallelogram. After we find the
base and the height of the parallelogram and talk about how they relate back to the circle,
we can substitute those into the formula for the area of a parallelogram that they learned
in the previous lesson. The process is shown below.
Area of the parallelogram = Base * Height
Area = Half circumference of circle * radius of circle
Area = (C)(R) > Substitute
Area = (*Diameter of circle)(R) > Sub. in circumference formula (C)
Area = (*2*R)(R) > Sub. in diameter formula
Area = (2)()(R)(R) > Reorganize equation
Area = (R) (R) > Combine like terms
Area = *R2 > Combining like terms

- In going through this, I will be color coding different parts so students can easily
see connections in the different equations.
- Now that we know how to find the circumference and area of any circle, we can practice these
skills so that we will be able to solve more complicated problems later on.
Guided Practice:
-Go through another example each of finding the circumference and area of a circle with the
class, prompting students for input in the process.
-Have them do two problems in their table groups and compare their answers with each other.
Let them know that when I have talked to their group and made sure they are all on the same
page then they have the choice to choose what they want to next. Their options for the rest of the
class are:
1. Start their homework (a worksheet that I made)
2. Write in their math journal about what they learned or any questions they have
3. Other specific modifications:
Joshua can also work on math games or work on something with a partner
Andrew can work with someone on math or listen to music to ease his ears
Chris can draw in his notebook or work on his writing development workbook
Closure and Independent Practice:
Now that we know how to find the area of a whole circle, we can find the area of partial circles
next time we meet.
-Have students talk about how being able to find the area of any circle would be useful in the real
world.
-Tell students they need a short entry in their math journals for today and to finish the worksheet
they have been given for tomorrows class. That worksheet is attached to this lesson

Name: _____________________________

Circumference and Area

of Circles Worksheet
Remembering the definitions we came up with and the examples we completed together in class,
find the component of the circle that is asked for below.
REMEMBER: We will be using = 3.14 for our calculations!!!
1.

2.

3.

26 ft

Circumference: _______
4.

Circumference: _______
5.

Circumference: _______
6.

65 yd

Area: ________

Area: ________

Area: ________

For the next four problems, draw the circle corresponding to the given information and find the
Circumference or Area of that circle depending on what the problem asks for.
7. Radius = 100 cm
Circumference = _________

9. Radius = 12 ft
Area = _________

8. Diameter = 43 yd
Circumference = _________

10. Circumference =
Area = 36
Radius = ________

RtI Instructional Plan:

For Each RtI Tier Indicate below specific strategies in the Lesson/Unit that were used to support
student learning. Provide an explanation/rationale for choosing each strategy and how it supports
student learning.

For Joshua and Chris, I described multiple adaptations to help improve success in the classroom.

Choose
at least 2
individual
students

First, it is helpful for Josh to spend a lot of time discussing things in his table groups as he has
a hard time forming relationships and I have seen him positively interact with those students
a lot. In addition, I put the schedule for the day on the board for him every day so that he
feels like he is in an organized environment and knows what is coming next. Chris has
also improved since implementing the table groups. This allows him to look off of other
students for spelling and have them there to help him feel more confident in his writing
and in his answers for class.

There are two students in my class who are English Language Learners.
Choose a
targeted small group

Tier 1 Whole Group UDL Supports

(e.g. English
Language Learners,
lower level readers,
gifted students, rowdy
group from 3rd period)

They are very good at talking in class and seem to really understand what is
going on, they just have a hard time with math vocabulary along with
Andrew, one of my students who possesses a mild hearing disability as well.
We go over vocabulary a lot and try to really make connections for these
students so that math terms can be something they feel comfortable with.
Also, I try to make the students think about what these vocab words mea
and have them express the words in multiple ways so as to help them
stick.

Describe UDL strategies used that

support all students by making
instruction more accessible.

Math, especially geometry, requires thinking about things in

multiple ways including visually.
I try to always include pictures and real-world scenarios
in every lesson to support student understanding. Also,
I let them discover things on their own like how they
discovered the formula for the area of a circle in this
lesson. That way, they can either just remember the
formula or they can remember how we found the
formula and it can actually mean something to
them.