Narrative Reflection:

Lesson Plan: Fewer Than and the Same As

Crystal Hampson
Component 1: Demonstrating knowledge of content and pedagogy
When beginning to plan for this lesson I read what the objectives of the lesson were which was
for students to be able to compare using fewer than and the same as. When reading about this I
immediately wanted to make this the center and focus of the lesson. I began by thinking about
the prerequisites required for this lesson. When thinking about the objective and goals for the
lesson I realized that students needed to be able to count up to ten and to have knowledge of
number order in order to understand fewer than and the same as (for example, during the lesson I
ask students which number is larger or smaller 7 or 6). When thinking about possible student
misconceptions that could occur during the lesson I thought about a previous lesson where
students compared using more than. Students were understanding that there were more objects,
however they werent quite grasping how to put that knowledge into words. Therefore, for this
lesson I wanted to help students be able to talk about comparing fewer items and made a
sentence strip to use as a guide throughout the lesson. When reading the lesson guide in the
common core math book it always had students repeating and saying the words fewer than and
the same as.
Component 2: Demonstrating knowledge of students
When planning, I am always thinking about the students in my class. Their age level, how they
learn, which students may have special needs, and their interests are just some of the aspects I
take into consideration when thinking about teaching a new lesson. First of all my students are
young and only in kindergarten and therefore, I wanted to focus a lot, if not all of the lesson with
hands-on and active learning. In the beginning, students are using play-doh in order to focus on
hands-on learning. Also, throughout the lesson I focus on student participation by having the
students talk to partners and be active participants through different activities. I was also sure to
use real objects when giving examples and doing activities such as the markers, pennies, and
cubes. When thinking about how my students learn in general and also about the ELL students
in the class I am always willing to differentiate instruction according to their needs. For
example, when working on the worksheet we did it first as a class. I read the directions and
asked for volunteers to come up and help me answer. When the class went to their seats to do the
worksheet themselves I was sure to stop by each students desk to ensure they were
understanding the concepts on the worksheets.
Component 3: Setting Instructional Outcomes
The instructional outcome for this lesson is: Students will be able to compare using fewer than
and the same as. When developing instructional outcomes, I always want to be sure that these
outcomes are written explaining what student learning instead of what students will be doing.
Also, when planning instructional outcomes I like to think about the different learners in the
classroom and how I will get each student to reach this outcome. The last question on the

student worksheets were to be worked on independently. I read the question to them and they
were to go back to their seats and do the problem independently. This way, I was able to see who
reached the lesson objective and who didnt.
Component 4: Demonstrating knowledge of resources
I am very fortunate to be placed in a classroom and school where any supplies are offered to all
the teachers without limit. Both my cooperating teachers have been teaching for many years as
well and have acquired a variety of supplies through the years. The materials for this lesson
were found throughout the classroom. The district also provides the worksheets for this common
core math workbook as well. My cooperating teachers have been very open to allowing me to
use any supplies that I need including chart paper, sentence strips, the overhead projector,
markers, etc
Domain 5: Designing coherent instruction
Before beginning the lesson, we always do a math warm up in order to get students focused on
math and learning after recess. When beginning this lesson, I wanted to begin by reviewing and
going over comparing the same amount of objects since it was something I went over with them
the day before. After that I eased them into comparing fewer objects by using active
participation from the students by not having enough markers for all of them. I continued this
while referencing the words I have fewer markers than students or I have fewer children than
markers. Once they seemed to get the hang of this, I mixed it up by having the same items and
fewer items with the pennies and cubes all while using and pointing to the words they were to
say. When beginning the worksheet, I scaffolded instruction by doing it as a class and then
having them do the problems independently. When warming up to do math in the beginning
students often use their math teams in which they are paired with fellow students to do
activities. My cooperating teacher explained to me that these math teams were created based on
who would work well with one another.
Domain 6: Designing student assessments
Throughout the lesson, I am constantly assessing student understanding. I noticed at one point
that students werent catching onto which item we had fewer of therefore I had them count how
many of each item there were and then asked them which number was bigger and which number
was smaller. The worksheet is designed as an assessment tool for students and focuses on the
learning objectives for that lesson. Also, I used the last question for students to work
independently and without scaffolded instruction in order to assess their understanding of the
term fewer which was explained at the beginning of the lesson and throughout the lesson.