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Comparing Areas Re-engagement Lesson

State/National Content Standards (Common Core State Standards)

3.MD.7 Relate area to the operations of multiplication and addition.
b. Multiply side lengths to find areas of rectangles with whole-number side lengths in the context
of solving real world and mathematical problems, and represent whole-number products as
rectangular areas in mathematical reasoning.

3.MP.1 Make sense of problems and persevere in solving them.
3.MP.3 Construct viable arguments and critique the reasoning of others.
3.MP.8 Look for an express regularity in repeated reasoning.
Objectives and Assessments
Learning Objectives
Formative Assessments.
Summative Assessments
1. Students will be able to
- Turn and talk: what would we
- None today
interpret word problems to solve need to do to prove whether
for and compare rectangular
Eliza is right or wrong?
areas.
- whiteboards: finding areas of
rectangles given a model and
given a word problem
- Practice problems worksheet

Vocabulary
Compare; Area; Rectangle
Activating Prior Knowledge
Finding the area of a rectangle with known side lengths (given an image), both with a grid and without.

Lesson Procedures: Instructional Strategies/ Learning Tasks

Time


Opening
1 min
1. Read the Learning Targets together chorally: I willcompare the areas of rectangles in
word problems.

Step-by-Step Procedures
4 mins 2. Skip-counting by 8s warm-up. Ask the students to take out their x8 array in their slates.
Project the array on the board and invite the students to count aloud to help you write the
count next to each row in the array. Skip count chorally while touching each row in the array
two times. Skip count chorally while putting up a finger each time you say a number two
times. Skip count chorally with eyes closed. On slates, students write two multiplication facts
and two division facts for the following problems: 8 x 7 = ?; 8 x ? = 64.
4 mins 3. Activate the students prior knowledge by finding the area of rectangle arrays with given
side lengths. Project an image of a 4 cm x 8 cm rectangle on the board (with grid lines) with
labeled side lengths. Tell the students to draw a model of the rectangle with labeled side
lengths and write a multiplication equation to find the area. Check the students work by
having them hold up their slates, then ask them to clear their slates. Project an image of a 3 in
x 7 in rectangle on the board (with grid lines) with labeled side lengths. Tell students to write a
multiplication equation to find the area. Check their work by having them hold up their slates
and ask them to clear their slates.

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5 mins

4. Project an image of a 9 unit x 4 unit rectangle (without grid lines) on the board with labeled
side lengths. Ask students to write 2 multiplication equations to find the area on their slates.
Check the students work by having them hold up their slates, then ask them to clear their
slates. Project an image of a rectangle (without grid lines) with an area of 28 sq. in. and one
labeled side length of 4 in. Tell students to write a multiplication and a division sentence to
find the missing side length.
5 mins 5. Show the students the following word problem: Mandy draws a rectangle that has side
lengths of 6 cm and 7 cm. What is the area of the rectangle? Ask the students what math
words and numbers you should underline in the problem? Tell the students to find the area of
the rectangle by drawing a model with labeled side lengths and writing a multiplication
equation to find the area on their slates. Walk around while they work to check their progress.
They should not need to draw grid lines in the rectangle. Check the students work by having
them hold up their slates, then ask them to clear their slates.
3 mins 6. Show the students the following word problem: Mandys kitchen measures 6 ft by 7 ft.
What is the floor area of her kitchen? Ask the students what math words and numbers you
should underline in the problem? Ask: Would you need to solve this problem differently from
the last problem? (No its asking the same thing!). Tell the students to find the area of the
kitchen by drawing a model with labeled side lengths and writing a multiplication equation to
find the area on their slates. Check the students work by having them hold up their slates,
then ask them to clear their slates.
10 mins 7. Ask students to look at #5 in Problem Set 8 from yesterday. Project the problem on the
board: Elizas bedroom measures 6 feet by 7 feet. Her brothers bedroom measures 5 feet by
8 feet. Eliza says their rooms have the same exact floor area. Is she right? Why or why not?
Ask the students to Turn and Talk: What would you need to do to prove whether Eliza is right
or wrong? Allow one or two students to share with the class. Show students a common
misconception: to add 6+7 and 5+8. Show how that would work on a grid on the board in
those rectangles. Does it show the area? Reiterate that we need to multiply side lengths
together to find the area. Ask the students to Turn and Talk: Could you know which room is
bigger just by comparing 6 to 5 and 7 to 8? Or by comparing 6 and 7 to 5 and 8? Share a
response. Ask: Can you prove that Eliza is right or wrong without finding the area? (No). In
their workbooks, students should work on solving this problem by drawing two area models
and multiplying the side lengths to find the answer. Students who already accomplished that
task should practice it again this way on their slates, or fix their answers in the book.
20 mins 8. Students work on a worksheet with practice problems. If they finish, they should: 1. Finish
or fix Problem Set 8; 2. Do Problem Set 7; 3. Work on fluency sprints.

Closure
3 mins 9. Turn and talk: how do side lengths help you to find the area? Share a response. Reiterate
that side lengths must be multiplied to find the area, and remind students that when they
come to word problems about area, they should underline math words and numbers, draw a
model of the rectangle, and write a multiplication (or division) equation and a sentence that
answers the question.

Differentiation
IEP/ 504 Plans (classifications/needs)
Supports, Accommodations, Modifications,

Pertinent IEP Goals
Language Processing
- Underlining math words and numbers will help
this student to focus on the pertinent
information in the problem
- The progression from more straight-forward

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Other Learning Needs

English Language Learners

Struggling Readers
Enrichment

word problems to more complicated word

problems in the lesson will help this student to
see the similarities between them.
Supports, Accommodations, Modifications
- One student will work with a special education
teacher for part of the lesson.
- The progression from more straight-forward
word problems to more complicated word
problems in the lesson will help these students
to see the similarities between them.
- Same supports as Language Processing
- Reviewing the steps will remind these students
to show all of their work and to check in with
what the problem is asking
- If needed, provide these students with a
challenging problem.

Instructional Resources/Materials
- Rectangle arrays or models on Promethean Board
- Practice Problems Worksheet