MIAA360: Lesson Study

Team Members: Amy Schmerer, Katie Chock, Tiffany Fuhrmeister

Teaching Dates: May 12th

Lesson Concept: Create a Tangram Puzzle and Observe Relationships Among the Shapes by Decomposing a Rectangle.
This is modified from Engage NY Grade 3 lesson 8 of module 7: Geometry and Measurement Word
Problems
This 40-day final module of the year offers students intensive practice with word problems, as well as hands-on investigation
experiences with geometry and perimeter. The module begins with solving one- and two-step word problems based on a variety of
topics studied throughout the year, using all four operations. Next students explore geometry. Students tessellate to bridge geometry
experience with the study of perimeter. Line plots, familiar from Module 6, help students draw conclusions about perimeter and area
measurements. Students solve word problems involving area and perimeter using all four operations. The module concludes with a
set of engaging lessons that briefly review the fundamental Grade 3 concepts of fractions, multiplication, and division.
The previous lesson was Lesson 7: Reason about composing and decomposing polygons using tetrominoes. Before that we were
working on quadrilaterals. The follow up lesson is Lesson 9: Reason about composing and decomposing polygons using tangrams.
Stage of Lesson

Teacher Does
Directions or Teacher Questions

Engage

Introduction of Teaching Team and the plan for the

lesson.

Student Does
Expected Student Responses
Student Activities

3.G.1

Time:
10 minutes
Materials:
Book, Grandfather
Tangs Story

Standard
CCCSSM,
MPS, NGSS,
21st Century

Teacher reads Grandfather Tangs Story

Teaching and Learning Collaborative Lesson Study

Adapted from K-12 Alliance/WestEd

Students listen attentively and notice

geometric shapes being used to tell story
and create characters

Evaluate
Consider Decision
Points Assessments

Stage of Lesson

Explore:
Time:
30 minutes
Materials:
8.5x11 sheets of paper,
scissors
EngageNY
problem set lesson 8

Teacher Does
Directions or Teacher Questions

Student Does
Expected Student Responses
Student Activities

Today we will cut out different shapes from this one

large shape. What is this shape? (hold up a
rectangular sheet of paper)

A rectangle

First we need to make a square. Fold your paper so

that a shorter side lies along a longer side. Cut off the
extra strip of paper. Unfold the remaining paper.
(Model)

Folds and cuts paper

Standard
CCCSSM,
MPS, NGSS,
21st Century
3.G.1
M.P.6

We have drawn diagonals inside quadrilaterals

and discovered they can be decomposed into what Two triangles.
two shapes?
Look how I fold my paper down the diagonal line
that goes through the middle of the square. (Fold and
unfold paper.) Do I get the same shapes?

Teaching and Learning Collaborative Lesson Study

Adapted from K-12 Alliance/WestEd

Yes, you get two triangles!

2

Evaluate
Consider Decision
Points Assessments

Fold your square on the diagonal. Then cut out the

two triangles on your paper as I cut out my triangles.
(Cut out triangles as students cut out triangles.) How
many pieces do you have now?
Draw and label these two new shapes in Problem 1.

Two pieces!

Take one of your triangles. (Model.) Fold it in half

to make two equal sides and crease it. Open the paper
and cut on the fold. (Allow students time to fold and
cut.) Which smaller shapes is the big triangle
composed of?

Two smaller triangles.

(Draw and label)

(Draw and label.)

Draw and label these two new shapes in Prob. 2.

Take the remaining big triangle. (Model.) First

fold it in half to make our two triangles. Then
open the paper and fold the tip of the triangle
down to meet the bottom side of the triangle in
the middle. Make a horizontal crease and open it
up. Cut only on the horizontal crease. What
shapes did we make?
Draw and label these two new shapes in Problem
3 as a trapezoid and triangle.

A quadrilateral and a triangle. A

trapezoid and a smaller triangle.
Draw and label

Take the trapezoid. Fold it half and cut it on the

fold. Now you have two of what type of shape?
Draw and label these two new shapes in Prob. 4.

Quadrilaterals. Trapezoids.
Draw and label

Take one of the trapezoids and fold the longest

point in. Make the long point meet the opposite
corner and crease it. Open it up and cut on the
fold. What shapes did we make?
Draw and label these two new shapes in Prob. 5.

We made a triangle and a square.

Teaching and Learning Collaborative Lesson Study

Adapted from K-12 Alliance/WestEd

Draw and Label

Use the last trapezoid. Put the longest side at the
bottom. Put the longest corner to the right. Fold
the corner of the bottom left corner up to meet the
diagonal corner and crease it. Open it up and cut We made a small triangle and a
parallelogram.
on the crease line. (Allow students time to fold
and cut.) What shapes did we make?
Draw and label
Draw and label these two new shapes in Prob. 6.

Stage of Lesson

Explain:
Time:
10 minutes
Materials:

Teacher Does
Directions or Teacher Questions

Student Does
Expected Student Responses
Student Activities

Standard
CCCSSM,
MPS, NGSS,
21st Century

Put your pieces back together to form the large

square we started with. (Allow students ample time to
position the pieces. Make every effort not to interfere
as students work at positioning the shapes during this
sequence of the lesson. Encourage students to
persevere, providing the least direction possible.
Have students who finish quickly shuffle their pieces
and try to make new shapes.)

Students work in pairs and persevere in

recomposing the square

M.P.1

Great job! These seven pieces that form a large

square are called a tangram. You can make many
different and interesting shapes by combining some or
all of the parts.
Teaching and Learning Collaborative Lesson Study
Adapted from K-12 Alliance/WestEd

Evaluate
Consider Decision
Points Assessments

Stage of Lesson

Extend: (Day 2 for

students who passed
assessment. Those
who didnt show
understanding
worked with teacher
in small group. See
lesson below exit
ticket)

Teacher Does
Directions or Teacher Questions

Student Does
Expected Student Responses
Student Activities

Show you-tube tangram videos

Tangram on music:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kvkXpTzmUN4
Deedee the square
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cQd9FBa6Lwc

Students create new shapes using all 7

pieces and create a page for a class book

Standard
CCCSSM,
MPS, NGSS,
21st Century

Tell students to make a new design out of tangram

pieces and glue it down. Draw a background and
write a about your creation.

Time:
60 minutes
Materials:

Tangrams, paper

Evaluate
Consider Decisions
Point Assessments

Stage of Lesson

Teacher Does
Directions or Teacher Questions

Teaching and Learning Collaborative Lesson Study

Adapted from K-12 Alliance/WestEd

Student Does
Expected Student Responses

Standard
CCCSSM,
5

Student Activities

Evaluate:
Time:
3 minutes
Materials:
Exit Ticket

MPS, NGSS,
21st Century

The Student Debrief is intended to invite reflection

and active processing of the total lesson experience.
Invite students to review their solutions for the
Problem Set. They should check work by comparing
answers with a partner before going over answers as a
class. Look for misconceptions or misunderstandings
that can be addressed in the Debrief. Guide students
in a conversation to debrief the Problem Set and
process the lesson.

After the Student Debrief, instruct students to

complete the Exit Ticket. A review of their work
will help you assess the students understanding
of the concepts that were presented in the lesson
today and plan more effectively for future
lessons. You may read the questions aloud to the
students.

Students complete exit ticket

independently
*See Exit Ticket Below

Homework Lesson 8: Decompose Shapes

Evaluate
Consider Decisions
Point Assessments

1. Draw a line to divide the square below

into 2 equal triangles.
2. Draw a line to divide the triangle below
into 2 equal smaller triangles.
3. Draw a line to divide the trapezoid below
into 2 equal trapezoids.
4. Draw 2 lines to divide the quadrilateral
below into 4 equal triangles
5. Draw 4 lines to divide the square below
into 8 equal triangles
6. Describe the steps you took to divide
the square in Problem 5 into 8 equal
triangles.

Teaching and Learning Collaborative Lesson Study

Adapted from K-12 Alliance/WestEd

Complete Homework and bring to

school tomorrow

Exit Ticket:
Name________________________

Date ______________________

Choose three shapes from your tangram puzzle. Trace them below. Label the name of each shape and describe at
least one attribute that they have in common.

The Exit Ticket identified which students were still confused about names of shapes and attributes. I worked with the group of
students who struggled. We used plastic tangrams and sorted shapes by attributes and reconstructed a square. We used tangram mats
and built other shapes. We reviewed names of shapes and played shape attribute bingo. For example, I have one set of parallel
sides, I have 4 right angles, I have 2 sets of parallel sides, I am a quadrilateral, I am a parallelogram, I am a trapezoid.
Reflection:
I feel that working collaboratively to design lessons was extremely beneficial and a lot of fun. It would be great to have
lengthy collaboration time built in the regular school year! Having like-minded partners to work with enhanced the lesson planning.
Especially since we have been doing this program together. As a team, we came up with more ideas than we could have individually.
As a team we were able to see where the lesson could have been improved after implementation. We could see our strengths and
weaknesses in the videos. I feel that that improved my awareness.
The tangram lesson flowed very well. The students were actively engaged. There was some difficulty in fine motor skills of
some students that lead to imperfect tangrams that could lead to misconceptions. It was beneficial to cut the tangram pieces along
with them to help avoid any misconceptions. The students could see the desired outcomes. We had plastic tangrams to use in the
follow up activities. The students who performed well on the exit ticket moved on to an extension activity the next day incorporating
Teaching and Learning Collaborative Lesson Study
Adapted from K-12 Alliance/WestEd

art and narrative writing. The students who didnt perform well worked in small group with teacher. They were actively engaged in
the reteach lesson. It was fun and educational. Students re-took exit exam and results improved. The small group and follow up
lesson/activities we wrote improved the lesson and the lesson flow. It was much more engaging and produced greater learning than it
was as originally written in Engage NY.

Teaching and Learning Collaborative Lesson Study

Adapted from K-12 Alliance/WestEd