TCNJ Lesson Plan

Title: _______Slope Review______________

Unit #_1_ Lesson #_4(NEW)_ Day # __4(NEW)__

Aim/Focus Question
Aim/Focus Question: Write out the Big Content Objective from the Unit Plan

How can we measure the steepness of a line?

Assessment(s)

Learning Objectives (SWBAT) with Standards Codes

How will you assess the students understanding of the learning objectives? Include on-going formative assessments and any
summative assessment.
Daily Content Objectives:
1.

Identify the slope of a line as the rise over run or the

vertical change or the horizontal change.

1.

Guided Notes/Worksheet/Homework

1.
2.

Guided Notes/Worksheet/Homework
Worksheet/Homework

Big Skill Objectives:

1.
2.

Recall and activate prior knowledge

Make sense of problems and persevere in solving
them.

Student Understandings/Misunderstandings/Misconceptions
What do you anticipate your students already know going into this lesson, misunderstanding, and having misconceptions of?
The students have already learned about slope in the past, both what it is and how to find it; so this lesson serves as more of a
review in order to help those who may have forgotten over the past month or so. I anticipate the students having forgotten how to
apply the formula to find slope and I have a feeling that they wont know how to calculate it as the rise over run, hence why Im
giving out guided notes. I dont think though that I will have to go over the definition of slope as much as students will most likely
remember what it is, having already learned it in the past.

Beginning (Do Now/Opening/Hook)

Your beginning should engage students in the material for the day and be related to the objectives above. It is good to make your
beginning relevant to the students lives and to make an overt connection between the beginning and the objectives for the day.
Opening:
Students will be given a table of information relating the number of Goldfish crackers eaten to the
amount of time that has passed. The table is found to the right of the page. Using this table, the
students are asked to graph the data on a coordinate plane.
(7 min)

Time
(seconds)

Goldfish
Eaten

The teacher will then have the students find the unit rate of the table by dividing the top row of the
table by 4 to find how many goldfish are eaten in one second.
(3 min)

12

The teacher will call a student up to the board using the Popsicle stick method to plot the points in the table on the coordinate plane
projected on the board.
A different student will be called on to help the teacher from their desk with finding the unit rate of the table.
(3 min)
The teacher will then ask the class if they see the unit rate in the graph. (Its the slope)
If they dont, then the teacher will move on and come back to the example at the end of the class once the concept of slope has been
reviewed.

Transition
Explicitly connect the discussion
of the Opening to the days
Aim and then to the first
Activity.

Transition: The unit rate actually relates to what were going to talk about today, which is
slope. Now I know you guys already learned about slope in the past, but I want to do a review
day because most of the material we are going to be covering builds off of the idea of slope.
Lets start out with some guided notes. (< 1 min)

Middle Context/Application (Mini Lesson, Activity, Guided Practice)

Be sure that your middle section includes a balance of instructional time and time for application.
Include transitions (in italics) when moving to another topic/activity.
Make sure that all activities have clear instructions for the students (written down and delivered) and that you model activities for
the students, when needed. It is useful to list/outline the instructions.
Instructions:
Mini-Lesson: Students will be given a guided notes sheet to follow along with while the teacher works on the board.

The teacher will first go over the definition of slope. He/she will ask the class if anyone thinks they might know the
definition themselves first though.
o If someone answers, then the teacher will write their answer on the board and compare it to the true definition.
o If no one answers, then the teacher will simply present the class with the formal definition.
o True Definition: the rate of change between any two points on a line. It is the ratio of the rise (the vertical
change) over the run (horizontal change).
The teacher will then draw two graphs on the board with diagonal lines, one steeper than the other. (Q1)
The teacher will then draw the graphs of a vertical and horizontal line. (Q2)
o The teacher will reference the slope tree at the bottom of the page and use the little man analogy to explain why
vertical lines have no slope.
o The only lines that have slope are the ones that you could set a little man down on and he could walk.
The teacher will then ask the class for the formulas that they remember relating to slope. On the guided notes sheet it
shows one R-word over another R-word to give the students a hint.
o Rise over Run: the teacher will demonstrate how you dont even have to plug into the formula to find the slope.
All you have to do is look at the vertical change over the horizontal change.
!! !!!
o
!! !!!

The teacher will then work through the example given on the page with the points (1,4) and (3,12).
o (Q3)
o The teacher will then show the class how to correctly label these two points in order to plug into the formula.
o The teacher will then call on someone to come up to the board and plug the values into the formula via Popsicle
sticks.

***Remind students that whatever order the y-values are subtracted is the same way the x-values must be subtracted.
***Remind students that the slope is the same as the unit rate.
(20 min)
Now Im going to pass out a worksheet for you guys to practice finding slope. Well do the first one together, but then I want you

guys to try the others on your own. Feel free to work with anyone sitting near you. (< 1 min)
Worksheet: Students will be handed out a worksheet containing about 10 problems where you have to find the slope between two
points, just as done on the guided notes.
The teacher will do the first problem on the board with the students help. (5 min)
The teacher will then set the timer on the board for 15 min and monitor the room while students work on the remaining 9 problems.
Once the students have finished, the teacher will do a quick check of the students answers with the answer key to check for
correctness to make sure each student is getting how to find slope given two points.
(10 min)
i-Ready: Students will be given 3 i-Ready lessons to complete that they will need to pass 2 of. (35 min-mandatory Kilmer
allotment)

SAMPLE QUESTIONS
What questions will I ask
during the activity/ lesson?
Include anticipated student
answers in parentheses.
Above, write where in the
instructions the question will
go, using parentheses (ex. Q1).

Knowledge Questions:

(Q3) In an ordered pair, which comes first, the x-value or the y-value? (An ordered pair is
written (x,y))
Application Questions:
(Q1) According to our definition of slope, which one of these two graphs has the greater slope?
(the steeper one)
(Q2) How about with these graphs? What do you think are going to be the slopes of these? (The
horizontal graph isnt steep at all so that one must have zero slope. The slope of the vertical line
is undefined.)
Critical Thinking Questions:

Differentiation
Struggling

Baseline

Accelerated

These students will only fin the slope for 5

of the problems on the worksheet as
opposed to the full 10.

These students will follow normal

instructions.

Students who finish early will also be asked

to plot the points used to find the slope on a
piece of graph paper and find the slope
graphically using the rise over run.

Transition
Connect the Application with
the Conclusion.

Transition: Now lets go back to our problem from the beginning of class. How could we find the
slope of the graph that we created? There are two different ways we could do this.
Answer: By using points from the table or finding the rise over run graphically.

End /Conclusion of the Lesson

End each lesson together as a class to sum up the material for the day and bring the class back to the Learning Objectives and
Aim for the day.
The class will return to the graph of the Do Now that is still remaining on the board. A student will be called on to pick two points
on the line that could be used to find the slope. If the students seem confused, refer back to the table used to plot the points.
Then the teacher will call on another student to come up and label the points as done in the guided notes. Yet another student will be
called on to plug these points into the formula for slope. Then the teacher will simplify to find the slope.
(5-7 min)
Exit Ticket: The teacher will then pass out an exit ticket asking students what the relationship is between the unit rate and slope.

Homework
What is the students homework to help them apply the knowledge they have learned from the days lesson?
(HW#4) Students will be given a homework sheet containing 15 problems asking for the slope between two given points. Students
are asked to complete 4 of the 15 for homework.

Materials
List any materials you need for the lesson.

Guided Notes Sheet

Worksheet
Homework Sheet
Whiteboard
Projector

***Add handouts/resources below***