Jessica Siegel Grade: 4th grade Book: Spaghetti and Meatballs for All!

Author: Marilyn Burns Rationale: Problem solving is an important skill to learn. With guidance from the book, and then through trial and error on their own, students will be able to see how area and perimeter function in real life situations. CCSS.Math.Content.4.MD.A.3 Apply the area and perimeter formulas for rectangles in real world and mathematical problems. For example, find the width of a rectangular room given the area of the flooring and the length, by viewing the area formula as a multiplication equation with an unknown factor. Objective: Students will be able to apply their understanding of area and perimeter to real world situations. Lesson Progression: First, I will distribute 8 1 x 1 tile manipulatives to represent the tables and 32 little circle manipulatives representing each guest to each student at their desk. These will already be in individual sandwich bags to save time and to keep the class organized. I will explain to the students that we are going to be reading a book together that has to do with area and perimeter. This story is about Mr. and Mrs. Comfort. They want to have all of their friends and family over for a meal. Mr. Comfort is going to make his famous spaghetti and meatballs. Were going to complete an activity while were reading the book, so its important that you pay very close attention. Next, I will distribute the activity sheets to each student. I will have students remain at their seats and will sit on a stool in front of the class. Students will have the worksheet in front of them the whole time while Im reading, with a pencil in hand. Next, I will begin reading the book. When I get to the page in the book where Mrs. Comfort says, But there wont be room! (page 8) for the first time, I will ask students why this might be the case. Students may or may not realize that when you put two tables together, two seats are lost. If students do not discover this on their own, I will prompt them in a way in which they will. Why does Mrs. Comfort say that there will be no room? What happens when you push two tables together? Will anyone be missing a seat? Lets try it out with our circles and squares on our desks. I will ask a student to share what they found and then all students will fill in their activity sheet. Every time the set up of the tables changes, I will pause and allow students to use their manipulatives to recreate the set up on their desk. They will then record their findings on the activity sheet.

Jessica Siegel Once the reading is over, I will go through each new table set up and let the students see if they solved each one correctly. I will ask students to hand in their paper so I can see how they did. Other Considerations: Materials: Spaghetti and Meatballs for All! book, activity sheets, 1 x 1 square tile manipulatives to represent the tables and small circle manipulatives to represent the guests. Inspiration: The activities given in the back of the book inspired this lesson Children will be engaged during this because of the use of manipulatives and due to the fact that there is some real world application. Rather than completing worksheets with squares asking for area and perimeter, this gives students a real world situation in which area and perimeter are necessary to solve a problem. Also by reading the book and completing the activity at the same time as a class, students will be more engaged and motivated because it is not something that happens often. Differentiation: As an extension activity students could be given this problem to solve: Suppose there were going to be just 12 people at the family reunion. What different table arrangements are possible? Which arrangement would use the fewest tables? Which arrangement would use the most tables? This problem can also be used with other numbers of guests (16, 24, 36 or any other number of people). Students may complete this at free time and then hand it in. Assessment: I will be able to informally assess the students as we are going through the book together. Although I could be restricted to the stool while reading, I plan to walk around the classroom when I have students trying to figure out what the area and perimeter are of a certain arrangement that happened in the book. Once I see everyone has understood, I can return to my stool and continue reading. The completed activity guide will also be a way for me to assess the students work and understanding of area and perimeter.