MelissaLeider

April13,2016
MSSE470M
LESSONPLANIII

Topic
:Algebra

Titleoflesson
:Kroger,Giant,andAlgebra...OhMy!

Contextoflesson
:Thisisthefirstlessoninanalgebraunit.Studentswillexploretheneedfor
variables,learntosolveanequation,and
begin
tolearnthevocabulary(thislessonwillcover
variableandequation).Vocabularysuchasconstant,coefficient,term,andexpressionwillbe
taughtmoreexplicitlynexttimeitismoreimportantforstudentstoseeandunderstandthe
conceptsfirst,ratherthanbetaughtvocabularyfirst.

RelatedSOL:
6.18Thestudentwillsolveonesteplinearequationsinonevariableinvolving
wholenumbercoefficientsandpositiverationalsolutions.

Learningobjectivesandassessment
:

Learningobjective

UKD#

Howitwillbeassessed

Whattodoiftheydont
know

Studentswill
understandthata
variablestandsforan
unknown

U1

InformalListenforstudent
responseduringdiscussion
during
DirectInstruction
segment.Teacherwillknow
studentsunderstandifthere
isageneralconsensusthatit
isokaytoswitchfromthe
wordzucchinitoZandthe
Zwillstandforpriceof
zucchinis.Also,askstudents
tothink,pair,shareiftheZ
andtheTfromthetomato
problemareplayingthesame
role(YEStheyareboth
variablesstandingfor
unknowns).Student
responsestothisquestion
willinformfurtheraction

Itiscrucialthatstudents
understandtheconceptof
avariable.Ifthereis
confusion,relatethe
informationindifferent
waysuntilstudentisclear
(ShowKhanacademy
video,textbookdefinition,
analogy)

Studentswill
understandwhyitis
necessarytodothe

U2

InformalListentostudent
responsesinfinalpartof
DirectInstruction
segment

Ifmorethanacouple
studentsareconfused
withscalemodel,spend

sameoperationon
bothsidesofan
equation

Callonrandomselectionof
students(usingpopsicle
sticks)toseeiftheclass
answersscalequestions
correctly

Exitcard
Listentostudent
dialogueduring
partnerpractice
worksheetare
studentsengagingin
mathematical
dialogueandcorrectly
usingtheterms
variablea
nd
equation?

moretimeonthisand
introduceoneoftheother
modelsofsolving
equations,suchasusing
manipulativeslikechips

Studentswillknow
thedefinitionsof
variable
and
equation

K1

Studentswillbeable
tosolveonestep
equations,showing
algebraicstepsas
wellasusingbalance
model

D1

Partnerpracticeactivitywill
begradedbothforcorrect
answerandforshowingat
leasttwodifferent
representations(algebraic
stepsandbalancemodel)

Duringpartnertime,
teacherwillpullout
studentswhoare
strugglinganddo
smallgroupinstruction.If
thebalancemodelisnt
clicking,useanother
model

Studentswillbeable
tocreateexamplesof
onestepequations
anddefendtheir
responses.

D2

Teacherwillwalkaroundthe
roomandcheckoffstudents
fourproblemsbeforetheygo
toapartner(sothatthe
partnerisntstucksolving
somethingimpossible)

Whilepartnersaresolving
eachothersproblems,
teacherwillobservethat
studentsarediscussingtheir
answerswiththeirpartners.If
answersdiffer,studentsare
abletodefendwhattheyput
andcometoaconsensus

Ifteacherseesthat
studentsarecomingup
withexamplesthatdont
workoraretoohardto
solve,teacherwillstop
theclassandmodel
writingafewproblems.
Showhowyoucansimply
writeanumbersentence
(3*5=15)andthen
replaceanumberwitha
variable(3*a=15).That
wayitissolvableand
studentsarentwriting
problemssuchas5*a=
3

Materialsneeded:
Fruits/vegetableslabeledwithstickynoteprices

Basedonexitcard
responses,teacherwill
incorporatemore
examplesandexplicit
teachingofthis
vocabularyinthenext
lesson.

Posterboardandmarkers
Worksheets(Grocerystoreactivitysheet,practicesheet)
Exitticket

Procedure:

Time

MathematicalTaskstobeUsed,
TeacherThoughts/Actions/Questions

AnticipatedStudent
Comments,Questions,
Actions,andStrategies

20

EXPLORATION

Algebragrocerystore(modifiedversionof
thisactivity:
http://www.education.com/activity/article/S
hop_Algebra_middle/
)

Grocerystorewillbesetup
aroundclassroom.Allgroceryitems
willhavestickynoteswiththeprice
oftheitem
Studentswillgoshoppingwitha
partneroftheirchoiceandfillout
anactivitysheettogether.
DIrectionsforthesheet:
Answerall
questionsandhavesomesortof
representationforyouranswer(do
notjustwriteanumber)
Questionsonactivitysheetwillbe
questionssuchas

Howmuchdoesoneapple
cost?Whatabout3apples?
4apples?100apples?

Howmuchwoulditcostfor
abananaandavocado?2
bananasand3avocados?

IfIhave$5andonlywantto
buycucumbers,howmany
couldIbuy?

Studentswillmovethrough
thisactivityatdifferentpaces
andthatisOKAY!

Atthispoint,therewillnot
havebeendirectinstruction
onsolvingequations.There
willbesomestudentsdoing
repeatedadditionandsome
whomayalreadyhavesome
knowledgeofvariables.
Otherswillbecreativeand
drawpictures.

Thepurposeisthatstudents
willstarttounderstandthe
needforvariables,andthat
allstudentsarethinking
aboutsomewaytorepresent
differentquantitiesof
somethingunknown.

Thefirstgroupofquestions
areallaboutitemsinthe
storethathaveprices
labeledtothem.Asthe
questionsprogress,
unknownscomeinto
question.Howwillstudents
representthem?
IWANT
STUDENTSTO
NEED
THE
VARIABLE,sothatwhenI
introducetheconcept,they
go,OH!Thatshelpful!

Ifstudentsgetstuckon

Istartoutwith$3andthen
buyamysteryitem.Iamleft
with$1.Howmuchdoesthe
mysteryitemcost?Based
onourgrocerystore,what
couldthemysteryitembe?

Irealizethatstorehassold
meamoldytomatosoIgo
backtoaskforarefund.I
enterthestorewith$3,and
leavethestorewith$10.
Howmuchdidthestore
refundme?

Ourstoredoesnotsell
zucchini,sowedonotknow
howmuchmoneyazucchini
costs.Myfriendtellsmeat
thefarmersmarket,5
zucchiniscost$10.How
muchisonezucchini?Then
sherealizesshewaswrong
anditsactually$15for5
zucchinis.Nowhowmuchis
1zucchini?

some,thatsokay!!!!Aslong
astheyhavesomesortof
representationandattemptto
start
thinking.Theyshould
attempttosolveequations
eveniftheyarenotwrittenas
equations.Numbersare
small/easyenoughtowork
withthatapicturecanhelp
solvewithouttoomuch
struggle.

15

Partnerspairupwithanothersetof
partnerstocompareresponsesandmodify
answers.Eachgroupoffourwritestheir
answer/drawstheirrepresentationforone
ofthelasttwoproblemsonposterboard.
Studentsdoagallerywalkandeachgroup
explainstheirwork.

Studentswillbeconcerned
with,Isthisright?Itis
importantforteachertomake
itclearthatthereisnoright
orwrongatthispoint.Itis
veryunlikelythatinagroup
of4,studentswillbesofar
offthattheirthinkingisway
offbase.Ifthisisthecase,
teacherwillbecirculatingand
workwiththisgroup.

15

DIRECTINSTRUCTION

Teacherbeginsworkingthroughthe

Thehardeststepforstudents
willbetofrom
5zucchinis=$10to

zucchiniproblemonboard,
overexaggeratinghowlongittakesto
keepwritingthewordzucchinioverand
over.(5zucchinisis$10.Oh,now5
zucchinisis$15).

Howelsecouldwewriteisinmath
terms?
=
5zucchinis=$10

Nowmoveto5*zucchinis=$10

Myhandisgettingtiredfromwriting
zucchinis...canIjustwriteZ?

5*Z=$10

Dontsolveyet,justkeepequationswritten
onboard.

Moveontomoldytomatoproblem.What
couldwewritefor
tomatorefund?
(3+t=10)

Atthispoint,studentsarecatchingonthat
avariablerepresentsanunknown
something.Teachercannowcallit
A
VARIABLE.

Nowmoveontoactuallysolvingthe
equation.Studentswillhavelikelysolved
usingpictures,sopickagroupwhoused
picturestodividecorrectlyandhavethem
explainwhytheyaredividing.

Discuss:Inthis
equation
weare
multiplying,sowhydowedividetofindthe
answer?Inthetomato
equation
,wehave
+sign,buttosolve,yousaidwedo103.
WHYDOWEDOTHEOPPOSITE?

Showscalepicture,explicitlyteachthatin
an
equation
,tokeepitbalanced,ifyou
takeoff3fromoneside,youtakeoff3
fromtheotherside.Usebalance
interactiveonsmartboardtoshowdifferent
examples.Askclassquestionssuchas,
Whichsideweighsmore?Howmuch

5TIMESzucchini=$10

Whydowemultiply?
Select
studentwhoshow
multiplicationintheirdrawing
andhavethemexplainto
class!

Also,atthispoint,wewill
keepthemultiplicationsign.
Whencoefficientis
introducednextclass,wewill
learnthatwedontneedthe
multiplicationsign.

moredoweneedtoaddtoonesideto
balanceit?
10

PRACTICE

Asaclass,doafewproblems
togetherwithteachermodeling.
Thesewillincludeaddition,
subtraction,multiplication,and
divisionproblemsusingdifferent
lettersforexponents.
Everyonewrite4practiceproblems
(oneforeachoperation)andsolve
them
GetwithaNEWpartner,andtrade
(solvetheproblemsyourpartner
wrote)

Studentsmaytryandwrite
problemsthatdonthave
integersasanswersitis
importantthatstudentswrite
thenumbersentencefirst
(withallnumbers)andthen
takeoutanumberand
replacewithavariable

EXITTICKET:

4+C=10
W6=1
3*G=12
15/R=5

Whatisasymbolforanunknownvalue
called?

A. Meetingtheneedsofallstudents:
a. EnglishLanguageLearners:
i.
Forthegrocerystoreactivity,ELLstudentsmaynotknowthenamesof
allthefruitsandvegetables,sothiswouldgreatlyhindertheirabilityto
completetheactivity.ELLstudentswillbegivenaworksheetthatincludes
picturesnexttoeachproblem,showingthefruitorvegetable.
ii.
Whenlearningtheterms
equation
and
variable,
ELLstudentswillhave
littlevocabularycardswiththeterms,theirdefinitions,andexamples.
Duringpartnerworktime,teacherwillverballygooverthesecardswith
ELLstudents.
b. BelowGradeLevelLearners:
i.
Forthe
DirectInstruction
segment,belowgradelevellearnerswillbe
givenguidednotestohelpthemfollowalonginthediscussion.Therewill
beblankstofillinandspacesonthesheettowritedownexamples.This
willhelpthemstayorganizedandprocesstheinformation.

ii.

Becauseoftheheterogeneousgrouping,itislikelythatbelowgradelevel
learnerswillnotallbegroupedtogether.Inthepartnersandgroupsof4,
theywillworkwiththeirpeerstounderstandthecontent.Iftheteacher
seesagroupofallbelowgradelevellearners,shewillspendmostofher
timewiththisgroupandguidethemthroughthework.
c. AboveGradeLevelLearners:
i.
Abovegradelevellearnerswilllikelyfinishthegroceryshoppingvery
quickly.Theywillbetaskedtowriteashortstoryincorporatingitemsfrom
thegrocerystoreanddifferenttransactionsthatoccur.
ii.
AboveGradeLevelLearnersmustshowbalancemodelandalgebraic
stepsforallproblemsonexitcardandwithpartnerwork.Challengethem
tocomeupwithanotherwaytorepresentsolvinganequation

Thissiteishelpfulforallstudentstopracticewiththescalemodel
http://www.mathplayground.com/AlgebraEquations.html