Core Decisions of Lesson Design

What
I will be focusing on Section A of the Pennsylvania Core Standards CC.2.1.K.A.
Counting and Cardinality. Specifically, this standard includes know number names and write
and recite the count sequence. The primary focus of this lesson is to have the students learn to
quickly recognize quantities up to 10 in a 5 and 10-frame template. In my placement, I have
noticed that the math lessons completed so far are counting up to 10. They completed their
counting from 5-10 just a couple days ago. Therefore, this lesson will then challenge them to
move forward with the early counting strategies as presented in the OGAP Additive Reasoning
Progression framework to flexible counting, which would involve the students to subitize.
Although my students have not yet worked with subitizing besides the two times I conducted
number talks, I believe that they will be able to easily recognize the numbers as I continue to
scaffold their thinking.
Two major goals for this lesson involves subitizing, mentally grouping the objects they
see within a short amount of time and cardinality, pairing each object with one and only one
number name and each number name with one and only one object. Over the course of a couple Commented [c1]:
weeks, I have not been able to see them apply this skill because of the few math lessons Commented [c2]: Note this is referring to 1-1
completed in the classroom. Therefore, this will provide me with a better understanding of how correspondence, which is different than subitizing. It is
much they know in regards to this lesson. According to Chapin and Johnson, an important something you want to pay attention to, but just make
sure to clarify this. because it seems like you are saying
milestone occurs when children connect counting and cardinality-they understand that the last
they are the same thing.
number counted indicates how many are in a set (p. 16). Furthermore, [subitizing] appears to
develop after children have had repeated practice in counting such sets (p. 16). Keeping this in
mind, students will be incorporating their knowledge of cardinality to utilize it in subitizing.
They will accomplish this by representing/explaining their thinking to their classmates. Because
there are multiple ways students can go about finding the number of dots, the students will
participate in discussions of the many ways they can approach the number of dots on a card.

How
The goals of my lesson will be completed through the three-phase lesson format: launch,
work and explore, debrief and wrap up. I will begin my lesson by re-establishing the norms and
goals of a number talk, specifically for the dot card templates. I will remind the students of the
past experience they had with a number talk and provide positive reinforcement to create a low-
risk learning environment. By creating norms in which mistakes are allowed, the students will be
able to work on cardinality and subitizing at their own pace. The teaching approach I will
emphasize is to have students focus on the strategies of representing the dots. During this time,
as the students are representing strategies to their classmates, I will closely observe the different
types of strategies utilized and how they can build upon each others strategies. If necessary, I
will ask probing questions and provide additional support. This type of discourse will have the
students focus on their explanation rather than simply providing an answer to fully understand
the goals we are working towards. My hope is that students will develop multiple strategies to
represent their thoughts by observing their classmates thinking. To further assess the students, I
will present the students with an activity where students will work collaboratively to utilize
strategies and find corresponding dot cards. I hope to see more of how students comprehend the
lesson by working with a partner. Following, the students will be engaged in a follow-up
discussion talking about how the number talk supported or didnt support their ability to
complete the activity.
My lesson of allowing the students to explain their reasoning in a whole group discussion
and then work collaboratively with a partner will support them with any struggles they may
encounter. Specifically, I have noticed that many of the students in my class generally doubt
themselves when I ask them how they came to a certain answer. They assume that they need to
fix their answer when I am actually asking them probing questions. Therefore, having students
build upon their strategies by talking with one another will create an environment that
encourages communication. Previously mentioned, students will know that mistakes are
allowed. Mistakes are learning tools for students to then build upon their future reasoning. When
a mistake arises, I will provide the student with positive reinforcement to help them realize that
everyone makes mistakes. This norm will encourage a low-risk classroom environment and
encourage students to explain their reasoning on how they came to a certain quantity of dots
represented on the 5 or 10 frame template.

Why
I chose this lesson specifically to challenge students to move forward from their early
counting strategies skills to flexible counting by mentally grouping the dots accordingly. My
classroom mentor has mentioned multiple times that she isnt a huge fan of math and evidently, I
noticed this as there were very few math lessons completed in the classroom. Previously
mentioned, the most recent lesson taught from my CM was having the students count/write the
numbers 5-10. This provides almost no opportunity for students to challenge themselves and
there are no probing questions being asked for their reasoning. According to Burns, students
need to develop multiple strategies so that they become flexible in their mathematical thinking
and are able to look at mathematical situations from different perspectives (p. 28). I realized that
this would be the perfect opportunity to challenge students by having them articulate strategies in
representing the dots.
I hope to create a task that is more engaging than the planned lesson with the dot cards. I
wished to have my students support each other for the most part if necessary. I believe that
students can learn exponentially when they work collaboratively with their peers rather than the
teacher constantly lecturing them. Switching the task from the usual worksheet individual work
and lectures, I hope that this will keep them more engaged and interested in the skills they
learned. Furthermore, taking into account that they are kindergarten students, explaining that
they too can be teachers by supporting their partner will validate their learning and further
encourage them to be active learners.

Burns, M. (2005). Looking at how students reason. Educational Leadership, November.

Chapin & Johnson, Math Matters, Understanding the Math You Teach Grades K-8. Math
Solutions Publications, 2006.
 Mathematics Lesson Plan Template

Kindergarten/planning to teach on 11/16

Goals / Objectives
The objective for this lesson is to have students represent quantities between 5 and 10 on 5-frame
and 10-frame templates. Therefore, students will utilize strategies by mentally grouping, and
extending their knowledge of counting strategies presented in the OGAP Additive Reasoning
Progression framework. This will allow students to learn how to use these specific strategies as
they progressively work with greater numbers of dots.

Standards (and assessment anchors, if possible):

K.CC.2.1.K.A.1 Know number names and write and recite the count sequence.

Materials and preparation

1. Dot card templates
2. Dot card (1-10) templates
3. Number talk goals anchor chart
a. Markers
b. Pictures

Classroom arrangement and management issues

- Six students will be sitting at a U-table (used for guided reading) in the classroom. I purposely
chose to have the lesson at the U-table so students can easily talk to each other and have
accessibility to me in case they need further support. This lesson will be conducted during
readers workshop because the other students will be talking and doing their independent work in
a moderate level as well. This will allow us to hold minimal conversations without having to
worry too much distracting the classroom. To ensure that we arent distracting the other students,
I will re-establish the classroom norms such as sitting with their whole body listening, raising
hands, and upholding the power of 3 (love yourself, love your classmates, love the classroom)
before starting the lesson. However, because this is a number talk, I will re-establish the numer
talk norm of putting a thumb in front of their chest when they have an answer. During the lesson,
the students may shout out numbers, so I will continue to re-establish the norms. Furthermore,
the students might want to move around. In that case, I will have the students stand up and
quietly jump up 10 times before continuing the lesson.

Plan
1. Before (Launch).
a) Introduce the Hook and remind students of number talk goals using anchor chart (5
min)
a. Today, were going to be doing number talks. Who remembers when we did our
first number talk a couple weeks ago? *listen to students answers*
 b. Go over expectations and norms using anchor chart

c. conduct a number talk with the students using these frames: (10 minutes)

I will be using A from each of the sets presented to progress from 5 to
10 frames.
I will ask the student how many dots they see by showing each dot card
for a couple seconds. I will mentally record the students answers while
asking how they saw the numbers/what strategies they used.
Make sure they are utilizing different strategies to find the number by
asking how they saw the number. If they say that they saw counted, I
will further probe them and ask them to come up and show me. Commented [c3]: Yes, and its ok if they say I just saw
it was 4 because you are trying to emphasize that
2. During (Work and explore).
a. Find the same number! (10-15 minutes)
Students will be paired with a partner.
Between you and your friend, decide whos going to be partner A and
partner B. *Assist the students if necessary* Whos partner A? Whos
partner B? Okay, now that weve worked with these 5 frame and 10
frame templates, Im going to have you guys work in pairs and work
with these different templates. Ill be giving you and your partner a set
 of cards. Partner A will choose one card from the pile and partner B is
going to find a different card that shows the same number. If you need
help finding the same number on a different card, partner A can help.
*Model for students first* So if I were working with _____, and Im
partner A, Im going to choose a card *choose one* and _____, partner
B is going to look for a different card with the same number Everyone
understand? Okay, go ahead. Commented [c4]: This is all really still part of the
Students will be working together before since you are setting up the main task. Here you
might also want to review the ten frame and ways to
After 5 minutes, Ill have them switch roles. know the total using 5 and 10 (which should come up
in the number talk) In other words, try to set them up
for success with the task while still leaving it open for
them to use the strategies that make sense to them.

3. After (Debrief and wrap up). (5-10 minutes)
a. Call students to put the pile of cards back into a stack.
a.b. I will hold up two cards up and ask if they are the same or different. Then, I will
ask how they know if its the same or different. If the students count one by one,
I will ask if there is another way to find the total amount of dots.
b.c. Allow students to provide any type of feedback and ask questions. Commented [c5]: Be more specific here. What are
some questions you can ask to get them to focus on the
important mathematics? You may also want to have
them discuss more than one pair. Maybe one that is the
Anticipating students responses and your possible responses same and one that is different? With the one that is
In this section, you anticipate how students are likely to respond to the tasks and activities in the different, you could even ask if they know how many
lesson and you consider what this means for your plans. Think about the following kinds of more one has than the other as an extension.
responses:
a. Different strategies students are likely to use to solve the task during number talk:
a. -Students response: Students will build upon their classmates answers.
-My response: I love you used your classmates idea to get to your answer! or
Can you re-explain to your classmate said?
b. Students response: Students will use the previous card shown during the
number talk to get to their answer.
-My response: I love how you used your prior knowledge or if I want to
challenge them, What was the difference from the previous card you saw and
this one?
c. Students response: Students will say I saw the dots by counting, seeing groups
of 2, 3, 4, etc.)
 -My response: How did you count? One-by-one? or How did you see the
groups of 2, 3, 4, etc? Can you come up and show me?
d. Students response: Students will say I saw it with my eyes
-My response: How did you see it with your eyes? What specific strategies did
you use?
b. Different strategies students are likely to use to solve the task during the Find the same
number! Activity:
a. Students response: Count the dots one by one on each card
-My response: I love how youre counting one by one to find the card. What a
great strategy!
c. What students are likely to be confused by or find difficult
a. Students response: Student may have difficulty trying to explain their strategy
-My response: Continue to probe their thinking or ask if they want another
classmate to help
b. Students response: Student may have difficulty looking for a card during the
activity
-My response: Have the partner help or lay out the cards or help them use the
cancelling out (take it out of the pile if the student knows thats not the answer)
strategy
d. What aspects of the lesson might present particular managerial challenges
a. Students response: Student may be disengaged with the lesson/activity
-My response: Oh, I love how___ is trying so hard to focus or Oh, I love how
___ is working so hard to find the card.

Assessment of the goals/objectives listed above

Checking in with students as they are working with partners
Listening/observing how they are explaining their strategies in the lesson/activity
Observing the follow-up discussion after the activity
Informal assessment: As I conduct the number talk, I will be observing the students as
they explain their strategies as to how they saw the dots on the dot card. Ill focus on
whether students are counting one-by-one, grouping, or any other strategy appropriate to
get to their answer. As the students are working on the activity, I will be going around
each individual student, asking questions about how they are representing the dots and
looking for a different card with the same number of dots. I will be listening how the
students are explaining their reasoning to their partners and/or how easily the students are
able to locate different cards. Most importantly, I will utilize the checklist from this
lesson plan to accurately record my observations. During the follow up discussion after
the activity, I will be listening to which students were utilizing the strategies previously
used in the lesson.
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Accommodations
Accommodations for students who may find the material too challenging
During the activity, I would talk to the student to see whether or not they find this lesson
too confusing. If it is too challenging for a student, I would have the partner choose a card with a
smaller amount of dots so that it is easier to find the corresponding card. I would then ask that
student to explain why those two cards are the same in order for him/her to be progressively do it
with a larger amount of dots.
Accommodations for who may need greater challenge and/or finish early.
If the pair of students finish the activity too quickly, I would start the debrief activity
with that student. This will further challenge them to explain without their classmates support.