Homework answers / question archive / Instructional Strategies: How was the lesson taught? What did you learn about the strategy? The lesson was taught first with a refresher of the days before, with the teacher giving the students a time test on their multiplication facts

Instructional Strategies: How was the lesson taught? What did you learn about the strategy? The lesson was taught first with a refresher of the days before, with the teacher giving the students a time test on their multiplication facts

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Instructional Strategies: How was the lesson taught? What did you learn about the strategy?

The lesson was taught first with a refresher of the days before, with the teacher giving the students a time test on their multiplication facts. Then the class moved to the new lesson with each student at their desk while the teacher was at the white board writing some information on the board. The teacher asked the students questions about how you can write numbers in the place value system and about 5 students came up and demonstrated. The lesson was taught as a whole group before breaking off into small group or individual. There was some vocabulary that was discussed before the lesson began to gauge prior knowledge.

The teacher used base-ten blocks to help them see the values visually and be able to count with a manipulative to check their thinking. For example, 26 is 2 tens and 6 ones. Then she asked how the students would write this number in either word form, unit form, expanded form or in standard form.  

Strategies used were repetition, as they spent quite a bit of time going over the concepts more than once, math games, they did place value task scavenger hunt, which you can see an example of here Place Value Task Cards - The Curriculum Corner 4-5-6, group work and manipulatives. I learned that all these tools are necessary when working with students who are on different levels, one student was new to the class and was obviously struggling. The teacher had her try first and then would help her after she tried. It is okay that they are not all the same, everyone learns different but having these tool and strategies makes learning less frustrating for the students and keeps them engaged in learning. Learning experiences do not need to feel like learning and can keep students engaged and make their learning meaningful, I saw this while observing this class.

 

 

Student Activities: What did the students learn? Were they engaged? What assessments were used?

The students learned where a comma goes in a number such as 100,436, how to write in word form, expanded form, using base 10, unit form and standard form. They talked about place value relationships.

I found that the students were engaged for most of the lesson. The teacher kept asking questions to reiterate the learning that was happening. They did get interrupted by a fire drill but even after the drill the student came back in and finished their lesson. For homework they had a Google assignment relating to their lesson.

Assessments were used during the whole lesson. She spoke to each student individually and discussed what they had learned in this lesson. She asked questions to gauge if they needed more time or were able to proceed onto the next lesson.

 

 

 

 

Reflection: What will you take away? What would you do differently?

While in this classroom observing I got to talk to the teacher and learn a little bit more about this class. I thought that the teacher did a great job with each student, she has some new students who are not exactly on the same level with the other students, while working on the same math concept.

Being a teacher for so long, she can plan a variety of way to teach her student based on assessing them. She differentiated based on their ability. I saw small group work and individual work while observing.

I will take away how close she is with each student. She knows their personalities, how to tell if they are having a good day or a bad day and if they will be able to get through the lesson or will it be a struggle. She had assigned seating; I am sure to make the most of each lesson and to minimize behavior issues or talking while she is giving information. I will take away how she was able to demonstrate how to develop children’s skills and how she has develop ways to connect mathematical ideas to the real-world activities. She provided opportunities for children to explain their thinking as they interact with the mathematical ideas and corrected them if something was wrong by showing them the way to do it.

In this classroom I do not think there is anything would change or do differently. The teacher has a great handle on her students and how she runs her class. The only thing that I feel I would do differently is not time the test. The students seemed to get very anxious when she told them they would have 2 minutes to complete their test. I was worried that anxiety would linger after the test, but it did not seem to.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What connections can you make regarding what you observed and what you are learning about in class?

I saw and made many connections to Chapter 7,8 and 9 in our book and supporting materials. I feel that the teacher has some of the principals of an extraordinary math teacher, as talked about in the Ted Talks video. I saw her start the lesson with a question and let students struggle to persevere before she would help them. She let her student play with their math. She gives them games, manipulatives, and blocks so they can think math all the time.