Standards-based Mathematics Curriculum Lesson Plan
DRAFT DUE: April 13, 2011
FINAL DUE: May 9, 2011
Value: 10% of your total grade
The purpose of this assignment is to give you some experience with Standards-based mathematics curricula and to help you learn to adapt lessons from pre-made mathematics programs.
Standards-based mathematics curricula are math curricula that have been developed to meet the broader and deeper math education standards that have been developed over the last 20 years. The curricula we will explore in this class have been developed with funding from the National Science Foundation and were created to help support teachers as they attempt to teach mathematics with a greater focus on conceptual knowledge, problem solving, mathematical reasoning, and connections between ideas. All the curricula we will explore in class have been extensively field-tested in classrooms. Many of the curricula are currently used in schools in our area and around the state.
We have two standards-based mathematics curricula available in our library: Everyday Mathematics, which you can find at the reserve desk, and Investigations in Number, Data, and Space, which you can find in the reference section of the Teaching Materials Center in the library. You are expected to use a lesson from one of these curricula for this assignment.
After spending some time in class exploring these curricula, you will be asked to select a mathematics activity from these programs to teach a small group of children (3-5 kids, of any age is ideal). This group of children can be any group of children you know: A group of siblings, cousins, neighbors, etc.
You may also try to arrange to teach this lesson to a small group of children in the classroom in which you are observing. If you want to do this, you should talk to your host teacher about the possibility of you doing this WELL IN ADVANCE of when you hope to teach the lesson. You are strongly encouraged NOT to teach this lesson to an entire classroom of children.
Before you choose the activity, you should have some sense of the grade level of the children who will be in your group. While you will get the basic idea for your activity from the curricula, you must write up your own lesson plan.
The activity should be age appropriate and should teach your group members something new about math. For example, you are advised to stay away from activities that help children learn the basic facts as most children have some knowledge of these. If you want some suggestions of what to try with a certain age group, please see me.
A draft of your lesson plan will be reviewed by me and you will receive ungraded feedback from me. I NEED TO APPROVE YOUR LESSON PLAN BEFORE YOU TEACH IT TO YOUR SMALL GROUP. So, this draft will be due on or before April 13. If you are teaching this lesson before April 6, then you must get the lesson to me well in advance of when you plan to teach the lesson. With your draft, you should pass in the relevant pages from the curriculum you used. The final, revised version of your lesson plan will be due May 9.
Requirements:
1. Complete a draft of your lesson plan in the department's standard lesson plan format and submit to me for review WITH THE RELEVANT PAGES FROM THE CURRICULUM. I cannot review your lesson plan unless I see how the lesson was presented in the curriculum.
2. Revise your lesson plan and teach to a group of children.
3. Pass in your ORIGINAL draft lesson plan (WITH INSTRUCTOR COMMENTS AND CURRICULUM PAGES) and the final lesson plan with your Reflection Paper.
4. Include in your lesson plan all the elements required by the department's standard lesson plan format and be sure you have:
Grading:
Grading on this assignment will be based on completion of all the requirements.