First Grade Math Lesson One
September 21, 2001
1. Context:
Math lesson working on the concepts of more than and fewer.
A.) Activity will be for the entire class to work on individually with guidance.
B. Student have worked on the concept of 'more than' and 'less than' in Kindergarten. This lesson will review and help students develop a better understanding of this concept. We also work on this concept with our weather graph daily and a few other graphs made as a class. More than and fewer are basic fundamental mathematic principles which children need to develop and build on. This concept helps later in budgeting, comparing prices and problem solving.
C. 6.A.1a - Identify whole numbers and compare them using the words "more than", "less than", "greater than", "fewer than", or "equal to" applying counting and place value.
6.D.1 - Compare the number of objects in groups.
2. Objective: Students need to understand the concept of "more than" and "fewer than", this lesson will address these concepts and help students recognize and gain a concrete understanding using a variety of phrases to express these concepts.
3. Method
A. Materials needed
1)Students will need their math workbooks (pages 19 and 20) and a sharpened pencil.
2)I will give student 10 snap cubes for each child. The snap cubes are available in the room.
B. Students are arranged at tables with up to four students at a table.
C. I will introduce the concept of more than, less than with a brief story problem as follows. "I have 7 books. You have more. How many books could you have?" I will write out this story problem on chart paper before hand. Underneath I will draw 7 books. I will have the word more in a different color to stand out. As students answer the question, I will write their answers under my story problem and illustrate the number of books (within reason). I will repeat with another story problem using less than if students do well.
Next, I will pass out the snap cubes to the students and ask them to open their workbooks to page 19. Students will be asked to count the number of cubes they have and write that number at the top of page 19.
Next, students will work on the first exercise which asks students to count the number of blue cubes and write that number on the worksheet. Students will then be asked if they have more than or less than the number of blue blocks on their page. As we verify that they have more by counting and comparing, students will be asked to write the word more next to the crab on the top half of the page. (There are only five blue block on the page!) In the next three blocks on the page, students are asked to draw a set of blocks (their choice) in each box. Then to the right, students are asked to circle if their blocks are more than 5 or fewer than five.
Upon completion, students will be directed to page 20. They must write the number of items in each group with two pairs of groups being divided in to four sections. Next students must cirlce the group in each pair that has more. These are followed by two different pairs of grouped items. Students are to count, write the number in each group and then circle the group in each pair with the fewer items.
I will ask students how they know or can figure out if they have more than or fewer items.
The final exercise is a problem solving exercise. Students are given a word problem to solve. Are there more __ than __? How do you know?
4. Evaluation:
A.) I will make a visual assessment of the students as the lesson progresses. I will be able to observe their work in their workbooks as they work to assess their understanding, the worksheets will give me an opportunity to assess writing, words and numbers, and their counting as well as the concept being taught. In the end I will ask the students to hold up less than a chosen number of cubes and more than the chosen number of cubes. (the chosen number being one I have chosen at that time from one to ten.)
B.) On a scale of 1 to 4: 4 = students who accurately make more and fewer comparisions when using concrete or pictorial modles. 3 = students making comparisions when allowed to line up concrete models, and make comparisions with pictorial models when prompted. 2 represents a child who only makes comparisions when allowed to line up concrete models, but continues to choose the group with more when asked to show the group with fewer and/or vice versus. 1 - chilren showing uncertainty when asked to compare two groups.
C.) If students are able to demonstrate a concrete understanding of "more than" and "fewer than" as a whole, we will move on to working with ten frames to count by grouping.
5. Feedback:
Mrs. Robertson was out for the day, therefore the building substitute, Mrs. O. provided feedback for this lesson. Her remarks are as follows: 9-21-01 I observed Kathy throughout the class. She is very well prepared. When teaching she explains everything thoroughly. I like the way she uses several examples to illustrate her point. By doing this I feel you are giving all the children a chance to grasp the meaning of what you are saying. You are good in making sure they stay on track and disciplining them. Kathy you will be a plus for anyone that ends up having you as their teacher keep up the good work! Mrs.O.
6. Reflection:
The lesson started off rather smoothly. The students have a tendency to want to flip through the workbook as soon as they get them rather than waiting and paying attention. I asked them not to open their workbook until directed to so I might have their attention for the introductory story problem and visual examples. Many students quickly gave me answers that were more than 7 books. Only two gave number fewer. I also asked students how they knew their answer was more than seven. They only responded that they knew their number was higher than 7 not that they could count. As a class we counted my seven and a couple of their answers which left more books (using the word more and pointing to it in the story problem). Having the students open their books to page 19 and passing out cubes at the same time seemed to be a big distration. I would try explaining the activity with the cubes and giving more direction before handing the cubes to the students allowing them a few minutes to experiment on their own with 'more than' next time. The class had been rather noisy all day anyway and the manipulative were not really helping since many would not follow directions, so we took them away and returned to the workbook lesson. I allowed students to work at their pace after the first initial instructions as Mrs. O. and I moved around the room helping students one on one. As they mastered each instruction we gave them the instruction for the next section. Students who completely finished were allowed to continue working on page 20, then they worked on their handwritting exercies from earlier in the morning. This seemed to work well in keeping faster working students who 'had' the concept from being bored and distruptive.
We have also been working hard on following directions. Mrs. O. and I used this opportunity to correct students who were doing what they wanted on their sheets instead of following directions. We could also work more with students who really needed help while giving student who could do the work on their own a little personal attention for brief instructions. If the room was setup for centers, this would have probably worked better by giving a small group of students instructions and being able to work with the manipulatives without much distration. [An idea for my own room! I am starting to figure out this center thing which could definately be a good thing for some situations.] Overall, nearly every student completely finished the assignment with at least a 3 on the ruberic. Hopefully we can reach the remaining students as we continue to work with graphing and using the terms 'more than', 'fewer', and 'less than' throughout our daily lessons in all areas.
One of the most rewarding aspect during this lesson was one particular student who willingly and quickly worked correctly on his assignments with little instructions and a smile, eagerly showing me his work. This students has been testing boundries of acceptable behavior, speaking little, and working slowly since his first day at school this year. I was impressed and told him so. I look forward to seeing how far this student can go this year. He has a lot of potenial and background knowledge but does not alway show it.
I intend to move forward with the next lesson in this unit which will involve counting and ordering groups to 10.
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