Lessons

Gateway Lesson #1

October 2022

Solving for the unknown factor while practicing their multiplication skills within a story problem

Gateway Lesson #2

April 2023

Representing fractions greater than one whole on a number line 

Context: CGI (Cognitively Guided Instruction) lesson on multiplying single digit by two digit numbers. Students are expected to retell the story problem and are guided by the teacher to determine what key features are occurring in the story to help solve the problem. Additionally, as a class students and teacher will determine the number sentence for the problem at hand  (12 x 8 = ? cookies). 

Goals: The goals of the lesson are to have students actively participate in the lesson by responding to comprehension questions (thumbs up, sideways or down), helping to retell the story, determining what key features we should be aware of within the story problem and analyzing important numbers. Moreover, once students figure out what the number sentence is, they are encouraged to solve the problem using two different strategies. When finished students are encouraged but not required to try out the "spicy problem" on the back of the worksheet. Trying out the spicy problem on the back challenges those students who are identified as higher achieving.

Context: The lesson was done to introduce informational writing to the students. Students connected their writing to the colors on a stop light (green means go -main idea, yellow means slow down -share a reason or important fact, red means stop -go into detail about your yellow sentence). A teacher example was given to students so that they can have an idea of what they are expected to do. The video clip above demonstrates the introductory lesson to informational writing (example, what it is, what format it should be in). 

Goals: Students are expected to find a topic of their choosing and follow the stoplight format (green, yellow red). Having prior knowledge in persuasive and opinionated paragraph writing, students may get confused with what differentiates the two writing types they are familiar with. from informational writing. This is why students are expected to go through self, peer and teacher critique to ensure they are writing an informational writing. The challenge with the lesson was reiterating what differentiates informational writing from persuasive or opinionated writing styles.