Domain: Measurement and Data Standard Code: K.MD.1 Teacher Name: Julie Johanson

Adapted from: Smith, Margaret Schwan, Victoria Bill, and Elizabeth K. Hughes. “Thinking Through a Lesson Protocol: Successfully Implementing High-Level Tasks.”

Mathematics Teaching in the Middle School 14 (October 2008): 132-138.

PART 1: SELECTING AND SETTING UP A MATHEMATICAL TASK
What are your mathematical goals for the lesson? (i.e., what do you want
students to know and understand about mathematics as a result of this lesson?) / Students will be able to describe (tell or draw) measurable attributes of objects.
·  What are your expectations for students as they work on and complete this task?
·  What resources or tools will students have to use in their work that will give them entry into, and help them reason through, the task?
·  How will the students work—
independently, in small groups, or in pairs—to explore this task?
·  How will students record and report their work? / Expectations:
Students will be able to name measurable attributes.
Students will use measurement tools for measuring the objects given attribute.
Students will be able to record their findings.
Resources/Tools:
Junk boxes http://www.center.edu/MathTheirWay.shtml
Scales
Measuring tapes of different sorts
Twelve 1” straws on bendable wire used as a ruler
Inch bear tapes (12 bears long
Inchworms
Rulers, yard sticks,
Literature (books)
Management:
Students will work individually or with a partner
Discussion will be in whole and small group settings.
Recording/Reporting
Recording booklet
Student Show and sharing time
How will you introduce students to the activity so as to provide access to all
students while maintaining the cognitive demands of the task? / This in an introductory activity to measurable attributes.
·  During story time the students will listen to; Inch by Inch by Leo Lionni; Other literature connections are The Biggest Fish; The King’s Bed.
·  Visit the math word wall to review; Attribute/characteristic of an object. Discuss what attributes the inchworm measured.
·  Do a class discussion about what is different about the pairs of children I bring up.
Short/Tall Long Hair/Short hair Dark hair/light hair big/ small
·  Introduce the students to the two groups of objects you have for them to explore attribute measurement with.
Group 1: Has tools that help you measure the attribute of the object. Scales in four different scale areas. Different conversional and non-conversional tools (bear measuring tapes, straw tapes, inchworms, rules, yard sticks, tape measures.
Group 2: Junk boxes full of objects with attributes.
·  Attribute Measurement Activity:
Tell the students that may work individually or with a partner. They are going to determine the
attributes of their junk box and draw the attribute. The students will have an opportunity to come
together and tell how they discovered the attribute and measured it.
Management Clues: First, the boys choose from the measurement tools and the girls choose a junk box. Then they flip flop and choose the materials they haven’t gotten. Students establish where they will work best. Questioning works best to help the student determine their best work area/space.
PART 2: SUPPORTING STUDENTS’ EXPLORATION OF THE TASK
As students work independently or in small groups, what questions will you ask to—
· help a group get started or make progress on the task?
· focus students’ thinking on the
key mathematical ideas in the task?
· assess students’ understanding of
key mathematical ideas, problem- solving strategies, or the representations?
· advance students’ understanding
of the mathematical ideas? / What measurement tool did you choose?
How do you think you use this tool?
Is there a certain place to start measuring the attribute?
What do you want to know about the junk?
Is that attribute measurable?
Assessing the Student
What attribute is being measured?
Did the student find more than one measurable attribute?
Is there an opposite measurable attribute?
How will you ensure that students remain engaged in the task?
· What assistance will you give or what questions will you ask a
student (or group) who becomes
quickly frustrated and requests more direction and guidance is
solving the task?
· What will you do if a student (or group) finishes the task almost
immediately? How will you
extend the task so as to provide additional challenge? / Asking, checking and guiding questions to promote mathematical discussion, which includes high order thinking for all students.
If a student struggles to follow along with the other students, pair them with a student who understands the concept, and given task, to act as a peer tutor and mentor to the student who struggles.
Students who finish early can take a new junk box and practice discovering measurable attributes.
Extensions:
Make/draw a list of attributes that are easy to measure and difficult to measure. (Refer to story Inch by Inch)
Have the students think of, draw, and discuss things that they can measure in their home.
PART 3: SHARING AND DISCUSSING THE TASK
How will you orchestrate the class discussion so that you accomplish your mathematical goals?
· Which solution paths do you want to have shared during the
class discussion? In what order will the solutions be presented? Why?
· What specific questions will you ask so that students will—
1. make sense of the
mathematical ideas that you want them to learn?
2. expand on, debate, and question the solutions being shared?
3. make connections among the different strategies that are presented?
4. look for patterns?
5. begin to form generalizations?
What will you see or hear that lets you know that all students in the class
understand the mathematical ideas that
you intended for them to learn? / Students will gather into the sharing circle with their drawings. Taking turns; the students will share the measurable attribute they discovered with their classmates. The discussion allows the students to verbalize their understanding, and learn from each other through both whole group and individual settings.
Solution Pathways:
Students will be allowed to determine the best way for them to come to their answers. They will be exposed to several means to develop an understanding of what a measurable attribute is. What tool they use to measure the attribute.
Students learn differently, so providing them different resources, methods and show/share their knowledge will develop around this particular mathematical skill.
Specific Questions:
What tool are you using to measure with?
What attribute are you measuring?
Can you think of any other attribute to measure?
Does the tool you are using measure any other attribute?
Could you use these tools at your home?