Math Lesson Plan

Greater Than, Less Than, Equal To

For Lower Elementary (K-2) English Language Learner Students

Teaching Point: List systems/skills language / 45 minutes
number comparison
greater than
less than
more than
equal to
Lesson aims:By the end of the lesson the students will be able to
accurately identify which of two numbers is greater or less than another, or if they are equal. They will also be able to use “greater than,” “more than,” “equal to,” and “less than” accurately in a spoken or written sentence and write in mathematical symbols whether one number is greater or less than another, or whether they are equal.
Materials: List all lesson materials.
Greater than / less than alligator poster
magnets
magnetic white board
white boards & markers
paper & pencils
Procedure:
1.) Put greater than / less than alligator poster on the board. Explain that the alligator “eats” the larger number. Reinforce that “larger” means “more.” Provide several examples on the board, using the poster as the greater than / less than symbol. Use magnets first in groups to visually show that one group is larger than another. Write the numbers underneath each group. Then move to just numerals. Introduce the greater than / less than symbol as you move through examples. Connect the symbol with the alligator. Write complete sentences to describe each example. Use different colors of marker to highlight the vocabulary.– 10 minutes.
2.) As you move through the examples, tell students to write their answers down as to which numbers are greater than / less than, on their individual white boards, using the < > symbols. Have them show them to you if they think the correct symbol should be greater than, and then less than. Write the number of students who think each way on the board. – 5 minutes.
3.) Introduce = in a few examples, switching some of the place values around to encourage accuracy. Repeat white board activity to assess individual students. – 5 minutes.
4.) Students stand up. They space out so that when their arms are stretched out, they do not touch another student. Put two numbers on the board. If the number on the left is larger, the students turn their “alligator arms” in that direction, and vice versa if the number on the right is larger. If the numbers are equal, students make an equal sign with their arms. Call on individual students at random to say the complete comparison sentence out loud for a few problems. – 10 minutes.
5.) Give each student a number. Place them in partners. Students compare their numbers and decide who has the larger one. They then come to the front of the room, and say out loud who has the larger number. For example, “The number 92 is greater than 42.” Provide a sentence frame on the board for reference. One partner speaks, and the other partner writes the sentence on the board. Before each pair goes up to the front to share their numbers, the class can vote on which number is larger. – 15 minutes.
Notes:

Technology in a Math Lesson for ELL Students:

As a follow-up activity, students can individually practice this skill by playing an online greater / less than game, such as that found at Likewise, they can work in partners or small groups to do the same game. This encourages oral usage of lesson vocabulary and asking questions, explaining and giving opinions in English (Liaw, 1997 in Ybarra & Green, 2003).

Using the online game provides a real purpose for the interaction between students. The goal is not just to get them talking to each other for the sake of talking alone. Students are in a realistic situation in which they need to find out information from each other. This is a necessary component of small group work for ELL students (Nunn, 2002).

References:

Nunn, Roger. (2002, July).Designing simple interactive tasks for small groups.The Internet TESL

Journal.8(7).Retrieved from

Ybarra, Renee & Green, Tim.(2003 March). Using technology to help ESL/EFL students develop

language skills. The Internet TESL Journal.9(3). Retrieved from

Technology.html