The Perfect Lesson Plan Format*
vers. 9.30.09
I. Preliminaries
Lesson title: "How Can I get an A?"
Objective(s) of the lesson:
- LWBBAT explain what a "weighted average" is used for (mastery)
- LWBBAT use weighted average to determine their grades and how to reach their desired goals for class (Engagement)
Time required: 1 day
Materials required: calculators, pencils, papers, student's grade sheets
Focus question: How can a student use weighted average to determine their grade in a class and how can they use this information to determine how well they must do to pass a class with the grade desired?
Key vocabulary/concepts: "weighted average"
GLCES: N.MR.08.10 Calculate weighted averages such as course grades, consumer price indices, and sports ratings.
II. The lesson itself
Lesson launch: How do you determine what grades you are given? Do you know? Does Mrs. Howland just put numbers in a computer and it spits out a grade? How does it do it? (THIS IS WHERE WE WILL HAVE DISCOURSE ABOUT HOW WEIGHTED AVERAGES ARE USED TO DETERMINE THE STUDENT'S GRADES) (5-10 minutes)
(hook, access prior knowledge)
Learning tasks: I will begin by talking to the students about how their grades are determined. I will ask if they think all of their grades are worth the same amount of points. They are not, and hopefully they know this so they can tell me what they think is worth the most and what is worth the least.
Mrs. Howland sets her grades up as:
TESTS - 40%
HW - 20 %
Quizzes- 30%
Participation- 10%
I will explain this to the students and will give them some examples:
ex] I got a 73% on my test, an 89 on my Quiz, a 4/10 on my homework and full participation points. What is my overall grade:
(75).4 + 89(.3) + 40(.2) + 100(.1) = 74.7 % {75 %}
ex]On the next week we received another one of these assignments, and the grades I received were as follows: Test- 93, Quiz- 95, HW- (8/10) Participation-10
What is my grade through week 2.
(75 + 93)/2*(.4) + (89 + 95)/2 * (.3) + (40 + 80)/2 * (.2) + (100 + 100)/2 * (.1) =
168/2 (.4) + 184/2 * (.3) + 120/2 * (.2) + (200/2)*(.1)=
84 (.4) + 92 (.3) + 60 (.2) + 100(.1)= 83.2 % {83 %}
ex] What grade would I get if I got a 100 % on my next test and all other grades remained the same.
(75 + 93 + 100)/3*(.4) +92(.3) +60(.2) + 100(.1)=
268/3 * (.4) + 92(.3) +60(.2) + 100(.1)=
89(.4) + 92(.3) +60(.2) + 100(.1)= 85.2 % {85%}
(15-20 minutes)
Guided practice/extension: Determine your grades based on the information given to you...Remember that the weights are 40 % tests, 30 % quizzes, 10 % participation, 20 % homework.
Also, answer how your grade would be different if you got all of your homework and participation points? Assume that you would get full credit on all of these, how much does your total grade go up. If you have full credit on all of these, see how it would change if you had three 0's on homework assignments.
(20- 25 minutes)
Checking for understanding: During our class work on the board, I will call on different students to make sure they have a good grasp of the idea of a weighted average, and how to determine what their grades are. Through my conversations with students, I found that they have difficult time extending ideas further, so I will explain that they can use these ideas in different classes even though the weights may be different.
Summarizing what was learned: The students will have learned how to use the idea of a weighted average to determine their grades. They will know how to extend this information into different classes so that they can determine their grades in any class that they take as long as they know the different weights of the grades.
Sources: Through a discussion with Mrs. Howland, she gave me a jumping off point by discussing what she usually does with the kids. I liked the idea because it gave me some starting point, to which I put together the exact details of the lesson plan.
NAME: ______
DATE: ______
WHAT ARE MY CURRENT GRADES?
TAKE A MOMENT TO FILL IN THE CHART FOR YOUR OWN GRADES...
TEST AVERAGE - ______QUIZ AVERAGE- ______
HOMEWORK AVERAGE- ______PARTICIPATION- ______
ANSWER THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS ABOUT YOUR GRADE?
WHAT IS YOUR CURRENT GRADE IN THE CLASS? (remember that :) TESTS - 40% QUIZZES - 30% HOMEWORK- 20% PARTICIPATION- 10%
WHAT WOULD YOUR GRADE BE IF YOU RECEIVED FULL CREDIT IN BOTH THE HOMEWORK AND PARTICIPATION CATEGORIES?
*see back also
HOW MUCH DOES YOUR GRADE GO UP IF YOU RECEIVED A 100% ON YOUR TEST, (ALL OTHER GRADES WERE JUST AS YOUR RECEIVED THEM)?
WHAT WOULD BE THE BEST STRATEGY TO RAISE YOUR GRADE IN THE CLASS?