FOREST LAKE AREA SCHOOLS PRE-OBSERVATION FORM

Name Kayti Bjorklund-Strandlund Phone # 651-982-8049 Subject/Course - Math Date of Observation November 5, 2013

School - Wyoming Elementary School Grade Level 6 Grade Room # 106 Time of Observation - 10:30-11:30 AM
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1. What state and/or national standard is being addressed? (1c) Number and Operation 6.1.3.1 Multiply and divide decimals and fractions, using efficient and generalizable procedures, including standard algorithms 6.1.3.4 Solve real-world and mathematical problems requiring arithmetic with decimals, fractions and mixed numbers 2. What is the Forest Lake learner outcome(s) being addressed? (1c) Number and Operation 6.1.3.1 Multiply and divide decimals and fractions, using efficient and generalizable procedures, including standard algorithms 6.1.3.4 Solve real-world and mathematical problems requiring arithmetic with decimals, fractions and mixed numbers 3. What is the specific lesson goal/outcome? Please choose one: The students will know, the students will understand or the students will be able to . . . (1c) Students will divide decimals by whole numbers o Students will apply what they know already about decimals and whole number division to divide a decimal by a whole number o Students will apply division algorithms/methods to real-world problems/situations in by working in small groups o Students will learn practical applications of decimal division to make it more relevant to their own life Students will understand the concept of unit price o Students will apply what they know about division and decimals to calculate unit price

4. How will you assess whether or not your students have met the goal(s)? (1b,1c,3d) Informal Observation Assessments: I will be checking for understanding through class discussion as we review on the SMARTboard before we break into small groups. By checking their responses, body language, facial expressions, etc., this should give me a feel of whether students need more review or if they are ready to break into their small learning groups right away. I will be circulating around to each group during the small learning group activity, checking to make sure students are completing the activity and are engaged. I will also allow students to ask questions the next day to clarify any problems they may have encountered on their homework. Formal Observations Assessments: I will collect the Sum-It-Up sheets and activity sheets to help give me a better understanding of what they took with them from the lesson. I will use homework (due the next day) to assess what they were able to produce from our lesson.

Application of Assessments: During the lesson, if I find that students or learning groups are not on the right track, struggling, or need more help, I will intervene with groups and help them focus on the main points of my lesson. If I find the whole class is struggling, we will walk through the activity as a whole or give more guidance so they can complete their activity successfully. If students were able to work through the activity successfully and were able to complete their homework independently, we are ready to build on those skills and move on to dividing decimals by decimals. 5. How will students be made aware of assessment criteria? (3d) The students know that daily assignments are graded as one tool of assessment. They also know that I look over their Sum-It-Up sheets to help me figure out what they learned or still have questions about. 6. How do the goals/outcomes relate to prior knowledge and connect to related and/or other disciplines? (1a,1c) This activity will reinforce and enrich the understanding of dividing decimals by whole numbers. We are building on our multiplication and division facts as well as making connections with real-world situations. It shows how important mathematics is to the real-world. 7. In what ways, if any, will your lesson incorporate other types of learning (social skills, communication skills, reasoning skills)? (3c) Social interaction as well as dealing with the economy and money is crucial to be successful in our society. This activity encourages students to use social and communication skills while working with others in their small groups. They must also use reasoning skills to decide which is the better bargain, when shopping for items. 8. What difficulties do students typically experience in content, directions, and procedures and how might you alleviate those difficulties? (1a,3a) Some students will need more direction to begin the investigation. I have grouped students in approximate skill groups for the decimal activity. This allows me to focus on a few groups that may need more help or direction. In addition, neighboring students are very helpful to classmates that may be struggling. Other than behavior, the one thing that I find that students have the most difficulty with is not the concept of decimal division, but the multiplication/division facts that is involved in order to do decimal division. Students can usually do the steps in decimal division but many of them often struggle with the basic facts. There are two ways that I address this in this lesson. One, I allow those students to use a multiplication chart or calculator. (I prefer the multiplication chart and recommend that most often.) The second way I accommodate to this is to use a variety of levels of the independent practice (worksheet) and activity sheets. Our new curriculum does a fantastic job of providing many practice sheets at different levels to accommodate your students needs. One other thing that kids sometimes forget to do or get stuck on is putting extra zeros as needed in order to complete the problem. Most of the problems that they will be doing in their activity will only call for them putting one extra zero, if at all. I will give them a quick reminder of this before we start the activity.

9. Describe the students in your class and how you get to know them. Consider students outside the norm, how individual students learn, their interest and cultural heritage, special educational needs or medical needs. (1b) My class, as a majority, is eager to learn. I do not have any major discipline problems but they can be a hard group to stay on task. The novelty of the SMARTboard has help captivate more of my students. I also have a behavioral cube reward system that has helped pull them in and keep them on task. My biggest issue lies in the spread of academic ability. I have a heavy population on the high a low end of the spectrum. I have very few kids that fall in that middle group. This gives me the most trouble, especially during math. I have students that grasp the concept in just a few examples and I have others that take a lot longer. These kids, I generally spend some extra time at the end of the lesson or during independent work time, revisiting some of the main concepts or probing them through the activity. I find that some of my students are hesitant to enter our math discussions. I like to use the pair/share method to help with this problem. I tell them that mathematicians talk about their ideas and findings and they are mathematicians in training. Therefore, they need discuss and share their ideas with their classmates. Using this model, I usually get a much more rich discussion during our lessons. I use many different methods to get to know my students. First and foremost, I take interest in their lives. I attend extracurricular activities, games, meets, etc to get to know the child as a whole, not just what I see in the classroom. At the beginning of the year, they do a few surveys about their learning styles, likes, and interests. I also spend a great deal of time in class meetings/discussions in the morning. We share things in our personal and school lives. This group LOVES to share about themselves, so it is not surprising that they are a chatty group .

10. What instructional materials and resources will you use (technology, texts, manipulatives, etc)? (1e,3c) Math notebooks SMARTboard Leveled Smart Shopper activity sheets independent practice homework/ Sum-It-Up Sheets 11. How do you plan to engage students in the content? What will you do? What will your students do? Briefly outline your lesson. (3a,3c) During this lesson, students will first do a quick review of the previous days lesson decimal division with whole numbers on the SMARTboard. I will grab the students attention by asking them a series of questions that will get them thinking about shopping and finding the best bargain. We will then go over some key terms such as; comparison shopping, bargain, and price per unit. We will talk about real-world application of decimal division such as shopping at the store. After our short review, students will participate in a Smart Shopper activity in which students will explore price per unit. Students will be naturally engaged because they are working with problems that pertain to their everyday life and working in small groups. After they are completed with the activity, students will be allowed to work on their homework.

When all students are finished, we will talk about the activity such as Is the larger pack/bigger bottle/etc always the best deal? How did you figure that out? How would you use what you learned today in your own lives?

After discussion, they will take 5-10 minutes to do their Sum-It-Up sheet. The remaining time will be spent on their homework. Approximate Lesson Lay Out: Quick review decimal division with whole numbers (5 Minutes) Unit Price Lesson & Explanation of Activity Smart Shopper (15 Minutes) Activity: (15-20 Minutes) Independent Practice (until all students finish) Wrap up - Class Discussion of Activity (5-10 Minutes if time otherwise the next day) Independent Practice (until the end of Math if extra time) Sum-It-Up Sheets (last few minutes of class)

12. In what ways is this lesson differentiated to meet the needs of all learners? (1b,1c,1e,3c) Through the leveled hands-on activity, real-world application, use of the SMARTboard, class discussion, guided practice and independent practice, my students of many different levels and learning styles will be given a chance at receiving this material in many different ways. Students will receive and investigation geared at their approximate level for this particular skill. They will be working in groups according to students they work well with and students that are at a compatible level for this skill. In order to address my cluster students that tend to move through material at a much faster pace, I will have a unit price game that they can do in the iPad on reserve if they finish early. They can play this game in partners. 13. In what ways will students be engaged in higher-order thinking and discussion? (3a,3b) I always attempt to try to have students share ideas or different views, think of alternate steps that may work in a problem, or compare different ways of doing the same problem. Also, I try to question them as to why I am doing something. One of my favorite things to do is do a problem wrong or a step wrong and make them explain to me why it is wrong. Some days they do well with this, other days, this is much more difficult. There are moments when they come up with some thought provoking ideas and they even surprise themselves! One specific way that higher-order thinking will be applied to this lesson will be through ending discussion and the Sum-It-Up sheet. They will be asked questions to apply what they learned to their real life. The Sum-it-Sheet asks students to sum up what they have taken away from the lesson that particular day or lesson. Visual learners can draw pictures and linguistic learners can write. This is also a great study or reference tool.