Class: EDUC 2500 D

Date: Tuesday, March 19, 2013

Time: 3:05-4:20pm

Instructor: Jordan Cardamone

Location: L1170 G

Topic: Perimeter- Grade 3 Mathematics

Desired Results:
General Outcome: Students will understand the mathematical concept of perimeter.
Specific Outcome: Students will measure (add) and record perimeter as well as construct varying
shapes for a given perimeter.
Learning Objectives:
Students will:

Demonstrate how to find perimeter for different shapes.

Recognize that different shapes can have the same perimeter.

Materials:
o

Time

Laptop/Smart Board

Graph paper

Content/Description

Strategy/
Assessment

Introduction
- Begin slide show
2 min

Does anyone know what perimeter means?

Give 30 seconds for them to come up with an answer in

- Assessment of
previous knowledge

their groups

- Group collaboration

Perimeter is the distance around the outside of a shape

- Definition

Show simple example of this.

- Example

Ask the class if this makes sense to them. Any questions?

- Check for
understanding

4 min

6 min

Procedures/Activities
1. - I am going to get 3 volunteers to come up and calculate the
perimeter of these shapes (have them come up to the board)
- Each square is one unit
- Each of these 3 students will be assigned a different square.
2. - Next show example of 2 different shapes with same perimeter on
slide show.
- Notice how these are different shapes, but still have the same
perimeter. The shapes do not have to be the same in order to have
the same perimeter.
- For everyone in the class: With the paper that I am handing out to

- Participation and
Check understanding

- Listening

- Following directions
- Completing task in

you, I want you to draw me 2 other shapes that have this same
perimeter.
- Have example shape with indicated perimeter on slide. Keep this
slide up for all students to view as they work on this.
- Put your name on your paper as soon as you get it.
- Please make sure this is your best work because you will be
handing this in to me before we move on.
- Will give you under 5 min, if you finish in time I have a fish game
for you at the end of class.
- Collect sheets from students before moving on.

allotted time frame

- Check understanding

- Following directions
- Incentive to work
efficiently and
effectively

- Collecting for
assessment of students

Closure
3 min (or
remainder
of time)

Before we move on to the game, lets review the

main things weve learned.
- What is perimeter? The distance around the
outside of an object.
- Do you have to have the same shape in order to
have the same perimeter? No.
3. Now we are going to try some examples as a class (go to website
link). http://www.learnalberta.ca/content/me3us/flash/
- If you think you know the answer, quietly raise your hand.
No shouting out answers please.
- For students who answer, ask them: How do you
know that? Ask if the class agrees.
- The number of examples we get through will be
depending on amount of time left.

- Final check for

understanding

- Engaging activity

- Following directions
- Behavior

Microteaching Reflection
What went well?
There were several aspects of my lesson that I thought went quite
well, one of them being my timing. In my planning I tried to be
accurate in regards to this, but even beforehand I recognized that the
timing when I was up there might be slightly different than what I had
planned on. To account for this, I planned for the computer activity to
be at the end because it is an easy activity that could be shortened or
lengthened if need be. My plan was to work through as many
examples as we could in the allotted time frame, and that is just what
we did. I thought that planning for this activity to be at the end of my
lesson worked out quite well, and served the purpose I was hoping it
would.
I thought that the game also worked to make the class more
interesting and engaging for the students. For some of the questions
they had to work together and collaborate as a class, which seemed to
be quite effective. Also serving a similar purpose to this game was the
student participation that I planned as part of the lesson when I had
volunteers come up to the front and try some of the examples. I
thought that because this lesson plan was geared towards a grade 3
level, it would be appropriate to have some students move around,
instead of strictly being in their desks. At this age, it is not practical to
plan for the students to remain in their desks for a long period of time,
and also with this movement, it helps to keep the students engaged
and participating in the lesson.
What could have went better?
Looking back, I think that most things went as I had planned,
but some of the aspects of this lesson I could have planned better so
the class went more smoothly. For instance, I had a simple mistake in
my slide show, which was pointed out as I taught my lesson. Although
it was a minor mistake, it did nevertheless cause some students to
become distracted with it. This definitely taught me to pay close
attention to every detail with things like examples such as this.
However, in saying this, I recognize that its almost inevitable that
small mistakes like that will occur, so I think that learning how to play
off these mistakes effectively would be quite beneficial.
Another part of my lesson that I feel could have gone better was
when I had the volunteers come up to the board. When they came up
to the board, I felt that the classroom atmosphere felt slightly
disorganized because I may have not given enough specific
instructions beforehand. For instance, I should have instructed that
they were not to touch the board when they calculated their perimeter,
as it would change the slide. However, I did not outline this first, and

one of the volunteers did touch the board, causing me to go and

change the slide show back to its rightful place. Although this wasnt
hard to fix quickly and easily, I think if I was actually with a grade 4
class, this could have turned out more chaotic than it was this time,
just because the students would have became distracted. I think that
this could have been easily avoided had I talked about this with the
class first, before I had the volunteers come up to the board.
What did I learn?
Even though for the most part, I feel that my lesson went
according to my lesson plan, I definitely did learn a lot from this
experience. For instance, I learned the importance of playing off any
mistakes you may make in your lesson. If I have that mistake serve a
purpose, so the students can learn from my mistake, I feel that it
would benefit both myself, and most importantly my students. I could
have used this as an example of how easy it is to make a simple
mistake such as this, and that they need to be careful to not make the
same mistake.
I also learned the importance of paying attention to every detail
of not only what Im teaching to my students, but also the directions I
give about what I expect from my students. A lot of disorganization
during the lesson can be avoided if I take the time at the beginning to
explain everything in detail, that the students need to know about
what is expected.
Another thing that I found was that even if you think you have
your lesson planned correctly, you will never know for sure until you
teach it. For example, if I were to teach this lesson again, I would
modify certain aspects to make it better, like when I have my
volunteers come up. Next time I probably have the students come up
individually, instead of all three at once. I think that doing it this way
would help the lesson to have more structure to it, and help to
alleviate any area where the class could become distracted.
Overall, I learned the importance of planning, especially since I
am just starting out with teaching. Planning in detail has proved to me
how effective it can be. Something major that I found was that this is
a lot more work than I expected for just one lesson plan. For days, I
modified and added different aspects into my lesson plan in attempts
to make it more successful. This experience has definitely given me
more of a respect for the teachers that have taught me in the past, as
I have now had a brief look into how much work really is involved for a
teacher, even for just one lesson plan.