Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Lesson on Circles
5 December 2014
Middle School Geometry
Student 1- Joshua
This student possesses mild autism and has a hard time forming relationships with
teachers and other students in the classroom. He is very nonverbal and will not answer questions
in front of anyone he does not feel comfortable around. He cannot move seats in the classroom
and refuses to pay attention if the class does not follow the outline of how class is supposed to go
that I write on the board every day before the lesson. He shows great reasoning skills and
mathematical ability on tests and does extremely well on the homework that he does turn in.
Student 2- Andrew
Andrew is a Hispanic student who has a severe hearing impairment and is almost
completely deaf in his right ear. He wears an earpiece that is linked to a little microphone that I
wear on my shirt and speak into so he can hear what I am saying whether I am next to him or
not. In addition to this, when he does talk he keeps it short and is not always confident in his
speech. His writing skills are great and he shows a lot of interest in art and writing stories as they
fill his math journal that the students are required to turn in at the end of the week. English is his
second language, but he speaks almost perfect English and can be helpful when around the ELL
students in the classroom.
Student 3- Christopher
Chris is a student who possesses dysgraphia, a disability that inhibits his writing
capabilities. He avoids writing at all costs and refuses to write on the board in small groups with
his peers. His spelling is not terrible and he has learned many tricks to help himself remember
how to spell commonly used words in my class, however he struggles with individual letters still.
Even when he writes a word correctly he is very self-conscious about everything he writes and
erases almost everything. This is especially evident when writing out mathematical expressions
and equations. His confusion when writing these down often hinders his ability to complete the
problem correctly just because he is unable to stay organized even if he understands the
concepts.
Instructional Objectives:
1.0 Students will be able to solve problems involving the area of circles using terms we will
review as a class.
1.1- Students will demonstrate their knowledge of vocabulary words from class.
1.2- Students will be able to recognize what parts of a circle are needed to solve the
problem being asked.
1.3- Students will be able to calculate the Area of a given circle.
Anticipatory Set:
Have students look at the figure below and try to figure
out the area inside the circle. Tell them to do their best to get
as close to the area as possible, but that they are not expected
to find the exact area. They will need to count the squares and
estimate the area.
On standardized tests, they might give you a figure
similar to this and ask the area. When you are given this
question in a multiple choice format, we might not need to find
the exact area. We can instead estimate the area and eliminate
answers that we know are not even close. That way you have more time for questions that
require more problem solving skills.
Then we can discuss that even though we have formulas for things, we need to
understand what they find. Estimating can be useful in certain situations, and they need to
understand that there does not always need to be an exact right answer all the time.
- In going through this, I will be color coding different parts so students can easily
see connections in the different equations.
- Now that we know how to find the circumference and area of any circle, we can practice these
skills so that we will be able to solve more complicated problems later on.
Guided Practice:
-Go through another example each of finding the circumference and area of a circle with the
class, prompting students for input in the process.
-Have them do two problems in their table groups and compare their answers with each other.
Let them know that when I have talked to their group and made sure they are all on the same
page then they have the choice to choose what they want to next. Their options for the rest of the
class are:
1. Start their homework (a worksheet that I made)
2. Write in their math journal about what they learned or any questions they have
3. Other specific modifications:
Joshua can also work on math games or work on something with a partner
Andrew can work with someone on math or listen to music to ease his ears
Chris can draw in his notebook or work on his writing development workbook
Closure and Independent Practice:
Now that we know how to find the area of a whole circle, we can find the area of partial circles
next time we meet.
-Have students talk about how being able to find the area of any circle would be useful in the real
world.
-Tell students they need a short entry in their math journals for today and to finish the worksheet
they have been given for tomorrows class. That worksheet is attached to this lesson
Name: _____________________________
2.
3.
26 ft
Circumference: _______
4.
Circumference: _______
5.
Circumference: _______
6.
65 yd
Area: ________
Area: ________
Area: ________
For the next four problems, draw the circle corresponding to the given information and find the
Circumference or Area of that circle depending on what the problem asks for.
7. Radius = 100 cm
Circumference = _________
9. Radius = 12 ft
Area = _________
8. Diameter = 43 yd
Circumference = _________
10. Circumference =
Area = 36
Radius = ________
For Joshua and Chris, I described multiple adaptations to help improve success in the classroom.
Choose
at least 2
individual
students
First, it is helpful for Josh to spend a lot of time discussing things in his table groups as he has
a hard time forming relationships and I have seen him positively interact with those students
a lot. In addition, I put the schedule for the day on the board for him every day so that he
feels like he is in an organized environment and knows what is coming next. Chris has
also improved since implementing the table groups. This allows him to look off of other
students for spelling and have them there to help him feel more confident in his writing
and in his answers for class.
There are two students in my class who are English Language Learners.
Choose a
targeted small group
(e.g. English
Language Learners,
lower level readers,
gifted students, rowdy
group from 3rd period)
They are very good at talking in class and seem to really understand what is
going on, they just have a hard time with math vocabulary along with
Andrew, one of my students who possesses a mild hearing disability as well.
We go over vocabulary a lot and try to really make connections for these
students so that math terms can be something they feel comfortable with.
Also, I try to make the students think about what these vocab words mea
and have them express the words in multiple ways so as to help them
stick.