Elementary Education Lesson Plan Template for 4881 Placement Experience

Header: Problem Solving in Mathematics

Student Name: Yarden Batson
Grade Level: 3rd grade
School and CI Name: Meriwether Lewis Elementary/ Ms. Straume
Date of Lesson Enactment: October 28th, 2014
Topic: Problem Solving and the Ancient Greeks
Enduring Understandings: (What big idea(s) will students understand as a result of this
lesson?)

Students will understand that just because something does not work the first time they try
it, doesnt mean that it will never work.
Students will understand that there are multiple ways to come up with a solution to a
problem; there is not just one correct way in the path to solve a problem even though
there may be a more efficient way.

Essential Questions: (What question(s) will students grapple with as they learn through this
lesson?)

How can I approach this problem differently so that my answer makes sense?
How did I get the answer I did?
What are the important pieces of information in the problem?
What is the next step I should take?

Primary Content Objectives:

Students will know: (facts/information)

Basic addition, basic multiplication, and basic division

The Greeks were traders, they traded olives and grapes.
How to organize their work
The directions

Students will be able to do: (skills and behaviors)

To persevere through problems that are challenging

To work collaboratively in a group of 3
To turn and talk
Show their work on a piece of paper
Be able to explain their reasoning

Related state or national standards: (Examples include State Standards of Learning, Common
Core State Standards, Next Generation Science Standards or National Curriculum Standards for
Social Studies)
Common Core:
Solve problems involving the four operations, and identify and explain patterns in arithmetic.
CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.3.OA.D.8
Solve two-step word problems using the four operations. Represent these problems using
equations with a letter standing for the unknown quantity. Assess the reasonableness of answers
using mental computation and estimation strategies including rounding.
CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.3.OA.A.3
Use multiplication and division within 100 to solve word problems in situations involving equal
groups, arrays, and measurement quantities, e.g., by using drawings and equations with a symbol
for the unknown number to represent the problem.
Assessment: (How (and when) will students be assessed? What evidence will you collect to
determine whether students have met the lesson objectives? Will the assessment(s) be a preassessment (diagnostic), formative (ongoing feedback) or summative?)
Summative Assessment: Students will be summatively assessed in a group for being able to
solve the first two problem-solving questions. Students must show their work on the group paper
along with their own individual papers. This way I can see how they solved the problem rather
than just see their answers.
Formative Assessment: Students will be formatively assessed on their ability to work in a group.
This will take the form of a participation exit slip, which they will turn in before leaving the
room. I will also jot down which students are able to work in the group together and which
students are having trouble contributing or letting others talk.
Materials and Resources: (List here all materials that you will need in order to successfully
teach this lesson. Include technology and website links, texts, graphic organizers, student
handouts, physical manipulatives, etc.)

A packet for each student

List of student groups 6 groups of 3 and 1 group of 4

Pencils
ActivBoard and Elmo
The warm-up worksheet
White board and dry erase markers
Loose leaf paper with their names.
Directions paper

Key Vocabulary and Definitions:

Worth- the value, how much something will cost.

Largest amount- The biggest amount possible

Lesson Procedures:
1. Introduction and goal orientation:
Before (30 minutes)- until 11:45

Students will enter the room and see a big piece of paper on the board stating:
IMPORTANT!!!! There is an Ancient Greek Trader that needs your help as soon as
possible!!!!
Students will puzzle over this as they take a seat at their spots at the tables and see a Do
Now that will also be a warm-up activity.
Students will complete the warm-up activity the best way they can and after 10 minutes I
will get everyones attention.
Students who are finished faster than the rest of the group must check their math/work in
order to be sure that they completed the problem and received an answer that makes
sense.
Students will then be asked to come and sit on the rug.
I will ask for 3 or 4 volunteers to show the class how they received the answer they did.
What process did they go through in order to reach their conclusion?
After discussing these as a class, I will then put up the second part to their warm-up/do
now.
I will then pose the question: How would you go about solving this problem?
Students will then have 30 seconds of thinking time and then they will turn and talk to a
partner.
I will ask for 3 students to share how they would solve the problem with the class.

During: (35 minutes)

I will ask students to go back to their table spots

I will put up the problem-solving story for our project based learning on the ActivBoard
by using the Elmo.
I will read the story to the class and ask for individuals to tell me how they may go about
answering the problem.
After discussing the various ways we can answer the problem as a class I will tell
students that they will be helping this trader make all the right choices.
I will then show students the rubric for the project. I will show students what I am
expecting as well as discuss what it would look like if they exceeded my expectations.
I will post the directions on a big sheet of paper on the white board for students to refer
to.
I will also tell them that they will be working in groups and that means that all group
members must show their work and actively be a part of their group. That means that you
are asking the quieter members of the group for their opinions and the quieter members
of the group are talking. I will also show them this portion of the rubric.
Students will then have 5 minutes to work out the problem on their own before they get
into their groups and problem solve.
They will then be split into their groups, which will be projected using the Elmo onto the
ActivBoard. Students can work anywhere they choose in their groups as long as they are
not in the cubbies.
Students will come up and grab loose leaf paper (1 for each person) and 1 project packet
for their group.
I will then walk around and watch how groups are interacting.
I will ask myself: Are all students participating? Who is taking over the group? Who is
encouraging others for their opinions?

After: (5 minutes)

Everyone will come back to his or her seats and we will review what different groups did.
I will have some groups show the work they did using the Elmo.
Students will turn in their packets and loose leaf paper into the black tray and pick up an
exit slip.
Students must pack up before completing their exit slip
Students will fill out their exit slip and turn it over on their desk
Students will then sit quietly as everyone finishes and then I will dismiss by classes:
Kuhn, Kirtly, Meeks, Straume.
As they leave they must put their exit slip in the black tray and then quietly leave the
room.

2. Connecting to prior knowledge and experiences: (Questions or activities that help

students make links)

Students have worked on problem solving activities and have explained their thinking
throughout this math class.
Students will have learned about the Greek traders and will understand why it was
important for Greeks to trade with other countries.

3. Tasks and activities: (What challenging tasks and activities will students engage in as
they construct knowledge, learn new skills or behaviors and develop understandings?)
Students will work in groups to solve the problems the Greek trader is having.
Students will discuss how they reached their conclusions
Students will encourage others to participate by asking them questions such as What do
you think? Are you understanding? How can I help you to better understand?
4. Closure: (How will you wrap up the lesson and reinforce key ideas? Closure may include
some form of assessment or exit slip)
Students will fill out an exit slip and turn in their problem solving packets and loose leaf
papers.
Accommodations for individual differences: (How will the lesson be differentiated to support
diverse learners? Describe additional supports that can be used for re-teaching if needed, and a
challenging extension for students for demonstrate mastery quickly or show evidence of a lot of
prior knowledge.)

Students will be in groups for this project. I split students into groups based on their
personalities. Some students are outgoing and ready to answer questions while others
need longer amounts of thinking time. I expect for most of the students to struggle with
these problems since they are still new to problem solving and they are used to having
things come easier to them. Their strengths will be capitalized. Students who are
struggling will have other group members to talk to if they need help. Students will also
have me to help them because I will scaffold the information as well as encourage them
to use the manipulatives and/or pictures.
I will have directions listed on the white board for students who require visual supports
Students are welcome to draw their answers, use manipulatives, or just write out their
answers.
An extension activity would be to create their own story problem in a similar format to
my question. They must use the Ancient Greeks or the Ancient Romans in their story
problem.

Behavioral and organizational strategies: (What behaviors will you model or discuss with
students? What do you want to remember about organizing the lesson and materials? Use this
section for reminders to yourself about behavioral and organizational strategies. For example, do

you want to explicitly model how to work with partners in this lesson? Or demonstrate how to
use mathematical tools?)

I will have lots of opportunities for students to move around so that they are not just
sitting and listening to me the entire time during instruction.
We will also model/discuss what it looks like to work in a group.
Students must do their own work on a sheet of paper and then contribute what they found
to the group paper.

Warm Up Problem
Larrie has 12 sheep that he must give away. He wants to exchange his sheep for 5 dogs. If
Larries neighbors will only exchange 2 dogs for 5 sheep will Larrie have 5 dogs?
1. How many sheep and dogs will Larrie have after the exchange?

2. How many sheep would Larrie need in order to get 5 dogs?

The Greek Sailors

Names of Group Members:

________________________, _____________________,

______________________, _____________________.

Date:
_________________________

The Greek Sailors

The Ancient Greeks were really great shipbuilders because of their location around the
Aegean and Mediterranean Seas. Shipbuilding was a human characteristic of Ancient Greece and
it was very important because they needed ships to trade. Greece traded for gold and horses
because they did not have enough of both of these items on their peninsula and islands.
One day, an ancient Greek trader was on his way to trade for gold and horses in Egypt
when he realized that he forgot just how many horses and how much gold he would need to bring
back. On his ship, he had 12 olive branches and 8 big fish. He was supposed to trade all of the
olive branches and all of the fish when he got to Egypt.
1. If one piece of gold in Egypt is worth 3 olive branches and 1 fish and if one horse is
worth 2 fish and 1 olive branch what is the largest amount of gold and horses he can
return with? He has to have both.
2. If the Greek trader was supposed to return to Greece with at least 10 pieces of gold and
12 horses, how many olive branches and fish should he have brought with him?
Show Your Work:

You must now build a boat for the ancient Greek trader that has enough room for 10 pieces of
gold and 12 horses.
1. If horses fit onto 4 squares and gold fits onto 4 squares on the chart below how
many squares do you need to use for the horses and gold?
Building your ship directions:
1. Your ship must be the correct size to fit all of the gold and horses you will receive from
Egypt. (Use the grid paper to size your ship)
2. Your ship needs to have an array on one side showing a multiplication problem that has a
product of 20.
3. Your ship needs to have the fact family for the array you drew on one side written on the
opposite side of your ship.
4. Your ship will also need a flag with Greek letters so that the Egyptian traders will
recognize you and invite you into their harbor.

Directions for Greek sign: Use the Greek letter key to write your sign
1.
2.
3.
4.

The first letter in your sign is the product of 12 x 8

The second letter in your sign is the quotient of 63/7
The third letter in your sign is the product of 11 x 9
The fourth letter in your sign is the quotient of 99/3

Key:
Greek Letters

Alpha
Beta
Gamma
Delta
Epsilon
Zeta
Eta
Theta
Kappa
Lambda
Mu
Nu
Xi
Pi
Rho
Sigma
Upsilon
Phi
Chi

Numbers

Numbers

9
97
95
33
1
96
33
1
5
44
3
85
13
32
4
44
96
11
5

8
4
5
96
95
99
44
12
96
99
99
85
1
33
11
1
26
95
31

Check off which

letters you can
use:

Rubric
Expectation

Problem
Solving

Ship
Building

Ship flag

Participation

Did Not Meet

Expectations
5 Points

Met
Exceeded
Expectations
Expectations
10 points
1 Extra Point
- Your work
can be seen
- Correct
answers of
largest
amount of
horses and
gold.
- Correct
answer to
how many
olive
branches and
fish the trader
would need
to bring with
him
- Ship is
correct size.
-Ship has an
array.
-Ship has a
fact family on
opposite side.
-Ship has a
flag.
-Flag is
written in
Greek letters.
-The letters
are correct.
- Every group
member
participated
equally.

Comments

Name: ________________________
Check all that Apply
______ I had good ideas to contribute to my group.
______ I was quiet most of the time.
______ I encouraged other group members to talk.
______ I talked most of the time.
______ All of my group members participated in completing this project.