UNIVERSAL DESIGN FOR LEARNING INTEGRATION UNIT

Universal Design for Learning Integration Unit:

Common Core Unit 4 Coordinate Algebra Lesson Plan and Reflection
Lauren Brantley
Georgia Southern University

UNIVERSAL DESIGN FOR LEARNING INTEGRATION UNIT

Abstract
Although there are many ways to approach statistics, integrating technology when coupled with
best practices can be effective for high school students studying the Statistics Unit in Coordinate
Algebra usually called Unit 4. Standards and transferable skills are included here as well as
explaining the What, How, and Why of the lesson components common with UDL units. The
lesson plan included uses the UDL principles in coordinating the two standards learned and
assessed at the end of the lesson. Many of the actual items used are hyperlinked to
http://laurenbrantley.pbworks.com/w/browse/#view=ViewFolder&param=ITEC%20Electronic
%20Portfolio where the respective items are listed under the ITEC Electronic Portfolio. The
times and days in the lesson coincided with the block schedule concept at Savannah Arts
Academy in Chatham County, Georgia. We have four ninety minute block classes each day.
Four classes meet on Monday and Wednesday and four different classes meet on Tuesday and
Thursday. All eight classes meet on Friday. Technology tools are purposely infused throughout
this unit. Clear research as to the tools used and the methods of instruction are included in the
reference section. Finally, a reflection provides insight into how the unit worked using two
teachers, a general educator and a special educator and what could be improved for the next time.

UNIVERSAL DESIGN FOR LEARNING INTEGRATION UNIT

UDL Unit: Stage 1: Desired Results

The students will summarize, represent, and interpret data.
MCC9-12.S.ID.1 Represent data with plots on the real number line (dot plots, histograms, and
box plots). Choose appropriate graphs to be consistent with numerical data: dot plots,
histograms, and box plots.
MCC9-12.S.ID.2 Use statistics appropriate to the shape of the data distribution to compare center
(median, mean) and spread (interquartile range, standard deviation-Advanced Algebra) of two or
more different data sets.
Skills Learned:
1.

Know how to compute the mean, median, interquartile range, and by hand in simple
cases and using technology with larger data sets.

2.

Find the lower extreme (minimum), upper extreme (maximum), and quartiles.

3.

Create a graphical representation of a data set-box plots and histograms.

4.

Generalize information to a real example.

What, Why and How using Technology:

What? The Promethean Board used in direct instruction provides students multiple ways of
seeing the data on the real number lines instantly and is proven to increase overall classroom
achievement (Marzano & Haystead, 2009). The teacher can go from screen to screen quickly
with pre-pared slides or using the benefits and flexibility of word processing program features
with Microsoft Word and Microsoft PowerPoint via an LCD projector hooked to an HP laptop.
Students will be introduced to the three graphs, dot plots, histograms, and box plots by direct
instruction by the Special Educator and the General Educator using Promethean Board, websites
from www.NSDL.org (National Science Digital Library) and others, and PowerPoint

UNIVERSAL DESIGN FOR LEARNING INTEGRATION UNIT

Multimedia Presentations. The NSDL provided us with dependable websites that align directly
with the common core standards that we are teaching (Brisco, 2010).
How? Students will move around the room in five different cooperative learning stations to
address the different aspects of the material. They will construct graphical representations of the
material as well as generalize the information to a real example. They will use journal writing to
reflect on their learning and questions.
Why? Direct instruction is a proven method to explain concepts. Exceptional Children including
students with disabilities, English Language Learners, and gifted students are addressed with the
Co-teaching model using both the Special and General Educator circulating the room. Laptops
used in "station" activities for multimedia presentations and examples like Illumination and
PowerPoint presentations provide student visual and auditory stimuli to address this learning
style. Station activities are self directed which promote independence, autonomy, and discussion
among students about the concepts which helps cement the learning of concepts. Also, students
enjoy moving about the room and engaging in interpersonal learning and socializing as young
adults. The website www.khanacademy.com is used to reinforce concepts at home coupled with
note pages for homework provided students with more visual lessons and aided ESOL students
in grasping concepts. Khan Academy provided the information in multiple languages /subtitles
at the bottom of the screen if desired. This also helped regular students hear and see the
information in multiple forms. Graphing Calculators were used to assist students in checking
their work and performing statistical calculations. Why? When students were able to delegate
the simple functions to the Texas Instrument TI-80 graphing calculator they then directed their
working memory and attention to the current concept being assessed. The www.classjump.com

UNIVERSAL DESIGN FOR LEARNING INTEGRATION UNIT

website helped teachers organize student homework and assisted with note-taking with absent
students. This keeps all students on the same page and if students do not hear when assignments
are due or want to go back and make sure they have everything that is expected, they are able to
go back on their own time. Journal writing allows intrapersonal learning to occur as students
reflect on their learning and write down questions for the next day.
Stage 2 Performance Assessments
Students took a written multiple choice assessment using the CPS unit by e-instruction
and constructed a box plot or histogram using their own data. Students reported the measures of
center and spread including the interquartile range of the data, the minimum and maximum
quartile of the data.
Self-Assessments:
Students reflect on their understanding through math journals.
Stage 3: Lesson Plan:
Class One 45 minutes- Friday Students are also given a learner characteristics quiz. Students will complete the following
survey on learning styles: test http://www.engr.ncsu.edu/learningstyles/ilsweb.html
or http://www4.ncsu.edu/unity/lockers/users/f/felder/public/ILSdir/styles.htm.

UNIVERSAL DESIGN FOR LEARNING INTEGRATION UNIT

Data compiled will allow the general teacher and I to deliver instruction and assess with multiple
modes. Also, these surveys will facilitate meta-cognition and self-learner reflection before the
unit starts. Students will be coached on performing well before the unit officially starts.
Students are given a pretest to activate background knowledge and then groups are divided
heterogeneously according to achievement on the pretest. Students are given a list of four
statistics websites on a note page to look at and take notes prior to first lesson but after pretest.
They are: http://www.brainingcamp.com/resources/math/box-plots/interactive.php,
http://www.khanacademy.org/video/histograms,
http://us.attanolearn.com/video/10956-MeanMedian-And-Mode, and http://www.NSDL.org.
Class two and three- 90 minutes-Monday and Wednesday if needed- We have 5 groups
navigating 5 stations for about twelve minutes each with seven minutes in there for transitions
including walking in and putting backpack up at the beginning of class. When the students walk
in the class they are put in their premade groups and told where to start. We allow about a
minute for transition.
Station 1 small group: (student led) Statistics vocabulary students are to highlight all
vocabulary words then students pick one word from group of words assigned to their group on
construction paper and make up a non-verbal symbol to help them understand the term. It can be
a traditional symbol or something made up.
Station 2 small group: (Gen. Ed instruction) Direct instruction on mean, mode, median, range
review on the Promethean Board with student interaction.

UNIVERSAL DESIGN FOR LEARNING INTEGRATION UNIT

Station 3 small group: (Sped teacher instruction) Direct instruction of Box-n-whisker lesson on
white board which covers: minimum, maximum, median (Q2), lower, quartile (Q1), upper
quartile (Q3), interquartile range and how to draw box-n-whisker
Station 4: (Student Led) practice on box-n-whisker with illuminations. Students use the
example in: http://illuminations.nctm.org/LessonDetail.aspx?id=L737 to construct a box-nwhiskers plot on paper or they can use their own laptop to watch and construct a box and
whiskers plot.
Station 5: (Student led) Statistics powerpoints on histograms, dot plots -Students watch the
power points General Education teacher checked in with each station to answer questions.
All students assigned a homework practice page that addresses concepts in the station.
Class three-Wednesday and/the Friday- 90 minutes-More practice with the Audience Response
system.
Class four or five: Monday and or Tuesday if needed- 90 minutes- Students perform assessments
in class. Students receive verbal feedback on their assessment. Students correct assessment
using the feedback and turn in their assessment at the end of the period.
Reflection
Our common core standards ("Common core standards," 2012) were concise. We did not
try to do too much at one time. The general teacher and I discussed how the unit went and we
both felt like the stations gave the students many opportunities to ask questions about multiple
aspects of the unit. They moved around, cooperated with each other, and listened to our

UNIVERSAL DESIGN FOR LEARNING INTEGRATION UNIT

instruction. Each station was unique and provided them with use of multiple modes of modality
as well as exposure to multiple technologies. Nobody appeared bored, and we so wished we had
the time to do this kind of set up with each unit. The time it took to set it up was unmanageable
if we did this for every unit and certainly for each lesson in the unit.
Coordinate Algebra has 6 units. Our goal for next year was to perform a lessons like
these every other unit. We started with the pretest and used it to group heterogeneously.
Providing them with the website sheet and exercise effectively introduced them to the material
and activated background knowledge. Once they got to the stations, they had enough working
knowledge to move forward at an efficient pace. Some of the station work was review and
because they were in cooperative groups they could remind themselves of previous concepts
without having to take the whole class through it. This was another reason the stations were an
effective use of time. Diverse stations made the whole unit interesting for everyone. The
PowerPoint gave them examples and terminology was given with the vocabulary stations. We
both disliked that we did not have enough station work and time to practice the main concepts
after they were learned but that is the nature of the course. After practicing with the stations, we
used the clickers commonly called the CPS (Classroom Performance System) or ARS
(Audience Response System) for more practice for informal assessments so the lesson presented
here was altered somewhat to accommodate more practice time. Using an audience response
system for formative assessments has been proven to be more effective than for summative
assessments (Kay & Knaak 2009). The reason for this is that students who are not well versed in
the system get frustrated if they do not know how to use the clicker. Because our students are
well versed in using the ARS, they are comfortable using it for a summative assessment.

UNIVERSAL DESIGN FOR LEARNING INTEGRATION UNIT

The district assessment we were required to use for these standards was poorly
constructed in the sense of readability. The wording was odd and abstract for our topic. They
did get an idea of how the End of Course Test (EOCT) was going to be like. They were a quick
way to grade and get the students the feedback they needed. They like the clickers; it is in their
hand, and they are engaged with the material.
We would like to engage the students more with the math journals. We train the students
properly on how to effectively use them to further their understanding of the material. It was a
good idea, but with all that was going on we did not adequately address this way of learning.

References
Brisco, S. (2010, February). Mining K-12 gold from the national science digital library. School
Library Journal Retrieved March 17, 2013 at from
http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/article/CA6716740.html

UNIVERSAL DESIGN FOR LEARNING INTEGRATION UNIT

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Common core standards for mathematics. (2012). Retrieved from

http://www.corestandards.org/assets/CCSSI_Mathematics_Appendix_A.pdf
Kay, R., & Knaack, L. (2009). Exploring the use of audience response systems in secondary
school science classrooms. Journal of Science Education & Technology, 18, 382-392.
Marzano, R., & Haystead, M. W. (2009). Final report evaluation study of the effects of
promethean activclassroom on student achievement. Retrieved from
http://www.marzanoresearch.com/documents/finalreportonactivclassroom.pdf
McIlvain, E. (2010). NSDL as a teacher empower point: Expanding capacity for classroom
integration of digital resources. Knowledge Quest. 39(2). 54-36. Retrieved on March 17,
2013 from http://ehis.ebscohost.com/eds/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=1d67d811-e5b0-45058483-25c53441bba7%40sessionmgr10&vid=3&hid=8

UNIVERSAL DESIGN FOR LEARNING INTEGRATION UNIT