CEP Lesson Plan Form

Teacher: Mitchell Tandy

School: Chatfield Senior High School

Date: 2/23/2016
Grade Level: 9

Content Area: Math

Title: Polynomials: Sums and Differences

Lesson #:2 of 7

Content Standard(s) addressed by this lesson: (Write Content Standards directly from the standard)
CDE High School Math Standard 2.3.c.
Perform arithmetic operations on polynomials. (CCSS: A-APR)
i. Explain that polynomials form a system analogous to the integers, namely, they are closed under the
operations of addition, subtraction, and multiplication; add, subtract, and multiply polynomials. (CCSS: AAPR.1)

Inquiry Questions: (Essential questions relating knowledge at end of the unit of instruction, select
applicable questions from standard)

How do you find the polynomial that is the sum or difference of two polynomials?

Concepts and skills students master: (Understandings, Big Ideas, Unit objectives)
Students will be able to apply the process of combining like-terms to terms of polynomials with the
same variable to the same power.
Evidence Outcomes: (Knowledge/ Skills, Lesson Objectives)
Students, given two polynomials, will be able to find the polynomial that is their sum or difference with.
Assessment of Evidence Outcomes: (How will you assess the selected lesson objectives (general
explanation, you will go into more detail at the end of the lesson plan)
For an immediate, informal assessment, students will complete an exit ticket where they will add two
polynomials. As a formal assessment, students will complete the practice assignment and turn it in the
following day.

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CEP Lesson Plan Form

Planned Lesson Activities

Activity Name

Polynomials: Sums and Differences

Approx. Time

20min, leaving 30min to work on individual practice.

Anticipatory Set

The do-now as students enter the room is a pair of simple combining like-terms problem, although the second has a
tricky first step of distributing a negative into the parentheses. Students will complete these on a piece of paper, and
then we will go over them as a class. The skills that students use will then lead into the lesson regarding polynomial
addition and subtraction.

Teaching/
Presentation:

The lesson is split in two: addition and subtraction. As a result, I will refer to the input, modeling, etc. of both sections
rather than repeat:
1. Input: Using the same format as students guided notes, I will explain how the do-now relates to polynomial
addition and subtraction.
2. Modeling: I will walk through the first example in students guided notes, then call on students to piece
together the second example. In order to follow up on the previous lesson, I will follow up each example by
asking students about the degree and classification by terms of the sums and differences.
3. Checking for Understanding: Following the two examples for addition and the two for subtraction, students
will work individually on the practice assignment, where I can check in with students individually to gauge
understanding.
4. Questioning Strategies: The key piece of understanding that many students may struggle with is that 2 and x
are not like-terms, so my questioning will focus on the more basic levels of Blooms Taxonomy regarding
knowledge and understanding of this basic fact. That way, when higher-level questioning comes into play,
students will have the basic, key understanding necessary to reach those levels.

-direct instruction

Teaching Strategy:
Individual Practice

As individual students work on the practice assignment, I will be walking around and informally assessing where
students are at. Due to similarities with previous content that these students have been successful with, I am not
anticipating that many students will run into difficulty with todays assignment (outside of keeping track of negative
and positive signs), but I will keep a close eye out nonetheless.

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CEP Lesson Plan Form

Closure
Materials

Accommodations
&
Modifications

Assessment

In the final 5 minutes of class, I will have them pull out a piece of paper and complete the exit-ticket for the day (the
two questions described above).
None outside of routine materials.

To modify: For struggling students, I can circle problems that will require close examination of negative and positive
signs, which is where most common mistakes will pop up.
To extend: For students who finish early and successfully, I will give them my key in order to check their answers and
identify any oversights that may have occurred in their haste to finish.

Informal: two question exit-ticket

Formal: Practice assignment (turned in following day)

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CEP Lesson Plan Form

Post Lesson Reflection

1. To what extent were lesson objectives achieved? (Utilize assessment data to justify
your level of achievement)
The lesson objectives were certainly achieved. As expected, students performed very well on
all assessments, including the practice assignment. Because there was a lot of time left to work
on the assignment at the end of class, I was able to check in with every student while they were
working, so I didnt need to spend as much time reviewing the exit tickets. While there were
certainly a number of errors with negative and positive signs, there were not nearly as many as
I was expecting; just one or two small errors on each of the majority of assignments (well within
reason).
2. What changes, omissions, or additions to the lesson would you make if you were to
teach again?
The practice assignment included a story problem involving two projectiles in the air, and the
vast majority of students ran into difficulty analyzing that problem in order to write an
equation. While this story problem wasnt directly necessary for the lessons objective, the
literacy skills associated with being able to start it are overarching goals for the unit and class as
a whole. Since I had the time, I should have created a similar problem to explore with each
class as an example. This was a huge missed opportunity.
3. What do you envision for the next lesson? (Continued practice, reteach content, etc.)
For the next lesson, what I should have done (but in my naivety, did not) was to pull up the
story problem and walk through it as a class right at the beginning of the next day. It would
have served as an excellent review of this lesson and worked towards the units literacy goals.

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