CEP Lesson Plan Form

Teacher: Mitchell Tandy

School: Chatfield Senior High School

Date: 2/25/2016
Grade Level: 9

Title: Polynomials: Using Geometry for Multiplication

Content Area: Math

Lesson #:4 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 can you use basic geometry to perform polynomial multiplication rather than algebra?

Concepts and skills students master: (Understandings, Big Ideas, Unit objectives)
Students will expand on their new understanding of polynomial multiplication by exploring another
method of multiplication that has its own advantages and disadvantages.
Evidence Outcomes: (Knowledge/ Skills, Lesson Objectives)
Students, given two polynomials of degree 2 or less, will be able to find their product using the more
recently-popularized Box (geometric) method.
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 multiply two
binomials for two different problems using this new method (even though after that day, students will
be able to choose whichever method they prefer). As a formal assessment, students will complete the
practice assignment and turn it in the following day.

Colorado State University College of Applied Human Sciences

Page 1

CEP Lesson Plan Form

Planned Lesson Activities

Activity Name

Polynomials: Using Geometry for Multiplication

Approx. Time

30min, leaving 20min to start on practice assignment.

Anticipatory Set

The do-now as students enter the room is a pair of related problems. The first problem asks students to multiply
two binomials using the F.O.I.L. method that they learned yesterday, while the second asks them to find the area of a
box that is split into four pieces. Both questions yield the same answer, which will be utilized to start the discussion
about why those answers were the same and why that is handy.

Teaching/
Presentation:

1. Input: After discussing the warm-up and how area can be used to compute polynomial products, I will provide
students with a focused list of steps on how to use what we discussed for any multiplication problem (within
the same format as students guided notes).
2. Modeling: Using a Gradual Release model, I will work through several examples of how to use the box with
problems that are similar to the previous day.
3. Checking for Understanding: Following presentation of new information, students will begin individual
practice while I check progress informally across the room as they work.
4. Questioning Strategies: Todays lesson lends itself very well to question up through nearly every level of
Blooms Taxonomy, so the discussion should have students thinking in a variety of different ways. I can begin
by asking students how they would apply the geometric ideas to the previous days examples, then move to
comparing/contrasting the two methods that they have learned, and then follow up on asking different
students which method they prefer and the reasons that they prefer that method.
Following the presentation of new material, students will work on the practice assignment of the day, allowing me the
opportunity to informally assess progress as they work.

-Classroom
Discussion

Teaching Strategy:
Guided Practice
&
Differentiation
Closure
Materials

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.

Colorado State University College of Applied Human Sciences

Page 2

CEP Lesson Plan Form

Accommodations
&
Modifications

To modify: The two questions on what would go on the sides of this box are a nice preview for the next unit on
polynomial factorization, but for students who are just trying to understand todays content, this is a section that can
be skipped in favor of more focus on more straightforward practice.
To extend: Similar to the F.O.I.L. extension, students who finish quickly can be prompted with what changes when the
polynomials get bigger, or what are the possible advantages that each method has beyond preference.

Assessment

Informal: two question exit-ticket

Formal: Practice assignment half-sheet (turned in following day)

Colorado State University College of Applied Human Sciences

Page 3

CEP Lesson Plan Form

Post Lesson Reflection

1. To what extent were lesson objectives achieved? (Utilize assessment data to justify
your level of achievement)
Today I learned first-hand that regardless of what method I think they will prefer or
have more success with, most students will just latch onto the first method they see and
disregard later alternatives. While some students did prefer the Box method, I was
asked at least once per period, can we just use F.O.I.L. instead? Because students
were generally uninterested in the new method, the discussion fell rather flat across
first and third periods, while second period was more open to my questions and
prompts. As a result, todays lesson objectives were not as successfully achieved as the
previous day, although students (as evident from the exit ticket and questions 7 and 8
on the practice assignment) were capable of performing the algorithm associated with
the Box method.
2. What changes, omissions, or additions to the lesson would you make if you were to
teach again?
For future lessons, I would want to try teaching the two methods side-by-side rather
than a day apart. This would likely mean that monomial multiplication would be tackled
on its own day, but that leaves room on that monomials day for more of the application
and lateral thinking that I mentioned before.
3. What do you envision for the next lesson? (Continued practice, reteach content, etc.)
With both methods being in students toolboxes (even if students are only interested in one as
a baseless algorithm), I can begin extending these multiplication ideas to more advanced and
lateral situations. For tomorrow, I can expand on polynomials larger than binomials and move
outward from there.

Colorado State University College of Applied Human Sciences

Page 4