EDN5501 Transition to Teaching Task 3 Critiquing and Developing Effective Lesson Plans Sharon Gould

Lesson Critique

Lesson 2Lilac Mathematics Lesson (Groundwater-Smith, Ewing and Le Year 4 Lesson Plan 2 Mathematics (Western Australia. School
Cornu, 2015, pp. 218-9) Curriculum and Standards Authority,2013, pp. 39-40). The
Resources for this lesson can be found on pages 41-47,50-51
Outcome (ACARA) Recognise and interpret common uses of halves, quarters and Recall multiplication fact up to 10 x 10 and related division facts
eighths of shapes and collections (ACMNA033) (ACMNA075)
Common Features Explore mathematics, and more specifically deal with division in some manner.
Clearly specify the ACARA outcome
Specify resources required
List each activity step by step, with actions taken by the teacher and by students (in both cases within the same section)
Specify whether activities are done individually, in groups, whole of class, etc. (however the Year 4 Lesson Plan 2 doesnt specify if
the Think Board discussion is in a group or whole or class, have assumed whole of class)
Neither lesson plan has a section clearly outlining evaluation of student learning and how it is to be done/ measured
Differences Year group for lesson not specifically noted, but ACMNA033 is Lesson is for Year 4 (clearly noted)
part of the Year 2 syllabus
Gives clear timings for each activity Only gives timing for warm up activity- as it is specified to be a
50 minute lesson, that means that the main activity takes up
40 minutes, but doesnt specify how much is devoted to group
discussion and how much to the Think Board task
Has a closure section but this doesnt actually outline student Doesnt have a closure section/ activity
activities for the closure of the lesson
Has an evaluation section but the questions are of a general No evaluation section
lesson evaluation/ reflection nature
Clearly identifies the aim of each activity Gives general outcome and general capabilities description.
The lesson aim is recalling division facts to 10 10 however
this seems very broad and doesnt clearly identify what is done
in this lesson
No general capabilities description Outlines a general capability description
No mathematics proficiency point highlighting Outlines the proficiency for mathematics for this year level and
highlights the points that this lesson helps students to learn

Page | 1
EDN5501 Transition to Teaching Task 3 Critiquing and Developing Effective Lesson Plans
Examples of resources not provided
Doesnt suggest future lesson ideas
Has contingency for students of various skill and ability levels-
eg for struggling students, for students that finish early
Clear introduction activity to identify students current
understanding
35-40 minute long lesson
What was the Relationship between fractions and decimals.
student learning?
How was it taught? Introduction Activity:
Explore students current understanding of fractions by dividing a
cardboard pizza into slices to represent certain fractions- group
Main Activity 1:
Introduce children to the relationship between fractions and
decimals by having the children place fractions and them decimals
on a string number line from 0 to 1- group
Main Activity 2:
Children complete worksheets related to ordering fractions and
decimals- individual or pairs. Note: struggling students can work
with counters or pizza slices on the floor with the teacher, fast
finishers can complete more complex questions involving harder
fractions, decimals and conversions
Ways that we Doesnt specifically outline, beyond asking were the activities
determine what the appropriate for their abilities? What follow up is required? Where
student has learnt? to next?. Can infer from the activities that we would use the
childrens completed worksheets, observations of their
Sharon Gould
Examples of resources provided after the lesson plan
Suggest future lesson ideas (where to next)
No contingency for students of various skill and ability levels-
eg for struggling students, for students that finish early. NOTE
does suggest an alternative simplified Think Board can be used
for students requiring more consolidation, however the use of
one type for one group of students and one for others may end
up causing division between students, and create more
workload for the teacher as they would have to adapt the
Think Board problems to suit the simplified Think Board, and
have two different sets of Think Boards.
No clear introduction activity to identify students
understanding- instead uses a warm up exercise.
50 minute long lesson
How to represent division problems for solving in everyday
contexts.
Warm-up Activity:
Students revise division skills by playing division snap- partner or
small groups
Main Activity 1:
Students use Division Think Boards and cards to lay out different
ways of representing real world division problems- groups of 4
Main Activity 2:
Students then discuss why they have placed their cards into the
particular columns- assumedly whole class group
Nothing specified in the lesson plan. We can infer that the teacher
would make observations of the students interactions/ behaviour
during each activity, their responses during the discussion period
at the end, and the completed Think Boards before they are
dismantled.
Page | 2
EDN5501 Transition to Teaching Task 3 Critiquing and Developing Effective Lesson Plans
interactions/ behaviour etc during activities and their responses to
discussion/ questions
Reflection: lesson Introduction Activity:
from the learners This activity could be quite fun for the students. The nature of the
perspective task would mean theres a potential for students to talk a lot- it
would depend on the teachers ability to manage classroom
behaviour to keep the volume and discussion to appropriate levels,
and to ensure that all students get the opportunity to participate.
Main Activity 1:
Depending on the size of the class, there would be some or many
students that wouldnt be specifically involved in the activity- this
has the potential to lose student interest and engagement and
increase unwanted behaviour. Depending on teachers ability to
manage classroom behaviour, bored students could get quite
talkative.
Main Activity 2:
This has been well managed to account for different learning paces
and abilities. Students who became disengaged in the previous
exercise have the potential to not be engaged with this activity and
increase unwanted behaviour. Teacher would have to manage the
noise level of students working on floor with pizza slices/ counters
so it doesnt disrupt other students, and if working in pairs to
maintain the overall classroom to ensure students are keeping to
the activity and not going off topic.
Sharon Gould
Warm up activity:
Could be quite fun for the students, time frame means less chance
for students to become disengaged from activity. The nature of the
task means theres potential for the students to talk a lot.
Main activity 1:
This activity would give all students the opportunity to get involved
and be engaged depending on group dynamics- quiet or struggling
students may feel like being less involved or may be ignored by
their fellow students in group dynamics arent good, however if
the group dynamics are good it may give these students the
opportunity to participate more. Students may become more
restless towards the end of the task. By its nature this task has the
potential for the classroom to get very noisy and for students to go
off topic, and would depend on the teachers ability to manage
classroom behaviour. No specific backup plan for groups that finish
early (or if whole class finishes early), however the teacher could
use the Suggested follow up lessons for this concept by asking
early finishing groups to make up their own Think Board problem
and associated answers. If whole class finished early, teacher could
add to the end of the discussion.
Main Activity 2:
Assuming whole of class activity- potential for all students to be
involved and actively learn from each other, and for the teacher to
more easily control/ direct classroom behaviour. If the previous
activity finished early the teacher could add to this by creating an
extra Think Board problem and its solutions as a class to further
expand their learning.
Page | 3
EDN5501 Transition to Teaching Task 3 Critiquing and Developing Effective Lesson Plans Sharon Gould

Lesson Redesign

The lesson being redesigned is the Year 4 Lesson Plan 2 Mathematics from pages 39 and 40 of Western Australia. School Curriculum and Standards Authority
(2013). This redesign will primarily look at improving the learning experience and adding extra components that constitute a good lesson plan, as identified from
the lesson critique. These include:

Adding a time frame for each activity

Specific lesson aim
Introduction activity
Contingency plan for struggling students and fast finishers
Closure activity
Evaluation section- teaching evaluation as well as learner evaluation

The lesson plan has been copied from Western Australia. School Curriculum and Standards Authority (2013, p 40) into this document on the next page. Page 39 of
the lesson plan would be used as it is already provided in the document. Edits made to redesign it have been added in red to make it easier to see the changes.

Page | 4
EDN5501 Transition to Teaching Task 3 Critiquing and Developing Effective Lesson Plans Sharon Gould

Session 2 Activity/Task Assessment Differentiation Resources

Content Descriptor Introduction activity. Aim: establish existing knowledge about Class length- 50mins White board
Students are able to division
recall multiplication Introduce that todays lesson will be about division facts to 10 Whole of class- 5 mins
facts up to 10 x 10 and 10 and that will be exploring how we can represent division
related division facts problems in different ways. Teacher to ask class some division
(ACMNA075) questions, get students to answer (write onto white board as you Division Snap Cards copied
go). This will lead into the following activity. onto card, cut and laminated.
Warm up activity. Aim: recalling division facts to 10 10 Partner or small groups- 10 (Idea sourced from Nadine
Play Division Snap in small groups. Teacher to observe students mins Turnor)
for their current knowledge http://www.primaryresources.c
Main activity. Aim: how to represent division problems for o.uk/maths/mathsC2.htm
solving in everyday contexts. Can be found pp 41-46 of
Explain to the children that they will be using Think Boards and Western Australia. School
division problem cards for this activity. Revise how the Think Whole of class Curriculum and Standards
Boards were used the previous lesson. Authority (2013)
Model how to use the division problem cards and how to place Division Think Boards and cards
them into the appropriate columns on the Think Boards. enough for groups of four
Students to work in small groups of 4 using the division problem Groups of four- 20 mins students in each group. Idea
cards and Think Boards, placing the cards into the relevant sourced from First Steps
columns. Number: Understand
NOTE: try to vary students in the groups so that those who are Operations, Calculate, Reason
struggling with these concepts can be placed with students who About Number Patterns
are doing well. For those groups that finish early, ask if they can Laminate Think Boards and
come up with their own Think Board problem and solutions. cards for future use. Cards
require cutting up and placed
Group discussion: into zip lock bags x 1 set per
Students to discuss why they have placed their cards into the Whole of class 10 mins group.
columns. 1 set = 1 Think Board and 1 set
As a group, the students will work with the teacher to come up of cards.
with a new Think Board problem and complete the different ways Can be found in pp.47, 50-51 of
to represent it. To be written onto the whiteboard (into pre- Western Australia. School
drawn Think Board) either by the teacher, or asks students to Curriculum and Standards
come up and fill it in. Authority (2013)
Page | 5
EDN5501 Transition to Teaching Task 3 Critiquing and Developing Effective Lesson Plans Sharon Gould

NOTE: if the majority of the

Closure activity: 5 mins class has issues using the more
Students to each write I can statements. Individual advanced think board for this
activity, the simpler Think board
Suggested follow up lessons for this concept: on p. 31 can be used instead
1. Whole class to make new problem cards, both division and For further extension see First with the problem and solution
multiplication, under teacher guidance. Steps Number: Understand cards changed to suit.
2. Individual students to use whiteboard markers and write on Operations, Calculate, Reason
the laminated Think Boards their own division and multiplication About Number Patterns
problems.
3. Follow up lessons on inverse relationship between addition,
subtraction, multiplication and division.
Evaluation:
Learner- Students write I can statements to show what they have learnt and to think about their own learning. Think Board process in small groups then
discussion and group designed Think Board problem will help them evaluate how they have done. The teacher will use observation, students responses, group
designed Think Board problem and copies (photographs or scans) of each groups Think Board before dismantling as work samples as proof to see what students
have learnt and how well they are achieving the outcomes.
Teacher/ lesson- teacher will use observation of students behaviour/ attitudes/ discussion, students responses to questions, the group designed Think Board
problem and copies of each groups Think Board to determine how effective the lesson was. These will be compared to the lesson aims and the outcomes and
desired proficiencies. Did the students learn what was intended? To what extent did the students achieve the outcomes? Were all students engaged/ interested
throughout the lesson? What undesired behaviours were there if any? Was the timing correct? What could be changed to improve this lesson?

References

Groundwater-Smith, S., Ewing, R., and Le Cornu, R. (2015) Teaching: Challenges and Dilemmas (5th ed). South Melbourne, Australia: Cengage Learning

Western Australia. School Curriculum and Standards Authority (2013) Strategies for Integrating the General Capabilities of Numeracy and Literacy in Primary
School Teaching. Retrieved 29-7-17 from https://k10outline.scsa.wa.edu.au/media/documents/outline_downloads/Numeracy-and-Literacy-in-Primary-School-
Teaching.pdf

Page | 6