TASK 1: pre-PLANNING (Math)

Respond to the prompts below (no more than 9 single-spaced pages, including prompts) by typing your responses within the
brackets. Do not delete or alter the prompts. Pages exceeding the maximum will not be scored.

1. Central Focus
a. Describe the central focus and purpose of the content you will teach in the learning seg-
ment.
[ The main idea or central focus that students should grasp within this three to five day learning

segment in 8th grade mathematics is what the Pythagorean Theorem is, how to use it to find un-

known side lengths in right triangles in real world and mathematical problems, and how to apply

the pythagorean theorem to find the distance between two points in a coordinate system. The

purpose of learning the Pythagorean Theorem is that this theorem allows for the third side of a

right triangle to be found. This will be applied in real life problems to emphasize the purpose of

learning the Pythagorean Theorem. ]

b. Given the central focus, describe how the standards and learning objectives within your
learning segment will address
conceptual understanding,
procedural fluency, AND
mathematical reasoning and/or problem-solving skills.
[ This is a learning segment on the Pythagorean Theorem. The big idea within this learning

segment is being able to understand, explain, and use the Pythagorean Theorem in real world

and mathematical problems. Concepts that students need to know in order to do this is the dif-

ference between right, acute, and obtuse triangles, and be able to identify and explain acute,

obtuse, and rights angles. Students should know in a right triangle which sides are the legs and

which side is the hypotenuse and why. Lastly, students should have a basic understanding how

to use a ruler and pro tracker.

Procedural fluency will take place during the activities within this learning segment. In order to

understand and explain the Pythagorean Theorem, students will complete an interactive activity

in small groups of two or three. Students will need to measure sides of a triangle with a ruler,
and measure angles of a triangles with a protractor. After this, students will be creating squares

along the legs of the triangle and comparing the area of those squares to the area of the third

square students will create along the hypotenuse. Students will realize that the sum of the ar-

eas of the squares along the legs equals the area of the square formed along the hypotenuse.

Through this activity students are building an understanding of the Pythagorean Theorem.

Students will be reasoning when they form conclusions based on the activity about the relation-

ship between the side lengths of a triangle for right, obtuse, and acute triangles. Students will

be problem solving when they apply the Pythagorean Theorem to solve real world and mathe-

matical problems and find the distance between two points in a coordinate plane. ]

c. Explain how your plans will build on each other to help students make connections be-
tween concepts, computations/procedures, AND mathematical reasoning or problem-
solving strategies to build understanding of mathematics.
[ Day one students will exploring and proving the Pythagorean Theorem. During the activity,

students will be working together and should come to the conclusion that in right triangles the

sum of the areas of the square formed by side a (leg) and the area of the square formed by side

b (leg) is equal to the area of the square formed by side c (hypotenuse). Next students will be

applying what they learned in day one, to solve mathematical and real life problems using the

Pythagorean Theorem. Lastly, now that students should understand the Pythagorean Theorem

and should be able to solve mathematical and real world problems involving the Pythagorean

Theorem, students will apply these concepts to solve for the distance between two points in a

coordinate plane. In order to do this, students will have to understand the Pythagorean Theo-

rem, form a right triangle in a coordinate plane, and then apply problem solving skills from solv-

ing mathematical and real life problems to solve for side c which would be the distance between

the two points in the coordinate plane. ]

 d. Describe what you know about students with respect to the central focus of the learn-
ing segment. What prior academic learning and prerequisite skills are related to the cen-
tral focus? What would students know about this topic, what can they do, and what do
they need to learn in this learning segment?

[ Students know different types of triangles (right, acute, and obtuse), different types of angles

(right, acute, and obtuse), and can explain each. Students will need to use their prior

knowledge of how to find the area of a square in order to understand the Pythagorean Theorem.

Students will also need to use their prior knowledge of graphing points and lines and how to find

the distance between two points in a coordinate system that form a vertical or horizontal line. In

the last day of this learning segment students will be finding the distance between two points in

a coordinate system that form a diagonal line (hypotenuse). ]

e. Personal, cultural, and community assets related to the central focusWhat do you
know about your students everyday experiences, cultural and language back-
grounds and practices, and interests?
[ Students at this school are 88% white and 8.3% of students are Hispanic. Most students are

nature English language speakers. Students in this school are far above the state average.

This suggests that most students are performing at or above grade level. 54% of students

achieved proficiency in mathematics compared to the state average of 34%. This is a high per-

forming school. This implies that students should know and understand the pre requisite con-

cepts for this lesson and be ready to begin learning the Pythagorean Theorem. The school

theme this year is Achieving starts with believing!. I will make sure all my students know that

they are capable of doing mathematics and achieving success within my classroom. I will get to

know my students individually which will create an environment where students feel valued. I

will provide my students with more challenging problems when necessary and extra problems

when necessary for practice. ]

f. Mathematical dispositionsWhat do you know about the extent to which your students
perceive mathematics as sensible, useful, and worthwhile1

1 From The Common Core State Standards for Mathematics

 persist in applying mathematics to solve problems
believe in their own ability to learn mathematics
[ Students at this school do perceive mathematics as worthwhile. Students ask questions during

class which pertain to the topic and demonstrate high level of thinking. Students work with each

other to solve problems and discuss the problems they encounter. This demonstrates that students

are persisting in applying mathematics to solve problems. Most students do their homework every

night and show work for every problem. Students do test corrections on problems they got wrong.

These students fix their mistakes and want to learn from them. This shows that they do believe in

their ability to learn mathematics. ]