Lesson Opening (15)
- The lesson opens with a discussion of the standards and where this particular skill fits into the yearly plan.
- The lesson progresses with pretend money, which ties into earlier lessons on money and rounding. A child volunteer is given $5 and then one dollar at a time is taken from him or her. After all $5 are gone, the question is raised whether more money can still be taken. The idea of negative numbers and the concept of a number line are thus introduced.
- Other examples of negative numbers are discussed, such as items lost, temperatures below zero and depth below the surface. Students will be asked to share additional ideas.
Guided Practice (20)
- I will then progress to the number line, and talk about the comparison of negative numbers and positive numbers. I will explain that a positive is always bigger than a negative, and I will remind them how to determine which of two positive numbers are bigger. The difficult part will be the explanation of how you tell which of two negative numbers is biggest.
- For this, I plan to return to the idea of being in debt, and explain that someone who owes $10 has less money than someone who owes $5. This idea can also explained through other real life examples: for instance, if you lose ten items, you have less than someone who has five.
- For further explanation of this idea, we will return to the number line and discuss how you can compare two numbers (on the same side of the zero) by looking to see which one is farther away from zero. For negative numbers, the farther away you are from zero, the smaller you are.
- The textbook problems under Try It (p. 24 1-3) and 4-9 will be written on chart paper. Students will discuss the answers with their tables, and then share with everyone. They will be attempting to turn words and phrases into negative and positive numbers.
Independent Practice (20)
- Students will do textbook problems 10 – 19 with their table teams. The class stoplight will be moved from red to yellow (allowing partner interaction). They will be given ten minutes on the timer to finish. Teammates are expected to help one another. Those who finish early will complete extra assignments. The extra assignment will involved problem solving skills. If there is time, these problems will be discussed as well.
- I will hover from each of the four tables, offering instruction where necessary. This format allows me an excellent opportunity to informally assess my students, because it is often easy to tell how well a student is doing by his or her interaction with the students who are helping him.
- When the ten minutes are finished, the answers will be revealed and students will grade their own papers. They will be expected to write the answer on the top of their papers in the form of a fraction. This is one of two ways the students will be formally assessed and one of three formats for overall assessment.
Daily Quiz (3)
- A one question daily quiz will be written on the board. The students will answer the quiz on their quiz sheets. This is the second formal assessment that will take place.
Closing (2)
- Homework will be distributed. Number lines that the students can take home with them will also be given out. The students will be reminded how useful a tangible or mental number line can be.
5. How will success in meeting these goals be determined?
Each student will be informally assessed by his or her ability to complete the assignment with his or her team. Formal assessment will be in the form of each child’s score on the assignment, as graded by him or herself and by the daily one question quiz, as graded by the teacher.
