Armen Gevorgyan 10th Grade Fundamentals of Geometry Triangle Classification

eff. Fall 2012

Lesson Plan Template

Salem State University School of Education I. Setting the Stage: What are your measureable objectives and assessment? A. Curriculum Framework Standards: Which MA Curriculum Frameworks
address your topic content and objectives?
o
G-CO-10: Prove theorems about triangles. Theorems include: measures of interior angles of a triangle sum to 180 and base angles of isosceles triangles are congruent. o G-CO-12: Make formal geometric constructions with a variety of tools and methods (compass and straightedge, string, reflective devices, paper folding, dynamic geometric software, etc.).

B. Generative Topic: What is the focal concept or skill of the lesson?

o What does congruency of angles and segments have to do with triangle classification?

C. Measurable Objectives: What do you want students to know and be able to do?
o
Students will use the previous section on angle classification to transition into triangle classifications. o Students will know the difference between different triangles and be able to identify and classify them. o Students will apply the knowledge about angle classification and congruence to classify triangles by angles and sides.

D. End of Lesson Assessment: How are you going to assess students understanding?
o
By the end of the class students will be required to pass in the triangle classification grid which will show the extent to which their understanding of triangle classification reaches. The worksheet will be corrected and returned to the students for future reference. o In order to assess the overall effectiveness of the lesson I will ask the students to submit a quick writing assignment for grading. The students will write down the three most important things that they learned in the class that day. The writing assignment will be graded based on the extent of details that they provide about what they have learned. Short, one or two-word answers will not receive any credit. The writing assignment will force each student to actually think back through the lesson and remember what theyve learned.

II.

Content of the Lesson A. Content and Skills: What do you know about what you are planning to teach?
o Review questions include: What are the three types of angles? Can anyone tell me what a triangle is? Can we just mash any three angles together to make a triangle? o Isosceles triangle is a triangle that has at least two congruent sides. o Scalene triangle is a triangle with no congruent sides. o Equilateral triangle is a triangle with three congruent sides. o Obtuse triangle is a triangle with one obtuse angle. o Right triangle is a triangle with one right angle. o Acute triangle is a triangle with three acute angles. o Triangle Sum Theorem: The sum of the measure of the interior angles of a triangle is 180 degrees.

B. Rationale: Why teach the lesson?

o
Learning to classify triangles will lead to understanding the properties of all triangles, which in turn will help the students solve far more complicated problems.

Most of the architecture throughout history and in the world around us today is based on the triangles that we are learning about today.

III.

Knowledge of Students: Why does knowing your students matter?

o
The class is made up of about 15 students most of whom are in 10th grade. It is a fundamentals class, and on most days it is a battle to get them to stay focused on the task at hand. This being said, with one exception, the students in this class are not disruptive, in fact they are almost too quiet. Also, there is one special needs student who sits in the back of the class with an IEP aid. It seems that the IEP aid has a difficult time getting that student engaged in the lesson. As Ive mentioned before, the students in this class mostly seem very uninterested, however this does not mean that it is impossible to reach them. I believe that a greater emphasis should be placed on finding ways to relate to them, and more importantly finding ways to relate the students lives to the lesson.

IV.

Preparation for the Procedures: Materials: What materials, resources, and technology will you need?
o
As a teacher I will need: multi-colored posters, scissors, yardstick, ruler, protractor, adhesive tape, highlighters, markers, worksheets on triangle classifications, and a computer with sketchpad installed. o The students will need: scissors, ruler, protractor, adhesive tape, and pencil. o I will have to prepare several worksheets including: the triangle grid; a large number of triangles that the students will label and a worksheet on angle classification. I will also prepare two poster sized triangles that I will use to demonstrate the Triangle Sum Theorem.

V.

Sequence of Teaching-Procedures A. Beginning of the Lesson: How will you immediately engage all of your students in the content?
o o
Students will sit close to each other but will work independently. I will use a series of recall questions on angle classification in order to get the students to refresh their memories and warm them up for the upcoming lesson. o During the recall Q&A, students will be asked to draw different types of angles at the whiteboards. o After the Q&A on angle classifications I will pass out an angle classification worksheet and give the students about 10 minutes to complete them. I will immediately collect the worksheets for grading. This will give me a good idea as to how well the students understand the previously learned material. Provided that the class as a whole shows a good understanding of angle classification I will then be ready to move on to the middle part of my lesson. o Since the students in this class need a constant reminder that they are in the classroom to learn, I will have to make sure that Im engaging every one of them. o The Beginning of the lesson should take approximately 20-25 minutes.

B. Middle of Lesson: What are your students doing (e.g., speaking, writing, drawing, performing, documenting, observing) to explore the content?
o
First, I will transition into the lesson of the day by connecting angles to triangles. I will ask the class to tell me if they can tell me what a triangle is. If one of the students in the class says that a triangle is just a shape with three angles I will proceed to show visually why this isnt necessarily true. If no one says that a triangle is just a shape with three angles, then I will use the students input to draw a triangle on the board and eventually get to the formal definition. o After the class has written down the formal definition of a triangle I will ask the students to translate the formal definition into their own words. This will be followed by a handful of students coming up to the board and drawing 3-4 triangles using only the formal definition. o The students sketches will transition the class into the next portion of the lesson where they will learn that there are many different looking triangles and that they are all classified into distinct categories based on their side and angle measurements. o After learning that triangles can be classified by sides and by angles, I will pass out a

Lesson Plan Based on Wiggins and McTighe Understanding by Design (2005).

triangle classification grid and ask the students to fill it out using the knowledge that they have acquired in this lesson. This worksheet will be collected for grading and passed back to them at the beginning of the next class. The students can now use this worksheet to refer back to for the rest of the year. o This lesson is ideal for this kind of class. There will not be a period of more than 5-7 minutes where the students arent required to answer questions, make cut-outs, or come up to the front of the class for a demonstration. o This portion of the lesson will take about 40 minutes.

C. Extension and Enrichment Activities during Class Time: How will you extend the learning of students who finish tasks early?
o
The students who finish early will be asked to participate in the learning of their peers by helping their neighbors understand the material.

D. End of Lesson: How will you help all students process the experience?
o
At this point the students will have learned that triangles are classified according to their angle and side measurements. The students will also have learned Triangle Sum Theorem and have an understanding that the measures of the sides and angles of a triangle are interdependent. o In order to cement the students understanding of the overall direction that the unit is headed in, I will set up a visual demonstration of the Triangle Sum Theorem on the whiteboard and have a couple of volunteers help me. o The visual demonstration of the Triangle Sum Theorem will prompt a series of conceptual questions about the material already learned in previous sections and also questions about some of the material that will be covered in future lessons. o In order to assess the overall effectiveness of the lesson I will ask the students to submit a quick writing assignment for grading. The students will write down the three most important things that they learned in the class that day. The writing assignment will be graded based on the extent of details that they provide about what they have learned. Short, one or two-word answers will not receive any credit. The writing assignment will force each student to actually think back through the lesson and remember what theyve learned. o This portion of the lesson will take up approximately 25 minutes.

VI.

Reflection after Teaching: What did you learn from teaching the lesson? A. Looking at Student Performance
o
During the concept Q&A the students were all taking part in asking questions that were relevant to the lesson. o The most common student misconception, or rather a gap in knowledge, was the fact that they all knew what a triangle was and they all learned drawing triangles when they were little but they never realized that by drawing triangles they were following some very specific mathematical rules. o Based on student performance, I believe that the triangle grid worksheet needs a little improvement. Next time, instead of labeling the sides of the grids and basically giving the answers to the students, I will give the students10-12 triangles and ask them to label them with respect to side and angle measurements, followed by an explanation of why they labeled them the way they did.

B. Looking at Teaching
o
What went well? I believe this time around I was more confident during the lesson. What helped me was the realization that simply winging it was not going to turn out well. Even though I have a solid understanding of the lesson, it is not enough to just make up a lesson on the fly since I lack experience in teaching. This time around I prepared a carefully written outline and it helped me steer the lesson in the direction that I wanted it to go in, as well as the order in which I wanted to present the material to the class. If I forgot or got confused as to what to do next I simply looked at my lesson outline to help me out. o What were the challenges? The most challenging parts of the lesson were the transitions. I still have to learn how to seamlessly go from a recall topic to the lesson. During my presentation my transitions were a bit choppy and they were painfully obvious. o What did you learn (about yourself, students, and content) from doing the lesson? I learned that no matter how easy a lesson seems to me I still have to prepare for it as if I was teaching Calculus to freshmen. I tend to underestimate my contribution as a teacher if the lesson seems easy to teach. I have to remind myself that the students that Im teaching have no idea that a particular lesson is easy or difficult, they just know that it is completely new to them.

Lesson Plan Based on Wiggins and McTighe Understanding by Design (2005).

I also learned that I have to constantly remind myself to be serious. I have a tendency of trying to get the students to like me by making too many jokes. I learned that this creates an unstable thought process and an unstable lesson flow. Ultimately it isnt important if the students like me or not. It is infinitely more important that I present a good lesson that the students can take advantage of, while everything else is secondary. o What would you do differently? I would probably spend less time on the recall and review portion of the lesson. Doing so will give me more time to have a concept-based discussion with the students that will help them understand where the unit is headed.

Lesson Plan Based on Wiggins and McTighe Understanding by Design (2005).