Evelyn Duniecki EPS 541 Prof.

Wilson 03/19/13 Planning Paper Knowledge of the Content Focus and Standards Throughout the year, students have been practicing and building their math skills according to a Common Core Curriculum developed by the National Training Network. As the curriculum is a spiral approach, students built their skills from number sense, algebra, and data in order to prepare them for their upcoming practice in geometry. According to the Illinois state standards, students in middle grades are expected to: demonstrate and apply geometric concepts involving points, lines, planes and space; identify, describe, classify and compare relationships using points, lines, planes, and solids; and construct convincing arguments and proofs to solve problems. The focus in my seven-day unit is central to these standards, as students will be learning the associated vocabulary, finding surface areas of polyhedrons, illustrating various perspectives of three-dimensional shapes, and calculating volumes of cylinders using formulas in a scaffolded fashion. In order to grasp and explore the concept of geometry, students need a strong background in number sense, algebraic and analytical methods, and measurement. While these notions have been built on throughout the year, I anticipate that some students may struggle with making connections to these topics, so I will begin the unit with a review of finding the area of circles. This is intended to activate prior knowledge by applying concepts and terms of circles, which are key elements in finding surface area and volume of cylinders.

Following the review lesson, students will then develop their understanding of geometry by practicing and applying the terminology through a list, group, label activity, where they will discover new terms through relating previous notions of the associated vocabulary of geometric figures (such as polyhedron and vertex). Once the students activate their prior knowledge of the content vocabulary, they will practice and apply the terms through various lessons that entail drawing various perspectives of geometric shapes, finding the surface area of triangular prisms and cylinders, and finding the volume of cylinders. Through these lessons, students will have hands-on experiences that connect to real-world examples by breaking down the figures to measure each shape to find the surface area, while also using their background knowledge of finding areas of rectangles, triangles, and circles. For example, when students will measure the surface area of cylinders, they will be acting as welders while measuring mock water tanks to figure out how much sheet metal they will need. When the students will learn about measuring the volume of cylinders, they will use their water tank measurements to asses how much water will fit in the tank (i.e.- finding the volume). In terms of anticipated struggles, I anticipate that students will struggle with the content vocabulary, as the words are multi-syllabic and math specific, which is why I designed the lesson to be student-centered where they will identify, classify, and list shapes and their related terms in a critical and metacognitive fashion. Also, I anticipate that while some students grasp mathematical concepts in a formulaic manner, they may struggle with visualizing and illustrating the breakdown of the polyhedrons, which is why I will include the formulas on an anchor chart, so they can discover and use the formulas to their own discretion. While I am confident that this unit is scaffolded to activate background knowledge and use discovery to understand surface area and volume, I can empathize with my students in their

ignorance of the topics. Initially, when I was assigned to teach this unit, I was hesitant, as I am also an abstract learner. Before reviewing the material, I felt confident in my understanding of geometric concepts and their relationships, although, I humbly admit that my geometry vocabulary-base was limited; essentially, I had to re-learn geometry vocabulary before planning my unit. Knowledge of Students relative to the Content When designing this unit, I had one question in mind- how can students connect patterns in geometry to the real world? While I have many students who thoroughly enjoy the challenge of mathematics, I have equally as many students who claim Im just not good at math, and question when am I going to use this in life? Based on these observations, I have designed the unit to connect the topics to the real-world while having students be critical mathematicians in analyzing, categorizing, and drawing conclusions about polyhedrons. While this unit focuses on measuring various aspects of polyhedrons, such as surface area and volume, students may not understand the formulas, but they have the prior knowledge of basic elements of area. For example, when finding the surface area of a triangular prism, one can break it down by finding the sum of the areas of its two triangles and three rectangles, or using a formula; in order to reach the various learners, the formula will also be posted on an anchor chart for the students who think more analytically than visually. As the lesson mainly focuses on using manipulatives to visualize the concept, students will be using these prisms to measure each contingent shape- as this hands-on approach makes the material more relevant and realistic. Through this hands-on approach, students will access their background knowledge of areas of triangles and rectangles in order to develop a deeper understanding of surface area.

With this notion in mind, students will also have the opportunity to relate these geometric concepts to the real world, such as when they will find the surface area of cylinders. While this concept is similar to finding the area of a triangular prism, in that students will break down cylinders to rudimentary shapes, this lesson will activate prior knowledge of areas of circles and rectangles, but it will take it to the next level through activating interest. For example, as students know what cylinders are, they have not practiced finding the surface area, nor have they connected the concept to a real-world application. When considering the students who asked when am I going to use this in life? I tailored my lesson to connect the topic to a field that requires understandings of geometry- welding. Given the scenario of acting as welders to measure the surface area of a water tank, students will work as partners to find the total area to see how much sheet metal they will need to build the tank. Along with using manipulatives and real-world scenarios, students will get extensive practice in applying geometric terms. As aforementioned in the previous section, students have not had exposure to the specific terminology, so they will have the opportunity to identify, describe, and organize the shapes and vocabulary based on their previous experiences. For example, students understand base and vertex, but they will use these terms to identify the properties of hexahedrons and tetrahedrons. Through this activity, students will be metacognitive mathematicians through using their background knowledge, their math tools (such as anchor charts and journals), and their general disposition, as they will be working collaboratively in defining the unknown. Knowledge of Instruction and Assessment relative to the Content As Michael Coyne said math is not just a functional skill; it is also a way of understanding and communicating about the world (Coyne & Carnine, 2011). With this notion

in mind, my math unit is part of a bigger picture, connecting geometry to the real world. In order to connect these vague concepts and terms, I incorporated scaffolding and modeling as a means of making the content relatable and authentic. When scaffolding the unit, I designed my lessons with activating prior knowledge of areas of basic shapes; as Coyne said an important part of scaffolding a task appropriately is to accurately determine students prerequisite knowledge and target the task toward their instructional level (Coyne & Carnine 2011). When I will teach my unit, once I activate prior knowledge, I will model certain strategies and approaches to finding surface areas of polyhedrons. As my students vary in their confidence levels of performing math tasks, I incorporated modeling and scaffolding to match students zone of proximal development . . . to ensure that students benefit from instruction and that the instructional experiences enhance the students self-esteem (Coyne & Carnine 2011). Throughout the unit, I will use exit slip data and check for understandings to assess the students progress. Through this, I will plan accordingly and use the data to see if I will need to reteach the whole group or design small groups. Along with my ongoing assessments, I will assess them based on a modified assessment from the Common Core Curriculum. Using this assessment, I will note any areas that the students struggled with and reteach accordingly (to small groups or whole group instruction) based on the specific misunderstandings.

Bibliography Coyne, Michael, and Douglas Carnine. Effective teaching strategies that accommodate diverse learners. 4th ed. Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Pearson, 2011. Print.