kerrihuntleyEDT500

The Problem:

The problem is my first grade students are not able to create patterns.  Students have difficulty with labeling patterns, copying and extending patterns, and creating patterns given a pattern type.  This is a common problem among first graders.  This was discussed between Kindergarten teachers and first grade teachers.  The area that is of most concern is copying and extending patterns.

The Need:

Students need to learn what a pattern is.  Students needs to learn how to label patterns as well as to create and extend a pattern.  Students need to also learn that patterns are all around them in the real world.

The Audience:

The audience of my project will be to my class of nineteen first graders.  There are ten boys and nine girls.  Two students receive special education support. Support will not be provided during my math lessons in this project.  Four students receive TIER 2 interventions in reading. The other sixteen students in my class are on-grade level students.  

I am going to plan my unit to include hands-on interactive lessons that include using the SmartBoard in my classroom.  My lessons will be approximately thirty minutes in length due to the shorter attention span of the students I am teaching.

Content:

The unit I am teaching to my first graders has been introduced to them in Kindergarten.  The concepts in patterning are concrete.  I do not think my students will have a difficult time understanding the concepts since we will be building the patterns with manipulatives and virtual math manipulatives.  The main goal of the unit for students is to copy and extend patterns, create a pattern with a certain amount of variables, and to name the rule of a pattern.  

The lessons I teach will be break down the main concepts into smaller lessons and concepts.  The unit will span over a month's worth of time.  I plan on focusing the first two weeks to copy and extend patterns.  The next two weeks will focus on naming the rules of patterns.  This tends to be a little more difficult for students to do.  I plan on teaching this concept after students are comfortable with copying and extending patterns.  In this unit I also plan on relating patterns to the real world.  I feel that it's important for students to see how patterns are all around them.

Instructional Strategies:

The instructional strategies I plan on using include direct instruction and peer grouping in the majority of my lessons.  Direct instruction will include the presentations designed in Smart Notebook and Goggle Docs.

Additional Materials:

The additional materials needed for this unit aside from a SmartBoard, internet access, Word document files and Smart Notebook are:

pattern blocks: These will be used as a hands-on tool for students to use in two of the lessons.  These are important for students to use because first graders need hands-on learning.  Having the tactile feel for students will increase their learning.

pattern block stickers: These will be used in the lessons that include pattern blocks.  These will be used as the mode of copying a students pattern with pattern blocks on paper.  This is an assessment tool for the lessons.

felt stickers: This will serve as a tactile way for student to create their quilt in the last lesson.  This will serve as a quick and effective way for students to design their own quilt.

Objectives:

Lesson 1: Students will learn what a pattern is, where students can find patterns and the different ways we can name and identify patterns.  Students will be presented a Smart Notebook presentation of  patterns and where they are around us.  As a group, students will share three to five patterns they see in the classroom.  Students will go on a pattern hunt in the classroom with a partner and correctly name five out of eight patterns around them independently.  Students will begin to name the patterns using letters.

Lesson 2: Students will construct their own AB patterns.  Students will use pattern blocks to create the AB pattern. Students will have the opportunity to use a virtual manipulatives website: http://ejad.best.vwh.net/java/patterns/patterns_j.shtml. Students will independently use stickers to recreate the patterns they designed with pattern blocks.  This will serve as the assessment of the lesson. Mastery of the lesson includes students correctly making two out of three patterns.

Lesson 3: Students will extend their knowledge of creating an AB pattern to making an ABAC pattern.  In this lesson, a third variable is introduced, which builds off of the previous lesson.  Mastery of this lesson will include creating two out of three patterns correctly using cubes as manipulatives.  Students will then copy the patterns they created on linker cube blackline masters.

Lesson 4: Students will name the rules of patterns. I will present students with five different linkercube patterns using the Elmo projector and a Goggle Docs presentation. Embedded in the presentation will be sound patterns for students to listen to and name the pattern using letters.  Students will then be given seven different patterns and their job is to correctly identify five out of seven patterns for mastery of the lesson.  A fourth variable will be added for enrichment.

Lesson 5: Students will copy and extend patterns using three variables.    I will use a WebQuest with my students as a presentation tool.  Students will use the WebQuest whole group as well as independently.  Students will use virtual tiles in Smart Notebook to copy and extend a class quilt as a practice example.  Independently, students will copy and extend one quilt and label appropriately to achieve mastery of the lesson.

Program Use:

I will use this string of lessons for instructional use in my classroom. The lessons in my project are the first five lessons in the unit.  The unit is a mixture of hands-on, SmartBoard lessons as guided practice and hands-on manipulative practice as independent work for students.

Each lesson will build off of the next.  I will spend the first five minutes of each lesson reviewing the concept learned in the previous lesson.  Fifteen minutes will be used to present the material in each presentation. The remainder of the math period will be spent on students having independent practice time using manipulatives to accomplish the lesson objective. I plan on teaching this unit in mid-November through December.

Summative Evaluation:

First I plan giving my students a pre-assessment on the unit for patterns (baseline data). This will have questions similar to what the final assessment will have.From this data, I plan to plan my lessons teaching to the needs of my students.  I will use my baseline data to identify the areas where students seem to have little understanding.  I will spend less time teaching concepts my students already know well. 

With every lesson, students will produce a form of written product. I will collect, review and analyze the student work and determine if my students are ready to move on the next topic and lesson or if more review is needed before we move on.  I will give my students a final assessment after my unit is complete.  This will assess all the learning my students have done over the course of the unit.  I will compare the results of my initial pre-assessment with the results of my post-evaluation.

Unit Presentations and Materials:

Lesson 1 

Lesson 2 

Lesson 3

Lesson 4

Lesson 5

WebQuest

Class Presentation