Lesson 6 – Putting it all together and Getting Started April 1, 2010

Lesson 6 will be divided into 2 parts. The first section of the lesson will be dedicated to testing math concepts in a short problem solving work sheet. The second half of the class will allow students to work on their projects with a short introduction from the teacher.

This lesson will require:

-Laptops (at least 1 per group)

-Notebook for each student to work in with a pencil

-A blackboard, SMARTboard, or whiteboard

-A copy of the following handout for each student

A word document of this photo is available here: Problem Solving Worksheet

The following steps provide an outline for the lesson. It should take approximately 1 hour.

1. Once the students have settled into their desks have a volunteer hand out the Problem Solving Worksheet. (One per student).

2. Ask the students to work on their own as this will be picked up once they are done to be marked. (To see the rational for this click here): http://wp.me/pSXs0-2b

3. No calculators are to be used for this worksheet and their work should be done in their notebook. Provide the students with approximately 20-25 minutes to complete this. During this time the teacher should be circulating the class to make sure there are no questions or problems.

4. As students finish allow them to quietly take out their laptops and begin working on their group projects. Only whispering is allowed at this time so as not to disturb their peers who are still writing their problems.

5. Once all students are done collect all of the worksheets and allow the students to move to sit with their groups. They will need their laptops (at least 1 per group), and any other notes that they may have.

6. Once they are seated with their group make sure all laptop lids are down and tell them that you speak to them for just a few minutes and then they can get to work. This short lesson will be on audience.

7. Ask students to take 1 short minute to brainstorm with their group about what kinds of things would appeal to a student in grade 1 for their presentation?

8. Once one minute is up ask each group to share their idea and write them on the board. This list will be kept up in the classroom throughout the remainder of the unit to help give students ideas.

9. Once all of the ideas are written down ask students to brainstorm for 1 more minute about what might appeal to a parent in a presentation about poverty?

10. After 1 minutes write these ideas down under the title parent or adult.

11. Sum up this brief activity by reminding students that parts of their presentation should appeal to students in the younger grades as well as to teacher and parents who will also be coming to listen. They should try and incorporate some of these ideas into various elements of their media.

12. The remainder of the class will be dedicated to allowing the students to work in their groups while the teacher circulates to hear their creative ideas.

13. The homework from this class will be for each student to work on their presentations.

Lesson 6 – Problem Solving Worksheet March 30, 2010

The problem solving worksheet: Problem Solving Worksheet was assigned to the students in the middle of the unit as a form of assessment and evaluation. I wanted to make sure that all of the students were comfortable with the math concepts that we have covered thus far, especially since the lessons following will spend more time dedicated to the project as opposed to teaching math concepts. The grade from this worksheet will be used, in part, to calculate the students overall mark in the unit. It will be combined with the mark from their final presentation to calculate the final grade.

Lesson 7 – Worksheet Review and Group Work

Lesson 7 will also be divided into two sections. The first portion of the lesson will go over the worksheet that was completed last class. They will have been graded and will be taken up immediately in order to ensure that it is still fresh in the student’s minds. The second part of the class will give students time to work on their projects as a group.

The following lesson will require these materials:

-Laptops for group work

-Marked Problem Solving Worksheets

-A blackboard, SMARTboard, or whiteboard

-Student notebooks

The following steps should take about an hour to complete:

1. The lesson should begin by handing out the student’s worksheet work from the previous class.

2. As a class, you will take up each of the questions one by one making sure that no one has any questions or concerns. Make sure to go through all of the steps on the board so that students can follow along in their notebooks and correct their mistakes as they go. Remind students that if they got a question wrong they should be writing down the correct steps and answers in their notebooks. Students can also come up to the board to help write out some of the solutions. Taking up this worksheet should take approximately 15 minutes.

3. The next portion of the lesson will require students to sit with their groups. Give students a few minutes to set up their laptops and group work stations. Once their laptops are set up remind them that the lids should be down because you will begin with a brief class discussion first.

4. After everyone has settled down begin asking what 3 things they need to have in their presentation. The students should all know the three elements (a PowerPoint or Bristol board, a flyer, and a media element of their choice).

5. Start by talking about the PowerPoint or Bristol board. Ask what kinds of things they might display in this form of media. Ideas for this might include statistics, quotes from the stories they read online, pictures, ect. Write this list on the board and inform the students that it will remain in the classroom for the remainder of the unit.

6. The next element of the project is the flyer or pamphlet. Ask the students what kinds of things they may use that for? Ideas include resources, poverty word problems or math problems, pictures, ect.

7. The last element is their choice. Ask the students what some of their ideas are and what they are planning on using that form of media for? Inquire further by asking a series of questions that follow:

1. Who does that form of media appeal to? Will it be for your adults, young students, or people closer to your own age?

2. Is it a digital media form, or print?

3. Why have you chosen to use that media form as opposed to one of the others?

8. The remainder of the period will be dedicated to letting the students work in their groups to complete some of these elements. The teacher, once again, should be circulating the room to answer questions and direct student tasks.

9. Homework from this lesson will be to work on their projects. Only 2 more periods to complete it!

Lesson 8 – Getting on with Group Work March 15, 2010

Lesson 8 is all about letting the students work on their group projects individually for the entire period. Now that the teacher has given them some insight and ideas on what kinds of things to include in their presentation, the students will now be given the rest of the time to put all of their ideas together.

For this lesson you will need:

-Anything that the students need for their project

-A blackboard, SMARTboard or whiteboard

-A copy of the rubric for each student. See link here:

The following period is 1 hour:

1. The teacher should introduce the class by writing on the board a list of things that need to be completed. This way the students will have something to keep them on task and to remind them of all of the elements that must be completed for their assignment.

2. A volunteer should be selected from the class to hand out a copy of the rubric to each student. Briefly go over this as a class and make sure there are no questions or concerns about what they are being graded on.

3. The remainder of the period will be given to the students to work quietly with their group on whatever they need to finish for the presentation. Emphasize everything should be simple and brief, have an strong focus on math and numbers, and appeal to various audiences.

4. After that introduction let students work independently while circulating the room to answer questions.

5. The homework from this class will be to finish up everything on their project because they will only have half a period left to complete it.

Final Presentation Rubric March 14, 2010

The final presentation will be graded by a rubric since each of the presentations will be very different in content and format.

The rubric that I have made emphasizes both their construction of media as well as their incorporation of math. Other important aspects that I wanted them to grasp were the idea of reaching audiences of different age groups and incorporation of the content that we discussed as a class and for homework.

A link to the rubric can be found here: rubric

Or a photograph of it is below:

Lesson 9 – Going Full Circle March 13, 2010

Lesson 9 will be a time for students to finish up the final strings of their presentations, as well as to reflect on all of the information that they have learned throughout the unit.

For this lesson you will need:

-All student supplies for their projects

-KWL chart from the first class (first 2 columns filled out)

The following steps should take approximately 1 hour to complete:

1. The beginning of the class will be dedicated to the students finishing up last minute things on their presentations. They will be presented during the next math period so allow them to do whatever kinds of tasks they need to. The teacher should be circulating at this time to make sure that no one needs assistance and that everyone is on track. Give the students 30 minutes for this.

2. The second half of the lesson will be for class reflection on the unit as a whole. Bring up the KWL chart that they filled out in the first lesson of the unit. Have volunteers read all of the points from each column.

3. Next, have students raise their hands in order to contribute things to the final column on the chart; what they learned. Take as many responses as their are until students no longer have anything to add.

4. After the final column is filled out have a short discussion by asking “what did you each enjoy from the unit?” Allow each student to answer this question.

5. Next, ask each student “what is one thing you wish we could have done during this unit?” Once again, allow everyone to answer. The reason for asking this question is to both direct students to further discovery on their own time, and also to help the teacher to know what kinds of things to include the next time. It also gives the teacher a chance to know what kinds of things his/her students are interested in so that they can develop the next unit around those interests.

6. The homework from this class will be for students to make sure they are prepared for the following days presentation.

Lesson 10 – Final Presentations March 12, 2010

Today’s lesson will take place in the gymnasium or large common school space. Students will have to arrive early from their previous class or recess in order to set up their booths.

For this lesson:

-students will need to bring anything that they needed for the project

-teacher will need a note book to make notes on evaluation and rubrics for each student

-other classes and community visitors should have been invited for the lesson

The class will take approximately and hour to complete:

1. Ensure that all of the students are set up before allowing visitors into the space

2. Make an announcement to the visitors that they are to walk around the room and listen to various presentations about global poverty. Hopefully they will be able to learn something from the grade 6’s and be able to put the global problem into some kind of perspective.

3. Allow guests to wander around. The teacher should make sure to visit each of the presentations and hear the group present in full so that he/she can evaluate each group.

4. Once the hour is over allow students to pack up their booths. Congratulate them on a job well done and inform them that there will be no homework for this class.

5. Return the rubrics in the following math period and make sure to go through the grading system clearly.

Personal Reflection March 1, 2010

As a teacher it is important to evaluate both your students and yourself. After finishing this lesson I tried to think of how this unit may have run in a real classroom and the hiccups or implications that it may have faced along the way.

The first thing that I would have liked to have changed would have been elements of the final project. I thoroughly enjoyed the first few lessons where the students were using various forms of media (i.e. the UNICEF website and grocery store fliers) to learn more about global poverty. I found it extremely creative and fun to be able to incorporate statistics about poverty to teach important math concepts. I especially liked my first and fourth lessons for this reason. When it came time for the students to create their own forms of media, however, I found using math a very difficult subject to use. While I came to the consensus to let them to do a project by presenting various poverty statistics to the community, I would have liked to have had a much stronger emphasis on the mathematical part of the unit as opposed to how to create effective media. To add to this point, I also do not think that the few lessons I prepared on the true math concepts about decimals, large numbers, and percentages, would have been enough for the students to really grasp the math processes. In this regard perhaps I would have liked to make my unit several lessons longer.

To alter the unit slightly differently so that students could have been given more time to work with the mathematical processes I would have tried to include the theme of poverty throughout several of the student’s subjects. Math would have been useful, as it was in my plan, to introduce the various statistics. Another subject such as computers or English could have then been used to discuss other aspects of the global problem. The UNICEF stories, how to create a presentation, and how to take action in the community, for example, could have been topics that would  have been more appropriately discussed in the those subjects. If the unit ran this way, where it was spread out amongst various subjects, I think that each teacher would have had enough to time to really teach their curriculum required subject matter while still getting at the underlying theme of poverty.

In general, I really enjoyed my unit but can certainly see that there would be potential hiccups along the way if it were to be introduced to a real life classroom. The overall message that I got from this project was that it is simple to bring in aspects of the media or social issues into typical subject areas. I can see how this technique could be used for countless other issues and how it could be adapted to suit many other subjects. I hope that I will be able to implement a lesson with these underlying social issues when I get into my own classroom.