Avery Finch Mathematics Lesson On Place Value Core Decisions What?

The content of this lesson is the base ten system and the concept of place value. The activities herein will give students practice manipulating two-digit numbers such that the relationship between place value (tens and ones places) and actual units (groups of tens and individual ones) becomes more apparent and concrete. At the end of the lesson students should understand that two-digit numbers are made of groups of tens and ones, and that they can use the digits in a numeral to determine how the number breaks down (for example, that if you have 13 objects, you can split them into one group of ten and have three left over). These concepts align with Common Core State Standards for math in second grade (CCSS.Math.Content.2.NBT.A.1; see lesson plan). Students will also be working on several Standards for Mathematical Practice. As will be discussed further below, I am undertaking all lessons in the Term III Assignment with an eye toward inviting productive discussion amongst the students, so this lesson will give students practice in constructing and critiquing mathematical arguments (CCSS.Math.Practice.MP3). They will also represent mathematical concepts using a model (Standard 4), and, similarly, use appropriate tools strategically (Standard 5). How? Both my pedagogical focus for this lesson and my overarching question for my Term III Assignment are about the value of effective discussion in supporting learning and inspiring further inquiry. The questions I intend to ask and the environment I aim to create during this lesson are based on recommendations from The Professional Standards for Teaching Mathematics (summarized in Ebby, Ideas). Most important, in my opinion, is that the students will have many opportunities to share their thinking, which inherently allows students to hear their peers thinking as well. As Hiebert et al. (1997) write, Reflecting and communicating are the processes through which understanding develops (18). Asking students to justify their reasoning and comment on the ideas of their classmates and the teacher will hopefully encourage both engagement with the material and critical thinking about how best to approach it. It will also help students to expand on their own ideas and open them up to others. During this lesson the students will be responsible for making their own meaning (using tools provided them by the teacher). This, too, is an important part of a desirable classroom discourse. It is not the teachers word, but the work the students do themselvesspecifically, the Bean Counters grouping activitythat will serve as evidence of the relationship between place value and actual units. They will first be asked to share what they know about the abstract concepts of tens place and ones place, of which most of them have a somewhat superficial understanding. Then, working with manipulatives, students will demonstrate that there is a direct correlation between the numerals in a two-digit number and the groups of tens and ones contained in that number of objects. Finally, we will wrap up with a discussion that connects the task of predicting how many groups of tens and ones are in a number with the concrete Bean Counters work. I am hopeful that talking about the relationship between what the students already knew (that two-digit numbers have a tens place and a ones place) and what they
Avery Finch Term III Assignment: Initial Math Lesson 1

Comment: So unitizing is an important underlying concept here (see Fosnot & Dolk chapter) Also part-whole or decomposition

Comment: You can just cite NCTM here

Comment: Discover?

have shown with their Bean Counters activity (that the number breaks down into groups of tens and ones) will help to solidify a deeper, relational understanding (Van de Walle, 2003) of the meaning of place value and the base ten system. Why? My choice of lesson topic was determined largely by what my classroom mentor and I perceive to be a need among our students. Many of our second graders struggle with the concept of place value and the base ten system. Although most do not hesitate to identify the tens and ones place in a two-digit number, even some of the most confident mathematicians among them are unable to predict how many groups of tens and ones a number will break down into. A solid understanding of the base ten system and the meaning of place value is a crucial foundational piece on which students will build future math knowledge. Chapin and Johnson (2006) explain, Students early understanding of number involves making sense of counting, decomposition, and place value. These ideas are the foundation of mathematics [emphasis added] (29). As such, any and all practice is valuable. As for the activity itself, I chose to use the Bean Counters activity because I believe that it fits Chapin and Johnsons (2006) description of tasks that highlight relationships and properties as well as that focus on skills (30). The Bean Counters activity both allows students to see relationships and properties of numbers, and it also provides them with valuable practice in decomposing numbers. Additionally, I believe that manipulatives, in making numbers more tangible and visible, can also make them more concrete and therefore easier for young children to understand. However I also know that tools are only as effective as the use to which they are put. Manipulatives are often seen as being inherently meaningful, when in fact the meaning must come from the students interaction with them (Ball, 1992; Hiebert et al., 1997). The Bean Counters activity is an effective use of manipulatives because it allows students to create and then see for themselves the connection between the groups of ten before them and the number in the tens place, and same for the ones place. It is my belief that, in constructing their own meaning from the activity, students will develop a relational understanding of the mathematical concept at the heart of the activity (Van de Walle, 2003). The activity also gives the students a shared referentthat is, a tool with which all students will be working and about which they can communicate together, so that they can work toward clearer, better articulated, and more widely shared understandings (Hiebert et al., 1997, p. 58). Using the same tool to solve different but related problems (namely, breaking a group into tens and ones) will allow students to more easily talk about their methods because it creates a shared language around the work, thereby improving the quality of discussion. The original lesson plan on which Bean Counters is modeled (Basically Base Ten; see Works Referenced) calls for base ten blocks and rods (or, because our class does not have those, I considered using linking cubes), but I opted instead for dried beans. I felt that it would be valuable to use something that is familiar to students from their everyday lives but that they have never used in a mathematical context. Working with beans instead of cubes will hopefully get students out of the math class mindset and help them see that these principles of grouping always apply, not just when they are in the classroom and working with objects designated as math manipulatives. It may also open them up to the possibility that the skills they are practicing are not just relevant in school, but also in their daily lives. Additionally, I wanted the students to be able to take with them an artifact of their lesson, both as a means of reinforcing the concepts learned and as a memento of what will hopefully be a positive math experience.
Avery Finch Term III Assignment: Initial Math Lesson 2

Comment: In addition, the beans need to be grouped, whereas with base 10 blocks the grouping is already done. So your choice allows for more active reflection on the important underlying concepts.

Lesson Plan Date/Time to be Implemented: Tuesday 11/26 Students: Second Grade at the Penn Alexander School Anticipated Time: 40 minutes Pedagogical Focus Facilitating mathematical discussion around mathematical ideas by eliciting, clarifying, and following up on student explanations (using talk moves). Goals/Objectives Students will be able to: ! guess a two-digit number when given the values of the tens and ones places. ! accurately split an unknown two-digit number of manipulatives into groups of ten and individual ones. ! use what they observe about the groups of ten and individual ones (and their relationship to place value) to determine how many total units they have. This is in order to: ! demonstrate understanding of the true meaning of place value, i.e. that the number in the tens place represents groups of ten, and the number in the ones place represents individual units. Common Core State Standards in Mathematics Content: ! CCSS.Math.Content.2.NBT.A.1: Understand that the three digits of a three-digit number represent amounts of hundreds, tens, and ones; e.g., 706 equals 7 hundreds, 0 tens, and 6 ones. Practice: ! CCSS.Math.Practice.MP3: Construct viable arguments and critique the reasoning of others. ! CCSS.Math.Practice.MP4: Model with mathematics. ! CCSS.Math.Practice.MP5: Use appropriate tools strategically. Materials and Preparation ! white board and marker ! bag of dried beans ! bag of craft sticks ! 6 small cups ! 6 bottles of glue ! 6 Bean Counters sheets ! 6 pencils ! one completed stick of 10 beans ! one Bean Counters sheet with beans and sticks glued on but no numbers filled in Classroom Arrangement and Management The six participating students may choose their own seats at a round table. I have purposely chosen students who typically get along well with their peers and have no trouble
Avery Finch Term III Assignment: Initial Math Lesson 3

Comment: This seems like a very narrow goalits an activity rather than a goal.

Comment: Develop? Keep in mind that this is a process. Its not going to happen in one lesson for all kids.

Comment: It might also make sense to reference the first grade CCSS standard on place value, since that is really what you are focusing on. Its important that they reach that standard first, in order to get to three digits in 2nd grade.

working in groups. Rather than stand at the front of the room in front of a board, I will also sit at the table, and prop up a whiteboard next to me. Sitting amongst the students will hopefully establish a conversational, non-threatening atmosphere. I think this is particularly important because although all the students I have chosen appear to be at grade level, a few are prone to become anxious in what they perceive to be formal testing environments. As such I will also be sure to remain positive and non-judgmental throughout the experience (as always). Any activity involving glue and other art materials runs the risk of moving quickly into messy territory. As such, before I distribute materials I will remind students that we need to respect the space and the materials, and that any mess they make will be their responsibility to clean up, so they should do their best to minimize it. (The room where I conduct the lesson does have a sink and paper towels available.) If any student demonstrates that he or she cannot be trusted with the glue, he or she will have to continue the activity without gluing the materials to the page. Plan Launch Hook: Whats My Number? (3 min.) ! Teacher begins by reminding students of the group norms (i.e. raise hands to speak, respect everyone and everything in the room). ! Teacher turns the whiteboard away from the students and writes a number (0-99 inclusive; 24, for example) out of the students view. Teacher asks the students to guess her number, telling them only that the number is somewhere from 0 to 99. ! After students offer a few (random, probably unsuccessful) guesses, teacher offers them a hint: The number has 2 tens and 4 ones. ! Teacher calls on a student who has a guess, which will very likely be right. (If not, teacher simply says, Nope, thats not it, and calls on another student until someone guesses correctly.) Teacher confirms that the number is 24, but does not ask for an explanation yet: Wow, you got it right away! Okay, let me try again. ! Teacher repeats the process with two other numbers (51 and 18, for example), giving place values and asking for student volunteers to answer. Discussion and Guided Practice (7 min.) ! When a student guesses correctly a third time, teacher asks for someone to explain whats going on here. My number could have been anything! How did you know what it was when I just gave you one little hint? ! Teacher calls on a student. Student explains how he or she made use of the information (the value of each place) to get the number. (See below for possible student responses.) Teacher asks if others agree, then calls on someone to explain it in his or her own words. Based on student response, teacher may also ask if anyone figured it out a different way. ! Teacher draws two blanks on the board and writes tens under the first and ones under the second. Teacher then reiterates students explanation: So youre saying that when I said there were 2 tens, you knew to put a 2 here in the tens place [writes 2 in first blank], and when I said there were 4 ones, you knew to put a 4 here in the ones place [writes 4 in second blank]. Did I get that right? ! Teacher continues, Youve mentioned something really important about place value, which is that when a number has a 2 in the tens place, what that really means is that we have 2 tens, or 2 groups of ten. And when a number has a 4 in the ones place, what that
Avery Finch Term III Assignment: Initial Math Lesson 4

Comment: This part seems like more than 7 min, and it seems very directive. Ive added comments on how you can engage students more actively in the discussion and leave some of the thinking and reflecting to them.

Comment: Im not sure you will get much from thisare there really different ways?

Comment: Our way of writing numbers

really means is that we have 4 lonely little ones. I know youve talked about that a little bit in class, but I want to prove to you that its true. ! Teacher puts the bag of dried beans on the table and scoops out a handful. Teacher silently counts out ten into one cup, puts ten into another cup, and then leaves four on the table next to them (and returns the rest of the beans to the bag). Teacher says, Heres all the beans we have. Lets figure out how many there are. Teacher hands each cup to a student and asks them to count the beans. Two students count and each report that there are ten. Teacher says, So there are 10 beans in this cup, and 10 beans in this cup. How many cups of 10 beans each do we have? Teacher calls on a student to answer (2) and checks for agreement. Teacher reiterates: Two cups of 10 beans each. And how many loose ones do we have here? Teacher calls on a student to answer (4) and checks for agreement, then reiterates again: Two cups of 10, and 4 loose ones. ! Teacher asks, How many beans do you think we have altogether? Teacher asks students to think quietly for a moment, then has them turn and talk to a neighbor about what theyre thinking. Teacher listens in as students talk for about 30 seconds. Teacher then records predictions on whiteboard, and asks students to explain their reasoning. Teacher rephrases student explanations: So youre saying the 2 cups of 10 are like tens, and the 4 on the table are ones, so that makes 24. Okay, lets check: Well count them. ! Teacher dumps the beans on the table and the group counts them aloud together. Teacher asks if any students want to share whatever thoughts they may have about what they have observed. If they need prompting, teacher asks, Can anyone tell me why I didnt put these 4 in a cup? ! Teacher points out that they just counted the groups of tens and ones and found the number easily, without counting every bean. Teacher asks students if they think this strategy will always work. Teacher scoops out a giant handful of beans and puts them in the middle of the table, then continues, I wont ask you to count every beanjust watch what I do and think in your head. Teacher counts out ten beans aloud and says, Im putting these first ten beans in this cup. Teacher counts ten more, silently, and puts them in another cup, saying, Here are ten more. Teacher repeats this process silently until there are fewer than ten beans left. Teacher says, There are ten beans in each cup, and here are the leftovers. Think quietly to yourself: How many beans do we have altogether? ! Teacher asks for and records all student predictions. Teacher asks students to explain their reasoning. Teacher rephrases: You said you noticed there are 5 groups of ten, and there are 3 left over, so 5 tens and 3 ones makes 53. ! Teacher asks students how they would like to test whether their predictions were accurate: Count by ones? Count by tens? Group counts beans and comes to a consensus about the total number of beans. Work and Explore Teacher Modeling: Introduction of Bean Counters Activity (3 min.) ! Lets use this same strategy to count some more big numbers. Teacher tells students that they will each scoop out a cupful of beans (as many as they want, within reasontry for at least 10, but not so many that the cup overflows). They will break their beans into tens and glue groups of 10 beans to a craft stick. Teacher shows an example of a

Comment: It seems like you are kind of giving it away here. Comment: Before you do this, you can askhow can I figure out how many are here? After collecting a few strategies, then put them into groups of ten

Comment: I would make a chart here with 3 columns: Cups of ten, single beans, and total number of beans

Comment: First pose a questionhow can I figure out how many beans I have? Can we use the cups to make it easier?

Comment: You can engage them more in this part by asking each student to fill a cup with ten beans (it will also make things go faster) Comment: Again, writing this on the chart will leave it there for them to reflect on and you dont have to directly tell them

Comment: You might also have them make a prediction firstshow many do they estimate? Then use the sticks to find out.

Avery Finch Term III Assignment: Initial Math Lesson 5

completed craft stick. Teacher tells them that they will probably have some left over, i.e. not enough to make another ten. ! Teacher shows a blank Bean Counters worksheet and says that they will glue their loose beans and their craft sticks to the paper: Where do the sticks go? How about the loose beans? (Sticks go under the Tens column, loose beans go under Ones.) ! Teacher shows a Bean Counters worksheet with sticks and beans glued on but nothing written in. Teacher models counting and writing in how many tens and ones she has. Teacher asks, Do I have to count all the beans on my page to know how many I have? How can we use the sticks and loose beans to help us figure out how many beans we have? Students help figure out the total. Teacher models writing it in. ! Teacher reminds students to respect the space and avoid making a mess: Use glue sparingly, and be careful not to spill the beans! Bean Counters Activity (Individual Work) (15-20 min.) ! Students individually gather beans, glue them to the sticks and the sheet, and then write in however many tens and ones they have. They then write in the total numbers. ! Teacher circulates among the students, listening in and helping as needed. When students pose a question that someone else in the group could answer (and that others would benefit from hearing explained), the teacher poses the question to the whole group, and whoever feels like looking up from their work can chime in. An example of a question that another student could answer is, I have 11 left, do I need another stick? ! Students may talk to and help each other as they work. Debrief and Wrap Up Reviewing the Results (10 min.) ! Teacher asks for a volunteer to share his Bean Counters sheet. If necessary teacher asks guiding questions to get at the important information: Where did you start? How did you get your total? Teacher invites other students to ask questions, give specific compliments, or state whether they agree or disagree (and explain why). I plan to leave enough time for all students to share. ! Teacher spreads out the completed sheets on the table and asks students to identify the paper with the most beans. A student volunteer gives and then justifies his answer. If he says he just read the number after Total, teacher challenges him to explain how he could figure it out if the number were not written right in front of him. If he answers, Counting all the beans, teacher confirms that this works, then asks if he can think of a more efficient (or faster) way (i.e. noticing that there are 6 groups of 10 and 2 loose beans, so there are 62 total, for example). ! Teacher asks students if they can think of any cases when it would be helpful to know that a number is made up of tens and ones (e.g. if they know gum is sold in packs of ten, and they have 4 full packs of gum plus one pack with just 6 sticks left). Assessment of Goals and Objectives Because my pedagogical focus and overarching question are about discussion, I have built many opportunities for questioning and discussion into this lesson, all of which will help me to assess student understanding. This includes both student responses to teacher-generated questions, and conversation between students. It also includes any questions the students may ask of me or each other. The Bean Counters activity is my other important assessment tool. Based on whether students accurately split the beans into groups and then determined the total number, I will have
Avery Finch Term III Assignment: Initial Math Lesson 6

Comment: You are also going to need to model how to gluee.g., just one dot of glue is enough. Keep in mind that they will also need to figure out how to fit ten onto the stick. Comment: This seems a bit cumbersome to glue the sticks onto the paper (and messy and heavy). Why not just have them place them on the paper and record the results in a chart? (sticks, leftovers, total)

Comment: You could also have students record their results on the chart you have started. Then as a class you can reflect on patterns in the chart. (The first digit tells you how many sticks you can fillgroups of ten-- and the second digit how many leftovers or ones. Your discussion should focus on having students reflect on and communicate about the main idea of the lessonthe grouping of tens and ones. You want to see how they are making sense of it. Comment: Do you want to return to the intro activity and help them reflect on what it means when a number is in the tens place? Comment: I actually think you can build in moreit seems like you are doing a lot of the talking in the whole group intro. Asking more open ended questions will allow you to assess what they really understand, and dont understand.

a good sense of student understanding. Conversation is key here too, though: I will be sure to ask each student to explain his or her method so that I know whether students counted the groups of tens and ones, or if they resorted to counting by ones. This will tell me something about their comfort level with and understanding of the concept that place value refers to groups of tens and ones. Anticipating Students Responses Based on what I know about the students in this class, I predict that students initial explanation of how they guessed the number during Whats My Number? will be somewhat superficial. In other words, it will probably focus on the numbers in each place, not the groups of tens and onesfor example, You said the 2 is in the tens place and the 4 is in the ones place, so its 24. If the student makes reference to a number being composed of tens and ones, like for example There are 2 tens, which makes 20, and there are 4 ones, so 20 + 4 = 24, thats great. Either way, teacher asks as for as many methods as possible. Accommodations Perhaps the most challenging part of this activity comes in the beginning, when students are asked to predict a number based on groups of tens and ones (both during Whats My Number? and the guided practice). Students who insist that they do not know how to make a guess will be encouraged to draw on any strategies they think might be helpful, and reminded that Im not looking for a right answer, but rather any ideas that students have. They will also have ample opportunity to share their thinking with their peers and listen to and question their classmates explanations. Students who take a long time with the gluing portion may ask for help from peers who are done, and students who are unsure about how to figure out how many beans they have on their Bean Counters sheet will be able to collaborate to find a solution. They will also be reminded that they can use whatever strategy they find most helpful: They can count groups of tens and ones, or they can count by ones to be extra sure. Students who find the Bean Counters activity easy might finish early. They may help other kids glue (this is a norm in their classroom), and/or talk with someone else who is done about what they found. Avery, This is a good start and a creative lesson and your core decisions are thoughtfully articulated. There are a couple of things that would improve it: 1) leave some of the thinking and reflecting to the kids. You direct them through the whole process in the beginning, but you can leave this more open ended to encourage more reflection. Use the cups as a way to organize the beans for counting and let them record the number of tens and ones and then determine the total number however they want. They will come to see that counting by tens is more efficient. Remember that understanding place value is a developmental process and you are not going to teach it in one lesson. As they work on organizing and counting their own scoops of beans, and recording tens and ones, many will begin to develop shortcuts and see patterns. Then in the discussion you can have them share results and reflect on the patterns. 2) Consider whether gluing the beans onto the sticks really adds anything to your lesson in terms of the mathematical goals. I worry that the activity of gluing will take away from the important concepts. If you had students filling cups and then recording their answers, would that be more effective in terms of the goals? Unless you plan to have them use the completed sticks for something else, Im just not convinced that its worth the effort. (e.g., you could have them combine all their results at the end
Avery Finch Term III Assignment: Initial Math Lesson 7

Comment: Yes, this is why it would be good to return to this at the end.

Comment: Yes, you want to make sure that gluing does not become the focus of the activity. Also some kids will need help making sure they have ten and that they can fit ten on the stick. Comment: Here is where you want to be assessinghow are they determining the total number of beans? Are they counting by tens and then ones? Or counting them all by ones?

and as a class use the groups of tens and ones to determine the grand total) If you do decide to keep the sticks, make sure you practice to see how hard it is and what you will need to model and remind them (e.g., you dont want beans slipping off the sticks because the glue isnt dry or students getting to the end of the stick before they have ten on there) and 3) Im not sure that the opening activity adds much to the lesson, unless you return to it at the end. You could make this a little more challenging (and potentially interesting) by posing it as a series of clues that you reveal in order as they narrow down their guesses: I am thinking of a number between 1 and 100. My number has more tens than ones. The tens and ones in my number add up to 5. My number has 4 tens. These are just ideas to open up the lesson to more reflection and communication. Remember that you cannot give students understanding of place value, but you can provide rich opportunities to help them reflect on and communicate the important concepts. Not all students will get there after one lesson, but you want to be able to see where they are in the development of that understanding and where they still need to go.

Avery Finch Term III Assignment: Initial Math Lesson 8