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Lesson Two

Grade/Content Mathematics: Foundations of Area


Area
Grade 3
Lesson Title
How long are my sides?
Standards
Math (Common Core)
Common Core CCSS.Math.Content.3.MD.C.5a
or GLE/GSE
A square with side length 1 unit, called a unit square, is said to
(state level)
have one square unit of area, and can be used to measure area.
AND
CCSS.Math.Content.3.MD.C.6
National
Measure area by counting unit squares.
Standards (in
CCSS.Math.Content.3.MD.C.7a
all areas
Find the area of a rectangle with whole-number side lengths by
except Math
tiling it, and show that the area is the same as would be found by
and ELA-use
multiplying the side lengths.
Common Core CCSS.Math.Content.3.MD.C.7b
for those)
Multiply side lengths to find areas of rectangles with wholenumber side lengths in the context of solving real world and
mathematical problems, and represent whole-number products as
rectangular areas in mathematical reasoning.
CCSS.Math.Content.3.MD.C.7d
Recognize area as additive. Find areas of rectilinear figures by
decomposing them into non-overlapping rectangles and adding the
areas of the non-overlapping parts, applying this technique to solve
real world problems.
Context of the
Students have already been using manipulatives to determine the
Lesson
areas of different shapes. They have analyzed how shapes with
different appearances can have the same amount of a manipulative fill
them and created different shapes with a set type and number of
manipulatives. In the last lesson, they also began transferring their
knowledge of area from manipulatives to grids.
Now that the students have had the opportunity to use
manipulatives to discover area, they will begin transferring that
knowledge over to paper and using grids to further develop their
understanding of area.
This lesson should take approximately 45-60, however it could
take more or less time depending on how students seem to understand
the lesson.
This lesson is based off of the Engage NY curriculum (which is
used by the school that I am working in).

Opportunities
to Learn

Objectives

Instructional
Procedures

The students will begin by using their individual whiteboards to


solve a problem related to what they did in the previous lesson. The
students in this class seem to always enjoy using their whiteboards so
if I can begin with this step, students will show interest in succeeding;
when they have used their whiteboards in the past, the students have
shown greater interest in the lesson and they also seem to be more
motivated to get through the problems.*
The students will be building on the knowledge that they have
gained through the earlier lessons on area. Since we will be building
on and furthering their knowledge by asking the students to work with
the early knowledge that theyve been building on, but still gradual
enough that they are able to do a lot of the work themselves with some
guidance. For the students who are a little bit more ahead, this lesson
will allow them to begin to recognize that the number of units on each
side is directly linked to the length of the side.*
Students will be doing work as a whole group and individually.
This allows the students to work through problems alone and learn
from one another as students explain their thought processes. In
addition, while walking around, I will be able to point out and assist
students further.*
For this lesson, I will be creating a sheet where the problems build
on one another. The students will use their whiteboards to start off the
lesson, and then we will move onto a worksheet, and finish with an exit
ticket. I will need copies of the worksheet, exit ticket and a half sheet
of each centimeter and inch grid paper (photocopied onto the same
page for comparison purposes). For my own use, I will use the
SmartBoard and/or the Elmo projector in the room to work through the
problems in sequence with the students.*
Students will be able to:
Relate side lengths with the number of tiles on a side.
Measure the length of the side of a rectangle by using both
centimeter and inch rulers.
Associate that the opposite sides of a rectangle have equal side
lengths.
Determine whether it is best to use inches or centimeters to
measure the sides of a figure.
Opening (10-15% of lesson):
To activate students prior knowledge, I will put up a problem
similar to what they did in the day before for them to do on their
whiteboards.

v Cam uses 16 square-centimeter tiles to make a


rectangle. Annie uses 15 square-centimeter tiles to
make a rectangle.
a) Draw what Cams and Annies rectangles might
look like. Write each students name over their
rectangle.
b) Whose rectangle has a bigger area? How do
you know?
As the students solve the problem they will hold their boards up
to show that they have an accurate solution. If their solutions are
accurate, I will have them keep their solution on their board. If
not, I will have them try again or offer them help if they are
really struggling.
Today we will take what you learned the past few days a step
further. We are going to determine how to determine how long
the sides are on a rectangle.
Engagement (60-70% of lesson):
Lets look back at the drawings we made on our whiteboards.
Can anyone tell me how we might figure out the length of each
side? (Students will give some answers, one or two will likely
point out that side length is found by counting the number of
squares.) Right, so we can count the squares to find the length
of the sides, but what tool can we use if the rectangle doesnt
have squares already? (Students will hopefully get at using a
ruler.)
The students will be presented with a 6 question worksheet and
we are going to do the first one as a class. They will finish off
the front side individually and then we will go through each on
the front together. If there are no issues with the front, we will
move on to the back side of the sheet and do each problem
individually.
Throughout the lesson, I will ask students individually why some
rectangles would be better to mention in centimeters or inches
and what makes them think that way. I will also ask some of the
students who appear to be grasping the lesson well if they see a
similarity between the rectangles and anything else that we have
been working with (arrays) and if they can think of a faster way
to find area (length times width).
Closure (20-25% of lesson):
At the end of the lesson we will regroup and talk about when it is

Assessment

appropriate to use centimeters and when it is appropriate to use


inches, as well as if we need to measure all four sides of the
shape or if there is a trick.
To conclude, the students will complete an exit ticket to
determine their complete understanding of the lesson. The exit
ticket will be submitted at the end of the lesson and returned to
them by the start of the next lesson.
Throughout the lesson, I will be asking the students questions
and walking around the room to assure that they understand the
lesson.
At the end of the lesson, students will be presented with an exit
ticket that will be graded to determine their understanding of the
major points of the lesson. The exit ticket will have three
rectangles, two of which will have inch squares and one will
have centimeter squares, on the left side of the paper and three
total areas written on the right-hand side of the paper.
Label the side lengths of each rectangle. Then match the
rectangle to its total area.
This will be graded on a check system and given back to the
students by the beginning of the next days lesson.
v A P- will indicate that a student has no knowledge of what
he/she is being asked to do. The student will either have
nothing written or will have something written that shows no
understanding of the lesson.
v A P will indicate that a student appears to understand what
they have learned. The student will have two of the three
pieces of the questions on the exit ticket correct.
v A P+ will indicate that a student has complete knowledge of
what he/she is being asked to do. The student will have all
questions answered fully and prove that they understand the
lesson.

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