Tamara Sandoval

EDUC 322 SP 2014

April 22, 2014
Title:
Subject:
Length:

Solving Story Problems

Math
60 minutes

Grade:
Date:

1st
March 19, 2014

Standards:
CCSS.Math.Content.1.OA.A.1 Use addition and subtraction within 20 to solve word problems
involving situations of adding to, taking from, putting together, taking apart, and comparing,
with unknowns in all positions, e.g., by using objects, drawings, and equations with a symbol
for the unknown number to represent the problem.
Rationale/Purpose for Lesson:
Learners must be able to apply addition and subtraction knowledge to solve realistic story problems.
The ability to explain the thought process behind the solution will enable students to work through
their own thoughts, gaining a more thorough understanding of the material.
Unit Outcome:
Learners will be able to apply subtraction and addition strategies to solve mathematical word
problems.
Lesson Outcomes:
Learners will be able to use appropriate vocabulary to explain the thought process behind solving
mathematical word problems.
Resources/Materials Required:
Individual Student Workbooks
Pencils (Students have these at their desks. Extras can be found in the back of the room by
the pencil sharpener.)
Manipulative Cubes/Paperclips/Tiles (found in labeled buckets)
Document Camera (found at the front of the classroom)
Math matching game (printed and organized ahead of time)
Student Management:
When the students come in from gym, have them sit on the carpet in a circle along the edge of
the carpet. The students should remain sitting for the introduction and discussion portions of
the lesson.
Explain to the students that as they work, they may choose to use a manipulative to aid in their
problem solving techniques. They must be actively working on their assignment and sitting in
their seat, with a hand raised in order to ask to use a manipulative tool.
Each student has a math workbook in their cubby. After the first portion of the lesson, dismiss
students by attribute (wearing a color, with brown hair, etc.) to retrieve their workbooks and go
back to their seats.
As the students begin to finish their work, you will check for completion and accuracy. Once
completed, the student may retrieve their book bag and read quietly at their seat while others
finish.
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Once every one has finished (or mostly everyone), collect the papers/workbooks, have the
students return their book bags to their cubbies and everyone will sit on the carpet once again.
If students are not following direction or causing disturbances within the classroom, their name
may be moved down on the color chart. If required, the teacher will contact parents.

Assessment:
After the introduction and discussion portion of this lesson, ask the students for a thumbs up if
they understand how the problem was solved. A thumbs up means they understand
completely, a thumb sideways means they sort of understand, and a thumbs down means they
are completely lost. Depending on the response, another example may be needed.
The teacher will walk around the room while students are working independently to assist and
assess how each student is doing with the task. For those who may have questions, the
teacher will support with questioning strategies to assist the student in thinking through the
problem and finding a solution.
The teacher will check each students work for completion of the assignment before the end of
the lesson. The students are expected to show their work, find the solution, and be able to
explain their answer for all four story problems on the worksheet.
Questioning:
While assisting students during individual practice:
How did you know that is the correct answer?
Can you show me how you got to that solution?
o Place vocabulary on their chosen strategy (i.e. counting all, counting up, and counting
back).
What if I changed one of the numbers?
Were there clues in the story that told you to use addition or subtraction? Which ones?
Are there any other strategies you could use to find the same solution?
Introduction:
Start by playing a matching game for mathematical vocabulary (plus sign, +, subtraction sign,
-, equal sign, =, tens, ones, and cube image of tens and ones, etc.).
o Once students are seated in a circle, ask them if they have ever played memory. Ask for
an explanation of the rules. Acceptable suggestions include: take turns, flip one card
and flip another card to see if they match, if they match you keep the cards, if they do
not match flip them back over then it is someone elses turn, etc.
o Explain that you will pull names on Popsicle sticks to decide whose turn it will be.
o Place the cards in random order, in the middle of the carpet.
o Students must use vocabulary to name the image on the card.
o After the students have uncovered and matched all cards, you may start another round.
Do not go over two rounds as this will take too much time away from their work time.
o Once the last game is finished, have the students hand you the cards and transition into
the lesson.
Procedures:
Discuss a story problem and solve it together as a class.
o Read the story aloud. There were 14 children playing at the park. Then 5 went home
with their parents. How many children were still at the park?
o Ask a student to repeat the problem. Then ask a few more.
o Q. What does the story want to know? What is it asking us to find? How do you know?
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o Using the document camera, show the story problem written out.
o Q. Ask a student what the equation is that would show us our problem. Check with a
few others if this is the correct equation or should something be changed. Do not give
answer right away, let the students discuss the possibilities.
o Q. Now that we have the equation, how are we going to solve it?
o Call on one student to walk through how he/she would solve the problem. You may use
manipulative cubes to demonstrate what the student is saying.
o Call on another student for a different way to solve the problem. Make sure to
demonstrate and use proper vocabulary (counting all, counting up, and counting back).
o Use the Thumbs Up assessment tool (see assessment section) to gauge whether the
students understand how they got the answer.
*Note: If the same students seem to be raising their hands a lot, try using Popsicle stick names
in order to choose randomly.
Explain that we will now work at our tables to try solving story problems on our own. Dont
forget to lay the ground rules for using the manipulative cubes/tiles/paperclips as mentioned
under student management section.
If most students seem uncertain or completely lost, walk through another story example. John
has 11 apples. He gives 5 to Mary. How many apples does John have left? Use the same
techniques as above.
Dismiss the students (by attributes) to retrieve math workbooks and begin working on Unit 6,
pages 35 and 36.

Practice:
The students should be at their desks working on their story problems. If a student is actively
working on their assignment, they may ask for manipulatives.
As students work on their assignment, visit each table and support student learning.
Use the questions in the Questioning section to enhance student cognitive thought
processes.
If a student is really struggling, use guided practice by working through one of the problems in
the same format from the previous section.
As students finish, check their work and if completed allow students to read a book.
If students are still working with 7 minutes left in the lesson time, give a 2 minute warning to
ask for help or finish.
Cognitive Closure:
After the two minute warning has ended, call students back the carpet.
Go over one of the problems in the workbook using the document camera in the same manner
as the Procedures section.
Ask for the equation again.
Ask students what they did to solve the problem. Reiterate the vocabulary (counting up,
counting back, and counting all).
Have a discussion about what types of work did they show to answer the problem. Some
may have used circles, some may have used lines, and others may have used the
cubes/tiles/paperclips but recorded the problem differently.
Record all responses
End with a Thumbs Up assessment of how work time went and student understanding of
solving word problems.
Transition to end of the day announcements/readying to go home.
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Evaluation and Reflection: (to be completed after the lesson has actually been taught)
This lesson was fun to teach, however, it was definitely difficulty to help all the students with
just one teacher. When it came to the introduction, the students were highly engaged as we went
throughout the game. The only downside is that there is a large amount of students and the game
took a lot of time away from our lesson due to student pace. With a class this large, it may be better
to have two or three copies of the matching game and have the students play in small groups. This
exercise seemed to help the students transition between gym and math.
During the actual lesson, I found that these particular students have difficulty staying on task.
About a quarter of the class, roughly six to eight students, were responding to my questions and
interacting with me. Occasionally the whole class would respond to a question. I attempted to choose
students who seemed to be losing focus to repeat the story problem. Although it was not in my lesson
plan, I found that having the students team up and solve the problem refocused their attention on
math. They were able to share their ideas with their partner and come to a conclusion together. It was
interesting to hear the many strategies they used in solving the problem. I like the pairing idea
because all of the students were able to participate and work with math.
When we transitioned into independent practice, the students were excited about the attribute
technique. I have found that students like to find any bit of the color called in order to get up and get
started on their work. All of the students retrieved their workbooks and found their seats with ease.
Following that transition, I began to work with the students independently. It was clear that the
students in this classroom are eager to learn and crave the one-on-one attention. Unfortunately, I was
only able to help about three or four students in this manner. With such a large class, I can see how
Ms. Mackey tends to have the students work together on the carpet in a guided practice.
I could tell during this time that the students were not comfortable with answering higher
learning questions. Observing the students attempt to explain their thoughts was interesting. Some
students used number lines, some used pictures and others counted up or down to solve the
problems. If I was the actual teacher, I would have taken mini notes to understand which students
learned which ways. This would help me in the future while planning other lessons.
Sadly, I ran out of time and was not able to close the lesson with cognitive closure techniques.
I was thankful that I used partners during the lesson so that the students were cognitively engaged in
the majority of the lesson. The lesson overall was well planned out and interesting to the students.
Next time, I would hope that I had more time and I believe having two or three groups during the
introduction game would help me find that time. For follow-up, I would include more problem solving
situations within the morning routine and attempt to ask students to make their own problems and
share with partners or the class.
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