Helen Webb

Problem Solving Lesson Observations

My student teaching is taking place in the second grade, at Reiche Community School in
Portland .The way the math program is set up; each lesson slowly builds and adds to skills
required for the overarching unit. The unit the students are going through at the moment is on the
concept of regrouping in addition and subtraction. The specific lessons I observed were using
models to subtract one digit from two digit numbers, then the next lesson, they learned to
subtract the numbers without the manipulatives. Finally they were learning to subtract two digits
from two digits.
Mathematics standards addressed both lessons
2.NBT.5 fluently add and subtract within 100 using strategies based on place value, properties
of operations, and/or the relationship between addition and subtraction.
2.NBT.9 Explain why addition and subtraction strategies work, using place value and the
properties of operations. Explanations may be supported by drawings or objects.
For math, students in the second grade are all separated into groups based on their level
and their needs. Some of these groups have Special Ed and ELL support, while others are simply
paced or taught differently depending on their level of understanding. This meant that most
students move to different classrooms and do not have the same teacher as they do for the rest of
the day. At the start of both lessons, the teacher introduced the new topic and made a connection
to the previous days lesson. Next, the teacher conducted a short mini-lesson, followed by guided
practice. Steps to solving the problem were repeated by the teacher and then by the students.
Once the material was understood, after several practice problems, students were given
independent work, and the teacher circled around, conferencing with each student individually.
The teachers role throughout both lessons was to lead the mini-lessons through direct
instruction and guided practice. She then circled around and conferred with students as they
solved problems on their own. Her philosophy on helping students practice and solve math
problems is to let them struggle a little on their own before stepping in to help them individually.
In trying to figure out their errors on their own, even if they get the wrong answer, they are

developing critical problem solving strategies as well as building their confidence and
independence.
This class has several benefits to their math instruction. First of all, the groups are already
together based on level. Most of the time students in each level are in a different classroom.
Students are not aware that their peers are at a higher or lower level than they are. Also, because
this teachers group requires more academic and other supports, there are always at least a few
adults in the room to help and work with students who get stuck. Accommodations for this
particular leveled group included para educator support and simplified worksheets. Students in
this group were also given more guided practice. One student requires a special chair, and a
slanted desk tray to work on. Students were assessed on their ability to solve the problems on the
white board and their worksheet. There is also a unit pre and posttest to monitor student growth.
Students were also given daily homework based on their level of understanding.
It is extremely important to maintain safe and positive learning environment for all
students, but particularly for the students in this program many of whom are facing challenges at
home where stability and safety may not be available. It is important to have structure and
predictability, which is strongly enforced in this classroom with routines, plenty of review, and
explicit expectations of both teacher and student.
In the first lesson, students were practicing subtraction, using base ten blocks to subtract
single digits from double digit numbers. The lesson began by defining subtraction as
components: Whole a part= another part. To do this, the teacher drew out a template on the
board, and wrote out the words Whole and Part. She then asked the students to remember
which words went into the blanks (____ -____=____). At first, students had trouble with this
task. Students raised their hands and gave guesses, and each guess was written on the board. To
help the students, Shawna used the idea of a pizza as a prompt. Think of how the pizza looks
when it comes to you she said, as she drew a circle on the board. When you eat some of the
pizza, you are taking some away. Within a few moments, the students got it, and came up with
the correct answer: A whole a part=another part.
Students were given base ten blocks. The teacher wrote an equation on the board, and
asked the students to illustrate the whole with their blocks, then to take the correct number of

blocks away. They then reported the difference. Each time a new equation was given, the
students would follow the same steps. Students were then introduced to regrouping. They
learned to trade 1 ten for 10 ones when the number in the ones place of the whole is smaller than
the number being subtracted. The teacher had created a chart with three simple steps to refer to.
When demonstrating, she consistently directed the class to the chart, so that when they were
solving problems on their own, they would automatically turn to it as a resource. The first step
was for students to ask themselves Do I have enough ones? The next step was to regroup and
mark the trade on their worksheet. Finally, the third step was to subtract the problem.
A few days later, the majority of the class was ready to learn to subtract two digit
numbers, following the same steps. For a further accommodation, students were given the option
of using the base ten blocks, while other students were encouraged to solve the problem by
drawing the ones and tens before plugging the numbers into the equation. After trying the
drawing, two students went back to the blocks. As before, the teacher had them recall what they
had been working on, and tell her steps to solving a one digit from two digit problem. She
emphasized that even though the problem seemed more complicated, there is only one difference
from the steps they had already mastered. Of course, this was not true for a hundred percent of
the class. On this particular day, the classes did not separate, so the class was quite bit more
diverse in their ability and level of understanding. This made for a different format. The new
topic was introduced, the class as a whole did a couple of problems together, and then the upper
level students were given problems to do on their own. The rest of the class (most students)
continued guided practice, following along and writing out each problem on their white boards.
Once the students were able to do this and consistently get the correct answers, they two were
given worksheets on their own. Midway through the class period, most students were working
independently, leaving 3 students who got small group instruction for the rest of the period.
There were para educators available to help students working independently. I also took over
teaching the small group so that the teacher could check in with the rest of the class.
Because having the larger group together was somewhat unexpected, there was little for
the more advanced students to do, once they had finished the initial worksheet. These students
are typically in another room during this time, but generally, it would be important for them to
have some more challenge during the independent work time because they finished the work at a

much faster rate than their peers. Without rigger, these students became frustrated and restless
while the majority of the group was still working. This group, normally in the upper level class,
consisted of about 6 students out of 24.
I was impressed with how each class went; both as a specialized group in the first lesson,
and then as a larger more diverse group in the second lesson. However, while the lessons
discussed above went smoothly, and helped students to achieve the intended goals, changes
could be made to the existing lesson in order for it to take on more of a problem solving
approach rather than having the teacher give direct instructions to solve answer the question. In
both lessons, the students were given the specific steps to follow in order to come up with the
right answer. Students who used alternative methods to solve the subtraction were marked
incorrect. There were only one or two problems for students to solve which required them to
decide on appropriate steps and justify the reasoning for their approach. These questions were at
the end of the worksheets and were titled Do you understand. For most students, this was the
least favorite part of the lesson. The majority of this lesson was less about helping students find
the correct answer, and more about teaching a strategy for subtraction. In order to increase the
cognitive demand of the lesson, I would increase the number of problems that require
justification, but make them relevant and interesting to the students. I would also want to explore
students own methods for approaching a subtraction problem before giving them steps that they
simply have to memorize. Students who are memorizing steps do not necessarily comprehend the
meaning of the mathematical concept.