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LESSON PLAN TEMPLATE

Your Name: Sarah McPherson
Date: March 15, 2016

Total Lesson Duration: 45 Minutes

Topic: Fractions

Grade: 3rd

Goal(s) (What is the most important thing related to the math topic as
envisioned in your lesson plan that your students will learn in this
lesson?)
Students will be able to understand a fraction as the quantity formed
by 1 part when a whole is partitioned into equal parts.

Materials & Resources Needed

Photos of gardens (teacher)
Printed garden problem to show on the Elmo (teacher)
Pencils (students)
Notecards (teacher)
M&Ms (teacher)
Computer & Elmo to show math problem & students solutions.
Sequencing Group Work (List how your students will be working
throughout the different parts of your lesson, for instance: Whole
Group Pairs Whole Group. Explain how this sequence supports
any of the 5 practices in our textbook.)
Whole group when asking the students what they know about
fractions, what a numerator & denominator are and showing them
pictures of different gardens. I will then present a garden fraction
problem to them and they will be asked to whisper their answer to the
person next to them pairs Whole group we will then discuss the
different solutions for the garden problem as a group.
Individualthey will then go back to their seats and write down the
fraction of red M&Ms their bag has over the total # of M&Ms they
have. Whole Group they will then come back to the rug as a whole
group and we will write each fraction on the board. After seeing all the
fractions on the board, I will start a discussion on the strategies that
each student used to find their fractions. After discussing these
strategies, the students will then be asked to work as a group to solve
the fraction # of red M&Ms for the class over the total number of

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M&Ms, based off the discussion they had about strategies.

This sequence supports the 5 practices because during the beginning
of the lesson, I will be anticipating student responses on what they
think the definition of numerator and denominator is. When they are
coming up with different ways to remember the difference between the
two with a partner, I will be monitoring this task to see what
responses they come up with. When they are worked on the M&M
problem, I will be monitoring and writing down what kind of strategies
the students are using to find their fraction so I can later select the
students to share their strategies with the class. After doing this, I will
sequence the responses of student strategies so that all students can
hear different perspectives before they are asked to work as a whole
group to solve another math problem. When they will be working in a
whole group again at the end of the lesson, I will be selecting
particular students to present their mathematical work during the
whole-class discussion on the lesson. At the end of the lesson, I will be
asking the students to use what they learned about the garden
problem and he M&Ms and connect what they know to find the
fraction of red M&Ms total for the class as a whole, over the total
M&Ms.
Academic, Social and Linguistic Support (Provide 3 specific ways
in which you will use academic, social, and linguistic resources to
support the learning of your students. Locate these ways across the
three parts of your lesson (Launch, Explore, Discuss). These supports
should reflect ideas from our course readings)

I will communicate high expectations. This will occur during

the launch section of my lesson plan. I will include a balance of
procedure and concepts during the garden task and I will tell the
students how they are expected to engaged during each part of
the lesson. Doing the garden task as an example of how see
fractions on a daily basis will be the stepping stone to the M&Ms
task. More students will be able to relate to M&Ms than a garden
so they can make connections with the math and the different
ways we can see fractions within food, gardens, etc.
I will make the content relevant. I am aware that many
students may not know what a garden is or may not have one or
have seen one before. Because of this, I will provide different
pictures of gardens for them to see that are different shapes and
sizes. Gardens may not be too relevant to their lives so I will then
ask the students to engage in a task involving M&Ms. I am
hoping this candy is more relevant and familiar to the students
and the content of the problem will be more relatable to them.

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This will be seen throughout the launch, explore, and discussion

part of the lesson plan because I will be asking them questions
that are relevant to the task as well as things they can relate to.
I will make sure to ask reflective questions during each part of
the lesson to make sure all of the students are understanding the
language I am using and the definitions of the vocabulary works
that we will be talking about that connect to fractions. To
accommodate to students who may need assistance, I will
provide pictures as visuals for the students to connect with, as
well as M&Ms as a physical manipulative for them to use. I will
also be saying the questions out loud so the students will be able
to use numerous senses throughout the lesson.

LAUNCH (10 minutes)

Assume I am your teacher substitute for this lesson. You want to
ensure that I understand what you want me to do in all three parts of
your lesson. So, for the Launch, describe what you will do and say in
order to (a) help students understand the purpose of this lesson and
(b) get them interested in the lesson. What are you going to show
them? Ask them? Tell them? How are you going to raise their curiosity?
What expectations are you going to communicate to them? How are
you going to activate their in-school and out-of-school experiences
related to this topic? Feel free to organize all these things that you will
do and say in some order (e.g., list, diagram, visual), so I as your
substitute can follow your plan easily.

Start off by asking the students what they know about fractions
so far. (ex. Can you think of any examples of fractions that you
use on a daily basis, can you think of any foods that you could
divide equally to make fractions?) Have the students share their
thoughts with the whole group.
Explain the definition of a numerator & a denominator
Numerator= tells how many parts are being counted.
Denominator= tells how many equal parts are in the whole or in
the group.
Tell the students we will be doing a math task on a garden
fraction problem and then applying what we learned from the
garden problem to a problem including chocolate.

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Show the students the 3 pictures of different gardens (different

shapes & sizes)
Explain to the students that all gardens are different and can be
divided up in different ways. (equal, unequal, sections of
vegetables, flowers, etc.)
Ask the students to listen to this question and take a few minutes
to come up with a solution with the person sitting next to them.
The question is A garden has 6 sections. Two of the sections are
planted with tomatoes. Which fraction represents the part of the
garden without tomatoes? Show the typed out question and a
picture of the garden on the Elmo for the students to see.
Give the students wait time and let them discuss their solutions
& strategies with the people around them. After a few minutes,
ask students to volunteer to come up to the board and explain
verbally or to draw a picture of their solution.
Do this with at least 3-4 students to see if they get different
solutions and have them explain how they got to their solutions.
Tell the students that they will use what they know about
fractions and what they saw in the garden problem to find the
fraction of red M&Ms in a pack they will get.
Have them go back to their seats and pass out a pack of M&Ms
to each student and a notecard where they will write their name
and the fraction of red M&Ms they have.
Once they find the fraction, they can come back to the rug and
we will write all of the fractions on the board so everyone can
see.
I will also ask particular students to share their strategies about
the different ways they approached this math problem.

EXPLORE (15 minutes)

Students will be working (describe arrangement) on the following highlevel task (include task here).
Students will be working individually to find the fraction of red M&Ms
compared to the total number of M&Ms in their pack. Remind the
students that each person will have a different amount of M&Ms and
different number of red ones so focus on your own pack. They will
count the number of reds and put it over the total number of M&Ms
written as a fraction on a notecard I will provide for them.
Insert your Monitoring Chart here (which displays student solutions
and specific questions you will ask to assess and advance students

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thinking). Specify how you will notice and record (monitor) the
students ideas that are at play.
I will monitor the interesting and different strategies that the
students will use and write them down so we can discuss them
as a whole group later in the lesson.
I will be asking specific questions like:
How many red M&Ms do you have?
How many M&Ms do you have total?
Which number represents the denominator in your fraction. Why?
How do you know this?
What number represents the numerator in your fraction. Why?
How do you know this?
Can you tell me the fraction of red & blue M&Ms you have? (only
ask this if the student seems to be done with the task early and
is bored because they have a high understanding of this task.
This will advance the students thinking.
Does the smaller number go on the top or the bottom of the
fraction? How do you know this?
I will monitor the students ideas by walking around the room and
recording the numbers students are coming up with to get an idea of
where they are in the task.
I will ask the students what strategies they used to get to their
solution and will ask them to share it with the class in a whole group
discussion once everyone has found their fraction.

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What would you do to keep students engaged? What would you do if a

student doesnt understand the task at all (e.g., cannot seem to get
started)? What would you do if a student finishes early?
To keep the students engaged, I will tell them to write the
fraction they come up with on their notecard and quietly move
back to the rug so we can share our results. They will be allowed
to each their M&Ms once they have a fraction written down. The
process of figuring out the fraction and then being able to eat the

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candy should be engaging enough for them.

If a student doesnt understand the task at all, I will work with
them individually and explain the directions more clearly to
them. I will say things like, how many M&Ms do you have on
your desk? , Where would you write the total number down on
your notecard? As the numerator or the denominator? Why?,
How many red M&Ms do you have? Where would you write
the number of red M&Ms on your notecard? How do you know
this? what do you know about fractions so far and how could
you use the garden problem to help guide you with finding the
fraction for this problem?
If a student finishes early, they will be told they can eat their
M&Ms and wait patiently on the rug to share the total fraction
they found with the rest of the class.

DISCUSS (20 minutes)

Sequence the solution strategies that you anticipated in the previous
Explore part of this lesson.
The solution strategies that I am anticipating from the Explore
part of the lesson is a simple fraction written on a notecard that
represents the number of red M&Ms each student had.
I can picture many of the fractions to have a smaller number as
the numerator and the total number of M&Ms as a larger
number representing the denominator because they just started
learning about fractions and have little knowledge about mixed
numbers yet.
If it is represented with the larger number as the numerator, I will
open a discussion with the class about how that represents a
mixed number and ask the students about the strategies they
used to get to this point.
In what order would you want these solutions to be shared/presented?
In what ways would this order contribute to develop students
understanding of the learning goal? What would you be doing during
this sharing time? What would your students be doing?

I would like their solutions to be shared one by one. I will go

down the row and have each student say their fraction out loud
so I can write it on the board.
After all the solutions are written on the board, I will ask the

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students to discuss the similarities and differences in the ways

they found their individual fractions.
After having a discussion about the similarities and differences, I
will ask the students to think about how they could find out how
many red M&Ms the class has total and how many other colored
M&Ms they have combined.
I will then ask the students about the mathematical ideas that
they can connect to the similarities and differences. This
discussion will include conversation about the strategies the
students used to find the individual fractions as well as the
garden example.
This task will be challenging and will be a way for the students to
contribute what they are developing/understanding about the
learning goal. During this time the students can work as a whole
group on strategies to find the totals for the numerator and the
denominator of the fraction.
I will leave this part open ended and have the students suggest
the strategies they want to use in order to come up with one
answer for the class.
I will suggest dividing the numerators up and having people add
them and then having another part of the class at the
denominators. I will suggest pencil & paper and working in
smaller groups to come up with a solution. They can work on it
by themselves if they chose. Or, if they need assistance, I will
help them count up the denominator and leave the number of
red M&Ms (numerator) up to them to solve. I will also remind the
students that all the numbers are written on the board and they
have all the notecards with the fractions on it if they want to
come up with a strategy to utilize them.
During this time, I will be walking around the classroom or sitting
on the rug with the students to help them strategize and monitor
what solutions they are coming up with.
They will have the chance to use any of the strategies they used
in the past, heard in the class discussion, or anything they can
think about mathematically that would help them strategize a
way to find the solution.

How are you going to ensure that everyone pays attention during this
sharing time?
By allowing the students the choice to work in pairs, as a whole
group, or individually to come up with the total number of red
M&Ms for the class, I am hoping the students will pay attention
during this time because they will have to all agree on one
solution to represent as the class. In order for them to do this,
they will have to listen closely to directions and engage with

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other students in the class to find a solution.

Write specific question you would ask during this time so students can:
(a) expand on, debate, and question the solutions and ideas being
shared, (c) make connections across strategies presented, (d) begin to
form generalizations. Finally, state specific ways in which you will invite
students to help you reflect about what they learned.
Ask the students what strategies they can think of to make this
process of finding the class fraction easier for them.
Tell the students to make connections to the garden and how
they solved that problem and relate it to how they found the red
M&Ms individually and see if they can come up with a strategy
to find the solution as a whole group.
Ask the students to compare answers and their strategies and
see what people did differently than them and then lead and
expand this discussion if it is present.
Once the class comes up with one solution, check it as a class to
see if they are correct.
Ask the students how they came up with their solution and relate
it to fractions.
Ask them to reflect on the garden & M&M activity and how they
relate and how they were different.
Ask the students to reflect on fractions in general and what they
learned from todays activities.